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Innovative context-aware fraud, waste, abuse and error detection powered by leading-edge AI to prevent low-value care in real-time and drive higher quality, safety and affordability for health plan members
SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Health at Scale, a leading provider of machine intelligence for value-based care delivery and management, today announced a partnership with ATRIO Health Plans, Inc., a top provider of Medicare Advantage plans serving approximately 30,000 members in Oregon and Nevada. The partnership will leverage Health at Scale's state-of-the-art AI and machine learning technologies to prevent low-value care corresponding to fraud, waste, abuse and errors in real-time; and drive greater quality, safety and affordability for plan members in support of ATRIO Health Plan's mission of delivering high quality health insurance at a reasonable price for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries.
With the increasing prevalence and continuously evolving patterns of fraud, waste, abuse and errors in the healthcare industry, the use of AI-powered technology has become an essential tool to help health plans identify and eliminate wasteful and often unsafe spending. Over $345 billion in healthcare spend is wasted annually to low-value care services. These services provide little or no benefit, incur unnecessary costs, waste limited resources, and have the potential to cause harm. Eliminating fraud, waste, abuse and errors is critical to optimizing healthcare outcomes and spending for payers, providers, employers and TPAs, but has traditionally been difficult to accomplish using rules-based payment integrity systems that are manually intensive to develop and maintain, limited to detecting patterns of low-value care that are obvious and known, and affected by high rates of false positives and false negatives.
Health at Scale's smart AI-powered fraud, waste, abuse and error detection technology goes beyond traditional rules-based payment integrity systems and identifies low-value care by using a clinically-nuanced, deeply context-aware and hyper-personalized understanding of the patient, the provider, the time and the care setting. By factoring in a 360-view of every healthcare service and transaction, Health at Scale's AI reduces false positives and false negatives while continuously self-learning new patterns of low-value care as they emerge, flagging fraud, waste, abuse and errors with unprecedented accuracy and actionability.
"We are excited to partner with ATRIO Health Plans around our industry-leading capabilities to reduce fraud, waste, abuse and errors," said Zeeshan Syed, CEO of Health at Scale. "Our technology has been able to meaningfully reduce low-value care for health plans – something that has been a hard problem to solve for decades and continues to drive up costs. We look forward to working with ATRIO Health Plans to bring this innovative capability to their Medicare Advantage plans and to support their mission of providing high-quality, cost-effective healthcare to their members."
"After completing substantial due diligence of the market landscape, we have found that the tools and technology that Health at Scale offers health plans is best-in-class based on what we have seen, and look forward to working with Health at Scale across our entire book of business," said Jennifer Callahan, Chief Operating Officer of ATRIO Health Plans.
About Health at Scale
Health at Scale uses advanced AI to drive smart, hyper-personalized, context-aware care delivery and management. Founded by machine learning and clinical faculty from MIT, Harvard, Stanford and the University of Michigan, the company brings precision to healthcare across a broad range of use cases, including: fraud, waste and abuse prevention, reduction of medical and drug errors, provider navigation and network curation, and early targeted prediction and prevention of adverse outcomes. For more information, please visit healthatscale.com.
About ATRIO Health Plans
ATRIO Health Plans is a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan established in 2004 that offers Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) options as well as a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Special Needs Plans for Dual Eligible. The health plan is supported by the trusted physicians who care for Medicare beneficiaries in Oregon and Nevada. For more information, visit atriohp.com.
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SOURCE Health at Scale Corporation | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2023/02/27/health-scale-atrio-health-plans-partner-smart-ai-powered-payment-integrity/ | 2023-02-27 13:05:01 | 1 | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2023/02/27/health-scale-atrio-health-plans-partner-smart-ai-powered-payment-integrity/ |
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday afternoon's drawing of the "Pick Three-Midday" game were:
0-1-2, Fireball: 7
(zero, one, two; Fireball: seven)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday afternoon's drawing of the "Pick Three-Midday" game were:
0-1-2, Fireball: 7
(zero, one, two; Fireball: seven) | https://www.seattlepi.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-Three-Midday-game-17195577.php | 2022-05-24 18:41:15 | 0 | https://www.seattlepi.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Pick-Three-Midday-game-17195577.php |
WASHINGTON, March 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GoodFirms, a globally renowned research, ratings, and reviews platform, recently released its new research report-"Global IT Spending By Industry." The survey was initiated to understand how organizations are planning their current and future IT investment, areas for allocating IT-focussed budgets, and factors affecting their IT spending targets.
Enterprise IT spending is seeing a deep rise despite the fear of inflation. More than half of the surveyed organizations have already set a budget for their current and future IT demands. GoodFirms' research results reveal significant challenges that organizations encounter in preparing their IT budgets and investment policies, including resource allocation, procurement, and implementation. The survey further explores the key IT investment trends that businesses can capitalize on in 2023.
The survey discloses that the purchase of PCs, Laptops, Servers, and other hardware devices and subscriptions for cloud services are the top areas of investment spending on IT goods and services.
Increase in product/service costs, shipping delays, limited availability of products/services, shortage of skilled IT labor, chip shortages etc., are the significant challenges that organizations encounter while purchasing new hardware/software.
The research further discloses some interesting facts on IT spending; the most cited investment being on software applications: 40.7% of surveyed organizations revealed their plans to spend their maximum IT budget on CRM systems. 36.8% plan to buy project management systems, and 26.8% indicated their maximum budget would go to document management systems.
The research also analyzes how investing in IT infrastructure and software tools can help businesses solve current challenges such as pandemic-led disruptions, hypercompetitive environments, and underlying recession.
GoodFirms research findings concludes that with evolving technologies, companies should have a robust strategy to allocate financial resources for purchasing and implementing IT software, systems, solutions, and tools.
Key Findings:
- 57.5% of surveyed organizations expect their total IT spending to be 20% to 40% of the overall 2023 financial budget.
- Surveyed businesses spend 57.2% of their IT budget on hardware.
- 45.7% of the surveyed organizations set IT budgets aside for software.
- 66.2% of the respondents expect their organization's overall number of IT staff will increase this year.
About Research:
GoodFirms Survey-"Global IT Spending By Industry" was conducted to uncover the spending patterns of the companies that are advancing their business processes with the help of IT initiatives and identify trends in technology budgets. A total of 375 participants, including businesses and enterprises globally, responded to the survey.
To read and download more research articles by GoodFirms, click here.
If you wish to participate in GoodFirms' future research studies, register your name and company details with GoodFirms.
GoodFirms is a Washington, D.C -based research firm that focuses on delivering rich, original, and in-depth coverage about the IT products and services to the readers. The company works with a mission to serve the B2B players. Both service seekers and service providers benefit from the reviews, ratings and research insights delivered by GoodFirms.
Sophia Jayden (sophia@goodfirms.co)
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SOURCE GoodFirms | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2023/03/06/764-organizations-plan-increase-their-it-spending-2023-goodfirms-survey/ | 2023-03-06 15:48:40 | 0 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2023/03/06/764-organizations-plan-increase-their-it-spending-2023-goodfirms-survey/ |
Sole survivor of suspected serial killer seeks justice
DAVIS, Calif. (KMAX/KOVR) - The only surviving victim of a serial killer in Davis vows to help put the suspect behind bars.
Kimberly Guillory also described the moment someone entered her tent and started stabbing her.
“Every time it comes out of my mouth, it’s weird to say that, you know, I was the third victim of the Davis serial killer,” Guillory said.
It’s a story of survival. The shock of it all is still fresh for her, Guillory said..
“And I still have nightmares about it, and I probably will for a long time,” she said.
It’s a scene that plays out like a movie, not real life.
“And he came down with the knife and slit the tent open and started stabbing me,” Guillory said.
She was in her tent at a homeless encampment in Davis.
She screamed out and her friends reportedly stopped Carlos Dominguez, accused of stabbing Guillory twice.
“I’ve been wanting to, you know, let them know how grateful I am. Because without them, I wouldn’t be here,” she said.
It was a tearful reunion Wednesday as for the first time Guillory was reunited with those who she said saved her life.
“He would not have stopped. He’d have kept stabbing me like he did the other two,” she said.
Embracing a new lease on life, Guillory said she’s grateful for each day and thankful for the Davis community, her strength in a time of need.
“I was just amazed, you know, because these people don’t even know me,” she said.
The community raised almost $60,000 online to help her find permanent housing, “hopefully a place to live and not have to ever worry about being out on the street again,” Guillory said.
She said she’s focused now on on healing and moving forward, but she said she won’t feel at peace “‘til he’s been convicted.”
Dominguez is facing charges for the alleged murders of his first two victims and the attempted murder of Guillory.
“But I’m going to make sure that if I can that he doesn’t ever get a chance to do it again. Unfortunately, that’s not gonna help the other, two but I will be the last one,” Guillory said.
Copyright 2023 KMAX/KOVR via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wistv.com/2023/05/25/sole-survivor-suspected-serial-killer-seeks-justice/ | 2023-05-25 12:45:42 | 0 | https://www.wistv.com/2023/05/25/sole-survivor-suspected-serial-killer-seeks-justice/ |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday evening's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Daily Four-Evening" game were:
8-0-7-6, SB: 7
(eight, zero, seven, six; SB: seven)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Thursday evening's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Daily Four-Evening" game were:
8-0-7-6, SB: 7
(eight, zero, seven, six; SB: seven) | https://www.sfgate.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Daily-Four-Evening-game-17641952.php | 2022-12-09 04:37:33 | 0 | https://www.sfgate.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Daily-Four-Evening-game-17641952.php |
ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the "Lucky For Life" game were:
10-14-15-17-30, Lucky Ball: 2
(ten, fourteen, fifteen, seventeen, thirty; Lucky Ball: two)
ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the "Lucky For Life" game were:
10-14-15-17-30, Lucky Ball: 2
(ten, fourteen, fifteen, seventeen, thirty; Lucky Ball: two) | https://www.expressnews.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Lucky-For-Life-game-17505690.php | 2022-10-13 03:39:00 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Lucky-For-Life-game-17505690.php |
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis agreed Saturday that the attempt to eliminate Indigenous culture in Canada through a church-run residential school system amounted to a cultural “genocide.”
Speaking to reporters while en route home from Canada, Francis said he didn’t use the term during his trip to atone for the Catholic Church’s role in the schools because it never came to mind.
Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission determined in 2015 that the forced removal of Indigenous children from their homes and placement in the residential schools to assimilate them constituted a “cultural genocide.”
Some 150,000 children from the late 1800s to the 1970s were subject to the forced assimilation policy, aimed at making them fully Christian and Canadian. Physical and sexual abuse were rampant at the schools, and children were beaten for speaking their Native languages.
“It’s true I didn’t use the word because it didn’t come to mind, but I described genocide, no?” Francis said. “I apologized, I asked forgiveness for this work, which was genocide.”
Francis said he repeatedly condemned the system that severed family ties and attempted to impose new cultural beliefs as “catastrophic” to generations of Indigenous peoples.
In the main apology of his Canada trip, delivered Monday, Francis spoke of “cultural destruction,” but he didn’t use the term “cultural genocide” as some school survivors had hoped and expected.
“It’s a technical word, ‘genocide.’ I didn’t use because it didn’t come to mind, but I described that, and it’s true it’s a genocide,” he said Saturday.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. | https://phl17.com/news/international/ap-international/pope-canadian-residential-schools-were-cultural-genocide/ | 2022-07-30 11:05:39 | 1 | https://phl17.com/news/international/ap-international/pope-canadian-residential-schools-were-cultural-genocide/ |
Fastest Growing Franchise in Home Care Ranks Amongst Fastest Growing Across All Service Industries
GILBERT, Ariz., March 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SYNERGY® HomeCare,the fastest growing national franchisor in home care for the past two years running, announced today that it has been recognized as one of Entrepreneur's Fastest Growing Franchises. The ranking identifies the franchisors with the greatest unit growth in the U.S. and Canada. The fastest-growing accolade follows the home care franchisor's inclusion on the 44th annual Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 in January 202
Earning a spot on both Entrepreneur rankings is a highly sought-after honor in the franchise industry because it recognizes outstanding performance including unit growth, financial strength and stability, and brand power," said Charlie Young, SYNERGY HomeCare's CEO. "Ranking amongst the fastest growing enterprises across all franchise industries reflects how we have built a compelling and highly-competitive value proposition for franchisees," he adds.
Ranked #60 on the 2023 Fastest Growing Franchise list, SYNERGY HomeCare ended 2022 with 57 new territory sales. The brand has inked 147 territories over the last three years to increase in size by 35%. Another strong indicator of SYNERGY HomeCare's ongoing success is the number of existing franchisees who purchased additional territories in 2022.
"In just a few short years, 73 million Americans will be aged 65 or over, and the vast majority want to age in place in their own homes. SYNERGY HomeCare is well positioned to meet these growing needs," said Mike Steed, Chief Growth Officer. "Our promise to 'care for all' extends our in-home care services to people of all ages and abilities, creating even greater opportunities for our franchisees," he notes.
For more information on SYNERGY HomeCare franchising opportunities visit SYNERGYHomeCareFranchise.com.
ABOUT SYNERGY HOMECARE – The Leading Home Care Provider
SYNERGY HomeCare is the fastest-growing national franchisor in the home care industry with over 200 franchises operating in more than 450 territories across the U.S. The company provides a broad range of non-medical in-home services including personal care, companion care, memory care and specialized care for individuals who are living with physical or developmental disabilities, chronic health conditions or recovering from illness or surgery. No matter what each person's circumstances are, SYNERGY HomeCare steps in with effective, comforting, life-affirming care that moves people emotionally and physically forward. For more information visit SYNERGYHomeCare.com or find an in-home care location near you.
Media Contact:
David Siroty
Imagine Productions
David@ImaginePRStrategy.com
(908) 337-5865
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SOURCE SYNERGY HomeCare | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2023/03/09/synergy-homecare-recognized-one-fastest-growing-franchises-2023-by-entrepreneur/ | 2023-03-09 16:17:25 | 0 | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2023/03/09/synergy-homecare-recognized-one-fastest-growing-franchises-2023-by-entrepreneur/ |
WFO ALBANY Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Saturday, December 3, 2022
_____
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Albany NY
536 AM EST Sat Dec 3 2022
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST THIS
MORNING...
* WHAT...Freezing rain expected. Ice accumulations of a light
glaze. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph.
* WHERE...Northern Herkimer, Hamilton, Northern Warren and
Northern Fulton Counties.
* WHEN...Until 10 AM EST this morning.
* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The freezing rain will change to plain rain
by mid to late morning as temperatures warm above freezing.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Slow down and use caution while traveling.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/weather/article/NY-WFO-ALBANY-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17628525.php | 2022-12-03 10:55:42 | 1 | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/weather/article/NY-WFO-ALBANY-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17628525.php |
Northern New Mexico is in the midst of a horrific tragedy at a scale we have not seen before with the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires. My heart goes out to the people whose lives have been forever changed by this disaster. Our thoughts are also with your families, the loss of historic homes, cultural resources, spiritual connections and wildlife.
With entire communities being displaced, homes burning and lives uprooted, we are seeing disingenuous out-of-state interests come in and do their best to take advantage of our hardship. We do not appreciate outsiders using our misfortune to push their radical ideological views. People who have likely never stepped foot on these lands that are being ravaged by fires should not be telling New Mexicans how to manage our public lands.
(On May 15) Karla Jones of the ALEC Task Force on Federalism and International Relations based in Arlington, Virginia, penned a guest column in the Albuquerque Journal. (ALEC has) advocated for extreme ideology that would privatize much of our public lands. Opportunistically using our pain for hidden agendas is something we as New Mexicans will not accept.
New Mexicans and Norteños are coming together as a community to do what is needed to take care of one another and survive. When the smoke settles I am certain we will show that same grit and determination when it comes to rebuilding. We as New Mexicans will also lead the efforts to figuring out how to avoid these types of tragedies to the extent possible in the future. Our focus will be on what we can do to protect the health of our public lands, the intersection of our natural and cultural heritage that makes New Mexico, New Mexico. The challenges are many, including climate change, a 1,200-year mega-drought and significantly under-resourced land management agencies. These are issues we will work to address. What we won’t do is allow out-of-state interests the opportunity to get their foot in the door and try and privatize our cherished public lands.
As we continue to look out for one another, support our neighbors and show the rest of the country what makes our people strong and resilient, Jones will continue working on opinion pieces for far-right publications like The RedState. The lived experience we are going through together will strengthen our resolve and lead to a stronger New Mexico. Please be safe and look out for one another in these trying times.
Ralph Vigil is a 12th-generation New Mexican from Pecos. He owns and operates a small organic farm in East Pecos that grows healthy, acequia-grown food for his community. | https://www.abqjournal.com/?p=2501912 | 2022-05-24 07:48:39 | 1 | https://www.abqjournal.com/?p=2501912 |
Discussions focus on how China will realize economic growth both quantitatively and qualitatively given the new global landscape
GUANGZHOU, China, Dec. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Experts and researchers discussed China's challenges and policy recommendations at IFF roundtable during the IFF Annual Meeting.
Policies including expanding social welfare to migrant workers, deepening reform, and adjusting Covid measures are key to boost economic growth in China.
Liu Shijin, Vice Director of the Committee on Economic Affairs of the CPPCC National Committee ,said social welfare should include migrant workers to boost domestic consumption.
"China should quicken reform in social welfare so that migrant workers can enjoy the same benefits in cities, which will in turn boost consumption and investment in the service sector," said Liu.
Han Seung-soo, IFF Co-chairman and Chair of the Council of the Presidents of the UN General Assembly (UNCPGA), said China needs to accelerate market-based reform to achieve sustainable and high-quality development in the medium to long term. The country has made steady progress in structural reforms over the past decade. He thinks China needs to play an important role in the global response to climate change.
Qu Hongbin, former Chief Economist for Greater China at HSBC, said that despite the impact of the global pandemic, China's exports have far exceeded almost everyone's expectations. The country must fine tune its Covid-19 measures and boost domestic consumption and investment.
Shen Minggao, Global Chief Economist and Head of Global Institute for Supply Chains of Guangfa Securities, said that forecasts made by major global institutions on future long-term global growth show that emerging market economies will be the biggest drivers of regional growth. What lies ahead for China is figuring out how to maintain quantitative growth given that the country can no longer count on exports to do so.
The relationship between China and the US has become a top priority, said Hu Weixing, IFF Academic Committee Member and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Macau. He emphasized the importance of placing China-US relations first in responding to the massive challenges posed by the new global landscape. The relations between the two countries have a significant effect on the world.
He added that leaders from both countries have found some common ground in head-of-state diplomacy during their recent summit in Bali.
About International Finance Forum (IFF)
The International Finance Forum (IFF) is a non-profit, non-official independent international organization founded in October 2003 by by leaders from China, the US, the EU and the other G20 countries, in concert with emerging economies and the leaders of multiple international organizations, including the UN, the World Bank and the IMF. Also known as the Finance 20 (F20), the IFF is also a high-level permanent dialogue mechanism and multilateral cooperation organization within the world of finance.
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SOURCE International Finance Forum (IFF) | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2022/12/04/iff-annual-meeting-boosting-consumption-deepening-reforms-are-key-chinas-economic-growth/ | 2022-12-04 17:01:16 | 0 | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2022/12/04/iff-annual-meeting-boosting-consumption-deepening-reforms-are-key-chinas-economic-growth/ |
Leilani Pena scored 14 points for Passaic Tech in its 49-32 victory against Bergen Tech in Wayne.
Passaic Tech (3-7) led 10-9 at the end of the first quarter before taking control and sporting a 13-point lead at halftime. Passaic Tech also rolled in the second half outscoring Bergen Tech 18-14.
Samantha Laracuente added 10 points and six rebounds for Passaic Tech.
Danielle Arno led Bergen Tech (3-6) with nine points.
The N.J. High School Sports newsletter now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now and be among the first to get all the boys and girls sports you care about, straight to your inbox each weekday. To add your name, click here. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.
Craig Epstein may be reached at cepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @CraigEpstein18. | https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2023/01/passaic-tech-defeats-bergen-tech-girls-basketball-recap.html | 2023-01-11 04:58:32 | 0 | https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2023/01/passaic-tech-defeats-bergen-tech-girls-basketball-recap.html |
PHOENIX — He had been coming into work at the same sandwich shop at the same time every weekday morning for the past four decades, but now Joe Faillace, 69, pulled up to Old Station Subs with no idea what to expect. He parked on a street lined with three dozen tents, grabbed his Mace and unlocked the door to his restaurant. The peace sign was still hanging above the entryway. Fake flowers remained undisturbed on every table. He picked up the phone and dialed his wife and business partner, Debbie Faillace, 60.
“All clear,” he said. “Everything looks good.”
“You’re sure? No issues?” she asked. “What’s going on with the neighbors?”
He looked out the window toward Madison Street, which had become the center of one of the largest homeless encampments in the country, with as many as 1,100 people sleeping outdoors. On this February morning, he could see a half-dozen men pressed around a roaring fire. A young woman was lying in the middle of the street, wrapped beneath a canvas advertising banner. A man was weaving down the sidewalk in the direction of Joe’s restaurant with a saw, muttering to himself and then stopping to urinate a dozen feet from Joe’s outdoor tables.
“It’s the usual chaos and suffering,” he told Debbie. “But the restaurant’s still standing.”
That had seemed to them like an open question each morning for the past three years, as an epidemic of unsheltered homelessness began to overwhelm Phoenix and many other major American downtowns. Cities across the West had been transformed by a housing crisis, a mental health crisis and an opioid epidemic, all of which landed at the doorsteps of small businesses already reaching a breaking point because of the pandemic. In Seattle, more than 2,300 businesses had left downtown since the beginning of 2020. A group of fed up small-business owners in Santa Monica, California, had hung a banner on the city’s promenade that read: “Santa Monica Is NOT safe. Crime … Depravity … Outdoor mental asylum.” And in Phoenix, where the number of people living on the streets had more than tripled since 2016, businesses had begun hiring private security firms to guard their property and lawyers to file a lawsuit against the city for failing to manage “a great humanitarian crisis.”
The Faillaces had signed onto the lawsuit as plaintiffs along with about a dozen other nearby property owners. They also bought an extra mop to clean up the daily flow of human waste, replaced eight shattered windows with plexiglass, installed a wrought-iron fence around their property and continued opening their doors at exactly 8 each morning to greet the first customer of the day.
“Hey, bro! The usual?” Joe said to a construction worker who always ordered an Italian on wheat.
“Love the new haircut,” Joe said a few minutes later to a city employee who came for meatballs three days each week.
Debbie arrived to help with the lunch rush, and she greeted customers at the register, while Joe prepared tomato sauce and weighed out 2.2 ounces of turkey for each chef’s salad. Their margins had always been tight, but they saved on labor costs by both going into work every day. They remodeled the kitchen to make room for a nursery when their children were born and then expanded into catering to help those children pay for college. They kept making the same nine original house sandwiches for a loyal group of regulars even as the city transformed around them — its population growing by about 25,000 each year, inflation rising faster than in any other U.S. city, housing costs soaring at a record pace, until it seemed that there was nowhere left for people to go except onto sidewalks, into tents, into broken-down cars, and increasingly into the air-conditioned relief of Old Station Subs. “I need to place a huge order,” a woman said as she walked up to the counter wearing mismatched shoes and carrying a garbage bag of her belongings. “I own Dairy Queen.”
“Oh, wow. Which one?” Debbie asked, playing along.
“All of them,” the woman said. “I’m queen of the queen.”
“That’s wonderful,” Debbie said as she led the woman to a table with a menu and a glass of water and watched as the woman emptied her bag onto the table, covering it with rocks, expired bus passes, a bicycle tire, clothing, 17 batteries, a few needles and a flashlight. “Would you like me to take an order?” Debbie asked.
“You know why I’m here,” the woman said, suddenly banging her fist against the table. “Don’t patronize me. The king needs his payment.”
Debbie refilled the woman’s water and walked behind the counter to find Joe. For the past several months, she had driven into work with stomach pain and stress headaches. She had started telling Joe that she was done at Old Station, whether that meant selling the restaurant, boarding it up or even moving away from Phoenix for a while without him. She had begun looking at real estate in Prescott, a small town about 100 miles away with a weekly art walk, mountain air, a few lakes.
“What am I supposed to tell this lady?” she asked him. “I can’t keep doing this. Every minute it’s something.”
Joe reached for her hand. “It’ll get better. Stick with me,” he said, but now they could hear the woman tossing some of her belongings onto the floor.
“The king needs his ransom!” she shouted.
“I’m sorry, but it’s time to go,” Debbie told her.
“You thieves. You devils,” the woman said.
“Please,” Debbie said. “This is our business. We’re just trying to get through lunch.”
Their restaurant was located a half-mile from the Arizona State Capitol in an industrial neighborhood of warehouses and crisscrossing train tracks that had always attracted a small number of transients. Over the years, Joe and Debbie came to know many by name and listened to their stories of eviction, medical debt, mental illness and addiction, and together they agreed that it was their job to be Christly — to offer not only compassion but help.
They had given out water, opened their bathroom to the public and cashed unemployment and disability checks at no extra cost. They hired a sandwich maker who was homeless and had lost his teeth after years of addiction; a dishwasher who lived in the women’s shelter and first came to the restaurant for lunch with her parole officer; a cleaner who slept a few blocks away on a wooden pallet and washed up in the bathroom before her shift.
But the homeless population in Phoenix continued to grow by hundreds each year, even as the city’s supply of shelter beds remained relatively flat, and a federal court ruling in 2018 required places with no shelter capacity to allow some camping in public spaces. The city’s average rent rose by more than 80% during the pandemic. A wave of evictions drove more people from their homes, until for the first time, more than half of Phoenix’s homeless population was finding refuge not in traditional places, like shelters or temporary apartments, but in cars or tents.
Soon there were hundreds of people sleeping within a few blocks of Old Station, most of them with mental illness or substance abuse issues as they lived out their private lives within public view of the restaurant. They slept on Joe and Debbie’s outdoor tables, defecated behind their back porch, smoked methamphetamine in their parking lot, washed clothes in their bathroom sink, pilfered bread and gallon jars of pickles from their delivery trucks, had sex on their patio, masturbated within view of their employees and lit fires for warmth that burned down palm trees and scared away customers. Finally, Joe and Debbie could think of nothing else to do but to start calling their City Council member, the city manager, the mayor, the governor and the police. “We’ve got a guy outside who’s naked, trespassing and needs some serious help,” Joe reported in a call to police in the fall of 2021.
“They’re throwing rocks from across the street at our windows,” he said in another call a few months later.
“Breaking and entering. Vandalism. Harassment. I’m probably leaving some stuff out.”
“She’s swinging a pipe at people. Would you consider that normal?”
“It’s a fire the size of my house. My customers are trying to eat, and they can’t even breathe.”
“Gunshots. Shouting. It goes on all day.”
Within a half-mile of their restaurant, police had been called to an average of eight incidents a day in 2022. There were at least 1,097 calls for emergency medical help, 573 fights or assaults, 236 incidents of trespassing, 185 fires, 140 thefts, 125 armed robberies, 13 sexual assaults and four homicides. The remains of a 20- to 24-week-old fetus were burned and left next to a dumpster in November. Two people were stabbed to death in their tents. Sixteen others were found dead from overdoses, suicides, hypothermia or excessive heat. The city had tried to begin more extensive cleaning of the encampment, but advocates for people without housing protested that it was inhumane to move people with nowhere else to go, and in December the American Civil Liberties Union successfully filed a federal lawsuit to keep people on the street from being “terrorized” and “displaced.”
And now Joe and Debbie arrived for work on another morning and noticed a woman sprawled on the sidewalk with her face against the pavement. Debbie watched for a moment until she saw the woman roll onto her side. Maybe she was sick. Maybe she was just asleep. “Let’s give her a bit to get sorted,” Debbie said. But at lunchtime, the woman had barely moved, and two hours later she was still lying there, as the temperature climbed and Debbie began to imagine the worst possibilities. More than 1,250 homeless people had died in Maricopa County in the past two years, including hundreds from drug overdoses or heat exposure. Other nearby property owners had started calling the neighborhood Death Row.
Debbie picked up the phone and dialed 911. “I’m concerned,” she said.
“It sounds like someone who could be resting,” the dispatcher told her.
“Maybe,” Debbie said. “But I’m about to go home for the day. Can you do a wellness check?”
That would mean sending the Fire Department, and lately firefighters had been harassed or assaulted so often within the encampment that they typically responded with a police escort. The dispatcher explained that it wasn’t possible to send a full team of emergency medical workers to check on every person on the street who might in fact be taking a nap, and she suggested that Debbie approach the woman herself to ask if she needed help.
“I’ll stay on the line with you,” the dispatcher offered.
Debbie stood by her car and watched the woman’s chest rise and fall. At least a dozen times in the past month, Debbie had been screamed at, threatened or verbally assaulted on the street by people with severe mental illness, until she sometimes felt her compassion giving way to fear and anger.
“Fine,” she said. “Keep doing nothing.” She hung up and drove home. A while later, the woman got up off the sidewalk and walked to a tent across the street.
The woman’s name was Shina Sepulveda, and she had been living in the encampment for a few weeks or maybe for a few months. It was hard to know for sure, she said, because she had been experiencing delusions. What she remembered was escaping from a cult in Mesa, Arizona, building the first internet search engine, losing billions of dollars to a government conspiracy, cutting wiretaps out of her brain, retaking her dynastic name of Espy Rockefeller and then moving onto an 8-by-8-foot plot of sidewalk across the street from Old Station Subs.
For as long as she had been homeless, she tried to nap during the relative safety of the day and stay up late at night to help look over her small corner of the encampment. She put on makeup and sat down at a plywood desk, where a handwritten nameplate introduced her as “Doctor, Poet, Psychologist, Partner at Law,” and where in reality she was now the 47-year-old caretaker of a half-dozen people, because, even if many of her stories were fantastical, she had earned a reputation for being generous and kind and for knowing a bit about everything.
“Hey, Espy, can you help me?” Brandon Mack said as he walked over from his nearby tent. He lifted his shirt to reveal two stab wounds from a few days earlier. He had fought with a neighbor over a coveted corner spot on the sidewalk, walked to the emergency room, gotten 18 stitches and then returned to recover on a molding mattress in a partly burned tent.
“Oh, yeah. It’s infected,” Espy said. “I saw this a lot when I was a surgeon. How do you feel?”
“I’m alive,” he said.
“This isn’t a life. It’s an existence,” Espy said as she took out a pair of scissors, scrubbed them with hand sanitizer and started to cut away a few of his stitches. She wiped away the pus and blood with napkins, tossing them into the street. Then she turned her attention to the next person in need of help. Cecilia wanted soap, so Espy handed her a bar she had scavenged from the nearby shelter. C.J. was drunk and needed help getting into the street to go to the bathroom. A man known as K.D. was moving his tent 50 yards down the sidewalk because he’d gotten into an argument with a neighbor who insulted his pit bull. “Nobody talks down to Dots,” K.D. said. “I’m ready to go off. I’m armed and dangerous.”
“I was a police officer,” Espy told him. “If you really have to shoot, don’t aim to kill. Just fire a warning shot.”
The sun went down, and Espy saw her closest friend and neighbor, Kipp Polston, 65, coming back from the bus stop carrying a bucket and his 10-foot window-washing pole. In the past year, he had lost his business to heroin addiction, his apartment to eviction and his truck to an accident. Now he was working to get clean, leaving his tent at 5:30 each morning for an appointment at a methadone clinic before riding the city bus to businesses all across Maricopa County. He was trying to piece his life back together one window at a time, washing each for $3. He had washed 268 windows in the past month, but he was still nowhere close to saving enough for a security deposit and rent, so instead he had settled into an encampment so immense that it operated as its own separate economy. Blue fentanyl pills sold for $2, and anyone could trade a decent pair of shoes for a week’s supply of methamphetamine. A group of young men in the encampment had begun selling off pieces of the public sidewalk, charging each person $20 a week for what they called “lot rent and security.” That had seemed ridiculous to Kipp until he decided not to pay and then awoke one night to the smell of someone dousing his tent with lighter fuel.
He stood on the sidewalk to brush his teeth, went into his tent and turned on his portable radio. It reminded him of sleeping inside his truck, so he usually kept it playing all night.
“Too loud, Espy?” he asked.
“No, Kipp. You’re fine,” she said.
He tucked his toothpaste into his backpack and noticed a small bag with the leftover remnants of black tar heroin. There was just enough to numb himself out, so he could forget about his methadone appointment and the 18 windows he was scheduled to wash the next day. He held the bag in his hand for a moment, opened the zipper of his tent and tossed it outside.
Joe came into work the next morning and saw a bag of drugs in the road, human waste on the sidewalk, a pit bull wandering the street and blood-soaked napkins blowing toward his restaurant patio, where he and Debbie were scheduled to meet with a real estate agent about the future of Old Station. Debbie still insisted that she was ready to be done with the restaurant. Joe didn’t want to run it without her, but he also didn’t want to board it up and walk away with nothing. They had spent the past several months exploring a compromise, seeing if they could sell the business and retire together.
“Are we getting any bites?” Joe asked the agent, Mike Gaida, as they sat on the patio.
“Oh, yeah. I get calls every week,” Mike said, and he explained that at least 25 potential buyers had looked over the financials and recognized a strong family business for the reasonable price of $165,000. Several bailed once Mike mentioned the encampment, but at least a dozen potential buyers secretly came to Old Station to check out the property. “Most of the time, they don’t call back,” Mike said. “If I track them down, it’s like, ‘God bless those people for staying in business, because I couldn’t do it.’”
“It’s taken years off my life,” Debbie said.
“For her it’s, ‘Get me out. We’ve got to sell, sell, sell,’” Joe said. “But we refused an offer for $250,000 eight years ago, and it keeps dropping. I don’t want to give this place away. I can’t afford it.”
“I get it,” Mike said. “If you were a half-mile in another direction, you’d be sitting on a million bucks. Instead, it’s, How can you dispose of it?” Joe sat with that word for a moment, as he smoothed the wrinkles from his apron. He had worked in restaurants since he was 15, when he started washing dishes at his father’s Italian diner in Montreal. He’d learned how to cook and keep the books, but his father had mostly shown him that a restaurant could succeed because of an owner’s charisma, and Joe brought that philosophy to Phoenix. A lot of places could make a good ham and cheese. Old Station had thrived for 37 years because of Debbie’s hugs at the entryway, Joe’s teasing at the register and the hand-picked signs and inside jokes that covered every inch of their walls.
