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PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Native Americans in Massachusetts are calling for a boycott of a popular living history museum featuring Colonial reenactors portraying life in Plymouth, the famous English settlement founded by the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower.
Members of the state’s Wampanoag community and their supporters say Plimoth Patuxet Museums has not lived up to its promise of creating a “bi-cultural museum” that equally tells the story of the European and Indigenous peoples that lived there.
They say the “ Historic Patuxet Homesite,” the portion of the mostly outdoor museum focused on traditional Indigenous life, is inadequately small, in need of repairs and staffed by workers who aren’t from local tribes.
“We’re saying don’t patronize them, don’t work over there,” said Camille Madison, a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe on Martha’s Vineyard, who was among those recently venting their frustrations on social media. “We don’t want to engage with them until they can find a way to respect Indigenous knowledge and experience.”
The concerns come just two years after the museum changed its name from Plimoth Plantation to Plimoth Patuxet as part of a yearlong celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing.
At the time, the museum declared the “new, more balanced” moniker reflected the importance of the Indigenous perspective to the 75-year-old institution’s educational mission.
“Patuxet” was an Indigenous community near “Plimoth,” as the Pilgrim colony was known before becoming modern day Plymouth. It was badly decimated by European diseases by the time the Mayflower arrived, but one of its survivors, Tisquantum, commonly known as Squanto, famously helped the English colonists survive their first winter.
“They’ve changed the name but haven’t changed the attitude,” said Paula Peters, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe who worked for nearly 20 years at the museum, most recently as marketing director. “They’ve done nothing to ingratiate themselves with tribes. Every step they take is tone deaf.”
Museum spokesperson Rob Kluin, in a statement emailed to The Associated Press, said the museum has expanded the outdoor Wampanoag exhibit, raised more than $2 million towards a new Indigenous programs building and has “several initiatives in place” to recruit and retain staff from Native communities. He declined to elaborate.
The statement also cited a pair of grants the museum received to boost its Native American education programming. That included more than $160,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to host a workshop this summer for teachers on how to incorporate Indigenous voices into their history lessons.
The museum also noted that its new director of Algonquian Exhibits and Interpretation is an Aquinnah Wampanoag who serves on his tribe’s education committee.
Carol Pollard, whose late brother Anthony “Nanepashemet” Pollard played a key role in the development of the museum’s Indigenous programming as a leading Wampanoag historian, was among those dismayed at the state of the site.
Last week, large gaps were evident in the battered tree bark roof of the large wetu, or traditional Wampanoag dwelling, that is a focal point of the Indigenous exhibit. Neither of the two museum interpreters on site was wearing traditional tribal attire. Meanwhile, on the Pilgrim settlement part of the museum, thatched roofs on the Colonial homes had been recently repaired, and numerous reenactors milled about in detailed period outfits.
“I know my brother would be very disappointed,” said Pollard, who also worked as a gardener at the museum until last summer. “I guarantee you, people dressed in khakis and navy blue tops was not my brother’s vision.”
Former museum staffers say museum officials for years ignored their suggestions for modernizing and expanding the outdoor exhibit, which marks its 50th anniversary next year.
That, coupled with low pay and poor working conditions, led to the departure of many long-standing Native staffers who built the program into a must-see attraction by showcasing authentic Indigenous farming, cooking, canoe building and other cultural practices, they say.
“For more than a decade now, the museum has systematically dismantled the outdoor exhibit,” the Wampanoag Consulting Alliance, a Native group that includes Peters and other former museum staffers, said in a statement late last month. “Many steps taken to provide equal representation to Wampanoag programming have been removed, and the physical exhibit is in deplorable condition. The result has been the virtually complete alienation of the Wampanoag communities.”
Kitty Hendricks-Miller, a Mashpee Wampanoag who was a supervisor at the Wampanoag exhibit in the 1990s and early 2000s, says she worries about what non-Indigenous families and students are taking away from their visits to the museum, which remains a school field trip rite of passage for many in New England.
As Indian education coordinator for her tribe, she’s been encouraging teachers to reach out to Native communities directly if they’re seeking culturally and historically accurate programs.
“There’s this unwillingness to acknowledge that times have changed,” said Casey Figueroa, who worked for years as an interpreter at the museum until 2015. “The Native side of the Plymouth story has so much more to offer in terms of the issues we’re facing today, from immigration to racism and climate change, but they went backwards instead. They totally blew it.” | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/native-americans-urge-boycott-of-tone-deaf-pilgrim-museum/ | 2022-08-10 11:12:12 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/national/native-americans-urge-boycott-of-tone-deaf-pilgrim-museum/ |
- Industry veterans Bob Carter, Zack Hicks, Tracey Doi and Mike Owens announce retirements
- New executive appointments designed to further company's mobility transformation
PLANO, Texas, June 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota's North American operations today announced executive leadership changes designed to continue driving growth, fostering strong dealer and customer relations, achieving carbon neutrality goals and becoming the Mobility company of choice for consumers.
The following changes are effective June 20, 2022, unless otherwise noted.
Corporate Resources and Manufacturing: Changes include a retirement and cascading backfills. In addition, Information Systems Solutions and Technology is transitioned from Digital Transformation and Mobility (DTM) to Corporate Resources, creating structural changes and new positions.
- Tracey Doi, group vice president and chief financial officer, TMNA, will retire effective August 1.
- Tim Ingle, group vice president, Enterprise Strategy, TMNA, will succeed Doi and is promoted to group vice president and CFO, reporting to Chris Reynolds, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, Corporate Resources, TMNA.
- Laura Pierce, vice president, Revenue Management and Product Profitability, TMNA, will succeed Ingle and is promoted to group vice president, Enterprise Strategy, reporting to Ingle.
- Jason Reid, vice president, Manufacturing Project Innovation Center (MPIC), TMNA, will succeed Pierce as vice president, Revenue Management and Product Profitability, reporting to Ingle.
- Natalie Wilkinson, general manager, North American Production Center, Strategic Business Management, TMNA, will succeed Reid and is promoted to vice president, MPIC. Wilkinson will report to Stephen Brennan, group vice president, Vehicle Production Engineering, TMNA.
- Sandra Phillips Rogers, group vice president, chief legal officer, general counsel and chief diversity officer, TMNA, is promoted to a newly created position of senior vice president, corporate resources and general counsel, TMNA. In this role, Phillips Rogers will take on the added responsibilities of Corporate Shared Services, Toyota de Mexico, and continues leading the teams from Legal, Sustainability & Regulatory Affairs, and Social Innovation. In addition, Jacqueline Thomas, group vice president and chief compliance officer, Compliance and Audit Office, TMNA, will continue to report directly to Ted Ogawa, chief executive officer, TMNA, and have a dotted-line responsibility to Phillips Rogers, who will continue to report to Reynolds.
- Sean Suggs, group vice president and chief social innovation officer, Social Innovation, TMNA, takes on the new position of president, Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMNC). In this new role, Suggs will be responsible for the operations of the company's future battery plant in North Carolina. Suggs will report to Norm Bafunno, senior vice president, Unit Manufacturing and Engineering, TMNA.
- Tellis Bethel, vice president, Voluntary Protection Products, Toyota Financial Services (TFS), will succeed Suggs and is promoted to group vice president and chief social innovation officer, Social Innovation, TMNA. Bethel will report to Phillips Rogers. A successor for Bethel will be named at a later date.
- Chris Yang, vice president, Business Development and Deputy General Counsel, TMNA, is promoted to group vice president, Business Development, Deputy General Counsel. In this dual-capped role, Yang will continue to report to Phillips Rogers and Reynolds.
Sales: Changes include a retirement and cascading backfills.
- Bob Carter, executive vice president, Sales, TMNA, and president, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. (TMS), will retire June 30.
- Jack Hollis, senior vice president, Automotive Operations, TMNA, will succeed Carter as executive vice president, Sales, TMNA and president, TMS, reporting to Ogawa.
- Andrew Gilleland, group vice president and general manager, Lexus Division, TMNA, is promoted to senior vice president, Automotive Operations, succeeding Hollis. Gilleland will report to Hollis.
- Dejuan Ross, vice president, Sales, Toyota Financial Services (TFS), is promoted to group vice president and general manager, Lexus Division, TMNA, reporting to Gilleland.
- Cooper Ericksen, group vice president, Product Planning and Strategy, TMNA, is promoted to senior vice president, Product, BEV and Mobility Planning and Strategy. Ericksen will report to Hollis.
- Shawn Domeraki, general manager, Demand and Supply Management, TMNA, is promoted to a new role as vice president, Product and Mobility Planning, reporting to Ericksen.
Research & Development (R&D) and DTM: Changes include retirement and cascading backfills. To streamline functions and leverage greater synergies, as noted above, Information Systems Solutions and Technology is transitioned to Corporate Resources, which includes an expanded global role for Cyber Security.
- Zack Hicks, chief executive officer and president, Toyota Connected North America (TCNA), executive vice president and chief digital officer, TMNA, will retire effective July 22.
- Holly Walters, group vice president and chief information officer, Information Systems, TMNA, will report to Reynolds as a result of shifting Information Systems Solutions and Technology to the Corporate Resources pillar.
- Josh Davis, group vice president and chief cybersecurity officer, TMNA, and senior vice president and chief information security officer, TCNA, adds additional global responsibilities and is named group vice president and chief cybersecurity officer, and senior advisor - global enterprise security, TMC. Davis will continue to report to Walters.
- Steve Basra, in his dual-capped role as group vice president, Connected Technologies, TMNA, will report to Shinichi Yasui, executive vice president, R&D, TMNA. This change is a result of the Connected Technologies function transitioning to R&D.
- Charan Lota, vice president, executive chief engineer, Connected Technologies, TMNA, is promoted to group vice president, Connected Technologies. Charan will continue to report to Basra.
Toyota Connected North America (TCNA): Changes include the retirement of Hicks, as noted above, and cascading backfills.
- Steve Basra, in his dual-capped role will succeed Hicks as CEO and president, TCNA, assuming the role of president and CEO, TCNA. Basra will report to chairman of the Board of TCNA.
- Chris Yang, in his dual-capped role, will add a new responsibility as executive vice president and chief operating officer, TCNA. Yang will join the Board of Directors, TCNA and report to the chairman of the Board, TCNA.
- Yosuke Tsuruta, vice president, Connected Technologies, TMNA, in his dual-capped role, will add a new assignment as chief administrative officer, TCNA. Tsuruta will join the Board of Directors, TCNA, and report to the chairman of the Board, TCNA.
Product Support: Change includes expanded responsibility.
- Kevin Austin, vice president, Demand and Supply Management, TMNA, is promoted to group vice president, Demand and Supply Management and Supply Chain Transformation, TMNA, reflecting an expansion of responsibilities to support the company's electrification initiatives. Austin will continue to report to Keith Robertson, group vice president, Supply Chain Management, TMNA.
