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US judge blocks Biden bid to end 'Remain in Mexico' policy
AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending a Trump-era policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas stayed the termination until legal challenges by Texas and Missouri are settled but didn't order the policy reinstated. The impact on the program wasn't immediately clear.
"It's a common sense policy to prevent people from entering our country illegally," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted after the ruling. "Texas wins again, for now."
The decision comes as El Paso, Texas, and other border cities face a daily influx of migrants that could grow larger if separate asylum restrictions enacted under President Donald Trump end next week as scheduled.
Thursday's ruling could prove to be a temporary setback for the Biden administration, which may appeal.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that it disagreed with the ruling and was considering its next steps. It said the government was well within its authority to end the policy.
Under Trump, about 70,000 asylum-seekers were forced to wait in Mexico for U.S. hearings under the policy introduced in January 2019. President Joe Biden — who said it "goes against everything we stand for as a nation of immigrants" — suspended the policy on his first day in office.
That sparked a long and tortured legal and administrative path.
Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee in Amarillo, ordered that the policy be reinstated in 2021. The Biden administration complied with the order after agreeing to changes and additions demanded by Mexico. But it didn't enforce the policy widely and only a few thousand people were sent back to wait in Mexico.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in June that Biden had the ability to end what technically are known as Migrant Protection Protocols. But it threw back to Kacsmaryk one main issue: determining whether the administration's action was "arbitrary and capricious" and thus violated federal law for crafting regulations.
In his 35-page ruling, the judge said it was likely an October 2021 memo that was the administration's latest effort to nail down termination of the policy did indeed appear to violate the law.
Among other things, the administration failed to consider the benefits of the policy, including reducing illegal immigration and "unmeritorious asylum claims," the ruling said.
Trump made the policy a centerpiece of border enforcement, which critics said was inhumane for exposing migrants to extreme violence in Mexico and making access to attorneys far more difficult.
Kacsmaryk said the Biden administration memo mentioned conditions that migrants might face while in Mexico but not the hardships they face "when making the dangerous journey to the southern border" in the first place. | https://www.krgv.com/news/us-judge-blocks-biden-bid-to-end-remain-in-mexico-policy | 2022-12-17 00:01:52 | 0 | https://www.krgv.com/news/us-judge-blocks-biden-bid-to-end-remain-in-mexico-policy |
As a rare green comet gets closer to Earth, get the … If you know where to look and have the right equipment, you just might be able to catch a glimpse of the green comet this week.
The Inkey List vs. The Ordinary With their minimal, often single-ingredient formulas, The Ordinary and The Inkey List both provide an affordable way to get skin care tailored to your concern.
Best ice fishing camera Ice fishing is a sport of patience and uncertainty. With an ice fishing camera, you can all but eliminate the uncertainty and closely observe your prey. | https://www.kark.com/news/business/showcase/arkansas-spinal-care-1-27-23/ | 2023-01-27 20:17:26 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/news/business/showcase/arkansas-spinal-care-1-27-23/ |
WASHINGTON – Some 200 people from politics, business and entertainment are expected at the White House on Wednesday evening for a fancy black-tie dinner hosted by President Joe Biden to honor South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his country's 70-year alliance with the United States.
Guests will be seated in the East Room, the largest in the executive mansion, at tables topped with towering centerpieces of cherry tree boughs in full bloom. They will dine on crabcakes, beef ribs and banana splits.
First lady Jill Biden, who oversaw planning for what will be the administration's second state dinner, recruited Korean American celebrity chef Edward Lee to whip up a menu showcasing the “best of America” — but with Korean touches. Lee is known for putting a Korean twist on American food.
“It’s not traditional Korean food but just gives you a little hint of Korean flavors,” he said this week as the White House previewed the dinner setup.
The crabcake appetizer comes with a slaw of cabbage, kohlrabi, fennel and cucumber topped with a vinaigrette made using gochujang, a red chili paste and a bowl of chilled yellow squash soup. The braised beef short ribs, the main course, are topped with sorghum-glazed carrots and served on a dollop of grits made from butter beans instead of corn.
Dessert is a deconstructed banana split, an American classic, featuring lemon bar ice cream, caramelized bananas, fresh berries and mint ginger snap cookie crumble drizzled with a caramel sauce infused with doenjang, a fermented soybean paste.
Guests will be ushered to the State Dining Room at the other end of the State Floor after dinner to be entertained by performances from Broadway stars Norm Lewis, Lea Salonga and Jessica Vosk.
A state visit, including an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn and a sparkly state dinner, is the highest diplomatic honor the U.S. bestows on its closest allies. Yoon was visiting as the U.S. and South Korea mark the 70th year of an alliance that began at the end of the Korean War and committed the U.S. to help South Korea defend itself, particularly from North Korea. Approximately 28,500 U.S. troops are currently based in South Korea.
Biden’s first invitation for a state visit went to France last year and President Emmanuel Macron was toasted at a black-tie dinner last December with more than 300 guests inside a heated pavilion erected on the south grounds of the White House.
Before Wednesday's dinner, Jill Biden and her South Korean counterpart, Kim Keon Hee, toured a pair of exhibits of paintings by Mark Rothko at the National Gallery of Art, including one that will open to the public later this year.
Lee said his mother was the first person he told about his invitation to work with the White House kitchen staff. His mother is a Korean immigrant; he was born in Brooklyn, New York.
‘We’ve always felt this huge debt of gratitude to the United States of America for the opportunities that they’ve had, that I’ve been able to have," Lee said. “So to come full circle, and to give back and be able to do this was, you know, a very proud moment for me and also for my mom.”
Her advice? “She just said, ‘Don’t mess it up.'” | https://www.wsls.com/news/politics/2023/04/26/biden-hosting-hundreds-for-glam-dinner-with-skorea-president/ | 2023-04-26 20:15:40 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/news/politics/2023/04/26/biden-hosting-hundreds-for-glam-dinner-with-skorea-president/ |
How to Watch NCAA Tournament Games & Betting Odds - March 25
On March 25, NCAA Tournament play features two Elite Eight games, including the best contest of the day, a matchup that pits No. 4 UConn against No. 3 Gonzaga. Below, you'll find additional info on betting odds, game times, and details on how to watch today's March Madness tilts.
Watch select tournament games live on fuboTV! Keep reading for game-specific information and links.
Elite Eight Odds and How to Watch
No. 9 Florida Atlantic Owls vs. No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats
- Game Time: 6:09 PM ET
- Venue: Madison Square Garden
- Location: New York City, New York
How to Watch Florida Atlantic vs Kansas State
- TV: TBS
Florida Atlantic vs Kansas State Odds
- Favorite: Kansas State (-1.5)
- Total: 143.5
- Kansas State Moneyline: -130
- Florida Atlantic Moneyline: +110
Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook and place your bet on this game!
No. 4 UConn Huskies vs. No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs
- Game Time: 8:49 PM ET
- Venue: T-Mobile Arena
- Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
How to Watch UConn vs Gonzaga
- TV: TBS
UConn vs Gonzaga Odds
Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook and place your bet on this game!
Odds are current as of March 25 at 12:39 PM ET. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/sports/betting/2023/03/25/college-basketball-march-madness-odds-how-to-watch/ | 2023-03-25 17:56:43 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/sports/betting/2023/03/25/college-basketball-march-madness-odds-how-to-watch/ |
Focuses on complex commercial and financial services litigation, as well as Section 230 cases
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mohamed Awan joins Crowell & Moring as a partner in its Litigation and Mass Tort, Product, and Consumer Litigation groups, where he will provide clients with valuable experience in consumer class actions, complex commercial litigation, and financial services litigation. One of his areas of focus is defending companies in matters related to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a federal law that shields companies against civil lawsuits for content posted on their platforms by a third party.
Awan has significant experience litigating class action matters in federal courts around the country, including multiple warranty claim class actions for one of the leading automobile manufacturers in the United States. He also represents clients in various litigation matters arising from mergers and acquisitions, including those concerning broken deals, material adverse change provisions, takeover defenses, activist shareholders, fraud, and breach of representations and warranties. Awan joins the firm from Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP where he was a partner in the litigation practice. Prior to that, Awan was a corporate lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis in New York.
"Mohamed will be a true asset to Crowell clients, having background in both class action and financial services litigation," said April Ross, vice-chair of the Mass Tort, Product, and Consumer Litigation Group at Crowell & Moring. "His experience handling product liability and warranty matters and his experience managing large, multi-jurisdictional matters will expand our class action bench and enhance our national litigation platform."
Awan is the latest addition to the firm's financial services practice. In April 2021, the firm combined with financial services powerhouse Kibbe & Orbe; a few months later, Brian Hail and Rick Hyman joined the firm's New York office; and in December 2021, a highly-regarded derivatives team joined the firm's London office.
"We are thrilled to welcome Mohamed to the firm and look forward to introducing him and his deep experience to our clients," said Keith Harrison, co-chair of the Litigation Group at Crowell & Moring. "He brings a broad range of talents and an impressive track record in the complex commercial litigation and financial services spaces that will benefit corporate clients navigating challenges to their business. Whether it is in contract disputes, shareholder derivative suits, securities matters, and beyond, Mohamed is poised to truly make an impact."
Awan earned his law degree, cum laude, from the American University Washington College of Law and his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. He previously clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff, of the Eastern District of Michigan. Awan is a former board member of New American Leaders, a nonprofit group that supports increasing diversity among elected officials.
"I was drawn to Crowell's sophisticated, national platform that tackles the most complex of litigation cases," said Awan. "Having worked in parallel with several of the firm's lawyers on related matters, I couldn't have been more impressed — certainly by their skillful handling of the cases, but also by their innovative thinking and collaboration. As a diverse lawyer, I also appreciate the opportunity to join a firm that puts a sincere, authentic focus on crucial issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion. I am thrilled to be joining the Crowell team."
About Crowell & Moring LLP
Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe, MENA, and Asia. Drawing on significant government, business, industry and legal experience, the firm helps clients capitalize on opportunities and provides creative solutions to complex litigation and arbitration, regulatory and policy, and corporate and transactional issues. The firm is consistently recognized for its commitment to pro bono service and its programs and initiatives to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.
Media Contact:
Andrew Loeb
Communications Specialist
+1 202.624.2792
Email: prteam@crowell.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Crowell & Moring LLP | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/08/17/commercial-class-action-litigation-partner-mohamed-awan-joins-crowell-amp-moring/ | 2022-08-17 14:29:59 | 0 | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/08/17/commercial-class-action-litigation-partner-mohamed-awan-joins-crowell-amp-moring/ |
Liam Hendriks first felt something not quite right in his right elbow around May 4, the day the Chicago White Sox reliever left to begin his rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte.
“It’s been sore for the last few weeks, ever since before my rehab assignment it was barking, but my mantra is to pitch things until I can’t,” Hendriks said Tuesday before the Sox lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 at Dodger Stadium. “It kept getting a little worse and worse and worse until the last couple of outings I wasn’t able to pitch through that pain.
“The more I throw, generally the better I feel. And this time, it wasn’t going away. It was lingering.”
The Sox placed Hendriks on the 15-day injured list Saturday with right elbow inflammation, the team announced Sunday morning.
“Structurally, it’s fine,” Hendriks said. “It’s all good. Or goodish for me. But it’s just a little inflammation that’s sitting on one of the wrong spots. Trying to get that eradicated. Take a week off throwing and reevaluate then.”
Hendriks and manager Pedro Grifol said there wasn’t a timetable.
“He feels good,” Grifol said Tuesday. “He’ll continue to see the doctors and do his thing. We’re optimistic about it but we’ll see. It’s one of those where it will take a little bit but at least there’s some optimism that he might be back.”
Hendriks used the phrase “wait and see.” And Grifol agreed. The reliever is 2-0 with one save, a 5.40 ERA and three strikeouts in five appearances since his return on May 29 after his absence for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“I need to be cognizant of the way my body reacts and feels with everything,” Hendriks said. “Just due to the fact I still don’t have the strongest immune system and there’s a lot of other things going on in my body.”
Last season, Hendriks went on the IL on June 11 with a flexor strain in his right forearm and returned July 4.
“There’s no strain down there,” Hendriks said. “Just a little bit of fluid build up back here. It’s sitting on the origin of it. Hopefully we get that out of there and it’s all back to normal from there.
“The doc said the ligament actually looked a little better this year than it did last year, which is nice to hear. Take that for what it’s worth. Shut down for throwing for a little bit, but hopefully get this back and I don’t miss to much time.”
Hendriks publicly revealed his cancer diagnosis on Jan. 8, completed treatment April 3 and announced he was cancer-free April 20. Hendriks did some baseball work while undergoing treatment at spring training and made his first appearance for Charlotte on May 5.
He did not think his ramp-up contributed.
“I threw more bullpens and was throwing for longer than everyone else,” Hendriks said. “I don’t think there’s any correlation with me ramping up too quickly or anything like that. I think the potential of the chemo still being in my system and not kind of letting me recover as well as I would have hoped, that has some merit to it. But it’s unfortunate the way it went about, but now hopefully it’s a minimal stint on the IL and we can get back to it as soon as I can.”
Hendriks is unsure what led to the setback.
“The last three outings it was constant pain every time I picked up a ball and threw it or anything like that,” he said. “You push through it and hopefully it goes away. This one just wasn’t going away.
“After the game (Friday), I couldn’t quite make a fist and couldn’t quite move too much. That’s when I told everybody how bad it was getting. They were well aware. I get treatment done every day. They were well aware I was not feeling great.”
Hendriks is certain the bullpen will perform well in his absence.
“They dealt with this pretty much all April and most of May,” he said. “For the last couple of months they’ve been doing a really good job and I expect that to continue. And hopefully I’ll be around as much as I can being as much of a cheerleader as I can.”
Eloy Jiménez returns
After finishing with only three hits in the series opener, the Sox got some good news: Jiménez was back in the lineup Wednesday against the Dodgers after missing four games with discomfort in his lower left leg. He was in the No. 4 spot in the lineup as the designated hitter.
Jiménez exited the second game of the June 8 doubleheader against the Yankees in New York in the ninth after running slowly to first while trying to beat out a double play.
Jiménez is slashing .257/.315/.434 with six homers and 24 RBIs in 35 games during a season that was interrupted by an appendectomy in early May. He has two homers and nine RBIs in his 10 games since that return.
() | https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/06/14/no-timetable-for-liam-hendriks-return-as-chicago-white-sox-taking-wait-and-see-approach-with-reliever/ | 2023-06-15 00:17:15 | 0 | https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/06/14/no-timetable-for-liam-hendriks-return-as-chicago-white-sox-taking-wait-and-see-approach-with-reliever/ |
BINGHAMTON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – Today, Binghamton City Court Judge Sophia Bergman announced that she is running for a full 10-year term.
Bergman was appointed as City Court Judge by Mayor Jared Kraham when Judge Carol Cocciola moved to County Court Judge on January 1st.
“I am running for a full term as Binghamton City Court Judge to bring my experience, impartiality and compassion to serve those who appear in the courtroom,” said Judge Bergman. “Having served on the prosecution and defense sides, I have a balanced perspective that will help ensure that justice is served equally to all.”
Bergman spent nearly a decade as a prosecutor with the District Attorney’s Offices in Warren and Broome counties. She has also worked with the Crime Victims Assistance Center and Binghamton-based law firms HH&K and Jackson Bergman.
She currently resides on the West Side of Binghamton with her husband and their two children.
Mayor Kraham is backing Bergman and her candidacy.
“Judge Bergman is a seasoned prosecutor and a compassionate public servant with a history of fighting for crime victims in our community. Her meaningful track record makes her an outstanding choice for City Court Judge and I’m proud to support her campaign for a full term in this year’s election.”
The general election will be held on November 7th, 2023. | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/local-news/judge-bergman-announces-campaign-for-full-term/ | 2023-02-03 16:30:57 | 1 | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/local-news/judge-bergman-announces-campaign-for-full-term/ |
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has named Kevin Tanner, a former Republican state House member who led a mental health reform task force, to lead the state's mental health agency.
Tanner was selected Tuesday to run the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities beginning Dec. 16. Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald is retiring after six years in the role, and the agency will be led on an interim basis by Monica Johnson until Tanner takes over.
Tanner served four terms in the House representing Lumpkin County and parts of Dawson and Forsyth counties, before losing a primary bid for Congress in 2020.
Currently the Forsyth County manager, Tanner previously served as the Dawson County manager. Kemp named him chair of the Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission when it was created in 2019. The group spearheaded a new law earlier this year that did more to require private insurers pay for mental health treatment and overhauled how the state provides some services.
Kemp also announced Revenue Commissioner Robyn Crittenden is resigning for a private sector job on Nov. 25. Crittenden was previously the Commissioner of Human Services and served briefly as secretary of state after Kemp stepped down from that role in 2018. She was also the chief operating officer of the Georgia Student Finance Commission, which oversees the spending of lottery proceeds.
Deputy Commissioner Frank O'Connell will lead the tax collection agency for now. | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Kemp-names-Kevin-Tanner-to-run-Georgia-mental-17592419.php | 2022-11-17 19:14:39 | 1 | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Kemp-names-Kevin-Tanner-to-run-Georgia-mental-17592419.php |
The Biden administration has reunited 500 children separated from their parents under the Trump White House’s zero tolerance border policy, an official told The Hill Friday.
The benchmark follows nearly two years of steady work by the Biden administration, which tasked itself with reuniting an estimated more than 1,000 children who remained separated from their parents due to the 2018 Trump policy.
“Five hundred is a really important milestone. Obviously, the first step for these families is that physical reunification and going through that process,” Michelle Brané, executive director of the administration’s Family Reunification Task Force, told The Hill.
“Those are 500 individual children that are now with their parents.”
The Biden administration launched its family reunification task force weeks into taking office, pledging to contact the parents, many of whom are outside the U.S. and may no longer reside in their home country.
Outrage over the policy pushed Trump to suspend it, but not before separating more than 5,000 children from their parents.
Brané said the task force still has nearly 700 children it is still trying to reunify with their parents.
The administration in September of last year launched two sites — together.gov and its Spanish-language counterpart juntos.gov — to give families a portal to actively seek reunification.
Some 200 families are still being processed through the portal, but about 150 who have been initially contacted by the government have yet to do so. There is also a group of parents for the more than 150 children the task force has not yet been able to contact.
“We’re making progress. We have been able to contact many of the families that we had not previously had any contact with when we came into this job and into this mission. And we know that there is a lot of work left to be done. We are committed to continuing to work to find these families,” Brané said, an effort that has included visiting villages in other countries in an effort to locate the parents.
“Obviously the last cases are the hardest cases in many ways.”
Lee Gelernt, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union representing those separated under the Trump policy in a class action suit, said the task force still has significant work to do.
“The Biden administration should be applauded for reuniting hundreds of families cruelly separated by the Trump administration, but unfortunately there could be more than a 1,000 families who are still separated, and we still haven’t even found 150 families, ” said Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead counsel in the case that ended the Trump family separation practice.
The Biden administration has allowed such families to temporarily reside in the U.S., offering work permits for three years to parents who were separated from their children. While they can seek to renew that status, in and of itself it is not a pathway to citizenship.
The reunification program also comes with mental health services through nonprofit partners, including sessions to prepare prior to reunification for children that have in some cases not seen their parents for four years.
That process has come with its own challenges. Reports indicate some children reunited with their parents have suffered severe emotional trauma as a result of the separation.
A study by Physicians for Human Rights indicated that the cases meet the definition of torture as defined by the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
“In the cases reviewed, it is apparent that U.S. officials intentionally carried out actions causing severe pain and suffering in order to punish and intimidate mainly Central American asylum seekers to not pursue their asylum claims,” the study stated.
Clinicians identified “symptoms and behaviors consistent with trauma and its residual effects in nearly all of the parents and children.”
That includes depression, constant worry/preoccupations, frequent crying, difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, recurring nightmares and overwhelming anxiety.
Four families have since launched a suit against the government, seeking damages for the trauma.
—Updated at 2:51 p.m. | https://www.yourbasin.com/hill-politics/biden-administration-has-reunited-500-families-separated-under-trump/ | 2022-10-07 19:57:49 | 1 | https://www.yourbasin.com/hill-politics/biden-administration-has-reunited-500-families-separated-under-trump/ |
Death of 2 Americans in Mexico resort hotel room now attributed to ‘undetermined substance’
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in Mexico’s Baja California Sur state said Thursday that autopsies on two Americans found dead in their luxury hotel room suggest they died of “intoxication by an undetermined substance.”
Local police initially said gas inhalation was suspected as the cause of death.
The state prosecutors’ office said the bodies bore no signs of violence. The office did not say what further steps were being taken to determine the exact cause of death.
Prosecutors said the victims were from Newport Beach, California. Local media gave their names as Abby Lutz and John Heathco. The nutritional supplements company LES Labs, based in Covina, California, lists Heathco as its founder.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City was not able to immediately confirm the names or hometowns of the victims due to privacy considerations.
Prosecutors said the two had been dead for 11 or 12 hours when they were found in their room at a luxury hotel near the resort of Cabo San Lucas late Tuesday.
Police said Wednesday that paramedics had received a report that the Americans were unconscious in their room. They were dead by the time paramedics arrived.
Police said then that the suspected cause of death was inhalation of gas.
There have been several cases of such deaths in Mexico due to poisoning by carbon monoxide or other gases. Proper gas line installations, vents and monitoring devices are often lacking for water heaters and stoves in the country.
In October, three U.S. citizens found dead at a rented apartment in Mexico City were apparently victims of gas inhalation.
In 2018, a gas leak in a water heater killed an American couple and their two children in the resort town of Tulum, south of Playa del Carmen.
In 2010, an expolsion traced to an improperly installed gas line at a hotel in Playa del Carmen killed five Canadian tourists and two Mexicans.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/2023/06/16/death-2-americans-mexico-resort-hotel-room-now-attributed-undetermined-substance/ | 2023-06-16 05:53:36 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/2023/06/16/death-2-americans-mexico-resort-hotel-room-now-attributed-undetermined-substance/ |
Phillies second. Darick Hall homers to left field. Nick Castellanos walks. Bryson Stott strikes out swinging. Brandon Marsh flies out to Yadiel Hernandez. Garrett Stubbs called out on strikes.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Phillies 1, Nationals 0.
Phillies third. Nick Maton hit by pitch. Kyle Schwarber singles to third base. Nick Maton to second. Rhys Hoskins walks. Kyle Schwarber to second. Nick Maton to third. Alec Bohm walks. Rhys Hoskins to second. Kyle Schwarber to third. Nick Maton scores. Darick Hall flies out to shallow center field to Lane Thomas. Nick Castellanos reaches on a fielder's choice to shallow infield. Alec Bohm to second. Rhys Hoskins to third. Kyle Schwarber out at home. Bryson Stott flies out to deep left field to Yadiel Hernandez.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 left on. Phillies 2, Nationals 0.
Phillies fourth. Brandon Marsh walks. Garrett Stubbs singles to shallow infield. Nick Maton homers to right field. Garrett Stubbs scores. Kyle Schwarber doubles to deep right center field. Rhys Hoskins homers to center field. Kyle Schwarber scores. Alec Bohm flies out to deep center field to Lane Thomas. Darick Hall homers to right field. Nick Castellanos walks. Bryson Stott flies out to deep left center field to Lane Thomas.
5 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Phillies 7, Nationals 0.
Nationals fifth. Yadiel Hernandez singles to deep right field. Keibert Ruiz walks. Yadiel Hernandez to second. Josh Palacios reaches on a fielder's choice to first base. Keibert Ruiz out at second. Yadiel Hernandez to third. Cesar Hernandez singles to right field. Josh Palacios to second. Yadiel Hernandez scores. Ildemaro Vargas flies out to deep left field to Kyle Schwarber. Lane Thomas grounds out to third base, Alec Bohm to Darick Hall.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Phillies 7, Nationals 1.
Phillies seventh. Nick Castellanos flies out to deep right center field to Lane Thomas. Bryson Stott singles to right field. Brandon Marsh singles to center field. Bryson Stott to second. Garrett Stubbs strikes out swinging. Nick Maton singles to left field. Brandon Marsh to second. Bryson Stott scores. Kyle Schwarber strikes out swinging.
1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Phillies 8, Nationals 1.
Phillies eighth. Edmundo Sosa pinch-hitting for Rhys Hoskins. Edmundo Sosa grounds out to shortstop, Ildemaro Vargas to Luke Voit. Alec Bohm reaches on error to shallow infield, advances to 2nd. Throwing error by Luis Garcia. Darick Hall walks. Nick Castellanos hit by pitch. Darick Hall to second. Alec Bohm to third. Bryson Stott doubles to deep left field. Nick Castellanos scores. Darick Hall scores. Alec Bohm scores. Brandon Marsh singles to center field. Bryson Stott scores. Garrett Stubbs strikes out on a foul tip. Nick Maton doubles to deep right center field. Brandon Marsh scores. Matt Vierling lines out to shallow center field to Cesar Hernandez.
5 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 left on. Phillies 13, Nationals 1. | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/Washington-Philadelphia-Runs-17357824.php | 2022-08-07 23:26:55 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/Washington-Philadelphia-Runs-17357824.php |
NEW YORK (AP) — The expanding audio books market has a major new retailer: Spotify.
On Tuesday, the music streaming service announced its long-rumored audiobook initiative, launching a store that includes more than 300,000 titles, including such popular works as Delia Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” and Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us.” Spotify has previously offered audio books on a limited basis, including J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and such public domain novels as Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Jane Austen’s “Persuasion.”
“We’ve always believed that the potential for audio is limitless, and have been saying for a while now that our ambition is to be the complete package for everyone’s listening needs,” Nir Zicherman, Spotify’s vice president and global head of audiobooks and Gated Content, said Tuesday.
“Audiobooks are next to come into the picture because we see a substantial untapped market: while audiobooks represent just a 6-7% share of the wider book market, the category is growing by 20% year over year.”
Other available works include Dave Grohl’s “The Storyteller,” James McBride’s “Deacon King Kong” and Emily Henry’s “People We Meet On Vacation.”
At least initially, Spotify will sell audio books individually, not on a subscription basis, at prices that are “competitive” with other sellers. According to a Spotify spokesperson, “After assessing testing and user research, we found that the best initial offering would allow users to purchase books individually,” a policy which “allows for pricing flexibility and for more casual listeners to access audio books easily.” | https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-spotify-launches-audiobook-store-with-some-300000-titles/ | 2022-09-21 12:04:11 | 1 | https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-spotify-launches-audiobook-store-with-some-300000-titles/ |
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Seven different Syracuse Crunch players recorded a goal in the 8-3 victory over the Utica Comets tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
Alex Barre-Boulet tallied two goals and three assists, while Darren Raddysh also put up a five-point effort with five assists to help advance the Crunch to 4-6-1-2 on the season. Syracuse takes the first game of the 14-game season series against Utica.
Max Lagace earned his second consecutive win stopping 36-of-39 shots in net for the Crunch. Isaac Poulter turned aside 32-of-40 between the pipes for the Comets.
Syracuse special teams went 1-for-6 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
The Crunch opened scoring with two quick goals early in the first period. Trevor Carrick started it off at 3:37 with a long shot from the blue line. Three minutes later, Daniel Walcott swept a second-chance opportunity across the goal line.
The Comets stole one back at the 7:10 mark when Nolan Foote beat Lagace with a close-range backhander, but the Crunch responded with two more goals of their own. At 13:24, Gemel Smith centered the puck from beyond the goal line for Simon Ryfors to redirect in with a quick stick out front. Barre-Boulet wrapped up the first period scoring with a wrister as he cut across the slot late five minutes later.
Syracuse potted four more goals in the middle frame to go up, 8-1. At 3:44, Lucas Edmonds scored his first AHL goal when he redirected Barre-Boulet’s centering feed. Two minutes later, Walcott came down the right side during a 2-on-1 and sent a last-minute pass across the slot for Shawn Element to send home. Halfway through the frame, Barre-Boulet recorded his second of the night with another wrister shot from between the circles. The Crunch then added a power-play goal at the 12:44 mark. Poulter made the initial save on Raddysh’s shot, but the rebound trickled through for Gage Goncalves to put in.
Brian Halonen scored two goals for the Comets in the third period at 10:52 and 19:05, but the Crunch offense was too strong for a comeback.
The Crunch travel to face the Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday. | https://www.localsyr.com/sports/local-sports/syracuse-crunch-dominates-utica/ | 2022-11-13 06:03:25 | 1 | https://www.localsyr.com/sports/local-sports/syracuse-crunch-dominates-utica/ |
Delivers multi-scan-engine correlation across open source and proprietary code, as well as context-based risk prioritization in a single report featuring both list and topographic views
SAN FRANCISCO and RAMAT GAN, Israel, June 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Developers and application security (AppSec) teams today have long needed a single, integrated view into the interaction, functions and vulnerabilities of the dozens of components in today's typical application in order to perform comprehensive AppSec testing. In response to that need, Checkmarx, the global leader in developer-centric application security testing (AST) solutions, today announced the availability of Checkmarx Fusion, a context-aware correlation engine that enables full visibility into applications, component interactions, and bills of materials. It leverages a holistic view of application security scan results across all stages of the software lifecycle to correlate and prioritize vulnerabilities, thereby guiding remediation of the most critical issues first. Checkmarx Fusion is part of Checkmarx One, the industry's most comprehensive application security platform.
"Development teams test tens of millions of lines of code monthly. With the complexity of modern applications – which include source code, open source code, Infrastructure-as-Code, containers, and more – developers and their AppSec leaders have a critical need for visibility into how application components interact," said Checkmarx Chief Product Officer Razi Sharir. "Working closely with our customers worldwide, we know that developers and AppSec teams need a holistic view of the context and prioritization of application vulnerabilities that are lacking in AST and ASOC (Application Security Orchestration and Correlation) solutions. Checkmarx Fusion unifies, prioritizes, and streamlines AppSec vulnerability remediation thereby increasing developer efficiency and organizational agility."
Teams can now "shift left" and bring comprehensive AppSec testing and remediation into the development cycle from creation of the first line of code to the last. Unlike ASOC solutions, Checkmarx Fusion offers multi-engine-scan correlation and context-based risk prioritization of scan results across engines. Checkmarx Fusion empowers developers and AppSec teams with these four pillars:
- Visibility: Provides threat modeling by mapping threats in a visual, intuitive graph containing all software elements, consumed cloud resources, and relationships between them. Checkmarx Fusion extrapolates potential vulnerabilities within two or more scans that might otherwise escape detection.
- Correlation: Adds context to the silo scanners by combining and correlating results from static code scans and runtime scans, effectively eliminating false positives
- Prioritization: Focuses developers and AppSec teams on solving the most critical issues by prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their real impact and risk.
- Cloud-Native: Leverages cloud-native architecture including microservices, cloud resources, containers, and APIs while correlating insights from pre-deployment to runtime
According to Melinda-Carol Ballou, Research Director for IDC's Application Life-Cycle Management (ALM) program1, "The breadth of capabilities in Checkmarx's portfolio, which spans SAST, SCA, IAST, and IaC security, delivered in a unified platform is an advantage in the highly competitive DevSecOps market space. The platform's developer focus, along with DevOps toolchain integrations and contextualized training, can increase developer performance and lighten the load of security testing, permitting the rapid delivery of more secure applications."
Checkmarx Fusion is available now. For more information, visit this page, visit booth #1755 in Moscone South at RSA 2022, or booth #651 at the Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit.
Checkmarx is constantly pushing the boundaries of Application Security (AppSec) Testing to make security seamless and simple for the world's developers while giving CISOs the confidence and control they need. As the AppSec testing leader, Checkmarx provides the industry's most comprehensive AST platform, Checkmarx One, that provides developers and security teams with unparalleled accuracy, coverage, visibility and guidance to reduce risk across all components of modern software—including proprietary code, open source, APIs and infrastructure as code. Over 1,800 customers, including half of the Fortune 50, trust Checkmarx security technology, expert research, and global services to securely optimize development at speed and scale. For more information, visit the Checkmarx website, check out the blog or follow the company on LinkedIn.
1 IDC, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Application Security Testing, Code Analytics, and Software Composition Analysis 2022 Vendor Assessment, by Melinda-Carol Ballou, March 2022.
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SOURCE Checkmarx | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2022/06/07/checkmarx-unveils-context-aware-checkmarx-fusion-with-industrys-first-holistic-view-cross-component-prioritization-application-vulnerabilities/ | 2022-06-07 12:07:46 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2022/06/07/checkmarx-unveils-context-aware-checkmarx-fusion-with-industrys-first-holistic-view-cross-component-prioritization-application-vulnerabilities/ |
Judge considers parents’ request to keep Nashville school shooter’s writings secret
May 22, 2023, 4:01 PM
(AP Photo/George Walker IV)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A group of parents at a Christian school in Nashville that recently suffered a deadly their effort is on solid legal ground.
Plaintiffs — including journalists, a state senator, a law enforcement nonprofit and a gun-rights organization — have sued the city of Nashville to force the release after police denied their public records requests. Authorities claimed the journals and other writings were protected from release as long as they’re part of an open investigation, but indicated they’d be made public at some point.
The parents of children at The Covenant School, where a former student killed three 9-year-olds and three adults in March, want the records to remain secret forever. In their motion to intervene, they call the writings “dangerous and harmful” and say “no good that can come from the release.”
Speaking in Nashville Chancellor I’Ashea Myles’ courtroom on Monday, the parents’ attorney Eric Osborne said his clients have a “real fear” of a repeat shooting at their own school. The shooter made maps of the school while planning the massacre. Some of the parents would like an opportunity to speak in open court and explain why they don’t want the writings released, he said.
The parents are victims, Osborne said, who want to protect their rights under the state Constitution to be free from intimidation, harassment and abuse.
Attorney Nicholas Barry, who represents the Tennessee Star and its parent media organization, said those Constitutional rights specify how victims are to be treated in the criminal justice system and have nothing to do with the Tennessee Public Records Act.
Attorney Robb Harvey, who represents The Tennessean newspaper and state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, argued that the parents are not crime victims within the meaning of the law. He said any harm the families might claim from the release of the records is purely speculative. For one thing, no one knows what’s in the journals except for law enforcement, the city attorneys, and the judge — who has reviewed some of the shooter’s writings but not all.
Attorneys for both The Covenant School and Covenant Presbyterian Church, which owns the school building, said their primary concern was preventing the release of any information that could jeopardize security.
The judge said she will rule by Wednesday as to whether the parents, school and church can intervene in the case.
“I believe that getting the information that needs to be out is a good thing,” Myles said. “My goal is to make sure that whatever needs to come out can come out, in a manner that protects all involved, but also gives open access to the governmental bodies because that’s what the open records request act is for.” | https://mynorthwest.com/3891946/judge-considers-parents-request-to-keep-nashville-school-shooters-writings-secret/ | 2023-05-23 00:20:06 | 1 | https://mynorthwest.com/3891946/judge-considers-parents-request-to-keep-nashville-school-shooters-writings-secret/ |
Titanic expert killed in sub implosion honored by James Cameron, others for heeding explorer’s call
(AP) – Almost a month after he died in a submersible implosion on his way to see the Titanic wreck, a French explorer was remembered Wednesday by filmmaker James Cameron and others as someone whose deep-sea exploits inspired generations of ocean lovers and brought a greater understanding of the famous ship.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, died when the Titan submersible descended into deep North Atlantic waters on June 18 to explore the Titanic — something Nargeolet had done dozens of times before. Investigators believe the submersible, owned by a private company, imploded during the descent, killing everyone aboard.