“We’ve put all of ourselves into this place,” Joe said. They didn’t have a pension. Their plan had always been to invest in the business, sell it and use that money to retire. They weren’t seeking any damages in their lawsuit, but instead were asking the city to remove the encampment and find a different solution to care for its occupants. Lawyers for the city had argued that the case, which is still pending, should be dismissed, because Phoenix was already working to go “above and beyond” to address the problem. It had opened a new Office of Homeless Solutions, and it was spending more than $50 million on outreach programs, mental health services and the creation of 800 more shelter beds in converted hotels and refurbished shipping containers.
“Maybe it all turns around in a few years,” Joe said.
“That’s not on my timeline,” Debbie said. “Physically and mentally, I cannot keep waking up to this level of stress.”
“But maybe in just six months,” Joe started, and she shook her head and gestured across the street.
“You’ll be dealing with this alone,” she said. “It’s aging you. It’s eating you up. How much longer can you do it?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
A few days later, Joe drove four blocks through the encampment to visit the one person who could always make him feel better about the state of the neighborhood. Joel Coplin, 68, owned a building that was now surrounded by more than 55 tents, and yet he continued to run an art gallery downstairs and live with his wife upstairs. He never seemed to run out of hope or compassion or patience, and that’s what Joe thought he needed.
“Meet the luckiest dog in the world,” Joel told Joe, introducing him to a stray puppy that he’d adopted after its owner overdosed in the encampment. “She’d been tied up and barking for days when I found her.”
“You’ve got a good heart, buddy,” Joe said. “Me, maybe not so much anymore.”
“I’ve got a bleeding heart,” Joel said, inviting him inside.
The gallery had been named the best new art space in Phoenix when it opened in 2019, but lately Joel could barely persuade a dozen people to come into the neighborhood for a weekend opening, so he decided to turn his attention to the bigger problems outside. He’d lived for a while in an abandoned building in Hell’s Kitchen when he was an art student in New York, and he knew what it was like to be homeless. He began inviting some of his neighbors into the gallery, offering them food and firewood, paying for some of their medical bills and sometimes painting their portraits as he listened to their stories.
He had tried to help Sterling, who sang prayers in Apache over his meals at the soup kitchen and lived for a while in the bed of Joel’s truck; and Rosie, a grandmother and a heroin addict who was always asking Joel for “one last $5,” which he kept giving to her; and Jennifer, a prostitute in the encampment whom he allowed to use his bathroom until she started bringing guests with her. He banned her from the restroom despite her pleading, and a few nights later she was arrested a block away for public urination. That charge triggered a warrant for another previous offense, which meant she was now serving four years in prison, and Joel was putting $80 each month onto her commissary card to help assuage his guilt.
And then there was Keisha, barely out of her teens, who had skittered around the encampment like a scared cat, wary of everyone, carrying a few old dolls and crying sometimes. Joel had tried to watch out for her, offering her water or a few minutes inside whenever she was upset. But one weekend when he wasn’t around, the temperature was 115 degrees, and she lay down on the curb near his gallery and died of heat exposure and dehydration.
“Not a lot of happy endings here these days,” Joel said. He took out his phone, handed it to Joe and hit play on a video that he recorded a few nights earlier from the window of his upstairs apartment. There were 26 broken streetlights in the encampment because of vandalism and wire theft, so the video was dark except for the reflection of police lights, which illuminated one man being handcuffed and another lying dead on the ground.
“My wife and I were relaxing after dinner, all fat and happy, and then it was bap-bap-bap-bap-bap,” Joel said.
“Did you hit the floor?” Joe asked.
“Well, yeah. We have our castle dark and our fortress strong, but it’s becoming crazy. Our fence got cut the other night, and there was a woman in our yard screaming and yelling her head off in Spanish.”
Joe handed back the phone and shook his head. “I’m realizing here lately that we’re living in a frigging hellhole,” he said. “Us, them, inside, outside. Who’s it working for? When does it stop?”
“Not yet,” Joel said. He explained that he had heard rumors from within the encampment that there would be more gunfire because of a turf battle over pieces of the sidewalk. Joel had already called to warn police, and now he suggested that Joe leave the neighborhood before dark.
“It’s hard to believe, but they’re telling me it will get worse,” he said.
Joe arrived for work early the next morning to the sound of a gunshot coming from across the street and a bullet pinging off a nearby fence. He hurried inside the restaurant and locked the door behind him. He crouched low beneath the windows and called police. “Yeah, it’s Joe again, over at Old Station,” he said, and a few minutes later two police officers were walking the perimeter of his restaurant with flashlights in the predawn darkness, searching for the bullet.
Joe ran cold water over his hands, changed into his apron and tried to focus on the day ahead. “Fresh fruit on special!” he wrote on the chalkboard, and then he started preparing fruit cups as he looked outside and watched the encampment stir to life as if it were just any other morning. Espy set up her desk on the corner. Kipp came out of his tent and started assembling his window-washing pole. Police drove through the area and left without making any arrests. K.D. came out of his tent with his pit bull and started pacing the sidewalk, screaming to himself, waving his arms in the air and narrating the events of the previous night for everyone to hear.
“Y’all made me go psychotic!” he yelled, as Joe stirred his tomato sauce.
“You come at me with a 9 millimeter, then I’m pulling out my .45,” K.D. said, as Joe weighed the turkey.
“Next time, there won’t be no warning shot!” K.D. shouted, as Joe unlocked the door for the first customer of the morning and looked up at the clock.
It was just after 8 a.m. By now Debbie would be waking up and getting ready for work. Soon she would be pulling into the parking lot to help handle the lunch rush.
“What the heck am I going to tell her to keep her from losing it?” Joe wondered, and he began to rehearse the possibilities in his head. It was only one bullet. Nobody had gotten hurt. Police had come right away. The shooter wasn’t targeting the restaurant. The gunshot was random. It could have happened anywhere.
Joe poured tomato sauce over the meatballs and went outside to get some air. K.D. was ranting on the sidewalk, banging his hand against a fence, contorting his fingers into the shape of a gun and then firing it off at the sky.
“This could be the last straw for her,” Joe said, and then he saw Debbie driving toward the parking lot, steering around K.D. and hurrying through the gate
“Wow. Tough morning?” she asked.
He took her inside the restaurant while he tried to come up with the right words. It was only one shot. The restaurant was still standing. They’d run Old Station together for 37 years, and maybe they could hang on for a while longer. But instead Joe put his hand on her shoulder and told her the only thing that felt true.
“The whole thing’s a disaster,” he said. “I get it. It’s OK. I understand why you’re done.” | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/a-sandwich-shop-a-tent-city-and-an-american-crisis/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2023-03-20 00:46:40 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/a-sandwich-shop-a-tent-city-and-an-american-crisis/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
NEW YORK (AP) — A debut novel by the poet and screenwriter Fatimah Ashgar has won the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, a $150,000 honor named for the late Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and given for outstanding work by a woman or non-binary person in the U.S. or Canada.
Ashgar’s “When We Were Sisters,” the story of three Muslim-American siblings, was praised Thursday by judges for weaving “narrative threads as exacting and spare as luminous poems, their fragility a mere guise for their complete, unflinching indestructibility.”
Ashgar is known for the poetry collection “If They Come for Us” and as the co-creator of the Emmy-nominated web series “Brown Girls.”
Shields, who died in 2003 at age 68, was an American-born author who spent much of her life in Canada. She won the Pulitzer in 1994 for her novel “The Stone Diaries.” The Shields prize is overseen by the Carol Shields Prize Foundation, which provides grants and other forms of assistance to women and non-binary writers. | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/fatimah-ashgar-wins-150000-carol-shields-prize-for-fiction/ | 2023-05-05 05:53:14 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/fatimah-ashgar-wins-150000-carol-shields-prize-for-fiction/ |
LOS ANGELES, June 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces that investors with substantial losses have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit against First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. ("FHS" or the "Company") (NYSE: FHS).
Class Period: March 2021 IPO
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: July 11, 2021
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the FHS lawsuit, you can submit your contact information at www.glancylaw.com/cases/first-high-school-education-group-co-ltd/. You can also contact Charles H. Linehan, of GPM at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or via email at shareholders@glancylaw.com to learn more about your rights.
The complaint filed alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that the new rules, regulations, and policies to be implemented by the Chinese government following the Two Sessions parliamentary meetings were far more severe than represented to investors and posed a material adverse threat to First High-School Education and its business; (2) that contemplated Chinese regulations and rules regarding private education were leading to a slowdown of government approval to open new educational facilities which would have a negative effect on First High-School Education's enrollment and growth; and (3) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
Follow us for updates on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Charles Linehan, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
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SOURCE Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/06/21/fhs-investors-have-opportunity-lead-first-high-school-education-group-co-ltd-securities-fraud-lawsuit/ | 2022-06-21 17:06:44 | 0 | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/06/21/fhs-investors-have-opportunity-lead-first-high-school-education-group-co-ltd-securities-fraud-lawsuit/ |
Former President Donald Trump on early Friday morning argued that filing charges against him could result in “potential death & destruction” as he railed against the possibility of an indictment by the Manhattan district attorney.
“What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after 1 a.m. Friday.
“Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truely hates the USA!” Trump wrote.
The post marked an escalation in Trump’s barrage of attacks against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a grand jury is weighing whether to indict Trump over hush-money payments made to a porn star to keep quiet an alleged affair during the 2016 campaign.
It is also likely to further fuel concerns that Trump is stoking violence ahead of potential charges.
Multiple outlets reported in recent weeks an indictment against Trump could be imminent in the Manhattan investigation. Trump last Saturday predicted on Truth Social that he would be arrested the following Tuesday, though advisers said the post was not based on any advance warning.
At the same time, Trump began urging his supporters to protest and “take back our nation” in response to an indictment.
Trump is scheduled to hold a rally on Saturday in Waco, Texas.
Trump’s rhetoric has alarmed some onlookers, who likened it to Trump’s calls for supporters to travel to Washington, D.C., ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the Capitol building to try and stop the certification of the 2020 election results.
Some Republicans, including Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), have sought to tamp down Trump’s calls for protests.
The grand jury in Manhattan did not meet on Wednesday or Thursday, and any charges are not expected to be filed until next week at the earliest.
Bragg has said in an internal memo to staff that he will not be intimidated by Trump’s rhetoric. In response to a letter from House Republicans for his testimony, Bragg argued the former president “created a false expectation that he would be arrested” with his Truth Social post last weekend.
In addition to the Manhattan investigation, the Justice Department is probing Trump over his handling of classified documents upon leaving the White House, as well as his conduct around the Jan. 6 riots. | https://www.wowktv.com/hill-politics/trump-warns-of-potential-death-and-destruction-if-hes-indicted/ | 2023-03-24 14:43:57 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/hill-politics/trump-warns-of-potential-death-and-destruction-if-hes-indicted/ |
It was top 10 or bust for Michigan’s Brayden Lape on “The Voice.” The youngest remaining in the competition, the 16-year old learned tonight whether he would continue on or if his journey on the hit NBC singing competition would end.
Lape is a sophomore at Grass Lake High School located just east of Jackson. For his top 13 performance last night, Lape sang Sam Hunt’s version of “Come Over” by Kenny Chesney. Both Gwen Stefani and his coach, Blake Shelton, gave him high praise for his performance.
“Wow! You know what, there’s just something about you. It’s like, you don’t really have to do much and that’s rare,” Stefani said. “Honestly, you just be you and I want you to remember that about yourself because you’re 16 and you’re just going to get to know yourself better and I think that what you do is just be so pure and that’s what people love about you.”
“I gotta tell you, you just have that thing. You have a solid country voice that’s different and it’s unique,” added his coach, Shelton. “You have a future in country music, not to mention how far you’re going to go on this show. It’s no wonder people love you. You got it all man. Congratulations.”
TONIGHT’S RESULTS
It was a lot more suspenseful for Lape tonight. Last week, he and Bodie received the most votes, so he found out he was moving from the top 16 to the top 13 right away. Tonight, all three of Shelton’s other singers found out America voted them into the top 10 while Lape still awaited word of his fate.
And then there were six before host Carson Daly asked Lape what Shelton’s belief in his talent means to him. “It’s been incredible,” Lape replied. “I think all the feedback he’s given me, I’m just going to take that into my future career, hopefully, and we’ll see where it takes me. Thank you so much.”
And then there were five remaining before Daly finally delivered the good news and sent Lape through to the top 10. We will see Lape perform live next Monday, November 28 at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC with the results of who continues on to air the next night live at 8:00 p.m
We first met Lape on “The Voice” during his Blind Audition on September 20 when he performed “This Town” by Niall Horan. Shelton was the only one of the four coaches to turn a chair for him. Coach John Legend called Lape Shelton’s “Tom Brady.”
Then came the Battle Round on October 18 when Lape went against a much more experienced performer in 29-year old Benny Weag. The two performed “Pretty Heart” by Parker McCollum and Shelton chose to send Lape through to the Knockout Round where he beat out two contestants to move on to last week’s top 16 performance and first live show.
For his top 16 performance, Lape sang “Buy Dirt” by Jordan Davis. He and Bodie were saved by America, receiving the most votes out of all of the contestants. And then, as we mentioned, after last night’s performance, Lape has learned he’s moving on to the top 10.
Two other Michiganders moved past the Blind Auditions on season 22 of “The Voice.” 25-year old Sadie Bass is from Bath, Michigan near Lansing and currently lives in Nashville, TN. She landed on Gwen Stefani’s team and was eliminated in round two, the Battle Round. SOLsong, an EMU grad and Saginaw native, was also eliminated in the Battle Round.
MORE FROM MLIVE:
Lori Greiner makes shocking $1M offer for Michigan shaving company on ‘Shark Tank’
Every Michigan restaurant featured on ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’
Michigan is now home to the most complete Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments collection anywhere | https://www.mlive.com/life/2022/11/brayden-lape-learns-his-top-10-the-voice-fate-and-it-was-suspenseful.html | 2022-11-23 03:17:34 | 0 | https://www.mlive.com/life/2022/11/brayden-lape-learns-his-top-10-the-voice-fate-and-it-was-suspenseful.html |
New Yorker staff writer Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine is the latest, and by far the best, in a line of books this year about the Supreme Court.
There have been a number of attempts this year.
Supreme Conflict, by ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg, contains a fair amount of good conservative gossip about the nomination of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, but it lacks the balance, substance, and context of Toobin's book. Jeffrey Rosen's book about famous court personalities and rivalries is an interesting history packed into a professorial thesis. And a biography of Justice Clarence Thomas by the Washington Post's Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher is a credible, but limited, look at the justice.
In addition, Thomas himself was paid a reported $1 million to write a book that is slated to come out this fall.
If you're interested in the Supreme Court as an institution and as a collection of personalities, though, Toobin's is the book to read.
The Plot
The plot is simple: the decades-long fight by a new and more extreme brand of conservative to take control of the Supreme Court. It is a fight that fails during the '80s and '90s and even in the early 21st century, despite the fact that Republican appointees far outnumbered Democratic appointees on the court.
The dénouement of the plot comes in 2005 when Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retires and Chief Justice William Rehnquist dies. Both would be replaced by appointees far more conservative — Roberts as chief justice and Alito as associate justice — men in the new conservative mold. Or, as Toobin puts it, "in the mold of the new Republican Party of George W. Bush."
Justice O'Connor's Alienation
The central thesis, or one might argue, the central disclosure of Toobin's book is his portrayal of Sandra Day O'Connor as increasingly alienated from the Republican Party she loved.
Ironically, Toobin tells us, if there was a contemporary politician O'Connor really admired, it was the governor of Texas, George W. Bush — a man whose theme of compassionate conservatism was much like O'Connor's, or so she thought.
Instead, says Toobin, O'Connor came to disdain the Bush presidency. It was a transformation that did not happen overnight, but with each step that President Bush took, whether to exert unilateral executive power in the war on terror, or on social issues like abortion, separation of church and state, affirmative action, and gay rights.
O'Connor was a healthy 75 years old in June of 2005, in the prime of her judicial influence and self-confidence, when her husband's Alzheimer's took a turn for the worse. She didn't want to leave the Court, but with the ailing Chief Justice Rehnquist telling her he was going to hang on, she felt she had no choice but to step down to avoid a double vacancy in the future. In a cruel twist of fate, Rehnquist died weeks afterward — and O'Connor's husband would not recognize her within a matter of months and would have to be institutionalized.
The Appointment of Samuel Alito
If O'Connor had any hope that her replacement would be a woman of substance or a justice of her general outlook, that hope was dashed with the appointment of Samuel Alito. The appointment, contends Toobin, was an anathema to O'Connor; it was Alito's lower-court opinion on the abortion question that O'Connor had repudiated in the strongest terms in 1992.
The Alito opinion approved a law that required women to prove they had notified their husbands before they could have an abortion. To O'Connor, Alito's view was "repugnant." Women, she said, "do not lose their constitutionally protected rights when they marry." His appointment as her successor infuriated her.
Most of this is not new to court aficionados, but the rich detail and well-written Toobin narrative is. So, too, are details of the Bush v. Gore case, into which Toobin weaves the personalities of the justices, the rage of conservatives at the actions of the Florida Supreme Court, and the despair of the four dissenters. Indeed, Justice David Souter is portrayed as so upset by the political nature of the final decision that he nearly resigned in protest.
In short, this is a good read, a digestible and often fascinating look at the court, its recent history, and what lies ahead.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.apr.org/2007-09-14/toobins-the-nine-reveals-politics-of-high-court | 2022-08-20 18:32:01 | 1 | https://www.apr.org/2007-09-14/toobins-the-nine-reveals-politics-of-high-court |
LONDON (AP) — “Ted Lasso” star Hannah Waddingham, Ukrainian musician Julia Sanina and British singer Alesha Dixon will host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, organizers announced Wednesday.
The pan-continental pop competition will take place in May in the English city of Liverpool after Britain was asked to stage the event on behalf of designated host country Ukraine.
Thirty-seven countries will compete for Europe’s pop crown, with semifinals held May 9 and 11 before a final on May 13. All three programs will be hosted by Waddingham, Sanin and Dixon, a TV presenter and former member of girl group Mis-Teeq.
Sanina, who fronts Ukrainian alternative rock band The Hardkiss, said she was “excited to showcase Ukrainian culture and creativity, and to help put on a show to make my country proud.”
Waddingham, an Emmy Award winner for her role as owner of a struggling soccer team owner in hit Apple TV+ comedy “Ted Lasso,” said it was “a great honor to be standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, a country which has carried itself with such strength and unity.”
Ukraine won the right to host the pop extravaganza when its entry, folk-rap ensemble Kalush Orchestra, won the 2022 contest. British organizers say the event will be a celebration of Ukrainian culture and creativity, as well as Liverpool’s musical heritage. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/ap-ted-lasso-star-waddingham-to-co-host-eurovision-contest/ | 2023-02-23 03:33:03 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/ap-ted-lasso-star-waddingham-to-co-host-eurovision-contest/ |
2-year-old dies from E. coli infection traced back to petting zoo goats, health department says
EAGLEVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV/Gray News) – A 2-year-old child died after contracting E. coli that was traced back to a petting zoo, according to a report from the Tennessee Department of Health.
Officials with the TDH said the child’s older brother attended summer camp at Lucky Ladd Farms in June where he picked up E. coli. The bacteria was then transmitted to the 2-year-old, who then developed hemolytic uremic syndrome and died.
According to the Mayo Clinic, hemolytic uremic syndrome causes destruction of red blood cells, which can then cause kidney failure. It occurs as a complication of a diarrheal infection, usually from E. coli. It occurs most commonly in children under 5 years old.
The TDH conducted an outbreak investigation after confirming two cases of STEC, or Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli, related to the summer camp at Lucky Ladd Farms.
Investigation confirmed that, out of 82 attendees to the summer camp, three cases of E. coli were confirmed, two primary and another secondary. The secondary case was the 2-year-old child who died.
The source of the STEC was traced to two baby goats that were in contact with the confirmed cases. Those goats were euthanized, and the barn used to house them was demolished.
STEC is naturally found in the intestinal tracts of healthy animals such as cattle, sheep, deer, elk, and goats. Transmission can normally be avoided by diligent handwashing when dealing with these animals.
The farm voluntarily closed on June 25 while the TDH performed a full evaluation of the facility. The farm reopened on July 21, three weeks after voluntarily closing.
The goat area is no longer a part of their program.
Lucky Ladd Farms released a statement regarding the outbreak on their Facebook account:
“Our family and staff continue to offer our prayers and heartfelt condolences to everyone affected by the very sad outcome that occurred in June. We thank the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) for their very professional and thorough investigation.
We are committed to keeping our guests and staff healthy and safe; but we cannot guarantee against exposure to communicable and zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, E. coli, Salmonella, and Lyme disease to name a few, during a visit with us as there is an inherent risk of exposure at any public facility including schools, parks, grocery stores, restaurants, public restrooms, etc.
We have been advised this risk exists the moment you walk out your door into any public setting with or without animals. We do our best to educate all guests of the potential risks before your visit by sharing information on our website, through online ticketing system, and with signage across the farm.”
Copyright 2022 WSMV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kold.com/2022/10/19/2-year-old-dies-e-coli-infection-traced-back-petting-zoo-goats-health-department-says/ | 2022-10-19 22:20:14 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/2022/10/19/2-year-old-dies-e-coli-infection-traced-back-petting-zoo-goats-health-department-says/ |
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MIAMI, Nov. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MUSIC BROKERS: The only independent Latin American company that has managed to develop a multinational platform, celebrates its 25th anniversary this October 25. It has offices in LATAM and the USA and an extensive network of more than 38 associated distributors around the world.
Initially founded in Argentina by Federico Scialabba and Julián Cohen in 1997 as a traditional record label, the company rapidly expanded its business by developing not only an extensive catalog of music in multiple physical formats, but also specific business units aimed at offering high-quality audiovisual content all over the world.
"MB creates soundtracks for certain situations that infiltrate people's emotions, places, what people recognize and need", said Federico Scialabba, founder of Music Brokers.
At first, MB was born as a company supported by a permanent low cost product line with low-priced collections: ranging from boleros to romantic music, to tango to various other genres, later on, thanks to its great success, to be marketed in non-traditional outlets like magazine kiosks and newsstands. The collections became a boom. Spotify did not yet exist, and without knowing it, people bought something like a playlist, they were "physical playlists", compiled.
With time and the possibility of expanding its investments, MB has evolved with its products and has become much more exacting. It launched lines with other price points, greatly improved the quality of its licenses and began to work with more rigorous partners.
A few years later, in 2005, the Bossa n´ Stones series arrived, with millions of units sold not only in Argentina, but throughout the world, it was with this album that the company's internationalization began.
Throughout the years, Music Brokers has developed very successful products that range from the multi-platinum Bossa n´ Stones, Pericos & Friends, 80s Re:Covered, Vintage Reggae Café, Gitanos de Buenos Aires, the licensing of the main Indie labels of the world and the construction of various artistic careers in multiple genres. Within these projects there are great names and artists of the stature of: Diego Torres, Niña Pastori, Belinda Carlisle, Gregory Isaacs, Kim Carnes, China Crisis, Heaven 17, Tony Dize, The Wailers, Samantha Fox, Os Paralamas do Sucesso, just to name a few. In addition, within the region, they have launched and promoted the careers of Arcade Fire, Sepultura, Vampire Weekend, Alabama Shakes, Radiohead, The Church and Black Francis.
More information https://mbgroupweb.com/
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SOURCE Music Brokers | https://www.valleynewslive.com/prnewswire/2022/11/28/music-brokers-25-years-transforming-music-industry/ | 2022-11-28 13:33:32 | 1 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/prnewswire/2022/11/28/music-brokers-25-years-transforming-music-industry/ |
Senior forward Leo O’Boyle hit a corner 3-pointer with four seconds remaining in the first overtime, then scored six points in the second overtime to lead No. 6 Lafayette to an 84-76 double-overtime victory over No. 7 American Sunday afternoon.
The Leopards will play at No. 1 seed Colgate, the regular season champion, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday for the championship. Colgate beat Army. 91-74 on Sunday. The winner advances to the NCAA Tournament.
O’Boyle scored a team-high 23 points, one shy of his career high, on an afternoon where he eclipsed 1,000 career points.
T. J. Berger scored 11 points to help Lafayette take a 33-17 halftime lead. The Leopards led by as many as 21 in the second half before the Eagles rallied and forced overtime tied at 59 when Vander Baan sank the second of two free throws with 22 seconds left. O’Boyle forced a second extra period when he buried the 3-pointer with four seconds left to knot the score at 66.
Lafayette scored the first eight points of the second overtime to take control and held on to advance to the Patriot League championship game for the first time since 2015.
Lafayette (11-22) had three players record double-doubles, with sophomore center Justin Vander Baan finishing with 19 points and 13 rebounds, junior forward Kyle Jenkins with 11 points and 10 boards and sophomore guard T.J. Berger adding 14 points and 10 assists.
Junior forward Matt Rogers posted his fifth double-double of the season with 24 points and 13 rebounds for American (17-14). Rogers gave the Eagles a brief lead at the end of regulation and scored the Eagles’ first five points in the first overtime.
Sophomore guard Elijah Stephens scored all 15 of his points after halftime and recorded a game-high six steals. Senior guard Jaxon Knotek and junior forward Johnny O’Neil added 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Berger scored 11 points to help Lafayette take a 33-17 halftime lead at halftime. The Leopards led by as many as 21 in the second half before the Eagles rallied and forced overtime tied at 59 when Vander Baan sank the second of two free throws with 22 seconds left.
The Eagles overcame a 21-point deficit with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation as Stephens and Knotek combined for 24 points in the second half to help send the game to overtime.
The Associated Press contributed to this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. | https://www.mcall.com/2023/03/05/lafayette-beats-american-u-in-double-ot-in-patriot-semifinal/ | 2023-03-13 07:02:57 | 1 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/03/05/lafayette-beats-american-u-in-double-ot-in-patriot-semifinal/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump will be questioned under oath Wednesday in the New York attorney general’s long-running civil investigation into his dealings as a real estate mogul, he confirmed in a post on his Truth Social account.
Trump’s testimony comes amid a flurry of legal activity surrounding him, taking place just days after FBI agents searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as part of an unrelated federal probe into whether he took classified records when he left the White House.
The New York civil investigation, led by Attorney General Letitia James, involves allegations that Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, misstated the value of prized assets like golf courses and skyscrapers, misleading lenders and tax authorities.
“In New York City tonight. Seeing racist N.Y.S. Attorney General tomorrow, for a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. history!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, invoking his oft-repeated claims about James, who is Black, and the investigation.
“My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides,” Trump added. “Banana Republic!”
Messages seeking comment were left with James’ office and with Trump’s lawyer.
Trump’s testimony is happening at a critical point in James’ investigation, midway through a pivotal week in his post-presidency.
In May, James’ office said that it was nearing the end of its probe and that investigators had amassed substantial evidence that could support legal action, such as a lawsuit, against Trump, his company or both.
The Republican billionaire’s deposition — a legal term for sworn testimony that’s not given in court — is one of the few remaining missing pieces, the attorney general’s office said.
Two of Trump’s adult children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, testified in the investigation in recent days, two people familiar with the matter said. The people were not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
The Trumps’ testimony had initially been planned for last month but was delayed after the July 14 death of the former president’s ex-wife, Ivana Trump, the mother of Ivanka, Donald Jr. and another son, Eric Trump, who sat for a deposition in James’ investigation in 2020.
On Friday, the Trump Organization and its longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, will be in court seeking dismissal of tax fraud charges brought against them last year in the Manhattan district attorney’s parallel criminal probe.
James, a Democrat, has said in court filings that her office has uncovered “significant” evidence that Trump’s company “used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions.”
James alleges the Trump Organization exaggerated the value of its holdings to impress lenders or misstated what land was worth to slash its tax burden, pointing to annual financial statements given to banks to secure favorable loan terms and to financial magazines to justify Trump’s place among the world’s billionaires.
The company even exaggerated the size of Trump’s Manhattan penthouse, saying it was nearly three times its actual size — a difference in value of about $200 million, James’ office said.
Trump has denied the allegations, explaining that seeking the best valuations is a common practice in the real estate industry. He says James’ investigation is part of a politically motivated “witch hunt” and that her office is “doing everything within their corrupt discretion to interfere with my business relationships, and with the political process.”
“THERE IS NO CASE!” Trump said in a February statement, after Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that James’ office had “the clear right” to question Trump and other principals in his company.
While James has explored suing Trump or his company, the Manhattan district attorney’s office has long pursued a parallel criminal investigation.
That probe had appeared to be progressing toward a possible criminal indictment, but slowed after a new district attorney, Alvin Bragg, took office in January.
A grand jury that had been hearing evidence disbanded. The top prosecutor who had been handling the probe resigned after Bragg raised questions internally about the viability of the case.
Bragg has said his investigation is continuing, which means that Trump could invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and decline to answer questions from James’ investigators.
According to the subpoena issued by James’ office, Trump was to appear in person at the attorney general’s office, located in a Manhattan office tower that has doubled as the fictional conglomerate Waystar Royco’s headquarters on HBO’s “Succession.”
As vociferous as Trump has been in defending himself in written statements and on the rally stage, legal experts say the same strategy could backfire in a deposition setting because anything he says could potentially be used against him or his company in the criminal investigation. No former president has even been charged with a crime.
In fighting to block the subpoenas, lawyers for the Trumps argued New York authorities were using the civil investigation to get information for the criminal probe and that the depositions were a ploy to avoid calling them before a criminal grand jury, where state law requires they be given immunity.
Last summer, spurred by evidence uncovered by James’ office, Manhattan prosecutors filed charges against Weisselberg and the Trump Organization. Prosecutors said Weisselberg collected more than $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation.
Weisselberg and the company have pleaded not guilty.
Weisselberg and Eric Trump each invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 500 times when questioned by James’ lawyers during separate depositions in 2020, according to court papers.
The former president could choose to do the same, but it’s likely “he’ll claim lack of knowledge on many questions,” New York University law professor Stephen Gillers said.
That could be a successful strategy, since Trump is known as more of a “big-picture guy” Gillers said. “So he’ll answer the big-picture questions and those answers will be general enough to keep him out of trouble, or so his lawyers will hope.”
“On the other hand, his impetuosity makes him a lawyer’s nightmare and his overconfidence may lead him astray. Whoever questions him will encourage that,” the professor added.
Once her investigation wraps up, James could decide to bring a lawsuit and seek financial penalties against Trump or his company, or even a ban on them being involved in certain types of businesses.
___
Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
___
On Twitter, follow Michael Balsamo at twitter.com/mikebalsamo1 and Michael Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak | https://www.wane.com/news/politics/ap-politics/trump-says-hes-testifying-wednesday-in-ny-investigation/ | 2022-08-10 09:32:36 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/politics/ap-politics/trump-says-hes-testifying-wednesday-in-ny-investigation/ |
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog met Thursday in Moscow with officials from Russia’s military and state atomic energy company as he pursues a long-running drive to set up a protection zone around a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Russian company Rosatom described the talks on measures needed to safeguard Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the surrounding region as “substantive, useful and frank.” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi indicated that more negotiations were needed after “another round of necessary discussions."
“It’s key that the zone focuses solely on preventing a nuclear accident,” he tweeted. “I am continuing my efforts towards this goal with a sense of utmost urgency.”
The meeting in Moscow came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a defiant wartime visit to the U.S. capital, his first known trip outside his country in the nearly 10 months since Russia invaded.
The visit to Washington was aimed at reinvigorating support for Ukraine in the U.S. and around the world at a time when Russia appears to have lost battlefield momentum. There is concern that Ukraine's allies are growing weary of providing the military and economic assistance that have enabled Ukraine to keep fighting.
The Russian military on Thursday reported that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu paid a visit to Russian troops on the front line what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. The exact location of the visit was not disclosed.
A video released by the Russian Defense Ministry showed Shoigu inspecting temporary troop quarters in dugouts and talking to military commanders.
Before his trip to Washington, Zelenskyy met with Ukrainian troops in the eastern city of Bakhmut, the recent focus of some of the war's most intense combat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has never been seen traveling to front-line areas. Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that Putin visited his Ukraine command headquarters last week, but its location wasn’t disclosed, and it wasn’t even clear if it was in Ukraine.
The IAEA's Grossi has urged Russia and Ukraine for over three months to agree on a safety zone around Europe’s largest nuclear power station. Zaporizhizia province and areas across the Dnieper River from the nuclear power plant have been under regular shelling since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for a demilitarized zone around the plant, which was seized by Russian forces early in the war.
Although all six of the plant’s reactors are shut down, the reactor core and used nuclear fuel must still be cooled for lengthy periods to prevent them overheating and triggering dangerous meltdowns like the ones that occurred in 2011 when a tsunami hit the Fukushima plant in Japan. Ukraine saw the world’s worst nuclear accident, at Chernobyl in 1986.
Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the repeated shelling, which has led on multiple occasions to the Zaporizhizia plant losing the electricity needed to operate the cooling system. Ukrainian officials earlier this month also accused Russian troops of installing multiple rocket launchers at the site.
Grossi said in November that the main issues under discussion involve military equipment and the radius of the safety zone. He said the IAEA's proposal is very simple: "Don’t shoot at the plant, don’t shoot from the plant.”
___
Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/IAEA-discusses-Ukraine-nuclear-plant-protections-17671339.php | 2022-12-22 13:38:36 | 1 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/IAEA-discusses-Ukraine-nuclear-plant-protections-17671339.php |
WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Supreme Court issued its abortion ruling last June overturning Roe v. Wade, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said “our work is far from done.” He didn’t say what might come next.
A year later later, McCarthy is the speaker, Republicans are in the majority and the blanks are beginning to be filled in.
In a flurry of little-noticed legislative action, GOP lawmakers are pushing abortion policy changes, trying to build on the work of activists whose strategy successfully elevated their fight to the nation’s highest court.
In one government funding bill after another, Republicans are incorporating unrelated policy provisions, known as riders, to restrict women’s reproductive rights. Democrats say the proposals will never become law.
“This is not just about an attack on women’s health,” Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Friday. “I view it as an attempt to derail the entire process of funding the federal government by injecting these riders into the appropriations process.”
Rep. Kay Granger, the Texas Republican who heads the committee, said during a hearings this past week that the riders that were included continue “long-standing pro-life protections that are important to our side of the aisle.”
Using budget bills this way is hardly new, but it points to a broader divide among Republicans about where to go next on abortion after the Supreme Court’s decision cleared the way for state-by-state restrictions on abortion rights.
Republicans for years held stand-alone votes in the House on bills to restrict abortion. Now, some in the party — particularly the nearly 20 Republicans running for reelection in swing districts — are hesitant, if not outright opposed, to roll calls on abortion proposals. They say such bills will never see the light of day as long as Democrats control the Senate.