Toyota Motor Corporate (TMC) Executives/Overseas Assignments
- Naoki Kojima, Treasurer, TMNA, will return to Japan on a new assignment, effective August 1.
- Masanao Watanabe, Treasurer, Mazda Toyota Manufacturing U.S., is dual-capped and will add Treasurer, TMNA to his responsibilities, succeeding Kojima. Watanabe will report to Ogawa and will be based in Plano, Texas.
- Kurt Drake, joins the company in a newly created role as vice president, Global Compliance, TMC, reporting to Reynolds and will be based in Plano, Texas.
Toyota Financial Services (TFS): Changes include enhancing core capabilities, better leveraging shared services to support Private Label business and global operations, and a retirement.
- Cindy Wang, group vice president, Accounting, Tax and Indirect Procurement Shared Services, TFS, takes on a new role as group vice president, Global Initiatives, TFS. Wang will continue to report to Scott Cooke, senior vice president and CFO, TFS.
- Karen Ideno, group vice president, Private Label Business, TFS, takes on a new role as group vice president, ESG and Indirect Procurement Shared Services, TFS. Ideno will now report to Cooke.
- James Schofield, vice president, Finance, Treasury, Competitiveness, Mergers and Acquisitions, TFS, is promoted to group vice president, Finance, Treasury, Competitiveness, Mergers and Acquisitions. Schofield will continue to report to Cooke.
- Mike Owens, group vice president, chief risk officer, TFS, will retire effective July 15.
- Kris Pritchard, rejoins TFS as vice president, chief risk officer. Pritchard will report to Mark Templin, president and chief executive officer, TFS.
- Briana Nelson, general manager, Lexus Eastern Area, TMNA, will succeed Dejuan Ross, and is promoted to vice president, Marketing, TFS. Nelson will report to Alec Hagey, senior vice president and chief operating officer, TFS.
"These changes are designed to support our transformation and growth strategy, enhancing core capabilities to better support our customers, dealers, private label business and global operations," said Mark Templin, CEO, TFS. "I'm confident we have the right executive team in place. Each one brings a sense of ownership, passion and expertise that will help further deliver on our goals and results." At the same time, I want to thank Mike Owens for his contributions to TFS and wish him all the best."
Bob Carter, executive vice president, Sales, TMNA, and president of TMS
Carter, a 41-year Toyota veteran, began his career with the company as a warranty processor. Since then, he has held a number of sales and marketing positions with the company including senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A. Inc., Toyota Logistics Services, Toyota Motor Sales de Mexico, and Toyota de Puerto Rico. He also held the positions of group vice president and general manager of both Toyota and Lexus divisions at TMS.
Throughout his career, Carter has been recognized for many industry honors, including Automotive News 2021 All-Star and most recently, AIADA's 2022 Fritz Hitchcock Advocacy Achievement Award.
"For over four decades, Bob has been an advocate for our dealers and customers, providing insightful leadership and sound and principled judgment in sales and marketing," said TMNA CEO Ted Ogawa. Bob leaves a legacy of many "firsts," including Toyota and Lexus leadership in key segments, dealer satisfaction and profitability, and sales leadership in North America, to name a few. We are grateful for all of Bob's contributions and wish him the best of luck in his retirement."
Zack Hicks, chief executive officer and president, Toyota Connected North America (TCNA), executive vice president and chief digital officer, TMNA
Hicks joined Toyota in 1996 and served in a number of leadership roles including, telematics planning manager, corporate manager office of the CIO, vice president, Administration, Toyota Motor Sales CIO, and TMNA CIO. As Toyota's first chief digital officer, Hicks led the company's newly created Digital Transformation & Mobility unit, leading shared mobility, connectivity services, over-the-air upgrades and future business opportunities.
As founder, CEO and president of TCNA, Toyota's AI and Machine Learning, big data company, Hicks led the company's connected car ecosystem and drove transformational change through cutting edge technology, data and connectivity. Many of the innovations are included in the new 21 Multimedia system. In addition, as founder and chairman of Toyota Connected Europe, Hicks oversaw the London-based startup, which supports the growing adoption of new mobility businesses in Europe with products and services tailored to the unique needs of the market.
Hicks has also been recognized throughout the industry. In 2020 he was awarded Dallas CEO top 500, in 2021 Dallas CIO Leadership Award, 2019 CIO hall of fame, and Dallas Business Journal named him one of the "Most Admired CEOs of 2018 and the same year recognize by academia with the 2018 AIS Leadership Excellence Award. He also received Pepperdine's "Distinguished Alumnus Award" along with Innovator of the Year award from D-CEO magazine.
"Zack has been a transformational leader with invaluable experience, expertise and creativity," said Ted Ogawa, CEO TMNA. "He has contributed significantly to Toyota's success, including leading the development of our new multimedia systems and unlocking the power of data for Toyota. He also quickly solved digital needs for remote work for our North American team members during the pandemic, and ushered in a new generation of connected technologies that enhance the customer experience."
Tracey Doi, group vice president and chief financial officer, TMNA
Doi joined Toyota in 2000 and served in many finance and accounting positions, including vice president and corporate controller, and most recently as group vice president and chief financial officer. As an executive member of the North American Management Committee, Doi set strategy and drove company initiatives to increase competitiveness as a global industry leader. Doi has been honored three times by Automotive News as one of the Top 100 Women in the automotive industry, recognized by D CEO as the Outstanding CFO for large public companies and one of the Top 500 most influential business leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth. In addition, in 2021, she was the recipient of the Texas Women's Foundation's "Maura Women Helping Women Award" and Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics' 2020 Leadership Award.
"Tracey has been an innovative, inspirational and valued member of Toyota's leadership team," said Chris Reynolds, executive vice president, Corporate Resources, TMNA. "Her unswerving dedication to our company and team members, as well as her focus on financial fundamentals helped Toyota maintain its competitiveness in North America while ensuring a strong value proposition for our customers. Her legacy also includes many talented team members who have benefited from her mentorship and sponsorship."
Mike Owens, group vice president and chief risk officer, TFS
Over the course of his 20 years with Toyota, Owens held a number of leadership roles which helped to strengthen and expand the company's risk management and analytical capabilities. His experience in credit analysis, risk management, account management, and business development across the auto, home mortgage, commercial, and credit card lines of business were instrumental in supporting the growth of Toyota Financial Services and Toyota Financial Savings Bank (TFSB). His broad responsibilities have included overseeing TFS' international affiliates in the Americas Oceania region and serving as chairman of the board of directors for TFSB. Earlier in his career at TFS, Owens oversaw the company's dealer financing portfolio, managing lending relationships with its largest dealer groups, and developing and implementing strategic initiatives to increase dealer financing. Owens deployed sophisticated risk management capabilities which will benefit TFS in the years to come.
Photos and bios of executive, senior and group vice presidents are available online at: Executive Bios (toyota.com)
Toyota Financial Services (TFS) is the brand for finance and related products for Toyota in the United States, offering retail auto financing and leasing through Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) and Toyota Lease Trust. TFS also offers vehicle and payment protection products through Toyota Motor Insurance Services (TMIS). The company services Lexus dealers and customers using the Lexus Financial Services brand.
As of March 31, 2022, TFS employed approximately 3,700 team members nationwide, and had assets totaling over $135 billion. It is part of a worldwide network of comprehensive financial services offered by Toyota Financial Services Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation.
We announce material financial information using the investor relations section of our website (www.toyotafinancial.com) and SEC filings. We use these channels, press releases, and social media to communicate about our company, our services and other issues. While not all information we post on social media is of a material nature, some information could be material. Therefore, we encourage those interested in our company to review our messages on Twitter at www.twitter.com/toyotafinancial and posts on Facebook at www.facebook.com/toyotafinancial/.
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota's 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company's 2021 North American sales were electrified.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
Based in Plano, Texas, Toyota Connected North America (TCNA) was established in 2016 to drive Toyota's global efforts for an intelligent mobile society. With big data collected from vehicles and analyzed on a cloud platform, Toyota Connected humanizes the driving experience by providing customers secure, seamless and contextual services, elevating the customer experience while benefitting dealers, distributors, and partners. At the heart of TCNA is Toyota's belief in human-centered mobility and a fundamental commitment to personal privacy.
Media Contact
Ed Hellwig
edward.hellwig@toyota.com
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SOURCE Toyota Motor North America | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/06/06/toyota-announces-executive-leadership-changes/ | 2022-06-06 20:36:01 | 1 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/06/06/toyota-announces-executive-leadership-changes/ |
Idaho Today Idaho Today: This week on Daily Blast Live June 27, 2023 More Videos Next up in 5 Example video title will go here for this video Catch Daily Blast Live every week day at 2PM on KTVB! | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-today/idaho-today-this-week-on-daily-blast-live/277-77acf20d-4d6a-4985-a75c-f239e30b2004 | 2023-06-29 03:58:40 | 0 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-today/idaho-today-this-week-on-daily-blast-live/277-77acf20d-4d6a-4985-a75c-f239e30b2004 |
NEW CASTLE, Ind. (AP) — A man whose body was found nearly 19 years ago behind an abandoned gas station in eastern Indiana has been identified.
Henry County Coroner Stacey Guffey said Saturday that the man was Daniel Diaz of Columbus, Ohio, and he was born Sept. 18, 1977, making him 26 at the time his body was found Oct. 2, 2003, near the Interstate 70 interchange with State Road 109.
Guffey says he died from a gunshot wound to the head. When the body was found, it had no identification with it, and fingerprints, DNA and dental records were sent to agencies with no initial success.
The FBI notified Guffey in February that a fingerprint confirmation was made. | https://www.wane.com/news/indiana/remains-found-in-eastern-indiana-in-2003-those-of-ohio-man/ | 2022-07-09 21:59:24 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/indiana/remains-found-in-eastern-indiana-in-2003-those-of-ohio-man/ |
Study: American debt tops $16 trillion, average debt load reaches $165K per household
Credit card debt grew 28% over the last year
InvestigateTV - According to a new NerdWallet study, Americans are falling further into debt as the typical US household owes roughly $165,000 each, about 8% more debt than they did the previous year.
Personal finance expert Sara Rathner with NerdWallet said mortgages make up a big portion of the debt.
“If you were to break that apart and just look at credit card debt,” Rathner said. “Households with revolving credit card debt owe about $7,500, which is up about 28% from last year.”
She said the end of pandemic aid combined with higher prices and higher interest rates has consumers relying more on credit cards.
According to Rathner, now is an excellent time to try and make your debt less expensive: especially high interest credit card debt.