The event, which was streamed live on Facebook, began with a video montage of Nargeolet and his accomplishments that showed him embarking on the first archeological mission to the site more than three decades ago. The presentation included his work to recover “the Big Piece,” a 17-ton section of the Titanic’s shell plating recovered in 1998.
The video said Nargeolet “inspired generations of ocean lovers, divers and explorers over the world.” It also showed Nargeolet manning watercraft over the years and ended with him staring at the sea from the beach. Jessica Sanders, president of RMS Titanic Inc., then stepped to a podium decorated with pictures of Nargeolet and tearfully recounted his accomplishments, his legacy and his “devilish smile.”
Sanders, speaking in English and using a French interpreter, said about 80% of the artifacts in the company’s collection were recovered by Nargeolet.
“PH was a giant of a man, and an inspiration in and of himself,” Sanders said. “To listen to him tell a story was to be in the story itself.”
Cameron, who directed the movie “Titanic,” spoke remotely to say he and Nargeolet were drawn together by their shared interest in the wreck site. He said he was “honored to be considered as a peer” by Nargeolet.
“He became over the years, a friend. He lived a large life, a life full of adventure,” Cameron said.
“We took about all the things we could do. It seemed there were so many dives, so many adventures ahead,” he continued. “For me the greater risk to humanity is to not go. The explorer’s call is to go to the edge and go beyond. ... And humanity is better off for it.”
Rory Golden, a deep-sea explorer who describes himself as the first Irish diver to visit the Titanic site, said he met Nargeolet three years ago and bonded quickly over their shared love of the wreck. They would swap stories about their various adventures and what they had learned on them.
“Like me, he loved being on the water and messing around in small boats,” Golden said. “We laughed. We laughed a lot. PH never lost that inquisitive mind that made him so special ... He was constantly seeking knowledge about the Titanic. He always had time for others, especially the next generation of explorers.”
Some mourners referred to Nargeolet by his nickname, “Mr. Titanic.” Nargeolet’s contributions to worldwide understanding of the Titanic wreck are without peer, said Malte Fiebing-Petersen, president of the German Titanic Society.
“A lot of the knowledge we have of the wreck site today is based on PH’s work,” Fiebing-Petersen said.
Hundreds watched the memorial online, with several welcoming the chance for lovers of the Titanic to gather and mourn the loss of Nargeolet.
“I take comfort from the thought that he is now where he always was drawn to. A place which he loved. How fitting for this great explorer,” Alexander Korthus said in the chat.
“Amazing tribute. My heart hurts, taking some comfort that he died doing what he loved most,” John Lamoreau said.
Nargeolet was the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic Inc., an Atlanta-based company that owns the salvage rights for the world’s most famous shipwreck. His memorial service took place a day after the company opened an exhibit in Paris showcasing thousands of artifacts from the Titanic’s debris field.
“Many of the artifacts on display were recovered by or recovered under the supervision of Paul-Henri Nargeolet and his dedicated team. An intrepid explorer with an indomitable pioneering spirit, PH fearlessly ventured into the depths of the ocean to unravel its mysteries and educate the public,” the company said in a social media post.
The company said on its website that Nargeolet will be “always in our hearts and thoughts” and was “a true explorer of his time.”
Nargeolet was a former French navy officer who has been remembered by friends as one of the world’s great undersea explorers.
Also killed in the implosion were pilot Stockton Rush, founder of OceanGate Inc., the company that owned the submersible; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; and British adventurer Hamish Harding.
The implosion remains under investigation by multiple authorities, including the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has convened a Marine Board of Investigation, its highest level of investigation, and has said it will hold a public hearing in the future.
OceanGate, which was based in Everett, Washington, announced earlier this month that it suspended all operations. Its website was shuttered on Wednesday save for a single page acknowledging the suspension of operations.
___
Associated Press writer Michael Casey contributed to this report from Boston.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kalb.com/2023/07/19/titanic-expert-killed-sub-implosion-remembered-heeding-explorers-call/ | 2023-07-19 22:14:36 | 1 | https://www.kalb.com/2023/07/19/titanic-expert-killed-sub-implosion-remembered-heeding-explorers-call/ |
SUGAR LAND, Texas, Oct. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Noble Corporation plc ("Noble") today announced it has completed the sale of the Noble Hans Deul, Noble Sam Hartley, Noble Sam Turner, Noble Houston Colbert, and Noble Lloyd Noble (the "Remedy Rigs") to a subsidiary of Shelf Drilling, Ltd. ("Shelf Drilling") for cash proceeds of $375 million as part of the recently completed business combination with Maersk Drilling. As previously disclosed in the June 23, 2022 Remedy Rigs sale announcement, all onshore and offshore related staff, support and infrastructure associated with these rigs is hereby transferred to Shelf Drilling, while Noble will continue to operate the Noble Lloyd Noble under a bareboat charter with Shelf Drilling through the conclusion of that rig's current drilling contract with Equinor which is expected to finish in the second quarter of 2023.
"The closing of the Remedy Rigs sale is an essential element to the transformative business combination with Maersk Drilling which we completed earlier this week." said Robert Eifler, President and CEO of Noble. Mr. Eifler continued, "The cash proceeds from the sale will augment Noble's already conservative balance sheet and further enhance our capital flexibility. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Noble employees who will transfer to Shelf Drilling and wish them continued success."
About Noble Corporation
Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. Noble owns and operates one of the most modern, versatile, and technically advanced fleets in the offshore drilling industry. Noble and its predecessors have been engaged in the contract drilling of oil and gas wells since 1921. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of offshore drilling units focused largely on ultra-deepwater and high specification jackup drilling opportunities in both established and emerging regions worldwide. For additional information, visit www.noblecorp.com or email investors@noblecorp.com.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute or contain any invitation, solicitation, recommendation, offer or advice to any person to subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of Noble.
Certain statements in this announcement, including any attachments hereto, may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements (other than statements of historical fact) relating to future events and Noble and its subsidiaries (collectively, the "Noble Group") anticipated or planned financial and operational performance. The words "targets", "believes", "continues", "expects", "aims", "intends", "plans", "seeks", "will", "may", "might", "anticipates", "would", "could", "should", "estimates", "projects", "potentially" or similar expressions or the negatives thereof, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. The absence of these words, however, does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. Other forward-looking statements can be identified in the context in which the statements are made.
Although Noble believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date of this announcement, such forward-looking statements are based on Noble's current expectations, estimates, forecasts, assumptions and projections about the Noble Group's business and the industry in which the Noble Group operates and/or which has been extracted from publications, reports and other documents prepared by the Noble Group and are not guarantees of future performance or development and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors beyond the Noble Group's control that could cause the Noble Group's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Any forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including any attachment hereto, speak only as of today. Noble does not intend, and does not assume, any obligations to update any forward-looking statements contained herein, except as may be required by law or the rules of the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Copenhagen. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to Noble or to persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements referred to above and contained in this announcement, including any attachment hereto.
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SOURCE Noble Corporation plc | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/10/05/noble-corporation-completes-divestment-five-jackups/ | 2022-10-05 17:35:56 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/10/05/noble-corporation-completes-divestment-five-jackups/ |
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s air force claimed Saturday to have downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems, the first known time the country has been able to intercept one of Moscow’s most modern missiles.
Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a Telegram post that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in the week. It was also the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defense systems.
“Yes, we shot down the ‘unique’ Kinzhal,” Oleshchuk wrote. “It happened during the night time attack on May 4 in the skies of the Kyiv region.”
Oleshchuk said the Kh-47 missile was launched by a MiG-31K aircraft from the Russian territory and was shot down with a Patriot missile.
The Kinzhal is one of the latest and most advanced Russian weapons. The Russian military says the air-launched ballistic missile has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (about 1,250 miles) and flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it hard to intercept.
A combination of hypersonic speed and a heavy warhead allows the Kinzhal to destroy heavily fortified targets, like underground bunkers or mountain tunnels.
The Ukrainian military has previously admitted lacking assets to intercept the Kinzhals.
Ukraine took its first delivery of the Patriot missiles in late April. It has not specified how many of the systems it has or where they have been deployed, but they are known to have been provided by the United States, Germany and the Netherlands.
Germany and the U.S. have acknowledged each sending at least one system and the Netherlands has said it has provided two though it is not clear how many are currently in operation.
Ukrainian troops have received the extensive training needed to be able to effectively locate a target with the systems, lock on with radar and fire. Each battery requires up to 90 personnel to operate and maintain.
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said he first asked for Patriot systems when visiting the U.S. in August 2021, months before Russia’s full-scale invasion but seven years after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.
He has described possessing the system as “a dream” but said he was told in the U.S. at the time that it was impossible.
The Patriot was first deployed by the U.S. in the 1980s. The system costs approximately $4 million per missile, and the launchers cost about $10 million each, according to analysts.
At such a cost, it was widely thought that Ukraine would only use the Patriots against Russian aircraft or hypersonic missiles.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/ukraine-downs-russian-hypersonic-missile-with-us-patriot/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2023-05-06 10:00:54 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/ukraine-downs-russian-hypersonic-missile-with-us-patriot/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Updated October 22, 2022 at 9:12 AM ET
GREENWOOD, Miss. — Hundreds of people applauded — and some wiped away tears — as a Mississippi community unveiled a larger-than-life statue of Emmett Till on Friday, not far from where white men kidnapped and killed the Black teenager over accusations he had flirted with a white woman in a country store.
"Change has come, and it will continue to happen," Madison Harper, a senior at Leflore County High School, told a racially diverse audience at the statue's dedication. "Decades ago, our parents and grandparents could not envision that a moment like today would transpire."
The 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the civil rights movement. Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago so the world could see the horrors inflicted on her 14-year-old son. Jet magazine published photos of his mutilated body, which was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi.
The 9-foot (2.7-meter) tall bronze statue in Greenwood's Rail Spike Park is a jaunty depiction of the living Till in slacks, dress shirt and tie with one hand on the brim of a hat.
The rhythm and blues song, "Wake Up, Everybody" played as workers pulled a tarp off the figure. Dozens of people surged forward, shooting photos and video on cellphones.
Anna-Maria Webster of Rochester, New York, had tears running down her face.
"It's beautiful to be here," said Webster, attending the ceremony on a sunny afternoon during a visit with Mississippi relatives. Speaking of Till's mother she said: "Just to imagine the torment she went through — all over a lie."
Mississippi has the highest percentage of Black residents of any state, now about 38%. Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, whose district encompasses the Delta, noted that Mississippi had no Black elected officials when Till was killed. He said Till's death helped spur change.
"But you, know, change has a way of becoming slower and slower," said Thompson, the only Black member of Mississippi's current congressional delegation. "What we have to do in dedicating this monument to Emmett Till is recommit ourselves to the spirit of making a difference in our community."
The statue is a short drive from an elaborate Confederate monument outside the Leflore County Courthouse and about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the crumbling remains of the store, Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market, in Money.
The statue's unveiling coincided with the release this month of "Till," a movie exploring Till-Mobley's private trauma over her son's death and her transformation into a civil rights activist.
The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., the last living witness to his cousin's kidnapping, wasn't able to travel from Illinois for Friday's dedication. But he told The Associated Press on Wednesday: "We just thank God someone is keeping his name out there."
He said some wrongly thought Till got what he deserved for breaking the taboo of flirting with a white woman, adding many people didn't want to talk about the case for decades.
"Now there's interest in it, and that's a godsend," Parker said. "You know what his mother said: 'I hope he didn't die in vain.'"
Greenwood and Leflore County are both more than 70% Black and officials have worked for years to bring the Till statue to reality. Democratic state Sen. David Jordan of Greenwood secured $150,000 in state funding and a Utah artist, Matt Glenn, was commissioned to create the statue.
Jordan said he hopes it will draw tourists to learn more about the area's history. "Hopefully, it will bring all of us together," he said.
Till and Parker had traveled from Chicago to spend the summer of 1955 with relatives in the deeply segregated Mississippi Delta. On Aug. 24, the two teens took a short trip with other young people to the store in Money. Parker said he heard Till whistle at shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant.
Four days later, Till was abducted in the middle of the night from his uncle's home. The kidnappers tortured and shot him, weighted his body down with a cotton gin fan and dumped him into the river.
Jordan, who is Black, was a college student in 1955 when he drove to the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner to watch the murder trial of two white men charged with killing Till — Carolyn's husband Roy Bryant and his half brother, J.W. Milam.
An all-white, all-male jury acquitted the two men, who later confessed to Look magazine that they killed Till.
Nobody has ever been convicted in the lynching. The U.S. Justice Department has opened multiple investigations starting in 2004 after receiving inquiries about whether charges could be brought against anyone still living.
In 2007, a Mississippi prosecutor presented evidence to a grand jury of Black and white Leflore County residents after investigators spent three years re-examining the killing. The grand jury declined to issue indictments.
The Justice Department reopened an investigation in 2018 after a 2017 book quoted Carolyn Bryant — now remarried and named Carolyn Bryant Donham — saying she lied when she claimed Till grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances. Relatives have publicly denied Donham, who is in her 80s, recanted her allegations. The department closed that investigation in late 2021 without bringing charges.
This year, a group searching the Leflore County Courthouse basement found an unserved 1955 arrest warrant for "Mrs. Roy Bryant." In August, another Mississippi grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict Donham, causing consternation for Till relatives and activists.
Although Mississippi has dozens of Confederate monuments, some have been moved in recent years, including one relocated in 2020 from the University of Mississippi campus to a cemetery where Confederate soldiers are buried.
The state has a few monuments to Black historical figures, including one honoring civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer in Ruleville.
A historical marker outside Bryant's Grocery has been knocked down and vandalized. Another marker near where Till's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River has been vandalized and shot. The Till statue in Greenwood will be watched by security cameras.
Jordan won applause when he said Friday: "If some idiot tears it down, we're going to put it right back up."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kbia.org/2022-10-21/a-statue-of-emmett-till-is-unveiled-in-mississippi | 2022-10-22 13:32:53 | 1 | https://www.kbia.org/2022-10-21/a-statue-of-emmett-till-is-unveiled-in-mississippi |
UAE names oil company chief to lead UN COP28 climate talks
By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates has named a veteran technocrat who both leads Abu Dhabi’s state-run oil company and oversees its renewable energy efforts to be the president of the upcoming United Nations climate negotiations in Dubai. The announcement Thursday naming Sultan al-Jaber highlights the balancing act ahead for this crude-producing nation. Al-Jaber, a trusted confidant of UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, serves as CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., which pumps some 4 million barrels of crude a day and hopes to expand to 5 million daily. Those revenues fuel the ambitions of this federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. | https://localnews8.com/news/2023/01/12/uae-names-technocrat-to-lead-upcoming-un-cop28-climate-talks/ | 2023-01-12 08:42:07 | 0 | https://localnews8.com/news/2023/01/12/uae-names-technocrat-to-lead-upcoming-un-cop28-climate-talks/ |
Wide receiver Allen Lazard signs 4-year deal with Jets
The New York Jets have signed former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard to a four-year contract
The New York Jets signed former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard to a four-year contract Friday.
Lazard reunites with Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who worked with the receiver in the same role in Green Bay from 2019-21. Lazard could also rejoin quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who said on "The Pat McAfee Show" this week that he intends to play for New York this year after 18 seasons in Green Bay.
The team didn't announce terms, but multiple media reports say the contract for the 27-year-old Lazard is worth $44 million — including $22 million guaranteed.
Lazard tweeted Thursday night that he and Hackett were at dinner together, hinting the signing was imminent. On Wednesday, he posted on Twitter a farewell to the Packers and their fans: "It's been an honor to represent the 'G' and to rock the green and gold with each and every one of you."
The 6-foot-5 Lazard, regarded as a terrific blocker as a receiver, is coming off his best NFL season. He had personal highs of 60 catches and 788 yards receiving to go along with six touchdowns; in 2021, he had a career-best eight TD receptions.
“I think objectively, a lot of people can look at Allen Lazard and go, he’s a really good player, we would love to have him on our team,” Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show." “Anybody would be lucky to have him in the locker room.”
Lazard was signed by Jacksonville as an unrestricted free agent out of Iowa State in 2018 and was signed by Green Bay off the Jaguars' practice squad that season.
After starting just 12 games in his first three seasons, Lazard moved into a starting role and developed a strong rapport with Rodgers while starting 28 games the last two years.
In five NFL seasons, Lazard has 169 career receptions for 2,236 yards and 20 TDs.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.weau.com/2023/03/17/wide-receiver-allen-lazard-signs-4-year-deal-with-jets/ | 2023-03-17 16:00:19 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/2023/03/17/wide-receiver-allen-lazard-signs-4-year-deal-with-jets/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole outpitched Aaron Nola in a marquee matchup, Gleyber Torres had three hits and two RBIs and the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 Wednesday.
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Torres also stole two bases and is hitting .421 with six RBIs and five steals. Jose Trevino added a two-run homer off reliever Gregory Soto, and New York took two of three for the second straight series. NL champion Philadelphia has skidded to a 1-5 start, its worst since 2007.
Coming off six scoreless innings against San Francisco in the opener, Cole (2-0) pitched shutout ball into the seventh and left after a pitch-clock violation put on a runner who scored the first run off him this season. The 32-year-old right-hander allowed three hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out eight and walked three. He also picked off speedy Trea Turner at first base for the final out of the third.
On a 48-degree afternoon with a chilling mist, Nola (0-1) gave up three runs and seven hits in six-plus innings with a walk and five strikeouts. He has a 7.45 ERA.
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Nola entered third for pitcher WAR since 2018 behind Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, and Cole was fourth.
Cole left after he shook off Trevino with a full count to Nick Castellanos and one out in the seventh and was called for a pitch-clock violation that resulted in a walk.
Jonathan Loáisiga allowed a single to Bryson Stott on his first pitch and hit Alec Bohm with his second, loading the bases. Jake Cave hit a sacrifice fly that cut the deficit to 2-1, and pinch-hitter Josh Harrison grounded to third, where Isiah Kiner-Falefa beat Stott to the bag for the forceout.
Nola walked Oswaldo Cabrera leading off the bottom half, Soto relieved and Trevino drove a slider to left for his first home run this season and a 4-1 lead.
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Kyle Schwarber hit his second home run of the series off Loáisiga in the eighth. Clay Holmes struck out three straight batters in the ninth, finishing the five-hitter for his first save this season.
New York went ahead in the first when Aaron Judge singled, stole second and Torres’ bat shattered as he hit a curveball off the end of it and dumped a single into left.
DJ LeMahieu doubled in the sixth and scored when Torres grounded a single to center for his sixth RBI in six games.
TOSSED
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Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long was ejected by plate umpire Nic Lentz in the fifth for arguing a called strike to Cave.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: OF Bryce Harper (Tommy John surgery) took batting practice on the field Tuesday, his first on-field BP since Tommy John surgery in November. ... 1B Darick Hall sprained his right thumb when it landed on second base when he was trying to stretch a single in the fourth inning. Hall was tagged out by SS Anthony Volpe, who caught RF Franchy Cordero’s throw on the fly and made a swipe tag, and Hall left the game in the middle of the fifth. ... CF Brandon Marsh was in the original starting lineup, then scratched with a mild left ankle sprain.
Yankees: 3B Josh Donaldson left with right hamstring tightness after hobbling while running to first on a second-inning flyout. ... LHP Carlos Rodón (left forearm strain) was to throw two simulated innings Wednesday, perhaps one to batters. ... RHP Luis Severino (right lat strain) threw at 90 feet. ... RHP Tommy Kahnle (right biceps tendinitis) started a throwing program.
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UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Zack Wheeler (0-1) takes the mound Thursday for Philadelphia’s home opener against LHP Nick Lodolo (1-0) and Cincinnati.
Yankees: RHP Clarke Schmidt (0-0) starts in Baltimore’s home opener against RHP Dean Kremer (0-0) on Friday, a game pushed back a day by a forecast of poor weather.
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Article continues below this ad | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/cole-outpitches-nola-yankees-win-4-2-as-phils-17880823.php | 2023-04-05 20:33:27 | 0 | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/cole-outpitches-nola-yankees-win-4-2-as-phils-17880823.php |
Focused on Ventilator Management and K9 Emergency Care, the Courses Build Confidence for Professionals Advancing Their Careers
RADNOR, Pa., Feb. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IA MED, part of KnowFully Learning Group's Healthcare Education Direct division, today announced two new online continuing education unit (CEU) courses designed for law enforcement, military, search and rescue, and emergency care professionals who want to advance their careers and optimize patient outcomes. One course teaches foundational ventilator concepts, while the other details how to administer emergency medical care to operational K9s.
Basic Ventilator Management, an all-online and self-paced continuing education course, covers lung dynamics, the pathophysiology of ventilator settings and modes, and troubleshooting alarms. It is designed to help students better understand the mechanics of a life-saving ventilator and the why behind managing critical care patients.
"EMS providers are typically only taught the very basics when it comes to operating a ventilator, so they don't always understand what's happening or how to make adjustments when they're treating a patient in the field," said Amy Burmeister, executive vice president of Healthcare Education Direct for KnowFully Learning Group. "This course fills a gap and makes the information accessible so the learner can provide the best possible care for their patients."
The course is designed for students of all levels, serving as a deeper dive into basic ventilator concepts and building confidence for professionals working in the field. The instructor runs through a variety of real-world scenarios using the most frequently used ventilators.
K9 Emergency Care is the first course specifically designed for individuals who work closely with operational K9s, which includes EMTs, paramedics, search and rescue teams, law enforcement, K9 handlers, and firefighters. Operational K9s are an elite subset of working dogs trained to serve in high-threat or tactical environments that regularly put them in the way of life-threatening harm.
"Emergency professionals who work alongside dogs understand that they are integral members of the team whose value is immeasurable. They are our partners," said Burmeister. "We're thrilled to equip our learners with the knowledge they need in the event of accident, to take care of their animals in the same way they would a person."
The course covers basic and advanced emergency care for operational K9s, including K9 anatomy, performing assessments, possible emergencies, treatment guidelines specific to K9s, and more. Students will be able to comfortably care for or assess an operational K9 in distress at the end of the five-module, 8-hour online course. IA MED also offers an in-person, on-site option for agencies located anywhere in the U.S., where the same content and skills training will be presented.
Basic Ventilator Management is worth 2.5 CEU credits and K9 Emergency Care is worth 8 CEU credits. Visit www.iamed.com to learn more about these new offerings.
About IA MED
Founded in 2011, IA MED is an EMS education company that provides instruction and educational materials for EMS professional development through specialized courses and certifications, helping its students launch careers as flight paramedics, critical care paramedics and certified flight nurses across the United States and internationally. Leveraging its proprietary instructional design process called Reskue, IA MED creates curriculums that are not only accurate, simple and practical, but also intuitive, beautiful and inspiring. For more information, please visit iamed.com
About KnowFully
KnowFully Learning Group provides continuing professional education, exam preparation courses and education resources to the accounting, finance and healthcare sectors. KnowFully's suite of learning solutions helps learners become credentialed, satisfy required credit hours to maintain credentials, and stay informed on the latest trends and critical changes in their industries over the course of their careers. The company provides exam preparation and continuing education for accounting, finance, and tax professionals under the Surgent Accounting & Financial Education brand. KnowFully's healthcare education brands include CME Outfitters, CE Concepts, PharmCon, The Rx Consultant, ChiroCredit, IA MED, EMT & Fire Training Inc., Psychotherapy.net and American Fitness Professionals & Associates. For more information, please visit KnowFully.com.
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SOURCE IA MED | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2023/02/02/ia-med-presents-two-new-specialty-ceu-courses-first-responders/ | 2023-02-02 20:34:49 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2023/02/02/ia-med-presents-two-new-specialty-ceu-courses-first-responders/ |
DAVIS, Calif. (KTXL) — Two men are dead and a woman is in critical condition after three separate stabbing attacks that occurred in the late hours across several days in Davis, California.
Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel described the attacks as “brutal and violent” and that they do not have the characteristics of an attack that would occur during the course of a robbery or a similar crime.
Local law enforcement says that it has received similar descriptions of the suspects in at least two of the attacks but that they are not able to “positively link the three crimes,” and federal authorities have now joined the investigation.
“These attacks were violent and brazen … we ask that the public be vigilant and completely aware of your surroundings,” Pytel said at a news conference, adding that people should move about the city in groups at least until there is an arrest in the case.
Below is what officials have shared so far about the attacks.
Stabbing at Central Park
On the morning of Thursday, April 27, Davis Police said they responded to a call of an individual found unresponsive in Central Park.
Emergency personnel found a man with “multiple stab wounds” and declared the man deceased.
Chief Pytel said that there were no witnesses at this crime, nor is there any video surveillance available.
The Yolo County Coroner identified the victim as David Henry Breaux, 50, known locally as the “Compassion Guy,” who frequented the area for at least the last decade.
Breaux was instrumental in the installation of the Compassion Bench in 2013, and community members have contributed to a growing memorial at the site.
Second stabbing happened at Sycamore Park
Sunday morning, Davis Police advised about a call made the night of April 29 regarding a disturbance in Sycamore Park, located about 1.5 miles northwest of Central Park.
A second man was found dead with multiple stab wounds, and local officials identified the victim as Karim Abou Najim, 20, a student at UC Davis.
Chief Pytel said that there was a single witness and that this person “exchanged some words” with the suspect before he ran away.
The day after the attack, the community held a vigil for the first two victims.
Third stabbing near an electrical complex and railroad
Early morning Tuesday, Davis Police informed the public about a stabbing that occurred late in the night of May 1 near 2nd St. and L St., an area about a half mile east of Central Park, near an electrical complex and a railroad.
The area is the site of a community of unhoused people who have lived there for some time.
Chief Pytel said several 911 calls were made, including from the victim, a woman who told emergency officials that the suspect “stabbed her more than one time through the tent” she was in.
The woman was taken to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she underwent surgery and currently remains in critical condition.
Pytel added that the suspect in this attack “interacted” with a group of people beforehand, with witnesses saying that he was “ducking behind trees” before leaving.
The suspect later came back and attacked the woman until she started yelling, Pytel said.
What we know about the suspects
Davis Police say they do not have a suspect description for the first attack and that the suspect description for the second and third attacks is similar.
However, police have repeated that they cannot positively link the three crimes.
In the second stabbing, police said the suspect is a man with light skin, long and curly hair, possibly Hispanic, measuring between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall. He is believed to be between 19 and 23 years old.
The suspect was wearing a white hat, a light-colored T-shirt with a button-up shirt over it, and was riding a men’s bike with straight handlebars.
After the second attack, a person of interest who matched the suspect description was detained 5 blocks away from the crime scene, police said.
This person was detained for an outstanding warrant from Placer County for public intoxication and resisting arrest, police said.
Pytel said that officials are investigating if this person is connected to the attacks.
In the third stabbing, police said the suspect is a man with curly hair, measuring between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall. He has a thin build and was last seen wearing a black or blue sweatshirt, black Adidas pants with white stripes, black shoes and carrying a brown backpack.
Police are piecing together the descriptions that they do have in order to complete a sketch of the suspect in the second and third attacks, and this sketch will be made public, Pytel said. | https://www.ksn.com/news/crime/brutal-and-violent-stabbings-shake-california-college-town-as-police-probe-possible-connection/ | 2023-05-02 22:59:24 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/news/crime/brutal-and-violent-stabbings-shake-california-college-town-as-police-probe-possible-connection/ |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana can now enforce its ban on almost all abortions under a judge’s order issued Friday amid a flurry of court challenges to state “trigger” laws crafted to take effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The decision came the same day President Joe Biden issued an executive order to protect access to abortion in states where it is still legal and mitigate the potential penalties women seeking the procedure may face after the high court’s ruling on June 24.
Days after the Supreme Court decision, Louisiana District Judge Robin Giarrusso issued a temporary restraining order banning enforcement of the state legislation in response to a lawsuit filed by a north Louisiana abortion clinic and others.
State District Judge Ethel Julien said Friday that she did not have the authority to extend the restraining order because she had concluded the suit should not have been filed in her court. She said the suit’s claims that provisions in the law are unconstitutionally vague and inconsistent are matters involving legislation, and therefore should be heard in state court in the capital, Baton Rouge.
The ruling was a victory for Attorney General Jeff Landry and lawyers for the state, who argued that the lawsuit had been improperly filed in New Orleans.
Attorneys for the law’s challengers did not detail their next step, but said they would continue to press the case in Baton Rouge. “This was a decision on a technicality that had nothing to do with the merits of our case, which were not discussed or considered by the parties or the court today,” said lead attorney Joanna Wright. “This fight is far from over.”
Immediately after Julien ruled, Amy Irvin, a spokeswoman for abortion clinics in New Orleans and Baton Rouge said no procedures or counseling were scheduled at either in the coming days. However, she added that the decision doesn’t mean the clinics will shut down. She said clinic operators would await action at the state court in Baton Rouge before deciding their next action.
The administrator of the Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, told The Associated Press that clinic staff were canceling all abortion appointments scheduled for Saturday. Kathaleen Pittman said no procedures or consultations had been scheduled for Friday. She said the clinic would continue to schedule appointments for women to receive ultrasounds and counseling next week.
“It’s upsetting. It’s very difficult. It’s a very difficult day indeed,” Pittman said.
At the courthouse, Landry cautioned clinics and doctors against providing abortions following Julien’s ruling. “If they continue to operate, they do so under their own risk,” Landry said.
About 60 protesters gathered outside the courthouse Friday waving signs that read, “Abortion is healthcare” and “Do you want women to die?” The demonstrators, who want to keep the state’s abortion clinics open, criticized Landry, who has been a staunch defender of efforts to outlaw abortion across the state.
Abortion rights advocates in numerous states have filed court challenges to laws restricting the procedure. In Mississippi, home of the case that led to the Supreme Court decision, attorneys for the state’s sole abortion clinic filed a petition on Thursday asking the state’s highest court to temporarily block a new law that bans most abortions. The attorneys made the request on the day the law took effect and two days after a Mississippi judge rejected the same request.
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The story has been edited to clarify that Julien did not lift the order, per se, but said she had no authority to extend it after determining the case didn’t belong in her court.
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Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this report. | https://pix11.com/news/national-news/ap-national/louisiana-abortion-ban-allowed-to-proceed-judge-lifts-stay/ | 2022-07-08 22:02:33 | 0 | https://pix11.com/news/national-news/ap-national/louisiana-abortion-ban-allowed-to-proceed-judge-lifts-stay/ |
BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Lubricant Container Recycling Coalition (NLCRC) is launching an industry-first collaborative recycling pilot program that focuses on consumer plastic packaging for engine oil and other petroleum-based products.
The NLCRC, comprised of members Castrol, Valvoline, Pennzoil - Quaker State, Graham Packaging, Plastipak Packaging, Berry Global, Chevron, and the Petroleum Packaging Council, is an industry-led technical coalition focused on developing a national market-sustaining program that drives the recovery and recycling of plastic packaging used to transport lubricants and related products for commercial and consumer use.
The recycling pilot is a one-year project involving over 40 locations in Atlanta, including retail stores and auto care centers, instant oil change locations, and several commercial facilities. The pilot aims to assess and measure the economic and market drivers for post-consumer recovery and recycling, better understand consumer waste disposal behaviors, and define parameters for model development and future scalability. Project partners include retail companies, commercial entities, Safety-Kleen, and Nexus Circular.
"One of the biggest waste management challenges facing the US is our ability to collect, sort, and process plastic packaging and return it to productive use. For contaminated packaging from petroleum and related materials, this isn't really happening. The pilot focuses on the heart of the problem – collection -- to find the most efficient ways to aggregate and transport the materials to processors that want them, creating value in a waste material that doesn't exist today." ~ Tristan Steichen, Director of NLCRC
Addressing a challenge as complex as this is not feasible for most individual companies, particularly given the complexities of distribution, supply chains, and competition. Transforming an industry requires collaboration with all stakeholders focusing on a common goal. The NLCRC seeks to represent a single voice of the industry. We aim to make an impact on the communities where our products are disposed while delivering meaningful results to the industry, its customers, and its member companies by reducing environmental and social risk and improving sustainability performance.
The National Lubricant Container Recycling Coalition or "NLCRC" is an industry-led technical coalition established in 2021 by a committed consortium of lubricant manufacturers and associated plastic packaging manufacturers, focused on establishing solutions for post-consumer recovery and recycling of plastic lubricant containers.
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SOURCE NLCRC | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/08/23/national-lubricant-container-recycling-coalition-announces-atlanta-lubricant-container-recycling-pilot/ | 2022-08-23 10:49:45 | 0 | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/08/23/national-lubricant-container-recycling-coalition-announces-atlanta-lubricant-container-recycling-pilot/ |
Police: Fla. retiree fatally shoots 81-year-old neighbors after laundry room dispute
STUART, Fla. (WPBF) – Authorities said tensions between elderly residents in Stuart, Florida, eventually led to fatal gunfire.
It all started over an open laundry room door, according to the arrest affidavit.
The affidavit says 75-year-old Hugh Hootman told detectives his downstairs neighbor, 81-year-old Henry Wallace, recently yelled at Hootman’s wife for leaving the shared laundry room door open, and when he saw Wallace at the mailbox Saturday, Hootman told Wallace he needed to apologize.
Hootman told detectives that when Wallace tried to push past him without apologizing, he lost his temper, pulled out his gun and shot Wallace several times.
When Henry Wallace’s wife, Ginger Wallace, ran outside yelling, Hootman said he shot her twice, according to police.
Witness Kathy Barger said she was outside when she heard Ginger Wallace scream as she opened her door and realized her husband had been shot.
“I heard her, yell, ‘Oh, no, no,’” Barger said. “And then she screamed and then she was silent. That’ll stay with me all my days.”
Next-door neighbor Raymond Boze said he heard the shots and opened the door to see a shocked mailman calling 911.
Deputies said Hootman went upstairs to tell his wife, “Call the police, I just shot Henry and Ginger.”
Hootman’s wife told a 911 dispatcher: “My husband just shot two people and I believe he killed them.”
Hootman’s wife added: “The neighbor downstairs just the other day shouted at me and swore at me regarding the washer and dryer.”
The SWAT team arrived and took Hugh Hootman into custody.
According to detectives, Hootman said: “So sorry. I wish I could take it back.”
Copyright 2022 WPBF via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/12/06/police-fla-retiree-fatally-shoots-81-year-old-neighbors-after-laundry-room-dispute/ | 2022-12-08 03:48:14 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/12/06/police-fla-retiree-fatally-shoots-81-year-old-neighbors-after-laundry-room-dispute/ |
- Clinically predictive CFHBE model suggests SION-638 restores ΔF508-CFTR maturation, trafficking, and
function to wild-type levels when combined with mechanistically complementary agents -
- Data presented at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference –
BOSTON, Mass., Nov. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sionna Therapeutics, a life sciences company dedicated to developing highly effective and differentiated treatments for cystic fibrosis (CF), today announced the presentation of preclinical data that demonstrate the restoration of wild-type function of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) impaired by ΔF508 by stabilizing CFTR's first nucleotide binding domain (NBD1) with SION-638, the company's first-in-class small molecule NBD1 corrector, combined with mechanistically complementary agents. The data are being presented at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference (NACFC) 2022 being held November 3-5 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.