The GOP’s new push is taking place line by line in the sprawling legislation drafted each year to fund government agencies and programs.
Nearly a dozen anti-abortion measures have been included so far in budget bills. In the agricultural one, for example, Republicans are looking to reverse a recent move by the Food and Drug Administration that would allow the contraception pill mifepristone to be dispensed in certified pharmacies, as opposed to only in hospitals and clinics.
Anti-abortion proposals have found their way into the defense bill, where GOP lawmakers are aiming to ban paid leave and travel for military service members and their family members who are seeking reproductive health care services. Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he warned Defense Secretary Llyod Austin about it.
“I told them that that was going to be a poison pill when it came to getting their legislation done over here,” Rogers, R-Ala., said this past week. “I told him, you know, you’re asking for trouble. And now they got trouble.”
There are riders, too, in the financial services bill, where Republicans want to prohibit local and federal money to be used to carry out a District of Columbia law that bans discrimination over employees’ reproductive decisions.
“It seems like they can’t do anything without trying to put something in there to restrict abortion rights,” Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state, chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, said. “I don’t think the public is fooled by that and absolutely, this will be a critical issue in the next election.”
She and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are working to target the vulnerable Republicans on the issue before the 2024 election.
The broad effort by Republicans to include what critics often deride as “poison pills” in the appropriations process steps up the confrontation with Senate Democrats and the White House come September over spending bills, potentially heightening the odds of a government shutdown with the Oct. 1 start of the new budget year.
DeLauro, who headed the Appropriations Committee in the last Congress, said the decision by Republicans to include these measures is a betrayal of the agreement the parties made years ago to not include any provisions in spending bills that would block passage.
She said committee Democrats who spent the past week marking up these bills late into the night pleaded with their Republican colleagues to rethink the abortion language.
The Senate just last week passed the military and agriculture bills out of committee without any abortion measures attached.
Sen. Patty Murray, chair of the Senate Appropriation Committee, told The Associated Press that she has made it clear that she would be a “firewall” against House Republicans’ efforts to further restrict reproductive rights.
“I have fought back Republican efforts to restrict access to reproductive health care and abortion in every deal or negotiation I have been a part of since I got to the Senate — that’s not changing any time soon,” said Murray, D-Wash.
In a previous statement with the committee’s top Republican, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the two pledged “to continue working together in a bipartisan manner to craft serious funding bills that can be signed into law.”
But the growing tension between GOP factions over abortion legislation remains apparent.
The Republican Study Committee — the largest single group in the House GOP conference — recently issued a memo to members urging leaders to hold vote on a proposal that would “clarify that health insurance plans that provide elective abortion would be ineligible for federal funding.”
That bill would effectively codify the Hyde Amendment, which restricts government funding for most abortions. Democrats have allowed it to become part of government funding legislation for decades, as a trade-off of sorts that has enabled them to focus on securing other priorities.
It is unclear whether House Republican leaders will want to take the risk of bringing anti-abortion measures to the floor for votes when the spending bill route may be a more palatable option for some in the party. | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/in-post-roe-era-house-republicans-begin-quiet-push-for-new-restrictions-on-abortion-access/ | 2023-06-26 01:42:14 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/in-post-roe-era-house-republicans-begin-quiet-push-for-new-restrictions-on-abortion-access/ |
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Remarkable as Damar Hamlin’s recovery has been, the Buffalo Bills safety still faces a lengthy rehabilitation some three weeks after going into cardiac arrest and needing to be resuscitated on the field during a game in Cincinnati, his marketing representative told The Associated Press on Thursday night.
“Damar still requires oxygen and is having his heart monitored regularly to ensure there are no setbacks or after effects,” Jordon Rooney said. “Though he is able to visit the team’s facility, Damar is not in position to travel often, and requires additional rest to help his body heal.”
Rooney provided the update to emphasize Hamlin still faces hurdles since being discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center on Jan. 11. Hamlin’s release came five days after his doctors said the player was breathing on his own, walking, talking and showing no signs of neurological damage.
Rooney’s update also gave perspective to comments made by Bills coach Sean McDermott, who on Wednesday said Hamlin has begun making regular visits to the team’s facility. McDermott, however, stressed the 24-year-old was taking “a baby step at a time,” while adding, Hamlin is “dipping his toe back in here and getting on the road to just getting back to himself.”
Hamlin has not yet made a public appearance except for a photograph linebacker Matt Milano posted on his Instagram account of his teammate at the Bills facility on Saturday. And he’s not yet spoken publicly except for posting messages on his social media accounts.
Rooney said Hamlin is being watched over by his parents and “remains very upbeat and grateful for the support he’s received from his teammates and coaches, Bills Mafia and people from around the world.” That outpouring of support has led to Hamlin’s charitable foundation, Chasing M’s, raising nearly $9 million in donations.
Without saying from where, he added, Hamlin will be cheering for the Bills on Sunday, when Buffalo hosts Cincinnati in an AFC divisional playoff.
Hamlin live-tweeted while watching Buffalo’s 35-23 season-ending win over New England from his hospital bed at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Jan. 8. Last weekend, he live-tweeted while watching from home the Bills’ 34-31 win over Miami in a wild-card playoff.
The game against Cincinnati carries additional significance. It marks the first meeting between the two teams since their game was canceled on Jan. 2, when Hamlin collapsed after being struck squarely in the chest while making what appeared to be a routine tackle of Bengals receiver Tee Higgins.
Hamlin’s family and Bills quarterback Josh Allen have defended Higgins in saying he shouldn’t be blamed for what happened.
On Thursday, Higgins said he couldn’t be more appreciative of the family’s support, while expressing hope Hamlin could attend the game so the two could meet.
“Just be happy to see him,” Higgins said. “I haven’t really spoken to him. Just letting his family do what he needs to do with all his loved ones.”
Also on Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul extended her support to Hamlin during a phone call with the player. In a message posted on her Twitter account, Hochul referred to Hamlin as “an inspiration,” and let him know “the hopes and prayers of 20 million New Yorkers have been with him throughout his recovery.”
Hamlin, who is from the Pittsburgh area, replied by writing it was good meeting Hochul and he was “excited to see how our collaborations in the future will help and affect so many.” | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/bills-hamlin-faces-long-recovery-family-spokesman-says/ | 2023-01-20 13:25:49 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/bills-hamlin-faces-long-recovery-family-spokesman-says/ |
TRAVERSE CITY — The Fourth of July holiday moved TCNewTech off its traditional spot on the calendar.
So the organization continued to flip the script.
Normally held on the first Tuesday of the month featuring entrepreneurs pitching their ideas and start-ups for a $500 prize, the July 11 event at the City Opera House featured a role reversal.
It was those who usually make the investment in a product or a concept on stage vying for the audience vote and a $500 donation to charity. Ben Look of Seamless Ventures took top honors July 11 and matched the donation for a $1,000 donation to the Munson Healthcare Foundation.
“We are honored to have Ben Look as a member of the TCNewTech community,” TCNewTech Event Director Christopher Nesbit said in a release. “His insights and expertise are invaluable to our entrepreneurs, and we are grateful for his support of the Munson Healthcare Foundation.”
“Working with Corporate Innovation” was the title of Look’s presentation.
Nesbit said each of the presentations at the Reverse Investor Pitch Night event had valuable information for the start-up community.
“We were thrilled to see such a wealth of information being poured out at the Reverse Investor Pitch Event,” Nesbit said in the release. “The quality of the pitches was outstanding, and Ben Look’s presentation was particularly impressive. His insights into the corporate innovation landscape are invaluable to our audience ...”
In a release previewing the event, Nesbit said the reverse of the traditional TCNewTech format “where investors become the storytellers and startups gain firsthand knowledge from seasoned industry experts” can provide information to a broad audience.
“This event represents our commitment to fostering innovation, building connections and supporting the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem,” he said in the release.
Other Reverse Investor Pitch Night event contestants included:
- Bradley Matson – With over 15 years of entrepreneurship experience, “Matson has played a pivotal role in building startup ecosystems,” according to the TCNewTech release. “His expertise and passion drive innovation and support vibrant startup communities.”
- Thomas Coke – “A true powerhouse in the realms of entrepreneurship, law and alternative finance, Coke brings a wealth of experience to the table,” according to the release. “His diverse background and strategic approach to business growth make him a valuable asset in the startup ecosystem.”
- Broc W. Edwards – “With a background in law and alternative finance, Edwards is a respected entrepreneur and startup enthusiast,” the release said. “His deep understanding of the investment landscape and commitment to driving innovation make him a valuable participant ...”
TCNewTech’s next event is scheduled for Aug. 1.
For more information about the August and upcoming events, visit tcnewtech.org. | https://www.record-eagle.com/news/business/look-sees-his-way-to-victory-at-reverse-investor-pitch-night/article_dec69efa-24c0-11ee-b6ea-3fcd88ec684c.html | 2023-07-19 15:53:14 | 0 | https://www.record-eagle.com/news/business/look-sees-his-way-to-victory-at-reverse-investor-pitch-night/article_dec69efa-24c0-11ee-b6ea-3fcd88ec684c.html |
ASAP said it plans to lay off 89 employees at its downtown Lafayette offices because of a prolonged drop in business.
The food delivery service announced the layoffs in a letter filed with the Louisiana Workforce Commission earlier this month. The workers will be permanently let go on January 10.
In the letter, the company said the firings were “based on a prolonged decrease in revenue as reported in our public filings.”
ASAP reported a $73.5 million net loss in the third quarter, the fourth consecutive time the business has ended a quarter in the red.
The comment did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company has attributed its losses to a drop in business caused by inflation, high gas prices and competition from other food delivery services. Through the first nine months of the year, ASAP has had an average of 18,346 daily orders. That’s nearly half of the 35,565 average daily orders the business had through September 2021.
The drop in customers has taken a toll on sales. For the first nine months of the year, ASAP reported $91.4 million in revenue, compared to $143.5 million through September 2021.
ASAP, which had been known as Waitr until it was forced to rebrand earlier this year due to a trademark dispute, saw its business soar during the early days of the COVID pandemic. Indoor dining was banned and restaurants scrambled to offer delivery service.
ASAP has pulled out every tool imaginable this year to improve its financial performance. It has changed its business model to deliver more than food, including auto parts, apparel and more, and it has reduced outstanding debt. It expand its delivery services for sporting events, offering concession delivery to seats in the Caesars Superdome, MetLife Stadium, LSU's Alex Box Stadium, the University of Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Russo Park.
But the company’s stock price remains low. Shareholders approved a reverse stock split earlier this month, where 20 shares would be converted to 1 share, in an attempt to raise the price and avoid delisting from the NASDAQ exchange.
The split took place Monday. The stocks were trading at 9 cents a share as of mid-morning Tuesday. | https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/asap-says-it-will-layoff-89-workers-in-lafayette/article_3d9eb2b0-6a85-11ed-8098-0f178d8fa4c8.html | 2022-11-22 21:16:57 | 0 | https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/asap-says-it-will-layoff-89-workers-in-lafayette/article_3d9eb2b0-6a85-11ed-8098-0f178d8fa4c8.html |
What UNC basketball’s Hubert Davis said about Tar Heels’ 4 transfers, incoming freshman
North Carolina basketball has officially announced the signing of four players from the transfer portal and an incoming freshman.
Harrison Ingram (Stanford), Cormac Ryan (Notre Dame), Jae’Lyn Withers (Louisville) and Paxson Wojcik (Brown) are joining the Tar Heels for the 2023-24 season.
Simeon Wilcher and Zayden High are UNC’s incoming freshmen, along with Elliot Cadeau, who reclassified to join the 2023 class. Cadeau's signing was also announced Wednesday.
After missing the 2023 NCAA Tournament, UNC lost two players to graduation and seven more to the transfer portal. The Tar Heels are set to return starters RJ Davis and Armando Bacot.
FUTURE POINT GUARD:UNC basketball's Elliott Cadeau reclassifying to join Tar Heels ahead of 2023-24 season
UNC RECRUITING:A look at UNC basketball's No. 1 ranked 2024 recruiting class, led by Ian Jackson
A day after Cadeau’s announcement, UNC coach Hubert Davis offered his thoughts on the Tar Heels’ four incoming transfers and its latest five-star freshman. Here’s what Davis had to say about what Cadeau, Ingram, Ryan, Withers and Wojcik can provide for Carolina.
Elliot Cadeau
The 6-foot-2 point guard announced his plans to reclassify on Tuesday before making it official on Wednesday. He averaged 15.7 points, 9.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals through 17 games on the Nike EYBL circuit.
"Elliot is an elite passer and playmaker," Hubert Davis said in a school-issued statement.
"He always wants his team to win and excels at making his teammates around him better. Elliot is a selfless teammate who consistently celebrates the success of others. He is a great addition to our team and program, and we are excited he is a Tar Heel."
Harrison Ingram
A 6-foot-7 wing from Dallas, Ingram averaged 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds last season at Stanford. The 2022 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year started 62 of 65 games with the Cardinal.
“I love Harrison’s elite versatility on both ends of the floor,” Davis said.
“He’s a great passer, playmaker and scorer with size. He is a great leader and teammate who has a burning desire to win. We initially recruited him in high school and are glad he’s a Tar Heel.”
Cormac Ryan
The 6-foot-5 guard has 1,173 points, including 212 three-pointers in 116 games. After starting his career at Stanford, Ryan made the move to Notre Dame. He’s a 35.2% shooter from 3-point range and knocked down a trey in 65 of 116 games.
“Cormac is an accomplished college basketball player who has consistently performed at the highest level on the biggest stages,” Davis said. “He’s a great shooter, defender, leader and fierce competitor every time he steps on the floor. We are thrilled to have him here at UNC.”
Jae’Lyn Withers
The 6-foot-9 Charlotte native made 64 starts in 81 games in three seasons at Louisville, averaging 8.0 points and 5.6 rebounds. In his final season with the Cardinals, Withers averaged 8.9 points and 5.3 rebounds. He knocked down 41.7% of his 3-point attempts.
“Jae’Lyn is a versatile big man who can do a number of things really well on both ends of the court,” Davis said.
“He can consistently make three-pointers, run the floor, post up, attack the offense and create plays off the bounce. He is also an excellent defender and rebounder, exactly what we were looking for at that position. He is a North Carolina kid and we are glad he is back home.”
Paxson Wojcik
The first player in the portal to commit to UNC, Wojick played two seasons at Loyola Chicago before two more years at Brown. The 6-foot-5 guard started all 54 games at Brown, averaging 14.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists last season. He made 38% of his 3-point attempts
“Paxson is a talented basketball player who excels at doing everything on the court at a high level,” Davis said. “He brings consistent perimeter shooting, rebounding and passing from the wing. He will be a great leader for us. We are excited to have Paxson as part of the Carolina Basketball family.”
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on Twitter. | https://www.fayobserver.com/story/sports/college/acc/2023/05/31/unc-basketball-transfers-tar-heels-recruiting-harrison-ingram-hubert-davis/70274638007/ | 2023-05-31 22:39:43 | 0 | https://www.fayobserver.com/story/sports/college/acc/2023/05/31/unc-basketball-transfers-tar-heels-recruiting-harrison-ingram-hubert-davis/70274638007/ |
The National Weather Service is forecasting mild weather over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend for the Grand Valley, although there could be some weather-related travel issues for those headed to the Front Range.
Today and Thursday are expected to see dry weather with highs in the mid-40s, with those highs climbing into the high 40s through the weekend.
Those temperatures are around normal for this time of year, according to NWS meteorologist David Byers. It figures to be a pretty mild holiday weekend, he said.
“We’re going to see some severe sunshine,” Byers said.
However, according to Byers, a storm starting around this afternoon into Thursday morning could drop some snow on the northern mountains, and on the Interstate 70 corridor.
That storm could be followed by another storm Friday afternoon and evening, and then again Tuesday, which is expected to be more widespread than the first two, dropping up to 1/2 inch of snow in the Grand Junction area.
The storms are expected to largely impact the northern mountains, but could also affect the I-70 corridor.
The American Automobile Association estimates Thanksgiving travel will increase by 2.8% in Colorado this year, with 951,000 Colorado residents expected to travel 50 miles or more. That’s just 7,000 less than the state record for Thanksgiving travelers, set in 2019.
Of those travelers, 89% are expected to drive, and Denver is the eighth most popular destination in the U.S. based on hotel bookings, according to AAA.
“Travel is roaring back from the pandemic,” said Skyler McKinley, regional director of public affairs for AAA. “Facing high gas prices, other inflationary pressures, and a wobbly economy, travel spending still hit its highest point since the pandemic began. AAA expects busy roads and long lines at the airport, so give yourself extra time and be as flexible as you can with your travel plans.”
For travelers from the Grand Junction area, the storms could impact travel plans over Vail Pass and through the Eisenhower Tunnel.
“You can expect enough snow to make the roads slick and icy,” Byers said. “So people who are going to be out are going to need to drive carefully.”
According to AAA, motorists should remember to slow down and move over for first responders.
“Every single holiday traveler, tow truck driver, first responder, and road crew deserves to make it home safely this Thanksgiving,” McKinley said. “Saving a life is as easy as slowing down and moving over whenever you see any flashing hazard lights at the roadside.” | https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/mild-weather-expected-for-thanksgiving-some-travel-impacts-on-i-70/article_42bf5a58-6aba-11ed-a635-1bc9ab1532c4.html | 2022-11-23 10:05:54 | 0 | https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/western_colorado/mild-weather-expected-for-thanksgiving-some-travel-impacts-on-i-70/article_42bf5a58-6aba-11ed-a635-1bc9ab1532c4.html |
JONESBORO, Ark — Omar El-Sheikh scored 25 points as Arkansas State beat Little Rock 77-75 on Thursday.
The Trojans (4-9) were led by Jordan Jefferson, who posted 30 points and four steals. Little Rock also got 16 points from Deantoni Gordon. Myron Gardner also had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/el-sheikhs-25-lead-arkansas-state-over-little-rock-77-75/2022/12/22/90bae4fc-824d-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | 2022-12-22 23:15:41 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/el-sheikhs-25-lead-arkansas-state-over-little-rock-77-75/2022/12/22/90bae4fc-824d-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
FBI arrests suspected leaker of Pentagon documents. North Korea tests a powerful new missile. Republicans face a challenge about how to message and legislate on abortion rights.
Michel Martin is the weekend host of All Things Considered, where she draws on her deep reporting and interviewing experience to dig in to the week's news. Outside the studio, she has also hosted "Michel Martin: Going There," an ambitious live event series in collaboration with Member Stations. | https://www.mainepublic.org/2023-04-14/morning-news-brief | 2023-04-14 10:54:27 | 0 | https://www.mainepublic.org/2023-04-14/morning-news-brief |
Changing Supervision Requirements for Therapy Services Will Reduce Administrative Burden
and Increase Access to Care in Rural and Underserved Communities, States The American
Physical Therapy Association
ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Physical Therapy Association applauds new legislation that addresses the workforce crisis of health care providers while improving patient access to care in rural and underserved communities. Introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Carper, D-Del., and Barrasso, R-Wyo., and in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Lesko, R-Ariz., and Kuster, D-N.H., as the Enabling More of the Physical and Occupational Workforce to Engage in Rehabilitation Act, or the EMPOWER Act (S. 2459) and (H.R. 4878), this bipartisan legislation would bring supervision requirements of physical therapist assistants and occupational therapy assistants under Medicare Part B in private therapist practices in line with state licensure laws, as well as with all other settings where Medicare beneficiaries receive therapy services.
"The American Physical Therapy Association is grateful to Senators Carper and Barrasso, and Representatives Lesko and Kuster for their leadership on this critical piece of legislation to improve patient access to care," said APTA President Roger Herr, PT, MPA. "The EMPOWER Act will help our health care system lower costs, reduce administrative burdens, and provide helpful flexibilities for physical therapists in small businesses. Changing the supervision requirement allows physical therapist assistants to practice at the top of their license, recognizing the valuable role they play in the health care system and providing critical support to therapy clinics."
Standardizing general supervision requirements for private outpatient practices under Medicare Part B would align with 49 states' physical therapy licensure laws that allow for general supervision. The change is cost-effective and would reduce administrative burden while implementing common-sense consistency with state laws and across all other Medicare settings.
According to an independent, nonpartisan study commissioned by a coalition of health care provider groups, the cost savings this legislation will bring are projected to be as much as $271 million.
"As we emerge from a years-long pandemic, our health care workforce is in crisis as it responds to a resurgent opioid crisis, increasing administrative burden, and the need for increased patient access to care," said Justin Elliott, vice president of government affairs for APTA. "It's now more apparent than ever that physical therapist assistants working under PT supervision in private practice play a crucial role in meeting these challenges, and that unnecessary and inconsistent administrative burdens shouldn't stand in the way."
The American Physical Therapy Association represents 100,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and physical therapy students nationwide. Visit apta.org to learn more.
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SOURCE American Physical Therapy Association | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/26/health-care-workforce-challenges-patient-access-care-addressed-bipartisan-legislation/ | 2023-07-26 19:45:37 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/26/health-care-workforce-challenges-patient-access-care-addressed-bipartisan-legislation/ |
Hello, and welcome to this week’s selection of top stories in pictures by Los Angeles Times photographers.
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His future coach found Dennis Kasumba working in a slaughterhouse. The teen was orphaned at a young age and living in poverty and despair. Now, a young man, he has now found purpose in pursuing his dream to become Uganda’s first Major League Baseball player. His coach and family are using TikTok to get him there.
After a 15 years of calm, talks between leaders of the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached an impasse, triggering a strike by the WGA. On Tuesday, the writers picked up picket signs and took to the pavement in front of all major movie and TV studios in L.A. and New York to demand better pay from streaming and improved working conditions. Take a look at scenes from the strike and find out how it could disrupt Hollywood. The current writers’ strike is just the latest in Hollywood. Since the 1950s, writers have gone on strike eight times.
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Most California colleges don’t offer rape kits on campus and students are demanding better access to care, lobbying politicians and putting pressure on university administrators to create more on-campus treatment for sexual violence. A new sexual assault forensic exam site at UC Irvine is a potential model for better systemic access.
Family, friends and fellow Los Angeles police officers gathered at the LAPD’s Wall of Honor downtown on Wednesday for a commemorative ceremony honoring the 239 officers who have died in the line of duty.
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Coachella who? While the last notes of the popular music festival were still echoing in the ears of concertgoers, the festival grounds — Indio’s Empire Polo Club — were again full of music. Last weekend, thousands of fans attended the Stagecoach Country Music Festival, which is billed as “country music’s biggest party.”
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And finally, an opportunity to enjoy a moment of peace, joining this couple enjoying fragrant warm breezes on a hike along a winding path through the lush hills of Chino Hills State Park.
Silvia Razgova is a photo editor at the Los Angeles Times focused on news and long-form stories. She joined The Times in 2022 after previously working for the newspaper and other publications as a freelance photographer. Born in Slovakia, she immigrated to the United States in 2000 and continued her education, receiving a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The award-winning Los Angeles Times’ photo staff works across Southern California, the state, the nation and the world to bring readers images that inform and inspire daily. A complete list of the Visual Journalism staff can be found on the Newsroom Directory. Recent galleries can be seen on our photography page. | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-06/week-in-photos-may-6 | 2023-05-06 12:26:45 | 1 | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-06/week-in-photos-may-6 |
Flu cases are starting to spike around the Valley, health officials warn
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- The flu is starting to make its rounds around the state.
The Arizona Department of Health Services reports a significant spike in cases for the state just ahead of the holidays, even though it’s the beginning of flu season.
Over the past five years, an average of about 50 cases were reported by this time last year, but last week, they reported more than 500 cases. It’s too early to tell how this will impact the rest of the season.
“There are several schools of thought out there right now. One of them is we’ve had several mitigation practices in place for the last two to three years with social distancing masking and other efforts done by the public,” said Dr. Eugene Livar, assistant director for ADHS. “Those may have decreased by the public a little bit as they get back to their normal everyday life activities.”
Starting next week, Banner Health and Dignity Health are implementing visitor restrictions at hospitals due to increased risks of flu and RSV cases. Masks will be required, and there will be restrictions for children under 13 years old.
It’s never too late to get the flu shot. But, of course, it’s also essential to use good hygiene, cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze, and wash your hands.
Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved. | https://www.azfamily.com/2022/11/15/flu-cases-are-starting-spike-around-valley-health-officials-warn/ | 2022-11-15 19:57:39 | 1 | https://www.azfamily.com/2022/11/15/flu-cases-are-starting-spike-around-valley-health-officials-warn/ |
No. 6 Louisville beats No. 3 Texas at Battle 4 Atlantis
By AARON BEARD
AP Basketball Writer
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) — Chrislyn Carr scored 19 points to help No. 6 Louisville beat No. 3 Texas 71-63 in Sunday night’s consolation bracket at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Morgan Jones and Hailey Van Lith each added 18 points for the Cardinals. Louisville pulled away in the fourth quarter to bounce back from their first loss of the season. Aaliyah Moore had 19 points and eight rebounds while drawing multiple charges to lead Texas. But the Longhorns lost for the third time this week. And that dropped them to their first 1-3 start since the 1998-99 season. | https://kion546.com/news/2022/11/20/no-6-louisville-beats-no-3-texas-at-battle-4-atlantis/ | 2022-11-21 04:51:32 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/2022/11/20/no-6-louisville-beats-no-3-texas-at-battle-4-atlantis/ |
Three arrested after drugs, other crimes allegedly discovered in Brown Co.
BROWN CO., Kan. (WIBW) - Three people were arrested as they attempted to pass through Brown Co. over the weekend following the alleged discovery of drugs and other crimes.
The Brown Co. Sheriff’s Office says that around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 4, officials were called to the area of Timber and 240th Rd. with reports of a rollover crash.
When officials arrived, they found the driver - and the only person in the vehicle at the time of the crash - Andrew Lierz, 21, of Fairview, had allegedly been impaired. He was booked into the Brown Co. Jail on a DUI.
Around 10:35 p.m., officials said they also stopped a vehicle on Highway 36 near Raccoon Rd. for a defective tail light.
When the Sheriff’s Office made contact with the driver, it said they found that the passenger, Maureen Benedict, 69, of St. Joseph, Mo., had allegedly been in possession of illegal narcotics.
Following an investigation, Benedict was arrested and booked into jail on possession of marijuana, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Lastly, on Sunday, March 5, the Sheriff’s Office said it arrested Jessica Dominguez, 37, of Hiawatha, on a Brown Co. warrant for failure to appear, another warrant for failure to appear out of Hiawatha and a third warrant for failure to appear out of Horton.
Copyright 2023 WIBW. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/2023/03/06/three-arrested-after-drugs-other-crimes-allegedly-discovered-brown-co/ | 2023-03-06 17:56:52 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/2023/03/06/three-arrested-after-drugs-other-crimes-allegedly-discovered-brown-co/ |
Sharp dealers focus on executing on simply smarter work opportunities for production print, enhanced security, managed print and collaboration needs.
LAS VEGAS, April 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA) is hosting its National Dealer Meeting from April 18 to April 21, 2023. At this flagship dealer event, themed "Opportunity Meets Execution," nearly 1,000 attendees are coming together at The Wynn in Las Vegas, NV, to experience Sharp's new and upcoming products, solutions and programs to help its dealers execute on the many simply smarter business opportunities that can help them be more strategic providers for their customers.
"After all of the challenges related to the pandemic, our team here at Sharp is absolutely thrilled to be back meeting in person for our National Dealer Meeting," said Mike Marusic, president and CEO, SIICA. "We're here with our wonderful dealer community and are looking forward to introducing some exciting products and innovations that we're confident will help them put the pieces together to become the pre-eminent office technology providers in the market."
New and upcoming offerings showcased during the event range from production print and managed print services to enhanced printer security and collaboration products and services.
Sharp Doubles Down on Production Print
Sharp is proud to announce major advancements in its production print capabilities with the announcement of the first in a new line of digital press models built on proven industry technology, and a preview of its upcoming new Pro Series light production models with exciting new features.
The new digital printing presses include a color press and two monochrome digital presses. The new color press boasts speeds of up to 120 pages-per-minute (ppm), is equipped with a powerful Fiery® digital front end and prints up to six colors in one pass, including CMYK, gold, silver, bright pink, textured and clear toners. Additionally real-time color stabilization and precise paper handling provide consistent professional results. The two monochrome digital presses print at 136 ppm and 125 ppm respectively and are powered by a Fiery® NX One Print Server. The print engines include real-time image quality adjustments and precise paper handling. 2,400 x 2,400 dpi rich black solids and amazing halftones provide for unrivaled, consistent print quality. All of the new presses share timesaving inline finishing options, such as square fold, crease, 2-edge trimming and a variety of folding options. This marks a significant milestone for Sharp, as it allows the company to extend its reach into higher production print markets when the new printing presses hit the market, which is expected by early 2024.
Sharp is also showing the new Pro Series light production models that will replace the current models later this year. The new models, which print at 70/75 ppm color/bw and 80/80 ppm color/bw respectively, are designed and built for the print-on-demand market and span across all industries that have central reprographics departments (CRD) or in-plant print facilities. These models extend Sharp's proprietary edge-to-edge printing to new sheet sizes, including long paper up to 26.3" and letter-sized sheets for full-bleed statement sized books and many other applications. Additionally, they bring many other key enhancements, such as increased print resolution up to 2,400 x 2,400, improved media handling, up to 360 gsm/130lb cover and new crease and perforation dies with the GBC SmartPunch Plus option, just to name a few.
Strategic Collaboration Leads to Secure and Efficient Managed IT Services
Sharp and ConnectWise, the world's leading software company dedicated to the success of IT solution providers (TSPs), are announcing a strategic collaboration to deliver upon their shared vision of providing secure and efficient managed services through their extensive channel partner network. The first deliverable is a managed Print Security Service that offers unique visibility into print security for Sharp multifunction products (MFPs) and printers through integration with ConnectWise Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and the company's 24/7 monitoring capabilities. See the joint press release here.
New A4 Products Spur on Greater Managed Print Services
Sharp also is announcing that it will be refreshing its A4 MFP and printer solutions, starting in late spring, with A4 color devices that provide professional quality output in a small footprint. These devices are the perfect fit for small to medium sized businesses, medical and legal practices, and schools. The new MX-C428F and MX-C528F color MFPs enable workers to collaborate and share information seamlessly and securely throughout the office environment. The MX-C528P color printer provides customers with an intuitive user experience and the confidence of knowing their jobs will come out right the first time, every time.
New Products to Enhance Collaboration
During the meeting, Sharp announced the launch of a new line of 4W-B series value-priced AQUOS BOARD® interactive displays. The 4W-B series is available in four sizes: 55" Class (54.6" diagonal), 65" Class (64.5" diagonal), 75" Class (75" diagonal), and 86" class (85.6" diagonal) and enables collaboration and communication in the workplace, classroom and virtually anywhere through Pen Software, precise 20-point, multi-touch functionality and versatile connectivity. See the press release announcing the new 4W-B AQUOS BOARD interactive displays here.
Sharp also previewed the upcoming PN-LC series of mid-range AQUOS BOARD interactive displays set to launch later this spring. The upcoming PN-LC series of AQUOS BOARD interactive displays will be built for classrooms and corporate meeting spaces which require quick, responsive operation and smart, integrated collaboration tools and will feature an integrated controller with whiteboard, overlay and wireless functionality to help enhance productivity. Plus, a variety of operating systems will be supported, including Windows®, Android™, iOS®, macOS®, iPadOS® and Chrome™ OS, to allow users to wirelessly present their content quickly and easily. For added productivity, the PN-LC2 series comes with a range of standard software to help get the most out of meetings or presentations including Pen Software, e-Share wireless casting app, touch viewer software and the Synappx Collaboration Hub experience, which allows for simply smarter meetings and engaging classroom activities.
Sharp is also showcasing that its Synappx Go and Meeting applications have merged to provide a single offering for consistent meeting efficiencies for mobile and laptop users under the name Synappx Go. Its new features, such as the full screen mode and QR code content sharing support, bring enhanced user experience as well as strong meeting room security and control for IT administrators. Sharp is also demoing its upcoming Synappx Manage application that will allow IT administrators and service providers to remotely manage multiple devices from a single portal. Its automated monitoring and remediation features help IT administrators keep device uptime high as well as reduce security risks with greater flexibility. For Sharp dealers, this unified remote service tool helps enable smart service delivery, reducing service costs while increasing customer satisfaction through remote firmware update, service settings, device cloning and more. Additionally, Synappx Manage helps dealers integrate IT service offerings with the print business though integration with ConnectWise PSA.
More information on each of these exciting new products and solutions will soon be available at business.sharpusa.com.
About Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America
Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA) is a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sharp Corporation, which has been named to Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Company List, ranking the world's most respected and reputable companies. SIICA markets Sharp's Simply Smarter business products and solutions, such as Synappx applications, professional displays, laptops, desktop monitors and a full suite of secure copier and printer solutions, that can help companies manage workflow efficiently and increase productivity so they can work smarter. SIICA markets its products through a vast network of independent dealerships and its direct sales division Sharp Business Systems (SBS). By accelerating collaboration, improving efficiencies, digitizing workflows and increasing information security, Sharp strives to help businesses achieve Simply Smarter work through technology that is smart and easy to use.
For more information on Sharp's business products, visit our website at business.sharpusa.com. Become a fan of Sharp business products on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram and watch us on YouTube.
Peppercomm for Sharp
Paul Merchan
212.931.6172
PMerchan@Peppercomm.com
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SOURCE Sharp Electronics Corporation | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2023/04/19/sharp-provides-roadmap-dealer-success-opportunity-meets-execution-event/ | 2023-04-19 19:35:09 | 1 | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2023/04/19/sharp-provides-roadmap-dealer-success-opportunity-meets-execution-event/ |
MOUNT PLEASANT, Pa. (AP) — A prosecutor says a state trooper was justified in shooting and killing an armed man during a traffic stop following a reported theft from a western Pennsylvania mall.
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said Friday that an investigation “unequivocally" concluded that the unnamed trooper reasonably believed that deadly force was needed to prevent death or serious injury to himself.
Walsh said the trooper fired seven shots at Dennis Fonoimoana, 26, of Burgettstown, hitting him five times after he brandished a firearm.
Police said troopers were called to the Washington County mall May 22 after a store reported a retail theft. Police said the suspects' vehicle was spotted and stopped minutes later in Mount Pleasant Township and the driver was taken into custody, but a passenger refused to leave.
Walsh said the passenger, Fonoimoana, refused to comply with commands to show the trooper his hands, and the trooper believed he heard the rack of a gun and then saw a gun in the man's hand. Walsh said the trooper repeatedly ordered the man to drop the gun but he refused to do so and turned toward the trooper, who fired.