Rathner shared several tips to help tackle the bigger debt load:
- Consider using balance transfer offers with a lower interest rate
- Look for cards that offer zero interest rates for a promotional period of 12 months or longer
- Personal loans may have lower interest rates than your credit cards
- Try to delay big purchases if possible until your debt load is lower
Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kswo.com/2023/02/06/study-american-debt-tops-16-trillion-average-debt-load-reaches-165k-per-household/ | 2023-02-06 22:08:53 | 0 | https://www.kswo.com/2023/02/06/study-american-debt-tops-16-trillion-average-debt-load-reaches-165k-per-household/ |
Frigid temperatures take hold this week
Published 11:10 am Monday, December 19, 2022
Winter’s first long-term bite is getting here in time to usher in the season.
After a predicted high of 20 today, temperatures will dip throughout the week, remaining under 10 degrees through Christmas according to the National Weather Service.
Thursday through Friday are expected to be particularly cold with a high of 0 Thursday and -4 Friday.
The overnight low on Thursday is predicted to drop to -10.
Along with the cold there will be chances for snow a couple times in the week, including a 70% chance of snow later this afternoon with the possibility of less than one inch possible.
Then on Wednesday there is a chance for between 1-3 inches of snow followed by blustery days both Thursday and Friday with gusts of around 40 mph possible both days.
The sun returns for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, ensuring good flying conditions for Santa Claus and his team. | https://www.austindailyherald.com/2022/12/826552/ | 2022-12-20 00:39:49 | 0 | https://www.austindailyherald.com/2022/12/826552/ |
(The Hill) — Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said in an interview published on Monday that he plans to retire by the end of Biden’s term in office.
“We’re in a pattern now. If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have Covid anymore,’ then I will be 105,” Fauci told Politico. “I think we’re going to be living with this.”
Fauci said the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), where he is the director, had “the best people in the country” to carry out his vision.
And he said the possibility of more attacks coming his way Republicans take control of Congress was not a factor in his decision.
When asked about the possibility of quitting during an interview last year, Fauci said he would “unequivocally” not quit in response to criticisms of him.
“So because there are a lot of people who have ideas about conspiracies and changing minds and flip-flopping, that’s not a reason to step down. Not at all,” he said.
The Brooklyn-born immunologist has served as director of the NIAID since 1984, most notably working on HIV/AIDS research before becoming a leading health authority during the COVID-19 pandemic, earning both praise and derision from the public and lawmakers.
Fauci has advised seven presidents on public health issues. His working relationship with former President Trump was famously fraught during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Fauci often had to counter unfounded claims made by the president.
Fauci told Politico he and Trump developed “an interesting relationship.”
“Two guys from New York, different in their opinions and their ideology, but still, two guys who grew up in the same environments of this city. I think that we are related to each other in that regard,” he said. | https://www.krqe.com/news/national/fauci-to-retire-before-the-end-of-bidens-term/ | 2022-07-18 16:10:32 | 1 | https://www.krqe.com/news/national/fauci-to-retire-before-the-end-of-bidens-term/ |
Juana Summers is a political correspondent for NPR covering race, justice and politics. She has covered politics since 2010 for publications including Politico, CNN and The Associated Press. She got her start in public radio at KBIA in Columbia, Mo., and also previously covered Congress for NPR.
Justine Kenin is an editor on All Things Considered. She joined NPR in 1999 as an intern. Nothing makes her happier than getting a book in the right reader's hands – most especially her own. | https://www.knau.org/2023-05-24/what-one-author-says-a-post-roe-u-s-reveals-about-planned-parenthood | 2023-05-24 23:17:36 | 1 | https://www.knau.org/2023-05-24/what-one-author-says-a-post-roe-u-s-reveals-about-planned-parenthood |
DAVENPORT, IOWA — Officials in Davenport, Iowa are gearing up to demolish a six-story apartment building after a portion of it collapsed late Sunday.
At last check, fire officials say eight people were rescued with some of them in unknown condition. So far, there have been no reports of any deaths and officials say there are no credible reports of anyone missing - but residents are fearful that could change.
ABC15's Nick Ciletti spoke to Linnea Hoover who lived on the building's fifth floor.
Hoover is a photojournalist in Davenport and is actually gearing up to join ABC15 next week. After a long day of packing up her apartment, she decided to take a nap when the commotion of the collapse woke her up.
"I sat up and there was just this...it shook. I could feel everything dip underneath me. The whole building moved," Hoover says.
At first, Hoover didn't know what it was - thinking it could be an earthquake or maybe even a bulldozer that had crashed into her building; whatever it was sent her straight for the exit.
"I started going down the emergency staircase and the building had collapsed into the stairwell."
But Hoover says she had no way of knowing just how bad it really was until she made it outside and could finally see it for herself.
"And it just felt like I couldn't catch my breath for a moment. Then there was screaming.... they were saying, 'Run! Just run!' because they didn't know if more [of the building] was going to go."
Despite the chaos of the moment, Hoover started recording what she saw.
"It's hard," she says. "But doing the work helps, being out here talking to people. It really, really helps. Knowing we can do a little for them and the community is rallying behind them." | https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/resident-talks-about-iowa-building-collapse | 2023-05-30 01:57:43 | 1 | https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/resident-talks-about-iowa-building-collapse |
Company to Introduce Video Cabinet Featuring Unique Custom Display
Charity TournEvent® Takes Place Oct. 12 at Everi G2E Booth #1150
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Everi Holdings Inc. (NYSE: EVRI) ("Everi" or "the Company"), a premier provider of land-based and digital casino gaming content and products, financial technology, and player loyalty solutions, will highlight its commitment to provide EVERIthing casino operators need to engage players with the debut of new games and a new gaming cabinet that deliver on the Company's promise of offering EVERIgame players will want to play at the 22nd annual Global Gaming Expo (G2E®), October 10-13, 2022. Everi will introduce the stunning Dynasty Vue™ – the Company's first form factor in its new Dynasty Series of game cabinets, as well as approximately 50 new original game themes and seven new licensed branded titles.
Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8854153-everi-global-gaming-expo-2022/
"Our sustained investment in the development of differentiated cabinets and an expanded portfolio of player-popular games will once again be on display at G2E, with the debut of new products that continue to raise the bar on player engagement and entertainment," said Randy Taylor, Everi President and CEO. "Our G2E product debuts, such as the unique Dynasty Vue cabinet and the more than 50 new overall game titles on display, will once again highlight our successful execution on our multi-year product development roadmap.
The Everi Games team continues to support internal product innovation and execute on a well-planned product roadmap with the introduction of Dynasty Vue and compelling content on display at G2E."
"Our newest product introductions at G2E demonstrate the success we are achieving through consistent reinvestment in our product development efforts to deliver highly differentiated gaming experiences that help our casino partners grow revenue by engaging players at increasingly higher levels," said Dean Ehrlich, Executive Vice President and Games Business Leader, at Everi. "Our focus is squarely aimed at fully supporting our current markets with an ever-expanding library of compelling game themes and new cabinets, including the launch of Dynasty Vue, which introduces a new era in Everi's hardware history. By combining the benefits of three distinct cabinet form factors, it offers our game developers a platform to create entirely new games that captivate players' attention. We are also excited to share with customers our content for the growing historical horse racing segment on both video and mechanical cabinets."
All Everi Games' products at G2E 2022 are available now or expected to be commercially available in less than six months and include:
New Video Cabinet
Launching in early 2023, the Dynasty Vue cabinet features a unique, custom display that enables Everi's designers to create game mechanics that players would typically experience on a portrait cabinet, while providing the sight lines comparable to a dual-screen cabinet, and the functionality and integrated base of a slant top cabinet. This innovative form factor features a custom 36-inch display and an integrated 27-inch top box, with distinctive dual-banded lighting for maximum attract value. The edge-lit digital button deck allows for increased game configurability and player communication with a dynamic play button and wireless mobile charging capability. The cabinet's integrated base provides flexibility in banking options with a standard 28-inch footprint and new merchandising opportunities. Dynasty Vue will debut with four launch families, including the Combo Cash Series, Money Slam Series, Wild Wheel Series, and the High Rollin' Gems Series – Everi's first multi-game product.
Standard Video Content
More than 10 new themes will be featured on Everi's Empire Flex™ cabinet including the Press Your Luck™ Series and Fu Blossom™ Series, which are both available on Everi's premium TournEvent® Winners Circle™ bank of cabinets, part of TournEvent Everiway™. These marquee banks feature synchronized content with enhanced sign packages that showcase theme-specific content. The Treasure Gates™ Series, Fortune Teller™ Series, Potion Explosion™ Series, and Banner™ Series, with persistent state features available in Class II and Class III, will also be available on the Empire Flex cabinet.
Standard Mechanical Content
Everi will introduce more than six new games on the latest addition to its three-reel mechanical portfolio Player Classic Signature™ which has performed strongly in the field since its first deployment earlier this year. The Platinum Signature Series, Crowns Diamond Respin Series, and Pay Upgrade Series, which introduces a persistence feature to the mechanical segment, will all be showcased at G2E 2022. These themes are reflective of Everi's commitment to innovation in the mechanical space and highlight the game entertainment elements that stepper players appreciate – a math first focus, unique play mechanics, and dynamic art and audio.
Premium Content
Based on the iconic animated variety television show, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends™ will be presented on the Skyline Revolve™ cabinet, while Everi's high-performing banked product Flex Fusion™ will showcase several original titles including two follow-on games for the high energy, tornadic themed Cashnado™ game, Storm Surge™ and Super Nova™. Lift Off™, with Locomotion™ and Starboard™ base themes, will also debut on Flex Fusion.
Everi will present two of its strongest performing third party brands – Little Shop of Horrors™ and Willie Nelson™ – in incredible 4K display on the Empire DCX™ cabinet, with Little Shop of Horrors Director's Cut™ and Willie Nelson Live™. Super Fiesta!™, with its four Mexican style gambler centric base themes, and Fruit Ninja Frenzy™, based on the popular mobile game Fruit Ninja, will be presented on the banked Empire Arena™ product.
TournEvent Everiway
Everi will showcase the gold standard in slot tournament solutions and the latest iteration of its award-winning TournEvent offering, TournEvent Everiway. All five versions of TournEvent Everiway will be available at G2E 2022 for customers to learn how these features are designed to improve ease of player access and to drive increased enthusiasm for slot tournament style play. The traditional group-style TournEvent Classic™ and the time flexible "sit-in-go," on-demand TournEvent Now® will be presented along with TournEvent Winners Circle™ and TournEvent Cross Play™, which enables customers to offer promotions across any combination of portrait or dual-screen cabinets. TournEvent Concierge™, powered by Everi's Trilogy™ loyalty platform, delivers a seamless slot tournament experience, simplifying tournament registration for staff and players.
The power of TournEvent will be on full display as Everi will host a charity slot tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 4 p.m. in the Company's booth, #1150, where nearly $16,000 will be donated to the winners' charities of choice. Players include some of the industry's most recognized slot stars on YouTube, as well as trade journalists and publishers.