"We know that full CFTR correction may require NBD1 stabilization, but for decades researchers have concluded that NBD1, as a target, is undruggable," said Greg Hurlbut, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Senior Vice President, Discovery Research of Sionna. "Now we have shown that our novel small molecules successfully bind to this important target in CF, potentially enabling full restoration of CFTR function in people with the ΔF508 mutation. We are encouraged by the data showing that NBD1 stabilization with SION-638 in combination with other complementary modulators led to wild-type correction of CFTR in the predictive CFHBE model."
There are over 100,000 people living with CF around the world. It is a serious, potentially fatal genetic disease caused by a mutation in the CFTR gene that leads to a buildup of mucus in the lungs and airways, impaired pancreatic function and other organ dysfunction. It is estimated that approximately 90 percent of people living with CF have the genetic mutation ΔF508 that causes NBD1 destabilization and leads to impaired folding, trafficking, half-life, and function of CFTR.
Sionna researchers used functional and biochemical assays to evaluate the activity of Sionna's first NBD1 targeted program, SION-638, alone and in combination with Sionna's fourth intracellular loop (ICL4)- and first transmembrane domain (TMD1)-directed correctors, and standard-of-care CFTR modulators. Key findings include:
- SION-638 binds to the NBD1 of CFTR.
Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) was used to evaluate SION-638 binding to human wild-type NBD1
and two ΔF508-NBD1 isoforms. SION-638 demonstrated 1:1 binding across all three NBD1 isoforms
with KD values ranging from 29nM - 48nM.
- SION-638 stabilizes the NBD1 of CFTR.
Differential Static Light Scattering (DSLS) was used to assess the ability of SION-638 to stabilize
NBD1. SION-638 increased ΔF508-NBD1 stability by up to 10.4°C. Standard-of-care CFTR modulators
had no meaningful impact on NBD1 stability.
- SION-638 improves ΔF508-CFTR maturation and trafficking.
A ΔF508-CFTR-horseradish peroxidase (HRP) trafficking assay was used to quantitate cell surface
CFTR levels. SION-638 increased cell surface ΔF508-CFTR to wild-type levels when combined with
complementary modulators.
- SION-638 increases ΔF508-CFTR function.
CFTR-dependent chloride transport was measured in ΔF508 homozygous human bronchial epithelial
cells (CFHBE) treated with SION-638 plus standard-of-care CFTR modulators. CFTR channel activity
achieved wild-type levels when SION-638 was added.
"Currently available modulators increase the function of CFTR, providing eligible patients with clinical benefits, but do not enable most people with CF to achieve normal levels of CFTR function," said Mike Cloonan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sionna Therapeutics. "We believe NBD1 is essential to normalize the function of CFTR and the production of healthy, freely flowing mucus in the airways, digestive system, and other organs. These data suggest that our NBD1 stabilizers enable multiple potential paths to full restoration of CFTR function for most people with CF, which is unprecedented. We are moving forward aggressively with our development programs and look forward to submitting an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for our first NBD1 corrector, SION-638, and initiating a Phase 1 study in the first half of 2023."
About Sionna Therapeutics
Sionna Therapeutics is a life sciences company dedicated to developing highly effective and differentiated treatments for cystic fibrosis (CF) by normalizing the function of CFTR, the key protein associated with disease progression in CF. Building on over a decade of extensive research on the genetic mutations associated with CF and founded in 2019, Sionna is advancing a pipeline of small molecules engineered to correct the protein defects caused by ΔF508, the most common mutation that affects the CFTR protein. The company has a first-in-class portfolio of programs targeting correction of NBD1, the key and unique mechanism to enable full restoration of ΔF508-CFTR function, and complementary programs targeting ICL4 and TMD1. Sionna's pipeline has the potential to deliver best-in-class efficacy and reach previously unachievable levels of long-term benefit for people with CF. For information about Sionna visit https://www.sionnatx.com/.
Media Contact
Adam Daley
Berry & Company Public Relations
212.253.8881
adaley@berrypr.com
Investor Contact
ir@sionnatx.com
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SOURCE Sionna Therapeutics | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2022/11/03/sionna-therapeutics-presents-preclinical-data-demonstrating-restoration-f508-cftr-by-stabilizing-nbd1-with-sion-638-cystic-fibrosis/ | 2022-11-03 16:50:54 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2022/11/03/sionna-therapeutics-presents-preclinical-data-demonstrating-restoration-f508-cftr-by-stabilizing-nbd1-with-sion-638-cystic-fibrosis/ |
Closing arguments next in trial of 2 men in Whitmer kidnapping plot
(AP) - Jurors will hear closing arguments Monday in the retrial of two men charged with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.
Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. declined to testify Friday as defense lawyers rested their case in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The government has portrayed Fox and Croft as leaders of a wild plan to snatch Whitmer at her vacation home in Elk Rapids, Michigan, and trigger chaos across the U.S.
Fox, Croft and their allies were furious about COVID-19 restrictions and generally disgusted by government, prosecutors say.
Defense lawyers, however, say Fox and Croft were a bumbling, foul-mouthed, marijuana-smoking pair exercising free speech and incapable of leading anything as extraordinary as an abduction of a public official. They say FBI agents and informants fed their outrage and pulled them into their web.
“It has FBI fingerprints all over it,” Christopher Gibbons said.
The jury heard secretly recorded conversations and read violent social media posts, some written before the FBI got involved. Two undercover agents and an informant testified for hours, explaining how the men trained in Wisconsin and Michigan and visited Elk Rapids to see Whitmer’s home.
Other witnesses included Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, who pleaded guilty and insisted the group was not entrapped.
Fox and Croft are on trial for a second time after a jury in April couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict but acquitted two other men.
Croft, 46, is from Bear, Delaware. Fox, 39, was living in the basement of a vacuum shop in the Grand Rapids area.
Whitmer, a Democrat, has blamed then-President Donald Trump for stoking mistrust and fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn hate groups and right-wing extremists like those charged in the plot.
She said Sunday that she hasn’t been following the retrial, but that she remains concerned about “violent rhetoric in this country.”
“This is a dangerous trend that is happening. We cannot let it become normalized and I do hope that anyone that’s out there plotting to hurt their fellow Americans is held accountable,” Whitmer said at the Michigan Democratic Party’s convention in Lansing.
Trump recently called the kidnapping plan a “fake deal.”
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Find the AP’s full coverage of the kidnapping plot trial: https://apnews.com/hub/whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial
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Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kait8.com/2022/08/22/closing-arguments-next-trial-2-men-whitmer-kidnapping-plot/ | 2022-08-22 10:47:23 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/2022/08/22/closing-arguments-next-trial-2-men-whitmer-kidnapping-plot/ |
Fulfilling Corporate Social Responsibilities and Injecting Digital Intelligence into Sustainable Development
SHENZHEN, China, June 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the mobile internet, today has released its 2021 sustainability report across the globe.
The report shows that ZTE, following the strategic positioning of "driver of the digital economy", proactively fulfilled its corporate social responsibilities in 2021. With the active implement of sustainable development in areas, such as operational governance, compliance management, talent development, innovation empowerment, openness and transparency, green development, and community contribution, the company creates shared value for stakeholders and society.
ZTE has annually released its sustainability reports for 14 consecutive years since 2009.
Keeping continuous independent innovation and industrial digital intelligence development, and fulfilling corporate social responsibilities
The uncertainties brought by the complex global situation, the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, population aging, and ecological degradation in 2021 are imposing greater challenges to sustainable development. In this process, digital and intelligent transformation based on new information technologies is playing an irreplaceable role, promoting the development of telecommuting, online collaboration, distance learning, telemedicine, smart factories, unmanned mining, and smart ports.
"Digital and intelligent transformation has equipped our society with the 'immunity' to uncertainties, guaranteeing economic growth and sustainable development", said Xu Ziyang, President of ZTE Corporation. "As a major player and contributor dedicated to the ICT industry for 37 years, ZTE keeps making innovations and breakthroughs, and is always willing to embrace changes. In this way, the company continuously expands its capabilities and business in terms of digital and intelligent technologies, and brings about infinite possibilities for digital and intelligent applications."
According to the report, in order to follow the strategic positioning of "driver of the digital economy", ZTE always takes technological innovation as the top driving force of its development and adheres to building stronger core competence. The company has established several state-of-the-art global R&D centers. To further foster innovation, ZTE keeps investing in core areas such as 5G wireless technology, core networks, transport networks, access networks, and chipsets, with the R&D investment accounting for over 10% of the company's revenue for years.
By December 31, 2021, ZTE had filed more than 84,000 global patent applications, with over 42,000 granted, among which the number of chipset patent applications and granted chipset patents reached 4,572 and 1,990 respectively. According to a report published in November 2021 by IPLytics, a leading patent data company, ZTE ranked fourth in the world in the number of 5G Standards-Essential Patents (SEP) declarations disclosed to the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI).
In the era of digital economy full of business uncertainties, ZTE is always committed to achieving high-quality growth together with the communications industry, verticals, and society by means of efficient collaboration in an open and transparent manner. By participating in the co-construction of a digital and intelligent ecosystem, ZTE strives to accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of the whole society.
By engaging deeper into verticals, ZTE provides scenario-based solutions that truly create value for verticals through modular components. The company has established partnerships with over 500 global partners, with whom we have explored nearly 100 innovative 5G application scenarios for factories in Thailand, ports in Belgium, farms in Austria, as well as industry, transportation, power, environmental protection, and many other verticals in China.
Reinforcing internal management and pursuing high-quality growth
The year 2021 was crucial for the growth phase defined in ZTE's three-phase strategy. ZTE adhered to technological leadership and achieved high-quality growth, laying a solid foundation for its steady stride into the expansion phase and toward its goal of becoming a world's top 500 company.
Xie Junshi, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at ZTE, said, "Under these circumstances, ZTE has maintained stable operations, as we are committed to high-quality sustainable growth. We make continuous efforts to consolidate our three cornerstones, namely, compliance, internal control, and talent."
Upholding compliance and integrity in operations, ZTE has incorporated compliance requirements into the company's business processes, thereby building a best-in-class compliance management system that is aligned with the company's business practices. In this way, the company strives to achieve sustainable development together with its customers, suppliers, and other business partners around the world.
As for internal control and corporate governance, by using digital tools, ZTE has established a relatively complete system for risk management and internal control, and constantly improved the Business Continuity Management (BCM) system. With these efforts, the company has effectively enhanced operational continuity, improved turnover efficiency, and reduced operational risks.
Regarding talent development, ZTE keeps attracting and motivating core talent. For example, since its launch in 2014, the Blue Sword Program has been cultivating future leaders for the company, as evidenced by the first trainees who have been playing leading roles in the company. In 2021, ZTE stepped up efforts in campus recruitment, offering over 6,000 positions in fields like R&D, marketing, operation support, and supply chain to excellent graduates worldwide.
Securing customers' trust with openness and transparency and creating a win-win cooperation ecology
ZTE is committed to providing customers with secure and trustworthy products and services, and ensuring the security of communications network equipment, to promote digital transformation.
In 2021, ZTE obtained the certification of ISO 9001, TL 9000, QC 080000, ESD, ISO 45001, ISO 14001, and ISO 22301 management systems, covering the company's major R&D centers and manufacturing bases and 62 main product categories. In the same year, ZTE shortened its Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) by 29.5% compared with that in 2020. Moreover, the company offered remote customer support and spare parts services in 65 countries, with the customer satisfaction rate exceeding 99%.
For win-win partnership, ZTE has updated the Supplier CSR Agreement and Supplier CSR Code of Conduct to guarantee the responsible and sustainable development of its partners across the value chain. In addition, ZTE has released the Conflict Minerals Report based on the due diligence and assessment of 255 suppliers. In the future, due diligence and assessment on conflict minerals will cover all of its suppliers.
Taking green development into practice and leading the digital way to carbon neutrality
Facing the challenges brought by low-carbon transformation, ZTE paves a green path to digital economy by promoting green operations, green supply chain, and green digital infrastructure, and empowering the green development of industries, thereby facilitating the sustainable development of operators and verticals. Working with its partners, ZTE continues to explore innovative and green 5G applications with over 60 exemplary projects delivered worldwide, with the goal to realize carbon peak carbon neutrality ahead of 2030 and before 2060, respectively.
In 2021, ZTE started the company-level dual-carbon strategic project and completed the establishment and capability improvement of the dual-carbon strategic team, and more than 170 team members participated in the training in the ISO 14064 and Science-Based Targets initiative.
ZTE maintained CDP B rating for actions on climate change and supplier engagement. According to the data disclosed on CDP website, more than 40 leading suppliers in ZTE's supply chain established decarbonization strategies.
As for office operations, ZTE has launched nine energy-saving projects in China, saving 21.56 million kWh of electricity annually. ZTE reduced the use of packaging materials by 689.1 tons through the design of packaging weight reduction.
By 2021, ZTE had established 140 recycling sites worldwide. In China, the company optimized 4 centralized waste recycling and processing platforms and conducted in-depth cooperation with more than 10 leading environmental protection institutions in the industry, reaching the overall recycling rate of 97%. Through long-term in-depth cooperation with more than 150 environmental protection institutions overseas, ZTE ensured that the recycling business met the local environmental protection requirements of different countries, and achieved the overall recycling rate of 98%.
ZTE's PowerMaster hybrid power solution won the award of 2021 Technological Innovation Solution for Carbon Peak and Neutrality and High-Quality Development by China Energy News.
Adhering to tech for social good, and actively contributing to global communities
While pursuing business development, ZTE also takes an active part in public welfare activities. Centering on recipients and their real needs, ZTE focuses on educational development, medical assistance, vulnerable population assistance, rural vitalization, and environmental protection, and ensures that all public welfare projects effectively respond to recipients' needs and achieve expected social benefits. ZTE constantly fulfills its CSR through donations and technological empowerment.
In 2021, ZTE Foundation donated CNY 13.17 million and organized 220 public welfare activities, benefiting a total of 12,000 people, and also launched a brand-new volunteer service system called "ZTE Volunteer" and set up 15 volunteer branches worldwide with over 5,600 volunteers by far, representing a year-on-year growth of 76% in terms of the number of volunteers.
In the future, ZTE will continuously conduct digital operations, build a resilient organization, and contribute to the implementation of the dual-carbon strategy for sustainable growth. As a faithful driver of the digital economy, the company is committed to fulfilling its CSRs and working with employees and partners for win-win success in harmony with the environment, to build a promising future and explore more opportunities amid the rising tide of digitalization.
For the full version of ZTE 2021 Sustainability Report, please download via the link below.
Media Contacts:
Margaret Ma
ZTE Corporation
Tel: +86 755 26775189
Email: ma.gaili@zte.com.cn
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SOURCE ZTE Corporation | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/06/17/zte-releases-2021-sustainability-report/ | 2022-06-17 05:42:21 | 0 | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/06/17/zte-releases-2021-sustainability-report/ |
Welcomes Mahindhann Krishnapillai as Head of AITX Rail Europe
ST. LOUIS, May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AITX, a leading provider of railcar services across freight transportation markets predominately in North America, today announced the launch of its European railcar platform. This new solution offers European manufacturers, operating lessors, and freight shippers access to a broad and growing set of resources, expertise, and partnerships across fleet management, leasing solutions, regulatory management, and maintenance operations. The Company will look to proactively expand its portfolio and partnerships centered around and focused on customer needs within the European railcar market.
With this launch, AITX welcomes Mahindhann Krishnapillai as Head of AITX Rail Europe. Based in Paris, France, Mr. Krishnapillai opens AITX's continental headquarters and will grow the capabilities to provide the level of service and solutions customers have grown to expect from AITX.
Mr. Krishnapillai is a European rail industry expert with over fifteen years focused operational and technical experience working across several of Europe's rail leasing and repair leaders. Most recently, at VTG France, Mr. Krishnapillai was Operations Director overseeing their fleet management and maintenance business for over 100 European freight shipping customers. Prior to that, he was Technical Director at CIT's full-service leasing platform, NACCO, where he grew revenue across 15,000 railcars, spanning sales, maintenance, ECM, and Safety. Earlier in his career, Mr. Krishnapillai demonstrated a steady ramp of increased responsibility and technical prowess as Head of Wagons Management & Maintenance at DB CARGO EuroCargoRail and several roles across engineering functions. He holds an Engineering Degree in Industrial Technology from Ecole Supérieure d'Ingénieurs Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée (ESIPE) and a technical degree from University of Paris XIII.
Bolstering the AITX Rail Europe team, industry veteran, Dan DiStefano, is supporting the Europe platform as Operating Partner. Mr. DiStefano was President at CIT's NACCO for over five years overseeing all rail operations and growth, where he and Mr. Krishnapillai worked together. Most recently Mr. DiStefano has been EVP International Rail for ITE Management.
"With access to capital and in-depth rail industry expertise, we are excited to partner with European shippers to help them move goods and drive their business," said Texas Howard, President, AITX.
"We see Mahindhann as the perfect leader to help us achieve our goals in Europe. Not only does he have a depth of experience and established relationships in the European rail market, his commitment to operations, technical excellence, and safety is an immediate match to our core values. We are happy to welcome Mahindhann to AITX."
About AITX:
AITX is a leading service provider with solutions across leasing, repair, and railcar data. AITX and its affiliates provide shipping customers across North America and Europe a broad and diverse railcar lease fleet of 60,000 plus railcars and an active new build program. AITX's best-in-class twenty railcar repair facilities provide capabilities across full-service repair, mobile operations, onsite partnerships, and railcar storage. For more information, please visit www.aitx.com.
Contacts:
AITX
Diana Gould
Director, Legal and Corporate Compliance
Phone: 636-940-6092
Email: dgould@aitx.com
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SOURCE AITX | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/05/02/aitx-enters-new-era-growth-launches-european-railcar-services-platform/ | 2023-05-02 11:55:32 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/05/02/aitx-enters-new-era-growth-launches-european-railcar-services-platform/ |
It was a normal day in January when Jennifer DeStefano got a horrifying call from an unknown number.
"I hear my daughter's voice and she's crying and saying, like, 'Mom, mom, I messed up.'" DeStefano said.
The 15-year-old was out of town practicing for a ski race, so DeStefano said she immediately thought her daughter was injured on the mountain.
However, seconds later, Defano said a man got on the line and told her that he had her daughter.
At the time of the call, DeStefano had just arrived at a dance studio where her other daughter was wrapping up practice.
"I started screaming for help," she said.
One of the moms called 911 while DeStefano kept the man on the line. While her other daughter appeared frozen, not knowing what was going on, another mom got the girl's phone and tried to contact DeStefano's husband, who was on the ski trip with their daughter.
"At that point, 911 had started to tip us off that there's an AI (artificial intelligence) scam going on where they can get a small soundbite of someone's voice and they can replicate it completely," DeStefano said.
While DeStefano was still unsure whether this was a legitimate threat or a scam, the man demanded $1 million. She said she requested to speak with her daughter, who she thought she could still hear in the background, but the man denied her.
DeStefano told the man she couldn't get him $1 million. He then told her he would take $50,000, but he wouldn't accept a wire transfer.
DeStefano said he was going to pick her up in a white van so she could give him the cash. If she didn't agree to his demands, DeStefano said, the man told her he was going to kill her and her daughter.
SEE MORE: Musk, tech leaders call for pause on 'out-of-control' AI race
As she became concerned about her own physical safety, one of the other moms at the dance studio was able to get DeStefano's husband on the phone. He told her that their daughter was safe.
"I couldn't believe it because her voice was so real on the phone," DeStefano said.
The daughter called DeStefano to tell her she was safe.
"And that's when I got angry at these guys and called them out for it, and they kept vehemently denying that it was a scam and [said] that they really had her and I hung up on them," DeStefano said.
The entire call lasted under four minutes.
DeStefano alerted the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona, but she said officials told her little could be done because no money was ever transferred.
Despite this being a scam, the fear was very real for DeStefano and her family. She said her younger daughter, who was in the dance studio and witnessed the call, is more traumatized than her older daughter. DeStefano noted an instance when her younger daughter didn't want to get out of their car on a recent trip because she was scared of a group of bikers at a gas station.
"It was the middle of the day, it was noon, and she was just petrified," she said.
To this day, DeStefano doesn't know how the scammers could have gotten a snippet of her daughter's voice for the scam. She says her daughter's social media accounts, which are private, only feature pictures.
In any event, DeStefano is using this incident as a learning lesson. The family now has a code word they can refer to if there is ever any question about who is on the other line of a call. Her advice to others who may find themselves in a similar situation is to find other people to help while keeping the caller on the line.
"If I didn't have those other moms around me, and I tried to do this solo, I would not have come to the same conclusion in such a short period of time," she said. | https://www.kxlf.com/mother-falsely-told-her-daughter-was-kidnapped-in-ai-scam | 2023-04-18 22:34:57 | 0 | https://www.kxlf.com/mother-falsely-told-her-daughter-was-kidnapped-in-ai-scam |
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A woman whose teenage son died by suicide in 2017 urged New Hampshire lawmakers Tuesday to pass legislation allowing kindergarten through 12th-grade students excused absences from school to deal with mental and behavioral health issues.
Martha Dickey told the state House Education Committee that the bill would complement two other proposals she championed: a law passed last year adding the telephone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to the back of every student ID card and a 2019 law that requires schools to develop policies and offer staff training on suicide prevention. The former was named the Jason Dickey Suicide Prevention Act in honor of her son, who died at age 19.
Dickey said the new proposal would help reduce the stigma of mental illness and help raise awareness that such conditions often interfere with a child's education.
“A mental health day is not intended for a student to avoid classes or assignments, rather an approved mental health absence can help open the door for schools to assist struggling students with overall mental health care," she said.
Twelve other states have similar laws and others are considering it, said Emma Sevigny of New Futures, a health advocacy group.
“Removing this barrier of having an absence on their report card removes the stigma of having mental illness and also improves the ability for students to take that time without fear of negative consequences to their grades and other aspects of their education,” said Sevigny, the organization’s policy coordinator for children’s behavioral health.
No one at the public hearing spoke against the bill, which has both Republicans and Democrats as sponsors. That bipartisan support bodes well at a time when the 400-member House is nearly evenly split between the two parties. | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/new-hampshire-considers-mental-health-days-for-17769824.php | 2023-02-07 21:25:53 | 0 | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/new-hampshire-considers-mental-health-days-for-17769824.php |
Reba McEntire to replace Blake Shelton on ‘The Voice’
(CNN) – “The Voice” torch is being passed from one country legend to another.
Reba McEntire will replace Blake Shelton as coach in the next season of NBC’s singing competition.
Shelton has been a coach since the first season in 2011, and McEntire was an advisor to his team that season.
She’s currently a “mega mentor” on season 23, lending advice to competing artists.
Shelton announced in October this will be his last season.
“I’ve been wrestling with this for a while, and I’ve decided that it’s time for me to step away from The Voice after Season 23,” Shelton said in a statement announcing his departure. “This show has changed my life in every way for the better, and it will always feel like home to me.
McEntire makes her debut as a full-time coach in the fall, alongside John Legend, Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani.
Copyright 2023 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.kfyrtv.com/2023/05/16/reba-mcentire-replace-blake-shelton-voice/ | 2023-05-16 10:37:26 | 1 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/2023/05/16/reba-mcentire-replace-blake-shelton-voice/ |
NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J., Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolution Research Group, LLC (ERG), a privately held, independent clinical development services provider focused on neuroscience has announced a collaboration with Keith Candiotti, MD, Chair of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Division of Continuing Medical Education, to provide a first of its kind internal Continuing Medical Education program offering for their investigators, physicians, and clinicians. The development of this program was derived from ERG's Scientific Leadership team (SLT).
The SLT is comprised of internal and external industry experts across all therapeutic areas in which the organization focuses. The SLT engages in comprehensive scientific and operational discussions to collect input on potential trials presented to ERG to provide meaningful feedback to our sponsors and CRO partners. SLT meetings, which occur at least twice per week, provide a forum to leverage expertise across the organization, discuss new developments in the industry, and share ideas on ways to continuously improve the company's service offering.
Given the deep scientific expertise included on the SLT team and the level of detail discussed, this CME program was developed to maintain, develop, and increase knowledge, skills and professional performance and relationships that our investigators, physicians and clinicians use to provide services for patients, the public and their professions. Erin Tireman, Psy.D., Vice President of Clinical Development at ERG, oversees the CME program and coordinates with Dr. Candiotti and his team.
Investigator Impact
"In today's busy research environment, physician Investigators and clinicians are hard pressed to find the time to meet licensure requirements for continuing education. ERG management recognized the need and is proud to have introduced its internal CME program for all ERG clinicians" said Bernadette D'Souza, MD, ERG scientific advisor and Member of the SLT.
ERG's Chief Medical Officer, Daniel Gruener, MD, also commented, "This has been very well received, complements our internal Principal Investigator Training Program, and more importantly has provided a speaker platform for our own clinicians generating excellent presentations and high-level clinical discussions that cross therapeutic areas and processes."
For more information on ERG's SLT visit www.ergclinical.com/scientific-leadership-team
Evolution Research Group, LLC is a subsidiary of ERG Holding Company, which includes twenty owned and operated CRUs, an established network of affiliated clinical research sites, Lotus Clinical Research, LLC, a full-service CRO, and CNS Ratings, LLC. ERG conducts a wide range of simple and highly complex trials in specialized populations including those suffering from psychiatric and neurological disorders, acute and chronic pain, sleep disorders, addictions, NASH/NAFLD, metabolic and endocrinology disorders, among others, as well as in normal healthy volunteers.
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SOURCE Evolution Research Group, LLC | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2022/11/16/evolution-research-group-llc-establishes-internal-continuing-medical-education-cme-program-partners-with-university-miami-miller-school-medicine/ | 2022-11-16 18:03:10 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2022/11/16/evolution-research-group-llc-establishes-internal-continuing-medical-education-cme-program-partners-with-university-miami-miller-school-medicine/ |
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was in a physical rehab center and I needed assistance walking to and from the bathroom. On one such trip, the nursing assistant asked me, “Do you have to go number one or number two?”
My reply was, “I’m not 6 years old. I have to urinate and defecate.”
I have noticed this trend within the medical field, and I find it insulting. I’m 62 years old, and I do not appreciate being talked down to like a child. It’s humiliating enough not to be able to take care of my own basic needs.
I know my reply was as rude as the question. What would be a better way to handle being reduced to a child?
GENTLE READER: One does have to wonder about a clinic that is afraid to use clinical terms.
No doubt they thought they were being sensitive to patients’ psychological discomfort, but they would do better to stick to what they know. Miss Manners agrees that this cure -- infantilizing patients -- is worse than the disease. Had you omitted the petulant “I’m not 6 years old,” your response would have been perfectly proper in the setting.
***
DEAR MISS MANNERS: A number of my friends are getting married now -- some got engaged during the pandemic, and some of them are only now getting to have weddings that were originally scheduled for 2020.
Two of my friends, Samantha and Cameron, are marrying their respective partners on the same day. I was notified of Samantha’s wedding first, with a save-the-date, less than a week before I learned that Cameron’s long-postponed wedding would finally be held on the same day.
I’m not sure what to do. I was always taught that you have to stick with commitments, but does receiving a save-the-date constitute a commitment? Or am I committed to the wedding I knew about first, which was delayed?
I had already RSVP-ed “yes” to Cameron’s original wedding two years ago, and I know Cameron’s partner (I have not yet met Samantha’s). I am equally close to both friends, and I’m genuinely at a loss as to how to proceed. I need to decide soon.
GENTLE READER: You are right that you cannot renege after accepting an invitation, absent a very good reason -- among which Miss Manners does not count “because I got a better offer.”
But you are wrong to worry that you have already done so. Cameron is rescheduling because the original wedding did not take place, which the couple rightly believes is more than a technicality. Just as they are not yet married, you are not bound by your two-years-prior acceptance.
As for Samantha, her save-the-date was an implied commitment to you, not the other way around. You are free to choose which invitation to accept so long as you can convincingly maintain, if asked, that it was the first one received for that date.
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)
***
COPYRIGHT 2022 JUDITH MARTIN
DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106; 816-581-7500 | https://www.nj.com/advice/2022/08/miss-manners-im-62-years-old-and-i-do-not-appreciate-being-talked-down-to-like-a-child.html | 2022-08-26 00:33:15 | 1 | https://www.nj.com/advice/2022/08/miss-manners-im-62-years-old-and-i-do-not-appreciate-being-talked-down-to-like-a-child.html |
World leaders discuss high food and energy costs at the G20 summit By Emily Feng Published November 15, 2022 at 1:27 PM PST Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Listen • 3:55 World leaders are discussing high food and energy costs, boosted by Russia's war in Ukraine, at the G20 summit in Bali. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.kcbx.org/2022-11-15/world-leaders-discuss-high-food-and-energy-costs-at-the-g20-summit | 2022-11-15 22:17:53 | 0 | https://www.kcbx.org/2022-11-15/world-leaders-discuss-high-food-and-energy-costs-at-the-g20-summit |
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Logan Thompson made 37 saves, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Thursday night.
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Nicolas Roy scored for Vegas (45-21-6) in his return from an 18-game absence. Jonathan Marchessault and Michael Amadio also scored.
Thompson exited late in the third period for an undisclosed reason. Jonathan Quick played the final 6:07 of the contest and made five saves.
Milan Lucic and Nazem Kadri scored for Calgary (32-26-15). Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 shots in his 11th start in the last 12 games.
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In avenging their 7-2 home loss to the Flames last week, the Golden Knights earned their seventh win in eight games and improved to 16-3-2 in their last 21 overall. | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/thompson-makes-37-saves-as-golden-knights-beat-17857506.php | 2023-03-24 04:57:46 | 0 | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/thompson-makes-37-saves-as-golden-knights-beat-17857506.php |
--- First quarter software and product revenue up 13% year over year; 17% constant currency ---
--- Total recurring revenue up 20% year over year; 25% constant currency ---
--- Annualized recurring revenue (ARR) up 12% year over year; 16% constant currency ---
TINTON FALLS, N.J., July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- First quarter highlights include:
Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2022.
"We delivered another quarter of solid results, highlighted by double digit constant currency revenue growth," said Sanjay Mirchandani, President and CEO. "We believe customers will continue to prioritize our best in class data protection and management solutions as they embrace the cloud and hybrid IT. We are confident in our strategy."
Total revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 were $198.0 million, an increase of 8% year over year. On a year over year constant currency basis, total revenue growth would have been 13%. Total recurring revenue was $170.8 million, an increase of 20% year over year. On a year over year constant currency basis, total recurring revenue growth would have been 25%. Recurring revenue represented a record 86% of total revenue.
Annualized recurring revenue (ARR), which is the annualized value of all active Commvault recurring revenue streams at the end of the reporting period, was $594.5 million as of June 30, 2022, up 12% from June 30, 2021. On a year over year constant currency basis, ARR growth would have been 16%.
Software and products revenue was $92.4 million, an increase of 13% year over year. The year over year increase in software and products revenue was driven by a 24% increase in larger deals (deals with greater than $0.1 million in software and products revenue). On a year over year constant currency basis, software and products revenue growth would have been 17%.
Larger deal revenue represented 75% of our software and products revenue in the three months ended June 30, 2022. The number of larger deal revenue transactions was 184 deals for the three months ended June 30, 2022, compared to 185 deals for the three months ended June 30, 2021. The average dollar amount of larger deal revenue transactions was approximately $379,000, representing a 24% increase from the prior year.
Services revenue in the quarter was $105.5 million, an increase of 4% year over year. Services revenue continues to grow primarily due to the increase in Metallic software-as-a-service revenue.
On a GAAP basis, income from operations (EBIT) was $7.4 million for the first quarter compared to $15.5 million in the prior year. Non-GAAP EBIT was $40.6 million in the quarter compared to $41.0 million in the prior year.
Operating cash flow totaled $22.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 compared to $37.2 million in the prior year quarter. Total cash was $258.7 million as of June 30, 2022 compared to $267.5 million as of March 31, 2022.
During the first quarter of fiscal 2023, Commvault repurchased approximately 310,000 shares of its common stock totaling $18.9 million at an average price of approximately $61.10 per share.
A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results has been provided in Financial Statement Table IV included in this press release. An explanation of these measures is also included below under the heading "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures."
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Commvault has provided in this press release the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP income from operations margin, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share and annualized recurring revenue (ARR). This financial information has not been prepared in accordance with GAAP. Commvault uses these non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate its business and make operating decisions. In addition, Commvault believes these non-GAAP operating measures are useful to investors, when used as a supplement to GAAP financial measures, in evaluating Commvault's ongoing operational performance. Commvault believes that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends, and in comparing its financial results with other companies in Commvault's industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to the investment community. Commvault has also provided software and products, services and total revenues on a constant currency basis. Commvault analyzes revenue growth on a constant currency basis in order to provide a comparable framework for assessing how the business performed excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations.
All of these non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, which are provided in Table IV included in this press release.
Non-GAAP income from operations and non-GAAP income from operations margin. These non-GAAP financial measures exclude noncash stock-based compensation charges and additional Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) and related payroll tax expense incurred by Commvault when employees exercise in the money stock options or vest in restricted stock awards, restructuring costs, the noncash amortization of intangible assets and certain costs related to key employees of Hedvig. These expenses are further discussed in Table IV. Commvault believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful metrics for management and investors because they compare Commvault's core operating results over multiple periods. When evaluating the performance of Commvault's operating results and developing short- and long-term plans, Commvault does not consider such expenses.
Although noncash stock-based compensation and the additional FICA and related payroll tax expenses are necessary to attract and retain employees, Commvault places its primary emphasis on stockholder dilution as compared to the accounting charges related to such equity compensation plans. Commvault believes that providing non-GAAP financial measures that exclude noncash stock-based compensation expense and the additional FICA and related payroll tax expenses incurred on stock option exercises and vesting of restricted stock awards allow investors to make meaningful comparisons between Commvault's operating results and those of other companies.
There are a number of limitations related to the use of non-GAAP income from operations and non-GAAP income from operations margin. The most significant limitation is that these non-GAAP financial measures exclude certain operating costs, primarily related to noncash stock-based compensation, which is of a recurring nature. Noncash stock-based compensation has been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, a significant recurring expense in Commvault's operating results. In addition, noncash stock-based compensation is an important part of Commvault's employees' compensation and can have a significant impact on their performance. Lastly, the components that Commvault excludes in its non-GAAP financial measures may differ from the components that its peer companies exclude when they report their non-GAAP financial measures.
Due to the limitations related to the use of non-GAAP measures, Commvault's management assists investors by providing a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. Further, Commvault's management uses non-GAAP financial measures only in addition to, and in conjunction with, results presented in accordance with GAAP.
Non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS). In addition to the adjustments discussed in non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted EPS incorporates a non-GAAP effective tax rate of 27%.