Walsh said the gun recovered at the scene had been reported stolen and was fully loaded with the safety off. He said two witnesses corroborated the account of the trooper, who was placed on administrative duties during the investigation but will now return to normal duty. | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/DA-Trooper-justified-in-killing-armed-man-in-17324454.php | 2022-07-23 16:13:53 | 1 | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/DA-Trooper-justified-in-killing-armed-man-in-17324454.php |
The Seattle City Council is close to sending voters a $970 million property tax levy, which would build affordable housing, boost pay for human services workers and fund affordable homeownership programs.
The measure would renew and triple the existing Seattle Housing Levy, which expires this year. City leaders say expanding affordable housing is crucial as the costs of living in the city continue to climb and more people experience homelessness.
The levy will allow Seattle to “continue to address the most pressing crisis we see playing out every day across our city and our region,” said Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda.
Mayor Bruce Harrell, backed by affordable housing advocates, proposed tripling the levy to $970 million in March. After two months of discussions, the Seattle City Council green-lighted the total levy amount and high-level spending plans with a unanimous 8-0 committee vote Wednesday. (Council President Debora Juarez was absent.) The council will take a final vote Tuesday to send the measure to the ballot.
The new seven-year levy would charge 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed home value, costing about $390 per year on the median $866,000 Seattle home, or a $260 increase from the current levy rate.
Councilmember Alex Pedersen raised concerns about the cost of raising the total levy amount to a record high. Pedersen said he would reserve his final decision for Tuesday, but was “feeling more optimistic” about the proposal.
The levy will direct $707 million over seven years to construction and preservation of rental housing affordable to people making 60% of area median income or less ($74,000 a year for a family of three). Nearly two-thirds of that funding will pay for housing affordable to the lowest-income people making 30% of area median income or less ($37,000 for a family of three).
The city aims to help fund construction of 2,881 new affordable rental apartments and 277 new affordable homes for sale, plus improvements in 635 existing affordable apartments. Despite tripling the levy, the number of new homes built will not triple because of rising construction costs.
The levy also includes $122 million for operations, maintenance and services in affordable housing; $51 million for affordable homeownership programs, including construction of new housing, home-repair grants, foreclosure prevention and loans for homebuyers; $30 million for assistance for low-income tenants; and $60 million for administration.
Some operations funds will help boost wages for workers employed at certain subsidized housing locations. Workers say low wages make it difficult to hire and keep workers on the frontlines of the city’s homelessness response.
The city would pair money from the levy with funds from the city’s JumpStart payroll tax, then distribute that funding to nonprofits based on the number of apartments they operate. The Office of Housing plans to track worker turnover and wages at organizations receiving those funds.
The city will also spend up to $30 million on short-term loans to allow nonprofits to buy existing apartment buildings. (That funding would come from levy funds not yet spent for other programs, then be repaid.)
Councilmember Lisa Herbold argued city agencies should focus on acquiring existing buildings and keeping them affordable, given the climbing costs and timelines of building new housing.
Council members tweaked a resolution accompanying the levy, including requesting that the Office of Housing prioritize family-sized units, focus homeownership funds on communities that face displacement or discrimination in the past, and seek broad geographic distribution of affordable housing, a struggle for the city’s housing programs.
The council is likely to give final approval to the measure Tuesday. Voters would weigh in during the Nov. 7 election, when seven council seats will also be on the ballot. | https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/council-advances-970m-property-tax-for-affordable-housing-in-seattle/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_seattle-news | 2023-06-07 21:34:22 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/council-advances-970m-property-tax-for-affordable-housing-in-seattle/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_seattle-news |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Whenever the president travels, a special bullet-resistant lectern called the “blue goose,” or its smaller cousin “the falcon,” is in tow. Lately, President Joe Biden is rendering them all but obsolete as he increasingly reaches for a hand-held microphone instead.
From casual fundraisers to more formal remarks on disaster response or inflation or the like, Biden has opted for a hand-gripped mic more than a dozen times in recent months — even when he’s standing in front of the fixed double microphones on a presidential-seal-adorned lectern.
Those who know him best say the mic swap makes Biden a much more natural speaker, and he knows it.
There’s an obvious change when he makes the switch. His shoulders relax. A smile spreads across his face. He walks the room, making eye contact.
“There are two tricks to public speaking, and neither is really rocket science, said Mo Elleithee, a former Democratic consultant who’s now executive director of Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service. “First, you want to be as comfortable as possible. Second, you want to be authentic. And the two go hand in hand.”
Elleithee said one of Biden’s strengths is his authenticity — “love or hate his politics, he’s a real guy who comes across as one. That’s because he’s most comfortable when he’s talking with people, as opposed to talking at them. Standing at a podium is stiff. It’s formal.”
The president, who has acknowledged his difficulties as a public speaker and struggles to overcome a persistent stutter, is often stiff when reading prepared remarks. As a candidate and now as president, he has eschewed the traditional glass-paned teleprompters normally placed just off the corners of the lectern, instead preferring larger teleprompters on television screens.
His public style is meant be everyman, down-to-earth — even folksy — as he works to connect with audiences. He tells dad (or grandpa?) jokes, talks about his parents, his wife, his children, his many years of government experience. But that sense of empathy and connection that he’s able to cultivate in person often doesn’t come through in some of his larger events, nor through the livestream.
The mic, in some ways, is as an attempt to bridge that divide.
Last week, as the president surveyed the hurricane damage in Florida, he spoke at first into the fixed microphones, gripping the sides of the lectern. But midway through his speech he called an audible.
“Let’s see if this thing works, is this one working?” Biden asked as he grabbed on to the hand-held mic. The president then stuck a hand in his pocket and turned toward the crowd as he continued talking about the administration’s disaster response.
Aware of the power of stagecraft, Biden isn’t eschewing the iconic presidential lecterns entirely: They still hold paper copies of his remarks (in case the teleprompters have an error) and often a glass of water. But the built-in microphones are increasingly turned off.
The boxy dark blue and dark paneled lecterns — there are many — are a symbol of the modern presidency.
It’s from behind them that President Bill Clinton said “I did not have sexual relations with that woman,” President Barack Obama declared that Osama bin Laden had been killed, and Queen Elizabeth II was rendered nearly invisible except for her hat when she was welcomed on the South Lawn by President George H.W. Bush.
Now, when Biden staffers place the leather-bound folder with his written remarks on the lectern, they’re also tucking in the handheld mic.
During his South Lawn celebration for the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden donned his aviators and pulled out the mic on a warm, sunny day.
“With your permission, I’m going to take my coat off,” he told the crowd as he relaxed into the moment. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to speak any longer.” Then he said: “Folks, welcome to the White House, everybody.”
Inevitably, there are times when technology fails him. During a Democratic fundraiser for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the mic feed kept going in and out, making it nearly impossible to hear Biden. But Biden is not deterred.
Delivering remarks recently at the headquarters for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Biden spotted the handheld microphone.
“I’m going to use this” he declared. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/political-news/ap-give-him-a-hand-biden-ditching-lectern-for-handheld-mics/ | 2022-10-12 12:29:09 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/political-news/ap-give-him-a-hand-biden-ditching-lectern-for-handheld-mics/ |
MAYODAN – For only the third time in program history, McMichael High School pulled off a 17-12 win over West Stokes in the first Mid-State 2A Conference game of the year Friday night at Macfield Stadium.
The Phoenix took advantage of several big first half offensive plays in the air, in addition to a late turnover, which ultimately sealed the victory as McMichael won their fourth-straight ball game.
DMHS drew first blood with a seven play drive that culminated on a 31 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jace Dunn to Houston Fulk on a post route for the 7-0 lead with 2:47 to go in the opening frame following the Ethan Fox extra point.
The Wildcats drew closer when running back Dillon Stanley punched it in for a 1 yard touchdown, but the P.A.T. was blocked to cut McMichael’s advantage to 7-6 with 10:10 remaining in the second quarter.
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The DMHS defense held on two more drives, then the offense came through with another big strike for a score. This time, Dunn drew the linebackers to the interior on a pump fake and quickly launched a rainbow over the top to hit Fulk again for his second TD on the night from 42 yards out to increase the lead to 14-6 with time winding down.
The Phoenix defense held once again forcing a punt, but Dunn and Fulk hooked up again, moving the ball deep into enemy territory. On another post route, Fulk pulled another long pass down with one hand inside the Wildcats 10 yard line with just over a minute remaining. McMichael couldn’t punch it in however, and had to settle for a 19 yard field goal by Fox for the 17-6 advantage right before the half.
With a two score cushion, things were good for DMHS early in the fourth quarter, but Stanley got his team back in it after breaking containment, and cutting back inside. He would race untouched for a 34 yard cutback run for a touchdown to trim the Phoenix lead to 17-12 after the 2-point conversion failed with 10:16 to go in the game.
West Stokes threatened once again on a drive that had McMichael on the edge, but an interception off of a tipped ball hauled in by junior defensive back Calloway Maliq put the game in the books.
“That play, I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my secondary because our coaches have been working them hard and that’s one area we needed to improve on coming into this game because they have a good passing attack. We’ve given up quite a few yards in the air, so I’m ecstatic for them that they were able to seal that game for us. Really the game came down to physicality. They were very, very physical, but we were able to match it and just made one or two more plays,” McMichael head coach Tony McCants said.
Even though the Wildcats held McMichael scoreless for the rest of the game, the Phoenix did do a great job of bleeding the clock down the stretch in the second half when they had the ball to keep the West Stokes offense off of the field.
McCants and company knew West Stokes would be focusing on shutting down running back Jayden Martin, so they they had to have success in the passing game to win.
“I’m so proud of them. They had a good plan. Obviously we knew they were going to focus on No. 9 (Martin) and we saw that in the early going. They were putting eight in the box and just daring us to throw and we executed and I think that was a big part of it. I’m happy for Jace. He spent the whole summer not being able to throw the football and he was able to come back out and show the accuracy that we knew he had,” said McCants.
West Stokes head coach Chris Johnson intensely addressed his team and said the loss was something no one on his team expected. After a tough loss to East Surry, followed by a bye week, he thought the Wildcats would be ready, but he said all of the coaches and players had a role in the loss in the postgame address.
“Hats off to their coaching staff – they had a great game plan for us. They executed it well and made adjustments. We were really focusing in on trying to stop their run and their big back, No. 9, he was our focus and they did a great job of identifying what we were doing and finding ways to hurt us through the air. We definitely dug ourselves a hole here tonight and you’ve just got to take it one game at a time and refocus and try your best to learn from this and go forward and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Johnson said.
The Phoenix entered the game on a hot streak. Following a disappointing 30-13 loss to cross-county rival Rockingham in the season opener Aug. 19, McMichael reeled off three-consecutive victories.
The first step in the right direction began with a 40-38 overtime win over Bartlett Yancey in week No. 2 followed by a 21-20 victory over South Stokes Sept. 2 in a game they initially trailed 20-0.
Then the Phoenix got the offense going into high gear with a 52-32 win over Carver last week.
Changing the culture football culture has been a topic of conversation for many years, but McCants thinks what his team has done in recent years, proves things are moving are turning a struggling program into a winner.
“It’s huge for this program. To see where we came from when I first took the job two years ago, the program had a 0-23 losing streak. Last year, we finished at 7-4 last year, and to be 4-1 this season, with four wins in a row, it’s a testament to the boys. It’s a testament to our young men. Their hard work, their dedication, their selflessness and their commitment to each other – I think really that is what it is all about and how they are playing together,” said McCants.
UP NEXT:
McMichael (4-1) at T.W. Andrews (4-1) next Friday. West Stokes (2-2) has a bye next week, but will return to action with a conference road game at Walkertown (3-1) Sept. 23.
BOX SCORE
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W 0 6 0 6 12 | https://greensboro.com/community/rockingham_now/sports/mcmichael-notches-win-over-west-stokes-in-gridiron-league-opener/article_e1bcd8f8-366a-11ed-85f2-7f2495c6fc8b.html | 2022-09-17 15:10:43 | 0 | https://greensboro.com/community/rockingham_now/sports/mcmichael-notches-win-over-west-stokes-in-gridiron-league-opener/article_e1bcd8f8-366a-11ed-85f2-7f2495c6fc8b.html |
MANASSAS, Va. — At least seven people were injured on a flight to Germany from Texas that had to be diverted to Dulles International Airport in Virginia on Wednesday night, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) confirmed.
Lufthansa flight 469 was headed to Frankfurt, Germany from Austin, Texas when it experienced "significant turbulence" at 37,000 feet altitude over Tennessee, the FAA said.
The pilot executed an emergency landing and the plane landed safely at Dulles around 9:10 p.m., MWAA said. They responded to Lufthansa's Airbus A330 and ended up having to transport seven people to local hospitals for treatment of injuries.
It wasn't clear how serious their injuries were.
A man who claimed his wife was on the plane told WUSA9 that the people injured weren't wearing seatbelts because the turbulence came as a surprise.
The FAA will investigate the incident.
WUSA9 has reached out to Lufthansa but have yet to hear back.
No other information was immediately available.
This is a developing story. Stick with WUSA9 for updates as we learn them.
Passengers on a flight to Washington D.C. were forced to make a detour after the flight was diverted to North Carolina due to an unruly passenger.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Envoy Air Flight 3444 left Jacksonville International Airport in Florida and planned on landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. | https://www.kvue.com/article/travel/dulles-emergency-landing-frankfurt-lufthansa-469/65-6d90dd12-d310-4948-826f-d1f945271981 | 2023-03-02 11:47:26 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/travel/dulles-emergency-landing-frankfurt-lufthansa-469/65-6d90dd12-d310-4948-826f-d1f945271981 |
- EFSA has given a provisional green light for human consumption of the Lesser mealworm in a major step forward for the insect industry
- With production already underway in the Netherlands, Ÿnsect is now ready to accelerate the commercialisation of its products across new European markets
- Last month, 96% adults surveyed across the US, UK, France and Netherlands who had already eaten insects or insect protein said they liked them or would try them again
- Ÿnsect aims to use insect protein as a solution to help tackle some of the major challenges of our time: feeding the world's population, preserving resources and biodiversity, and fighting global warming
PARIS, July 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Human insect consumption – as a nutrient-rich and efficient means to support sustainability and meet climate change targets – has received another boost today as the lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus) becomes the fourth insect to receive a positive assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for human consumption.
The EFSA assessment will have to be confirmed by the European Commission, which will give the final authorisation for market approval in the EU following endorsement by the EU Member States authorities, before the product can go more widely on sale across the continent.
This decision comes as great news for global leader in insect farming, Ÿnsect, whose Netherlands operation (formerly Protifarm) submitted the application to EFSA with a view to expanding its activities in Europe in line with the EU's sustainability goals. Ÿnsect has the infrastructure in place to expand production and distribution immediately once the European Commission's green light comes.
The race for alternative and sustainable proteins is on as the World Resources Institute predicts a 60% gap between supply and demand for protein by 2050.
While insect approval for human consumption is a relatively new concept, it is one that is already taking off in developing markets. Ÿnsect's other hero protein, Molitor mealworms, were the first insect authorised by EFSA in January 2021.
In a survey commissioned by Ÿnsect and conducted OnePoll in April 2022 across the UK, US, Netherlands and France, nearly three fifths of all respondents (57%) revealed a willingness to consume insects once the environmental and health benefits had been explained. Moreover, 96% of the 8,326 adults surveyed who had already eaten insects or insect protein said they liked them or would try them again.
"The recent assessment by EFSA that lesser mealworms are safe for human consumption is a significant step forward for the company's expansion", commented Antoine Hubert, CEO, and co-founder of Ÿnsect. He added: "Mealworm protein offers the best of both worlds, as nutritionally beneficial as animal protein, but with a much lower environmental impact. The scientific community is increasingly rallying around the idea, with a 2022 report by the University of Helsinki suggesting that a diet incorporating large amounts of insect protein offers the optimum solution to reduce environmental impact by over 80% while offering high nutritional benefits to consumers."
When asked if they thought (human) food manufacturers should make insect proteins more widely incorporated into their products, over three quarters of global survey respondents (79%) said yes, as long as it is clearly indicated on the packaging.
Ÿnsect Human Nutrition & Health already sells ingredients using the lesser mealworm (branded AdalbaPro) that can be found in a variety of products across Europe, including Zirp in more than 800 Bila stores Austria, cereal bars and Issac shakes, and gourmet burgers made from beetles found in several Danish restaurants. The company is now on track to accelerate production to meet the increasing demand across EU markets.
CONTACT: Ÿnsect - Anaïs Maury: anais.maury@ynsect.com / +33 (0)6 78 44 59 80
Sopexa – Rana Barbari: rbarbari@hopscotch.eu / + 353 15569720
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SOURCE Ÿnsect | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/07/05/nsect-poised-ramp-up-production-lesser-mealworm-human-consumption/ | 2022-07-05 14:44:52 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/07/05/nsect-poised-ramp-up-production-lesser-mealworm-human-consumption/ |
Bicyclist hit, critically injured, by Metro train in Long Beach
A Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority train struck and critically injured a bicyclist in Long Beach on Saturday morning, briefly interrupting rail service while emergency crews aided the injured man, authorities said.
The collision occurred around 11:16 a.m. near the intersection of Spring Street and Del Mar Avenue, just north of the Willow Street Station on Metro’s A Line. According to a statement by the Long Beach Police Department, the bicyclist was riding westbound on Spring Street and went around the railway crossing arms near the tracks when he was struck by the train.
The injured bicyclist, identified only as a man, was transported to a hospital in critical condition, said Long Beach Fire Department Capt. Jack Crabtree.
L.A. Metro spokesman Rick Jager said the incident is being investigated by Long Beach police. There were no reports of injuries to any passengers or crew members aboard the train, he added.
Train service on that portion of the line was stopped from the time of the incident until about 1:15 p.m., Jager said, when it resumed with shuttle buses being used to transport riders between the Del Amo and Willow stations.
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-31/bicyclist-hit-critically-injured-by-l-a-metro-train-in-long-beach | 2022-12-31 22:38:17 | 1 | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-31/bicyclist-hit-critically-injured-by-l-a-metro-train-in-long-beach |
KINGSVILLE, Texas — A mother received an unexpected notification Monday that left her confused.
Kelsey Golden read a message from DoorDash saying her order was going to take a little longer than usual because of the size of the order.
She later discovered the reason was because her youngest son, Barrett, placed an order through McDonalds... for a total of 31 cheeseburgers.
The shocked mother of three said she was working on her computer and didn't realize her 2-year-old son had a hold of her unlocked phone.
"He usually likes to take pictures of himself, and so he was doing that (...) I thought I'd locked the phone, but apparently, I didn't because then DoorDash came with 31 cheeseburgers," Golden said.
Golden and her family are in the process of moving, so she's been extremely busy juggling work and the kids.
She's ordered lunch for her kids before through DoorDash, but, she's had it sent to their school, not their home.
The nearest Mcdonald's is about six miles away.
So, she was amazed when she heard a knock on the door, and the delivery driver handed her what Barrett ordered.
With 31 cheeseburgers in hand, Golden had no idea what to do with the rest of the food.
"I didn't know what to do with them, he only ate half of one," Golden said. "So I posted on a community page on Facebook here in Kingsville and asked if anybody wanted some."
People on Facebook reached out to stop by and pick up some cheeseburgers, while others tried to give her some advice on how to store the food or give it away.
The total amount of the order came out to $61.58.
But the little fella was feeling generous and didn't forget to tip the DoorDasher $16.
After fees, the total for the entire order was $91.70.
And Golden has a priceless story to tell about her cheeseburger-loving son, for years to come.
This story was first reported by Naidy Escobar at KRIS in Corpus Christi, Texas. Digital Content Producer Frank Cardenas also contributed to this story. | https://www.kxlf.com/news/national/the-tale-of-how-a-2-year-old-ordered-31-cheeseburgers-to-his-home | 2022-05-17 19:51:25 | 0 | https://www.kxlf.com/news/national/the-tale-of-how-a-2-year-old-ordered-31-cheeseburgers-to-his-home |
YORK, Pa. — Some hurricanes can potentially impact gas prices.
“All it really comes down to is whether or not a hurricane is going to disrupt and shut down refineries or offshore oil production in the gulf of Mexico," said Patrick De Haan with GasBuddy
However, Hurricane Ian was not one of them. The storm mostly stayed away from gulf coast infrastructure and instead moved east toward the Atlantic ocean.
“And so as a result, no refineries and offshore oil production was only slightly impacted just for a few days," said De Haan. "So, for that reason, gas prices still may fluctuate but Hurricane Ian is not going to be an impact behind those movements."
According to AAA, gas prices in Pennsylvania continue to decrease.
"The average price of gas is $3.77 a gallon," said Doni Lee Spiegel with AAA Central Penn. "Even though we’re still paying 44 cents more a gallon from this time last year, the price dropped already, 0.1 cent from yesterday, it’s down 0.5 cents from this time last week, and 0.35 cents from this time last month."
However, hurricane season is not over yet.
“There could still be other hurricanes that may disrupt prices or supply, so keep an eye on that," said De Haan. | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/will-ian-impact-gas-prices-tropical-storm-hurricane-destruction-increase-money-expensive-high-oil-gasoline/521-7f5f370c-91ce-48cb-a63c-22a246b02909 | 2022-10-02 00:42:58 | 1 | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/will-ian-impact-gas-prices-tropical-storm-hurricane-destruction-increase-money-expensive-high-oil-gasoline/521-7f5f370c-91ce-48cb-a63c-22a246b02909 |
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) _ Similarweb Ltd. (SMWB) on Tuesday reported a loss of $25.6 million in its first quarter.
The Tel Aviv, Israel-based company said it had a loss of 34 cents per share. Losses, adjusted for stock option expense and non-recurring costs, were 26 cents per share.
The digital intelligence company posted revenue of $44.3 million in the period, which beat Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $41.2 million.
For the current quarter ending in July, Similarweb said it expects revenue in the range of $45.5 million to $45.9 million.
The company expects full-year revenue in the range of $196 million to $197 million.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SMWB at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SMWB | https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Similarweb-Q1-Earnings-Snapshot-17163553.php | 2022-05-10 22:55:21 | 1 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Similarweb-Q1-Earnings-Snapshot-17163553.php |
- New Copay Assurance™ plan (CAP) ensures consumers pay less out-of-pocket by capping copays on prescription drugs: no more than $5 for generics, $25 for preferred brand drugs, and $45 for preferred specialty brand drugs.
- Introduction of a fully transparent pricing model, ClearCareRx™, a simpler option in which employers, health plans, and government employer clients pay exactly what Express Scripts pays for drugs.
- Enhanced disclosures to provide increased transparency of Express Scripts business model, fees, and services.
ST. LOUIS, April 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Express Scripts, the pharmacy benefits management business of Evernorth, a subsidiary of The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI), today announced several actions to further evolve its pharmacy benefit management (PBM) model. The new solutions and capabilities will increase access to affordable medicines and drive greater transparency and predictability. As part of its long-standing commitment to accelerate pharmacy care and lower the cost of prescription drugs for more than 100 million Americans, Express Scripts is further aligning incentives across the pharmaceutical supply chain, consumers, and clients, with new products available starting in summer 2023.
Driving Down Costs for Consumers
Express Scripts is introducing a new and innovative solution, the Copay Assurance plan, which caps consumer out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs under a client's prescription drug benefit. This means customers enrolled in the program will pay no more than $5 for generics and specialty generics, $25 for preferred brand drugs, and $45 for preferred specialty brand drugs every time they fill a prescription. The program will immediately guarantee these lower out-of-pocket rates – customers will not have to wait to meet any deductible levels.
"A prescription drug doesn't work if it's priced out of reach. Reducing out-of-pocket costs for consumers is the single best thing we can do to improve the health of those we serve," said Adam Kautzner, Pharm.D., President of Express Scripts. "Express Scripts was first to deliver a $25 price cap on out-of-pocket costs for insulin and other diabetic treatments, which has saved consumers more than $45 million in two years. Our new Copay Assurance plan builds on this success and aggressively expands our efforts across medications to treat all diseases – providing millions more people with predictability and peace of mind at the pharmacy counter."
Additionally, Express Scripts is working with employer and health plan clients to offer consultative options to bring better affordability and predictability. This includes: adopting the broadest lists of preventive prescription drugs that are either fully covered or covered at a discount, lower premiums and deductibles, and increased Health Savings Account contributions for lower-income consumers based on IRS income requirements.
Offering Clients a New Level of Transparency
Express Scripts' new ClearCareRx offers employer, health plan, and government employer clients the option of a transparent economic model by providing clear and predictable costs for prescription drug benefits:
- Clients pay exactly what Express Scripts pays pharmacies for a prescription.
- Clients receive 100% of drug rebates that Express Scripts obtains by negotiating with pharmaceutical companies.
- Clients pay one simple fee to cover the administration of pharmacy benefits, PBM product services, reporting and analytics, and is 100% auditable.
- Provides guarantees that keep Express Scripts accountable to clinical and financial performance measures, including improvements in drug performance, adherence, and overall patient outcomes.
"Expanding on our proven track record of driving transparency, ClearCareRx drives greater simplicity, with strategies to further reduce costs and improve health and pharmacy care. If we don't deliver on a client's goals, they pay less, guaranteed," Kautzner added. "We are built to work on our clients' terms. That means constantly coming to the table with innovative pharmacy benefits and tailored approaches that do more for them and the unique needs of their people."
Enhanced Disclosures and Clarity
Express Scripts is further evolving its transparency to consumers and clients and enhancing its disclosure practices, including:
- Demonstrating the value consumers and clients can expect from their pharmacy benefit services: Starting in 2024, prescriptions will include an easy-to-understand digital pharmacy benefits statement for consumers – sharing drug price information, out-of-pocket costs, and the value delivered by Express Scripts. This benefit will be implemented across all 65,000 pharmacies in Express Scripts' networks, including Accredo® specialty pharmacy, and Express Scripts Pharmacy.
- Enhanced financial and fee disclosure for clients utilizing spread pricing: Express Scripts offers different PBM pricing options that clients can select based on their unique needs. Some of these options include spread pricing, a value-sharing arrangement for the discounts Express Scripts negotiates with retail pharmacies for prescription medications. Beginning with the 2023 plan year, Express Scripts will provide clients enhanced financial and fee disclosure regarding their spread pricing arrangements for Form 5500 reporting and other plan administration functions. The Form 5500 Series is a compliance, research, and disclosure tool for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), other federal agencies, Congress, as well as for plan participants and beneficiaries, and the private sector to assess employee benefit, tax, and economic trends and policies. Express Scripts will provide the same level of increased disclosure to its non-ERISA clients to help support them in understanding the services Express Scripts provides.
- Launch of a microsite providing disclosures, and filings with the SEC: Concurrent with the release of first quarter earnings by The Cigna Group, Express Scripts will launch a new microsite that will provide additional information about the Express Scripts model. The Cigna Group will also provide additional disclosures regarding its PBM business in its upcoming SEC 10-Q filing.
"Our mission is simple: lower the cost of prescription drugs for the one in three Americans we serve. Today's actions demonstrate our ongoing commitment to that mission, and helps clients and consumers see the value of their pharmacy benefits at work more quickly in their daily lives. Because at the end of every prescription is a consumer and client putting their trust in us – that's a responsibility that drives us each day," Kautzner said.
As a leader in innovative solutions designed to drive meaningful consumer and client outcomes and performance, the initiatives announced today represent Express Scripts' long-standing commitment to advance the PBM model. Previous programs include SafeGuardRx®, Embarc Benefit Protection®, and the Patient Assurance Programsm – which combined with effective negotiation and medical management, saved consumers and clients more than $56 billion in 2022.
About Evernorth Health Services
Evernorth Health Services creates pharmacy, care and benefits solutions to improve health and increase vitality. We relentlessly innovate to make the prediction, prevention and treatment of illness and disease more accessible to millions of people. Evernorth capabilities are powered by our businesses, including Express Scripts, Express Scripts® Pharmacy, Accredo, eviCore and MDLIVE, along with holistic Evernorth platforms and solutions that move people and organizations forward. All Evernorth solutions are serviced and provided by or through operating affiliates of Evernorth Health, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI), or third-party partners. Learn more at evernorth.com.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release, and oral statements made in connection with this release, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on Cigna's current expectations and projections about future trends, events and uncertainties. These statements are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements may include, among others, statements concerning future financial or operating performance, including our ability to (i) further evolve our pharmacy benefit management model, (ii) increase access to medicines, (iii) drive greater simplicity with strategies to further reduce cost and improve health and pharmacy care, (iv) drive transparency and predictability to consumers and clients, (v) enhance disclosure practices; and (vi) work with employer and health plan clients to increase affordability and predictability; the potential for our programs to increase health outcomes; future growth, business strategy and strategic or operational initiatives, including those related to the Copay Assurance plan, ClearCareRx and our enhanced disclosure initiatives; and other statements regarding Cigna's future beliefs, expectations, plans, intentions, liquidity, cash flows, financial condition or performance. You may identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "project," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "may," "should," "will" or other words or expressions of similar meaning, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: our ability to achieve our strategic and operational initiatives; our ability to adapt to changes in an evolving and rapidly changing industry; our ability to compete effectively, differentiate our products and services from those of our competitors and maintain or increase market share; price competition, inflation and other pressures that could compress our margins or result in premiums that are insufficient to cover the cost of services delivered to our customers; the potential for actual claims to exceed our estimates related to expected medical claims; our ability to develop and maintain satisfactory relationships with physicians, hospitals, other health service providers and with producers and consultants; our ability to maintain relationships with one or more key pharmaceutical manufacturers or if payments made or discounts provided decline; changes in the pharmacy provider marketplace or pharmacy networks; changes in drug pricing or industry pricing benchmarks; political, legal, operational, regulatory, economic and other risks that could affect our multinational operations, including currency exchange rates; the scale, scope and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential impact on our business, operating results, cash flows or financial condition; risks related to strategic transactions and realization of the expected benefits of such transactions, as well as integration or separation difficulties or underperformance relative to expectations; dependence on success of relationships with third parties; risk of significant disruption within our operations or among key suppliers or third parties; our ability to invest in and properly maintain our information technology and other business systems; our ability to prevent or contain effects of a potential cyberattack or other privacy or data security incident; potential liability in connection with managing medical practices and operating pharmacies, onsite clinics and other types of medical facilities; the substantial level of government regulation over our business and the potential effects of new laws or regulations or changes in existing laws or regulations; uncertainties surrounding participation in government-sponsored programs such as Medicare; the outcome of litigation, regulatory audits and investigations; compliance with applicable privacy, security and data laws, regulations and standards; potential failure of our prevention, detection and control systems; unfavorable economic and market conditions including bank failures, the risk of a recession or other economic downturn and resulting impact on employment metrics, stock market or changes in interest rates and risks related to a downgrade in financial strength ratings of our insurance subsidiaries; the impact of our significant indebtedness and the potential for further indebtedness in the future; risk related to our reinsurers; as well as more specific risks and uncertainties discussed in our most recent report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K available through the Investor Relations section of www.cigna.com. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, are not guarantees of future performance or results, and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict or quantify. Cigna undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
Media contact:
Justine Sessions
860-810-6523
media@evernorth.com
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SOURCE Express Scripts | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/04/13/express-scripts-further-advances-transparency-affordability-consumers-clients/ | 2023-04-13 11:46:57 | 0 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/04/13/express-scripts-further-advances-transparency-affordability-consumers-clients/ |
Safe Water Network Invites Esteemed Guests to Celebrate 15 Years of Impact and Take Action in Support of Sustainable Safe Water Solutions
NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Safe Water Network, the global non-profit founded by the late actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman, will host the 2022 Water for All Ball on November 8 – a charity event held at the historic Gotham Hall in New York City, with a cocktail reception at 6:00 PM EST. The event aims to raise funds and inspire action to deliver safe water for underserved communities across the world. Visit waterforallball.org to learn more.
Safe Water Network is reaching nearly 2 million people across Ghana and India, while collaborating with international public and private partners to make water work for millions more. The organization's market-driven approach to delivering safe water in underserved communities is essential to achieving universal access to safe water for all globally.
Safe Water Network's inaugural Water for All Ball in 2019, hosted by Robert De Niro, honored the organization's late co-founders Paul Newman and John Whitehead, as well as founding board chair emeritus Josh Weston. This year's event will assemble a star-studded guest list to imagine a world where all communities can sustainably manage their own safe water. The event's Board Co-hosts are Dr. Rita Colwell, award-winning microbiologist and 11th Director of the National Science Foundation, and Dr. Surya Mohapatra, the former CEO and President of Quest Diagnostics. Prior to the event will be an invite-only industry thought-leader roundtable, hosted by water quality expert Dr. Shane Snyder. The evening will kick off with a "blue carpet," hosted by TV/radio personality Guy Lambert and close out with entertainment, including selections from singer/songwriter Amos Lee, performing 'Sweet Pea," "Wonderland,' and 'Shout Out Loud,' as well as "Worry No More" from his 2022 album Dreamland.
Robert De Niro said during his remarks at the 2019 Water for All Ball, "The world isn't going to be safe by one sweet gesture, but through initiatives like Safe Water Network and [through] continuing support, we can make the world a better place."
The gala will be a celebration of the organization's 15 years of partnership and impact. In that time, Safe Water Network has transformed communities, solved challenges with innovative technology, improved health outcomes, opened doors to entrepreneurship for women, and created opportunities for children to grow into a better future. Funds raised at this year's event will help the organization achieve its goal of reaching 50 million people with access to safe water by 2026. Sponsorship opportunities are available upon request.
About Safe Water Network: Safe Water Network believes in a collaborative, innovative response to the global water crisis. The organization's mission is to develop and demonstrate affordable, economically viable solutions, share sector knowledge, and build partnerships that reach millions in underserved communities. Visit safewaternetwork.org for more information.
CONTACT: Nathan Yardy, nyardy@safewaternetwork.org, or Divya Gupta, DivyaGupta@gridsconsulting.com
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SOURCE SAFE WATER NETWORK | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/14/water-all-ball-nonprofit-event-raise-funds-address-global-water-crisis/ | 2022-09-14 20:28:37 | 1 | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/14/water-all-ball-nonprofit-event-raise-funds-address-global-water-crisis/ |
Award-Winning Six-Color SureColor F6470H with Multiple Ink Configurations and Four-Color SureColor F6470 Offer Quality, Performance and Reliability for Textile Printing Market
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., Oct. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As print shops continue to see demand for transfer printing applications, Epson today announced two new 44-inch wide-format dye-sublimation printers – the SureColor® F6470 and SureColor F6470H. Designed to maximize productivity for print businesses, the versatile 4-color SureColor F6470 and 6-color SureColor F6470H generate fast output for quickly and efficiently producing high-quality transfer images. The new models will replace the renowned SureColor F6370 and join Epson's expansive line of SureColor F-Series dye-sublimation printers.