About Everi
Everi's mission is to lead the gaming industry through the power of people, imagination, and technology. Focused on player engagement and assisting our casino customers to operate more efficiently, the Company develops entertaining game content and gaming machines, gaming systems, and services for land-based and iGaming operators. The Company is also the preeminent provider of trusted financial technology solutions that power the casino floor while improving operational efficiencies and fulfilling regulatory compliance requirements, including products and services that facilitate convenient and secure cash and cashless financial transactions, self-service player loyalty tools and applications, and regulatory and intelligence software. For more information, please visit www.everi.com.
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Legal Notices
PRESS YOUR LUCK: ® / © FremantleMedia Netherlands B.V. 2022. Licensed by Fremantle. All Rights Reserved.
ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE AND FRIENDS ™ & ® 2022 Ward Productions, Inc. Licensed by Bullwinkle Studios, LLC. All rights reserved.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS and all related characters and elements © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s22)
Willie Nelson TM and ©WN Family Partnership, LTD. Used under license. All rights reserved.
Fruit Ninja: TM © Halfbrick Studios. Used under license. All rights reserved.
Other product names mentioned in this release are trademarks of Everi Holdings Inc. and/or its wholly owned subsidiaries, except for "G2E," which is a registered trademark of the American Gaming Association and Reed Elsevier Inc.
Contacts:
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Dona Cassese
VP, Marketing
(702) 556-7133 or dona.cassese@everi.com
Mike Young
Corporate Communications
(702) 518-9179 or mike.young@everi.com
Everi Investor Relations
William Pfund
SVP, Investor Relations
(702) 676-9513 or william.pfund@everi.com
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Director, Investor Relations
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SOURCE Everi Holdings Inc. | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/10/04/everi-debut-player-engaging-game-content-newest-cabinet-global-gaming-expo-2022/ | 2022-10-04 18:23:36 | 1 | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/10/04/everi-debut-player-engaging-game-content-newest-cabinet-global-gaming-expo-2022/ |
RECENTLY, New Hampshire Republicans pushed a bill on to Governor Chris Sununu’s desk that would prohibit the state from enforcing any federal law or executive order, act or rule on firearms and prevent our law enforcement from collaborating with the FBI, DOJ, and ATF in the wake of gun violence.
Less than a week later, an 18-year-old White supremacist opened fire at a Buffalo, N.Y., grocery store with the expressed intent to murder Black shoppers. This act of domestic terrorism killed 10 innocent people and forever altered the lives of hundreds of their loved ones and community members. Here in New Hampshire, instead of working to expand access to mental health care or to close background check loopholes, Republicans have taken action to make New Hampshire a haven for criminal activity, sending the message that federal gun laws will not be enforced here. In Buffalo, the White supremacist shooter crossed state lines to buy a high-capacity magazine not legal in the state where he lived. In countless other mass killings in this country, domestic terrorists have traveled to states with fewer gun safety laws in order to carry out their criminal activity.
At the federal level, regulations relating to gun safety come forward all the time — in Congress, from the presidential administration, or from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In fact, one of the most restrictive recent regulations came from President Donald Trump in 2019, when he banned the sale of bump stocks following the mass shooting in Las Vegas. In sending HB 1178 to Governor Chris Sununu, state Republicans now want to publicly contest important public safety regulations like President Trump’s bump stock ban, while announcing to the world that Granite State is open for criminal activity. Republicans might as well write it on their campaign signs — New Hampshire will not enforce laws to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals.
Not only does the passage of HB 1178 send a message that New Hampshire will not follow public safety measures, but it also will undoubtedly help proliferate illegal firearms trafficking and the creation and sale of ghost guns to dangerous individuals. More than that, this bill places hundreds of thousands of federal aid dollars at risk and could prevent the FBI, DOJ, and ATF from working with New Hampshire police and other law enforcement in the wake of violence here in our state. During testimony on the bill several members of law enforcement testified to this very fact.
This bill is clearly unconstitutional and will be challenged, but still, growing ever more extreme, House and Senate Republicans value bucking federal law over the lives and safety of their constituents.
Roberta A. Drury, 32, Margus D. Morrison, 52, Andre Mackniel, 53, Aaron Salter, 55, Geraldine Talley, 62, Celestine Chaney, 65, Heyward Patterson, 67, Katherine Massey, 72, Pearl Young, 77, Ruth Whitfield, 86. These were the lives ruthlessly taken by a White supremacist terrorist in Buffalo last week. We say their names and we mourn with their community as if it was our own.
The Granite State is not immune to violence and bigotry. This could have happened here in New Hampshire. Mass shootings have happened 197 other times this year in America. New Hampshire Republicans want you to look away while they strip away public safety measures with HB 1178 and welcome criminal activity in our state, which ranks as one of the safest in the nation.
Gun violence and domestic terrorism can be stopped and it must be stopped. It takes all of us working together — law enforcement, Congress, New Hampshire lawmakers, and Governor Sununu too. Governor Sununu must veto HB 1178 for the benefit of Granite Staters and our families who don’t want the state to be open for business to bad actors, White supremacists, and other criminals. | https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/op-eds/rep-amy-bradley-slam-the-door-on-nh-as-an-enabler-of-gun-violence/article_57ad0dbc-9cd3-58de-b885-776b6f0e54ba.html | 2022-05-25 06:28:03 | 1 | https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/op-eds/rep-amy-bradley-slam-the-door-on-nh-as-an-enabler-of-gun-violence/article_57ad0dbc-9cd3-58de-b885-776b6f0e54ba.html |
ROME (AP) — Italian police on Wednesday arrested 29 suspected smugglers as they smashed a transnational operation that for years brought migrants illegally into Italy by sea and then moved them overland into northern Europe, authorities said.
The nearly four-year-long investigation was spearheaded by prosecutors in Calabria, the “toe” of the Italian peninsula, where many of these migrants arrive from Turkey or Greece, often on well-outfitted sailboats that elude detection by police or military personnel.
In Calabria, Catanzaro Chief Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri described the investigation as groundbreaking in terms of understanding how a series of smuggling gangs work together, from point of origin to point of destination for the migrants, as well as in following the trail of the laundered revenues — profits off people’s misery and desperation.
“For the first time we succeeded in demonstrating all the passages, all the steps, of the migrant, depending on the passenger’s origin and desired destination,” Gratteri told reporters. “For example, departing from Syria and going to Oslo (Norway), or wherever they wanted to go.”
Depending on how much the migrants could pay — investigators said some paid as much as 15,000 euros ($16,500) apiece just for the sea leg of the voyage, although the going rate appeared to be 10,000 euros — the passengers on the land routes to northern Europe either took trucks, trains or taxis across Italy’s northern land borders. Transit points included Ventimiglia, an Italian city near its border with France and Trieste, in eastern Italy near Slovenia.
Police said colleagues in Turkey, Greece, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Britain and Morocco collaborated in the investigation that led to the arrests. The operation began at dawn Wednesday in Italy when some 200 officers fanned out in various cities, including other major points on the smugglers’ land routes, the cities of Milan and Turin.
From the moment the migrants set foot in southern Italy — either in Calabria or in Puglia, an adjacent region forming the “heel” of the peninsula — the smugglers looked after the travelers until they could be moved into northern Europe, according to written statements by the Italian police.
“In effect, a real and true system of illegal welcome, organized both abroad and in various Italian cities, that included food and lodging in the various stops, was created, and to which the migrants entrusted themselves completely,” Francesco Messina, a top Italian police official, said in a statement.
All that came at a price. After reaching Italy, migrants would be charged as much as 600 euros ($660) to reach northern cities like Milan, before the next stage taking them overland into countries north of Italian borders.
Elaborating at a news conference, Messina said that besides smuggler “cells” in Greece and in Turkey, the investigation found seven more operating in Italy.
“Essentially, the passage of the migrant from one cell to another had a sort of geographic connotation,” the police official said.
One of those cells, based in Trieste, also served as the money-processing hub, investigators said. The smugglers used complicit figureheads to transfer money weekly abroad, in sums low enough to avoid triggering suspicion.
Another key point in the operations was Thessaloniki, Greece, investigators said. From that gathering point, migrants were moved to Athens, then to Patras, where they waited until they could set sail in smugglers’ sailboats. Still, others directly set sail for Italy’s southern coastline from Izmir, a Turkish port, Italian police said.
The smugglers exploited a sea route plying the eastern Mediterranean and used sailboats — less likely to appear to be a migrant vessel than the frequently used overcrowded rubber dinghies or decrepit wooden fishing boats, according to the Italian authorities.
Those arrested risk being charged with aiding illegal immigration and money laundering in connection with about 30 sea voyages, police said. Many of the crew were from Ukraine or other former Soviet Union countries, while the ringleaders were mainly from Iraqi Kurdish areas, according to the Italian authorities.
Most of the passengers were of Asian or Middle Eastern origin, the police said.
It was an aging wooden boat, and not a sailboat, that capsized and splintered after smashing into a sandbank just off a Calabrian beach on Feb. 6, killing 92 migrants. Authorities said the smugglers aboard deliberately kept the boat for hours longer at sea, despite very high waves, in hopes of eluding detection by police ashore.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration | https://www.cbs42.com/news/international/italy-smashes-cross-border-migrant-smuggling-ring/ | 2023-05-11 02:45:48 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/international/italy-smashes-cross-border-migrant-smuggling-ring/ |
After decades of planning, more than two years of construction and an outdoor ceremony amid the bracing Nebraska winter Wednesday morning, Lincoln's South Beltway is, at last, open to traffic.
The opening of the 11-mile stretch of roadway that changes the course of Nebraska 2 marked a milestone for the city, the state and Gov. Pete Ricketts, who spoke passionately about the expressway before he and his security staff became the first group to travel the route.
"This is a really exciting day," Ricketts told a crowd of about 100 supporters and onlookers at Wednesday's private ceremony, which was held on the beltway near the U.S. 77 interchange that serves as the western gateway to the bypass.
"I am super excited that I'm able to drive on this expressway while I’m still governor. In fact, that was one of the things I told (officials working on the project), like, ‘Hey, I want this thing done while I’m still governor so I can drive on it.’ And, guess what? They were able to accomplish that."
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The governor's hope wasn't always a sure thing. Wednesday's opening came nearly six months earlier than initially expected when primary construction of the beltway began in May 2020. Planners had expected the beltway to open in May 2023 — four months after Ricketts is set to leave office in January.
"Let’s just call it six months early," the governor said. "Why not? I think it sounds great.”
Ricketts celebrated the $352 million beltway's opening alongside Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, Nebraska Department of Transportation Director John Selmer and Hawkins Construction head Chris Hawkins.
Each of the officials thanked dozens of public- and private-sector employees who helped make the opening possible, including state senators who moved to prioritize funding for the project, engineers and planners from local, state and federal agencies and more than 300 craftspeople who worked to build the beltway.
"We also owe this moment to the folks who moved mountains — or maybe, large hills, technically — here in Nebraska to build the beltway," Gaylor Baird said, adding that as a result of such collaboration, "the road to Lincoln is now paved with even more opportunity."