Commvault anticipates that in any given period its non-GAAP tax rate may be either higher or lower than the GAAP tax rate as evidenced by historical fluctuations. The GAAP tax rates in recent fiscal years were not meaningful percentages due to the dollar amount of GAAP pre-tax income. For the same reason as the GAAP tax rates, the estimated cash tax rates in recent fiscal years are not meaningful percentages. Commvault defines its cash tax rate as the total amount of cash income taxes payable for the fiscal year divided by consolidated GAAP pre-tax income. Over time, Commvault believes its GAAP and cash tax rates will align.
Commvault considers non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP diluted EPS useful metrics for Commvault management and its investors for the same basic reasons that Commvault uses non-GAAP income from operations and non-GAAP income from operations margin. In addition, the same limitations as well as management actions to compensate for such limitations described above also apply to Commvault's use of non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS.
Conference Call Information
Commvault will host a conference call today, July 26, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (5:30 a.m. Pacific Time) to discuss quarterly results. The live webcast and call dial-in numbers can be accessed by registering under the "Events" section of Commvault's website. An archived webcast of this conference call will also be available following the call.
About Commvault
Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) liberates business and IT professionals to do amazing things with their data by ensuring the fundamental integrity of their business. Its industry-leading Intelligent Data Services Platform empowers these professionals to store, protect, optimize, and use their data, wherever it lives. Delivering the ultimate in simplicity and flexibility to customers, its Intelligent Data Services Platform is available as software subscription, an integrated appliance, partner-managed, and software as a service—a critical differentiator in the market. For 25 years, more than 100,000 organizations have relied on Commvault, and today, Metallic is accelerating customer adoption to modernize their environments as they look to SaaS for the future. Driven by its values—Connect, Inspire, Care, and Deliver—Commvault employs more than 2,800 highly-skilled individuals around the world. Visit Commvault.com or follow us at @Commvault.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding financial projections, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, such as competitive factors, difficulties and delays inherent in the development, manufacturing, marketing and sale of software products and related services, general economic conditions, outcome of litigation and others. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties affecting Commvault's business, see "Item IA. Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K and "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Statements regarding Commvault's beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future are 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. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results. Commvault does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.
©1999-2022 Commvault Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Commvault, Commvault Systems, the "C hexagon" logo & Commvault, the "C hexagon" logo, Hedvig, the "Cube" logo, Metallic, the Metallic "Wave" logo, TrapX, Trap X Security, APSS, CommCell, CommNet, CommServe, Commvault Edge, Commvault GO, CryptoTrap, DeceptionGrid, Edge Drive, GridStor, Hyperscale X, InnerVault, IntelliSnap, Universal Data Plane, and Vault Tracker are trademarks or registered trademarks of Commvault Systems, Inc. All other third-party brands, products, service names, trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of and used to identify the products or services of their respective owners. All specifications are subject to change without notice.
Footnotes - Adjustments
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SOURCE Commvault | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/07/26/commvault-announces-fiscal-2023-first-quarter-financial-results/ | 2022-07-26 12:20:56 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/07/26/commvault-announces-fiscal-2023-first-quarter-financial-results/ |
In an about-face, Twitter says it has restored free access to a key tool for verified government and "publicly owned" services so they can tweet weather, transit and other alerts after New York City's transit agency said earlier this week it would no longer use the platform for its service advisories.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is among countless official and unofficial accounts that abruptly lost access to Twitter’s API, or application programming interface, to send out automated alerts about service changes and emergencies last week. By Thursday afternoon, senior executives agreed to cease publishing service alerts to the platform altogether.
The decision put the country's largest transportation network among a growing number of accounts, from National Public Radio to Elton John, who have reduced their Twitter presence or left the platform since its takeover by Elon Musk.
Twitter had signaled that the days of private accounts disseminating troves of information at no cost may be ending. Last month, the company announced a new pricing system that would charge for access to its API, which is used by accounts that post frequent alerts, such as transit and weather agencies.
MTA officials estimated the cost could run as high as $50,000 a month. For a transit agency that faces a multibillion dollar deficit, paying that much raised concerns.
So last Thursday, the MTA told its 1 million Twitter followers that it will no longer use the platform for service alerts and information.
On Tuesday, Twitter backtracked and announced that “Verified gov or publicly owned services who tweet weather alerts, transport updates and emergency notifications may use the API, for these critical purposes, for free.”
In recent days, MTA officials have been in touch with Twitter’s development team, though the agency has not said whether it will return to publishing service alerts on Twitter in light of the change.
A representative for the MTA did not immediately respond to a message for comment.
__
Associated Press Writer Jake Offenhartz contributed to this story from New York. | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/new-reversal-by-twitter-after-move-sparked-mta-withdrawl/SZAGJ2FGQFDYDAQCXIZ2DUSMQQ/ | 2023-05-03 00:44:46 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/new-reversal-by-twitter-after-move-sparked-mta-withdrawl/SZAGJ2FGQFDYDAQCXIZ2DUSMQQ/ |
LONDON (AP) — The chief of the World Health Organization said the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an “extraordinary” situation that now qualifies as a global emergency, a declaration Saturday that could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and worsen the scramble for scarce vaccines.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the decision to issue the declaration despite a lack of consensus among experts serving on the U.N. health agency’s emergency committee. It was the first time the chief of the U.N. health agency has taken such an action.
“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations,” Tedros said.
“I know this has not been an easy or straightforward process and that there are divergent views among the members” of the committee, he added.
A global emergency is WHO’s highest level of alert, but the designation does not necessarily mean a disease is particularly transmissible or lethal. WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, said the director-general made the decision to put monkeypox in that category to endure the gobal community takes the current outbreaks seriously.
Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere.
Declaring a global emergency means the monkeypox outbreak is an “extraordinary event” that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response. WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.
The emergency declaration mostly serves as a plea to draw more global resources and attention to an outbreak. Past announcements had mixed impact, given that the U.N. health agency is largely powerless in getting countries to act.
Last month, WHO’s expert committee said the worldwide monkeypox outbreak did not yet amount to an international emergency, but the panel convened this week to reevaluate the situation.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 74 countries since about May. To date, monkeypox deaths have only been reported in Africa, where a more dangerous version of the virus is spreading, mainly in Nigeria and Congo.
In Africa, monkeypox mainly spreads to people from infected wild animals like rodents, in limited outbreaks that typically have not crossed borders. In Europe, North America and elsewhere, however, monkeypox is spreading among people with no links to animals or recent travel to Africa.
WHO’s top monkeypox expert, Dr. Rosamund Lewis, said this week that 99% of all the monkeypox cases beyond Africa were in men and that of those, 98% involved men who have sex with men. Experts suspect the monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North America were spread via sex at two raves in Belgium and Spain.
“Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern for the moment, this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners,” Tedros said. “That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups.”
Emergencies chief Ryan, explained what preceded the director-general’s decision.:
”(Tedros) found that the committee did not reach a consensus, despite having a very open, very useful, very considered debate on the issues, and that since he’s not going against the committee, what he’s recognizing is that there are deep complexities in this issue,” Ryan said. “There are uncertainties on all sides. And he’s reflecting that uncertainty and his determination of the event” to be a global emergency.
Before Saturday’s announcement, Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at Southampton University, said it was surprising WHO hadn’t already declared monkeypox a global emergency, explaining that the conditions were arguably met weeks ago.
Some experts had questioned whether such a declaration would help, arguing the disease isn’t severe enough to warrant the attention and that rich countries battling monkeypox already have the funds to do so; most people recover without needing medical attention, although the lesions may be painful.
“I think it would be better to be proactive and overreact to the problem instead of waiting to react when it’s too late,” Head said. He added that WHO’s emergency declaration could help donors like the World Bank make funds available to stop the outbreaks both in the West and in Africa, where animals are the likely natural reservoir of monkeypox.
In the U.S., some experts have speculated whether monkeypox might be on the verge of becoming an entrenched sexually transmitted disease in the country, like gonorrhea, herpes and HIV.
“The bottom line is we’ve seen a shift in the epidemiology of monkeypox where there’s now widespread, unexpected transmission,” said Dr. Albert Ko, a professor of public health and epidemiology at Yale University. “There are some genetic mutations in the virus that suggest why that may be happening, but we do need a globally-coordinated response to get it under control,” he said.
Ko called for testing to be immediately scaled up rapidly, saying that similar to the early days of COVID-19, that there were significant gaps in surveillance.
“The cases we are seeing are just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “The window has probably closed for us to quickly stop the outbreaks in Europe and the U.S., but it’s not too late to stop monkeypox from causing huge damage to poorer countries without the resources to handle it.”
In the U.S., some experts have speculated that monkeypox might become entrenched there as the newest sexually transmitted disease, with officials estimating that 1.5 million men are at high risk of being infected.
Dr. Placide Mbala, a virologist who directs the global health department at Congo’s Institute of National Biomedical Research, said he hoped any global efforts to stop monkeypox would be equitable. Although countries including Britain, Canada, Germany and the U.S. have ordered millions of vaccine doses, none have gone to Africa.
“The solution needs to be global,” Mbala said, adding that any vaccines sent to Africa would be used to target those at highest risk, like hunters in rural areas.
“Vaccination in the West might help stop the outbreak there, but there will still be cases in Africa,” he said. “Unless the problem is solved here, the risk to the rest of the world will remain.” | https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/un-health-agency-declares-monkeypox-a-global-emergency/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2022-07-23 14:43:00 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/un-health-agency-declares-monkeypox-a-global-emergency/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
BANGKOK (AP) — The huge trade in methamphetamine and other illegal drugs originating from a small corner of Southeast Asia shows no signs of slowing down, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warned Friday.
“High volumes of methamphetamine continue to be produced and trafficked in and from the region while the production of ketamine and other synthetic drugs has expanded,” said the agency’s 2023 report, Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia — the first since the borders reopened post-COVID-19 pandemic.
The report shows a pattern of criminal groups reestablishing themselves to the pre-pandemic stage, and significantly changing trafficking routes.
The lion’s share of methamphetamine, in the form of tablets and crystal meth, comes from the area known as the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet. The production of opium and heroin used to flourish there, mainly because of the lawlessness around Myanmar’s remote eastern Shan State. The area, much of it jungle, remains the domain of various ethnic minority militias, some of them partners in the drug trade.
“Methamphetamine continues to be the most used drug in East and Southeast Asia and that use has increased over the past decade,” the report says.
It’s also easier to make on an industrial scale than the labor-intensive cultivation of opium, from which heroin is derived. The drug is then distributed by land, sea and air all around Asia and the Pacific.
The report says the control that major organized crime groups have over territories “has allowed them to massively increase and diversify supply for the purposes of market expansion and domination.”
“The most powerful regional trafficking networks are able to operate with a high degree of certainty they can and will not be stopped, and they are able to dictate the terms and conditions of the market as a result,” it said.
There have been record methamphetamine seizures almost every year for the past decade in East and Southeast Asia, but the latest data suggest that the total drugs seized declined in 2022 to 151 tons, according to the report.
A decline in seizures is often associated with weakened production, but the report says “other indicators — arrests, street availability, purity, record low wholesale and street prices, and treatment admissions — indicate the supply has remained very high or unchanged.”
Jeremy Douglas, UNODC regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, particularly noted at a news conference Friday in Bangkok that the situation in Myanmar’s Shan State was “quite concerning” due to the past year’s unprecedented drop in drug seizures there, despite being “the epicenter of production for Asia Pacific,” which he said was directly related to the conflicts and instability in the area.
The report suggests the overall decrease in seizures was due to traffickers changing their smuggling routes from land to maritime to evade authorities, explaining that shipments are made by sea from Myanmar’s coastal regions.
Thailand recently made two major busts of crystal meth that was expected to be transported to a third country by sea. On Tuesday, nearly a ton of the drugs was seized off the coast in the Gulf of Thailand, which Thai authorities suspected were en route to be loaded to a bigger ship in international waters. Drugs that were seized in several recent raids were supposedly bound for Australia, Thai authorities have said.
“Traffickers are a little more successful last year than in the previous year, and they were able to connect to market mainly using maritime routes that were not noticed by people over the course of the year,” Douglas said.
The U.N. office also expressed concern that Cambodia has become “a key transit and to some extent production point for the regional drug trade.”
It suggests that even though there has been consolidation of synthetic drug production in the Golden Triangle, that development may reflect “some diversification of production and ‘hedging’ by organized crime.”
Industrial-scale ketamine labs and facilities for processing and storing the substance were found across Cambodia, raising serious concern throughout the region, it said.
“Organized crime groups have adopted a supply-driven market expansion modality similar to the approach taken to expand the methamphetamine market in the region that started in 2015,” warns the report about the trade in ketamine, which has legal use as an anesthetic.
Landlocked Laos, adjacent to both Shan State and northern Thailand, is another weak link in the fight against the drug trade, and “intelligence officials have come to the conclusion that supply is transiting the country with little resistance,” says the report.
The report says that in addition to becoming an increasingly important route for drugs trafficked out of Myanmar, meth tablet production was also detected there in recent years.
It says that meth and other drugs produced in Shan State laboratories usually enter Laos by crossing the Mekong river from ports “under the control or influence of major non-state armed groups,” naming some of them: ethnic militias including the United Wa State Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the National Democratic Alliance Army, “and their allies who work in partnership with transnational organized crime syndicates.”
The case of Laos also illustrates the difficulties of blocking the ingredients needed to produce the drugs from reaching the illegal labs.
Laos, it says, is becoming an increasingly important route for chemicals reportedly used in drug production in Myanmar, entering the country through Vietnam, Thailand, and China.
“Efforts to disrupt chemical flows into Myanmar’s drug-producing areas also continue to be impeded by slow and bureaucratic inter-agency coordination, inadequate resources and personnel, and limited cross border cooperation,” the report says, and traffickers are finding alternatives for obtaining their supplies.
The main chemicals needed to make methamphetamines are generally under tight international controls, so illicit laboratories in recent years have moved to using chemicals that are not so closely regulated. The report says that the logistics of obtaining such chemicals have also been expedited by online ordering, especially from suppliers willing to disguise the nature of the transactions. | https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/un-anti-drug-agency-warns-there-is-no-let-up-in-methamphetamine-trade-from-asias-golden-triangle/ | 2023-06-02 17:57:20 | 1 | https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/un-anti-drug-agency-warns-there-is-no-let-up-in-methamphetamine-trade-from-asias-golden-triangle/ |
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Without billions of dollars more to feed millions of hungry people, the world will see mass migration, destabilized countries, and starving children and adults in the next 12 to 18 months, the head of the Nobel prize-winning U.N. World Food Program warned Friday.
David Beasley praised increased funding from the United States and Germany last year, and urged China, Gulf nations, billionaires and other countries “to step up big time.”
In an interview before he hands the reins of the world’s largest humanitarian organization to U.S. ambassador Cindy McCain next week, the former South Carolina governor said he’s “extremely worried” that WFP won’t raise about $23 billion it needs this year to help millions of needy people
“Right at this stage, I’ll be surprised if we get 40% of it, quite frankly,” he said.
Last year, Beasley raised $14.2 billion for WFP, more than double the $6 billion in 2017, the year he took over as executive director. That money helped over 128 million people in more than 120 countries and territories.
Beasley said he was able to convince the United States last year to increase its funding from about $3.5 billion to $7.4 billion and Germany to raise its contribution from $350 million a few years ago to $1.7 billion, but he doesn’t think they’ll do it again this year.
Other countries need to step up now, he said, starting with China, the world’s second-largest economy which gave WFP just $11 million last year.
Beasley applauded China for its success in substantially reducing hunger and poverty at home, but said it gave less than one cent per person last year compared to the United States, the world’s leading economy, which gave about $22 per person.
China needs “to engage in the multilateral world” and be willing to provide help that is critical, he said. “They have a moral obligation to do so.”
Beasley said they’ve done “an incredible job of feeding their people,” and “now we need their help in other parts of the world” on how they did it, particularly in poorer countries including in Africa.
With high oil prices Gulf countries can also do more, especially Muslim nations that have relations with countries in east Africa, the Sahara and elsewhere in the Middle East, he said, expressing hope they will increase contributions.
Beasley said the wealthiest billionaires made unprecedented profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, and “it’s not too much to ask some of the multibillionaires to step up and help us in the short-term crisis,” even though charity isn’t a long-term solution to the food crisis.
In the long-term, he said what he’d really like to see is billionaires using their experience and success to engage “in the world’s greatest need – and that is food on the planet to feed 8 billion people.”
“The world has to understand that the next 12 to 18 months is critical, and if we back off the funding, you will have mass migration, and you will have destabilization nations and that will all be on top of starvation among children and people around the world,” he warned.
Beasley said WFP was just forced to cut rations by 50% to 4 million people in Afghanistan, and “these are people who are knocking on famine’s door now.”
“We don’t have enough money just to reach the most vulnerable people now,” he said. “So we are in a crisis over the cliff stage right now, where we literally could have hell on earth if we’re not very careful.”
Beasley said he’s been telling leaders in the West and Europe that while they’re focusing everything on Ukraine and Russia, “you better well not forget about what’s south and southeast of you because I can assure you it is coming your way if you don’t pay attention and get on top of it.”
With $400 trillion worth of wealth on the planet, he said, there’s no reason for any child to die of starvation.
The WFP executive director said leaders have to prioritize the humanitarian needs that are going to have the greatest impact on stability in societies around the world.
He singled out several priority places — Africa’s Sahel region as well as the east including Somalia, northern Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia; Syria which is having an impact on Jordan and Lebanon; and Central and South America where the number of people migrating to the United States is now five times what it was a year-and-a-half ago.
Beasley said McCain, the widow of U.S. Senator John McCain from Arizona who was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee and has been the U.S. ambassador to Rome-based WFP and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, “is the right person at the right time” to lead the World Food Program.
They’ve been working together to make sure “she hits the ground running,” he said, But “it’s going to be a very, very challenging time” because of all the money going to the war in Ukraine, and the need to help so many other fragile economies.
Beasley said his biggest surprise was believing in April 2017, when he took over the agency and there were 80 million people in the world “marching to starvation,” that “we could end world hunger and put the World Food Program out of business.”
What he didn’t expect were the conflicts and wars, the climate shocks, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war, he said, which raised the 80 million in desperate need of food to 135 million right before COVID started spreading in early 2020, to 276 million before Russia invaded Ukraine – “the bread basket of the world” — in February 2022, and to 350 million now.
Beasley said “”it’s hard not to get depressed” but two things give him hope.
Seeing little girls and boys smiling in the midst of war and suffering from hunger “inspires you not to give up,” he said, as does the bipartisan support in the often divided U.S. Congress for helping the poorest of the poor around the world.
As he returns to his family in South Carolina, Beasley said his dream remains to end world hunger. | https://www.localsyr.com/news/business/ap-business/un-food-chief-billions-needed-to-avert-unrest-starvation/ | 2023-04-01 12:10:41 | 1 | https://www.localsyr.com/news/business/ap-business/un-food-chief-billions-needed-to-avert-unrest-starvation/ |
Family of baby killed in crash wants upgraded charges against suspects
CHICAGO (CNN/WBBM/WLS) - Family members of a 6-month-old boy who died in a car crash want charges upgraded against the two teenage suspects in the other vehicle, which police say was stolen.
Police say two teenagers, ages 17 and 14, stole a car and reportedly took it for a joyride in Chicago, according to CNN affiliate WBBM. Traveling at a high speed, as seen on surveillance video, the car crashed into a pickup truck just after 5 p.m. last Sunday.
The truck, which had a mother and her children – ages 7, 15 and 6 months – inside, then crashed into a tree.
Shawn Walker witnessed the crash and ran to help, performing CPR on the baby, according to affiliate WLS.
“I just wanted to try to do what I can to help the situation out and to help the mom,” he said.
Sadly, the baby, identified by the medical examiner as 6-month-old Cristian Uvidia, was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Cristian’s mother and two sisters were also injured in the crash and hospitalized. Only the 7-year-old has been released.
Heartbroken over his death, Cristian’s family is now planning for his funeral.
“The funeral director, he suggested that we put balloons because those will be the only balloons he will ever receive,” said his aunt, Annelisse Rivera.
Police say the investigation remains ongoing, but the two teenage suspects have been charged with one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass to a vehicle.
Cristian’s family and community activists are calling on the state’s attorney general’s office to upgrade those charges to something more severe.
“The charges does not fit the crime. My message is to the state’s attorney and anybody else who has hands on this case: ‘What are you looking at? What are you feeling? How about first-degree murder? How about reckless homicide?’” said Andrew Holmes, a community activist and victim advocate.
Cristian’s family is determined to fight for justice.
“It’s like reliving the day all over again, and it just sends a message to us [that] truthfully, his life meant nothing,” Rivera said.
A GoFundMe set up for Cristian’s family has raised more than $45,000 to help pay for his funeral and the family’s medical expenses.
Copyright 2023 CNN, WBBM, WLS via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/04/26/family-baby-killed-crash-wants-upgraded-charges-against-suspects/ | 2023-04-26 09:45:42 | 0 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/04/26/family-baby-killed-crash-wants-upgraded-charges-against-suspects/ |
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What are the 10 best buffalo plaid shirts?
A buffalo plaid shirt is a wardrobe staple. The design is typically on a durable button-up that’s easy to care for and has chest pockets for your essentials. While its red-and-black variety is a must-have, you can also expand your wardrobe with additional hues.
The print is always in season, but it tends to be more prevalent during cooler months, so it’s also helpful if your shirt is made from a thick fleece or flannel to combat low temperatures.
What is a buffalo plaid shirt?
While buffalo plaid shirts can come in many designs, such as cotton T-shirts or tunics, they are typically button-up styles with long sleeves and a collar.
The buffalo plaid print requires two colored threads. There are solid blocks in each color, surrounded by blocks of the two threads mixed together. Traditionally, they are red and black, but they can come in any color, ranging from greens and blues to pinks and purples.
Buffalo plaid shirt styles
There are seven buffalo plaid shirt designs for you to consider.
- Sleeveless: This is typically a thin shirt made from lightweight material with no sleeves and various necklines.
- T-shirt: This lightweight style is made from thin cotton, polyester or a blend, with short sleeves and a crew or a V-neck.
- Polo: This silhouette is a slightly thicker knit fabric with short sleeves and a collar.
- Long-sleeved shirt: This style is made from thin material, with various necklines and long sleeves.
- Henley: This design has long sleeves, a 3- to 5-inch button-up placket and a rounded neckline.
- Tunic: This shirt comes with any neckline and sleeve style, but its hemline lands low on your hips or high on your thighs.
- Button-up: This design has long sleeves, a button-up front and a collar.
How to find your shirt size
Regardless of your usual shirt size, it’s good to record your measurements and compare them to the product description chart before you buy a shirt from a new manufacturer.
There are three steps to getting accurate measurements.
- Shoulders: From your back, measure from the tip of one shoulder to the tip of your other shoulder.
- Chest: Determine the broadest part of your chest and measure its circumference.
- Waist: Find the smallest part of your waist, usually around your navel, and measure its circumference.
Color options
The only thing better than finding a high-quality buffalo plaid shirt is finding one you can get in several colors so you can adorn yourself in your favorite hues. Along with the classic red and black palette, they also come in black and gray, greens, blues and pretty much any other color you can think of.
Pockets
No matter where they’re placed, extra pockets are helpful. While hip pockets on shirts are rare, many button-up shirts typically have at least one pocket at the chest that can hold an essential or two, such as your phone or a credit card. The best buffalo plaid shirts have two chest pockets you can secure with a button.
Easy care
A great way to save time and money is to ensure that you can wash your shirt at home. It decreases your cost per wear, saves you a trip to the dry cleaner and is better for the environment.
What are the best buffalo plaid shirts to buy?
Amazon Essentials Men’s Slim-Fit Long-Sleeve Flannel Shirt
This cotton flannel button-up shirt is soft and comfy with a slim fit and casual style. It’s machine-washable and comes in 41 varieties, in sizes XS-XXL.
Sold by Amazon
Match Women’s Long Sleeve Flannel Plaid Shirt
This long-sleeved cotton button-up shirt has two chest pockets and side tabs that can be buttoned to shorten its hem or add a slight ruching. It’s machine-washable and comes in 35 varieties, sizes XS-2X.
Sold by Amazon
Legendary Whitetails Men’s Woodsman Heavyweight Quilted Shirt
This machine-washable cotton button-down shirt is a heavyweight flannel to keep you warm. It has a buttoned pocket on each side of the chest and comes in seven varieties, sizes S-5X.
Sold by Amazon
Legendary Whitetails Women’s Cottage Escape Flannel Shirt
This button-up buffalo plaid shirt has two chest pockets and comes in 19 varieties with chambray lining in the collar and cuffs. It’s made from thick, machine-washable cotton and comes in sizes XS-3X.
Sold by Amazon
Wrangler Authentics Men’s Long Sleeve Fleece Shirt
This heavyweight polyester button-up is made from two-sided brushed fleece for an ultra-soft feel inside and out. The chest pockets have a button closure, it’s machine-washable and the shirt comes in nine varieties, sizes S-2X.
Sold by Amazon
CQR Women’s Plaid Flannel Long Sleeve Shirt
This cotton button-up shirt has a chambray-lined collar and cuffs, a flattering curved hemline and two chest pockets. It’s also machine-washable and comes in 14 varieties, sizes S-XL.
Sold by Amazon
Souactimuy Women’s Hooded Buffalo Plaid Shirt
This hooded long-sleeved shirt is button-up, made from cotton and has a pocket at the chest. It’s machine-washable and comes in 16 varieties, in sizes XS-3X.
Sold by Amazon
Luckycild Women’s Buffalo Plaid Heart Top
It’s a lightweight T-shirt with just a touch of buffalo plaid in an adorable heart design.
Sold by Amazon
Classic Red And Black Christmas Buffalo Plaid Deer T-Shirt
This is an excellent short-sleeved shirt to show off your holiday spirit and stay cool.
Sold by Amazon
Deerose Women’s Holiday Buffalo Plaid Shirt
Consider this if you’re searching for another long-sleeved shirt with just a touch of checkered print.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.pahomepage.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/shirts-tops-br/10-best-buffalo-plaid-shirts/ | 2023-04-07 00:13:10 | 1 | https://www.pahomepage.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/shirts-tops-br/10-best-buffalo-plaid-shirts/ |
Toy companies expect grown-ups to shop more for other adults this holiday season
By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business
Fans of the cult classic movie “The Hudsucker Proxy” will remember that the main character kept describing his invention of the hula hoop as being, “you know, for kids.” But top toy companies are looking beyond the youth demographic this holiday season and plan to pitch more of their products to a demographic with more spending money: grownups.
The toy giants realize that many adults aren’t just looking to buy toys for their children, grandkids, nieces and nephews. Companies like Hasbro are increasingly looking to adults (and not just parents) as buyers for nostalgic products, whether its gifts for older loved ones, friends or for themselves.
“Our principal approach is serving the adult fan with the best collectibles,” said Kwamina Crankson, senior vice president and general manager of Hasbro Direct, the division that runs the Hasbro Pulse site. “These are fans of brands, stories and characters.”
Crankson told CNN Business he expects strong demand for toys tied to brands like Transformers (a voice-activated Optimus Prime that transforms by itself!) and G.I. Joe as well as licensed characters from Disney-owned Star Wars and Marvel.
Toy companies and other collectibles makers clearly recognize that grown-up shoppers are still invested in the brands that they played with as kids.
“It’s all about nostalgia,” said Andrew Perlmutter, CEO of Funko, which makes the Pop! brand of vinyl figurines, in an interview with CNN Business.
Catering to 70s, 80s and 90s pop culture
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader from “Star Wars” are top-selliers, according to Funko’s web site. So is a figurine and can of soda combo featuring the late guitar legend Jimi Hendirx. Perlmutter said the average age of Funko customers is around 35.
Funko is even branching more into food and snacks to try and capture the sweet tooth of older customers. The company is now selling Funko-branded candy to go along with its Funko cereal.
The company is also launching a store in Inglewood, Calif. in 2023 called Tha Dogg House, which will feature collectibles inspired by rapper Snoop Dogg.
Perlmutter said that the store, which is near SoFi Stadium, where the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers football team both play, is a perfect example of how Funko hopes to attract adult music and sports fans.
Mattel is hoping to cash in from more adults buying toys for other grown-ups as well. Mattel president and chief operating officer Richard Dickson said on the company’s latest earnings call with analysts in July that the company has an “accelerated focus on our adult fans” of the Hot Wheels brand of collectible toy cars.
Mattel also announced a partnership this summer with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to begin selling “Space-X inspired” collectible toys under the Matchbox brand beginning in 2023.
Even Build-A-Bear Workshop, the popular chain in shopping malls that lets customers, as the name of the store implies, build their own stuffed bears (and other stuffed animals), is starting to reach out to older collectibles customers.
“It feels like older people are coming into the stores and that’s not by accident,” said Build-A-Bear CEO Sharon Price John, noting that this is the 25th anniversary of the chain. So a kid who was eight when the store was founded in 1997 turns 33 this year.
With that in mind, Price John said Build-A-Bear has popular plush toys tied to hit 1980s movies such as “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “E.T.” and “Gremlins.”
Build-A-Bear also has a specific line of “After Dark” collectibles in its Bear Cave section for older shoppers.
“The Bear Cave has more lighthearted products for adults,” Price John said, including some bears drinking a glass (or bottle) of wine.
The varietal for these ursine oenophiles? A nice red CaBEARnet, naturally.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://kion546.com/money/cnn-business-consumer/2022/09/27/toy-companies-expect-grown-ups-to-shop-more-for-other-adults-this-holiday-season/ | 2022-09-27 19:05:24 | 0 | https://kion546.com/money/cnn-business-consumer/2022/09/27/toy-companies-expect-grown-ups-to-shop-more-for-other-adults-this-holiday-season/ |
An “Amtrak track condition” on Monday morning was causing major delays for NJ Transit trains to and from New York, officials said.
As of 9:15 a.m., trains into and out of New York Penn Station were facing delays of at least 60 minutes, NJ Transit said.
Midtown Direct trains were being diverted to Hoboken, where riders could take a PATH train into Manhattan. NJ Transit buses and private carriers are accepting train tickets.
Delays of 20 minutes were reported at 6:30 a.m., but grew steadily all morning.
It was unclear what the track condition was that caused the delays.
Amtrak said only one of the two tracks under the Hudson River was available and rail congestion was delaying its trains.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. | https://www.nj.com/news/2023/05/track-condition-causing-major-nj-transit-train-delays.html | 2023-05-08 14:47:01 | 0 | https://www.nj.com/news/2023/05/track-condition-causing-major-nj-transit-train-delays.html |
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac; NYSE: AGM and AGM.A), the nation's secondary market provider that increases the availability and affordability of credit for the benefit of rural America, today announced that it will release its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2022, on Monday, November 7, 2022, after the closing of equity markets. A conference call to discuss the results will be held that day at 4:30 p.m. eastern time.
The conference call can be accessed by telephone or webcast as follows:
Dial-In (Domestic): (888) 346-2616
Dial-In (International): (412) 902-4254
Webcast: https://www.farmermac.com/investors/events-presentations/
When dialing in to the call, please ask for the "Farmer Mac Earnings Conference Call." This call can be heard live and will also be available for replay on Farmer Mac's website following the conclusion of the conference call.
Farmer Mac is a vital part of the agricultural credit markets and was created to increase access to and reduce the cost of credit for the benefit of American agricultural and rural communities. As the nation's secondary market for agricultural credit, we provide financial solutions to a broad spectrum of the agricultural community, including agricultural lenders, agribusinesses, and other institutions that can benefit from access to flexible, low-cost financing and risk management tools. Farmer Mac's customers benefit from its low cost of funds, low overhead costs, and high operational efficiency. More information about Farmer Mac is available on Farmer Mac's website at www.farmermac.com.
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SOURCE Farmer Mac | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/10/24/farmer-mac-announce-third-quarter-2022-financial-results/ | 2022-10-24 20:31:48 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/10/24/farmer-mac-announce-third-quarter-2022-financial-results/ |
SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As the 6-ounce can of Chilé 'n Lime finishes its six-month rotation to store shelves, Blue Diamond Growers is replacing it with an all-new flavor, also available for a limited time. For the next six months, Honey Butter Flavored Almonds will be available at Walmart and the Blue Diamond Nut & Gift Shops, as well as through our online store at www.bluediamondstore.com/. Inspired by the popular Korean Honey Butter Chips, these snack almonds boast a velvety smooth blend of honey and buttery flavor.
"We never stop innovating at Blue Diamond." said Maya Erwin, Vice President of Innovation and R&D, Blue Diamond Growers. "Honey Butter Almonds were proudly developed by Blue Diamond's R&D scientists to create the perfect flavor balance. Our goal is to ensure that our consumers never have to search outside our products to find every flavor category they crave. These snack almonds satisfy the sweet and salty flavor blend beloved by so many – but be sure to try them before they're swapped out for another exciting flavor!"
Honey Butter Almonds will be available through December 2023 in the iconic, 6-ounce can. As always, Blue Diamond almonds are an excellent choice for on-the-go snackers who wish to adhere to better-for-you options when it comes to snacking. Honey Butter Almonds are high in antioxidant Vitamin E, have 5g protein per serving, and are ketogenic and kosher certified.
Blue Diamond is a world-class leader in consumer trend analysis and flavor forecasting that leads to new products like Honey Butter Almonds and many other unique flavors within the Blue Diamond Growers snack almond line up. Check out all the Blue Diamond snack almond flavors on our website at www.bluediamond.com.
About Blue Diamond
Blue Diamond Growers, a grower-owned cooperative representing approximately 3,000 of California's almond growers, is the world's leading almond marketer and processor. Established in 1910, it created the California almond industry and opened world markets for almonds. Blue Diamond is dedicated to delivering the benefits of almonds around the world and does so by providing high-quality almonds, almond ingredients, and branded products. Headquartered in Sacramento, the company employs more than 1,800 people throughout its processing plants, receiving stations and gift shops. To learn more about Blue Diamond Growers, visit www.bluediamond.com and follow the company on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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SOURCE Blue Diamond Growers | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/27/blue-diamonds-new-honey-butter-almonds-hitting-shelves-limited-time-only/ | 2023-07-27 22:34:26 | 1 | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/27/blue-diamonds-new-honey-butter-almonds-hitting-shelves-limited-time-only/ |
The BET Awards air on Sunday night, and at least one notable person is highly unlikely to be in attendance: Lil Nas X. In case you missed it, the pop star is presently incensed with the network because his name was nowhere to be found when nominations were announced earlier this month. That same day, he sent out a now-deleted tweet: "thank you bet awards. an outstanding zero nominations again. black excellence!" And for the last few weeks, the masterful social media provocateur has been trolling BET and teasing "Late to Da Party," a new song that dropped on Friday and includes the repetitive chant, "F*** BET!"
I can hear the snark chiming in already: So ... you mean to tell me a super famous wealthy celebrity is out here complaining about not being nominated for a totally subjective award? Who even cares?
I hear you. The ego is strong with this one. But – it's not quite that simple.