The new models will be on display at PRINTING United in Las Vegas from Oct. 19-21 in Epson's booth, C7730. The SureColor F6470H is a recipient of the PRINTING United Pinnacle Product Award in the "roll-to-roll dye-sublimation on metal category."
Purpose built to create custom printed products, the SureColor F6470 generates 4-color output at speeds up to 820 ft2/hr1 to quickly and efficiently produce high-quality images for promotional and personalized goods, apparel, home décor, soft signage, and more. The SureColor F6470H prints unparalleled 6-color output at speeds up to 400 ft2/hr1 and allows for multiple ink configurations to meet various color needs – CMYK plus either Light Cyan/Light Magenta, Fluorescent Pink/Fluorescent Yellow, or Orange/Violet. The expanded color options make it an ideal solution for producing photographic panels, flags, and banners, with the ability to meet branding color requirements for corporate clients.
"These models are engineered to deliver the reliability and high image quality Epson is known for, with some of the fastest dye-sublimation printer speeds in the market," said Tim Check, senior product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America, Inc. "With the expansion of three ink configurations, the SureColor F6470H provides the ability to hit specific corporate colors, making it a unique offering, and one that will open up opportunities for print shops in the high-end dye-sublimation photo market."
The new models feature an innovative 1.33-inch PrecisionCore® MicroTFP printhead with Nozzle Verification Technology (NVT) for exceptional and consistent print quality. An integrated ink pack system utilizing 1.6-liter UltraChrome® DS Ink packs allow the printers to continuously deliver rich color saturation and contrast. Designed with ease of use in mind, both models come with a 4.3-inch touchscreen control panel, an easily accessible maintenance area, a built-in cutter for roll-to-sheet convenience, and a media take-up reel system for unattended printing. Additional features include:
- PrecisionCore MicroTFP printhead with NVT – Delivers consistent, high print quality day after day
- Astounding image quality – Highly efficient UltraChrome DS Ink delivers extraordinary color saturation and high color contrast
- Seamless workflow – Powerful Epson Edge® Print workflow software, featuring Adobe® PDF Print Engine
- Versatile media support – Features a media take-up reel for unattended printing and a built-in cutter for roll-to-sheet convenience
- Performance optimized for Epson DS Transfer Paper – Universal, Rigid Photo Optimized, Adhesive Textile, and Multipurpose paper types available
- Low user maintenance – Easily accessible maintenance area helps ensure consistent, reliable performance
- Epson Cloud Solution PORT2 – Provides live production monitoring of printer fleet, including production rates and printer utilization
Availability
The SureColor F6470 ($8,195 MSRP) and SureColor F6470H ($8,695 MSRP) will be available in early 2023 through authorized Epson Professional Imaging resellers. The models are designed for use exclusively with Epson ink packs* and offer a one-year limited onsite warranty with extended service plans available. For additional information, visit www.epson.com.
About Epson
Epson is a global technology leader whose philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation enriches lives and helps create a better world. The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle. Epson's goal is to become carbon negative and eliminate use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050.
Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of around JPY 1 trillion. global.epson.com/
Epson America, Inc., based in Los Alamitos, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), Twitter (twitter.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/epsonamerica), and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica).
1 Print speeds are based on the print engine speed only. Total throughput time for any print depends on various factors including workstation configuration, file size, print resolution, ink coverage and networking. Actual print speeds will vary.
2 All features of this system require an active Internet connection and the use of a supported browser.
* This product uses only genuine Epson-brand packs. Other brands of ink packs and ink supplies are not compatible and, even if described as compatible, may not function properly or at all.
EPSON, Epson Edge, PrecisionCore, SureColor, TFP, and UltraChrome are registered trademarks and EPSON Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2022 Epson America, Inc.
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SOURCE Epson America, Inc. | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/10/18/epson-introduces-new-high-performance-versatile-large-format-dye-sublimation-printers/ | 2022-10-18 07:29:55 | 1 | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/10/18/epson-introduces-new-high-performance-versatile-large-format-dye-sublimation-printers/ |
The state-owned Citizens Property Insurance, the insurer of last resort in Florida, has proposed an average 14.2% statewide rate hike, but it could have been even higher, says a top property insurance analyst.
More than 1 million Citizens customers in Florida could have been hit with as much as a 60% increase, Mark Friedlander, of the Insurance Information Institute, told the South Florida Roundup on Friday.
Leaders of the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. approved a proposal last week that raises average rates by 14.2 percent this year, as they seek to push policies into the private insurance market.
The proposal still needs approval from the Office of Insurance Regulation before it could take effect and would lead to increases that would vary by types of policy.
For example, Citizens wants to raise rates on primary-residence multi-peril policies — the most-common type of homeowners’ coverage — by 12 percent, effective Nov. 1.
Friedlander, who is the institute's director of corporate communications, said Citizens’ increasing risk exposure is driving up rates.
Citizens has 1.2 million customers and is restricted by law on raising rates. As a result, the company is not allowed to charge the same rates as a private insurer.
“The average premium for a Citizens customer today is roughly 44% less than the private market averages,” said Friedlander.
Most of Citizen’s customers own property in South Florida. If a hurricane as disastrous as Hurricane Ian were to hit the region, it would wipe out Citizens’ reserves, said Friedlander.
“What happens then? Every Florida consumer is on the hook to help replenish those funds," said Friedlander. “That means we would see multiyear surcharges on our insurance renewal premium bills, whether you're a property owner, a renter or a driver, even on your auto insurance bills … to help replenish the funds of Citizens.”
He noted that Citizens, giving the risk factors of the Florida market, would be requesting a nearly 60% increase in premiums — if it were a private insurer.
At two rate hearings with the Office of Insurance Regulation for private insurers, two companies were seeking rate averages from 66% to more than 100%.
Before the Citizens Board of Governors approved the proposed 14.2% increase, President and CEO Tim Cerio said Citizens’ rates are “artificially low” when compared to the private market.
He said Citizens, which has seen massive growth during the past two years, needs to return to a smaller role in the market.
“For the economic well-being of the people of Florida, as well as for the good of Florida’s insurance market, Citizens must return to truly being that insurer of last resort for our state,” Cerio said. “We must charge actuarially sound rates, and we must not be competitive with the private market.”
Citizens has seen its policy count skyrocket from 569,868 on March 31, 2021, to 1,223,204, as private insurers have dropped customers and passed along major rate hikes because of financial troubles. The company expects to top 1.5 million policies by the end of this year.
Citizens’ proposed average 14.2 percent increase involves “personal lines” policies, which include such things as coverage for single-family homes, condominium units, renters and mobile homes.
State law caps annual rate increases for Citizens customers whose homes are their primary residences and who have multi-peril policies. The cap is 12 percent this year and 13 percent in 2024.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report. | https://www.wlrn.org/local-news/2023-04-03/citizens-insurance-double-digit-rate-hikes-could-have-been-even-higher | 2023-04-03 11:21:12 | 1 | https://www.wlrn.org/local-news/2023-04-03/citizens-insurance-double-digit-rate-hikes-could-have-been-even-higher |
'Toddlers and Tiaras' star Kailia Posey left behind a gift for her mom before she died by suicide
The 16-year-old's cause of death was ruled suicide
"Toddlers and Tiaras" star Kailia Posey left behind a note and a gift for her mother before she died by suicide.
Posey's mother Marcy Gatterman opened up about the 16-year-old's final days in a recent interview with E! News.
"The days and weeks leading up to this, it seemed fine to me," Gatterman told the outlet. "I didn't go through her phone. For prom, she went with a bunch of friends. And the next day, everything was fine."
However, on May 1, Posey took a family car after her mother left to go to the store and never returned.
‘TODDLERS AND TIARAS’ STAR KAILIA POSEY, 16, DIED BY SUICIDE, FAMILY SAYS
Her body was found on May 2 and the cause and manner of death was confirmed by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner's Office Wednesday in a release shared online.
The 16-year-old pageant star died by "asphyxia due to ligature hanging and the manner is suicide," according to authorities.
"She left a note for me and then one for her best friend," Gatterman revealed. "The note said that she loved me and that she was sorry and that her big brother is her best friend forever."
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Posey had also ordered a blanket for her mother, which arrived two weeks after her death. The blanket was discovered by the pageant queen on TikTok and meant to be like a hug.
"Dear Mom, even when I'm not close by, I want you to know I love and appreciate you. Always. Wrap yourself up in this and consider it a big hug. I love you," a note with the blanket said, according to Posey's mom.
Gatterman also emphasized parents should be checking in on their children, and encouraged children to open up to their parents.
"Parents who have teenagers, check their phones," she said. "And if you're struggling, talk to your parents. They're not judging you. They're going to get you the help that you need, but we need to know what you need in order get the help you need."
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Posey got her start on "Toddlers and Tiaras," the same TLC show that launched the career of Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson. The TLC show ran for seven seasons and ended in 2013. The show followed families as their young children competed in beauty pageants.
Editor's note: This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/toddlers-tiaras-kailia-posey-gift-died-suicide | 2022-05-26 16:58:24 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/toddlers-tiaras-kailia-posey-gift-died-suicide |
TITUSVILLE, Fla. (WFLA) — NASA will make another attempt this weekend to launch the historic Artemis I mission after the first attempt was scrubbed on Monday.
The agency confirmed Tuesday evening that the next launch attempt is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 3. The two-hour launch window is set to open at 2:17 p.m. ET.
The announcement was made during a teleconference with Artemis Mission Manager Mike Sarafin, Artemis Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and Space Launch System (SLS) Program Manager John Honeycutt.
Artemis I was initially set to launch on Monday morning but NASA teams spent several hours troubleshooting different problems before the launch window opened. The launch director eventually scrubbed Monday’s attempt due to an issue with one of the rocket’s engines. According to NASA, teams had trouble “getting one of the four RS-25 engines on the bottom of the rocket’s core stage to the proper temperature range for liftoff.”
After the launch was scrubbed, engineers stayed on-site to gather data on what went wrong. The mission’s management team met Tuesday afternoon before the teleconference to discuss how to move forward.
“We agreed on what was called ‘Option 1,’ which is to operationally change the loading procedure and start our engine chill-down earlier,” Sarafin explained during Tuesday’s teleconference. “We also agreed to do some work at the pad to address the leak that we saw at the hydrogen tail service mast umbilical.”
Weather during Saturday’s launch window is expected to be less favorable than it was on Monday. Launch Weather Officer Mark Berger said during the teleconference the probability for a weather violation during the countdown appears “rather high.”
“We will have a fairly strong onshore flow so that does favor showers and possibly a few thunderstorms moving in from the coast during the morning and early afternoon hours, so we’ll have to watch that as far as tanking,” Berger said.
If the launch has to be scrubbed again on Saturday, the earliest NASA could make another attempt would be Monday.
“With all scrubs, it depends on the reason you scrub. That really drives your turnaround,” Blackwell-Thompson said. “But provided that it was a weather issue, we are driven by replenishment of our commodities – hydrogen being the primary driver. We could go as soon as Monday, so 48 hours is our turnaround.”
The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft were still sitting at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B as of Tuesday evening. There were concerns after Monday’s scrub that the rocket would have to be rolled back into the vehicle assembly building.
Once Artemis I lifts off, the mission will travel a total of about 1.3 million miles. The mission is the first step in NASA’s plan to send us back to the moon, establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface and eventually send astronauts to Mars. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/artemis-i-launch-nasa-to-make-second-attempt-saturday/ | 2022-08-31 00:38:15 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/artemis-i-launch-nasa-to-make-second-attempt-saturday/ |
Dante scores 18, Oregon holds off Arizona St. for 75-70 win
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - N’Faly Dante scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, Keeshawn Barthelemy added 15 points and Oregon blew most of a 12-point lead before beating Arizona State 75-70 Saturday night.
Will Richardson added 14 points for Oregon.
The Ducks (13-10, 7-5 Pac-12) rebounded from a 91-75 loss at No. 5 Arizona last time out to win for the fourth time in the last five games.
DJ Horne, who had scored eight combined points in the previous three games, scored 18 points for Arizona State (16-8, 7-6). Frankie Collins, who was scoreless on 0-for-1 shooting in the first half, finished with 13 points, six rebound and four assists.
The Sun Devils have lost five of their last six games.
Desmond Cambridge Jr., who had scored 15-plus points in each of the last seven games for Arizona State, had six points on 2-of-8 shooting against the Ducks.
Oregon led for just 15 seconds in the first half, but Barthelemy hit a 3-pointer a minute into the second half that made it 30-all and the Ducks never again trailed. Richardson and Barthelemy each hit a 3 in a 10-2 run that gave Oregon an eight-point lead with 13:47 remaining and a 6-0 spurt made it 52-40 about two minutes later.
UP NEXT
Oregon returns home to play host to Southern California on Thursday.
Arizona State plays Thursday at Stanford.
More ASU basketball
- Cambridge brothers lift Arizona St. past Oregon St. 68-57
- Jakimovski, Powell, Gueye help Washington St. past ASU 75-58
- Washington fends off Arizona State in 69-66 OT win | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/sports/dante-scores-18-oregon-holds-off-arizona-st-for-75-70-win | 2023-02-05 19:01:52 | 0 | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/sports/dante-scores-18-oregon-holds-off-arizona-st-for-75-70-win |
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man is behind bars facing aggravated animal cruelty charges among others after allegedly killing a 9-year-old’s dog in front of her.
Police said Colby Pugh was walking down the street in the 1600 block of National St. on May 16, 2022 when he intentionally killed a dog without justification while a child was feeding it.
Pugh has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty, reckless endangerment, and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Pugh was identified by a police lineup as the person responsible for shooting the family dog. He is being held on a $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on August 29. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/crime/memphis-man-charged-with-killing-family-dog-in-front-of-9-year-old/ | 2022-08-29 17:12:14 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/crime/memphis-man-charged-with-killing-family-dog-in-front-of-9-year-old/ |
Toyota’s next-generation GT3 race car will make its competition debut in 2026 in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), timed with the unveiling of a road-car counterpart, according to Motorsport.com.
The race car, based on the Toyota GR GT3 concept shown at the 2022 Tokyo auto salon, was originally scheduled to begin racing in 2025, according to the report, which cites comments from Toyota WEC team director Rob Leupen. But delays for the road car that will be based on the race car meant that had to be pushed back.
The Lexus RC F is currently homologated for the GT3 category, but the GR GT3 concept provided a strong hint that Japan’s largest automaker was planning to re-up in GT3. Patent drawings that surfaced a few months after the concept’s debut were a further hint that Toyota was moving ahead with production of the GR GT3.
The GT3 class requires to be based on road-going versions, so a it was inevitable that the GR GT3, which isn’t based on any current Toyota model, would spawn a road car as well. That road car could be badged as a Lexus, allowing the GR GT3 to take over for the aging RC F. Lexus has also shown an electric supercar concept with proportions very similar to those of the GR GT3.
As for why the GR GT3 isn’t based on one of the automaker’s existing platforms, Toyota previously said it allowed engineers test out new technologies for potential use in other road-car and racing programs.
Toyota already offers a Supra GT4 customer race car, as well as Supra-badged race cars for Japan’s Super GT touring car series. It still competes in the WEC’s LeMans Hypercar (LMH) prototype class as well. So the new GT3 race car will fill in the gap between the lower-level GT4 and touring-car classes and the prototypes, giving Toyota an entry at nearly every level of sports-car racing.
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- 2024 Toyota GR Corolla Circuit Edition returns with minor tweaks | https://www.kxnet.com/automotive/internet-brands/toyotas-next-gen-gt3-race-car-spawning-road-car-targeting-2026-wec-debut/ | 2023-06-26 11:49:51 | 0 | https://www.kxnet.com/automotive/internet-brands/toyotas-next-gen-gt3-race-car-spawning-road-car-targeting-2026-wec-debut/ |
ELOY, Ariz. — A skydiver was taken to the hospital Thursday afternoon after they got tangled up in some power lines near Eloy, officials said.
The Eloy Fire District was dispatched out to Eleven Mile Corner Road and Acoma Avenue to help rescue a jumper who had gotten stuck in a hazardous situation.
After turning the electricity off, firefighters were able to free the skydiver from the entangled parachute cords. The patient was transported to the hospital to be evaluated for injuries, the fire district said.
This region of Pinal County is a popular spot for skydiving and often attracts skydivers from all over the world.
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What is the Valley?
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States. | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/skydiver-rescued-pinal-county-tangled-up-power-lines/75-6ba7baac-f6b9-47e8-81ea-63715f10c48f | 2023-02-17 20:27:06 | 1 | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/skydiver-rescued-pinal-county-tangled-up-power-lines/75-6ba7baac-f6b9-47e8-81ea-63715f10c48f |
Qatar summoned the German ambassador on Friday over remarks by Germany’s interior minister, who appeared to criticize the decision to award the World Cup to the Gulf Arab nation because of its human rights record.
It was the first time Qatar has summoned an ambassador following years of heavy international scrutiny of its treatment of migrant workers and criminalization of homosexual relations.
With just weeks to go before the start of the soccer tournament, Qatari officials appear increasingly frustrated with such criticism, which they say is often unfounded and ignores progress on labor issues in recent years. Some have questioned the motives of critics, accusing them of unfairly singling out the first Arab or Muslim nation to host the world’s biggest sporting event.
Over 1.2 million fans are expected to descend on the tiny desert nation, whose natural gas riches have made it among the wealthiest countries on earth, for the month-long tournament that begins Nov. 20.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who is also responsible for sports, plans to travel to Qatar on Monday and Tuesday with the government’s human rights commissioner, German lawmakers and a delegation from the German soccer federation.
Her ministry said the visit would center on human rights questions regarding the tournament, including the protection of LGBTQ people against discrimination and persecution, and responsibility for migrant workers who built the stadiums.
In comments carried by German broadcaster ARD on Thursday, Faeser said that the German government is convinced that the awarding of major sports events should be tied to observance of human rights and sustainability. ARD reported that, asked about the decision to send the World Cup to Qatar, she said that “there are criteria that have to be kept to, and then it would be better not to award to such states.”
In an official statement issued on Friday, Faeser noted that “no World Cup takes place in a vacuum.” She added that with regard to future international sporting events, “we must ensure that their awarding and organization is tied to human rights standards.”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned the ambassador to convey its “disappointment and complete rejection and condemnation” of Faeser’s remarks. It did not specify whether it was referring to the comments to ARD or her official statement.
In a televised speech earlier this week, Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said his country “has been subjected to an unprecedented campaign that no host country has ever faced,” one that has included “fabrications and double standards.”
The Al Jazeera news network, which is based in Qatar and funded by the government, published a video on its O2 digital platform suggesting that international criticism was rooted in “Qatarphobia,” with the West singling Qatar out because it is an Arab and Muslim country. The official Qatar news agency has aired comments from Qataris expressing anger at the criticism.
Qatar has said much of the criticism of its treatment of migrant workers ignores reforms enacted in recent years that have been praised by the U.N. as well as major human rights groups. Those groups have said, however, that implementation has been lacking and more needs to be done to address widespread abuses, including wage theft and harsh working conditions.
Qatari law punishes homosexual activity with 1-3 years in prison. Authorities have said LGBTQ fans are welcome to attend the tournament, while urging all visitors to respect the country’s conservative culture.
Several European teams in the World Cup have asked FIFA for permission for their captains to wear rainbow armbands as part of the “One Love” campaign. Federations have also expressed support for a campaign to set up a compensation fund for workers harmed during the construction of stadiums and sprawling infrastructure over the 12 years since Qatar was awarded the World Cup.
___
Associated Press reporters Geir Moulson in Berlin and Lujain Jo in Doha, Qatar, contributed to this report. | https://cbs4indy.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-qatar-summons-german-envoy-over-world-cup-rights-criticism/ | 2022-10-29 21:05:59 | 1 | https://cbs4indy.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-qatar-summons-german-envoy-over-world-cup-rights-criticism/ |
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Taiwan Expo USA concluded its first-ever outing in Washington, D.C. on 14th October, bringing this successful event, which was widely reported in the media, to a brilliant end. Organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, Taiwan Expo USA is one of the most important events between the US and Taiwan. The turnout for the exhibition far exceeded previous estimates, attracting more than 8,300 visitors across three days. The expo brought US and Taiwanese together by strengthening trade relations and facilitating artistic and cultural exchanges while showcasing the East Asian nation's world-class products, services, and technology.
Taiwan External Trade Development Council Chairman, James Huang, and the Minister of Economic Affairs of Taiwan, Mei-Hua Wang, were the main hosts and organizers of the event. The United States Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Marisa Lago; former Vice President of Taiwan, Chien-Jen Chen; Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the United States Representative, Bi-Khim Hsiao; and Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, James Moriarty, were among the government officials and business leaders who attended the opening ceremony.
The event included a plethora of themes to showcase the range and depth of products and services proffered by Taiwan. Special emphasis was laid on areas such as 5G & Smart Cities, Smart Vehicles, Healthcare, Metaverse, Taiwan Excellence, Culture, and Tourism & Food.
At the "Medical Pavilion", visitors could observe how artificial intelligence can assist in healthcare, telemedicine, and medical imaging. "Taiwan Excellence Pavilion" and "Taiwan Tourism Pavilion" showcased technologies related to the metaverse, which aimed to promote the idea of immersive, interactive experiences via VR/AR devices. Visitors also witnessed a landfill being turned into an eco-museum and used 5G technology to observe marine life underwater at the "Marine Pavilion." Pavilions for "Taiwan Culture" and "Taiwan Craft and Design" introduced the cultural treasures and refined craftsmanship of Taiwan. Diabolo Dance Theater curated a brand-new performance for the expo titled "Taiwan, isla Formosa", which showed Taiwan's natural beauty, vitality, and technical strength, as well as its determination to strive for peace and unity. Lei Sheng Art Group, an acclaimed artistic group from Taiwan, hosted a cultural festival to entertain guests. Other pavilions at the expo focused on smart vehicles and aerospace technology. Visitors were also delighted to be able to sample the world-famous bubble tea and Taiwan beer at the event. The Taiwan Expo thus endeavored to present multitudinous opportunities for the two nations to boost bilateral trade in diverse sectors.
The theme of "The best of TAIWAN" has attracted numerous trade buyers to approach the exhibitors with inquiries regarding potential investment opportunities. Many buyers and visitors expressed considerable enthusiasm, such as famous car manufacturers like GM, Ford, and Rivian, leading hospitals like Johns Hopkins and Children's National Hospital, and one of the largest private companies in Indiana, "Telamon". The event also attracted visitors from American public sector entities such as the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, Department of Transportation, and Department of Health and Human Services.
Co-organized by Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade and TAITRA, Taiwan Expo USA brought together 83 Taiwan businesses and government departments including the Ministry of Culture, Tourism Bureau, The General Association of Chinese Culture, National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, and National Space Organization to create this overseas flagship trade fair for promoting bilateral cooperation between the US and Taiwan.
Taiwan Expo has been held 27 times across 12 cities since 2017 and aims to forge greater collaboration with friendly nations in future. Ad by BOFT.
For more information about Taiwan Expo USA, visit https://www.taiwanexpousa.com/en/index.html
chiuhuili@taitra.org.tw
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SOURCE Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/11/21/taiwan-expo-charms-us-with-best-taiwan/ | 2022-11-21 12:56:24 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/11/21/taiwan-expo-charms-us-with-best-taiwan/ |
S.E.A. Crab House is giving away 9,999 eggs in Astoria and Bend in an epic egg drive on June 12th and 14th, 2023.
ASTORIA and BEND, Ore. , June 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- S.E.A. Crab House, the renowned restaurant chain celebrated for its mouthwatering seafood boils infused with Southeast Asian flavors, is thrilled to announce an extraordinary event. Prepare yourselves for an eggstravaganza as they seek to give away a staggering 9,999 eggs in Astoria and Bend, OR. Save the dates: June 12 in Astoria and June 14 in Bend.
This eggstravaganza affair is inspired by S.E.A. Crab House owner, Pattaporn "Patta" Lorwatcharasophon's promise to the revered Thai deity, Ai-Kai. Following the successful launches of two new locations in Beaverton and Seattle, Patta vowed to offer 9,999 as a gesture of gratitude. She wholeheartedly delivers on her promise, expressing gratitude to the Astoria and Bend communities that showed unwavering support during S.E.A. Crab House's expansions.
"Kai means egg in Thai," Patta said on Wednesday. "Ai-Kai is the guardian of treasures and success, and I owe him because he gave us success. The deal was 9,999 eggs per location."
The Ai-Kai Legend is a story from Thailand passed down for generations. It tells the tale of Ai-Kai, a child from a small village who used to play in a nearby temple called Wat Chedi. Unfortunately, he had a tragic accident and drowned. Legend has it that his spirit remains bound to the temple. According to some accounts, a revered teacher named Reverend Grandfather Tuad embarked on a pilgrimage and settled where the abandoned temple stood. Over time, this temple became the present-day Chedi Temple. It is believed that during his time there, Reverend Grandfather Tuad encountered the spirit of a boy aged 9-10, who became his disciple. Within the temple premises, there lie numerous ancient ruins containing valuable treasures. To ensure their protection, Reverend Grandfather Thuat assigned Ai Khai to safeguard these treasures by staying at Chedi Temple.
About the S.E.A. Crab House
The S.E.A. Crab House dining experience brings life to every meal. Our live crab and lobster may not sing and dance, but they certainly bring the wow factor to diners of all ages. Our seafood boils feature Southeast Asian (S.E.A.) influences and tastes, creating a unique experience to a beloved dining style. We currently have locations in Astoria, Seattle, Bend, and Beaverton, and soon Bellevue and Boise. Join us at one of our seafood restaurants today!
Contact: Christophe Adrien, christophe@seacrabhouse.com
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SOURCE SEA Crab House | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/06/08/sea-crab-house-give-away-9999-eggs-astoria-bend-epic-egg-drive/ | 2023-06-08 04:00:34 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/06/08/sea-crab-house-give-away-9999-eggs-astoria-bend-epic-egg-drive/ |
Ice Spice reveals she was obsessed with the late New York drill rapper Pop Smoke when he first hit the music scene. In a recent interview with Billboard, the “Princess Diana” rapper is stepping into her prowess as Hip Hop’s newest rap princess. Read more about how Ice Spice drew inspiration from Pop Smoke’s early success inside.
In a viral clip shared by All Def Music, Ice Spice shares how Pop Smoke brought new life to drill music and their home state of New York. She talks about her early obsession with the late rapper, who was tragically murdered in 2020 just moments into the early days of his career.
“When Pop Smoke came out,” the “Munch” rapper said in the clip. “I was obsessed because I know drill was already mainstream in the UK but Pop Smoke brought this new life back to it [drill rap] and I was just obsessed.”
She goes on to reveal that Pop is one of her major influences.
“He’s one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to that,” she adds.
Though the drill scene can be credited to the likes of Chicago rapper Chief Keef in his early days, Brooklyn rapper and then 20 year old Pop Smoke brought it back with a vengeance. He added his raspy, deep toned voice over ominous 808 drum loops for the classic Brooklyn drill rap we know today. Producer and U.K. drill pioneer 808MeloBeats is responsible for Pop Smoke’s notable drill hits like “Welcome to the Party” and “Dior,” which went on to become popular street anthems across the nation and the world.
“He brought a lot of light to New York and defintiely paved a way for a lot current drill rappers,” Ice Spice credited Pop for the wave that she’s continuing in her music.
Billboard mentions that when Ice enrolled at SUNY Purchase, she intentionally sought out friendships with producers who could help her make her own impression in the drill scene.
“I had a couple producer friends on campus that never would f–king send me a beat. And I’m like, ‘Hello?’ Nobody wanted to send me beats but RIOT,” she said in the Billboard article when speaking of the producer — the son of WQHT (Hot 97) New York DJ/radio personality DJ Enuff. Riot became her go-to collaborator.
“Ice and RIOT are like Shaq and Kobe. You just don’t break it up. You let them do their thing, and they’re going to cook every night,” 10K’s Talamo mentioned to Billboard.
Ice Spice is giving credit where credit is due while making her own impressive waves in the industry and drill scene.
Check out a clip from the interview below:
Obsessed: Ice Spice Credits This Rapper As One of Her Biggest Influences In Drill Music was originally published on globalgrind.com | https://thebeatdfw.com/3768986/obsessed-ice-spice-credits-this-rapper-as-one-of-her-biggest-influences-in-drill-music/ | 2023-05-19 23:23:40 | 0 | https://thebeatdfw.com/3768986/obsessed-ice-spice-credits-this-rapper-as-one-of-her-biggest-influences-in-drill-music/ |
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | https://wtmj.com/ap-news/2022/12/06/ap-top-business-news-at-409-p-m-est-2/ | 2022-12-06 23:10:05 | 0 | https://wtmj.com/ap-news/2022/12/06/ap-top-business-news-at-409-p-m-est-2/ |
The pain at the pump seems to be creeping back. We usually see gas prices go down after Labor Day, but for the second night in a row, prices statewide have risen slightly while dropping in other states.
John Treanor, a spokesperson for AAA, says that may be because demand rose in Arizona over Labor Day weekend. He says whether prices will keep going up is hard to tell.
Treanor says, globally, demand for oil is down, which is why prices have gone down nationally. He says this is the first time in 25 years there was not a named storm on the Gulf Coast. China also recently announced it's not going to pump as much oil next month, decreasing demand.
"We're all kind of in this together," Treanor said. "We're all seeing the increase or decrease fluctuate. It's made us smarter shoppers. It's made us smarter travelers who have been adjusting as Americans our daily life, seeing when we need to fill up and when we don't and how we rethink the way we work and the way that we live." | https://www.abc15.com/news/state/after-9-week-decline-gas-prices-rise-slightly-in-arizona | 2022-09-08 13:55:15 | 0 | https://www.abc15.com/news/state/after-9-week-decline-gas-prices-rise-slightly-in-arizona |
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)Kevin Gausman allowed one hit and struck out 10 over eight masterful innings and the Toronto Blue Jays opened a nine-game trip with a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.
The Blue Jays have won 11 of 13 and increased their lead over Tampa Bay to four games for the top AL wild-card spot.
Jordan Romano worked the ninth to get his AL-best 25th save despite allowing Taylor Walls leadoff homer in the ninth.
The Blue Jays were busy before the trade deadline an hour before first pitch. They acquired two-time AL All-Star utilityman Whit Merrifield from Kansas City, and got relievers Anthony Bass and Zach Pop from Miami.
”I think I’m feeling great,” Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider said. ”We’re excited. We’re confident with our team. We have a really good team with the guys that are in here right now and we just made it better.”
Gausman (8-8) walked Randy Arozarena leading off the first, hit Isaac Paredes with a pitch with one out then retired 14 in a row before Walls singled for the Rays’ first hit to start the sixth. The right-hander threw 75 of 103 pitches for strikes.
”He was locating his heater … He was nasty,” Schneider said. ”When he puts that where he wants it in the zone with his spilt, he’s really, really tough to hit. He was just basically dominant tonight.”
Gausman had a 5.74 ERA (10 earned runs, 15 2/3 innings) over his previous three starts.
”Delivery-wise, felt in rhythm,” Gausman said. ”I just think I matched up pretty well against a lot of them. We just didn’t make any mistakes.”
Toronto went up 1-0 in the first when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled and scored on a single by Bo Bichette off Drew Rasmussen (6-4). Guerrero has a 13-game hitting streak.
Danny Jansen flared a two-run single to center with two outs in ninth.
Rasmussen gave up one run and six hits over six innings.
Tampa Bay is 3-8 since the All-Star break and averaging three runs a game over the stretch.
”This is a game where you might come in one day and have 15 hits and the next day you have zero,” Walls said.
Center fielder Jose Siri, acquired from Houston on Monday, went 0 for 3 in his Rays debut. He made a nifty sliding catch to take a hit away from Bichette with two on and two outs in the third and just missed making a diving catch on Jansen’s single.
”Unbelievable play,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. ”Kind came out of no where. Very encouraged. He was frustrated with himself that he didn’t catch the final one (Jansen’s hit). I’m not sure how many center fielder’s do catch that one.”
RAYS REINFORCEMENTS
Despite making only a minor deal Tuesday, sending OF Brett Phillips to Baltimore for $100,000, Tampa Bay should be getting big-time help in late August or early September from within.
President of Baseball Operations Erik Neander said SS Wander Franco (right hamate bone surgery) and OFs Harold Ramirez (fractured right thumb) and Manuel Margot (right patellar tendon strain) could all be back during the timeframe.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: OF George Springer (right elbow) was out of the lineup for the third time in the last four games. He will be re-evaluated Wednesday.
Rays: C Francisco Mejia (right shoulder impingement) and RHP Matt Wisler (neck strain) could return later this week. … RHP Yonny Chirinois (Tommy John surgery) and LHP Brendan McKay (thoracic outlet syndrome surgery) had their rehab assignments moved from the rookie-level FCL to Class-A Charleston,
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: LHP Yusei Kikuchi (4-5), Wednesday’s starter, is 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three games against Tampa Bay.
Rays: LHP Ryan Yarbrough (0-6) will follow opener Jalen Beeks (1-1) Wednesday.
—
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports | https://www.fox16.com/mlb/gausman-allows-1-hit-over-8-innings-blue-jays-beat-rays-3-1/ | 2022-08-03 18:01:50 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/mlb/gausman-allows-1-hit-over-8-innings-blue-jays-beat-rays-3-1/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden leaves on Sunday for Europe, where he will spend time in three nations tending to alliances that have been tested by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After arriving at night in London, Biden will meet the next day with King Charles III for the first time since he was crowned. Next is the centerpiece of the trip, the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Alliance leaders will debate the war and revise plans for dealing with Russian aggression.
The final stop is in Helsinki, where Biden on Thursday is expected to celebrate the expanding alliance, with Finland as the newest member of NATO.
His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the trip would “showcase the president’s leadership on the world stage.”
A look at Biden’s agenda and the issues he will face:
Biden arrives in London on Sunday night and is expected to have a full schedule of meetings Monday.
“There’s always a lot to talk about with the U.K.,” said Max Bergmann, a former State Department official who leads the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Biden will hold talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing St. Sunak is facing an election by the end of next year. His Conservative Party is lagging badly behind the opposition in opinion polls.
Despite Sunak’s shaky political standing, he has fostered close ties with Biden and it will be their sixth meeting since Sunak took office last October.