The beltway, which stretches from U.S. 77 to 120th Street and largely runs just south of Saltillo Road, will shift commercial truck traffic from the existing Nebraska 2 route that runs through south Lincoln, unclogging the arterial roadway that includes 17 stoplights.
The entire project — which includes five interchanges, two of which won't open until next year — included the paving of 60 lane miles of roadway and the construction of 21 bridges, 39 box culverts and five roundabouts.
Six more roundabouts are still under construction, along with the two remaining interchanges, three more miles of paved roadway and two more box culverts. The entire project is expected to be finished by May 2024.
But the bulk of the massive project — which Selmer described as a "tremendous asset to the community" and state — is ready and waiting for the thousands of vehicles that officials expect to traverse the new road between now and 2025.
That feat is a result of hundreds of craftspeople, said Hawkins, whose company spearheaded the beltway's construction alongside more than a dozen subcontracting companies, most of which are Nebraska-based.
"The glory we have today, they earned, through honorable toil," Hawkins said of the workers who spent more than 300,000 collective hours building the beltway.
The construction executive noted that no one suffered any lost-time injuries in the course of the beltway's construction, which he said was a testament to "a relentless commitment to safety."
“We made it all the way through, and that’s really because we did it the Nebraska way," Hawkins said.
The officials, too, touted the economic opportunities afforded to Lincoln and Lancaster County by the roadway, which Gaylor Baird said will enhance mobility in the region while spurring development along and near the beltway, which runs a few miles south of the city's current southern limit.
And, the mayor said, the beltway's opening marks a win for the traveling public in Lincoln, who will soon travel the Nebraska Parkway — the stretch of Nebraska 2 that, until Wednesday, ran through Lincoln — less encumbered by semi trucks, 1,700 of which each day are expected to instead take the beltway by 2025.
The bypass's opening will also also allow for easier mobility for Lincoln residents, like 28-year-old Dylan Lyness, who approached Ricketts in the aftermath of Wednesday's ceremony to thank him for the project.
"I live in Lincoln but my grandma lives out by Roca, and so I’m gonna drive this out to come see her and visit her,” he told the governor before posing for a photo with Ricketts.
Later, he said he didn't know ahead of time that the governor was set to speak at the ceremony. All he knew was the bypass — years in the making — was finally set to open.
"I knew I couldn’t miss it," he said, before he walked back to his vehicle and, for the first time, drove east across the South Beltway. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/decades-in-the-making-lincoln-south-beltway-opens-to-traffic/article_2c244d6c-021a-56c7-ab42-80ce00eb0a51.html | 2022-12-14 21:01:20 | 0 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/decades-in-the-making-lincoln-south-beltway-opens-to-traffic/article_2c244d6c-021a-56c7-ab42-80ce00eb0a51.html |
HOUSTON, Texas — Happy memories David Tzic captured with his family this past Valentine's Day will be cherished forever.
“I really don’t know what I’m going to do without them,” said Tzic. "Looking back at the videos, I’m so happy I saved them. I’m so happy I can reflect on that despite the outcome.”
Tzic's youngest son Ezekiel. who he described as a bundle of joy, only made it to 9 months of age. He died Wednesday along with Tzic's wife, Lupe, in what the Harris County Sheriff’s Office believes was a chain-reaction crash on the Grand Parkway near 290.
Their Toyota 4Runner flipped over the guardrail, landed on its roof, then flipped again on the ground after being struck by another car.
“I’m happy that it was quick," said Tzic. "I’m happy that she didn’t have to suffer and I know that while she’s up right now in the sky, I just know she needed to take Ezekiel with her.”
Ezekiel’s big brother, Isaiah, was also in the car during the crash. He was critically injured.
Tzic has spent every day with Isaiah at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital. A blanket featuring Isaiah’s favorite Marvel character, Spiderman, helps keep him warm.
"Of course, I want him to recover to the fullest," said Tzic. "But, you know, whatever God gives us is what I’ll take.”
Tzic said he knew something was wrong Wednesday when his wife's location on an app stayed at the same place too long and she didn't answer his calls.
Tzic and his family started a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral and medical expenses as the Army reservist tries to muster the courage to deal with the grief that hasn’t fully set in.
It's something that will likely reoccur when he views family videos on his phone.
“I don’t know if I find it okay to ask “why did you take them?” said Tzic. "But I’m sure somewhere there’s a reason why.”
Tzic said he is grateful for the hospital staff and sheriff’s office personnel.
Investigators said the crash, which involved up to four vehicles, remains under investigation. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/grand-parkway/285-64cf2739-4f42-438c-b62e-8ff2c73b2a97 | 2023-02-18 17:05:26 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/grand-parkway/285-64cf2739-4f42-438c-b62e-8ff2c73b2a97 |
Police: Dentist used rush order cyanide to poison wife
By COLLEEN SLEVIN
Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Investigators say a Colorado dentist intent on killing his wife put poison in her protein shakes before finally succeeding with a rush order dose of potassium cyanide powder he said he needed to perform surgery. According to court documents, as Angela Craig languished in the hospital with doctors unable to figure out what was wrong with her, police say James Craig was meeting with a woman he planned to start a new life with. Police in the Denver suburb of Aurora arrested Craig on suspicion of first-degree murder Sunday, four days after his wife died during her third trip to the hospital this month. | https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national/2023/03/20/police-dentist-used-rush-order-cyanide-to-poison-wife/ | 2023-03-20 21:48:38 | 0 | https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national/2023/03/20/police-dentist-used-rush-order-cyanide-to-poison-wife/ |
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Even as Ethiopia’s warring sides attend their first formal peace talks in a devastating two-year conflict, witnesses in the country’s embattled Tigray region tell The Associated Press that forces from neighboring Eritrea are killing some civilians and looting as they and allied Ethiopian forces head for the regional capital.
With internet and telephone access to the region cut off, and independent journalists barred from Tigray, observers say it is increasingly hard to reach people for accounts of the fighting that erupted again in August after a monthslong lull.
The United States now estimates hundreds of thousands of people could have been killed in the war marked by abuses on all sides as fears grow the conflict has reached its deadliest phase.
The AP spoke with witnesses from the towns of Shire, Axum and Adwa, where Ethiopian and allied forces are present as they battle Tigray forces. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. It is not clear how many civilians have been killed in recent weeks.
An aid worker from Axum who relocated to Shire this week fearing for his life said civilians were being killed by Eritrean forces there since at least Sunday.
“I witnessed four dead bodies in a village some 4 kilometers away from Axum” while fleeing Tuesday, he said, and described the bodies as being in civilian clothing. “People are living under nights of terror.”
The Eritreans also were burning crops, he said — an echo of their first occupation in the early weeks of the war.
In Shire, a staffer with an international humanitarian organization said Eritrean forces were looting vehicles and household items, in some cases loading stolen goods onto camels they brought with them. The Eritreans also entered a camp for displaced people, he said, and earlier controlled the local airport. It was not clear whether they still did.
Ethiopian forces occasionally tried to stop Eritrean forces, the two witnesses said. “But they simply watch them most of the time,” the man from Axum said. “Sometimes they try to stop them, but it is beyond their capacity.”
An Ethiopian government spokesman, Legesse Tulu, did not respond to questions about the allegation and whether Ethiopian forces have any control over Eritrean ones.
In addition, two humanitarian workers based in Shire said Ethiopian forces searched U.N. offices in the town. A U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman didn’t reply to questions.
The African Union-led peace talks between the Ethiopian government and Tigray regional authorities are being held in South Africa, whose government has said the discussions will end Sunday. But Eritrea isn’t part of talks, and it’s not clear whether the deeply repressive country bordering the Tigray region will heed any agreement.
Tigray authorities want the Eritreans out of the region, in addition to the restoration of basic services such as electricity, banking and unrestricted access to humanitarian aid. The United Nations says aid delivery to Tigray ended Aug. 23, a day before fighting resumed, because of “lack of federal clearances,” and it warns of widespread malnutrition and a lack of medicines.
A leader of the Tigray forces, Tadesse Werede, said Thursday the Ethiopian government should ensure that Eritrean forces leave Tigray for any peace effort to be sustainable.
In the earliest weeks of the war, witnesses told the AP of widespread looting and violence including killings and rapes by forces from Eritrea, whose government under the only president the country has ever had, Isaias Afwerki, has long been hostile to Tigray leaders. For months, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed denied the Eritreans’ presence in Tigray.
Since fighting resumed, the Eritreans have returned. People inside Eritrea have described new military mobilization, and satellite imagery has shown a military buildup near the border with the Tigray region.
Now, as the war with abuses documented on all sides marks two years next week, international expressions of alarm over atrocities in Tigray have soared. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum warned this week of a “heightened risk of genocide,” noting “the situation has deteriorated exponentially as Ethiopian security forces, supported by Eritrean forces and Amhara special forces, have seized key towns and cities.”
Ethiopia’s government on Friday issued an angry statement alleging “extreme slander” and said it may be “forced to weigh its options and consider its relations with some states and entities.”
And Eritrea’s government in an open letter to the museum accused it of recycling defamatory accusations but acknowledged a “huge loss of life and destruction of property” in the conflict.
The letter did not address the presence of Eritrean forces in Tigray.
But witnesses confirmed it in towns including Adwa, where a humanitarian source said Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers engaged in heavy fighting this week with tanks and long-range weapons on its outskirts. Terrified civilians are fleeing for safety, they said.
Long trapped in Tigray, tens of thousands of civilians are again on the move, some on foot as the U.N. says little fuel has been allowed into the region.
Shire was like a dead city, the humanitarian staffer there said. One of the humanitarian workers who fled to the regional capital, Mekele, told the AP the sometimes deadly bombardment of Shire had intensified in recent weeks. Now Ethiopian and Eritrean forces control the town, the worker said, their identities made clear by their uniforms and vehicles.
On Friday, a health worker in Mekele said fighting had not reached the regional capital. Tigray forces spokesman Getachew Reda, one of the representatives at the peace talks, asserted in a tweet that fighting was 160 kilometers (100 miles) away.
The war continues to be deadly for all involved. On Friday, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society said one of its ambulance drivers was killed by “armed forces” and injured passengers were shot and killed. The driver had been transporting the injured from Adwa to the neighboring Amhara region. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-witnesses-allege-eritrean-abuses-during-ethiopia-peace-talks/ | 2022-10-30 01:14:26 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-witnesses-allege-eritrean-abuses-during-ethiopia-peace-talks/ |
Lunar Xtracts wants to open marijuana 'lab' at Reed & Barton in Taunton
TAUNTON — Lunar Xtracts consultant Brian Giacobbi said company officials hope to begin their first phase of manufacturing marijuana products in August at the former Reed & Barton factory on West Britannia Street.