Lil Nas X's dismay has stemmed in part from the sense that his very overt queerness – still relatively rare for a pop star of his status, especially a Black male one – had something to do with the omission. In another since-deleted tweet, he wrote, "I just feel like black gay ppl have to fight to be seen in this world and even when we make it to the top mfs try to pretend we are invisible."
BET's response, in part, was that the network "love[s] Lil Nas X," and that its Voting Academy is made up of "nearly 500 entertainment professionals ... No one from BET serves as a member of the Voting Academy."
So it's crucial to note here that Lil Nas X has been nominated for two BET Awards and performed at the ceremony twice in the past; last year's ended with him sharing a passionate kiss with one of his male background dancers. He's also won two BET Hip-Hop Awards, and received two nominations at last year's ceremony. And since coming out in 2019 at the height of "Old Town Road" pandemonium, he's garnered an unprecedented and overwhelming amount of support from fans and celebrities alike.
But! He's also faced plenty of homophobia and derision from online trolls and celebrities, too. (See, for one, rapper Boosie Badazz, who seems to have a sickening, violent obsession with antagonizing him.) And his flamboyance has been criticized by other queer people, who have accused him of being too "in your face" about his sexuality, especially following that BET Awards performance. His suspicions about why he was snubbed this year, after releasing a critically acclaimed and commercially successful debut album, haven't just appeared in a vacuum. (Meanwhile, his collaborator on "Industry Baby," the polarizing white rapper Jack Harlow, curiously scored a nod for Best Male Hip Hop Artist, and is also set to perform Sunday.)
Lil Nas X's contentions with BET speak to a paradox that's played out in high-profile fashion over the last decade: How to square the ostensible subjectivity of entertainment awards with historical biases among awards voting groups? Drake and Frank Ocean, for instance, have protested the Recording Academy and the Grammys, accusing the organization of being dismissive of Black artists. Ocean declined to submit his album Blonde for consideration – "[The Recording Academy] just doesn't seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down," he told the New York Times. For this year's ceremony, Drake withdrew his two nominations for Certified Lover Boy, piling on to a long run of criticisms he's had for the Grammys – "I'm apparently a rapper, even though 'Hotline Bling' is not a rap song," he said during an interview in 2017, adding, "The only category that they can manage to fit me in is in a rap category, maybe because I've rapped in the past or because I'm Black."
Like Lil Nas X, Drake and Ocean have won awards from the same institutions they criticize, but I don't think that, or the fact that there are undoubtedly some self-serving interests at play, necessarily invalidates those arguments. Awards ceremonies do have a lot of issues to contend with, starting with who, exactly, is doing the voting, and how. Just last year, it was announced that the Grammys would eliminate its secret nominating committees, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been working to diversify its membership against the backdrop of #OscarsSoWhite. The disgraced Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Golden Globes, came under intense scrutiny last year for its lack of Black membership. The industry seems to know it's got a problem.
Often the retort to accusations of bias with these awards is that perhaps the work wasn't good enough to be nominated, or win; "subjectivity" and "meritocracy" are easy ideas to get behind. But those two things are exactly that – ideas that are rarely, if ever, borne out in practice. Lobbying, expensive campaigning, and so many other factors go into putting these awards together every year, that it's impossible to suggest with a straight face that the only barriers to becoming a nominee or winner lie with the art itself. You need only recall how Green Book won Best Picture over, among other things, Roma and Black Panther, or Macklemore – Macklemore, people! – won Best Rap Album over Kendrick Lamar.
Back to Lil Nas X. The BET Awards are not the Grammys or the Oscars or even the Golden Globes. To the outside world, they're more like MTV's Video Music Awards, a ceremony where it's all about the fashion and the performances, and where almost no one's going to remember who won the year prior, much less who was nominated. I can't recall ever seeing an artist, movie, or show presented as a "BET Award-winner."
Yet they do seem to matter to the artists and the industry itself, and for Lil Nas X, there's something about feeling rejected by his Black peers, in a predominantly white industry that has found every way to shun or dismiss them all at some point or another, that makes it particularly upsetting for him. When someone on Twitter pointed out his Grammy wins, he responded, "this is my point exactly how can i get acknowledged by the most acclaimed award show in the world and then not even just 1 nomination from my own people? is that not crazy?"
OK, "most acclaimed award show" seems like a stretch, but I get his point. Awards shows are faulty metrics of talent or artistry, but they're also a part of the game. They exist to feed egos, but when you're Black and queer, that recognition – or lack thereof – just hits different.
This piece first appeared in NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss the next one, plus get weekly recommendations about what's making us happy.
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Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.apr.org/arts-life/2022-06-25/when-lil-nas-x-calls-out-bet-it-means-something | 2022-06-25 13:31:34 | 1 | https://www.apr.org/arts-life/2022-06-25/when-lil-nas-x-calls-out-bet-it-means-something |
FARMINGDALE N.Y. (WPIX) – Officials in New York made a gruesome discovery last Thursday when the remains of two decapitated goats were found behind a Burger King on Long Island.
The remains had been placed in black plastic bags behind the restaurant, located in Farmingdale, New York. Detectives with Suffolk County’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) described it as a “ritualistic sacrifice,” police said.
Other items found at the scene may further suggest a ritualistic animal sacrifice, according to authorities.
“The Suffolk County SPCA is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for this barbaric act of animal cruelty for unjustifiably harming, mutilating, or killing an animal,” said Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk County SPCA. “All too many times these gruesome finds are discovered not only by adults but occasionally by children. These acts of violence must stop now.”
This is not the first time the Suffolk County SPCA has made a similar discovery. Back in September 2022, SPCA detectives discovered the decomposing remains of five decapitated chickens and two decapitated goats just off the Northern State Parkway.
At the time, the SPCA indicated the animals were killed as part of a ritualistic animal sacrifice.
Anyone who may have witnessed this or any other incident of animal cruelty in Suffolk County is being urged to contact the Suffolk County SPCA at (631) 382-7722. | https://www.pahomepage.com/uncategorized/decapitated-goats-found-behind-burger-king-in-new-york-ritualistic-sacrifice/ | 2023-07-05 21:07:10 | 0 | https://www.pahomepage.com/uncategorized/decapitated-goats-found-behind-burger-king-in-new-york-ritualistic-sacrifice/ |
The Justice Department announced charges Friday against more than two dozen people including three sons of the drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and other members of the notorious Sinaloa cartel. The crackdown is part of a far-reaching fentanyl trafficking investigation.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced fentanyl trafficking, weapons, and money laundering charges filed in the Southern District of New York, the Northern District of Illinois and Washington, D.C.
The charges target "the largest, most violent, and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world — run by the Sinaloa cartel, and fueled by Chinese precursor chemical and pharmaceutical companies," Garland said.
Known as "Chapitos," El Chapo's sons — Ivan Guzmán Salazar, Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Ovidio Guzmán López — are among those named in the indictments. Lopez was captured by the Mexican military in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in January. He remains detained in Mexico pending extradition.
Their co-conspirators also facing charges include manufacturers and distributors of the Sinaloa cartel's fentanyl; leaders of the operation's security forces; weapons suppliers, drug lab operators, money launderers and suppliers of the drugs used to make the fentanyl that originated in China, according to the Justice Department.
"The Chapitos pioneered the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl — the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced — flooded it into the United States for the past eight years and killed hundreds of thousands of Americans," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said.
Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 40. It's a dangerous synthetic opioid that is more than 50 times more potent than heroin, the Justice Department said.
"Between 2019 and 2021, fatal overdoses increased by approximately 94%, with an estimated 196 Americans dying each day from fentanyl," the agency said.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-04-14/u-s-charges-el-chapos-sons-and-other-sinaloa-cartel-members-in-fentanyl-trafficking | 2023-04-14 19:24:49 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-04-14/u-s-charges-el-chapos-sons-and-other-sinaloa-cartel-members-in-fentanyl-trafficking |
NEW YORK (AP) — When long-haul trucker Deb LaBree sets out on the road to deliver pharmaceuticals, she has strategies to hold down costs. She avoids the West Coast and the Northeast, where diesel prices are highest. She organizes her delivery route to minimize “deadheading” — driving an empty truck in between deliveries.
And if a customer’s load is too far away or they can’t pay more for fuel? She turns the job down.
“It breaks my heart because I either have to say, ‘No, I can’t afford to,’ or ’I can, but you’re going to have to pay some of my fuel to get me there,' ” LaBree said. “I hate doing both of those things because it’s not the customer’s fault. It’s not our fault.”
The price of diesel fuel has skyrocketed in recent months — much more even than regular gasoline — especially after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Moscow's attack led numerous nations to spurn Russian fuel, removing from the market a major source of oil, the main component of diesel fuel, and driving prices drastically up.
For months, motorists have felt the pain of high gasoline prices. Many may not know that they're also absorbing the impact of much costlier diesel fuel. That's because the goods consumers buy — from cereal and orange juice to Amazon deliveries of diapers — are delivered by trucks, trains or ships that run on diesel. Those inflated prices are then passed on from company to company until they reach consumers in the form of costlier goods.
“People pay less attention to diesel prices because people aren’t going to the pump and using it,” said Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, a research firm. “But diesel has a more far-reaching impact and is already having a real big impact across the economy.”
Diesel fuel is averaging $5.50 a gallon nationally — up a scorching 68% from a year ago, when it was selling for just $3.27. By comparison, a gallon of regular gasoline is averaging $4.47, up 41% from a year ago.
High gasoline prices have eased somewhat in recent weeks. But diesel has remained chronically high, with American refineries operating near capacity. Unless prices ease, the ripple effects of high diesel fuel could worsen because the costs are deterring some truck companies from accepting jobs unless they can persuade their customers to pay more for fuel.
“There will be more logistical shortages,” said Phil Verleger, a longtime energy economist. “Americans will find more empty shelves and higher prices.”
If they're not rejecting jobs, many truckers are choosing lighter loads or working longer hours to make up for money lost on fuel, according to interviews with truckers and industry executives. Farmers harvesting hay and planting corn with diesel-fired tractors are absorbing a financial hit. Delivery companies are installing their own fueling pumps to cut costs. Ultimately, consumers are left bearing the burden.
“If you’re a farmer, then your energy costs are higher, and therefore it’s costing more to produce grain, and that’s pushing the price of grain up, and that’s pushing the price of food up,” said Smith, the analyst at Kpler.
Even more than gasoline, high diesel prices are magnifying the costs of goods because the delivery cost has risen so much. Consumer prices soared 9.1% in June compared with 12 months earlier, the government reported last week. The fuel oil portion of the consumer price index nearly doubled from the same time last year.
“Those energy costs are working their way into products, all manner of different consumer products,” Smith noted.
One reason why diesel prices haven't yet declined as gasoline has is that OPEC nations have slowed their supply of oil, and Middle East oil typically produces more diesel fuel than, say, parts of Texas do. Another factor is that China has reduced its diesel exports, presumably to help achieve its net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goals.
And within the United States, refineries that produce diesel from crude oil are essentially maxed out. The nation has 11 fewer refineries operating today than before the pandemic, according to the American Petroleum Institute. One refinery that had served the East Coast closed after an explosion in 2019 and never re-opened. And some refineries in California are closed for retrofitting to process renewable fuel.
“We use a lot of diesel, probably more than what these refineries can produce,” said Bob Costello, chief economist of the American Trucking Associations.
President Joe Biden's visit last week to Saudi Arabia was intended, in part, to encourage OPEC to produce more oil, which would mean more diesel fuel globally. Though no major deal was announced, Prince Mohammed bin Salman hinted that Saudi Arabia could potentially produce more oil.
But expecting OPEC to export more oil during high-demand summer months might be unrealistic, said Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy expert at Tufts University.
“The important thing," she said, "is to make sure that our allies, together with OPEC, don’t decrease any flows to the market at any junction, especially if we have some kind of disruption.”
Even if American oil and gas producers increase production, tough challenges would remain — namely, finding additional refinery space and then enough pipeline capacity to transport any additional diesel.
In the meantime, some truckers are struggling to adjust while keeping goods moving. Sherri Brumbaugh, who runs a fleet of 90 trucks as head of Garner Trucking, has installed more fuel pumps on-site in Findlay, Ohio, because she can obtain diesel more cheaply than her truckers can on the road.
She also monitors where her drivers are buying fuel to make sure they're making wise decisions. And she tries to absorb the higher fuel costs herself as much as possible.
But “at some point," she said, “you’ve got to go to the customer and say, ‘I’ve got to increase this rate.' ”
Brumbaugh declined to say how much she's raised rates on her customers, which range from bottled beverage companies to dishwasher manufacturers.
Lately, she said, there’s been less retail freight to haul. “It may be an indication of a recession,” she said. “I hope not.”
Cargo Transporters, which runs 470 trucks and 1,800 trailers, raised its rates, too, and has been turning down some jobs to Florida, where trucks often must return without a load, said Shawn Brown, a company executive. When there's no cargo on a truck, no one pays the trucking company. But the driver still has to be paid, and fuel is still burned.
“When that trailer’s not loaded and there’s no revenue being generated and a mile is run, we’re eating that,” Brown said.
UPS and FedEx have more than doubled their fuel surcharges on ground deliveries year-over-year, according to calculations by Cowen Research and AFS Logistics.
Farmers also face higher costs. But they can't easily raise prices, because they often don’t control the price of their goods. Milk and grain prices, for example, are set by the market.
“It’s costing us more for freight to get things delivered to the farm, and it’s costing more to haul things away,” said David Fisher, a dairy farmer in Madrid, New York, who is president of the New York Farm Bureau, which lobbies governments on behalf of farmers. “We’re planting crops and harvesting crops, and the cost of those are going to be higher, but we don’t know if we can recoup those costs.”
To burn less fuel, he's considered skipping a tillage pass, a maneuver whereby a tractor manipulates soil to enhance crop growth. But doing so would risk having fewer crops to harvest.
A year ago, Fisher was spending $8,000 a week on fuel. This year, he said, the figure reached around $20,000.
“Everybody I talk to has quite a bit of anxiety over these fuel prices,” Fisher said.
Biden has called on Congress and states to suspend their gasoline or diesel taxes for a few months to help alleviate pain for drivers, but Congress appears unwilling to enact a tax holiday. Some states temporarily suspended some taxes on diesel and other motor fuels.
With high diesel prices persisting, LaBree and her husband are working more hours to manage costs. They used to stay on the road for four days and come home to Missouri for three. Now, she said, “we have to stay out for five — sometimes six — days to make up for what we’ve lost from fuel."
“Most truckers like to think of ourselves as, we’re serving our country, moving goods around to keep America going,” LaBree said. “But at what point are we doing it for free? I can’t run a business that way.” | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/business/article/Sky-high-diesel-prices-squeeze-truckers-farmers-17316603.php | 2022-07-20 15:10:38 | 0 | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/business/article/Sky-high-diesel-prices-squeeze-truckers-farmers-17316603.php |
Commitment to Carbon Neutrality by 2035 in Scope 1 and Scope 2 Emissions
NORTHBOROUGH, Mass., July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE: ASPN) ("Aspen" or the "Company"), a technology leader in sustainability and electrification solutions, today announced the release of its inaugural Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") Highlights Report, which is available on the Company's newly launched ESG webpage at https://ir.aerogel.com/esg/. Aspen's ESG Highlights Report provides a comprehensive overview of the Company's approach to sustainability, including its commitments around climate-conscious operations, environmentally responsible manufacturing, stakeholder engagement, corporate social responsibility, and strong governance practices, amongst other key topics related to its overall ESG strategy.
Highlights from Aspen's inaugural ESG report include:
- Stated commitment to carbon neutrality by 2035 in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions
- Established ESG Steering Committee comprised of multi-disciplinary senior leaders, with oversight from the Board of Directors and its Nominating, Governance & Sustainability Committee
- Undertook ESG materiality assessment and identified nine key topics across three workstreams – sustainable products, green manufacturing and social responsibility – that will frame current and future ESG priorities and corresponding program activities
- Initiated scoping of key performance indicators for ESG framework, which is designed to improve data management and reporting, as well as track future progress and benchmark improvements
Donald R. Young, President and Chief Executive Officer, noted, "The management team and the Board of Directors at Aspen Aerogels are proud to release our inaugural ESG Highlights Report. This report is the culmination of a company-wide effort to identify our most pressing ESG priorities and challenges, develop a comprehensive framework for operationalizing our ESG commitments and track our progress, and ultimately provide greater transparency to our stakeholders regarding our ESG journey. We believe we have a responsibility to make a positive impact on our communities and are committed to creating a corporate culture that pursues its mission with the highest standards of integrity. We respect and celebrate our employees by striving to create a diverse and inclusive environment."
Mr. Young added, "Sustainability is at the very core of our products, which provide wide-ranging benefits to our customers in terms of both environmental impact and improved safety. We believe that our intrinsic product benefits, combined with continued improvements across our environmental and sustainability programs, employee and community engagement efforts, and ongoing commitment to sound governance practices, will put Aspen well on the path toward achieving our ESG goals."
About Aspen Aerogels, Inc.
Aspen is a technology leader in sustainability and electrification solutions. The Company's aerogel technology enables its customers and partners to achieve their own objectives around the global megatrends of resource efficiency, e-mobility and clean energy. Aspen's PyroThin® products enable solutions to thermal runaway challenges within the electric vehicle ("EV") market. Aspen Battery Materials, the Company's carbon aerogel initiative, seeks to increase the performance of lithium-ion battery cells to enable EV manufacturers to extend the driving range and reduce the cost of EVs. Aspen's Spaceloft® products provide building owners with industry-leading energy efficiency and fire safety. The Company's Cryogel® and Pyrogel® products are valued by the world's largest energy infrastructure companies. Aspen's strategy is to partner with world-class industry leaders to leverage its Aerogel Technology Platform™ into additional high-value markets. Headquartered in Northborough, Mass., Aspen manufactures its products at its East Providence, R.I. facilities. For more information, please visit www.aerogel.com.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This press release and any related discussion contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including statements relating to Aspen's stated commitment to carbon neutrality by 2035 in its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. These statements are not historical facts but rather are based on Aspen's current expectations, estimates and projections regarding Aspen's business, operations and other factors relating thereto, including with respect to Aspen's 2022 financial outlook. Words such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "anticipate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "outlook," "assumes," and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, Aspen's expectations about its long term growth strategy, future growth trajectory, revenue and operations; Aspen's technology and alignment with broader trends in the EV market; opportunities presented by electrification; beliefs about the general strength, weakness or health of Aspen's business; and beliefs about current or future trends in EV thermal barrier, EV battery materials or other markets and the impact of these trends on Aspen's business. All such forward-looking statements are based on management's present expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: an inability to create new product, partnership and market opportunities; the right of EV thermal barrier customers to cancel contracts with Aspen at any time and without penalty; any costs, expenses, or investments incurred by Aspen in excess of projections used to develop pricing under the contracts with EV thermal barrier customers; any failure of Aspen or PyroThin® to meet contractual specifications and requirements under contracts with EV thermal barrier customers; any failure of Aspen's products to meet applicable specifications and other performance, safety, technical and delivery requirements; the general economic conditions and cyclical demands in the markets that Aspen serves; and the other risk factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 1, 2022, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our subsequent periodic and current reports filed with the SEC. All statements contained in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release. Aspen does not intend to update this information unless required by law.
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SOURCE Aspen Aerogels, Inc. | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/07/29/aspen-aerogels-inc-announces-release-inaugural-esg-highlights-report/ | 2022-07-29 13:43:47 | 1 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/07/29/aspen-aerogels-inc-announces-release-inaugural-esg-highlights-report/ |
Book ban efforts surging in 2022, library association says
NEW YORK (AP) — The wave of attempted book banning and restrictions continues to intensify, the American Library Association reported Friday. Numbers for 2022 already approach last year’s totals, which were the highest in decades.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “It’s both the number of challenges and the kinds of challenges. It used to be a parent had learned about a given book and had an issue with it. Now we see campaigns where organizations are compiling lists of books, without necessarily reading or even looking at them.”
The ALA has documented 681 challenges to books through the first eight months of this year, involving 1,651 different titles. In all of 2021, the ALA listed 729 challenges, directed at 1,579 books. Because the ALA relies on media accounts and reports from libraries, the actual number of challenges is likely far higher, the library association believes.
Friday’s announcement is timed to Banned Books Week, which begins Sunday and will be promoted around the country through table displays, posters, bookmarks and stickers and through readings, essay contests and other events highlighting contested works. According to a report issued in April, the most targeted books have included Maia Kobabe’s graphic memoir about sexual identity, “Gender Queer,” and Jonathan Evison’s “Lawn Boy,” a coming-of-age novel narrated by a young gay man.
“We’re seeing that trend continue in 2022, the criticism of books with LGBTQ subject matter,” Caldwell-Jones says, adding that books about racism such as Angie Thomas’ novel “The Hate U Give” also are frequently challenged.
Banned Books Weeks is overseen by a coalition of writing and free speech organizations, including the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Authors Guild and PEN America.
Conservative attacks against schools and libraries have proliferated nationwide over the past two years, and librarians themselves have been harassed and even driven out of their jobs. A middle school librarian in Denham Springs, Louisiana, has filed a legal complaint against a Facebook page which labeled her a “criminal and a pedophile.” Voters in a western Michigan community, Jamestown Township, backed drastic cuts in the local library over objections to “Gender Queer” and other LGBTQ books.
Audrey Wilson-Youngblood, who in June quit her job as a library media specialist in the Keller Independent School District in Texas, laments what she calls the “erosion of the credibility and competency” in how her profession is viewed. At the Boundary County Library in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, library director Kimber Glidden resigned recently after months of harassment that included the shouting of Biblical passages referring to divine punishment. The campaign began with a single complaint about “Gender Queer,” which the library didn’t even stock, and escalated to the point where Glidden feared for her safety.
“We were being accused of being pedophiles and grooming children,” she says. “People were showing up armed at library board meetings.”
The executive director of the Virginia Library Association, Lisa R. Varga, says librarians in the state have received threatening emails and have been videotaped on the job, tactics she says that “are not like anything that those who went into this career were expecting to see.” Becky Calzada, library coordinator for the Leander Independent School District in Texas, says she has friends who have left the profession and colleagues who are afraid and “feel threatened.”
“I know some worry about promoting Banned Books Week because they might be accused of trying to advance an agenda,” she says. “There’s a lot of trepidation.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wafb.com/2022/09/16/book-ban-efforts-surging-2022-library-association-says/ | 2022-09-16 14:44:05 | 0 | https://www.wafb.com/2022/09/16/book-ban-efforts-surging-2022-library-association-says/ |
HAYWARD, Calif., July 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: UCTT), today announced the Company will release its second quarter 2022 financial results on Thursday, July 28, 2022, after market close and will host a conference call and webcast the same day.
The conference call and webcast will take place at 1:45 p.m. PT and can be accessed by dialing 1-844-826-3034 or 1-412-317-5179. No passcode is required. A replay of the call will be available by dialing 1-877-344-7529 or 1-412-317-0088 and entering the confirmation code 6271791. The Webcast will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://uct.com/investors/events/.
Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. is a leading developer and supplier of critical subsystems, components, parts, and ultra-high purity cleaning and analytical services primarily for the semiconductor industry. Under its Products division, UCT offers its customers an integrated outsourced solution for major subassemblies, improved design-to-delivery cycle times, design for manufacturability, prototyping, and high-precision manufacturing. Under its Services Division, UCT offers its customers tool chamber parts cleaning and coating, as well as micro-contamination analytical services. Ultra Clean is headquartered in Hayward, California. Additional information is available at www.uct.com.
Contact:
Rhonda Bennetto
SVP Investor Relations
rbennetto@uct.com
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SOURCE Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/07/06/ultra-clean-announces-date-second-quarter-2022-financial-results/ | 2022-07-06 13:21:58 | 0 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/07/06/ultra-clean-announces-date-second-quarter-2022-financial-results/ |
DETROIT (AP) — Seven major automakers say they’re joining forces to build a North American electric vehicle charging network that would rival Tesla’s and nearly double the number of fast-charging plugs in the U.S. and Canada.
General Motors, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes and Stellantis said Wednesday that they will share in a multi-billion dollar investment to build “high power” charging stations with 30,000 plugs in urban areas and along travel corridors.
The dramatic move is intended to speed the adoption of electric vehicles, allaying fears that chargers won’t be available for long distance travel.
The companies wouldn’t disclose the exact number of charging stations or financial details of the joint venture they’re forming to put the network in place. While they said the first of the chargers will be ready by next summer, they also would not say how long it will take to build the entire network.
The automakers said in a joint statement Wednesday that they want to build the “leading network” of reliable high-powered charging stations in North America.
“The parties have agreed not to disclose specific investment numbers at this time, but the seven founding automakers intend to work as equals to ensure the success of the joint venture,” the companies said in a written statement answering questions from The Associated Press. “As you can imagine, such a high-powered charging network of this scale requires a multibillion dollar investment.”
There are currently just under 8,700 direct-current fast-charging stations in the U.S. and Canada with nearly 36,000 charging plugs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Fast chargers can get a battery to 80% of its capacity in 20 minutes to one hour, making them optimal for travel corridors and in some cases comparable to a gasoline fill-up. They’re much quicker than 240-volt “Level 2” chargers that can take hours to get a battery to a full charge.
The new network is expected to have 10 to 20 charging plugs per station, meaning there would be a minimum of 1,500 stations and a maximum of about 3,000.
Tesla’s network, with the largest number of fast chargers in North America, has 2,050 stations and more than 22,000 plugs in the U.S. and Canada, the DOE says.
The network formed by the seven automakers would be public and open to all electric vehicle owners. It will have connectors for both Tesla’s North American Charging Standard plugs as well as the Combined Charging System plugs used by other automakers.
The automakers will seek to use U.S. government funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law to help pay for the network.
“This joint venture will be a critical step in accelerating EV adoption across the U.S. and Canada, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said in a statement. | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/major-automakers-unite-to-build-electric-vehicle-charging-network-they-say-will-rival-teslas/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2023-07-26 14:55:23 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/major-automakers-unite-to-build-electric-vehicle-charging-network-they-say-will-rival-teslas/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
Police: Shark kills US tourist snorkeling in Bahamas
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Authorities say a shark has attacked and killed a U.S. cruise ship passenger who was snorkeling in waters around the Bahamas.
Tuesday’s attack involved a 58-year-old woman from Pennsylvania and occurred at a popular snorkeling spot near Green Cay in the northern Bahamas, police spokeswoman Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told The Associated Press.
Skippings said the woman’s family identified it as a bull shark.
The majority of shark attacks in the Caribbean have occurred in the Bahamas, with two reported in 2019, one of them fatal.
That incident involved a Southern California woman who was attacked by three sharks near Rose Island, located just a half mile from where Tuesday’s attacked occurred.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kxii.com/2022/09/07/police-shark-kills-us-tourist-snorkeling-bahamas/ | 2022-09-07 11:47:12 | 1 | https://www.kxii.com/2022/09/07/police-shark-kills-us-tourist-snorkeling-bahamas/ |
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Sunday, the latest of a recent barrage of weapons tests, a day after it warned the redeployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula was inflaming regional tensions.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected two missile launches Sunday between 1:48 a.m. and 1:58 a.m. from the North’s eastern coastal city of Munchon. It added that South Korea’s military has boosted its surveillance posture and maintains a readiness in close coordination with the United States.
Japanese Vice Defense Minister Toshiro Ino also confirmed the launches, saying Pyongyang’s testing activities are “absolutely unacceptable” as they threaten regional and international peace and security.
Ino said the weapons could be submarine-launched ballistic missiles. “We are continuing to analyze details of the missiles, including a possibility that they might have been launched from the sea,” Ino said.
North Korea’s pursuit of an ability to fire missiles from a submarine would constitute an alarming development for its rivals because it’s harder to detect such launches in advance. North Korea was believed to have last tested a missile launch from a submarine in May.
The South Korean and Japanese militaries assessed that the missiles flew about 350 kilometers (217 miles) and reached maximum altitudes of 90 to 100 kilometers (56 to 60 miles) before falling into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida separately instructed officials to gather and analyze all information they could and expedite any updates about the tests to the public. His office said it also was seeking to ensure the safety of all aircraft and ships in waters around Japan while preparing for any contingencies.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launches didn’t pose any immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to its allies. But it said the launches highlight “the destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. It said U.S. commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan remain “ironclad.”
The launch, the North’s seventh round of weapons tests in two weeks, came hours after the United States and South Korea wrapped up two days of naval drills off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast.
The drills involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group, which returned to the area after North Korea fired a powerful missile over Japan last week to protest the carrier group’s previous training with South Korea.
On Saturday, North Korea’s Defense Ministry warned that the Reagan’s redeployment was causing a “considerably huge negative splash” in regional security. The ministry called its recent missile tests a “righteous reaction” to intimidating military drills between South Korea and the United States.
North Korea regards U.S.-South Korean military exercises as an invasion rehearsal and is especially sensitive if such drills involve U.S. strategic assets such as an aircraft carrier. North Korea has argued it was forced to pursue a nuclear weapons program to cope with U.S. nuclear threats. U.S. and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they have no intentions of attacking the North.
North Korea has launched more than 40 ballistic and cruise missiles in over 20 different events this year, exploiting a division in the U.N. Security Council deepened over Russia’s war on Ukraine as a window to speed up arms development.
The record number of tests included last week’s launch of a nuclear-capable missile that flew over Japan for the first time in five years. It was estimated to have traveled about 4,500-4,600 kilometers (2,800-2,860 miles), a distance sufficient to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.
South Korean officials say Pyongyang may up the ante soon by conducting an intercontinental ballistic missile or a nuclear test explosion, following a traditional pattern of manufacturing diplomatic crises with weapons tests and threats before offering negotiations aimed at extracting concessions. There are also concerns about provocations along the Koreas’ land and sea borders.
Sunday’s launches came on the eve of the 77th anniversary of the foundation of the North Korean ruling Workers’ Party.
Earlier this year, North Korea tested other nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that place the U.S. mainland, South Korea and Japan within striking distance.
North Korea’s testing spree indicates its leader, Kim Jong Un, has no intention of resuming diplomacy with the U.S. and wants to focus on expanding his weapons arsenal. But some experts say Kim would eventually aim to use his advanced nuclear program to wrest greater outside concessions, such as the recognition of North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state, which Kim thinks is essential in getting crippling U.N. sanctions lifted.
South Korean officials recently said North Korea was also prepared to test a new liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile while maintaining readiness to perform its first underground nuclear test since 2017. ___ Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/national/ap-n-korea-launches-missile-toward-sea-after-us-skorea-drills/ | 2022-10-08 23:59:15 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/national/ap-n-korea-launches-missile-toward-sea-after-us-skorea-drills/ |
WIMBLEDON – Twice, Iga Swiatek was a single point from exiting Wimbledon on Sunday, a single point from the sort of confounding defeat at the place that gives her so much more trouble than any of the other Grand Slam tournaments.
Down a set and 6-5 in the second against Belinda Bencic, the No. 1-ranked Swiatek steeled herself and dispensed with the pair of match points. She erased the first with a booming forehand, the second with a forceful backhand, and soon enough, Swiatek was not just back in the contest, she was controlling it.
Frustrated in the late afternoon sunshine at Centre Court, so close to defeat in the early evening shadows, Swiatek managed to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time by coming back for a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over the 14th-seeded Bencic.
“I threw everything I could at her,” Bencic said, “and I pushed her to the limit.”
Swiatek, a 22-year-old from Poland who will face wild-card entry Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a semifinal berth, extended her unbeaten run to 14 matches, which includes claiming her fourth major title at the French Open last month.
Swiatek has won three championships at Roland Garros, and one at the U.S. Open, but she never before had been past the fourth round at the All England Club. Last year, she had a 37-match winning streak snapped during a third-round Wimbledon loss.
So comfortable on the red clay of Paris, so capable on the hard courts in New York — and at the Australian Open, where she has made it to the semifinals — Swiatek is just not quite the same player yet on the grass used at the year’s third Grand Slam tournament.
“I wasn’t sure that it’s going to end that way. I’m happy that I kind of kept my belief and I just played and I didn’t look back,” Swiatek said. “For sure this match is going to give me more belief. I’m happy that it was really tight and I could still play my game. These are important moments, for sure. You have to kind of take all the positive stuff from matches like that.”
Svitolina, a 2019 semifinalist at Wimbledon who had a baby last October and returned to the tour this April, advanced Sunday by edging two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9).
"After giving birth to our daughter, this is the second-happiest moment in my life," Svitolina said.
The other quarterfinal on the top half of the women's bracket will be No. 4 Jessica Pegula vs. 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova.
One men's quarterfinals established Sunday was No. 8 Jannik Sinner against Roman Safiullin. No. 7 Andrey Rublev moved on but had to wait to find out his opponent, because seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic's match against No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz was suspended at night after Djokovic took the first two sets 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6). That will resume Monday.
The big-hitting Bencic unfurled a right upper arm heavily wrapped in beige and white tape from her shoulder to above her elbow to deliver powerful shot after powerful shot. It was the kind of display that carried her to two medals for Switzerland — a gold in singles, a silver in doubles — at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and a semifinal appearance at the 2019 U.S. Open.
And Swiatek frequently displayed signs of dismay.
She slapped her right thigh after ceding one point. After another, she looked up at her coach and her sports psychologist in the guest box with arms spread and palms up, as if to say, “What is happening?” Swiatek then walked behind the baseline with her back to the net and stared straight ahead at the green wall behind the Royal Box. During a changeover, she blocked everything out by draping a purple-and-green tournament towel over her head.
Swiatek certainly had her chances to move in front far earlier than she did.
Six times in the first set, she held a break point. Six times, she failed to cash in. Two came when she held set points while ahead 5-4 in the opener, but after Swiatek did not convert either, Bencic raced to a 6-1 lead in the ensuing tiebreaker before sealing it.
Swiatek headed to the locker room after that set and seemed to be back to her best immediately, finally breaking and eventually going up 3-1. But she let that advantage slip away by dropping the next three games and suddenly needed to erase the match points while behind 6-5.
Once past that key stretch, Swiatek straightened things out in the next tiebreaker.
From 2-all, she reeled off five consecutive points, the last of which was a double-fault by Bencic, to send the encounter to a third set.
And that, at long last, is when Swiatek looked like the woman who took over at No. 1 in the rankings in April 2022 and hasn’t loosened her grip on that spot.
“She's incredibly precise or just has great depth and, kind of, the balls are really, really deep into your feet,” Bencic said, noting that plenty of Swiatek's shots landed right on the lines.
Bencic screamed after missing a forehand to hand over a break point, then double-faulted for the 10th time to gift-wrap another 3-1 lead for Swiatek in the deciding set.
Swiatek protected that margin this time, and 23 minutes later — about an hour after being a point from losing — she was punching the air after delivering a cross-court forehand winner to end it.
“I‘m just happy that I won it,” Swiatek said, “'cause it feels I’m going the right direction.”