Bergmann said Sunak’s tenure has been a nice change of pace after “there were some concerns about Boris Johnson,” one of Sunak’s predecessors, “being a loose cannon.”
Biden will visit the king at Windsor Castle, a royal residence outside London. Biden did not attend Charles’ coronation — first lady Jill Biden went in his place — so this will be their first encounter since then.
They’re expected to discuss climate change, an issue that has been a focus for both leaders, and how to finance initiatives to address the problem.
Biden will spend two days in the capital of Lithuania, which is hosting the annual NATO summit. He will participate in meetings with leaders and deliver a speech from Vilnius University.
The alliance has been reinvigorated by the war in Ukraine, and members have been pouring military hardware into the country to help repel Russia’s invasion.
Biden on Friday defended what he said was a “difficult decision” to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, a move his administration said was key to the fight and buttressed by Ukraine’s promise to use the controversial bombs carefully. Biden is likely to face questions from allies on why the U.S. would send a weapon into Ukraine that more than two-thirds of NATO members have banned because it has a track record for causing many civilian casualties.
For Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the summit “will send a clear message: NATO stands united, and Russia’s aggression will not pay.”
But NATO has also struggled to bridge divides over important issues. Finland was welcomed into the alliance this year, but Sweden’s membership has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.
There are also disagreements over how quickly to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO.
Countries on NATO’s eastern flank want to move quickly, viewing it as a way to deter Russian aggression. The U.S. and others advocate a more cautious approach.
One issue has already been settled, at least for the time being. Stoltenberg’s term has been extended for a year because members could not agree on a new leader.
Sen. Thom Tillis, who will attend the summit, likened the alliance to a gathering of dozens of family members who bicker and clash but nonetheless remain united.
“At the end of the day, you know you’re family,” said Tillis, R-N.C.
Tillis is leading a bipartisan delegation along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who said NATO is more powerful than before.
“It’s the strongest military alliance in our history, and I think it only has gotten stronger as a result of U.S. leadership, as the result of Stoltenberg’s leadership and as the result of the threat from Vladimir Putin to all of the NATO allies and other countries in Europe and around the world and to the international order,” she said.
After two nights in Vilnius, Biden visits Helsinki. The stop is a bit of a victory lap, but could also be a reminder of unfinished business.
The Nordic country in April became the 31st member of NATO, ending its history of nonalignment and demonstrating how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has backfired in Europe.
Finland was supposed to join alongside its neighbor Sweden, whose admission has stalled because of Turkey and Hungary. NATO requires unanimous consent of all its members to expand.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited the White House on Wednesday and met with Biden to keep up the pressure for membership. But there is little hope that the issue will be resolved in Vilnius.
The White House is billing Biden’s visit to Helsinki as a “U.S.-Nordic Leaders Summit.”
It’s a much different occasion from the last time a U.S. president visited Helsinki five years ago.
During that trip, Donald Trump held a news conference with Putin and brushed off concerns about Russian meddling in Trump’s election victory.
Now Biden is heading to the city to demonstrate how his administration has held the line against Moscow and expanded Western defenses.
___
Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report. | https://www.ksn.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ap-biden-is-heading-to-europe-a-king-and-a-war-are-on-his-agenda/ | 2023-07-08 21:25:07 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ap-biden-is-heading-to-europe-a-king-and-a-war-are-on-his-agenda/ |
NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- DarioHealth Corp. (NASDAQ: DRIO) (the "Company"), a leader in the global digital therapeutics (DTx) market, announced the publication of a new study in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Physiology today demonstrating the effectiveness of the Company's musculoskeletal solution, which uses real-time biofeedback and behavior training to reduce back pain.
Dario Move's posture training solution helps users develop better posture through the use of a wearable biofeedback device and real-time data feedback in the solution application. The device helps train users by vibrating when the user is in a slouching position to develop awareness and adoption of proper posture.
The new research used retrospective data from 981 users engaged with Dario Move's posture trainer for at least eight weeks to examine the relationship between the amount of time spent training, the use of the device and reduction in back pain levels. The study examined the user's data after eight weeks of training and found significant clinical impacts:
- Users experienced an average 50% reduction in pain.
- 60% of users reported clinically important pain reduction after 4 weeks of biofeedback training.
- 76% of users showed some pain reduction after 8 weeks.
- Perceived posture quality significantly mediated the effect of weekly training duration on the pain levels.
"Addressing chronic pain with posture training is known to have a positive impact on pain, and now we are able to better define that relationship and the role of the device. We are thrilled to demonstrate our ability to use real-time data from the sensor to drive healthier musculoskeletal health behaviors through ongoing training is now positively linked clinical outcomes," said Yifat Hershcovitz, PhD., Vice President of Clinical and Scientific Affairs at Dario.
"Dario's proven ability to change behaviors using real-time data is transforming how people manage their health, and chronic pain is an area with great potential to help people. We are excited to share this new research and further understanding of how innovative technologies can play a critical role in healthier habit formation and better health," said Omar Manejwala, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Dario.
You can read the entire study here.
About DarioHealth Corp.
DarioHealth Corp. (NASDAQ: DRIO) is a leading digital therapeutics (DTx) company revolutionizing how people with chronic conditions manage their health through a user-centric multi-chronic condition platform. Our platform and suite of solutions deliver personalized and dynamic interventions driven by data analytics and one-on-one coaching for diabetes, hypertension, weight management, musculoskeletal pain, and behavioral health.
Our user-centric platform offers people continuous and customized care for health, disrupting the traditional episodic approach to healthcare. This approach empowers people to holistically adapt their lifestyles for sustainable behavior change, driving exceptional user satisfaction, retention, and results. Making the right thing to do the easy thing to do.
Dario provides its highly user rated solutions globally to health plans and other payors, self-insured employers, providers of care and directly to consumers. To learn more about DarioHealth and its digital health solutions, or for more information, visit http://dariohealth.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release and the statements of representatives and partners of DarioHealth Corp. related thereto contain or may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. For example, the Company is using forward-looking statements in this press release when it discusses the benefits derived from the use of its products and solutions and the belief that innovative technologies can play a critical role in healthier habit formation and better health.. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "plan," "project," "potential," "seek," "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "estimate" or "continue" are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that certain important factors may affect the Company's actual results and could cause such results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements that may be made in this news release. Factors that may affect the Company's results include, but are not limited to, regulatory approvals, product demand, market acceptance, impact of competitive products and prices, product development, commercialization or technological difficulties, the success or failure of negotiations and trade, legal, social and economic risks, and the risks associated with the adequacy of existing cash resources. Additional factors that could cause or contribute to differences between the Company's actual results and forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those risks discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned that actual results (including, without limitation, the timing for and results of the Company's commercial and regulatory plans for Dario™ as described herein) may differ significantly from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
DarioHealth Corporate Contact
Mary Mooney
VP Marketing
mary@dariohealth.com
+1-312-593-4280
Media Contact:
Scott Stachowiak
Scott.Stachowiak@russopartnersllc.com
+1-646-942-5630
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SOURCE DarioHealth Corp. | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/12/19/new-research-published-peer-reviewed-journal-demonstrating-darios-musculoskeletal-solution-reduces-back-pain/ | 2022-12-19 13:47:40 | 1 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/12/19/new-research-published-peer-reviewed-journal-demonstrating-darios-musculoskeletal-solution-reduces-back-pain/ |
Dog boarder charged after 2 dogs die in her care, sheriff says
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - A North Carolina woman who runs a dog walking and boarding business is facing animal cruelty charges after two dogs under her care died, according to the sheriff’s office.
New Hanover Sheriff’s Office Animal Services Unit has charged Pamala Lynn Rodriguez with two counts of felony cruelty to animals, WECT reports.
Rodriguez had been asked to board two German shepherds, Nala and Jager, through Rover.com, a website through which pet owners can connect with pet sitters and dog walkers, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
After five days of boarding the dogs, Rodriguez said she woke up and found Nala dead, the release states. Later that day, she said Jagar was acting lethargic, so she took him to the emergency vet, where he died.
“Before you let anybody watch your pets, watch your animals, make sure that you get some references and that you know that they’re dependable and you can trust them,” said New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon.
Necropsies were performed on both dogs. The sheriff’s office says they died due to extreme dehydration and starvation.
Animal Services deputies executed a search warrant on Rodriguez’s home. According to the news release, it was “extremely filthy, over 85 degrees with no fans, and smelled of urine.” Multiple dogs were found in crates that were too small, and none of them had food or water.
“It was horrendous what we found in there, and we ended up getting 16 other animals from her and taking care of them, getting them back to owners,” McMahon said.
The sheriff’s office says that this is an ongoing investigation.
“We’re just not going to tolerate cruelty to our passenger animals in this county,” McMahon said.
Rodriguez was booked under a $2,100 secure bond.
Copyright 2022 WECT via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2022/05/24/dog-boarder-charged-after-2-dogs-die-her-care-sheriff-says/ | 2022-05-24 06:34:31 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2022/05/24/dog-boarder-charged-after-2-dogs-die-her-care-sheriff-says/ |
Company makes three-year pledge to accelerate the economic integration of Ukrainian refugee women and other refugees
NEW YORK, June 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Teleperformance, a global leader in digital business services, today announced its commitment to hire 500 refugees, including Ukrainian refugee women, over the next three years across its Europe operations including in France, Germany, Portugal and the U.K.
The announcement is also part of the Company's ongoing commitment to hire and integrate refugees across the globe. At the end of last year, Teleperformance employed more than 2,300 refugees worldwide, including more than 1,900 Venezuelan refugees at its Colombia operations. The Company's longstanding and impactful approach to the economic integration of Venezuelan refugees in Colombia earned it TENT's Outstanding Leadership in Hiring Refugees award in 2021. It also employs a few hundred refugees across Europe, including displaced people from the Ukraine, Syria, Iran, Pakistan and Congo.
"There are so many thousands of refugees from Ukraine and other countries who wish to work and take care of themselves and their families but who face countless hurdles to employment," said Clémentine Gauthier-Medina, Senior Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, Teleperformance Group. "We're pleased to expand on our longstanding commitment to refugees to help improve their lives and communities through meaningful employment."
Teleperformance's pledge joins those being made recently by dozens of businesses to accelerate economic integration of Ukrainian refugee women and other refuges across Europe in partnership with the Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent), a global network of companies committed to supporting the economic integration of refugees.
"Ukrainian refugee women face many hurdles when finding jobs - from not knowing the local language to having to juggle childcare responsibilities. Businesses must do more to reduce these barriers, and help these incredible, strong, talented people enter the workforce," said Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and President of the Tent Partnership for Refugees and CEO and founder of Chobani. "The moment a refugee gets a job is the moment they stop being a refugee. I'm so proud that the companies stepping up today, including Teleperformance, will help Ukrainian women and other refugees across Europe stand on their own two feet, giving them a chance to live lives of dignity."
With an extensive, global presence in 91 countries, Teleperformance serves as a strategic partner to the world's largest companies across many industries. Core to the company's values is a desire to improve people's lives and pave the way to a better and more equitable tomorrow for all.
Commitment to Impact Sourcing
Teleperformance has long been an intentional employer of people across the globe who have traditionally been excluded from the formal workforce, including refugees and other marginalized minorities, people with disabilities, long-term unemployed, young people without a degree, and people living in poverty. At the end of 2022, approximately 20% of the Company's employees were Impact employees from minority groups and disadvantaged communities.
ABOUT TELEPERFORMANCE GROUP
Teleperformance (TEP – ISIN: FR0000051807 – Reuters: TEPRF.PA - Bloomberg: TEP FP), is a global leader in digital business services, blending the best of advanced technology with human empathy to deliver enhanced customer care that is simpler, faster, and safer for the world's biggest brands and their customers. The Group's comprehensive, AI-powered service portfolio ranges from front-office customer care to back-office functions, including Trust and Safety services that help defend both online users and brand reputation. It also offers a range of specialized services such as collections, interpreting and localization, visa and consular services, and recruitment process outsourcing services. With more than 410,000 inspired and passionate people speaking more than 300 languages, the Group's global scale and local presence allows it to be a force of good in supporting communities, clients, and the environment. In 2022, Teleperformance reported consolidated revenue of €8,154 million (US$8.6 billion, based on €1 = $1.05) and net profit of €645 million.
Teleperformance shares are traded on the Euronext Paris market, Compartment A, and are eligible for the deferred settlement service. They are included in the following indices: CAC 40, STOXX 600, S&P Europe 350, MSCI Global Standard and Euronext Tech Leaders. In the area of corporate social responsibility, Teleperformance shares are included in the CAC 40 ESG since September 2022, the Euronext Vigeo Euro 120 index since 2015, the EURO STOXX 50 ESG index since 2020, the MSCI Europe ESG Leaders index since 2019, the FTSE4Good index since 2018 and the S&P Global 1200 ESG index since 2017.
Visit the Group at www.teleperformance.com.
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SOURCE Teleperformance | https://www.valleynewslive.com/prnewswire/2023/06/22/teleperformance-expands-commitment-hiring-refugees/ | 2023-06-22 17:40:55 | 0 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/prnewswire/2023/06/22/teleperformance-expands-commitment-hiring-refugees/ |
Taylor J from 107.5 KISS FM shares her Monday Motivation Minute.
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Subscribe Now | https://who13.com/hello-iowa/guest-of-the-day-taylor-j-3/ | 2022-10-03 18:45:21 | 0 | https://who13.com/hello-iowa/guest-of-the-day-taylor-j-3/ |
From down double digits to celebrating a historic Final Four victory.
Making their Final Four debut, the No. 5 San Diego State Aztecs overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to beat the No. 9 Florida Atlantic Owls on Saturday and advance to the program's first national championship game.
The Aztecs trailed the Owls 56-42 with 13:53 remaining at NRG Stadium in Houston. But Brian Dutcher's team closed the game on a 30-15 sprint, which was capped off in absolutely thrilling fashion.
With FAU leading by one in the waning seconds, Owls guard Johnell Davis missed a contested layup. SDSU's Nathan Mensah pulled down the rebound and passed the ball to Lamont Butler, who drove down to the right corner and created some space for a game-winning pull-up jumper at the buzzer.
That gave the Aztecs their first lead since the 7:27 mark of the first half.
So where does SDSU's triumph rank among the biggest comebacks in men's Final Four history?
What are the biggest Final Four comebacks in March Madness history?
The Aztecs did not pull off the biggest comeback in men's Final Four history, as that record belongs to the Duke Blue Devils. In 2001, Duke overcame a 22-point deficit to beat Maryland in the Final Four en route to a national title.
The Blue Devils were on the wrong end of the second-biggest comeback, blowing an 18-point lead against Seton Hall in the 1989 Final Four.
The next two biggest comeback wins both came in the national championship game. The Kansas Jayhawks made the biggest national title game comeback last year when they erased UNC's 16-point lead. That broke the previous record mark of 15 points by Loyola Chicago against Cincinnati in 1963.
The Aztecs come in behind Loyola Chicago with the fifth-biggest Final Four comeback.
Here's a full look at the five biggest comebacks in men's Final Four history:
- No. 1 Duke: Trailed by 22 points vs. No. 3 Maryland in first half, 2001 Final Four
- No. 3 Seton Hall: Trailed by 18 points vs. No. 2 Duke in first half, 1989 Final Four
- No. 1 Kansas: Trailed by 16 points vs. No. 8 UNC in first half, 2022 national championship
- Loyola Chicago: Trailed by 15 points vs Cincinnati in second half, 1963 national championship
- No. 5 San Diego State: Trailed by 14 points vs. No. 9 FAU in second half, 2023 Final Four | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/sports/where-san-diego-states-win-over-fau-ranks-among-biggest-comebacks-in-final-four-history/3228286/ | 2023-04-02 02:34:13 | 0 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/sports/where-san-diego-states-win-over-fau-ranks-among-biggest-comebacks-in-final-four-history/3228286/ |
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Super League Gaming, Inc. (SLGG) on Monday reported a loss of $7.2 million in its first quarter.
On a per-share basis, the Santa Monica, California-based company said it had a loss of 19 cents.
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The company posted revenue of $3.3 million in the period.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SLGG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SLGG | https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/super-league-gaming-q1-earnings-snapshot-18100777.php | 2023-05-15 21:10:39 | 0 | https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/super-league-gaming-q1-earnings-snapshot-18100777.php |
The World's Largest Biohacking Event Will Showcase the Latest Technology and Cutting-Edge Research from Esteemed Experts on Health, Performance and Longevity
LOS ANGELES , July 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The 8th Annual Biohacking Conference, returns to the West Coast in 2022 with an immersive 3-day consumer and expert experience at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, September 15 – 17. Thousands of health and wellness seekers from around the globe will be captivated by the latest advancements in science and technology, and hear from world's leading experts in health, longevity, consciousness, performance and more.
Hosted by legendary biohacker and esteemed entrepreneur Dave Asprey and Upgrade Labs, the world's first Human Upgrade Center, the highly acclaimed Biohacking Conference, formerly known as The Bulletproof Conference, is the largest event of its kind. This year's theme is all about being unstoppable, and the speakers and exhibiting partners promise to provide attendees with the tools and skills they need to get there. Attendees can try out the latest cutting-edge technologies from over 100 exhibiting partners who will showcase their latest innovations. Highlights include improving brain cognition and performance with BrainTap, maximizing your cardio with the shortest, most effective workout on an AI powered CAROL Bike, exploring supplement innovations with BiOptimizers, and neurofeedback with 40 Years of Zen.
Distinguished keynote speakers and featured presenters include: Dave Asprey, Netflix's Sex, Love & goop star
Jaiya, Dr. Steven Gundry, Jim Kwik, Dr. Will Cole, Dr. Harry Adelson, Charlie Engle, Naveen Jain, Dr. Patrick Porter, Dr. Caroline Leaf, Vishen Lakhiani and many others. In addition, the Conference will include breakout sessions with expert panelists, inspirational speakers and educators such as award-winning yogi Katie Silcox and famed podcaster Dr. Stephanie Estima. These leaders in their fields will cover topics from ayurveda wisdom to nutrition to brain fitness to sex and relationships and much more.
Asprey's latest coffee innovation, Danger Coffee™, will be served daily. Danger Coffee™ is a clean, mold-free, farm-direct coffee engineered to detoxify and re-mineralize the body with more than 50 trace minerals, nutrients, and electrolytes.
"The most important thing you can do is to know you are in charge of your own biology," says legendary biohacker and esteemed entrepreneur Dave Asprey. "Over the past ten years, the Biohacking Conference has built a powerful movement, provided community and actionable information, and always supported the most innovative companies in the world."
"I truly believe that mental mess is something we all experience often and that it isn't something we should be ashamed of," says keynote presenter and esteemed cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Caroline Leaf. "The events and circumstances of life aren't going anywhere; people make a lot of decisions every day that affect us all, suffering of some sort for you and your loved ones is inevitable. That said, I wholeheartedly believe that although the events and circumstances can't be controlled, we can control our reactions to these events and circumstances. I am thrilled to present at this year's Biohacking Conference so we can put our mind-management skills in action!"
Partners for the 8th Annual Biohacking Conference include BrainTap, Oxy Health, 40 Years of Zen, Docere Clinics, TRU KAVA, LivOn Labs, TrueLight, The DNA Co., Sunlighten, BEAM Minerals, biOptomizers, CAROL, essentia, eng3, Homebiotic, just thrive, PureWave, SALTChamber, The Cold Plunge and many more. All attendees will be treated to healthy, gourmet lunches, unique morning workouts, and exclusive biohacking samples and gear to take home, with additional perks offered to Preferred and VIP attendees throughout the three-day conference.
Ticket Prices:
- General Admission: $1,799
- Preferred Admission: $2,999
- VIP Admission: $4,299
The Biohacking Conference Location:
The Beverly Hilton
9876 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90210
For more information and to purchase tickets visit:
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SOURCE Biohacking Conference | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/07/07/8th-annual-biohacking-conference-returns-la-with-transformative-3-day-event-september-15-17-2022/ | 2022-07-07 20:13:22 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/07/07/8th-annual-biohacking-conference-returns-la-with-transformative-3-day-event-september-15-17-2022/ |
THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF
NEW LIMITED EDITION
HALF SPEED MASTERED ALBUMS
ROUGH MIX & EMPTY GLASS
MASTERED BY JON ASTLEY
CUT FOR VINYL BY MILES SHOWELL
AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS
RELEASED JUNE 23rd ON UMe
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW
https://petetownshend.lnk.to/RoughMixPR
https://petetownshend.lnk.to/EmptyGlassPR
https://petetownshend.lnk.to/StorePR
LOS ANGELES, May 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- June 23, 2023, sees the release of the first in a series of half speed mastered studio albums from Pete Townshend, Rough Mix and Empty Glass.
These limited-edition black vinyl versions have been mastered by long-time Who engineer Jon Astley and cut for vinyl by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios with a half-speed mastering technique which produces a superior vinyl cut and are packaged in original sleeves with obi strips and certificates of authenticity. Rough Mix is presented in a gatefold sleeve, and Empty Glass features a full-color inner bag with full lyrics and a 12" x 24" poster.
Rough Mix was initially released in September 1977 while The Who were on hiatus and was a collaboration with Small Faces bassist the late Ronnie Lane and features contributions from Who bassist John Entwistle, Eric Clapton, and Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts among others.
The orchestral arrangements for the track "Street in the City" were provided by Townshend's then father-in-law, noted British film and television theme composer Edwin Astley. Edwin's son, Jon Astley has overseen this new remaster.
Produced by Chris Thomas (Roxy Music, Sex Pistols, Pretenders, Wings), Empty Glass was Townshend's next solo release appearing in April 1980. The songs predominantly deal with issues Townshend was struggling with at the time, including alcohol, drugs, and the death of Keith Moon, the Who's former drummer.
The second single from the album "Let My Love Open the Door" was a U.S. Top Ten hit, propelling the album to No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard chart, and the first single "Rough Boys," which was dedicated to Pete's children and The Sex Pistols, was a U.K. top 40 hit. The album was well received at the time, with some critics even referring to it as a Who album that never was.
PETE TOWNSHEND ROUGH MIX - HALF SPEED MASTERED VINYL TRACK LIST
SIDE 1
My Baby Gives It Away
Nowhere To Run
Rough Mix
Annie
Keep Me Turning
Catmelody
SIDE 2
Misunderstood
April Fool
Street In The City
Heart To Hang Onto
Till The Rivers Run Dry
PETE TOWNSHEND EMPTY GLASS - HALF SPEED MASTERED VINYL TRACK LIST
SIDE 1
Rough Boys
I Am An Animal
And I Moved
Let my Love Open The Door
Jools And Jim
SIDE 2
Keep On Working
Cat's In The Cupboard
A Little Is Enough
Empty Glass
Gonna Get Ya
PETE TOWNSHEND
ROUGH MIX & EMPTY GLASS
HALF SPEED MASTERED VINYL
RELEASED ON UMe JUNE 23, 2022
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialPeteTownshend
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yaggerdang
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheWhoVEVO
Website: https://www.thewho.com/
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SOURCE UMe | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/05/11/pete-townshend/ | 2023-05-11 13:39:35 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/05/11/pete-townshend/ |
Pioneer of Security Deposit Insurance also launching Credit+, a Free Credit Reporting Service
NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhino, which pioneered security deposit insurance in 2017 and today services a six million home partner network, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the technology and assets of Deposify, a portfolio company of Sunriver Ventures, a cash deposit collection and compliance company for landlords and property managers across the U.S. A combined offering, set to launch imminently after the transaction closes this year, will bring to market the first end-to-end deposit management and compliance platform to service more than $45 billion in cash deposits and security deposit insurance for 43 million rental homes nationwide across the entire rental industry.
Increasing trust and transparency between renters and landlords has always been a core part of Rhino's vision. To further advance this mission, Rhino is also launching Credit+, which will provide renters at partner communities with a means to build credit through on-time rent reporting. On the heels of a recent TransUnion report that found over 45 million U.S. consumers unserved or underserved, with little to no credit history, Rhino's new service will be available exclusively to renters through partners that use Rhino's end-to-end deposit management platform, and will be free of charge to renters and property managers.
"Today's announcement is a direct response to hundreds of conversations with renters frustrated by waiting for deposit refunds and landlords and property managers struggling with time-consuming operations, looking for more cost-effective ways to handle cash," said Paraag Sarva, Rhino Co-Founder and CEO. "While renters and landlords alike are enthusiastic about our work to introduce a new way to secure a home with Rhino's deposit insurance product, the reality is cash deposits will continue to be used for some portion of transactions, and we're in a unique position to solve those challenges. We're going to give renters a world-class, technology-first experience regardless of how they choose to move-in: with deposit insurance or with a cash deposit."
In just five years, Rhino's innovation and leadership saved renters over $1 billion in upfront move-in costs and helped drive down operational costs for over 2,500 landlords and property managers nationwide, a network managing six million rental homes and over 14% of the U.S. rental market. There is growing demand from landlords and property managers to further reduce the friction and challenge of cash security deposits.
"We founded Deposify with a goal of bringing cash deposit collections, refunds, and compliance out of the stone age," said Jon Bayle, Founder and CEO of Deposify. "With our platform, cash deposits can be paid instantly and refunded instantly, dramatically improving the customer experience for renters and reducing operating and compliance costs for landlords and property managers. I'm excited to partner with Paraag and the Rhino team on the next chapter of our journey together as we double-down and expand our reach and vision with the incredible momentum they have."
"Securing rental housing continues to be an archaic, cumbersome process, where the costs of unnecessary inefficiencies are ultimately borne by millions of low- and moderate-income renter households," said Jordan Moss, Founder of Catalyst Housing Group, a mission-driven housing provider addressing wealth and income gaps with pioneering capital solutions. "I applaud Rhino for taking a leadership position in the multifamily industry, and continually pursuing technology-driven innovations that uplift both renters and owners. Catalyst is excited to pursue future partnership opportunities with Rhino as they tackle the management and compliance of cash deposits, and other antiquated business lines."
"New York has challenging building management regulations," said Joe Strasburg, President of the Rent Stabilization Association, America's largest regional housing owner's association. "It's incredibly difficult for our 25,000 diverse members to keep up with always changing statutes and demands. We've proudly endorsed Rhino's deposit insurance program for years now and are enthusiastic to see them continuing to leverage technology to make building management more efficient for owners and tenants alike."
Both small property owners and the largest enterprise operators in America want to provide strong customer service and a tech-enabled experience more easily and efficiently. Inflation and a potential recession are creating challenges for the 110 million renters in America, as well as property managers and businesses of all sizes. By launching the industry's first end-to-end deposit platform servicing all stakeholders in the rental ecosystem, Rhino is aggressively responding to the most pressing needs of renters and landlords alike.
Rhino was founded to give renters everywhere greater financial freedom to plan and enjoy their lives. In 2017, Rhino pioneered security deposit insurance, replacing cash deposits with smart, affordable insurance so renters can maintain control of their cash. Instead of a large upfront cash security deposit, renters pay Rhino a small fee, and Rhino insures the property owner for damages that might occur and lost rent. In addition, Rhino today also offers Renters Insurance, giving renters a simple and affordable way to purchase contents and liability insurance which is often also required by landlords at move-in. As of 2022, we are offered in over two million homes with a six million home partner network, and we have saved renters over $1 billion in cash.
Deposify was founded in Ireland in 2014 by Jon Bayle and Dave Brennan and has U.S. offices in Boston and New York. Its primary product is a cash security deposit management technology platform which is utilized by property managers across the U.S. Deposify is a portfolio company of Sunriver Ventures, a Dallas-based investment firm providing structured debt and equity capital to companies that bring technology to traditional industries like real estate, construction, and insurance.
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SOURCE Rhino | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/11/16/rhino-announces-acquisition-deposify-launch-first-end-to-end-deposit-management-compliance-platform-rental-industry/ | 2022-11-16 15:24:07 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/11/16/rhino-announces-acquisition-deposify-launch-first-end-to-end-deposit-management-compliance-platform-rental-industry/ |
US Bestseller List - Paid Books
Book Title by Author Name - ISBN - (Publisher)
1. It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover - 9781668001233 - (Atria Books)
2. The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham - 9780385548939 - (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)
3. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover - 9781501110375 - (Atria Books)
4. Long Shadows by David Baldacci - 9781538719794 - (Grand Central Publishing)
5. Verity by Colleen Hoover - 9781538724743 - (Grand Central Publishing)
6. Damaged Shadows by Kathleen Brooks - No ISBN Available - (Laurens Publishing)
7. The Maze by Nelson DeMille - 9781501101809 - (Scribner)
8. Fire and Blood by Doug Wheatley & George R.R. Martin - 9781524796297 - (Random House Publishing Group)
9. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - 9780063251991 - (Harper)
10. Righteous Prey by John Sandford - 9780593422489 - (Penguin Publishing Group) | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/entertainment/article/Apple-Books-Top-10-17533136.php | 2022-10-25 16:28:49 | 1 | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/entertainment/article/Apple-Books-Top-10-17533136.php |
NetSuite helps luxury accessories brand make data-driven decisions to meet changing customer demands and increase profitability
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hammitt, one of the fastest growing luxury brands in the United States, is working with Oracle NetSuite to deliver a client-focused, functional, and fresh approach to modern handbags as it scales its business. With NetSuite, Hammitt has been able to take advantage of an integrated business system to meet soaring customer demand for its line of stylish and functional handbags, backpacks, and leather accessories by simplifying and unifying its financial, product development, inventory, and customer relationship operations.
Founded during the 2008 global financial crisis, Hammitt was started by Tony Drockton in a garage in Hermosa Beach, California. Today, Hammitt's bags and accessories are sold in over 850 boutiques and stores nationwide, including retailers Dillard's and Von Maur and its own flagship stores across Southern California. As Hammitt expanded and increased its direct-to-consumer business, which now encompasses 50 percent of its overall sales, it became increasingly difficult to maintain full visibility into operations and gain the insights needed to meet changing customer demands. To address these challenges and establish a scalable foundation for future growth, Hammitt chose NetSuite as its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
"There is nothing remotely comparable to NetSuite on the market as it provides a complete cloud ERP solution to help us navigate uncertainty and address inefficient processes," said Tony Drockton, founder and CEO, Hammitt. "NetSuite is the core of how we have managed our entire business over the last decade, and a significant reason we've been able to grow so quickly – both in store and online. Flash forward to today, 2023 is the year to focus on profitability and it's hard to be profitable in the long term without the insights that a strong cloud ERP solution like NetSuite provides. NetSuite has helped us increase productivity, reduce inefficiencies, and improve decision making across our business."
With NetSuite, Hammitt has been able to manage its operations on a single cloud business system. By leveraging more of the suite, Hammitt has been able to further improve efficiencies, reduce costs that come with various point solutions, and have full visibility into its entire business to make more informed decisions. NetSuite has enabled Hammitt to automate key finance functions, giving the accounting team time to focus on more strategic financial priorities such as expansion decisions and analysis of supplier and retailer relationships. To further increase efficiencies across its business, Hammitt uses NetSuite Inventory Management and Demand Planning to gain real-time insight into its inventory, predict which products will sell the fastest, and increase production of unexpectedly popular products.
NetSuite has also helped Hammitt scale its direct-to-consumer business and enhance the design of its products. For example, NetSuite CRM connects data from across the customer lifecycle to help Hammitt enhance the customer experience, while insights from NetSuite are used by Hammitt's design team to inform future collections. Hammitt uses the NetSuite Connector to automatically sync order, inventory and customer data from Shopify to NetSuite, saving time on manual reconciliation and reducing the chance for inaccurate data to populate on either system. Finally, Hammitt's leadership team leverages NetSuite's real-time reporting to drive strategic decisions regarding finance, inventory, and sales to meet changing customer demands and economic conditions.
"We are excited to see the success the Hammitt team has achieved over the years," said David Rodman, SVP of Customer Success, Oracle NetSuite. "With NetSuite at the core of its business operations, Hammitt has grown from a small independent retailer to one of the most sought-after luxury accessories brands in the nation. We look forward to continuing to help Hammitt increase efficiencies, bolster its profitability, and deliver an exceptional customer experience."
About Oracle NetSuite
For more than 20 years, Oracle NetSuite has helped organizations grow, scale and adapt to change. NetSuite provides an integrated system that includes financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), inventory management, HR, professional services automation and omnichannel commerce, used by more than 33,000 customers in 217 countries and dependent territories.
Learn more at https://www.netsuite.com. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
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SOURCE Oracle NetSuite | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2023/01/26/hammitt-bags-growth-partner-netsuite/ | 2023-01-26 13:54:13 | 0 | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2023/01/26/hammitt-bags-growth-partner-netsuite/ |
Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, appeared Sunday night at the annual Kennedy Center Honors in what seemed to be his first public appearance since he was savagely attacked in his home by an intruder in late October.
The 82-year-old Pelosi appeared at the Washington ceremony — which celebrates artists who have "made an indelible mark on the cultural landscape of America" over the previous year — wearing a black brimmed hat and single black glove in addition to his usual formal attire. Several media reports noted that Pelosi seemed to be in a good mood Sunday, laughing and talking with fellow attendees during a reception at the Kennedy Center.
The appearance comes slightly more than five weeks after a man broke into the couple's San Francisco home on Broadway near Divisadero with the reported intention of taking Nancy Pelosi hostage. After finding Paul home alone, police say, the intruder — 42-year-old David DePape — struck Pelosi in the head with a hammer he had brought as the two men were struggling for control of the weapon. Pelosi had to undergo emergency surgery on his skull as a result of his injuries.
The Hill reported that at one point during Sunday's ceremony, Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein paid tribute to the couple.
“I would like to single out one member of Congress who has been, for more than several decades, really devoted to the Kennedy Center — and her husband of 60 years who’s here with us as well — Nancy Pelosi,” he said.
The Hill article said that the couple "grabbed each other’s hands and raised them in a triumphant gesture" as the audience gave them a "thunderous" standing ovation.
DePape, who police say had been radicalized by right-wing propaganda, is being held without bail until his trial. He's facing several charges — including attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, and threats to a public official and their family — which he's pleaded not guilty to.
Before last month's midterm elections, Nancy Pelosi told CNN that the attack on her husband would influence her decision as to whether she would stay in congressional leadership. Many speculated that Pelosi would retire outright if Republicans retook control of the U.S. House, but even after results showed that would likely be the case, Pelosi announced last month that she would remain in the chamber but not seek reelection to a leadership position. | https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/paul-pelosi-kennedy-center-honors-17632600.php | 2022-12-06 00:47:52 | 0 | https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/paul-pelosi-kennedy-center-honors-17632600.php |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff has become something of a vanishing breed during the nearly quarter century he has been running the company that pioneered the concept of selling software as an online subscription. While Benioff remains in charge at Salesforce, other billionaire founder/CEOs such Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google’s Larry Page and Netflix’s Reed Hastings have all stepped away from groundbreaking companies born during the 1990s.