“We are super excited and optimistic about working with the city of Taunton, which has been incredible to work with,” he said.
Lunar Xtracts still needs a special permit from the City Council and has to have an architect review completed by the state Cannabis Control Commission in May, he said.
“From there, we will then begin renovations,” Giacobbi said.
Giacobbi said Lunar Xtracts recently received a provisional license from the Cannabis Control Commission to manufacture various cannabis products for retail shop owners to purchase and sell.
Lunar Xtracts would not have a retail shop on the property, he said.
“It’s not zoned for retail,” he said. “Nothing is open to the public in that building where it’s zoned. There will be strictly manufacturing and cultivation at the site with no public access.”
Giacobbi said Lunar Xtracts plans to renovate a 4,260-square-foot section on the first floor of the sprawling four-story building built in 1900.
Here's what $650K buys in TauntonPhenomenal multi-generational in Taunton sells for $650K: Weekly home sales
Lunar Xtracts’ cannabis products
Giacobbi said Lunar Xtracts hopes to begin cannabis extraction in August if the Cannabis Control Commission approves the firm’s renovation site plan and the City Council grants a special permit.
“We will have a lab where we perform a cannabis extraction process (from cannabis plants) to produce various cannabis oils,” he said.
Giacobbi said the extraction process would be Lunar Xtracts' first phase of manufacturing cannabis products for retail shops and marijuana factories to purchase from the company.
Lunar Xtracts' state license application indicates they plan to manufacture topicals, lotions, salves, oils, sprays, waxes, shatter, vape oil, tinctures and pre-rolled cannabis joints.
Giacobbi said these products would be sold to marijuana factories and cannabis retail shops during Lunar Xtracts' second phase of the manufacturing process, that is expected to begin after the factory's renovation is expected to be completed in 2025.
Not just brownies:Chef David takes cannabis cooking to next level in Taunton
Giacobbi said Lunar Xtracts would specialize in producing vape cartridges and a disposable vape pen that can be sold at a retail market for customers to purchase.
Lunar Xtracts’ application states they also plan to manufacture cannabis chocolate bars in addition to various gummies and tablets that contain pomegranate, watermelon, raspberry, blueberry, mango and tangerine.
March madness:Here are the 20 Greater Taunton area basketball players to watch this postseason
Lunar Xtracts plans to hire diverse workforce
Giacobbi said Lunar Xtracts plans to “fully fulfill” the Cannabis Control Commission’s requirement to hire employees of color, military veterans, people who have disabilities and LGBTQ+ employees.
“We fully intend to impact the community’s charities positively,” he said. "We don’t do that just monetarily, but by helping to do things in the community.”
The manufacturing facility would be next to Freshly Baked, a recreational cannabis delivery company co-owned by Phillip Smith, who serves on the Cannabis Control Commission’s Social Equity Program management board.
“We are proud to be associated with what they have accomplished on the social equity side,” he said.
According to state cannabis officials, the Social Equity Program offers free technical training for participants to succeed in the cannabis industry. | https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/news/local/2023/03/08/taunton-ma-marijuana-cannabis-pot-lunar-xtracts-reed-barton-manufacturing/69958613007/ | 2023-03-09 05:15:28 | 0 | https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/news/local/2023/03/08/taunton-ma-marijuana-cannabis-pot-lunar-xtracts-reed-barton-manufacturing/69958613007/ |
DENVER — Housing prices have gone up by more than 20% across the country since the start of the pandemic. To combat the hot housing market, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.
The half percent interest rate hike is the largest hike in more than 2 decades, and more increases are expected in the next several months. It’s an effort to slow down inflation, but these rate hikes make it more expensive to make big purchases—like buying a car or a home.
The National Association of Realtors expects home sales to drop 9% during 2022 compared to 2021 because of rising interest rates.
Even if that happens, average prices are projected to be about 5% higher than they were in 2019, before the pandemic. That’s mainly because there still isn’t enough housing inventory nationwide.
Housing experts at Rocket Mortgage say rising interest rates could make the inventory problem even worse and stop people from putting their homes up for sale.
Existing homeowners are likely locked in for a lower interest rate, so many may try and wait to sell until interest rates go down again, but that will likely be next year at the earliest.
The average 30-year-fixed home loan rate is now 5.37%, up more than 2 percentage points since the year began, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Buyers of an average existing home that sold for $375,000, will pay $440 more each month now than they would have in December, and that’s with 20% down and a fixed rate for a 30-year term.
Economists say the fed will likely carry out another half-point rate hike at its next meeting in June and possibly again in July. They predict by the end of this year, interest rates could be up by 3% from where they are now. | https://www.kxlf.com/news/national/interest-rate-hike-cooling-the-hot-housing-market | 2022-05-16 19:09:13 | 1 | https://www.kxlf.com/news/national/interest-rate-hike-cooling-the-hot-housing-market |
NEW YORK -- Amazon on Friday announced it has agreed to acquire the vacuum cleaner maker iRobot for approximately $1.7 billion, scooping up another company to add to its collection of smart home appliances amid broader concerns from anti-monopoly and privacy advocates about Amazon's market power and ability to gain deeper insights into consumers' lives.
iRobot sells its products worldwide and is most famous for the circular-shaped Roomba vacuum, which would join voice assistant Alexa, the Astro robot and Ring security cameras and others in the list of smart home features offered by the Seattle-based e-commerce and tech giant.
The move is part of Amazon's bid to own part of the home space through services and accelerate its growth beyond retail, said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail. A slew of home-cleaning robots adds to the company's tech arsenal, making it more involved in consumers' lives beyond static things like voice control. The latest line of Roombas use sensors to map -- and remember -- a home's floor plan, offering a trove of data that Amazon could potentially integrate with its other products.
Amazon's Astro robot, which helps with tasks like setting an alarm, was unveiled last year at an introductory price of $1,000. But its rollout has been limited and has received a lackluster response.
Amazon hasn't had much success with household robots, but the iRobot acquisition and the company's strong market reputation provide a "massive foothold in the consumer robot market" that could help Amazon replicate the success of its Echo line of smart speakers, said Lian Jye Su, a robotics industry analyst for ABI Research.
Su said it also illustrates the shortcomings of consumer robotics vendors like iRobot, which struggled to expand beyond a niche product and was in a "race-to-the-bottom" competition with Korean and Chinese manufacturers offering cheaper versions of a robotic vacuum.
On Friday, iRobot reported its quarterly results. Revenue plunged 30% primarily on order reductions and delays, and the company announced it was laying off 10% of its workforce.
Amazon said it will acquire iRobot for $61 per share in an all-cash transaction that will include iRobot's net debt. The company has total current debt of approximately $332.1 million as of July 2. The deal is subject to approval by shareholders and regulators. Upon completion, iRobot's CEO, Colin Angle, will remain in his position.
Noting that iRobot has been running its robotics platform on Amazon's cloud service unit AWS for many years, Su said the acquisition could lead to more integration of Amazon speech recognition and other capabilities into vacuums.
In afternoon trading, iRobot shares rose 19%. Amazon's were down 1.7%.
The deal comes as anti-monopoly advocates continue to raise concerns about Amazon's increasing dominance. The purchase of iRobot is Amazon's fourth-largest acquisition, led by its $13.7 billion deal to buy Whole Foods in 2017. Last month, the company said it would buy the primary care provider One Medical in a deal valued roughly at $3.9 billion, a move that expanded its reach further into health care.
RELATED: Amazon releases fleet of Rivian all-electric delivery trucks made in Illinois
On Friday, groups advocating for stricter antitrust regulations called on regulators to block the iRobot merger, arguing it gives Amazon more access into consumers' lives and furthers its dominance in the smart home market.
"The last thing American and the world needs is Amazon vacuuming up even more of our personal information," said Robert Weissman, president of the progressive consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen.
"This is not just about Amazon selling another device in its marketplace," Weissman said. "It's about the company gaining still more intimate details of our lives to gain unfair market advantage and sell us more stuff."
Landmark antitrust legislation targeting Amazon and other Big Tech companies has languished for months in Congress as prospects for votes by the full Senate or House have dimmed.
Last month, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who heads the Senate Judiciary antitrust panel, urged the the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the One Medical acquisition, in the mold of other critics who've called on regulators to block the purchase over concerns about Amazon's past conduct and potential implications for consumers' health data. Regulators also have discretion to challenge Amazon's $8.5 billion buyout of Hollywood studio MGM, which was completed earlier this year.
Founded in 1990 by a trio of Massachusetts Institute of Technology roboticists, including Angle, iRobot's early ventures led to rovers that could perform military and disaster-relief tasks in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The profits from defense contracts allowed iRobot to experiment with a variety of other robots, producing some duds and one huge commercial success: the first Roomba, introduced in 2002, which pioneered the market for automated vacuum cleaners.
The company spun off its defense robotics division in 2016 to become almost exclusively a seller of vacuums and some other home robots, such as the Braava robotic mop. It planned to launch a robotic lawn mower in 2020 but backed off, citing problems tied to the pandemic.
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AP technology writer Matt O'Brien contributed to this report from Providence, Rhode Island. | https://abc30.com/amazon-buys-irobot-roomba/12102079/ | 2022-08-06 18:25:24 | 1 | https://abc30.com/amazon-buys-irobot-roomba/12102079/ |
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "I'm a doctor and I thought there could be a better way to communicate clearly with patients in negative pressure hospital rooms, through numerous face masks, and from a safe distance during the current pandemic," said an inventor, from Mesa, Ariz., "so I invented the AUDIO MASK PROTECTION. My design helps to improve critical communication between concerned Healthcare professionals and their sick patients."
The patent-pending invention provides a clear and effective way to communicate while wearing a protective face mask. In doing so, it helps to prevent muffled voices. As a result, it enhances communication and convenience and it eliminates the need to lower or remove the mask. The invention features a practical design that is easy to apply and use so it is ideal for health care workers and the general population.
The original design was submitted to the Phoenix sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-PBT-200, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE InventHelp | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/09/30/inventhelp-inventor-develops-communication-accessory-face-masks-pbt-200/ | 2022-09-30 14:46:05 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/09/30/inventhelp-inventor-develops-communication-accessory-face-masks-pbt-200/ |
(KTLA) – A fire tornado developed as firefighters battled a fast-moving brush fire in the hilly, open terrain of northwestern Los Angeles County Wednesday.
The “Sam Fire” had burned approximately 150 acres in Gorman, near Old Ridge Route and Lancaster Road.
KTLA’s helicopter captured dramatic footage of an impressive fire tornado that developed during the brush fire battle.
Fire tornadoes, sometimes called “fire devils,” “firenadoes” or “pyrogenetic tornadoes,” occur when extreme, rising heat is met with turbulent wind conditions. The vortex of the tornado sucks in combustible gases and burning debris.
The fire department’s Air Operations Division said several “fire whirls” were spotted in the grass fire. The whirls “tell the story of dry, receptive fuels and erratic winds from intense surface heating,” the division said.