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.clickorlando.com/sports/2023/07/09/russian-teenager-mirra-andreeva-reaches-4th-round-at-wimbledon-in-her-debut-at-the-all-england-club/ | 2023-07-09 23:05:45 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/sports/2023/07/09/russian-teenager-mirra-andreeva-reaches-4th-round-at-wimbledon-in-her-debut-at-the-all-england-club/ |
Pennsylvania governor orders flags to half-staff to honor 7 dead in chocolate factory blast
WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — The governor of Pennsylvania has ordered commonwealth flags flown at half-staff in honor of seven people whose bodies were recovered from the site of a powerful explosion at a chocolate factory.
“West Reading, we stand with you — and we’ll continue to provide all of the support your community needs,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a Twitter post Monday, referring to the borough about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia where the R.M. Palmer Co. plant blast occurred at about 5 p.m. Friday.
West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag, in a statement Sunday night, called it “a devastating loss” but said “we are truly grateful to bring closure to the families involved in the upcoming days.”
The Berks County coroner’s office on Monday morning identified two of the victims as 49-year-old Amy Sandoe of Ephrata and 60-year-old Domingo Cruz of Reading and said “additional forensic medical examinations” would be needed to positively identify the other five victims. Autopsies are expected to be completed by the end of week, officials said.
West Reading Borough Chief of Police Wayne Holben said at a press briefing just after 9 p.m. Sunday that rescue workers had earlier in the evening found two bodies believed to be the remaining two individuals listed as missing. One of the victims was found around 6:50 p.m. and the other around 8:20 p.m., Holben said. Earlier, Kaag confirmed to The Associated Press that the fifth body was found Sunday morning. Holben said the body of a fourth victim was found under debris early Sunday.
Rescue crews had been using heat imaging equipment and dogs to search for possible survivors after the blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. Crews were using heavy equipment to methodically and carefully pull debris from the site, Holben said.
Three buildings around the site will be condemned as a precaution, but that didn’t mean they were uninhabitable or slated for demolition, merely that they would need further examination by structural engineers, Kaag said.
Officials said they had no update on the condition of a woman pulled alive from the rubble early Saturday. Kaag said she had apparently been on the second floor and was found in a “hopeful circumstance,” calling out to rescuers despite her injuries after a dog located her.
Officials also reported no updates on the conditions of those taken to hospitals. Reading Hospital said it received 10 patients and transferred two to other facilities, while two others were admitted in good and fair condition respectively and the others had been discharged.
R.M. Palmer said in a statement Saturday that everyone at the company was “devastated” and it was reaching out to employees and their families through first responders and disaster recovery organizations because its communication systems were down.
State and local fire investigators are continuing to examine the scene to try to determine the cause of the blast.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbrc.com/2023/03/27/pennsylvania-governor-orders-flags-half-staff-honor-7-dead-chocolate-factory-blast/ | 2023-03-27 18:32:44 | 0 | https://www.wbrc.com/2023/03/27/pennsylvania-governor-orders-flags-half-staff-honor-7-dead-chocolate-factory-blast/ |
WFO SEATTLE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, February 14, 2023
_____
HIGH SURF ADVISORY
Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Seattle WA
331 PM PST Mon Feb 13 2023
...HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST TUESDAY...
* WHAT...Large breaking waves of 15 to 21 feet in the surf zone.
* WHERE...North Coast and Central Coast zones.
* WHEN...Until 4 AM PST Tuesday.
* IMPACTS...Dangerous swimming and surfing conditions and
localized beach erosion.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The largest waves are expected this
evening.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Inexperienced swimmers should remain out of the water due to
dangerous surf conditions.
_____
Copyright 2023 AccuWeather | https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/wa-wfo-seattle-warnings-watches-and-advisories-17782320.php | 2023-02-14 00:00:10 | 0 | https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/wa-wfo-seattle-warnings-watches-and-advisories-17782320.php |
Kayla Martel tallied 14 points as Wardlaw-Hartridge held off Woodbridge Magnet 40-38 in Woodbridge.
Devin Coleman finished with 12 points while Rajwans Sindhar had six for Wardlaw-Hartridge (8-2), which has won two of its last three games.
Vidisha Maharana led Woodbridge Magnet (6-8) with 17 points and five rebounds while Dhanashri Balamurugan had seven points and four steals. Jasmine Wilk grabbed eight rebounds.
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.
As always, please report scores to njschoolsports.com. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. | https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2023/01/girls-basketball-wardlaw-hartridge-withstands-woodbridge-magnet.html | 2023-01-21 00:03:55 | 0 | https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2023/01/girls-basketball-wardlaw-hartridge-withstands-woodbridge-magnet.html |
ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the Connecticut Lottery's "Cash 5" game were:
10-17-21-22-31
(ten, seventeen, twenty-one, twenty-two, thirty-one)
ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the Connecticut Lottery's "Cash 5" game were:
10-17-21-22-31
(ten, seventeen, twenty-one, twenty-two, thirty-one) | https://www.ourmidland.com/lottery/article/winning-numbers-drawn-in-cash-5-game-17747735.php | 2023-01-28 05:00:02 | 0 | https://www.ourmidland.com/lottery/article/winning-numbers-drawn-in-cash-5-game-17747735.php |
LOUISA, Ky. (FOX 56) — Louisa police are warning citizens to be aware of a scam involving “American Idol” winner Noah Thompson, who is a Louisa resident.
Scammers created a fake Facebook page posing as Thompson and followed people who have interacted with his genuine page. The account then messaged individuals saying they have “won $5,000” and to register to receive the prize by clicking on an attached link.
The Louisa Police Department emphasized you should not accept a friend request from any fake Noah Thompson accounts and never click on any links sent to you.
Noah’s genuine account has been verified by Facebook and therefore has a blue checkmark next to the name. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/kentucky/louisa-police-warn-of-scammers-posing-as-american-idol-winner-noah-thompson/ | 2022-05-26 20:59:01 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/kentucky/louisa-police-warn-of-scammers-posing-as-american-idol-winner-noah-thompson/ |
Florida swelters as 'feels like' temperatures climb over 105 degrees on 4th of July
Heat Advisories have been posted across much of the state Tuesday, stretching from Jacksonville to Miami, with only the Florida Panhandle excepted.
ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s July in Florida, which means it’s hot and humid. But for the 4th of July, it will be quite hot and humid even by Florida standards, as temperatures will feel like well over 100 degrees in some areas.
Heat Advisories have been posted across much of the state Tuesday, stretching from Jacksonville to Miami, with only the Florida Panhandle excepted.
High temperatures will soar into the mid-upper 90s— nearing record-heat territory though likely to come up just a few degrees shy.
But with higher-than-usual humidity levels, heat index readings will cross beyond triple digits, and in some cases around east central Florida, even past 110 degrees.
WHAT IS THE HEAT INDEX AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOUR HEALTH?
"It is not just the heat, but the humidity— which is to be expected this time of year for Florida, but we’re talking about ‘feels like’ temperatures that could be getting up to 112 -115 degrees," says FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin. "So that’s when we go from typical hot and humid for Florida, to pushing the envelope for safety."
Orlando will see ‘feels like’ temperatures around 105 Tuesday and Wednesday, with it feeling like 106 in Tampa and Naples. Even Miami will feel over 100 degrees.
"And we have a lot of folks traveling to Florida who are not Floridians," Merwin said. "If you’re from Montana, and you’re flying down to Orlando to enjoy the 4th of July, you’re really going to be hit in the face by that 105 feels-like temperature. So make sure if you do have family that is visiting you, you keep everyone safe."
That goes for the long-time residents too.
"Even if you’re seasoned with the heat and humidity because you’ve lived down South for a while, you can get yourself into some tricky situations," Merwin said.
EATING ICE CREAM IN THE SUMMER HEAT MIGHT BE MAKING YOU EVEN HOTTER
Heat lingers across the Southeast
Florida has no monopoly on a hot and humid 4th of July.
Heat alerts also stretch across parts of the Carolinas Tuesday as heat indexes reach over 100-105.
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, will feel like 102 degrees Tuesday, while Wilmington, North Carolina, could feel like 104.
Much of the rest of the Southeast will see heat indexes reach well into the 90s on Tuesday. | https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/florida-swelters-feels-like-temperatures-climb-over-105-on-4th-of-july | 2023-07-04 16:05:16 | 0 | https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/florida-swelters-feels-like-temperatures-climb-over-105-on-4th-of-july |
NEW YORK, Dec. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jakubowitz Law announces that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has commenced on behalf of shareholders of Freshworks Inc. (NASDAQ: FRSH).
To receive updates on the lawsuit, fill out the form:
https://claimyourloss.com/securities/freshworks-inc-lawsuit-loss-submission-form/?id=35136&from=4
This lawsuit is on behalf of persons and entities that purchased Freshworks common stock pursuant to and/or traceable to documents issued in connection with the Company's initial public offering.
Shareholders interested in acting as a lead plaintiff representing the class of wronged shareholders have until January 3, 2023 to petition the court. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.
According to the complaint, the documents used to effectuate Freshworks' initial public offering were false and misleading and omitted to state that, at the time of the initial public offering, the Company's business had encountered obstacles. As a result of these obstacles, Freshworks' net dollar retention rate was plateauing, and its revenue growth rate and billings were decelerating.
Jakubowitz Law is vigorous in pursuit of justice for shareholders who have been the victim of securities fraud. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
JAKUBOWITZ LAW
1140 Avenue of the Americas
9th Floor
New York, New York 10036
T: (212) 867-4490
F: (212) 537-5887
View original content:
SOURCE Jakubowitz Law | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/12/30/frsh-shareholder-alert-jakubowitz-law-reminds-freshworks-shareholders-lead-plaintiff-deadline-january-3-2023/ | 2022-12-30 12:16:35 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/12/30/frsh-shareholder-alert-jakubowitz-law-reminds-freshworks-shareholders-lead-plaintiff-deadline-january-3-2023/ |
Bye Bye High Pressure
Staying hot and humid through this weekend, Monday we are introduced to rain and storms
COLUMBUS, Mississippi (WCBI) – Hot and humid conditions persist through Sunday, we’ll begin to see a gradual shift Monday as shower and storm chances heighten heading into the new work week.
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny with a high near 92. Heat index values are likely to exceed 100 degrees in some places as southerly winds and high pressure aloft help to sustain a warm, moist environment. Slight chance of a shower in the afternoon.
SUNDAY: Sunny conditions prevail along with a few clouds, staying hot and muggy we’ll reach a high temp near 92. PM thunderstorms are possible as high-pressure moves on out and we welcome cooling and condensing thanks to an approaching low-pressure system.
NEXT WEEK: Increased rain and storm chances remain in the forecast through most of the work week. Expect high temperatures to dip into the upper 80s by Wednesday with overnight lows settling in the 70s. | https://www.wcbi.com/bye-bye-high-pressure/ | 2022-08-06 17:05:35 | 0 | https://www.wcbi.com/bye-bye-high-pressure/ |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) – Charges have been filed against a Kansas City, Missouri man accused of shooting a Black teenager who went to the wrong house earlier this month.
Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson announced late Monday afternoon that Andrew D. Lester, 85, is facing charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. The announcement came just hours after Kansas City police submitted the case to prosecutors.
Lester, who is white, is accused of shooting 16-year-old Ralph Yarl last Thursday night after the teen accidentally went to the wrong house to pick up his siblings.
According to Kansas City police, Ralph was picking up his younger siblings at a home on N.E. 115th Terrace when he mistakenly went to Lester’s house on N.E. 115th Street.
He didn’t have a phone with him and went to the wrong block, his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. Spoonmore wrote that Yarl pulled into the driveway and rang the doorbell.
Lester allegedly came to the door and shot the teenager in the head before shooting him again, The Associated Press reports.
Lester was taken into custody after Thursday’s shooting but was released the next day following consulation with the prosecutor’s office, Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday.
Family confirmed with Nexstar’s WDAF that Ralph has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering at home.
Following the charging announcement, Mayor Quinton Lucas released a statement saying “I am relieved to see this first step towards justice for Ralph Yarl with today’s felony charges. Now we must remain engaged through trial.”
A warrant has been issued for Lester’s arrest; his bond has been set at $200,000. As of Monday evening’s press conference, Lester had not been taken into custody.
When asked if anything was said that made investigators believe that the case was racially motivated, Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said nothing like that is indicated in charging documents.
“We understand how frustrating this has been but I can assure the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work,” Thompson added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/man-charged-in-shooting-of-black-kansas-city-teen-who-went-to-the-wrong-house/ | 2023-04-18 01:39:28 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/man-charged-in-shooting-of-black-kansas-city-teen-who-went-to-the-wrong-house/ |
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CINCINNATI (AP) — Two of the St. Louis Cardinals' best players, third baseman Nolan Arenado and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, won't be making the trip to Toronto for a short series with the Blue Jays because they haven't received the COVID-19 vaccination.
The Cardinals announced Sunday that catcher Austin Romine also will not be going to Canada with the team for its Tuesday and Wednesday games.
Canada has restrictions on travelers who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19.
Arenado, Goldschmidt and Romine will be placed on the restricted list and forfeit pay and major league service time in accordance with the terms of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement. Arenado will lose $384,416, Goldschmidt $241,758 and Romine $10,989.
Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals in most offensive categories, including batting average (.333), home runs (22), RBIs (74), on-base percentage (.416) and hits (116). Arenado has 102 hits, 18 home runs and 59 RBIs.
Romine joined the Cardinals earlier this season as backup for the injured Yadier Molina, who is expected to rejoin the team next month.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Arenado-Goldschmidt-unvaccinated-won-t-make-17325580.php | 2022-07-24 17:06:30 | 0 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Arenado-Goldschmidt-unvaccinated-won-t-make-17325580.php |
JUNO BEACH, Fla., Nov. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) and NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) today announced that members of the senior management team will participate in the EEI Financial Conference from Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, through Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, and participate in various investor meetings throughout November and December. They plan to discuss, among other things, long-term growth rate expectations for NextEra Energy and NextEra Energy Partners.
Investors and other interested parties can access a copy of the presentation materials at www.NextEraEnergy.com/investors or www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com.
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. NextEra Energy owns Florida Power & Light Company, which is America's largest electric utility that sells more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8 million customer accounts, or more than 12 million people across Florida. NextEra Energy also owns a competitive clean energy business, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from seven commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. NextEra Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry on Fortune's 2022 list of "World's Most Admired Companies," recognized on Fortune's 2021 list of companies that "Change the World" and received the S&P Global Platts 2020 Energy Transition Award for leadership in environmental, social and governance. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) is a growth-oriented limited partnership formed by NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). NextEra Energy Partners acquires, manages and owns contracted clean energy projects with stable, long-term cash flows. Headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, NextEra Energy Partners owns interests in geographically diverse wind, solar and energy storage projects in the U.S. as well as natural gas infrastructure assets in Texas and Pennsylvania. For more information about NextEra Energy Partners, please visit: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com.
Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results for NextEra Energy, Inc.
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's control. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements concerning long-term growth rate expectations. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NextEra Energy and its business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, or may require it to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this news release and the following: effects of extensive regulation of NextEra Energy's business operations; inability of NextEra Energy to recover in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital through base rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory, operational and economic factors on regulatory decisions important to NextEra Energy; disallowance of cost recovery based on a finding of imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions or modifications to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support utility scale renewable energy projects or the imposition of additional tax laws, tariffs, duties, policies or assessments on renewable energy or equipment necessary to generate it or deliver it; impact of new or revised laws, regulations, interpretations or constitutional ballot and regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy; capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws, regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy; effects on NextEra Energy of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy to significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive federal regulation of its operations and businesses; effect on NextEra Energy of changes in tax laws, guidance or policies as well as in judgments and estimates used to determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy of failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or within budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra Energy resulting from risks related to project siting, planning, financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements, as well as supply chain disruptions; risks involved in the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities, retail gas distribution system in Florida and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy of a lack of growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage; impact on NextEra Energy of severe weather and other weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could result from terrorism, cyberattacks or other attempts to disrupt NextEra Energy's business or the businesses of third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for protection of NextEra Energy against significant losses and risk that insurance coverage does not provide protection against all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact NextEra Energy's gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra Energy to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure projects and could result in certain projects becoming impaired; risk of increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary to provide full energy and capacity requirement services; inability or failure to manage properly or hedge effectively the commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's risk management tools associated with its hedging and trading procedures to protect against significant losses, including the effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior; impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power or natural gas; exposure of NextEra Energy to credit and performance risk from customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of counterparties to perform under derivative contracts or of requirement for NextEra Energy to post margin cash collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra Energy's information technology systems; risks to NextEra Energy's retail businesses from compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity in over-the-counter markets; impact of negative publicity; inability to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements; occurrence of work strikes or stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions, including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions; environmental, health and financial risks associated with ownership and operation of nuclear generation facilities; liability of NextEra Energy for significant retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the event of an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures and/or reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra Energy's owned nuclear generation units through the end of their respective operating licenses; effect of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets or actions by third parties in connection with project-specific or other financing arrangements on NextEra Energy's ability to fund its liquidity and capital needs and meet its growth objectives; inability to maintain current credit ratings; impairment of liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their credit commitments or to maintain their current credit ratings; poor market performance and other economic factors that could affect NextEra Energy's defined benefit pension plan's funded status; poor market performance and other risks to the asset values of nuclear decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect of inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance under guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock; the fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra Energy's common stock, as well as the dividend policy approved by NextEra Energy's board of directors from time to time, and changes to that policy, are within the sole discretion of NextEra Energy's board of directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in amounts that are less than might be expected by shareholders; NextEra Energy Partners, LP's inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms could have an effect on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy's limited partner interest in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP; effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets on the market price of NextEra Energy's common stock; and the ultimate severity and duration of public health crises, epidemics and pandemics, and its effects on NextEra Energy's business. NextEra Energy discusses these and other risks and uncertainties in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and other Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and this news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings. The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results for NextEra Energy Partners, LP
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (together with its subsidiaries, NEP) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NEP's control. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements concerning long-term growth rate expectations. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "aim," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NEP and its business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause NEP's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties could require NEP to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: NEP's ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders is affected by wind and solar conditions at its renewable energy projects; Operation and maintenance of renewable energy projects and pipelines involve significant risks that could result in unplanned power outages, reduced output or capacity, personal injury or loss of life; NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects can be materially adversely affected by weather conditions, including, but not limited to, the impact of severe weather; NEP depends on certain of the renewable energy projects and pipelines in its portfolio for a substantial portion of its anticipated cash flows; NEP may pursue the repowering of wind projects or the expansion of natural gas pipelines that would require up-front capital expenditures and could expose NEP to project development risks; Terrorist acts, cyberattacks or other similar events could impact NEP's projects, pipelines or surrounding areas and adversely affect its business; The ability of NEP to obtain insurance and the terms of any available insurance coverage could be materially adversely affected by international, national, state or local events and company-specific events, as well as the financial condition of insurers. NEP's insurance coverage does not provide protection against all significant losses; NEP relies on interconnection, transmission and other pipeline facilities of third parties to deliver energy from its renewable energy projects and to transport natural gas to and from its pipelines. If these facilities become unavailable, NEP's projects and pipelines may not be able to operate or deliver energy or may become partially or fully unavailable to transport natural gas; NEP's business is subject to liabilities and operating restrictions arising from environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, compliance with which may require significant capital expenditures, increase NEP's cost of operations and affect or limit its business plans; NEP's renewable energy projects or pipelines may be adversely affected by legislative changes or a failure to comply with applicable energy and pipeline regulations; Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) may claim certain immunities under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and Mexican law, and the Texas pipeline entities' ability to sue or recover from Pemex for breach of contract may be limited and may be exacerbated if there is a deterioration in the economic relationship between the U.S. and Mexico; NEP does not own all of the land on which the projects in its portfolio are located and its use and enjoyment of the property may be adversely affected to the extent that there are any lienholders or land rights holders that have rights that are superior to NEP's rights or the U.S. Bureau of Land Management suspends its federal rights-of-way grants; NEP is subject to risks associated with litigation or administrative proceedings that could materially impact its operations, including, but not limited to, proceedings related to projects it acquires in the future; NEP's operations require NEP to comply with anti-corruption laws and regulations of the U.S. government and Mexico; NEP is subject to risks associated with its ownership interests in projects that are under construction, which could result in its inability to complete construction projects on time or at all, and make projects too expensive to complete or cause the return on an investment to be less than expected; NEP relies on a limited number of customers and is exposed to the risk that they may be unwilling or unable to fulfill their contractual obligations to NEP or that they otherwise terminate their agreements with NEP; NEP may not be able to extend, renew or replace expiring or terminated power purchase agreements (PPA), natural gas transportation agreements or other customer contracts at favorable rates or on a long-term basis; If the energy production by or availability of NEP's renewable energy projects is less than expected, they may not be able to satisfy minimum production or availability obligations under their PPAs; NEP's growth strategy depends on locating and acquiring interests in additional projects consistent with its business strategy at favorable prices; Reductions in demand for natural gas in the United States or Mexico and low market prices of natural gas could materially adversely affect NEP's pipeline operations and cash flows; Government laws, regulations and policies providing incentives and subsidies for clean energy could be changed, reduced or eliminated at any time and such changes may negatively impact NEP's growth strategy; NEP's growth strategy depends on the acquisition of projects developed by NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) and third parties, which face risks related to project siting, financing, construction, permitting, the environment, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements; Acquisitions of existing clean energy projects involve numerous risks; NEP may continue to acquire other sources of clean energy and may expand to include other types of assets. Any further acquisition of non-renewable energy projects may present unforeseen challenges and result in a competitive disadvantage relative to NEP's more-established competitors; NEP faces substantial competition primarily from regulated utilities, developers, independent power producers, pension funds and private equity funds for opportunities in North America; The natural gas pipeline industry is highly competitive, and increased competitive pressure could adversely affect NEP's business; NEP may not be able to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms, which would have a material adverse effect on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and pursue other growth opportunities; Restrictions in NEP and its subsidiaries' financing agreements could adversely affect NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders; NEP's cash distributions to its unitholders may be reduced as a result of restrictions on NEP's subsidiaries' cash distributions to NEP under the terms of their indebtedness or other financing agreements; NEP's subsidiaries' substantial amount of indebtedness may adversely affect NEP's ability to operate its business, and its failure to comply with the terms of its subsidiaries' indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on NEP's financial condition; NEP is exposed to risks inherent in its use of interest rate swaps; Widespread public health crises and epidemics or pandemics may have material adverse impacts on NEP's business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders; NEE has influence over NEP; Under the cash sweep and credit support agreement, NEP receives credit support from NEE and its affiliates. NEP's subsidiaries may default under contracts or become subject to cash sweeps if credit support is terminated, if NEE or its affiliates fail to honor their obligations under credit support arrangements, or if NEE or another credit support provider ceases to satisfy creditworthiness requirements, and NEP will be required in certain circumstances to reimburse NEE for draws that are made on credit support; NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (NEER) or one of its affiliates is permitted to borrow funds received by NEP's subsidiaries and is obligated to return these funds only as needed to cover project costs and distributions or as demanded by NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP (NEP OpCo). NEP's financial condition and ability to make distributions to its unitholders, as well as its ability to grow distributions in the future, is highly dependent on NEER's performance of its obligations to return all or a portion of these funds; NEER's right of first refusal may adversely affect NEP's ability to consummate future sales or to obtain favorable sale terms; NextEra Energy Partners GP, Inc. (NEP GP) and its affiliates may have conflicts of interest with NEP and have limited duties to NEP and its unitholders; NEP GP and its affiliates and the directors and officers of NEP are not restricted in their ability to compete with NEP, whose business is subject to certain restrictions; NEP may only terminate the Management Services Agreement among, NEP, NextEra Energy Management Partners, LP (NEE Management), NEP OpCo and NextEra Energy Operating Partners GP, LLC (NEP OpCo GP) under certain limited circumstances; If the agreements with NEE Management or NEER are terminated, NEP may be unable to contract with a substitute service provider on similar terms; NEP's arrangements with NEE limit NEE's potential liability, and NEP has agreed to indemnify NEE against claims that it may face in connection with such arrangements, which may lead NEE to assume greater risks when making decisions relating to NEP than it otherwise would if acting solely for its own account; NEP's ability to make distributions to its unitholders depends on the ability of NEP OpCo to make cash distributions to its limited partners; If NEP incurs material tax liabilities, NEP's distributions to its unitholders may be reduced, without any corresponding reduction in the amount of the IDR fee; Holders of NEP's units may be subject to voting restrictions; NEP's partnership agreement replaces the fiduciary duties that NEP GP and NEP's directors and officers might have to holders of its common units with contractual standards governing their duties and the NYSE does not require a publicly traded limited partnership like NEP to comply with certain of its corporate governance requirements; NEP's partnership agreement restricts the remedies available to holders of NEP's common units for actions taken by NEP's directors or NEP GP that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duties; Certain of NEP's actions require the consent of NEP GP; Holders of NEP's common units currently cannot remove NEP GP without NEE's consent and provisions in NEP's partnership agreement may discourage or delay an acquisition of NEP that NEP unitholders may consider favorable; NEE's interest in NEP GP and the control of NEP GP may be transferred to a third party without unitholder consent; NEP may issue additional units without unitholder approval, which would dilute unitholder interests; Reimbursements and fees owed to NEP GP and its affiliates for services provided to NEP or on NEP's behalf will reduce cash distributions from NEP OpCo and from NEP to NEP's unitholders, and there are no limits on the amount that NEP OpCo may be required to pay; Increases in interest rates could adversely impact the price of NEP's common units, NEP's ability to issue equity or incur debt for acquisitions or other purposes and NEP's ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders; The liability of holders of NEP's units, which represent limited partnership interests in NEP, may not be limited if a court finds that unitholder action constitutes control of NEP's business; Unitholders may have liability to repay distributions that were wrongfully distributed to them; The issuance of securities convertible into, or settleable with, common units may affect the market price for NEP's common units, will dilute common unitholders' ownership in NEP and may decrease the amount of cash available for distribution for each common unit; NEP's future tax liability may be greater than expected if NEP does not generate net operating losses (NOLs) sufficient to offset taxable income or if tax authorities challenge certain of NEP's tax positions; NEP's ability to use NOLs to offset future income may be limited; NEP will not have complete control over NEP's tax decisions; and, Distributions to unitholders may be taxable as dividends. NEP discusses these and other risks and uncertainties in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and other Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and this news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings made through the date of this news release. The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NEP undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.; NextEra Energy Partners, LP | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/11/11/nextera-energy-nextera-energy-partners-participate-eei-financial-conference-meet-with-investors-throughout-november-december/ | 2022-11-11 22:28:58 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/11/11/nextera-energy-nextera-energy-partners-participate-eei-financial-conference-meet-with-investors-throughout-november-december/ |
HAYWARD, Calif., Oct. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: UCTT), today announced the Company will release its third quarter 2022 financial results on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, after market close and will host a conference call and webcast the same day.
The conference call and webcast will take place at 1:45 p.m. PT and can be accessed by dialing 1-844-826-3034 or 1-412-317-5179. No passcode is required. A replay of the call will be available by dialing 1-877-344-7529 or 1-412-317-0088 and entering the confirmation code 9906379. The Webcast will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://uct.com/investors/events/.
About Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.
Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. is a leading developer and supplier of critical subsystems, components, parts, and ultra-high purity cleaning and analytical services primarily for the semiconductor industry. Under its Products division, UCT offers its customers an integrated outsourced solution for major subassemblies, improved design-to-delivery cycle times, design for manufacturability, prototyping, and high-precision manufacturing. Under its Services Division, UCT offers its customers tool chamber parts cleaning and coating, as well as micro-contamination analytical services. Ultra Clean is headquartered in Hayward, California. Additional information is available at www.uct.com.
Contact:
Rhonda Bennetto
SVP Investor Relations
rbennetto@uct.com
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SOURCE Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. | https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2022/10/03/ultra-clean-announces-date-third-quarter-2022-financial-results/ | 2022-10-03 13:58:18 | 0 | https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2022/10/03/ultra-clean-announces-date-third-quarter-2022-financial-results/ |
Amber Alert issued for 2-week-old girl from Livingston, Texas
LIVINGSTON, Texas (KTRE/Gray News) - An Amber Alert has been issued for a baby girl from Livingston, Texas.
The Amber Alert was issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety for 2-week-old Sonni Meilike, KTRE reported. She was last seen on Oct. 6.
Sonni is described to have brown hair, blue eyes and was last seen wearing a pink shirt and a diaper.
The suspect is her non-custodial mother, Sylvia Norman, who authorities believe has taken the child and fled.
Norman, 31, is said to have brown hair and blue eye. She is 5 feet and 1 inch tall and weighs about 115 pounds. She was last seen wearing a white shirt and blue shorts with white leggings underneath. She has tattoos on her back and her left arm.
Law officials believe the baby is in immediate danger, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Anyone with information about Sonni’s abduction is asked to call 911 or the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at 936-327-6810.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kwch.com/2022/10/07/amber-alert-issued-2-week-old-girl-livingston-texas/ | 2022-10-07 13:54:53 | 1 | https://www.kwch.com/2022/10/07/amber-alert-issued-2-week-old-girl-livingston-texas/ |
Blue Cow Ice Cream Company is opening a new ice cream shop in the Village Shopping Center at 1707 Three Chopt Road and celebrating with free scoops on Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Headquartered in Roanoke, Blue Cow churns out hand-crafted flavors in small batches made from simple and real ingredients, including non-dairy and vegan offerings, according to the shop.
“Our ice cream makers spin out fresh ice cream daily and nearly everything going into our products is hand made by our team in central kitchen located in Roanoke,” said Jason Kiser, who owns Blue Cow with his wife, Carolyn. “And while we are proud of the culinary-driven process and attention to detail we put into our products, it’s about more than just creating great ice cream – it’s about the community and the experience. One of the real joys in our business is being able to play a small part in the many celebrations and life moments our customers enjoy over a scoop, and being part of and contributing to a vibrant, local culinary scene,” said Carolyn Kiser.
The Richmond location will be open daily with flavors like sea salt brickle with caramel swirl and backyard basil chip posted to bluecowicecream.com and on Instagram at @bluecowicecream.
Blue Cow operates four scoop shops throughout the state in Roanoke, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Virginia Beach.
*Editor's note: An earlier online version of this article had the wrong date for the grand opening celebration.
PHOTOS: 6 easy RVA take-out options for picnics and the pool all summer long | https://richmond.com/entertainment/dining/blue-cow-ice-cream-opens-new-richmond-shop-with-free-scoops-on-friday/article_65487d2d-1c7f-5576-bdda-c5b813b8b311.html | 2022-08-17 14:58:47 | 0 | https://richmond.com/entertainment/dining/blue-cow-ice-cream-opens-new-richmond-shop-with-free-scoops-on-friday/article_65487d2d-1c7f-5576-bdda-c5b813b8b311.html |
'Tis the season for gifting travelers with bonus points on their stays
PHOENIX, Dec. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Best Western Hotels & Resorts' (BWHR) award-winning loyalty program – Best Western Rewards® (BWR®) – is spreading extra joy this winter. From December 5, 2022 to February 5, 2023, BWR members can earn up to 20,000 bonus BWR points: 2,000 points for their first stay; 4,000 for the second stay; 6,000 for the third stay; and 8,000 for the fourth stay. Bonus points can be earned for stays at any Best Western-branded hotel in the U.S., Canada or the Caribbean; BWR members must register for the offer prior to the completion of their first eligible stay, either on bestwestern.com/rewardsrush4 or at the hotel directly.
"Best Western is celebrating the joy of the season by rewarding our BWR members for their loyalty, especially over the past few challenging years," said Jay Hubbs, Vice President of Advertising, Marketing, Innovation and Analytics for BWHR. "This impressive offer gives our guests the opportunity to bank extra points as they travel to family and friends this holiday season and is a way for us to show our gratitude for staying with us. BWR members with point balances will be able to earn additional points faster so they can qualify for more free nights."
BWR members can also use accumulated loyalty points to pay for part of their next hotel stay through BWHR's Pay with Points program. By using Pay with Points, BWR members can tap into their points right away to redeem and use them for discounted room rates at hotels across North America.
The BWR program's perks are driven by BWHR's foundational commitment of caring for its guests and its renewed vision of inspiring travel through unique experiences. In 2020, BWHR became the first hotel company in the industry to extend Elite status to its BWR members at the start of the pandemic. In 2021, the company also reduced its Elite status eligibility qualifications in half to make it easier for travelers to earn loyalty status and further extended loyalty status through March 31, 2023, without needing to fulfill the necessary qualifications.
About Best Western Rewards® (BWR®):
BWR is the award-winning loyalty program for Best Western® Hotels & Resorts, a vibrant hospitality company with 18 distinct brand offerings in over 100 countries. With hotels across every segment from economy to luxury, it is easy to earn BWR points through hotel stays or everyday purchases with the BWR co-branded credit card. With points that never expire, BWR's more than 50 million members have access to exclusive rates, rich rewards, and incentives. Rewards earned through BWR can be redeemed for free nights, gift cards, or charitable donations that make a long-lasting impact for the benefit of those in need. In North America, and soon to be available globally, BWR's Pay with Points program provides added flexibility, allowing BWR members to use earned points to lower the cost of their hotel stay. Regardless of destination or travel purpose, BWR has the exclusive perks to thank and reward its most valued guests. For more information on BWR or to sign up, please visit bestwesternrewards.com.
About Best Western® Hotels & Resorts:
Best Western Hotels & Resorts headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is a privately held hotel company within the BWH Hotel Group® global network. With 18 brands and approximately 4,500 hotels in over 100 countries and territories worldwide*, BWH Hotel Group suits the needs of developers and guests in every market. Brands include Best Western®, Best Western Plus®, Best Western Premier®, Executive Residency by Best Western®, Vīb®, GLō®, Aiden®, Sadie®, BW Premier Collection® and BW Signature Collection®. Through acquisition, WorldHotels™ Luxury, WorldHotels Elite, WorldHotels Distinctive and WorldHotels Crafted collections are also offered. Completing the portfolio is SureStay®, SureStay Plus®, SureStay Collection® and SureStay Studio® franchises**. For more information visit www.bestwestern.com, www.bestwesterndevelopers.com, www.worldhotels.com and www.surestay.com.
* Numbers are approximate, may fluctuate, and include hotels currently in the development pipeline.
**All Best Western, WorldHotels and SureStay branded hotels are independently owned and operated.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Katie Ray
Director, Public Relations
602.957.5526
Katie.Ray@bwhhotelgroup.com
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SOURCE Best Western Hotels & Resorts | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/12/05/best-western-hotels-amp-resorts-celebrates-season-with-bonus-points-loyalty-program-members/ | 2022-12-05 16:22:37 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/12/05/best-western-hotels-amp-resorts-celebrates-season-with-bonus-points-loyalty-program-members/ |
- $150,000 to the Red Cross to support relief in the local communities the storm impacted
- $100,000 to the Volunteer Florida Foundation, which assists Florida communities during times of emergency or disaster
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of Hurricane Ian's impacts across Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, the Duke Energy Foundation has committed $250,000 to support relief and recovery efforts.
In addition to disaster recovery, the funds will support meals, emergency services and supplies. $100,000 will be distributed to the Red Cross with an additional $50,000 available in matching employee donations. Volunteer Florida will receive $100,000 to support aid as part of the coordinated disaster response.