Benioff, 58, isn’t ready to leave Salesforce yet, even though he has amassed an $8 billion fortune and just went through a challenging stretch that might have caused many CEOs to head for the exit. In January, Benioff decided to lay off 8,000 Salesforce employees after overseeing a pandemic-driven expansion that included a nearly $28 billion acquisition of the popular workplace tool Slack and then grappled with an investor backlash triggered by a nearly 50% drop in the company’s stock price last year. The shares have recovered most of their losses so far this year on the strength of a revived revenue growth.
The Associated Press recently sat down with Benioff for an interview that has been lightly edited for clarity.
A: When I look back at 2019, we had really gone through three huge waves of technology: cloud computing, mobile and social. And now we are going into the fourth wave, which is probably the most important one in AI (artificial intelligence), which is not just the most important technology of our lifetime, but probably the most important in any lifetime. It’s going to be a new world of technology that’s as exciting as all the other worlds put together.
A: Technologies are never good or bad, it’s what we do with them that matters. Nobody wants a Hiroshima moment to understand how dangerous AI is. We want to be able to kind of get our heads around the tremendous consequences of the technology that we are working with. And that’s going to require a multi-stakeholder approach — companies, governments, non-governmental organizations and others to put together the guidelines for this technology.
A: We are moving from the generative ChatGPT phase, which is phase one, into a stage where we are about to see agents that are quite alive and aware and able to take these kinds of massive actions. These are called multimodal agents, that is they can move from text to speech to video. And then we are going to move into something that is maybe more multisensory, where these agents are going to be more aware of us and we are going to be more aware of them.
None of us are really ready for this because none of us have had this experience before. We are on the threshold of a dramatic change in the way we work with computers. We are going to work side by side with them. And, in many cases, they are going to augment or extend what we have been doing. They are going to be taking actions without our knowledge.
A: We are all using technology to find more freedom in our lives. Things are back to normal, but people do go to the office less. And that is not going to change. We are never going back to they way it was.
A: Companies were too optimistic, including ours. And we unfortunately had to make adjustments, some that we did not want to make. I think everyone got hypnotized during the pandemic that that was what the future was going to look like. And when the pandemic was over, there was a snapback.
A: I think about my career every day, but I have never been more excited about the future of the industry and the potential to help all our customers. This technology revolution that is going on in artificial intelligence and the importance of bringing trust to AI is a real call to arms. | https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/tech-news/ap-technology/ap-salesforce-ceo-shares-his-predictions-for-ai-and-the-future-of-work/ | 2023-07-24 22:33:06 | 1 | https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/tech-news/ap-technology/ap-salesforce-ceo-shares-his-predictions-for-ai-and-the-future-of-work/ |
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday hailed an agreement for Sweden to join NATO as more work remained to determine a path forward for Ukraine’s future with the alliance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized as “absurd” the absence of a timetable for his country’s entry.
Biden described the summit as a “historic moment” and said the United States agreed with a proposal, yet to be released publicly, to outline a path for Ukraine’s eventual membership.
However, Zelenskyy, who was on his way to Vilnius to join the summit, expressed disappointment with how the negotiations were playing out.
“We value our allies,” he wrote on Twitter but added that “Ukraine also deserves respect.”
“It’s unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership,” Zelensky said. He finished with, “Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit.”
A public flash of anger from the Ukrainian leader, who has been hailed by the West as a hero for his leadership during the Russian invasion, could renew tensions in Vilnius just as they had begun to subside.
On Monday evening, the night before the summit opened, Turkey withdrew its objections to Sweden joining the alliance, a step toward the unity that Western leaders have been eager to demonstrate in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The deal was reached after days of intensive meetings, and it’s poised to expand the alliance’s strength in Northern Europe.
“Rumors of the death of NATO’s unity were greatly exaggerated,” Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told reporters triumphantly on Tuesday.
According to a joint statement issued when the deal was announced, Erdogan will ask Turkey’s parliament to approve Sweden joining NATO. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another holdout, is expected to take a similar step. Hungary’s foreign minister said Tuesday that his country’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership was now just a “technical matter.”
The outcome is a victory as well for Biden, as well, who has touted NATO’s expansion as an example of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has backfired on Moscow. Finland has already become the 31st member of the alliance, and Sweden is on deck to become the 32nd. Both Nordic countries were historically nonaligned until the war increased fears of Russian aggression.
Because of the deal on Sweden’s membership, “this summit is already historic before it has started,” Stoltenberg said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that NATO’s expansion is “one of the reasons that led to the current situation.”
“It looks like the Europeans don’t understand their mistake,” Peskov said. He warned against putting Ukraine on a fast track for NATO membership.
“Potentially it’s very dangerous for the European security, it carries very big risks,” Peskov said.
Biden began Tuesday by meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, where he emphasized his commitment to transatlantic cooperation.
“Nothing happens here that doesn’t affect us,” he told Nauseda. The White House said Nauseda presented Biden with the Order of Vytautas the Great, the highest award a Lithuanian president can bestow. Biden is the first U.S. president to receive it.
Biden and Erdogan were scheduled to meet Tuesday evening, and it was unclear how some of the Turkish president’s other demands will be resolved. He has been seeking advanced American fighter jets and a path toward membership in the European Union. The White House has expressed support for both, but publicly insisted that the issues were not related to Sweden’s membership in NATO.
“I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Turkey on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area,” Biden said in a statement late Monday.
The phrasing was a nod to Biden’s commitment to help Turkey acquire new F-16 fighter jets, according to an administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly.
The Biden administration has backed Turkey’s desire to buy 40 new F-16s as well as modernization kits from the U.S. It’s a move some in Congress, most notably Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J, have opposed over Turkey blocking NATO membership for Sweden, its human rights record and other concerns.
In Washington, Menendez said he was “continuing to have my reservations” on providing the fighter aircraft to Turkey. If the Biden administration could show that Turkey wouldn’t use the F-16s belligerently against other NATO members, particularly its neighbor Greece, and meet other conditions, “then there may be a way forward,” Menendez told reporters.
NATO members are now focused on Ukraine’s desire to join NATO. The Baltic states — including Lithuania, which is hosting the event — have pushed for a strong show of support and a clear pathway toward membership for Ukraine.
The United States and Germany have resisted that, and Biden said last week that Ukraine wasn’t ready to join. Members of NATO, he told CNN, need to “meet all the qualifications, from democratization to a whole range of other issues,” a nod toward longstanding concerns about governance and corruption in Kyiv.
In addition, some fear that bringing Ukraine into NATO would serve more as a provocation to Russia than as a deterrence against aggression.
Stoltenberg wrote in Foreign Affairs on Monday that the alliance would “upgrade our political ties” by forming a NATO-Ukraine Council, which would be “a platform for decisions and crisis consultation.”
Zelenskyy is scheduled to attend the summit on Wednesday and meet with Biden.
NATO committed to eventual membership for Ukraine in 2008 under President George W. Bush, a goal Stoltenberg reiterated in Vilnius.
He said NATO had agreed to forgo requiring a “membership action plan” for Ukraine, but was not more specific.
“Ukraine is much closer to NATO so I think the time has come to reflect that in other NATO decisions,” Stoltenberg said.
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said allies were debating the “precise nature” of Ukraine’s pathway to membership. However, he promised that the summit would demonstrate how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes for fractures within NATO will be unfulfilled.
“He has been disappointed at every turn,” Sullivan said. “Vilnius will very much disappoint him.”
Biden is on a five-day trip to Europe, with the NATO summit as its centerpiece.
The president spent Monday in the United Kingdom, meeting at Windsor Castle with King Charles III and in London with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
After the summit ends on Wednesday, Biden will travel to Helsinki to celebrate Finland’s recent entry into NATO and meet with Nordic leaders.
___
Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller, Lisa Mascaro and Darlene Superville in Washington, Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, and Lorne Cook in Vilnius, Lithuania, contributed to this report. | https://www.ksn.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ap-nato-summit-boosted-by-deal-to-advance-swedens-bid-to-join-alliance/ | 2023-07-11 12:59:02 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/politics/ap-politics/ap-nato-summit-boosted-by-deal-to-advance-swedens-bid-to-join-alliance/ |
Conference call on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. Central Time.
HOUSTON, Feb. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI), the largest provider of deathcare products and services in North America, today reported results for the fourth quarter of 2022.
Highlights:
- GAAP earnings per share were $0.59 and $3.53, for the fourth quarter and full year 2022, respectively.
- Adjusted earnings per share were $0.92 and $3.80, for the fourth quarter and full year 2022, respectively, exceeding our expectations.
- Confirming 2023 earnings per share guidance midpoint of $3.60 for 2023.
- Operating cash flow of $826 million for the full year 2022 above the midpoint of previous guidance.
- Cemetery preneed sales grew 2.4% for the full year 2022.
- Funeral preneed sales grew 6.4% for the full year 2022.
Tom Ryan, the Company's President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, commented on fourth quarter results:
"We are proud to report adjusted earnings per share of $0.92 for the fourth quarter of 2022. These results were below the prior year quarter that was materially impacted by the effects of COVID-19. However, they significantly exceeded our expectations as we continue to experience some impact from COVID-19 as well as a higher number of other excess deaths.
For the full year we reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.80, which is an impressive 26% growth on a compounded annual basis since pre-pandemic 2019.
- The number of comparable funeral services performed is trending higher than anticipated, about 5% higher than pre-pandemic 2019 levels on a compounded annual growth basis.
- Comparable cemetery preneed sales production experienced a remarkable 14.5% compounded annual growth rate over 2019 levels.
On the acquisition front, we had a very active fourth quarter investing $89 million in four separate transactions across the United States and Canada. These transactions added 14 funeral homes and 3 cemeteries, which included 3 combination locations. We are excited to welcome these new teammates to the SCI family.
I would like to thank our approximately 25,000 associates for their unwavering commitment to providing excellent service to our client families. Through their hard work, SCI remains in a position of financial strength and flexibility. We continue to believe in our long-term growth strategy to grow revenue, leverage our unparalleled scale, and invest our capital wisely to enhance shareholder value."
FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR SUMMARY
Details of our fourth quarter 2022 financial results and the consolidated financial statements can be found in the Appendix at the end of this press release. The table below summarizes our key financial results.
- Diluted earnings per share were $0.59 in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $1.24 in the fourth quarter of 2021. The current year quarter was impacted by $64.6 million of an estimated charge for certain legal matters and a $5.2 million pre-tax loss on divestitures while the prior year quarter was impacted by a $9.9 million pre-tax gain on divestitures.
- Diluted earnings per share excluding special items were $0.92 in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $1.17 in the fourth quarter of 2021. The decrease of $0.25 is due to an expected decline in gross profit associated with decreases in COVID-19 related activity combined with higher inflationary costs and lower trust fund income. Additionally, fewer shares outstanding more than offset the impact of higher interest expense.
- Net cash provided by operating activities decreased $19.9 million to $170.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $190.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, and was at the high end of our expectations. The decrease in operating cash flow compared to the prior year fourth quarter is primarily due to the anticipated lower operating income, unfavorable working capital, and higher cash interest slightly offset by lower cash tax payments.
OUTLOOK FOR 2023
Our 2023 outlook for diluted earnings per share from continuing operations excluding special items is anticipated to be at the upper end of our expected long-term growth framework of 8%-12% when excluding the impact of COVID-19 activity in 2022 and before absorbing an expected 25 cent increase in interest expense. Our outlook for net cash provided by operating activities excludes special items relating to the payments of certain estimated legal charges of $64.6 million.
As displayed in the table below, guidance for 2023 total maintenance, cemetery development, and other capital expenditures (maintenance capital expenditures) is broken out into three separate categories in order to facilitate a better understanding for investors. At the midpoint of $300 million we anticipate spending to be approximately $35 million lower than 2022 as we accelerated certain technology and digital infrastructure investments into 2022 to prepare our locations for both customer and non-customer facing technology currently in development. As we have discussed over the past several years, we are continuing to invest in our ongoing digital systems to further support preneed sales growth and create a simplified customer experience.
CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST
We will host a conference call on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. Central Time. A question and answer session will follow prepared remarks made by management. The conference call dial-in numbers are (888) 317-6003 (US) or (412) 317-6061 (International) with the passcode of 6063927. The conference call will also be broadcast live via the Internet and can be accessed through our website at www.sci-corp.com. A replay of the conference call will be available through February 22, 2023 and can be accessed at (877) 344-7529 (US) or (412) 317-0088 (International) with the passcode of 7876689. Additionally, a replay of the conference call will be available on our website for approximately one year.
ABOUT SERVICE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL
Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI), headquartered in Houston, Texas, is North America's leading provider of funeral, cemetery and cremation services, as well as final-arrangement planning in advance, serving more than 600,000 families each year. Our diversified portfolio of brands provides families and individuals a full range of choices to meet their needs, from simple cremations to full life celebrations and personalized remembrances. Our Dignity Memorial® brand is the name families turn to for professionalism, compassion, and attention to detail that is second to none. At December 31, 2022, we owned and operated 1,474 funeral service locations and 490 cemeteries (of which 303 are combination locations) in 44 states, eight Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For more information about Service Corporation International, please visit our website at www.sci-corp.com. For more information about Dignity Memorial®, please visit www.dignitymemorial.com.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made in reliance on the "safe harbor" protections provided under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be accompanied by words such as "believe," "estimate," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "predict," or other similar words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. The absence of these words, however, does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. These statements are based on assumptions that we believe are reasonable; however, many important factors could cause our actual results in the future to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made herein and in any other documents or oral presentations made by us, or on our behalf. Important factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:
- Our affiliated trust funds own investments in securities, which are affected by market conditions that are beyond our control.
- We may be required to replenish our affiliated funeral and cemetery trust funds to meet minimum funding requirements, which would have a negative effect on our earnings and cash flow.
- Our ability to execute our strategic plan depends on many factors, some of which are beyond our control.
- We may be adversely affected by the effects of inflation.
- Our results may be adversely affected by significant weather events, natural disasters, catastrophic events or public health crises.
- Our credit agreements contain covenants that may prevent us from engaging in certain transactions.
- If we lost the ability to use surety bonding to support our preneed activities, we may be required to make material cash payments to fund certain trust funds.
- Increasing death benefits related to preneed contracts funded through life insurance or annuity contracts may not cover future increases in the cost of providing a price-guaranteed service.
- The financial condition of third-party life insurance companies that fund our preneed contracts may impact our future revenue.
- Unfavorable publicity could affect our reputation and business.
- Our failure to attract and retain qualified sales personnel could have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
- We use a combination of insurance, self-insurance, and large deductibles in managing our exposure to certain inherent risks; therefore, we could be exposed to unexpected costs that could negatively affect our financial performance.
- Declines in overall economic conditions beyond our control could reduce future potential earnings and cash flows and could result in future impairments to goodwill and/or other intangible assets.
- Any failure to maintain the security of the information relating to our customers, their loved ones, our associates, and our vendors could damage our reputation, could cause us to incur substantial additional costs and to become subject to litigation, and could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition, or cash flow.
- Our Canadian business exposes us to operational, economic, and currency risks.
- Our level of indebtedness could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, limit our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry, and may prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under our indebtedness.
- A failure of a key information technology system or process could disrupt and adversely affect our business.
- Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could adversely affect our results of operations, investor confidence, and our stock price.
- The funeral and cemetery industry is competitive.
- If the number of deaths in our markets declines, our cash flows and revenue may decrease. Changes in the number of deaths are not predictable from market to market or over the short term.
- If we are not able to respond effectively to changing consumer preferences, our market share, revenue, and/or profitability could decrease.
- The continuing upward trend in the number of cremations performed in North America could result in lower revenue, operating profit, and cash flows.
- Our funeral and cemetery businesses are high fixed-cost businesses.
- Risks associated with our supply chain could materially adversely affect our financial performance.
- Regulation and compliance could have a material adverse impact on our financial results.
- Unfavorable results of litigation could have a material adverse impact on our financial statements.
- Cemetery burial practice claims could have a material adverse impact on our financial results.
- The application of unclaimed property laws by certain states to our preneed funeral and cemetery backlog could have a material adverse impact on our liquidity, cash flows, and financial results.
- Changes in taxation as well as the inherent difficulty in quantifying potential tax effects of business decisions could have a material adverse effect on the results of our operations, financial condition, or cash flows.
For further information on these and other risks and uncertainties, see our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Copies of this document as well as other SEC filings can be obtained from our website at www.sci-corp.com. We assume no obligation and make no undertaking to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by us whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
SERVICE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL
APPENDIX: RESULTS FOR THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2022
Comparable Funeral Results
The table below details comparable funeral results of operations ("same store") for the three months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. We consider comparable funeral operations to be those businesses owned for the entire period beginning January 1, 2021 and ending December 31, 2022.
- Total comparable funeral revenue decreased by $29.9 million, or 5.0%, in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021, primarily driven by a significant decline in core funeral revenue of $29.2 million.
- The decrease in core funeral revenue of $29.2 million, or 5.8%, was primarily the result of a 6.6% decrease in core funeral services performed as the prior year was more heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This decrease was slightly offset by a 0.9% increase in the core average revenue per service. The comparable core cremation rate increased an expected 150 basis points to 55.3%.
- Comparable funeral gross profit decreased $35.5 million to $129.6 million and the gross profit percentage decreased to 22.9% from 27.7%. This decrease is primarily due to the expected decline in revenue mentioned above combined with higher energy and employee-related inflationary costs.
- Comparable preneed funeral sales production increased $13.4 million, or 5.2%, in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to 2021. We experienced a 11.6% increase in non-funeral home preneed sales production and a 3.5% increase in core comparable preneed funeral sales production for the quarter. These production increases were driven by higher contract velocity as well as better sales averages.
Comparable Cemetery Results
The table below details comparable cemetery results of operations ("same store") for the three months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. We consider comparable cemetery operations to be those businesses owned for the entire period beginning January 1, 2021 and ending December 31, 2022.
- Comparable cemetery revenue slightly decreased by $1.2 million, or 0.3%, in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. Core revenue increased $3.3 million, which was offset by a decline of $4.5 million in other revenue.
- Core revenue grew by $3.3 million as an $18.5 million, or 6.4%, increase in total recognized preneed revenue was partially offset by a $15.2 million anticipated decline in atneed revenue as the prior year was more heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The $18.5 million in total recognized preneed revenue growth consisting of a $24.7 million increase in property, merchandise, and service revenue was offset by a $6.2 million decline of merchandise and service trust fund income.
- Other revenue was lower by $4.5 million, or 13.3%, compared to the prior year quarter primarily from a $4.6 million decrease in endowment care trust fund income due to lower capital gains.
- Comparable cemetery gross profit decreased $18.3 million to $146.1 million. The gross profit percentage decreased to 33.0% from 37.1% due to the decline in atneed revenue mentioned above combined with an increase in certain merchandise costs and higher inflationary employee-related and maintenance costs.
- Comparable preneed cemetery sales production decreased $8.7 million, or 2.7%. We continued to see strength in sales average and large sales during the fourth quarter but could not overcome the elevated velocity impact in the fourth quarter of last year associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. For the full year 2022, we grew cemetery preneed sales production 2.4%, as sales average and large sales growth were partially offset by declines in velocity as the prior year was more heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other Financial Results
- Corporate general and administrative expenses increased $67.1 million to $107.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $40.8 million in the same period in 2021. The current quarter includes an estimated charge for certain legal matters of $64.6 million described below. Excluding these costs, corporate general and administrative expenses increased $2.5 million primarily from higher expenses related to workers compensation and general liability claims partially offset by a decline from the timing of incentive compensation expenses.
- During the quarter, we reached an immaterial preliminary settlement in a private litigation matter in Florida and subsequently we engaged in settlement discussions with the California Attorney General. Both matters relate to previously disclosed litigation. Approximately two-thirds of the $64.6 million pretax charge relates to estimated preneed contract refunds in California and Florida. The remainder of the charge includes anticipated reimbursement of California governmental investigative costs and other legal expenses.
- Interest expense increased $10.3 million to $49.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 primarily due to higher interest on our floating rate debt. During the fourth quarter, our floating rate debt carried a weighted average interest rate of 4.75%, which is about 350 basis points higher than the weighted average rate for our floating rate debt in the prior year fourth quarter of 1.29%.
- The GAAP effective income tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2022 was 24.3% up from 20.9% in the prior year quarter. Our adjusted effective income tax rate was 24.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to 22.4% in the prior year quarter. The higher tax rates in the current period were primarily due to higher state taxes, as the prior year was favorably impacted by valuation allowance releases due to higher income, partially offset by greater excess tax benefits on a higher number of exercised stock options during the current year quarter as compared to the prior year quarter.
Cash Flow and Capital Spending
Net cash provided by operating activities decreased $19.9 million to $170.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $190.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. This expected decrease in operating cash flow is primarily due to $51.8 million in lower operating income (excluding the impact from divestitures and estimated charge for certain legal matters) as the prior year was positively impacted by the more pronounced effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unfavorable working capital use of $21.4 million due to the timing of repayment of payroll taxes that were deferred under the CARES Act in 2020, and higher cash interest of $10.0 million partially offset by lower cash tax payments of $59.5 million.
A summary of our capital expenditures is set forth below:
Total capital expenditures decreased in the current quarter by $9.0 million primarily due to a decrease in growth capital expenditures. For the full year, total capital expenditures increased $66.0 million, primarily driven by $29.2 million of increased spend on cemetery property development as we replenished property to meet consumer demand after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Capital improvements at existing field locations increased $26.2 million as we continued to invest in our best in class facilities and the technology infrastructure at our field locations. Finally, we increased spend on digital investments and corporate expenditures by $19.0 million, primarily for the development of technology and other digital projects, including enhancements to Beacon and our location websites, to further support preneed sales growth and create a simplified customer experience.
Trust Fund Returns
Total trust fund returns include realized and unrealized gains and losses and dividends and are shown gross without netting of certain fees. A summary of our consolidated trust fund returns as of December 31, 2022 is set forth below:
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Earnings excluding special items and diluted earnings per share excluding special items shown above are non-GAAP financial measures. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures provide a consistent basis for comparison between quarters and years, and better reflect the performance of our core operations, as they are not influenced by certain income or expense items not affecting operations. We also believe these measures help facilitate comparisons to our competitors' operating results.
Set forth below is a reconciliation of our reported net income attributable to common stockholders to earnings excluding special items and our GAAP diluted earnings per share to diluted earnings per share excluding special items. We do not intend for this information to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for other measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.
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SOURCE Service Corporation International | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/02/14/service-corporation-international-announces-fourth-quarter-2022-financial-results-provides-2023-guidance/ | 2023-02-14 21:49:59 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/02/14/service-corporation-international-announces-fourth-quarter-2022-financial-results-provides-2023-guidance/ |
A top Republican negotiating a debt ceiling hike blasted the White House on Thursday over work requirements for social benefits programs, indicating that the thorny issue remains a sticking point as the country inches closer to a government default.
Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) argued the Democrats’ staunch opposition to tougher work requirements will threaten the recipients of other federal benefit programs. He characterized overall progress as “slow.”
“Their efforts actually put in jeopardy those very benefits to senior citizens like Medicare and Social Security because they’re refusing to negotiate on work requirements,” Graves said as he emerged from the office of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after 7 p.m. Thursday evening.
“I mean this is just a crazy calculation on their part,” he added.
Graves emphasized that work requirements are not the only barrier to a deal, but rank among the most significant.
“We have a lot of hangups, but that’s one of the bigger issues that we’re dealing with,” he said.
Asked Thursday if both sides were getting further along on the issue of work requirements, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) — another GOP negotiator — told reporters “that’s the reason why I don’t have a major update for you on anything major in terms of policy and numbers.”
“The frame has to all fit together for this thing to be able to fly,” he added.
The debt limit and spending cuts bill House Republicans passed last month would increase work requirements to 20 hours per week for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — which was previously known as food stamps — who are between the ages of 50 and 56. It also includes changes for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and an outline for work requirements for Medicaid.
McCarthy and other Republicans have consistently said the provisions would affect only able-bodied individuals who do not have dependents — changes they say are designed to prevent long-term reliance on government help while also helping businesses field new workers.
House Democrats have been adamantly opposed to any tougher work requirements as part of a final deal — a change rejected by most members of both the Congressional Black and Progressive caucuses. Combined, those groups constitute a bulk of the Democratic Caucus.
Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), the chairman of the Black Caucus, told reporters Thursday that the charge would hurt low-income families, suggesting that if Republicans want to heighten work requirements they should also look into separate reforms, like a minimum wage hike and childcare subsidies.
“We need work to pay for itself,” he said.
Horsford also said Democrats are pressing Biden to hold firm in his opposition to the Republicans’ demand for tougher work requirements as part of the debt ceiling package.
“We’ve also made it clear to the White House, to reiterate to the president, to continue to fight — to stand strong with the American people and House Democrats against Republican attempts on work requirements, or weakening water and environmental protections on permitting.”
Graves’ comments on work requirements come a week out from June 1, the day Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the U.S. could default by. McHenry on Thursday said that deadline is upping the pressure on negotiators.
“The pressure is on,” he said. “And the White House recognizes that, we recognize that, but there are certain terms that have to be met for this to make its way through the House of Representatives. And those things need to be dealt with.”
Leaving the Capitol on Thursday, McCarthy said the two sides have not reached an agreement.
“We worked all day today, we’ll continue to work through the night. There’s no agreement,” he told reporters. “Look, it’s not easy, this is a big issue and it’s not something you could solve easily. We want to make sure it’s worthy of the American people and we’ll continue to work until we get it done.”
“We know where our differences lie, we’ve worked throughout the day, we’ll continue to work to try to be able to solve the problem but there is no agreement,” he later added. | https://www.wric.com/hill-politics/gop-negotiator-says-white-hou-refusing-to-negotiate-on-work-requirements/ | 2023-05-26 01:54:01 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/hill-politics/gop-negotiator-says-white-hou-refusing-to-negotiate-on-work-requirements/ |
(The Hill) — Matthew McConaughey says it’s time to transform the “gun control” debate and instead “talk about gun responsibility” in the wake of the school shooting in his Texas hometown.
“I am a father, the son of a kindergarten teacher, and an American. I was also born in Uvalde, Texas. That’s why I’m writing this,” the “Dallas Buyers Club” actor wrote in an opinion column published on the front page Monday of the Austin American-Statesman.
“I believe that responsible, law-abiding Americans have a Second Amendment right, enshrined by our founders, to bear arms. I also believe we have a cultural obligation to take steps toward slowing down the senseless killing of our children,” McConaughey wrote.
“The debate about gun control has delivered nothing but status quo,” McConaughey, a 52-year-old dad of three, said.
McConaughey said while gun control is “a mandate that can infringe” on Second Amendment rights, gun responsibility “is a duty that will preserve it.”
“There is no constitutional barrier to gun responsibility. Keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous people is not only the responsible thing to do, it is the best way to protect the Second Amendment. We can do both,” he said.
McConaughey’s opinion piece came less than two weeks after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Texas last month. Just hours after the May shooting, McConaughey took to Instagram and pressed for a “call to action,” saying gun violence “is an epidemic we can control.”
In his Monday newspaper column, the Academy Award winner urged lawmakers to “make bipartisan compromises” on four “reasonable measures to restore responsible gun ownership in our country.”
McConaughey, who last year flirted with a Texas gubernatorial run, outlined his suggested measures, including requiring background checks on all gun purchases, raising the legal age to buy assault rifles from 18 to 21 and instituting national waiting periods for them, and implementing a national red flag law system.
“Integrating gun safety training, safe storage proposals, and bolstering school safety are also beneficial, but are not government-only solutions,” McConaughey said.
“I am not under the illusion that these policies will solve all of our problems,” McConaughey wrote, “but if responsible solutions can stop some of these tragedies from striking another community without destroying the Second Amendment, they’re worth it.”
In order for lawmakers to “find common ground” on the issue, McConaughey said, “both sides are going to have to answer the call and reach for the higher ground of our collective responsibility.” He pushed for “real leaders” to “step up and do what’s right.”
A bipartisan group of nine senators is poised to resume talks this week on gun reform in the wake of the Uvalde attack and a series of mass shootings across the country.
“This is not a choice between guns or no guns,” McConaughey said. “It’s the responsible choice. It’s the reasonable choice. It’s a quintessentially American choice: Where I have the right to be me, you have the freedom to be you, and we have the responsibility to be US.” | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/national-news/matthew-mcconaughey-calls-for-talk-about-gun-responsibility-after-uvalde/ | 2022-06-06 14:36:25 | 0 | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/national-news/matthew-mcconaughey-calls-for-talk-about-gun-responsibility-after-uvalde/ |
LIVINGSTON — The R-Y Timber Mill in Livingston may have a new lease on life after being purchased by a lumber company based in Deer Lodge.
In a social media post, Sun Mountain Lumber says it has signed an agreement to purchase R-Y Timber and will take over operation on August 1, 2023.
Congressman Matt Rosendale says the announcement to reopen R-Y Timber is thrilling news.
“I’m thrilled to hear that Sun Mountain Lumber has decided to reopen the R-Y Timber mill in Livingston,” said Rep. Rosendale. “Serving as one of our nation’s leading suppliers of timber, this mill will support countless good-paying jobs in the area and continue to produce high-quality Rocky Mountain-grown timber for the entire country.”
U.S. Senator Steve Daines released the following statement after Sun Mountain Lumber announced the purchase of R-Y Timber in Livingston.
“This is great news for the Livingston community, forestry jobs and Montana’s economy. Montana is rich in natural resources, including timber, and the reopening of this mill will help supply our nation with high-quality, Montana-grown lumber.”
R-Y Timber closed its doors after decades of operating in Livingston in February of 2023 after two separate fires destroyed parts of the operation.
At that time, the mill employed approximately 70 people.
RELATED:
R-Y Timber to close 70-employee business after second fire
R-Y Timber explosion survivor recounts events | https://www.kxlf.com/news/local-news/r-y-timber-in-livingston-reportedly-sold-to-deer-lodge-company | 2023-06-23 23:12:45 | 1 | https://www.kxlf.com/news/local-news/r-y-timber-in-livingston-reportedly-sold-to-deer-lodge-company |
Teaching is a family affair for Richmond Public Schools teacher Christal Corey. She comes from a long line of educators, and her parents and sister work in RPS, too.
Corey was named RPS’ 2023 Teacher of the Year on Friday.
Superintendent Jason Kamras and leaders of the Richmond School Board surprised Corey with the news at Franklin Military Academy in Richmond’s East end.
“I want to just say thank you to all of my ancestors. When it was illegal to learn, they taught themselves,” Corey said. “I just want to give an honor to all of them because they were so strong, and they went through so much, and I'm here.”
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Corey thanked her students, who celebrated her Friday morning.
“Everything I do is for my students,” Corey said. “Teaching is my heart. It's my passion. And I wouldn't be able to do what I do if I didn't have you.”
The middle school science and civics teacher began teaching at Franklin Military Academy in 2019 after teaching at Thomas C. Boushall Middle school for five years.
"Though it is not recognized often enough, teachers are the absolute lifeblood of our society," said Richmond School Board Chair Stephanie Rizzi, of the 5th District. "None of us would be here without the hard work of our teachers."
The heart and love that Corey brings to her students "is evident in every word you speak, every action you take, and seeing you with your students,” Kamras said.
Corey also received the R.E.B. Award for Teaching Excellence in 2021.
Corey will represent RPS among 15 localities in a regional competition facilitated by the state education department.
Fave 6: Eric Kolenich shares six memorable stories from 2022
Sean Bennett started throwing up blood, so he went to the emergency room at LewisGale Hospital Montgomery near his home in Southwest Virginia.…
According to a study, VCU philosophy majors earned minimum wage five years after graduation, while UVA computer science majors made six figures.
While healthy patients receive vaccines for free, Virginia Commonwealth University Health and University of Virginia Health charge more than $1,000 for the administration of Evusheld.
Jones grew up in Richmond and played football at UVa in 2018 but didn't appear in any games.
At VCU, "way more people smoke weed than drink," one student said.
“For me to still be alive at 24, to do what I love, to do what I dreamed, it’s a huge, huge blessing.” | https://richmond.com/news/local/education/franklin-military-academy-teacher-christal-corey-rps-teacher-of-the-year/article_88962c80-df97-5593-80c0-af5a11f0db67.html | 2023-01-07 00:47:38 | 0 | https://richmond.com/news/local/education/franklin-military-academy-teacher-christal-corey-rps-teacher-of-the-year/article_88962c80-df97-5593-80c0-af5a11f0db67.html |
TO THE EDITOR:
The construction industry must attract more than 500,000 workers in 2023 to build the places where we live, work, play, worship, learn and heal, according to the latest analysis from the Associated Builders and Contractors.
As the demand for construction services remains high, filling these roles is vital to America’s economy and infrastructure rebuilding initiatives. It’s important here in Michigan, too.
So, what steps are we taking to address the workforce shortage?
ABC works to recruit, educate and upskill the construction workforce through a national network of more than 800 apprenticeship, craft, safety and management education programs—including more than 300 government-registered apprenticeship programs across 20 different construction occupations—to build the people who build America.
Barriers to becoming a craft professional are minimal, whether you are a student, changing careers or rejoining the workforce. ABC member contractors use flexible, competency-based and market-driven education methodologies to build a construction workforce that is safe, skilled and productive. In fact, ABC members invested $1.6 billion in 2021 to educate 1.3 million course attendees.
Right here in Michigan, our Association operates 3 different education and training academies in different parts of the state – the Greater Michigan Construction Academy in Midland, the West Michigan Construction Academy in Grand Rapids, and Southeast Michigan Construction Academy in Madison Heights.
One of them might be right for you.
Michigan is no stranger to success in the construction industry. We’ve been a national leader in legal reforms that make it possible to do a great job and earn a great living.
There are more than 100,000 craft trade professionals in Michigan already building our state’s future. They could use a little more help.
Job seekers: consider a career in construction. Whether your passion is a trade like carpentry, electrical or HVAC; a leadership position like project management; or a high-tech career, the industry is hiring.
JIMMY GREENE
President, ABC Michigan | https://www.ourmidland.com/opinion/letters/article/2023-construction-workforce-shortage-500-000-17821322.php | 2023-03-06 03:44:28 | 1 | https://www.ourmidland.com/opinion/letters/article/2023-construction-workforce-shortage-500-000-17821322.php |
At a supportive housing complex near Oracle Park, 62 military veterans who were once on the streets have started new lives. There are counseling offices, a computer lab and a garden.