Fire whirls can be as small as 1 foot wide or as large as 500 feet wide, according to the U.S. Forest Service. “Large fire whirls have the intensity of a small tornado,” the Service says.
The Sam Fire held at about 150 acres, the fire department said. No structures were damaged and no one was injured.
It was 60% contained Wednesday night and all hot spots had been put out. Fire crews remained on the scene throughout the night. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/intense-fire-tornado-seen-on-video-during-california-grass-fire/ | 2022-08-11 17:51:41 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/intense-fire-tornado-seen-on-video-during-california-grass-fire/ |
Storm Prediction Ctr, Norman, OK Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, June 1, 2022
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SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 301
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
723 PM EDT WED JUN 01 2022
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 301 REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
NY
. NEW YORK COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE
BROOME CAYUGA CHEMUNG
CHENANGO CORTLAND DELAWARE
MADISON ONONDAGA OTSEGO
SCHUYLER SENECA STEUBEN
SULLIVAN TIOGA TOMPKINS
YATES
...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of south central Broome
and northwestern Susquehanna Counties through 800 PM EDT...
At 724 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Friendsville, or 9 miles northwest of Montrose, moving east at 35
mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph and pea size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Hallstead, New Milford, Great Bend, Friendsville, Brackney, Salt
Springs State Park and Wyoanna.
This includes the following highway exits...
Pennsylvania Interstate 81 between 223 and 230.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect until 1000 PM EDT for
central New York...and northeastern Pennsylvania.
LAT...LON 4186 7609 4198 7609 4203 7570 4184 7568
TIME...MOT...LOC 2324Z 269DEG 29KT 4195 7598
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR SOUTHWESTERN BROOME...
SOUTHEASTERN TIOGA...NORTHWESTERN SUSQUEHANNA AND NORTHEASTERN
BRADFORD COUNTIES WILL EXPIRE AT 730 PM EDT...
The storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe
limits, and no longer poses an immediate threat to life or property.
Therefore, the warning will be allowed to expire. However gusty
winds are still possible with this thunderstorm.
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Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.ourmidland.com/weather/article/NY-Storm-Prediction-Ctr-Norman-OK-Warnings-17213594.php | 2022-06-02 00:40:36 | 0 | https://www.ourmidland.com/weather/article/NY-Storm-Prediction-Ctr-Norman-OK-Warnings-17213594.php |
NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom struck out 10 in six dominant innings and Edwin Díaz earned his 200th career save, helping the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 on Saturday night.
Pete Alonso hit an early RBI single as the NL East leaders improved to 31-9 following a loss and 10-4 in the season series with Philadelphia. Alonso leads the NL with 97 RBIs.
Díaz issued two walks in the ninth, and Philadelphia had runners on second and third when Nick Castellanos struck out swinging for the final out. It was Díaz’s 27th save of the season.
The All-Star closer became the sixth active pitcher to reach 200 saves.
“It’s awesome,” deGrom said. “He’s done a great job and you’re comfortable any time he’s in the game.”
The Mets posted their MLB-best 15th shutout. It was their first 1-0 win over Philadelphia since R.A. Dickey tossed a one-hitter exactly 12 years ago at Citi Field.
“The star of the show was our pitching staff,” Alonso said.
DeGrom (2-0) allowed two hits and walked none in his third start after spending the first part of the season on the injured list. He has yielded six hits, struck out 28 and issued one walk in 16 2/3 innings so far this year.
“You don’t really know what to expect coming back, but last time out I was able to look at a couple of things where I felt I was getting off mechanically and try to make those adjustments while I was going through a pretty slow process of coming back,” deGrom said. “That seems to have paid off a little bit.”
The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner opened the game by striking out Bryson Stott looking on a 101.1 mph fastball and then allowed a soft single to Rhys Hoskins. After Alec Bohm grounded into a force play, deGrom fanned J.T. Realmuto on three straight sliders.
“Nothing’s different from the last time that I faced him,” Hoskins said.
It was deGrom’s second double-digit strikeout game since returning and his 55th in the regular season overall. He improved to 9-1 in 20 career starts against the Phillies.
“He’s doing great,” Díaz said. “He can do everything he wants with the hitters.”
Philadelphia wasted a terrific performance by Aaron Nola (8-9), who allowed four hits in eight innings. The right-hander struck out eight and walked one, but he dropped to 0-3 in four starts against New York this year.
Nola became the first Philadelphia pitcher to toss a complete game against the Mets in New York since Kyle Kendrick in 2013.
The Phillies finished with three hits.
New York jumped in front in the first. Starling Marte singled, stole second and took third on a throwing error by Realmuto before scoring on Alonso’s soft single to right.
After Alonso’s hit, Luis Guillorme and Jeff McNeil had consecutive one-out singles in the second. Nola retired 17 in a row before McNeil started the eighth with a walk.
“Facing deGrom, you know it’s going to be low (scoring),” Nola said. “So it’s just going to be a battle all night. And it was.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: OF Kyle Schwarber (strained right calf) took batting practice on the field and ran in the outfield before hitting for Matt Vierling in the eighth. Schwarber was pulled in the fifth inning of Thursday’s 3-0 loss to Miami and sat out Friday.
Mets: 3B Eduardo Escobar (left side tightness) was held out of the lineup and an MRI came back clean. … INF/OF Jeff McNeil was in the lineup after getting two stitches for a lacerated right thumb. McNeil exited Friday’s game in the second with the injury. … RHP Tommy Hunter (low back tightness) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton.
UP NEXT
Philadelphia right-hander Zack Wheeler (11-5, 2.63 ERA) opposes New York right-hander Chris Bassitt (9-7, 3.39 ERA) on Sunday. Wheeler is 4-2 with a 2.48 ERA in 10 career starts against the Mets. He broke into the majors with New York in 2013 and went 44-38 with a 3.77 ERA in 126 starts with the Mets.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.localsyr.com/sports/sports-news/degrominant-degrom-dominates-again-as-mets-edge-phils-1-0/ | 2022-08-14 03:28:41 | 1 | https://www.localsyr.com/sports/sports-news/degrominant-degrom-dominates-again-as-mets-edge-phils-1-0/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro has been indicted on charges that he refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the Justice Department spared two other advisers, including the ex-president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, from criminal prosecution.
The department’s decision to not prosecute Meadows and Dan Scavino, another adviser to former President Donald Trump, was revealed in a letter sent Friday by a federal prosecutor to a lawyer for the House of Representatives. The move was reported hours after the indictment of Navarro and a subsequent, fiery court appearance in which he vowed to contest the contempt of Congress charges.
The flurry of activity comes just days before the House committee leading the investigation into the riot at the Capitol holds a primetime hearing aimed at presenting the American public with evidence it has collected about how the assault unfolded. The split decisions show how the Justice Department has opted to evaluate on a case-by-case basis contempt referrals it has received from Congress rather than automatically pursue charges against each and every Trump aide who has resisted congressional subpoenas.
The committee’s leaders called the decision to not prosecute Meadows and Scavino “puzzling.” In a statement late Friday, Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said: “We hope the Department provides greater clarity on this matter. … No one is above the law.”
Though the Justice Department has referred multiple Trump aides for potential prosecution for refusal to cooperate, Navarro is only the second to face criminal charges, following the indictment last fall of former White House adviser Steve Bannon.
Navarro, 72, was charged with one contempt count for failing to appear for a deposition before the House committee and a second charge for failing to produce documents the committee requested.
During an initial court appearance, he alleged that the Justice Department had committed “prosecutorial misconduct” and said he was told he could not contact anyone after being approached by an FBI agent at the airport Friday and put in handcuffs. He said he was arrested while trying to board a flight to Nashville, Tennessee for a television appearance.
“Who are these people? This is not America,” Navarro said. “I was a distinguished public servant for four years!”
Each charge carries a minimum sentence of a month in jail and a maximum of a year behind bars.
The Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland had been facing pressure to move more quickly to decide whether to prosecute other Trump aides who have similarly defied subpoenas from the House panel.
The New York Times first reported on the decision to not charge Meadows and Scavino. A person familiar with the decision who was not authorized to discuss it publicly confirmed it to The Associated Press on Friday. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, which made the decisions regarding each of the Trump aides, declined to comment Friday.
Meadows, a close Trump adviser seen by House investigators as a vital witness to key events, initially cooperated with the committee, turning over more than 2,000 text messages sent and received in the days leading up to and of the attack. But in December, Meadows informed the committee that he would not sit for a deposition. Scavino was held in contempt in April after declining to cooperate with Congress.
A lawyer for Meadows did not immediately return messages Friday night. Stan Brand, an attorney representing Scavino, said he had not yet received the letter from the U.S. attorney’s office, but he’d heard the news through a third party. “I’m grateful that the Justice Department exercised their discretion to decline prosecution,” Brand said.
The indictment against Navarro alleges that when summoned to appear before the committee for a deposition earlier this year, he refused to do so and instead told the panel that because Trump had invoked executive privilege, “my hands are tied.”
After committee staff told him they believed there were topics he could discuss without raising any executive privilege concerns, Navarro again refused, directing the committee to negotiate directly with lawyers for Trump, according to the indictment. The committee went ahead with its scheduled deposition on March 2, but Navarro did not attend.
The indictment, dated Thursday, came days after Navarro revealed in a court filing that he also had been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury this week as part of the Justice Department’s sprawling probe into the insurrection. The subpoena to Navarro, a trade adviser to Trump, was the first known instance of prosecutors seeking testimony from someone who worked in the Trump White House as they investigate the attack.
“This was a preemptive strike by the prosecution against that lawsuit,” Navarro told Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui during his court appearance. “It simply flies in the face of good faith and due process.”
Navarro made the case in his lawsuit Tuesday that the House select committee investigating the attack is unlawful and therefore a subpoena it issued to him in February is unenforceable under law. He sued members of the committee, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the U.S. attorney in Washington, Matthew M. Graves, whose office is now handling the criminal case against him.
In an interview with The Associated Press this week, Navarro said the goal of his lawsuit is much broader than the subpoenas themselves, part of an effort to have “the Supreme Court address a number of issues that have come with the weaponization of Congress’ investigatory powers” since Trump entered office.
Members of the select committee sought testimony from Navarro about his efforts to help Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election, including a call trying to persuade state legislators to join their efforts.
The former economics professor was one of the White House staffers who promoted Trump’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud. Trump, in turn, promoted a lengthy report Navarro released in December 2020, which Navarro falsely claimed contained evidence of the alleged misconduct and election fraud “more than sufficient” to swing victory to his former boss.