"Supporting our communities with disaster preparedness, response and recovery is vital," said Amy Strecker, Duke Energy Foundation president. "The Red Cross provides critical relief and recovery services across Duke Energy's service territories, and we're grateful for how they care for our communities in crisis."
Over the past five years, the Duke Energy Foundation has donated more than $2 million to the American Red Cross in support of disaster relief.
"As the American Red Cross continues to respond to the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian, we are proud that Duke Energy is joining us to aid communities affected by this deadly disaster," said Anna Trefethen, vice president, Humanitarian Services, American Red Cross. "Duke Energy has been a disaster partner for years, and their generous support now is vital to our service delivery."
Duke Energy crews have restored nearly 2 million customers across Florida and the Carolinas since Hurricane Ian exited its service territory on Saturday.
To contribute to the Florida Disaster Fund, visit floridadisasterfund.org or text DISASTER to 20222.
Contributions to support Hurricane Ian relief through the American Red Cross can be made here.
Duke Energy Foundation
The Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The foundation contributes more than $30 million annually in charitable gifts, and is funded by Duke Energy shareholder dollars. More information about the foundation can be found at duke-energy.com/foundation.
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.
Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business and at least a 50% carbon reduction from electric generation by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The 2050 net-zero goals also include Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 emissions. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.
Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2022 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "America's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Contact: Shawna Berger
24-Hour: 800.559.3853
Twitter: @DE_ShawnaB
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SOURCE Duke Energy | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/10/04/duke-energy-commits-250000-support-hurricane-ian-relief-efforts/ | 2022-10-04 02:27:52 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/10/04/duke-energy-commits-250000-support-hurricane-ian-relief-efforts/ |
BEIJING, Oct. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 7, 2022, the Future China Global Forum 2022 was held in Singapore. Mr. Peng Shen, Founder and CEO of Waterdrop, attended the forum via video link and introduced the Company's operations in Singapore.
Initiated by Singapore's former prime minister Mr. Lee Kuan Yew in 2010, the Future China Global Forum is an international exchange platform that gathers leaders and experts from political, industrial, business, and academic circles. Themed "Stability Amidst Turbulence", the 2022 session invited over 30 guest speakers, including celebrities like Lawrence Wong, Singapore's Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Liu Shijin, Deputy Director of the Economic Affairs Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and Vice Chairman of China Development Research Foundation, Jia Qingguo, Director of the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding of Peking University, Danny Quah, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS, and Li Shimo, founder, and executive partner of Chengwei Capital.
In terms of investment in Southeast Asia, Shen Peng said Waterdrop has been an active player in the Belt and Road Initiative by expanding its presence in the countries along the routes. In 2019, Waterdrop Medical Crowdfunding raises donations through the Internet in collaboration with Singapore local charitable organizations to help people in need.
In 2022, Waterdrop decided to make Singapore an operating and management center for its operations under the Belt and Road Initiative, as Singapore has the geographical location, infrastructure, economic and cultural environment, and a talent pool ideal for Chinese companies to pursue global development.
Shen Peng said, "In their global move, Chinese enterprises should adjust operations to local conditions, and do what they are best at in a new market. Only by focusing on 'basic skills' can they serve local people well, win user recognition, build competitive edges and take roots locally."
About Waterdrop Inc.
Waterdrop Inc. (NYSE: WDH) is a leading technology platform dedicated to insurance and healthcare service with a positive social impact. Founded in 2016, with the comprehensive coverage of Waterdrop Insurance Marketplace and Waterdrop Medical Crowdfunding, Waterdrop aims to bring insurance and healthcare service to billions through technology. For more information, please visit www.waterdrop-inc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "aims," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "likely to," and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Waterdrop's beliefs, plans, and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Waterdrop's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Waterdrop does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.
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SOURCE Waterdrop Inc. | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/10/10/waterdrop-inc-ceo-shen-peng-attends-future-china-global-forum-2022/ | 2022-10-10 15:27:47 | 0 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/10/10/waterdrop-inc-ceo-shen-peng-attends-future-china-global-forum-2022/ |
Gabby Douglas, the first Black woman to win the Olympic all-around gymnastics title, is taking aim at the 2024 Games in Paris.
Douglas announced on her Instagram page Thursday that she is making a comeback attempt, a dozen years after her triumph in London in 2012 and eight years after her last competition, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“I wanted to find the joy again for the sport that I absolutely love doing,” Douglas posted. “I know I have a huge task ahead of me and I am beyond grateful and excited to get back out on the floor.”
The now 27-year-old Douglas also posted video of herself practicing uneven bars, her signature event.
Douglas is the second Olympic champion in recent weeks to say they are pointing toward Paris.
Simone Biles, who won the all-around gold in Rio and was teammates with Douglas on the five-woman U.S. squad that cruised to the team gold in Brazil, is returning to competition at the U.S. Classic in Chicago in early August.
Douglas has yet to outline a timeline for when she might be ready to join what will be a very crowded field to make what could be a loaded American team under the rings next summer. Douglas could petition USA Gymnastics for a spot at the U.S. Classic. She had not done that as of Thursday afternoon but still has ample time to do so. There is no petition deadline for the event, set for Saturday, Aug. 5 at NOW Arena in the Chicago suburbs.
Douglas became one of the faces of the 2012 Olympics after her brilliant performance in the all-around final helped her become the third straight American woman to claim the biggest title in her sport. She became a crossover star in the aftermath, winning AP Female Athlete of the Year in 2012, writing her autobiography and having her life story turned into a TV movie.
She took a couple of years off after London but returned to competition in 2015, eventually finishing second to Biles in the all-around at the 2015 world championships and making a second Olympic team, helping the U.S. claim gold for a second straight Games.
Douglas never formally announced her retirement after Rio de Janeiro, instead dabbling in reality TV and becoming a motivational speaker, among other things.
Her return comes at a time when America’s top female gymnasts are competing into their 20s and sometimes beyond. Biles is 26. Chellsie Memmel, the 2005 world all-around champion and 2008 Olympic silver medalist, was in her early 30s when she made an unexpected comeback in 2021. Memmel is now the technical lead for the U.S. Gymnastics women’s elite program.
Douglas, who is currently training out of World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in the Dallas, Texas area, will have considerable work ahead of her. The relaxation of name, image and likeness rules have allowed several members of the 2020 Olympic team — including all-around champion Suni Lee, floor exercise champion Jade Carey and world and Olympic medalist Jordan Chiles — to extend their elite careers.
___
2024 Paris Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-olympic-gymnastics-champion-gabby-douglas-says-she-is-aiming-for-the-2024-paris-games/ | 2023-07-14 16:35:14 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/ap-olympic-gymnastics-champion-gabby-douglas-says-she-is-aiming-for-the-2024-paris-games/ |
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The nation’s production of wild blueberries slipped a bit last year as some growers contended with drought.
Wild blueberries are smaller than their cultivated cousins and are widely used in frozen and processed products such as smoothie mixes. Maine is the only state in the U.S. where the blueberries are harvested commercially.
The 2022 harvest of the blueberries fell a little more than 25% to 77.5 million pounds, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That was still a relatively strong year, and the third-most since 2017, according to state records.
The wild blueberries are harvested from late July to early September. Drought made production more difficult in the state’s midcoast region, but that was less of a problem in Downeast Maine, where the vast majority of the blueberries grow, said Eric Venturini, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine.
“It was a stellar year in 2021. Everything worked perfectly, the weather conditions were perfect, Mother Nature cooperated and we ended up with a fantastic crop,” Venturini said. “Last year we were hit by drought in some portions of Maine.”
Prices for the blueberries stayed fairly high at about 72 cents per pound. That was slightly less than 2021, but more than any other year since 2014, according to state records.
Blueberry growers in Maine have had to contend with numerous challenges in recent years, including erratic weather, fickle markets, climate change and competition from Canada, where the same blueberry grows. They have also had to fend off an invasive fruit fly from Asia that was first detected in the U.S. about 15 years ago.
Members of Maine’s blueberry industry and state agriculture officials have tried to grow interest in the fruit as a “superfood,” in part because of its high levels of antioxidants. The wild blueberry is Maine’s official state berry, and it’s the subject of the promotional Wild Blueberry Weekend on Aug. 5 and 6. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/wild-blueberry-production-takes-a-dip-in-the-face-of-drought/ | 2023-06-05 19:35:47 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/wild-blueberry-production-takes-a-dip-in-the-face-of-drought/ |
With Yonder, Primer gives commercial and government organizations early intelligence about emerging narratives that may impact their brands or strategic advantage – and helps to create a window of opportunity to take countermeasures.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Primer, a leader in machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) solutions for government agencies and Fortune 1000 companies, today announced it has acquired Yonder, a pioneering company in disinformation analysis. Yonder is renowned in the information operations space, having deployed AI technology to identify disinformation campaigns and provide contextual intelligence for some of the world's largest organizations, including a global retailer, a fast food brand, a telecommunications giant, and the U.S. Government.
Primer redefines how people engage with an increasingly complex world of information with its AI-powered toolkit for risk and security applications that support time-sensitive, mission-critical decision making. By pairing Yonder's contextual narrative intelligence capabilities with Primer's state-of-the-art NLP models and solutions, such as Primer Command for real-time security and operational intelligence, customers can proactively monitor emerging narratives, identify the groups starting and promoting them, assess the potential risks, and take action to avoid or mitigate harm to their brands and operations.
Getting ahead of false or misleading influence campaigns - before they go viral and have lasting effects on perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors - is essential to combating the challenges of information-based warfare. From the war in Ukraine to market manipulation of cryptocurrency, disinformation changes the course of conflict, impacts elections, degrades brands, and distorts discussions. Primer has a track record of success deploying NLP infrastructure and pre-trained engines that help organizations such as the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) detect, understand, and respond to disinformation campaigns as part of their overall information operations posture.
"Primer saw a unique opportunity to join forces with Yonder and accelerate our ability to provide the world's best solutions for detecting and monitoring information operations and disinformation campaigns as they unfold, giving customers early warning capabilities to launch countermeasures and defend against attacks," said Sean Gourley, CEO, Primer. "The experts at Yonder have defined and shaped the disinformation analysis space over the last several years. We are thrilled to welcome them to Primer and help our customers meet the rapidly changing needs for today's information warfare environment."
"Since our founding, Yonder has been dedicated to developing technologies to protect brands and their reputations from manipulation on social media. It's clear this mission is more important than ever, and Primer is the perfect partner to take our solutions to the next level," said Jonathon Morgan, CEO, Yonder. "Primer's machine intelligence for text-based information is unparalleled, and Primer's talent is world class. Together, we will continue to deliver the industry's best tools for information operations, situational understanding, and decision support."
"The ability to collect, analyze, and act on intelligence that could impact reputational integrity has become mission critical for organizations of every size, in every industry," said Tejas Totade, CTO, at Ruder Finn, one of the world's largest independent global communications and creative agencies. "Yonder's narrative detection capabilities coupled with Primer's innovative language analysis platform will be a uniquely powerful solution for Ruder Finn as we help our clients promote and protect their brands."
Strengthening Primer's Foundation
Today's announcement builds on Primer's strategy to build the infrastructure for creating and deploying NLP models and applications that enable government and civil society organizations to be successful in their missions.
The acquisition of Yonder follows Primer's recent acquisition of LightTag, which added team-based data label management software to Primer's infrastructure, ensuring better data on which to train NLP models, higher model performance, and faster deployment of models into production.
Yonder complements Primer Command, an AI-powered real-time security and operational intelligence solution that provides situational awareness of fast-breaking events to inform timely decisions and action.
Customers and partners will now have access to a larger set of complementary technologies designed to analyze and interpret natural language, including Primer's pre-trained NLP models with advanced algorithms for bot detection, synthetic text detection, and claim detection and extraction.
For more information about today's announcement and to request demos of Yonder and Primer Command, please contact Primer.
Resources:
- Blog post by Sean Gourley, Primer CEO
- Blog post by Jonathon Morgan, Yonder CEO
- Primer Command
- Request a Demo
About Primer
Primer builds machines that can read and write with human-level precision. Primer's industrial-grade NLP technology is deployed by some of the world's largest government agencies, financial institutions, and Fortune 50 organizations. Trusted to operate in sensitive and complex data environments, Primer provides deep and proven artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) solutions tailored to risk and security applications, including: monitoring global events in real time, identifying disinformation campaigns, responding to cybersecurity attacks, detecting risks to brand reputation, and other impacts on organizational resilience and mission success. Primer is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with offices around the world. For more information, please visit https://primer.ai.
Media contact:
Kim Dion, PR/AR, Primer
press@primer.ai
® PRIMER is a registered trademark of Primer Technologies, Inc.
® PRIMER COMMAND is a registered trademark of Primer Technologies, Inc.
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The police supervisor who responded to the scene of Tyre Nichols’ arrest retired with benefits the day before his termination hearing, according to media reports.
Lt. DeWayne Smith, who spent 25 years on the Memphis police force, was facing disciplinary charges for neglect of duty, unauthorized public statements and compliance with regulations, when he submitted his retirement on March 1, Memphis’ Action News 5 reported. His disciplinary hearing was scheduled for March 2.
During the Jan. 7 arrest that ultimately led to Nichols’ death, Smith failed to get the 29-year-old medical care or remove his handcuffs, despite hearing him say, “I can’t breathe,” according to NBC News.
Nichols was brutally beaten by several Memphis police officers during the early January traffic stop and died three days later from his injuries. Despite noticing Nichols’ injuries, Smith failed to obtain reports from the other officers about their use of force.
Smith also told Nichols’ family that he had been driving under the influence, even though no evidence supported such a conclusion, and he failed to wear his body camera during the arrest in violation of the department’s policy, NBC News reported.
“It is extremely disturbing that [the Memphis Police Department] accepted the retirement of this senior officer!” civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Nichols’ family, said in a tweet.
“Memphis police and officials should do everything in their power to hold Lt. Smith accountable and not let his cowardice in resigning sidestep the consequences of his actions!” he added.
Seven officers were fired over Nichols’ death, including five who were charged with second-degree murder. Three members of the Memphis Fire Department were also terminated over their failure to provide Nichols with medical care. | https://www.wivb.com/news/political-news/us-political-news/hill-politics/police-supervisor-in-tyre-nichols-death-retired-with-benefits-day-prior-to-termination-hearing-reports/ | 2023-03-19 01:57:53 | 0 | https://www.wivb.com/news/political-news/us-political-news/hill-politics/police-supervisor-in-tyre-nichols-death-retired-with-benefits-day-prior-to-termination-hearing-reports/ |
Edgard Gouveia Jr., 58, says the key to solving the world's problems is games. "I use games and narrative to mobilize crowds," says the Brazilian game inventor and co-founder of Livelab. He's worked with schools, companies, government offices and slums. And his target audiences keep getting bigger. "For example, games that can make a whole town, a whole city or even a whole country play together," he says.
And now he's developing a global game called "Jornada X" whose goal is to get kids and teenagers to save nothing less than all life on the planet. Gouveia's thinking is that if you can frame a problem as a challenge or epic journey, then kids "can solve a lot of problems that adults can't," he says. "And they're able to mobilize the adults among them."
NPR sat down with Gouveia to discuss his ambitions to crowdsource and gamify the solving of big problems and how games grabbed a hold of him as a boy. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When was the first time you realized that games could be used to achieve something big?
When I was a kid, we had this game called gincana. In Brazil, it goes back like 100 years. Fewer communities play it today, but you can still find maybe 30 cities in Brazil where it's played.
Here's how it works. Once a year, the whole town or city was invited to play together. We created teams of 500 or 600 people that included kids and adults and grandparents. It was like a big weekend festival.
And we played silly, impossible missions. There was actually a commission that created these missions.
What's an example of one of these missions that community members would compete in?
I remember the first one that I played in my hometown of Santos. There was this stage in front of the church where the whole town of thousands of people gathered to hear what the mission was. And the guy said into the microphone, "You have three hours to bring a real pink elephant."
There are no wild elephants in Brazil. And there's certainly no pink elephant anywhere! But when the guy said we had three hours, the whole town started screaming and running, trying to find a solution. This is an ancestral training system that awakens and strengthens the power of community because you cannot complete the mission by yourself.
After five minutes, someone in the crowd said, "The circus!" Then his team ran and drove to the circus in another city. And the owner loaned them the elephant because everyone knows that the gincana is something sacred. Everyone wants to help you. So he probably said, "OK, take it, but bring it back in three hours! Please! Because I have a show."
This team thought they were going to win since they had the elephant. "Nobody's gonna find a pink elephant. We're the amazing ones!"
But another team brought an elephant from another town and they started painting it pink. The first team said, "No! You can't do that!" But the second team said, "Nobody said you couldn't paint a real elephant pink."
So people created these crazy strategies out of nothing. And we did it together. It's a kind of collective intelligence... a brainstorm the size of a city. And then we all laughed. We all celebrated. Even if you lost, you couldn't believe these groups actually brought real elephants to your town.
As a boy, I witnessed the creative potential we have to solve anything.
What gets in the way of solving big problems today, do you think?
There's a mindset that leads us to create scarcity in our behavior with our neighbors, with our partners, with other countries. It's the idea that there's not enough for everybody. So we feel like we better collect and save for ourselves and for our families.
But this idea of scarcity is crazy. It creates a kind of social sickness. You can be a millionaire but if you have the idea of scarcity in your head, you'll want to collect more and save more.
The people that often share the most are the poorest people. If you give someone who's homeless a sandwich, they will share it. They know that tomorrow, they won't have food. And if they share with someone now, that person may share with them tomorrow. All over the world, the homeless people I've met have a different kind of knowledge.
Most of us in big cities, we see the other as a competitor or a potential enemy.
But for many traditional communities, if they see you coming and they never saw someone that looks like you before, they'll find the difference attractive. "Oh, it's a potential friend," they might think. So they want to feed you, learn from you, bring you to their home.
So how do you shift this mindset of scarcity?
It's not about trying to educate people out of it because for them, it feels true. They've experienced that scarcity. You cannot manipulate people's will. But you can manipulate or design the environment so that scarcity isn't important.
What I do is help build skills in others that I've learned from traditional communities, Indigenous villages or observing kids in nature.
I just tell people, "Let's play." And through games and playful activities, we create a field of trust, of safety, of love and empathy. And people wind up wanting to give more and more.
When you create abundance of connection, abundance of possibility, people sense it right away. It doesn't matter if for 30 or 40 years they were living in scarcity. When our biology finds an abundance of love, connection and an acceptance that we can be ourselves, people flourish within minutes.
How do you create this abundance through your organization Livelab?
Collective intelligence and collective action are way more powerful than a traditional pyramid or hierarchy. We're trying to tune back into a community's power to bring people together.
And we do that through this guiding question: What if building the world of our dreams could be fast, free, fun and fantastic?
If you think about inviting the whole world to take on a big global challenge, the United Nations can't do that. But the Olympic Games can. The World Cup can. We have so much knowledge, especially in Indigenous communities, about how to treat the environment and how to build connections among thousands of people.
If you can create a challenge where you invite all of humanity to join a journey that's fast, free, fun and fantastic, everybody is going to join — kids and elders alike. I've done it locally, regionally and nationally. But to take on climate change, we need to go global.
Describe your vision for the global game you're building.
It's called "Jornada X" in Portuguese, or "X Journey" in English. And the idea is to save the planet — a forest, a piece of a neighborhood — one block at a time.
It starts with young people. They receive a call that's like a Matrix video that says, "Humanity isn't doing well. Society is violent and nature is dying. But you are one of a group of special kids with superpowers — things like love, helping others, strength, and friendship. In this game, in this journey, you have to awaken and release your superpower.
But here's the key — it has to be a collective superpower. They have to call at least three more friends and convince them to form a team. And anyone who joins that league gets the superpower as well. Kids love playing superheroes as a team.
As soon as they sign up, the team starts to receive missions. For instance, we might say, "Look at your neighborhood around you. What pisses you off about your neighborhood? What's wrong?" Kids and teenagers are all about criticizing. So they choose something like not having trees or having a dirty river or kids not being safe.
And the idea is that by the end of seven weeks, they have to find a solution and build it alongside their community. They don't know how to begin, but they try.
We tell them that the whole neighborhood is their game board. We explain that everything that they need to solve the problem is there in their community. So they have to find the local experts, the local materials, the local organizational patterns.
And eventually, they come up with something... like planting trees or cleaning gardens or cleaning the river.
How does the broader community get involved?
The next mission might be to find allies in your neighborhood — people who know about the problem you're trying to tackle. We ask the young people to choose the best three experts, tell them about the problem they're trying to solve and ask them to share the story of their lives. That's a trick to create connection.
These allies have the wisdom but they sometimes feel stuck and that they can't do anything. But when kids go to them, it energizes them.
Soon, we ask the kids to mobilize the support of as many adults as possible to get them involved in the hands-on work of their solution.
And when the community sees kids healing their neighborhood, they come together and say, "There's something meaningful here. We need to be part of it. We've been waiting for the government or companies to support us, but we are the people who can act to restore our neighborhood."
By belonging to a group that we love and that's doing good in the world — these are ways of energizing our collective power, our collective meaning. When you do some good, you feel like you have an identity. Your neighbor says, "Amazing. How can I support you?" You feel appreciated and so you want to do more.
By playing the game, we strengthen our personal and collective portions of confidence, joy, and willingness to do good.
You really think this could work?
Well, kids play war games all the time. They collaborate to kill people. It's not that they like death, but they want to have this kind of adrenaline. What could be more exciting? My answer is saving the planet in a way that adults haven't been able to.
Our global game is a way to get communities to come together and use hands-on actions to restore the environment. By doing that, they reconnect with nature, reconnect with society and they want to do more. They dance together, they celebrate together, they share food, and it's fun. It restores community.
We've been testing it in Brazil and over 15 countries. And the kids are telling us they want to build this huge network across the planet.
So it's coming. It's coming.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-09/why-a-game-in-which-you-look-for-a-real-live-pink-elephant-could-help-save-the-world | 2023-07-15 21:39:53 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-09/why-a-game-in-which-you-look-for-a-real-live-pink-elephant-could-help-save-the-world |
NEW YORK, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This International Youth Day, a new generation of young leaders will gather in New York City with a single mission: reshape the world. Gathered at the 27th Session of The Youth Assembly (August 12-14), 600 young people will build global action networks and engage in discussions with leaders in changemaking, including global institutions, advocacy groups, multinational companies, and impact-driven organizations.
"We must place young people at the center of creating positive change in the world," says Daniel Obst, President and CEO of AFS Intercultural Programs, the global not-for-profit organizer. "We know young people have the ideas and skills to make a difference, and we are excited to provide this global platform that will help them shape the world they want to live in."
The Youth Assembly program will tackle pressing challenges related to Youth, Global Health, Global Citizenship, Technology and Inclusion, aligning with the United Nations Secretary General's Report on Our Common Agenda. The event launches on International Youth Day—both as a way to celebrate and also to focus on the greatest asset the world has, our youngest generations. Given the urgency that 1.2 billion young people around the world demonstrate towards taking action for a better world, The Youth Assembly will provide opportunities for long-term planning and meaningful, diverse and effective youth engagement in tackling current and future challenges. The opening ceremony scheduled to take place at the UN will set the tone of reflection, debate, and innovative thinking on sustainable development throughout the event.
One in four Delegates has received scholarships to join this event, thanks to sponsors like bp, Schwarzman Scholars, AstraZeneca, DHL, and others, ensuring equity and inclusion in this event. Among other opportunities, Delegates will compete for the AFS Award for Young Global Citizens, worth $10,000 to support ongoing social impact ventures that address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Youth Assembly is organized by AFS Intercultural Programs, renowned for its intercultural learning programs that empower young people with global skills—and the passion for making a difference. Program partners include Candid, DoSomething.org, the Institute of International Education, Pencils for Promise, pwc, Terracycle, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, UN Habitat, UNICEF, University of Pennsylvania Center for Social Impact Strategy, USAID, the World Bank, and many more.
More information at: youthassembly.org.
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SOURCE AFS Intercultural Programs | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/07/29/hundreds-young-leaders-70-countries-gather-nyc-reshape-world/ | 2022-07-29 19:59:05 | 1 | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/07/29/hundreds-young-leaders-70-countries-gather-nyc-reshape-world/ |
Powell: ‘No guarantee’ Fed can tame inflation, spare jobs
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there’s “no guarantee’' the central bank can tame runaway inflation without hurting the job market.
Speaking Wednesday at a European Central Bank forum in Sintra, Portugal, Powell repeated his hope that the Fed can achieve a so-called soft landing — raising interest rates just enough to slow the economy and rein in surging consumer prices without causing a recession and sharply raising the unemployment rate.
“We believe we can do that. That is our aim,’’ he said. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said, had made the job more difficult by disrupting commerce and driving up the price of food, energy and chemicals.
“It’s gotten harder,’’ Powell said. “The pathways have gotten narrower.’’
ECB President Christine Lagarde echoed the “major impact” of energy shocks, which are rippling worldwide but felt acutely in Europe because of its reliance on Russian oil and natural gas. She also pointed to Europe’s proximity to the war in Ukraine and said how “energy was vastly underestimated” in the bank’s assessment of inflation.
The ECB and the Fed were slow to recognize the inflation threat that emerged just over a year ago. They believed that rising prices were the temporary result of supply chain snags as the economy bounced back with unexpected speed from 2020′s brief but devastating coronavirus recession.
But inflation kept accelerating. The Fed raised its short-term benchmark rate in March and May and appeared to be ready for another half-percentage-point increase at its meeting June 14-15.
Then, the Labor Department reported that consumer prices had shot up 8.6% in May from a year earlier — biggest jump since 1981. The Fed responded by pushing the rate up by three-quarters of a percentage point — biggest hike since 1994.
Europe’s central bank is behind the Fed but said it will raise rates in July for the first time in 11 years and again in September to target inflation running at a record 8.1% in the 19 countries using the euro. In a speech Tuesday opening the ECB forum, Lagarde said the bank will go gradually with hikes but keep its options open to “stamp out” inflation if it surges faster than expected.
Increasingly, economists worry that higher rates could push the economy into a recession.
Powell, however, pointed to a strong labor market — unemployment is near a half century low at 3.6% — and noted that most households and businesses had healthy savings.
“Overall,’’ he said, “the U.S. economy is well-positioned to withstand tighter monetary policy.’’
Lagarde noted similar was true of Europe.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kswo.com/2022/06/29/powell-no-guarantee-fed-can-tame-inflation-spare-jobs/ | 2022-06-29 16:56:49 | 0 | https://www.kswo.com/2022/06/29/powell-no-guarantee-fed-can-tame-inflation-spare-jobs/ |
Trump Org.’s longtime CFO testifies at company’s fraud trial
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s longtime finance chief took the witness stand Tuesday at the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial, making his long-awaited turn as the star prosecution witness after pleading guilty to evading taxes on $1.7 million in company-paid perks, including a Manhattan apartment and luxury cars.
Allen Weisselberg, a senior adviser and former chief financial officer at Trump’s company, has intimate knowledge of the company’s financial dealings from his nearly five decades working there. But he is not expected to implicate Trump or any members of the Trump family in his testimony.
Weisselberg’s testimony is required as part of a plea agreement he reached in August. If he testifies truthfully and meets other terms of the deal, he’ll be sentenced to five months in jail and could be released with good behavior after about 100 days. Otherwise, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
Weisselberg will remain free on bail until he is formally sentenced following the company’s trial.
The Trump Organization — the entity through which former President Donald Trump manages his real estate holdings, marketing deals and other ventures — is accused of helping some top executives avoid paying income taxes on compensation they got in addition to their salaries over a 15-year span.
Prosecutors argue that the Trump Organization — through its subsidiaries Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. — is liable for the scheme because Weisselberg, the longtime finance chief, was a “high managerial agent” entrusted to act on behalf of the company and its various entities.
In pleading guilty, the 75-year-old Weisselberg pinned blame for the scheme on himself and other top company executives, including senior vice president and controller, Jeffrey McConney, who testified for the trial’s first five days.
The Trump Organization has denied wrongdoing. Its lawyers allege that Weisselberg concocted the scheme on his own, without Trump or the Trump family’s knowledge, and that the company didn’t benefit from his actions. If convicted, the company could be fined more than $1 million.
The company’s lawyers spent part of Monday and Tuesday’s court sessions attempting to preempt Weisselberg testimony, using their cross-examination questioning to underscore their assertion that others at the company, including Trump, knew nothing about the scheme.
The first two prosecution witnesses — McConney and company accounts payable supervisor Deborah Tarasoff — portrayed Weisselberg as a rogue agent who stressed secrecy about his various financial arrangements.
Both witnesses worked under Weisselberg, and both testified that they aided him in hiding benefits — telling jurors that they were just following orders. Tarasoff agreed with a defense lawyer’s description of Weisselberg as an exacting, authoritarian but deeply trusted micromanager.
Tarasoff said she prepared company checks for Weisselberg to pay his apartment rent and car lease payments. She said she prepared checks from Trump’s private account to pay tuition for private schooling for Weisselberg’s grandchildren.
In September 2016, as Trump’s presidential election neared, Tarasoff said Weisselberg ordered her to start deleting notations about some of the transactions in the company’s bookkeeping system. Tarasoff said she didn’t think Weisselberg was asking her to do anything illegal. But even if he had, she said: “I guess I would because he’s the boss and he told me to do it.”
Weisselberg is the only person to face criminal charges so far in the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation of the company.
Weisselberg started working for the company in 1973, when it was run by Trump’s father, Fred. Following his July 2021 arrest, the company changed his title from CFO to senior adviser. The CFO position remains vacant.
Prosecutors alleged that the Trump Organization gave untaxed fringe benefits to senior executives, including Weisselberg, for 15 years. Weisselberg alone was accused of defrauding the federal government, state and city out of more than $900,000 in unpaid taxes and undeserved tax refunds.
___
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wafb.com/2022/11/15/trump-orgs-longtime-cfo-testifies-companys-fraud-trial/ | 2022-11-15 20:58:52 | 1 | https://www.wafb.com/2022/11/15/trump-orgs-longtime-cfo-testifies-companys-fraud-trial/ |
PARIS (AP) — Tens of thousands of people marched in Paris and other cities across the country Wednesday to denounce the government’s pension plan as unfair to female workers, in demonstrations meant to coincide with International Women’s Day.
The show of anger against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is set to continue in coming days, as train and metro drivers, refinery workers, garbage collectors and others have said they would continue ongoing strikes. Unions aim at maintaining pressure on the government as senators debate the changes.
Feminist activists say the pension reform would further deepen gender inequalities at work, where women’s wages are on average 15.8% below men’s.
Hard-left lawmaker Clémentine Autain, who took part in the Paris march, said there are two reasons for the protest: “first, because, like every year, on March 8, we march to demand equality and also, to ask for this pension reform bill that is going to make women poorer to be withdrawn.”
The reform would raise the minimum pension age and require 43 years of work to earn a full pension, amid other measures. The government argues that the current system is expected to dive into deficit within a decade as France’s population ages and life expectancy lengthens.
About 150 employees from the Louvre museum gathered Wednesday morning in the room where Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is displayed, brandishing a huge banner writing “No to working longer” in front of the iconic painting, a union statement said. They wanted to show “solidarity towards the women’s fight for their rights across the world” and denounce the pension plan’s impact on female workers, the statement said.
The Louvre museum said on its website that it is open to visitors but warned that some rooms are closed due to the protests.
The continuing strikes and protest action come after more than a million demonstrators marched in cities and towns across France on Tuesday, in what unions see as the biggest show of force against the planned changes since the beginning of the movement in January.
Unions demand the withdrawal of the reform. The bill is under debate in the Senate this week.
“We are aware that the effort required from the French does not win the support from a majority,” government spokesman Olivier Véran said Wednesday. “But we are convinced that alternatives — raising taxes, increasing the (state) debt, decreasing pensions — would not win more the support of public opinion.”
Opinion polls consistently suggest that most French voters oppose the pension plan.
Véran hoped Article 7 of the bill, which is focusing on raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, would be adopted by the Senate later on Wednesday. Talks at the upper house of parliament are scheduled to last until the end of the week.
Rail and metro authorities announced that trains, including international lines, and the Paris metro will be severely disrupted on Thursday, like on previous days. In addition, up to one third of all flights are expected to be canceled in French airports.
Oil shipments in the country were halted Wednesday for a second consecutive day amid strikes at the refineries of TotalEnergies and Esso ExxonMobil, according to the CGT union.
Paris garbage collectors also decided to continue the strike.
Macron has vowed to go ahead with the bill, which he presents as key to his pro-businesses economic policies.
Left-wing lawmakers say companies and the wealthy should pitch in more to finance the pension system.
Unions have called for a new day of nationwide demonstrations on Saturday.
On Thursday, youth organizations representing students who haven’t even entered the workforce yet are seeking to mobilize young people to take to the streets to share concerns about retirement rights.
While the measure has a good chance of winning Senate approval, unions hope that strikes and protests force the government to make concessions as the bill continues its way through the complex legislative process. | https://www.kron4.com/news/world/ap-international/french-strikers-maintain-pressure-to-reject-pension-plan/ | 2023-03-09 01:04:28 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/news/world/ap-international/french-strikers-maintain-pressure-to-reject-pension-plan/ |
A Nevada Democratic U.S. senator is looking to Congress to ensure mining companies can use established mineral claims to dump waste on neighboring federal lands as they always had before a federal appeals court adopted a stricter interpretation of a 150-year-old law.
Environmentalists widely praised the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ more restrictive ruling, which blocked the Rosemont copper mine in southern Arizona last year because the company hadn’t proven it had mineral rights on the adjacent land where the waste rock was to be buried.
The ramifications of the ruling are worrisome, however, for President Joe Biden’s clean energy agenda and for key projects to mine lithium, cobalt and other materials needed to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.
In response, Nevada U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto drafted a bill she intends to introduce Tuesday with Republican Sen. James Risch of Idaho, her office told The Associated Press on Monday. The bill would amend a 1993 budget reconciliation act but primarily clarifies definitions of activities and rights central to the 1872 Mining Law.
The language is intended to insulate mines from the more onerous and likely most expensive standards imposed on the industry by the 9th Circuit ruling, which was a significant departure from long-established mining practices that environmentalists have fought for decades.
Two U.S. judges in Nevada have since enforced it — one in a complicated way that nevertheless allowed construction to begin at what would be the largest lithium mine in the nation near the Oregon line.
Without congressional action, Cortez and other senators say critical mineral projects across the West are threatened, including those needed to expedite the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and to bolster national defense.
“This misguided decision would force all mining activities, even the storage of waste, to happen on mineral-rich land, which could impede critical mineral production all across the country,” Cortez Masto said in a statement emailed to AP.
Nevada is the biggest gold-producing state and home to some of the nation’s largest lithium deposits.
Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, an independent, have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors.
The measure is sure to meet staunch opposition from conservationists who consider the Rosemont ruling and its ripple effects one of their biggest victories in years.
While they generally embrace Biden’s efforts to speed the transition to renewables, they continue to challenge even so-called green energy projects with lawsuits accusing the government of violating laws protecting endangered species, water resources and cultural and historical sites.