On this episode of the Fifth & Mission podcast, Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan tells host Demian Bulwa that The Edwin M. Lee Apartments are a model for how to attack homelessness.
Fagan discusses why the national homeless count among veterans dropped dramatically from 2010 to 2016 — and why that trend stalled under the Trump administration.
Photo above: Margie Talavera picks up a meal at a lunch thrown for veterans by Twitter for Good at the Edwin M. Lee Apartments, where Talavera lives. | https://www.sfchronicle.com/podcasts/article/Listen-Homeless-veterans-are-finding-housing-17575610.php | 2022-11-11 09:20:24 | 0 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/podcasts/article/Listen-Homeless-veterans-are-finding-housing-17575610.php |
CANTON, Mass., June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ver-Tex Construction, an industry leader in the design and installation of custom shade and acoustical systems headquartered in New England, has announced a major initiative to launch a Mid-Atlantic division, bolstering a previous expansion into seven of the Southeastern states, by adding Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, and the New York City metropolitan area to their service areas.
"After four decades and more than 50,000 projects, we've become national experts in the design, specification, and installation of custom shading and acoustic solutions. We have been working hard to increase our capabilities and capacity with meaningful expansion as a pillar of our growth strategy," said Brianna Goodwin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ver-Tex.
Ver-Tex prides itself on a longstanding commitment to honoring its promise to uphold superior quality standards by developing a deep knowledge of building environments, the careful curation of performance-based products, a culture of respect, and a desire for co-creation among its clients. "With this expansion, Ver-Tex becomes the largest distributor and installer of shading and acoustical systems in the United States offering dedicated design teams for each project and providing consulting services to ensure that the specified window treatment solution meets or exceeds building envelope performance, budget, and schedule. It's an exciting time for Ver-Tex, and we look forward to bringing our expertise to new markets," said Jon Harrington, Chief Revenue Officer.
As former customers affected by the abrupt closure of Pennsylvania-based Kay & Sons, a longtime trusted ally among the design, developer, and construction management communities, seek to complete their existing projects and engage in future projects, Ver-Tex now offers access to a team of talented professionals to support the needs throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
Also, in November 2021, Ver-Tex acquired Florida-based Brambier's, one of the most prominent acoustic wall and ceiling systems providers in the southeast region of the United States. That acquisition expanded its service area to include Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, the Carolinas, and Florida, where they now also design and installs window treatment solutions.
Ver-Tex is the industry leader in the design and installation of custom shade and acoustical systems and provides owners and occupants control over environmental factors such as light, heat, sound, daylight control, and improved interior aesthetics, thus producing energy savings and resulting in greater human productivity. Founded in 1985 and WBENC-certified since 2021, family-owned and operated Ver-Tex improves the financial performance of buildings and the lives of building occupants by providing a comprehensive approach to integrating design aesthetics, daylight control, acoustics, and automation products to create the ideal environment for energy savings and occupant productivity. For more information, please visit www.ver-tex.com.
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SOURCE Ver-Tex Construction, Inc. | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/06/29/ver-tex-expands-window-treatment-acoustic-systems-business-midatlantic-states-becomes-largest-distributor-us/ | 2022-06-29 15:16:17 | 0 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/06/29/ver-tex-expands-window-treatment-acoustic-systems-business-midatlantic-states-becomes-largest-distributor-us/ |
NEW YORK, Jan. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK: ALJJ) (the "Company") announced today the final results of its reverse "Dutch auction" tender offer (the "Offer"), which expired on December 29, 2022 at 12:00 midnight New York City time.
Based on the final count by the depositary for the Offer, a total of approximately 11.73 million shares were validly tendered and not withdrawn at a per share purchase price within $1.84 to $2.00 range. Based on the total number of shares tendered and the prices specified by the tendering stockholders, the Company has determined the lowest per share price that would enable the Company to purchase 10,000,000 shares of its common stock under the Offer to be $1.99 per share. In addition, the Company has determined to purchase additional 236,945 shares of its common stock tendered at $1.99 per share pursuant to its right to purchase up to an additional 2% of its common stock outstanding. As such, the Company accepted for purchase an aggregate of 10,236,945 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $1.99 per share, for a total cost of approximately $20.37 million, excluding fees and expenses related to the Offer. The 10,236,945 shares purchased in the Offer represent approximately 28.2% of the Company's shares outstanding immediately prior to the Offer. Following consummation of the Offer, the Company expects to have approximately 26.1 million shares of outstanding common stock, excluding shares issuable for convertible debt and outstanding warrants and stock options totaling 13.2 million shares.
Payment for the shares accepted for purchase under the Offer will be made promptly, and all shares tendered and not accepted for purchase will be returned.
Okapi Partners LLC is acting as the information agent for the Offer. The depositary for the Offer is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC.
Stockholders may obtain documents related to the Offer for free from our website at www.aljregionalholdings.com or from the information agent for the Offer by directing such request to: Okapi Partners LLC, 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10036, (888) 785-6709, info@okapipartners.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws about ALJ and the tender offer, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expect," "likely," "outlook," "forecast," "preliminary," "would," "could," "should," "can," "will," "project," "intend," "plan," "goal," "guidance," "target," "continue," "sustain, "synergy," "on track," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "anticipate," "may," "possible," "assume," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these statements, as they involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results or performance may differ materially from those discussed in any such statement. Although forward-looking statements contained in this release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. All forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. is the (i) 100% owner of Faneuil, Inc., a leading provider of call center services, back office operations, and staffing services to commercial and governmental clients across the United States; (ii) 100% owner of Realtime Digital Innovations, Inc. d/b/a Vistio, a provider of workflow automation and business intelligence services to Faneuil and other unrelated companies; (iii) 99% owner of QOF; and (iv) 80.01% owner of Ranew's Companies a leading supplier of industrial coating services to multinational manufacturers of equipment and a provider of precision fabrication and assembly and logistics services.
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SOURCE ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/01/04/alj-regional-holdings-inc-completes-reverse-dutch-auction-tender-offer/ | 2023-01-04 01:59:29 | 0 | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/01/04/alj-regional-holdings-inc-completes-reverse-dutch-auction-tender-offer/ |
CAMERON COUNTY, Texas — As Title 42 ends along the Texas-Mexico border, communities along the roughly 1,200-mile line are bracing for unknown impact.
Cameron County sits just across the border from Matamoros, Mexico (Brownsville is its county seat) and it is expecting two, three, even as many as six times the normal amount of migrants crossing into Texas.
“Based upon what we’ve been seeing over the last week or two, we’re expecting anywhere from 3,000 to 8,000 (a day) potentially,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr. told us on Inside Texas Politics.
In anticipation of the surge, Treviño recently signed a disaster declaration for the county in response to “the imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from the Border Security Disaster.”
That declaration will stay in place through May 18 at the earliest.
Title 42 is the pandemic-era health measure that allowed authorities to quickly expel migrants without them being able to ask for asylum, but it ended last week.
Other locations along the border, including El Paso, have also declared emergencies.
The problem isn’t just migrants crossing the border in mass numbers. It’s also the strain on resources in local communities as migrants make their way to points north.
Treviño says, so far in Cameron County, airports are burdened, but not overburdened. And hospitals and bus stops are holding up as well.
While he says coordination with his local and state counterparts in Mexico could be better, he says local, state and federal officials on the U.S. side are working well together.
But when asked whether enough is being done, the judge wouldn’t point fingers at any one individual or party.
Treviño did stress that the majority of migrants trying to cross into Texas are just seeking a better life and running away from threats and strife in their home country.
“These are the same people that have been coming to this country for 240 years. They’re just maybe coming from a different avenue. They’re coming from all over the world,” he said. “Obviously, the great majority of them are coming from Latin America, South America and Central America. But many, many Europeans. We’ve got Ukrainians. We’ve got Asians. Chinese. The whole world is crossing here.” | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/title-42-migrant-surge-texas-cameron-county-judge-signs-disaster-declaration/287-285bd47d-dd35-4119-b5bf-c4490164ade3 | 2023-05-14 13:57:46 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/texas-politics/title-42-migrant-surge-texas-cameron-county-judge-signs-disaster-declaration/287-285bd47d-dd35-4119-b5bf-c4490164ade3 |
The new location marks Academy's third store in Indiana
KATY, Texas, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Academy Sports + Outdoors ("Academy") (Nasdaq: ASO) a leading full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailer, is excited to announce the opening of its Jeffersonville, Ind. store. Located at 1600 Veterans Parkway, in Jeffersonville Town Center, the approximately 63,000 square-foot store brings a great assortment of sports and outdoors merchandise to the area. Academy will host grand opening festivities from Friday, Oct. 7 through Sunday, Oct.9. Throughout the weekend, customers can look forward to exclusive deals, giveaways, meet and greet appearances, activations by brands sold at Academy, food truck samples and take advantage of great prices ahead of the holiday season.
The Jeffersonville location marks the sixth of nine new stores Academy expects to open this year. Academy looks forward to continuing its expansion efforts beyond 2022, with the goal of opening 80 to 100 new stores over the next five years.
"Academy Sports + Outdoors is excited to serve the Jeffersonville and Clarksville communities and provide customers the gear that makes having fun easy and affordable," said Sam Johnson, Academy's Executive Vice President of Retail Operations. "We look forward to helping the customers explore their sports and outdoor passions, whether that is biking across Big Four Bridge, taking a hike in Clark State Forest or gearing up for the next hunting season. Academy provides a convenient location that offers top brands, outstanding value, and excellent customer service."
Customers can expect to find the best assortment of athletic and casual shoes, sports and outdoors equipment and clothing from top national brands such as Nike, adidas, The North Face, Under Armour, Columbia, YETI, Carhartt, Drake Waterfowl, Browning, Timberland, Coleman and more. No matter the hunting, fishing, or camping occasion, local outdoor enthusiasts can depend on Academy's knowledgeable team members, wide assortment of products, top brands, and unbeatable price points that fit any budget.
Academy also offers tremendous everyday value and quality through its exclusive, private label brands such as Magellan Outdoors, Freely, R.O.W., BCG, H2O Xpress, Mosaic and O'Rageous which cover outdoor apparel and equipment, women's and men's apparel, workout attire, fishing equipment, outdoor furniture and water sports gear, respectively.
The new location offers families a fun destination to gear up for any big game, outdoor adventure, or a day on the court or field. Additionally, the store has everything you need to create a backyard oasis with a wide selection of patio sets, barbecue grills, and outdoor games. Academy also offers free services such as grill and bike assembly, scope mounting, bore sighting, line winding/spooling, and propane exchange. Customers can also purchase hunting and fishing licenses in the store.
For more information regarding grand opening events and deals visit academy.com/jeffersonville or text JEFFERSONVILLE to 22369. Customers are invited to shop online at academy.com or through Academy's mobile app, receive digital ads and offers, engage with Academy's social media accounts (@academy), sign up for email/text alerts, and watch out for information on upcoming grand opening events.
Individuals interested in careers at Academy can visit careers.academy.com to apply for open positions.
Academy is a leading full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailer in the United States. Originally founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas, Academy has grown to 265 stores across 17 states. Academy's mission is to provide "Fun for All" and Academy fulfills this mission with a localized merchandising strategy and value proposition that strongly connects with a broad range of consumers. Academy's product assortment focuses on key categories of outdoor, apparel, sports & recreation and footwear through both leading national brands and a portfolio of private label brands. For more information, visit www.academy.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on Academy's current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are usually identified by or are associated with such words as "intends," "will," "plan," "believe," "expect," "may," and/or the negatives or variations of these terms or similar terminology. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global, regional, or local economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond Academy's control. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are set forth in Academy's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including Academy's Annual Report on Form 10-K under the caption "Risk Factors," as may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date released. Academy undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws.
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SOURCE Academy Sports + Outdoors | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/10/04/academy-sports-outdoors-opens-new-store-jeffersonville-ind/ | 2022-10-04 14:15:43 | 0 | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/10/04/academy-sports-outdoors-opens-new-store-jeffersonville-ind/ |
NORWALK, Conn., April 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GameChange Solar today announced that GameChange Solar's 29 GW of system sales of Genius Tracker™ and MaxSpan™ fixed tilt systems, once installed, will support modules that provide clean, renewable solar energy to an equivalent of an estimated 5.8 million homes and over 15 million people globally.
Andrew Worden, CEO of GameChange Solar, stated, "It is gratifying to see that GameChange Solar is making a meaningful impact in furthering our mission by helping solar become the lowest cost electricity generation technology globally. This important mission has now resulted in us helping to provide solar electricity to an estimated 15 million people. We feel that our rapid growth going forward will dramatically increase this."
Contact and media inquiries can be directed to Derick Botha +1 (302) 528-2125
email: derick.botha@gamechangesolar.com
https://www.gamechangesolar.com/
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SOURCE GameChange Solar | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/04/19/gamechange-solar-supplying-electricity-over-15-million-people-58-million-homes/ | 2023-04-19 19:51:15 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/04/19/gamechange-solar-supplying-electricity-over-15-million-people-58-million-homes/ |
SOCORRO COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – A wildfire is burning in the central west area of the San Mateo Mountains in Socorro County. The Hutchinson fire was started by a lightning strike.
Hutchinson Fire
- Start Date: July 23, 2023
- Location: Central west of the San Mateo Mountains
- Containment: 0%
- Size: 25 acres
- Structures Threatened: None
- Structures Burned: None
- Evacuations: No
- Cause: Lightening strike
- Total Personnel: Magdalena RD Crew 3 & Engine 631, Wallowa-Whitman NF Engine 653, Lewis & Clark NF Engine 661, Firestorm 5 Type 2IA Crew, NMFD Type 2IA Crew and air resources.
- Area Vegetation: Grass, timber, and brush
- Ownership(s): NA
Crews are working to confine and contain the fire. It is not currently a risk to any values or communities, and no evacuations are in effect. Community members should avoid the fire area, and the flying of drones is prohibited in the area at this time.
Smoke may be visible from NM 107 south of Magdalena. For up-to-date air quality status, visit the NMDOH’s tracking website here. | https://www.krqe.com/news/wildfires/hutchinson-fire-burns-in-central-west-of-the-san-mateo-mountains/ | 2023-07-24 21:12:55 | 1 | https://www.krqe.com/news/wildfires/hutchinson-fire-burns-in-central-west-of-the-san-mateo-mountains/ |
Key Highlights
- Paradigm as an NFL Alumni Health corporate member has entered into a research partnership to inform NFL Alumni members about osteoarthritis (OA) and potential clinical trial participation.
- NFL Alumni Health is a wholly owned subsidiary of NFL Alumni offering informational resources, programs, services, and other benefits to both NFL Alumni members (former NFL players, coaches, executives, spouses, cheerleaders, and associate members) and the general public.
- Paradigm was introduced to NFL Alumni Health by expanded access program (EAP) participants, who have become strong advocates of Zilosul® for knee osteoarthritis (KOA) treatment based on their positive experiences.
- Paradigm's designation by NFL Alumni Health as a research partner demonstrates Paradigm's leading role in developing a multi-modal non-addictive treatment for the pain and dysfunction associated with KOA.
- Paradigm previously treated 10 former NFL players suffering from KOA via an FDA-cleared EAP with pentosan polysulfate sodium (Zilosul®). At the 12-week time point (6 weeks following final injection), participants experienced an average 65% reduction in pain as assessed with the WOMAC® index.
NEW YORK, July 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: PAR) (Paradigm or the Company) a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focussed on repurposing existing molecules for new indications with unmet clinical needs, is pleased to announce it has entered into a corporate partnership with NFL Alumni Health (NFLAH). This partnership will inform NFL Alumni Association (NFLAA) members about osteoarthritis disease onset and progression, current treatment options, and provide information about actively enrolling clinical trials throughout the U.S.
The NFLAA has over 10,000 members and represents former NFL players, coaches, executives, spouses, cheerleaders, and associate members through its 40 chapters across the U.S. NFL Alumni Health is a wholly owned subsidiary of NFLAA offering informational resources, programs, services, and other benefits to NFLAA members and the general public. This division of the NFLAA appraises corporate partners that may provide beneficial research opportunities in health areas relevant to their members. NFL Alumni Health oversee the vetting process to ensure they bring credible and meaningful health sector-related partnerships to their membership. Paradigm's designation as NFLAH's newest corporate and research partner demonstrates its leading role in developing a safe and effective potential treatment for those suffering with OA.
Kyle Richardson, NFL Alumni Association Co-Director of Healthcare Initiatives, commented on the partnership: "The NFL Alumni Health division of the NFL Alumni Association are driven to provide initiatives that help its members learn more about and gain access to safe and effective treatments through clinical trials and other FDA-approved treatment options. In males under the age of 60, arthritis is over three times more prevalent in retired NFL players than in the general U.S. population. We are pleased to hear the positive experience several of our alumni members have had through working with Paradigm and we hope this partnership will inform a larger number of alumni on the disease of osteoarthritis and the available clinical trials that are currently enrolling participants."
Paradigm previously submitted an IND application for an expanded access program protocol to treat 10 patients for osteoarthritis-associated knee pain with Zilosul®. The US FDA provided clearance for this program to proceed in September 2019. On 30th July 2020, Paradigm released the results of this EAP demonstrating that at week 12, the 10 participants treated with Zilosul® achieved an average WOMAC® pain reduction of 65%. Zilosul® was well tolerated in this program.
Paradigm remained in close contact with the EAP physician and participants, leading to an introduction to NFL Alumni Health. The NFL endorsed this partnership following a review of Paradigm's clinical program results as well as the ongoing global registration clinical trial. Paradigm's introduction from such an enthusiastic group within their own membership made Paradigm an ideal partnering candidate to present to their constituency.
Paradigm CEO, Marco Polizzi commented, "Having followed the progress of the expanded access program participants and hearing first-hand the positive impact Zilosul® has had on their lives. Paradigm is honoured to be able to continue to work with NFL Alumni members to inform them of the onset and progression of osteoarthritis and Paradigm's clinical progress through phase 3 as we strive to bring Zilosul® to commercialisation for the millions suffering from the debilitating effects of OA."
Access EAP study results here: https://paradigmbiopharma.com/performance-progress/#announcements
NFL Alumni Health: https://nflalumnihealth.org
Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent form of joint disease, affecting up to 16% of the population in the developed world, with more than 72 million people in the US, EU5, Canada, and Australia suffering from it1. OA has a significant impact on day-to-day functioning. Although the levels of pain and disability may fluctuate, it has no known cure or spontaneous remission and is associated with irreversible structural damage and progression over time.
About Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals
Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals LTD (ASX: PAR) is a late-stage drug development company with the mission to develop and commercialise pentosan polysulfate sodium (PPS/Zilosul®) for the treatment of pain associated with musculoskeletal disorders driven by injury, inflammation, aging, degenerative disease, infection or genetic predisposition. Paradigm is also exploring proof-of-concept studies for the use of PPS in respiratory and heart failure indications.
Forward Looking Statements
This Company announcement contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding anticipated commencement dates or completions dates of preclinical or clinical trials, regulatory developments and regulatory approval. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees or predictions of future performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, and which may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the statements contained in this presentation. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
References
1 Global Health Data Exchange, Institute for Health and Metrics Evaluation, University of Washington. Accessed June 2021 http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool.
Authorised for release by the Paradigm Board of Directors.
Zilosul® is a registered Trademark of Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: PAR).
To learn more please visit: www.paradigmbiopharma.com
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SOURCE Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2022/07/14/paradigm-partners-with-nfl-alumni-health-osteoarthritis-program/ | 2022-07-14 19:34:19 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2022/07/14/paradigm-partners-with-nfl-alumni-health-osteoarthritis-program/ |
Last Thursday was a stormy night in more ways than one in Miami, when a downpour delayed the start of a meeting at The Historic Hampton House publicized to start at 6 p.m. and from which The Miami Times was ultimately banned.
At least 50 people were expected, according to Hampton House board chair Jacquie Colyer, but just six arrived by 7 p.m. and turned the sea of chairs into an intimate discussion circle. The topic of conversation, “Hands Off Our History,” was organized by a group called the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. A flyer created to promote the meeting called on parents, students and teachers to share their stories.
The meeting was presumably called to organize against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ repeated efforts to stifle the teaching of Black history through intimidation, legislation and book banning. Unfortunately, The Times never got the chance to find out because this reporter was asked to leave within the hour before the meeting could officially begin, by the very lawyers who organized the gathering.
We were told when asked to leave that it was a private meeting, although The Historic Hampton House emailed the flyer to The Times, which included logos of endorsement from the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP, Black Voters Matter and Florida Rising.
David Hinojosa, director of educational opportunities at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and one of the two lawyers who organized the event, told The Times our presence would violate attorney-client privilege. Hinojosa told us later by phone Monday that more than a dozen people came to express their grievances with state government.
“There was a message of hope that was shared among community members who were able to hear the stories and experiences of educators, parents and grandparents, and civil rights advocates,” he said.
Harold Ford, vice president of the South Dade branch of the NAACP, told us he also was unaware the meeting was closed to the media. He raised concerns about the removal or relocation of Black history books in Miami-Dade County schools during the meeting, which – according to him – turned into a venting session about recent legislation at the state level with no clear goal or outcome. Few of the participants present seemed to have any interest in legal representation.
“During the whole conversation, I asked what can we do to counteract this?” Ford said in an interview with The Times. “I made it clear that these issues are a primary concern for the NAACP and we’re gonna watch for them. Nothing concrete was offered as a course of action, and not a lot of time was spent talking about that. It was all pretty vague and general.”
Colyer said she had no idea the gathering was intended to be private, and there was nothing she could do to allow the press to cover the event.
The Times contacted the other supporting organizations about whether they knew the meeting was intended as confidential, but they did not respond by press time. | https://www.miamitimesonline.com/education/civil-rights-lawyers-toss-miami-times-out-of-hampton-house-meeting/article_6ba6a3a4-0a7e-11ee-b570-1779f8b6109a.html | 2023-06-14 13:49:44 | 0 | https://www.miamitimesonline.com/education/civil-rights-lawyers-toss-miami-times-out-of-hampton-house-meeting/article_6ba6a3a4-0a7e-11ee-b570-1779f8b6109a.html |
STECCATO DI CUTRO, Italy (AP) — Rescue crews searched by sea and air Monday for the dozens of people believed still missing from a shipwreck off Italy’s southern coast that drove home once again the desperate and dangerous crossings of migrants seeking to reach Europe.
At least 80 people survived Sunday’s shipwreck off the Calabrian coast, but rescue crews recovered 60 bodies, including those of several children and the corpse of a young man Monday morning. Dozens more were feared dead given survivor reports that the ship, which set off from Turkey last week, had carried about 170 people.
The beach at Steccato di Cutro, on Calabria’s Ionian coast, was littered with the splintered remains of the ship that broke up in stormy seas on the reefs offshore, as well as the belongings the migrants had brought with them, including a toddler’s tiny pink sneaker and a yellow plastic pencil case decorated with pandas.
There were only a few life jackets scattered amid the debris.
On Monday, two coast guard vessels searched the seas north to south off Steccato di Cutro while a helicopter flew overhead and a four-wheel vehicle patrolled the beach. A strong wind whipped the seas that still churned up splinters of the ship, gas tanks, food containers and shoes. A pickup truck came to take away the body of the latest victim.
Firefighter Inspector Giuseppe Larosa said what gutted the first rescue crews who arrived on the scene was how many children were killed, and that the bodies of the dead had scratches all over them, as if they had tried to hang onto the ship to save themselves.
“It was a chilling scene. Bodies spread out on the beach, so many bodies, so many children,” he said on the beach Monday morning. He said he had focused on the recovery efforts, but he was struck by what he found in the survivors.
“What struck me was their silence,” he said. “Terror in their eyes, but mute. Silent.”
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who has spearheaded Italy’s crackdown on migration, visited the scene Sunday and met with local officials in Crotone. At a news conference, he insisted the solution was to put an end to migrant crossings at their origin.
“I ask myself how it’s possible that these crossings are organized, pushing women and children to make the trips that end up tragically dangerous,” he said.
Italy’s government under Premier Giorgia Meloni has focused on trying to block migrant ships from departing, while discouraging humanitarian rescue teams from operating in the Mediterranean. Meloni said Sunday that the government was committed to that policy “above all by insisting on the maximum collaboration with the countries of origin and departure.”
Italy has complained bitterly for years that fellow European Union countries have balked at taking in migrants, many of whom are aiming to find family or work in northern Europe. Italy is a prime destination, especially for smuggling operations launching boats from Libyan shores.
But Italy is also a destination for smugglers leaving from Turkey. According to U.N. figures, arrivals from the Turkish route accounted for 15% of the 105,000 migrants who arrived on Italian shores last year, with nearly half of those fleeing from Afghanistan.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for a redoubling of efforts to deal with the problem.
“The resulting loss of life of innocent migrants is a tragedy,” she said.
Meloni’s government has concentrated on complicating efforts by humanitarian boats to make multiple rescues in the central Mediterranean by assigning them ports of disembarkation along Italy’s northern coasts. That means the vessels need more time to return to the sea after bringing migrants aboard and taking them safely to shore.
Humanitarian organizations have lamented that the crackdown also includes an order to the charity boats not to remain at sea after the first rescue operation in hopes of performing other rescues, but to head immediately to their assigned port. Violators face stiff fines and confiscation of rescue vessels.
___
Nicole Winfield contributed to this report from Rome.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration | https://www.wivb.com/news/ap-rescuers-find-60th-body-off-italy-after-migrant-shipwreck/ | 2023-02-27 09:14:02 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/news/ap-rescuers-find-60th-body-off-italy-after-migrant-shipwreck/ |
WASHINGTON, May 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) has partnered with UrbanGeekz as it kicks off promotions for its inaugural Tech Equity Hackathon, scheduled for June 16 –18 in Washington, D.C.
The three-day Hackathon, being held at American University, will challenge students, recent college graduates and others to develop innovative solutions to remove algorithmic bias from the housing and lending sectors.
The Hackathon is open to all residents in the U.S. and its territories. Those interested can access the application here. Individuals with diverse academic backgrounds, ranging from degrees in STEM-based fields to the social sciences, are encouraged to apply.
NFHA will award $40,000 in cash prizes plus giveaways, and the event will also feature interactive workshops and networking opportunities with top industry professionals. Airfare, accommodations, meals, and ground transportation will be provided at no cost to applicants who are selected to attend. "I am so excited to collaborate with UrbanGeekz, which has been intentional in sharing the stories of Black and Latinx individuals in tech," said Dr. Michael Akinwumi, NFHA's Chief Tech Equity Officer. "NFHA has been at the forefront of addressing the biases that people of color and women face in the housing and financial services industries."
"Our Tech Equity Initiative is a multi-faceted effort designed to eliminate bias in algorithmic-based systems used in housing and financial services, increase transparency and explainability for AI tools, outline ethical standards for responsible tech, advance effective policies for regulating AI tools, and increase diversity and inclusion in the tech field. This Hackathon is one way we're diversifying the pipeline of technologists so that we can achieve these goals," Dr. Akinwumi added.
During the Hackathon, participants will be divided into teams, and each team will be given one of three problem statements that deal with appraisals, mortgage underwriting, and algorithmic fairness.
"We're thrilled to be collaborating with NFHA on this initiative to challenge participants to come up with real-time solutions to tackle AI bias in the housing and lending sectors," said Kunbi Tinuoye, founder and CEO of digital news platform UrbanGeekz and Executive Director of the Geekz Ventures pre-accelerator.
"Racial and gender disparities in these sectors are a huge issue. The Tech Equity Hackathon is a unique opportunity for technologists, tech enthusiasts, problem-solvers, and social entrepreneurs to come up with practical solutions to make a real social impact. I would encourage anyone and everyone who cares about inequity to apply to participate."
The NFHA and UrbanGeekz partnership is a multifaceted campaign to raise awareness and spread the word about the Tech Equity Hackathon. The hackathon's tech focus is a perfect fit for UrbanGeekz's tech-savvy audience and its associated channels.
The panel of expert judges for the Hackathon includes John Merrill, FairPlay AI Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer; Dominique Harrison, Director of Racial Equity Design and Data Initiative (REDDI) at Citi; Emmanuel Ogundimu, Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of Durham, United Kingdom; and Patrick Murck, President and Chief Legal Officer of Transparent Systems.
The Hackathon is one of several events NFHA is hosting during 2023 to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, the Kerner Commission Report and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy.
Interested in participating? Then apply now before the 3 am ET May 16 deadline.
About UrbanGeekz
UrbanGeekz is an African-American, Latinx, multicultural digital news platform focused on technology, business, science, and entrepreneurship. The groundbreaking videocentric multimedia platform covers tech, business, science, and startups. Its mission is to make tech 'cool' and accessible while highlighting innovative careers and STEM-related fields as exciting and rewarding paths, especially for women and underrepresented groups
About National Fair Housing Alliance
The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is the country's only national civil rights organization dedicated solely to eliminating all forms of housing and lending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all people. As the trade association for over 170 fair housing and justice-centered organizations and individuals throughout the U.S. and its territories, NFHA works to dismantle longstanding barriers to equity and build diverse, inclusive, well-resourced communities.
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SOURCE UrbanGeekz | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/05/09/nfha-urbangeekz-partner-raise-awareness-about-inaugural-tech-equity-hackathon/ | 2023-05-09 15:10:34 | 1 | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/05/09/nfha-urbangeekz-partner-raise-awareness-about-inaugural-tech-equity-hackathon/ |
Revealing pages on the Netflix site were taken down as quickly as they were posted showing how Netflix plans to crackdown on sharing the same streaming account.
CLICK TO GET KURT’S CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH QUICK TIPS, TECH REVIEWS, SECURITY ALERTS AND EASY HOW-TO’S TO MAKE YOU SMARTER
Netflix has said the enforcement plans are not going into effect in the U.S., for now, and were posted in error – but not before the battle plan details were captured.
WHY SOME OF YOUR EMAIL IS DISAPPEARING
Here’s what we learned about a Netflix crackdown
It all comes down to the fingerprint of your home account.
Traffic on the internet can be measured right down to your unique broadband connection at your home. Netflix may be planning to match your home’s unique IP address to authenticate your account.
According to the leaked help pages related to sharing an account with others outside your household, Netflix is likely to examine that location information and compare it to logins on your Netflix account from outside your residence. Logins located outside your address would be challenged to confirm the account credentials every 31 days.
All along, Netflix has warned it would end password sharing in 2023 so these rules briefly posted with intent or not represent the first shot across the bow that the battle is about to begin in the United States.
Netflix has already begun reigning in multiple people sharing a single account in Central and South American countries including Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru which could simply be a trial run for a larger plan.
10 COOL VALENTINE'S DAY GIFTS FOR YOUR KIDS AND GRANDKIDS
Waging war against Netflix freeloaders
A less expensive advertising model Netflix subscription was introduced last year to combat non-paying subscribers. Netflix has that number estimated at 100 million people who are mooching free movies and television shows from the service.
Freeloaders fighting back
People quickly took to the internet to post strategies for a password crackdown workaround. They include sharing a free phone number which forwards a verification text to everyone on the account at once. Another suggests using a VPN, or Virtual Private Network, which would mask the ability to determine the location of each login making them all seem like they are watching Netflix from the same physical address.
SEAGLIDER TAKES OFF: ANOTHER MAJOR AIRLINE JOINS THE PUSH FOR BATTERY-POWERED WATER FLIGHTS
As quickly as this chatter gets posted, you can bet Netflix engineers would be tasked with working on plans to combat the loss with other means that could tighten authentication controls even further. It's already possible for Netflix to regulate by permitting only a few or just a single stream per account simultaneously if it wanted to tighten up further.
For the vast majority of those going for a free ride on someone else’s streaming account, the days of watching Netflix without a legit subscription appear to be coming to an end.
For more of my tips, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by clicking the "Free newsletter" link at the top of my website.
Copyright 2023 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. CyberGuy.com articles and content may contain affiliate links that earn a commission when purchases are made. | https://www.foxbangor.com/news/national/the-end-of-free-rides-how-netflix-is-tackling-account-sharing/article_4a87af25-2aa8-54a1-ac74-f89eadc063f0.html | 2023-02-05 20:13:10 | 1 | https://www.foxbangor.com/news/national/the-end-of-free-rides-how-netflix-is-tackling-account-sharing/article_4a87af25-2aa8-54a1-ac74-f89eadc063f0.html |
NBA superstar LeBron James finally addressed his son Bronny James’ terrifying collapse during a Monday workout in southern California — shortly before the 18-year-old phenom was released from a Los Angeles hospital.
“I want to thank the countless people sending my family love and prayers,” the 38-year-old Los Angeles Lakers forward tweeted. “We feel you and I’m so grateful. Everyone doing great.”
His 18-year-old son suffered a cardiac arrest during a morning practice session with the University of Southern California Trojans team he recently joined as a freshman.
“We have our family together, safe and healthy, and we feel your love,” LeBron James told supporters. “Will have more to say when we’re ready but I wanted to tell everyone how much your support has meant to all of us!”
LeBron James has said he hopes to someday play with his son in the NBA. How Monday’s medical episode may impact Bronny James’ basketball career is unclear. The top-rated teenage guard is expected to be targeted by NBA teams after his first year of college ball.
A representative for the James family told TMZ Bronny James was “in stable condition and no longer in ICU” Monday following the teenager’s medical emergency. That statement thanked the USC medical staff and asked for “respect and privacy” as the matter unfolded. TMZ reported Thursday afternoon Bronny James was no longer under hospital care.
The 6′3″ prodigy is a four-star recruit trying to follow in the enormous footsteps of his dad, who made the leap straight from high school to the NBA in 2003 when his home state Cleveland Cavaliers made him the first pick in that year’s draft. LeBron James won the NBA’s 2004 Rookie of the Year award on his way to collecting four NBA titles in a career that remains productive.
Bronny James was born in Cleveland, but his father’s travels included a stop in Miami, Fla., a return to Ohio, then a 2018 move to Los Angeles where LeBron James won of his championship rings.
LeBron James and his wife Savannah James’ 16-year-old son Bryce James plays high school basketball in Los Angeles. He posted an Instagram photo showing himself with his big brother and a heart emoji Tuesday.
USC men’s basketball team is scheduled to open their 2023-2024 season with a Nov. 6 game against the Kansas State Wildcats in Las Vegas, NV.
() | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/27/bronny-james-discharged-from-hospital-lebron-james-addresses-collapse/ | 2023-07-28 23:55:02 | 1 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/27/bronny-james-discharged-from-hospital-lebron-james-addresses-collapse/ |
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