The Rosemont ruling upended the government’s long-held position that the 1872 Mining Law — the nation’s premier regulation of mining since the Civil War — conveys the same rights established through a valid mining claim to adjacent land for the disposal of tailings and other waste.
The 9th Circuit held that instead, the company must establish — and the government must validate — that valuable minerals are present under such lands for a claim to exist.
Based largely on that ruling, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in Reno ruled in February that the Bureau of Land Management had violated the law when it approved Lithium Americas’ plans for the Thacker Pass mine near the Nevada-Oregon line. But she allowed construction to begin last month while the bureau works to bring the project into compliance with federal law.
The 9th Circuit has scheduled oral arguments June 26 on environmentalists’ appeal of Du’s refusal to halt the mine even though she found it was approved illegally.
Last month, U.S. Judge Larry Hicks in Reno also adopted the Rosemont standard in his ruling that nullified Bureau of Land Management approval of a Nevada molybdenum mine and prohibited any construction.
“BLM cannot skirt the Mining Law requirement that valuable mineral deposits must be found in order to occupy the land,” he wrote March 31. | https://pix11.com/business/ap-business/planned-senate-bill-would-counteract-mining-law-ruling/ | 2023-04-25 17:15:23 | 0 | https://pix11.com/business/ap-business/planned-senate-bill-would-counteract-mining-law-ruling/ |
TX Norman OK Zone Forecast for Tuesday, February 14, 2023
_____
372 FPUS54 KOUN 150701
ZFPOUN
Zone Forecast Product for Oklahoma
National Weather Service Norman OK
101 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023
TXZ086-151500-
Wichita-
Including the cities of Sheppard AFB and Wichita Falls
101 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023
.REST OF TONIGHT...Mostly clear and breezy. Highs in the mid 70s.
Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph with gusts up
to 35 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny, brisk and much cooler with highs in the mid
40s. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear, cold with lows in the lower 20s. North
winds 10 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. Northwest winds around
5 mph, becoming southwest in the afternoon.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear in the evening, then becoming partly
cloudy. Cold with lows around 30. South winds 5 to 10 mph.
.SATURDAY...Partly sunny in the morning, then clearing. Highs in
the upper 50s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s.
.SUNDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s.
.WASHINGTONS BIRTHDAY...Mostly cloudy in the morning, then
becoming partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain after
midnight. Lows around 50. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain in the morning,
then a slight chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs in the
upper 60s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Lows in the mid 40s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny with a slight chance of rain in the
morning. Chance of rain 20 percent.
$$
TXZ083-151500-
Hardeman-
Including the city of Quanah
101 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023
.REST OF TONIGHT...Mostly clear and breezy. Highs in the lower
70s. Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph with
gusts up to 35 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny, brisk and much cooler with highs in the mid
40s. North winds 15 to 25 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear, cold with lows in the lower 20s.
Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. West winds around 5 mph,
becoming southwest in the afternoon.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Cold with lows in the lower 30s.
South winds 5 to 10 mph.
.SATURDAY...Partly sunny in the morning, then clearing. Highs
around 60.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s.
.SUNDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s.
.WASHINGTONS BIRTHDAY...Mostly cloudy in the morning, then
becoming partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain after
midnight. Lows in the upper 40s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY...Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain in the
morning, then partly sunny with a slight chance of showers in the
afternoon. Highs in the upper 60s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Lows in the lower 40s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny with a slight chance of rain in the
morning. Chance of rain 20 percent.
$$
TXZ084-151500-
Foard-
Including the city of Crowell
101 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023
.REST OF TONIGHT...Mostly clear and breezy. Highs in the lower
70s. Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph with
gusts up to 35 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Much cooler with highs in the mid 40s. North
winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear, cold with lows in the lower 20s. North
winds 10 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. West winds around 5 mph,
becoming south in the afternoon.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy in the evening, then becoming
mostly cloudy. Cold with lows in the lower 30s. South winds 5 to
10 mph.
.SATURDAY...Partly sunny in the morning, then clearing. Highs in
the upper 50s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear in the evening, then becoming
partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.
.SUNDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s.
.WASHINGTONS BIRTHDAY...Mostly cloudy in the morning, then
becoming partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain after
midnight. Lows in the lower 50s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY...Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain in the
morning, then partly sunny with a slight chance of showers in the
afternoon. Highs in the upper 60s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Lows in the mid 40s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny with a slight chance of rain in the
morning. Chance of rain 20 percent.
$$
TXZ087-151500-
Knox-
Including the cities of Munday and Knox City
101 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023
.REST OF TONIGHT...Mostly clear and breezy. Highs in the lower
70s. Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph with
gusts up to 35 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Much cooler with highs in the mid 40s. North
winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear, cold with lows in the lower 20s. North
winds 10 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. West winds around 5 mph,
becoming southwest in the afternoon.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy in the evening, then becoming
mostly cloudy. Cold with lows in the lower 30s. South winds 5 to
10 mph.
.SATURDAY...Partly sunny in the morning, then clearing. Highs in
the upper 50s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear in the evening, then becoming
partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.
.SUNDAY...Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s.
.WASHINGTONS BIRTHDAY...Mostly cloudy in the morning, then
becoming partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain after
midnight. Lows in the lower 50s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain in the morning,
then a slight chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs around
70. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Lows in the mid 40s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny with a slight chance of rain in the
morning. Chance of rain 20 percent.
$$
TXZ085-151500-
Wilbarger-
Including the city of Vernon
101 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023
.REST OF TONIGHT...Mostly clear and breezy. Highs in the lower
70s. Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph with
gusts up to 35 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Much cooler with highs in the mid 40s. North
winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear, cold with lows in the lower 20s. North
winds 10 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. Northwest winds around
5 mph, becoming southwest in the afternoon.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Cold with lows in the lower 30s.
South winds 5 to 10 mph.
.SATURDAY...Partly sunny in the morning, then clearing. Highs in
the upper 50s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear in the evening, then becoming
partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.
.SUNDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s.
.WASHINGTONS BIRTHDAY...Mostly cloudy in the morning, then
becoming partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain after
midnight. Lows around 50. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain in the morning,
then a slight chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs in the
upper 60s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Lows in the lower 40s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny with a slight chance of rain in the
morning. Chance of rain 20 percent.
$$
TXZ088-151500-
Baylor-
Including the city of Seymour
101 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023
.REST OF TONIGHT...Mostly clear and breezy. Highs in the mid 70s.
Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph with gusts up
to 35 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Much cooler with highs in the mid 40s. North
winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear, cold with lows in the lower 20s. North
winds 10 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. Northwest winds around
5 mph, becoming southwest in the afternoon.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Cold with lows in the lower 30s.
South winds 5 to 10 mph.
.SATURDAY...Partly sunny in the morning, then clearing. Highs in
the upper 50s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear in the evening, then becoming
partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.
.SUNDAY...Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s.
.WASHINGTONS BIRTHDAY...Mostly cloudy in the morning, then
becoming partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain after
midnight. Lows in the lower 50s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain in the morning,
then a slight chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs around
70. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Lows in the mid 40s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny with a slight chance of rain in the
morning. Chance of rain 20 percent.
$$
TXZ089-151500-
Archer-
Including the cities of Archer City, Holliday, Lakeside City,
and Scotland
101 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023
.REST OF TONIGHT...Mostly clear and breezy. Highs in the mid 70s.
Lows in the mid 30s. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Much cooler with highs in the mid 40s.
Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear, cold with lows in the lower 20s. North
winds 10 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs around 50. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Cold with lows in the lower 30s.
South winds 5 to 10 mph.
.SATURDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 50s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear in the evening, then becoming
partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.
.SUNDAY...Partly sunny. Not as cool with highs in the lower 70s.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s.
.WASHINGTONS BIRTHDAY...Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain after
midnight. Lows in the lower 50s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain in the morning,
then a slight chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs around
70. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Lows in the mid 40s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny with a slight chance of rain in the
morning. Chance of rain 20 percent.
$$
TXZ090-151500-
Clay-
Including the city of Henrietta
101 AM CST Wed Feb 15 2023
.REST OF TONIGHT...Mostly clear with a 20 percent chance of rain
showers. Breezy with highs in the mid 70s. Lows in the mid 30s.
Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Much cooler with highs in the mid 40s.
Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Cold with lows in the mid 20s.
North winds 10 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs around 50. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear in the evening, then becoming partly
cloudy. Cold with lows in the lower 30s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.
.SATURDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 50s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear in the evening, then becoming
partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.
.SUNDAY...Partly sunny. Not as cool with highs in the lower 70s.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s.
.WASHINGTONS BIRTHDAY...Mostly cloudy in the morning, then
becoming partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain after
midnight. Lows in the lower 50s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY...Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain in the morning,
then a slight chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs in the
upper 60s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Lows in the mid 40s.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny with a slight chance of rain in the
morning. Chance of rain 20 percent.
$$
_____
Copyright 2023 AccuWeather | https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/tx-norman-ok-zone-forecast-17785215.php | 2023-02-15 08:08:53 | 0 | https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/tx-norman-ok-zone-forecast-17785215.php |
Former ASU baseball star Drew Maggi proves there is no expiration date on dreams
Opinion: Baseball player Drew Maggi had 4,494 plate appearances in 1,154 games over 13 years, all in the minor leagues. Then …
The most important story of the week involved a 33-year-old baseball player you’ve never heard of getting his first Major League at-bat … and striking out.
If that somehow doesn’t seem to you like a significant news event, it is only because those of us in the media have lost our way, foolishly focusing all of our energy on the madness and mayhem of everyday existence instead of the wonderment of dreams.
This is a story about dreams.
In the early 2000s, Drew Maggi was a star multi-sport athlete at Brophy Prep in Phoenix. He went on to play baseball at Arizona State University, becoming a standout on what was then one of college baseball’s most dominant teams.
He played shortstop and was the leadoff hitter. In 2009, his coach, Pat Murphy, said of him, “Maggi’s been the difference maker on the team. Our offense goes when Maggi goes.”
Drew Maggi went pro, then waited and waited
In 2010, while only a sophomore, Maggi was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and decided to go pro.
That was 4,494 plate appearances, 1,154 games and 13 years ago. All spent in the minor leagues.
Last Sunday, Pirates’ outfielder Brian Reynolds went on bereavement leave and the team called up Maggi from its Double-A affiliate in Altoona, Pa.
Two games were played with Maggi on the bench.
During that time, baseball fans in Pittsburgh became aware of his long, long stay in the minor leagues.
Other athletes would have hung up their spikes long ago. Maggi kept playing.
'It's the best strikeout I ever had,' he said
On Wednesday, with the Pirates safely ahead, Maggi was inserted as a pinch hitter in a game between Pittsburgh and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It was his first Major League at bat.
Who's at top?Arizona Republic's high school baseball rankings
As Maggi walked to the plate, fans chanted his name and gave him a standing ovation.
He struck out on four pitches but said afterward, “It’s the best strikeout I ever had.”
Family from Phoenix was there.
Maggi said, “There were a lot of ‘I love you. We’re proud of you. You did it!’
“I saw my dad crying. I don’t think I ever saw him cry before. All those years, I wondered what I would say to my parents if that moment ever were to come. They’ve been right there with me. Hearing those words made it all worthwhile. I know the last 13 years have not been wasted.”
In reality, Maggi knocked it out of the park
Over the years, Maggi would have heard rumblings that he should quit.
Individuals who give up on their dreams often try to talk others into not pursuing theirs.
But for some people, like Maggi, dreams do not have an expiration date.
He said, “I love baseball. I was grinding for 13 years but I was doing what I loved. The ultimate goal is the big leagues. Just kind of getting here, my name is in history. I put on a big league uniform, and I shared the field with the world’s greatest players.”
That’s not striking out.
That’s knocking it out of the park.
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.
For more opinions content, please subscribe. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2023/04/28/former-asu-star-drew-maggi-first-major-leage-at-bat/70161849007/ | 2023-04-28 15:15:46 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2023/04/28/former-asu-star-drew-maggi-first-major-leage-at-bat/70161849007/ |
Top stories from today's Montana This Morning, Friday, July 15, 2022 - Latest local news and headlines from across the world.
Posted at 8:38 AM, Jul 15, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-15 10:38:41-04
Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | https://www.kxlf.com/news/local-news/top-stories-from-todays-montana-this-morning-july-15-2022 | 2022-07-15 15:33:41 | 0 | https://www.kxlf.com/news/local-news/top-stories-from-todays-montana-this-morning-july-15-2022 |
DETROIT -- The Lions got better in the long run by trading T.J. Hockenson for draft picks at the deadline.
In the short term, they continue to look just fine without him too.
Brock Wright caught two more touchdown passes on Sunday to help Detroit build a 24-7 halftime lead in a must-win game against the Chicago Bears. Tight ends have now accounted for 12 touchdown catches this season, breaking a franchise record that had stood since 2011.
Wright has four of them himself, including that 51-yard winner on fourth down against the New York Jets. Shane Zylstra added three more scores the following week in Carolina, giving him four on the season as well.
Hockenson only had one season with more TDs than what Wright and Zylstra both have right now, plus another 1.5 games to play.
Neither Wright nor Zylstra is as good of a pass-catcher as Hockenson, and no one is saying otherwise. But the Lions believed they had the skill players to absorb Hockenson’s contributions when they traded the former Pro Bowler to Minnesota. They also believed the remaining tight ends would contribute everything they needed in the blocking game and in the red zone.
They’ve been right on all accounts, with the current team not losing a thing without Hockneson, while future teams are in a better position thanks to the draft capital they picked up in the trade. Plus they don’t have to worry about paying Hockenson top dollar next year, or extending him for the long term. That’s a win-win-win for the Lions, who have already thrown up another 24 points in the first half against Chicago, making this team the No. 2 scoring team in franchise history.
Defensively, the Lions have locked in a bit despite some early carnage trying to handle Justin Fields. James Houston has added two more sacks, giving him seven in six NFL games. One of those sacks jarred the ball loose, which Aidan Hutchinson recovered -- and then Hutchinson added his third pick of the season to conclude the half.
Houston and Hutchinson. Get used to it, folks. That’s going to be an intriguing pairing for years to come.
Thirty more minutes of this, and Detroit will prolong its dramatic playoff chase to the final week of the season.
Buy Lions gear: Fanatics, NFL Shop, Amazon, Lids
Buy Lions tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster
Stream Lions Games Live: fuboTV, Hulu + Live, Sling | https://www.mlive.com/lions/2023/01/halftime-analysis-brock-wright-helps-lions-set-tight-end-td-record.html | 2023-01-01 19:58:58 | 0 | https://www.mlive.com/lions/2023/01/halftime-analysis-brock-wright-helps-lions-set-tight-end-td-record.html |
Successful first year included recognition from BioBuzz as a top media program
COLUMBIA, Md., June 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TEDCO, Maryland's economic engine for technology companies, released new episodes of its virtual series with CEO, Troy LeMaile-Stovall, called TEDCO Talks. The series features LeMaile-Stovall interviewing various thought leaders with connections to Maryland's innovation ecosystem.
Launched in the fall of 2020, these thought-provoking conversations have continued to provide a platform for Maryland's entrepreneurs to learn more about the various resources and thought leaders supporting the community. The TEDCO Talks videos use a "fireside chat" format and cover a wide range of topics, such as advice to small businesses dealing with COVID-19, available funding programs and benefits, diversity and inclusion, and more.
In its first year, TEDCO Talks was selected as a finalist for the BioBuzz Media Award, which honors a media campaign that most aligns with the BioBuzz mission to create exceptional experiences that better connect people and employers and foster a stronger regional ecosystem.
"We were honored to have our TEDCO Talks video series selected as a finalist for the BioBuzz Media Award, which recognizes programs and campaigns that successfully engage, inform, and connect our region," said LeMaile-Stovall. "We look forward to building on that success as we continue to hold meaningful, thoughtful conversations with innovative STEM entrepreneurs and leaders across the great state of Maryland."
The interviews have been with leaders from a variety of organizations—including area companies, county economic development corporations, business chambers, higher education, and technology councils—about the emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities facing our region.
Among others, recent featured guests have included:
- Ellen Flowers-Fields, College of Southern Maryland
- David Speer, Maryland/Israel Development Center
- President Clifford Coppersmith, Chesapeake College
- Jamie McDonald, Upsurge Baltimore
- Kolaleh Eskandanian, Children's National
- Janet Currie, Bank of America
- President Anthony Jenkins, Coppin State University
- President Freeman Hrabowski, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Linda Singh, Kaleidoscope Affect LLC
- President Aminta Breaux, Bowie State University
- Jeff Cherry, Conscious Venture Lab
- Nasir Qadree, Zeal Capital Partners
- President Darryll Pines, University of Maryland, College Park
TEDCO Talks has also featured many other guests and celebrated a milestone of 25 episodes.
"Our goal has been to offer Maryland entrepreneurs useful information through an engaging, public platform and candid conversations with our community thought leaders. We're glad TEDCO Talks has provided exactly that," stated Tammi Thomas, TEDCO's chief marketing & communications officer and executive producer of TEDCO Talks. "You take some risks when you start a new program; we're so glad this one paid off with a loyal following and the BioBuzz recognition. We encourage new and returning listeners to stay up-to-date on all the latest episodes by following along on TEDCO's YouTube Channel. We have a very special guest kicking off the series in May!"
TEDCO Talks can be viewed on the YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/MDTEDCO, or it is available as a podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify and Apple. New interviews will be added on a regular basis so check frequently for updates.
TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Learn more at www.tedcomd.com.
Tammi Thomas
Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, TEDCO
tthomas@tedco.md
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE TEDCO | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/06/08/tedco-talks-launches-its-second-year-with-more-innovation-collaboration/ | 2022-06-08 21:36:23 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/06/08/tedco-talks-launches-its-second-year-with-more-innovation-collaboration/ |
The platform helps companies navigate the complexities of highly dynamic and distributed cloud applications with confidence
TEL AVIV, Israel, June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lumigo, the modern cloud application observability platform, announced today the extension of its core product to support containers and Kubernetes. Lumigo now offers complete end-to-end observability covering the full spectrum of cloud services used in modern applications, from AWS Lambda to serverless services like DynamoDB to containers.
Modern cloud applications are primarily built using microservices, with many core services neither coded nor controlled by the app developers, but rather fully managed by cloud providers or third parties. With this architecture, a single user request usually spans many different services. Understanding the full path of a request, or debugging why one failed, is dependent on distributed tracing — correlating the executions from a request so that a single continuous path can be followed across services.
Lumigo developed best-in-breed distributed tracing algorithms to contend with highly distributed serverless applications. The same technology can now be utilized to monitor and trace applications built on containers or Kubernetes. "Observability solutions that aren't built from the ground up for modern cloud environments struggle to deal with today's highly distributed applications," said Erez Berkner, Lumigo's CEO and co-founder. "Lumigo is the first solution to ensure you always get a unified end-to-end story of the request, even across asynchronous managed services, for example AWS Step Functions or EventBridge."
In most modern environments, Lumigo's solution can be deployed without any code changes. This enables the correlation of executions across fully managed services, where app developers don't have the ability to deploy an agent, alter the code or change the API. Lumigo's team, who have deep expertise in cybersecurity, opted for an approach inspired by this domain. It utilizes existing information (raw data, calculated metadata and additional signals from the dataflow of the services) to generate "virtual unique identifiers" which are used for the correlation of executions. The typical method of propagating trace context fails with cloud managed services, like S3 buckets, whose code or APIs cannot be modified.
"Developers prefer to focus on building their unique app logic and not reinvent the wheel," said Aviad Mor, CTO of Lumigo. "In the past, fully managed services were mostly found at the edge of a request, like when using Stripe for managed payments. It's now common for multiple managed services to be at the core of nearly every request, as is the case with apps that use the managed database DynamoDB. Inadequate observability solutions leave developers attempting to manually piece together four or five separate parts of a request, costing precious time during critical production issues. With Lumigo, you go from an alert to debugging the error in a single click, and can reliably follow the request upstream to get to the root cause, cutting resolution time from hours to minutes."
About Lumigo:
Lumigo is an observability platform for modern cloud applications that uses automated distributed tracing to allow developers to quickly navigate to the root cause of issues with visual debugging, resolve performance bottlenecks with a clear breakdown of each component's execution duration, and receive notifications on issues before they impact the business with smart alerts. Lumigo specializes in connecting the dots to present an end-to-end view across the full spectrum of modern cloud services, including Amazon DynamoDB, API Gateway, Step Functions, Lambda, Fargate, ECS, EventBridge, S3, Kinesys and many more. The platform is used by hundreds of leading companies, including Medtronic, Sonos and Vimeo. Lumigo has raised $37 million in funding to date.
Contact:
Gavriel Cohen
gavriel@westraycommunications.com
+1-914-336-4633
View original content:
SOURCE Lumigo | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2022/06/16/lumigo-expands-its-serverless-observability-platform-support-any-modern-cloud-application/ | 2022-06-16 09:09:03 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2022/06/16/lumigo-expands-its-serverless-observability-platform-support-any-modern-cloud-application/ |
LendingTree finds that the rising cost of dates amid inflation is a major challenge for dating Americans
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LendingTree®, the nation's leading online financial services marketplace, released its survey exploring dating habits amid inflation. The survey found that 77% of dating Americans say dating would be easier if they had more money, with nearly 1 in 5 going on fewer dates due to inflation. Additionally, LendingTree found that 22% of millennials have incurred debt due to their dating habits - the most of any generation.
Key findings
- 77% of daters say dating could be easier if they had more money. This is more common among men (83%) than women (73%). Regardless, 32% say they'd still go on a date even if they couldn't pay for it, with men (36%) more likely to do so than women (30%).
- Nearly 1 in 5 (19%) of those who are dating say they're going on fewer dates because of inflation. Another 14% are trying to spend less on dates.
- Millennials (22%) are most likely to incur debt because of their dating spending habits. Gen Zers are the second most likely to take on dating-related debt, at 19%.
- 6% of Americans have had their card declined on a first date, but six-figure earners and those with an annual household income between $75,000 and $99,999 are most likely to snag a second date regardless.
LendingTree's Chief Credit Analyst, Matt Schulz, had this to add:
"Dating has always been expensive. Throw rampant inflation into the mix and it can make an already challenging situation even tougher. However, with a well-thought-out budget and a little bit of creativity and planning, you should still be able to have plenty of fun without drowning in debt."
To view the full report, visit
https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/study/dating-money-inflation/
Methodology
LendingTree commissioned Qualtrics to conduct an online survey of 1,578 U.S. consumers ages 18 to 76 from Aug. 12 to 16, 2022. The survey was administered using a nonprobability-based sample, and quotas were used to ensure the sample base represented the overall population. All responses were reviewed by researchers for quality control.
We defined generations as the following ages in 2022:
- Generation Z: 18 to 25
- Millennial: 26 to 41
- Generation X: 42 to 56
- Baby boomer: 57 to 76
About LendingTree
LendingTree is the nation's leading online marketplace that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. LendingTree empowers consumers to make smarter financial decisions through choice, education and support. Consumers can compare multiple offers from a nationwide network of over 500 partners in one simple search, and can choose the option that best fits their financial needs. Services include mortgage loans, mortgage refinances, auto loans, personal loans, business loans, student loans, insurance, credit cards and more. Through the logged-in experience, consumers receive free credit scores, credit monitoring, recommendations to improve credit health, and notifications when the proprietary algorithm identifies a savings opportunity. LendingTree, LLC is a subsidiary of LendingTree, Inc. For more information, go to www.lendingtree.com, dial 800-555-TREE, like our Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter @LendingTree.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Nelson Garcia
nelson@lendingtreenews.com
704-943-8208
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE LendingTree.com | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/09/29/nearly-20-daters-are-dating-less-due-inflation/ | 2022-09-29 12:00:52 | 0 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/09/29/nearly-20-daters-are-dating-less-due-inflation/ |
(NEXSTAR) — As the ongoing fascination with “true crime” entertainment continues, so too does the fascination with homes where insidious events went down. The owners of a home in Westfield, New Jersey, are currently dealing with an influx of visitors after Netflix’s “The Watcher” — which chronicles a series of threatening letters the then-owners received in 2014 — became a streaming hit.
“The Watcher,” created by “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” maestro Ryan Murphy, doesn’t deal with murder. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility that its new notoriety could impact anyone considering living there in the future. As data and experts show, crime — but particularly murder — can make a big dent in property values.
Often called “murder houses,” these homes are also known as “stigmatized properties” by the National Association of Realtors. Stigmatized properties include places that have been impacted by events such as murder, suicide, a notorious previous owner, and alleged occurrences like hauntings.
California real estate agent Dr. Randall Bell is a self-described “Master of Disaster” who has helped sell some of the most noted stigmatized properties in the U.S., including the previous homes of Nicole Brown Simpson and John and Patsy Ramsey. Bell is CEO of real estate/economics advisory firm Landmark Research and specializes in real estate damage economics.
“This means I study the effect detrimental conditions have on property values,” Bell told Nexstar. “We inspect the properties and then develop case studies of other similar situations to determine the most likely impact. We can also study what can be done to reduce any negative effects.”
In an interview with VICE, Bell explained that sellers of “tainted” properties can expect a “15 to 25% diminution in value for two to three years after the fact. Over time the discount evaporates, but it takes 10 to 25 years for the stigma to go away entirely.”
Bell’s data is echoed by that found by Realtor, using public data sourced by DiedInHouse.com, a website that uses property records to tell users whether someone died at a specific address. Data shows “murder houses” sell for a median 21% less than their previous sale price and 9% less than the list price. These properties also sell for 15% less than comparable houses in the same zip code.
The Washington Post explains buyers have more access to property information than ever, which can add to difficulty selling a stigmatized house for a break-even price, or at all. Knowing a home’s backstory can lead to buyers having a predisposed “bad vibe” before even seeing it.
NAR says a property’s stigma can negatively impact neighboring homes, too.
Even houses of “famous” murder sites aren’t immune.
The Los Angeles condo where owner Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ron Goldman were murdered sat on the market for two years before finally selling at a loss of $525,000. Brown Simpson previously purchased the home for $625,000, Realtor explains. The home at the center of the O.J. Simpson murder trial would later sell for $1.72 million after remodeling and an address change.
Sometimes even a remodel can’t save a home from its past. The home of serial murderer John Wayne Gacy was foreclosed on, completely demolished and re-addressed. The new house, atop the site where Gacy killed at least 33 young men and boys, finally sold after its owner cut the cost three times — $30,000 lower than the list price.
While not a single-family dwelling, the entire Milwaukee apartment building where serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 11 people in the 1980s and 90s was demolished due not only to physical damage but to the stigma surrounding the crimes, as Esquire reports.
Nevertheless, some high-profile murder locations do become popular attractions, like the Massachusetts home of accused axe murderer Lizzie Borden.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles site of the 1969 Manson Family murders, where actress Sharon Tate and five others were killed, was sold for $1.6 million ($3.7 million adjusted for inflation) by owner Rudy Altobelli in 1989 — 18 times what the Hollywood talent manager paid for it in the early 1960s. The home, previously located at 10050 Cielo Drive, was host to a string of musicians, including Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, before its demolition and re-addressing in 1994.
In January, the home built in place of the 10050 site was put up for sale by owner Jeff Franklin, creator of “Full House,” with a list price of $85 million.
But most “murder houses” aren’t bought up by celebrities, or turned into tourist attractions, as Realtor reports. Citing public records, Realtor reports that 59% of stigmatized home buyers are everyday people, while 20% are purchased by corporate entities for investment.
The family who purchased the former Arizona home of convicted murderer Jodi Arias told AZ Central in 2013 that the $206,000 they paid for the home, where Arias stabbed ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander 30 times, was “a good deal” and they didn’t consider it a crime scene.
For many regular homebuyers, a “good deal” on a stigmatized property is exactly the calculus behind buying the home.
Do realtors have to tell you about a murder in the home?
Depending on where you live, it can be completely legal for a realtor to leave out a home’s grizzly history.
Experian explains that realtors are legally obligated to disclose “material facts” about a property, but deaths aren’t included under that definition in many states.
Buyers purchasing directly from the homeowner should receive what’s known as a seller disclosure from the owner. As with real estate agents, the disclosure document will list information about the physical home and its land, Nerd Wallet reports. Common items on a seller disclosure are any liens on the property, flooding issues/water damage, and mechanical issues. Unfortunately for buyers, deaths on a property also tend to fall outside of necessary information about a property.
Bell says sellers — particularly in California, which has some of the strictest laws in the nation — should always tell the truth. He recommends that sellers work with qualified agents, brokers and attorneys to mitigate any possible critical omissions.
If you’re buying and want to cover bases about your prospective home, it’s best to find out what sellers are required to tell you in your state. In many states, sellers are only required to disclose a death in the home if directly asked. | https://pix11.com/news/us-world-news/murder-houses-how-does-violence-impact-sale-prices/ | 2022-10-22 21:12:02 | 1 | https://pix11.com/news/us-world-news/murder-houses-how-does-violence-impact-sale-prices/ |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – A festival is coming to Parkview Field this summer that features some of the top names in comedy.
Bert Kreischer is bringing the “Fully Loaded Comedy Festival” to Parkview Field on June 23. The lineup also includes Tiffany Haddish, Fortune Feimster, Big Jay Oakerson, Jay Pharoah, and Chad Daniels. According to the website, more names will be announced as the date gets closer.
A special online presale for TinCaps fans will begin Thursday, March 9 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. with the code “PLAYBALL”. Tickets will go on sale to the public Friday at 10 a.m.
The second annual cross-country tour takes comedians to 16 of the “most iconic ballparks”, according to a release, and the TinCaps stadium made the list. Learn more on the festival’s website. | https://www.wane.com/top-stories/comedy-festival-brings-big-names-to-parkview-field/ | 2023-03-08 16:30:01 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/top-stories/comedy-festival-brings-big-names-to-parkview-field/ |
Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said he spoke with Lamar Jackson on Monday about the star quarterback’s profane postgame tweet directed at a fan a day earlier, saying the language Jackson used was out of character.
Jackson, meanwhile, insisted on Twitter that he did not intend to disrespect anyone’s sexual orientation and has never done so.
After the Ravens lost 28-27 to Jacksonville on Sunday, a fan suggested Baltimore let Jackson leave via free agency. Jackson responded — in a tweet that was later deleted — by saying the person “never smelt a football field” and using vulgar language that members of the gay community said was offensive.
Jackson shot back at the idea that his tweet was anti-gay by tweeting Monday: “Not once have I ever mentioned or disrespect anyone’s Sexuality, sexual orientation, gender, Religion or Race.”
Harbaugh said he heard about Jackson’s tweet Sunday night and talked to him Monday morning.
“We talk a lot about football, but we also talk a little bit about that stuff too — what goes on in terms of the media and everything, and really, it’s just, beg guys not to get into the Twitter world right after the game, especially after a loss,” Harbaugh said. “It’s never going to be positive. It’s not going to be a nice place, and I think that’s kind of reflected in Lamar’s response.
“… He wants to win. I’m sure he’s frustrated, just like we all are, and that’s just a place you just don’t want to live right after a game. I know he understands that.”
Outsports.com, which covers LGBTQ sports news, published a piece about Jackson’s comments that said: “Jackson might not be homophobic, but his comment was. He would have been better off apologizing for the tweet in the first place as opposed to trying to defend its contents.”
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Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.kxnet.com/sports/ap-ravens-harbaugh-speaks-with-jackson-about-offensive-tweet/ | 2022-11-29 04:40:59 | 1 | https://www.kxnet.com/sports/ap-ravens-harbaugh-speaks-with-jackson-about-offensive-tweet/ |
Medical device leader hosting annual symposium to advance education and awareness of medially stabilizing techniques in total knee arthroplasty
ARLINGTON, Tenn., June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MicroPort Orthopedics, a global leader in orthopedic devices and technologies, today announces that it will be hosting its first annual Global Medial-Pivot Symposium in Chicago from October 13-15, 2022. This event will focus on the latest scientific findings and research on medial pivot designs with keynote sessions presented by surgeons from around the globe.
The global knee market is moving toward the adoption of medial pivot designs due to their positive outcomes, including improved patient experience, accelerated recovery, faster return to functional activities, and long-term survivorship. As a pioneer of the medial pivot philosophy, MicroPort Orthopedics has appointed Lowry Barnes, MD and Scott Banks, Ph.D. as symposium co-chairs. Barnes and Banks will facilitate sessions during the symposium alongside key faculty to expand on these advantages, consider the pros and cons of other surgical techniques, discuss unique advantages for patients, and take a forward-looking approach to innovations and technologies impacting total knee arthroplasty.
"This symposium will bring together many of the top orthopedic surgeons and medical device professionals in the world for two days of focused, strategic conversation on how we can continue to build upon this popular and proven method of total knee surgery, bettering overall outcomes for the future," said Dr. Lowry Barnes. "I've seen firsthand the benefits of this medially stabilizing technique and look forward to sharing insights and takeaways and learning from others in the field of how to better use it in my practice."
"I have spent my entire career working with surgeons to better understand and to better treat patients with joint diseases. I am encouraged that we can now demonstrate direct links between knee mechanics and TKA patient outcomes," said Scott Banks. "We see knee designs and surgical techniques that provide appropriate joint stability lead to measurably enhanced outcomes, activity levels and patient satisfaction. It is an exciting time to work in the field of knee arthroplasty, and to pursue the advances that will make a replaced knee a commonly 'forgotten joint'."
MicroPort Orthopedics offers various products and techniques to help patients receiving total hip and knee replacements achieve Full Function, Faster. For more information or to register, email learn@ortho.microport.com.
MicroPort Orthopedics leverages extensive experience in orthopedics and excellent clinical results to improve patient outcomes and drive provider satisfaction across the globe. The mission of MicroPort Orthopedics is to become the trusted partner of healthcare professionals who share a belief that hip and knee replacements of the past are not good enough for the patient today. In partnership with surgeons, MicroPort helps patients get back on their feet quickly. With a focus on innovation combined with demonstrated capability to deliver the resources of an industry leader, MicroPort Orthopedics is helping patients worldwide achieve full function faster each and every day. To learn more, visit www.microportortho.com.
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SOURCE MicroPort Orthopedics | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/06/22/microport-orthopedics-announces-first-annual-global-medial-pivot-symposium-taking-place-chicago-october-13-15/ | 2022-06-22 18:33:37 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/06/22/microport-orthopedics-announces-first-annual-global-medial-pivot-symposium-taking-place-chicago-october-13-15/ |
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. (GPRE) on Thursday reported a loss of $70.3 million in its first quarter.
On a per-share basis, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said it had a loss of $1.20.
The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 37 cents per share.
The ethanol production, marketing and commodities company posted revenue of $832.9 million in the period, which also missed Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $847 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 GPRE at https://www.zacks.com/ap/GPRE | https://www.ourmidland.com/business/article/green-plains-q1-earnings-snapshot-18078300.php | 2023-05-04 13:17:17 | 1 | https://www.ourmidland.com/business/article/green-plains-q1-earnings-snapshot-18078300.php |
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