Despite the opposition from several Trump allies, the Jan. 6 panel, comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, has managed to interview more than 1,000 witnesses about the insurrection in the past 11 months and is now preparing for a series of public hearings to begin next week. Lawmakers on the panel hope the half-dozen hearings will be a high-profile airing of the causes and consequences of the domestic attack on the U.S. government. | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/ex-trump-aide-navarro-indicted-meadows-wont-be-charged/ | 2022-06-04 17:18:10 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/ex-trump-aide-navarro-indicted-meadows-wont-be-charged/ |
Kentucky Castle hosts Bourbon Market
The market highlighted Kentucky's bourbon history. Several bourbon distilleries took part, offering tastings of their bourbon.
VERSAILLES, Ky (WTVQ)- The Kentucky Castle hosted its’ inaugural bourbon market Sunday celebrating National Heritage Month.
The market highlighted Kentucky’s bourbon history. Several bourbon distilleries took part, offering tastings of their bourbon.
There were also food trucks and live music and vendor’s showcased their bourbon coffee, candles, and a lot more.
“We really wanted to do something that brings in Kentucky history with bourbon. And since the Kentucky castle is a big part of Kentucky and kinda is the central Kentucky area, we wanted to bring in the folks that come in to Bardstown to tour all the bourbon distilleries and invite all of our friends that have that kind of bourbon here for tastings,” said special events coordinator Sally Martin.
Activities will continue this week with a bourbon tasting and a bourbon-themed murder mystery. | https://www.wtvq.com/kentucky-castle-hosts-bourbon-market/ | 2022-09-12 01:07:18 | 1 | https://www.wtvq.com/kentucky-castle-hosts-bourbon-market/ |
Pfizer is facing a shortage of penicillin due to increased demand and more diagnoses of syphilis, the company said in a letter to its customers this week.
The company said there is an "impending stock out situation" for select Bicillin L-A and Bicillin C-R prefilled syringes, Pfizer's brand name of injectable penicillin.
Prefilled Bicillin L-A pediatric syringes are expected to begin running low by the end of June, while all Bicillin C-R syringes could begin diminishing in the third quarter of this year.
Inventory is predicted to start recovering in the second and third quarters of 2024, Pfizer said.
Penicillin is an antibiotic used to treat various types of infections, including sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis and pneumonia.
Syphilis rates were at a historic low from 2000 to 2001, but have increased every year since, with an increase of 28.6% from 2020 to 2021, which was likely exacerbated by an interruption in treatment and prevention due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The scarcity of penicillin comes amid a long-term shortage of prescription drugs the U.S. has been experiencing for the last decade, usually as a result of disruptions in the supply chain, like the one caused by the pandemic, Marta Wosińska, a visiting fellow at The Brookings Institution, told NPR earlier this year.
Other prescriptions, such as Adderall and children's flu medication have also been in short supply.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2023-06-16/pfizer-warns-of-a-looming-penicillin-supply-shortage | 2023-06-16 08:24:24 | 0 | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2023-06-16/pfizer-warns-of-a-looming-penicillin-supply-shortage |
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The World Health Organization says that Equatorial Guinea has confirmed its first-ever outbreak of Marburg disease, saying the Ebola-related virus is responsible for at least nine deaths in the tiny Western African country.
In a statement on Monday, the U.N. health agency confirmed the epidemic after samples from Equatorial Guinea were sent to a lab in Senegal to pinpoint the cause of disease after an alert from a local health official last week.
The WHO said there were currently nine deaths and 16 suspected cases with symptoms including fever, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting. The agency said it was sending medical experts to help officials in Equatorial Guinea stop the outbreak and was also sending protective equipment for hundreds of workers.
Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in bats and spreads between people via close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, or surfaces, like contaminated bed sheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people.
The rare virus was first identified in 1967 after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in Marburg, Germany and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven people died who were exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.
There are no authorized vaccines or drugs to treat Marburg, but rehydration treatment to alleviate symptoms can improve the chances of survival.
In a 2004 outbreak in Angola, Marburg killed 90% of 252 people infected. Last year, there were two reported Marburg deaths in Ghana. | https://who13.com/health/ap-health/ap-who-says-equatorial-guinea-confirms-1st-outbreak-of-marburg/ | 2023-02-13 22:27:56 | 0 | https://who13.com/health/ap-health/ap-who-says-equatorial-guinea-confirms-1st-outbreak-of-marburg/ |
AL WAKRAH, Qatar (AP) — Croatia is going deep at another World Cup, and the team is taking the long route once again.
Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved three penalty kicks Monday in Croatia’s 3-1 win over Japan in a shootout, securing a return to the quarterfinals for the runner-up in the 2018 tournament.
On its run to the final four years ago, Croatia needed extra time in each round in the knockout stage — and twice came through a penalty shootout.
“We in Croatia do things this way, you could see that four years ago as well,” said Livakovic, who was the back-up goalkeeper to Danijel Subasic in 2018. “I continued the tradition.”
This time, Mario Pasalic converted the clinching penalty for Croatia after the teams were tied at 1-1 after extra time.
After the ball hit the net, Pasalic and the rest of Croatia’s jubilant players headed right for Livakovic, who had saved penalties from Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitomo and Maya Yoshida.
While Croatia — a semifinalist in 1998 — prepares to take on Brazil or South Korea in the quarterfinals, Japan exits a World Cup in the round of 16 for the fourth time, just like in 2002, 2010 and 2018. The Asian team also lost in a penalty shootout to Paraguay at that stage in 2010.
Asia is still waiting for a second team to advance beyond the last 16, after South Korea on home soil in 2002.
Japan made its mark in Qatar, though, having beaten Germany and Spain — two of the last three World Cup champions — in huge upsets in the group stage.
“The players showed a new era of Japanese football, I think,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said. “They should use this feeling of being upset and try to go further next time.
“We cannot be superheroes in one go. We have to improve step by step. But Japan is reaching a level where we can play on the world stage.”
In an even 90 minutes of regulation play, striker Daizen Maeda put Japan ahead in the 43rd minute by sweeping in a close-range finish after Yoshida had inadvertently deflected the ball across the front of goal following a cross into the area.
Ivan Perisic equalized by meeting Dejan Lovren’s cross from the right with a header into the bottom corner from near the penalty spot in the 57th.
The result guarantees at least one more World Cup game for 37-year-old Croatia captain Luka Modric, one of the best midfielders of his generation. Modric was substituted in the first half of extra time and wasn’t part of the shootout.
Since 1998, all of Croatia’s knockout matches at a World Cup or European Championship have gone to extra time except for the 2018 World Cup final loss to France.
___
Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://pix11.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-japan-and-croatia-tied-1-1-going-to-extra-time-at-world-cup/ | 2022-12-05 19:25:28 | 1 | https://pix11.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-japan-and-croatia-tied-1-1-going-to-extra-time-at-world-cup/ |
Letters to the Editor: Rodeos terrorize animals. You don’t have to be a ‘Marxist’ to see that
To the editor: I applaud The Times for covering the effort to ban rodeos. It’s shocking that anyone would compare such a ban in California to mask mandates and Marxism, but there you go. Banning rodeos has nothing to do with culture wars and everything to do with animal cruelty and exploitation.
How is three “macho” men slamming a nursing mother cow to the ground entertaining? Shame on those who pay to see this. There are other time-honored traditions at rodeos that don’t involve abusing animals.
Why don’t we teach our children kindness instead of teaching them that it’s OK to terrorize animals?
Tracy Keys, Laguna Beach
..
To the editor: How much more of this woke nonsense can one tolerate? Rodeos are an American tradition in which no animal is killed. Cowboys get a chance to test their skills.
These events deserve to be supported, not banned.
David L. McDaniel, Capistrano Beach
..
To the editor: I found it odd and rather ignorant that those who favor rodeos would consider citizens who object to the cruelty as “Marxists.” Having a bleeding heart doesn’t belong to any particular party, but should belong to every decent human being on this planet.
As a conservative, I have staunchly opposed and condemned animal cruelty my entire life.
It’s time we recognized that with increased awareness of the issues, American values on animal welfare will be playing a huge role in political races, and it would be wise for candidates on both sides to pay attention. Incidentally, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) recently galloped to victory thanks in part to his recent efforts on animal issues.
Abusing terrified animals in the name of entertainment or “Western culture” is wrong and cruel.
Annoula Wylderich, Las Vegas
..
To the editor: Culture wars? What a load of garbage.
People who care about animals have been against rodeos since I was a kid in the 1970s and no doubt long before. Rebranding the fight using the latest right-wing buzz words won’t fly.
Thank goodness the moral arc is finally bending in the right direction — though far too slowly, as always.
Curtis Horton, Pasadena | https://www.latimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2022-11-20/rodeos-look-like-animal-abuse-because-they-are-ban-them | 2022-11-20 11:48:50 | 1 | https://www.latimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2022-11-20/rodeos-look-like-animal-abuse-because-they-are-ban-them |
FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — Snicker if you wish. Guffaw for good measure. Bill May and other male synchronized swimmers — now called artistic swimmers — have heard the putdowns before.
But they’re getting the last laugh.
Men have competed in synchro at the lower levels for decades. Now they’re being included in the Olympics, meaning next year’s Summer Games in Paris.
“I think it’s a huge opportunity for the sport to grow and attract more men,” May told the Associated Press at the World Aquatics Championships. “By keeping men out you’re limiting the sport. By including men you’re going to see an upshift in the popularity and the numbers.”
May looks like a lean bodybuilder. He was among the first men to compete when synchro was included in the worlds for the first time in 2015. And he worked for 17 years at Cirque du Soleil doing water-themed shows. He has come out of competitive retirement for a chance to compete at the Olympics.
“There has always been that misconception that it’s a female-only sport, or that it’s for wimps, or that it’s not a difficult sport,” the 44-year-old May said. “Anyone that has anything negative to say about the sport — boy, female, anyone. Just try it and you’ll know it’s the most difficult sport in the world.”
This is not the synchronized swimming that your parents or grandparents watched — the water ballet that made few waves below the flowery rubber caps and permanent smiles, It’s estranged from the sport introduced at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
The acrobatic team event, in particular, features lifts, throws and flips, and diving routines launched off the shoulders of teammates treading water below. It’s gymnastics on water and concussions are a risk.
Interested men often confront the stereotypes.
Beginning in elementary school, 18-year-old American Kenny Gaudet dreamed of being a synchronized swimmer. He made it, but it wasn’t easy.
“It makes me emotional just to think about the problems we all went through and the struggles we all had just to get a chance to swim and do what we love,” said Gaudet who competed at this year’s worlds.
“So much bullying. So much slander. So much hate,” he added. “Just because of my gender, just because I’m a male in artistic swimming. When I first started I wanted to quit so many times. Growing up my peers would ask why I’m doing a female sport, why am I being like a girl and degrade me for doing what I love to do.”
One aspect of Adam Andrasko’s job as the head of USA Artistic Swimming is recruiting men. He said there are about 100 participating in the United States, up from 25 just four years ago.
“There hasn’t been a good foundation of growth,” Andrasko said. “You haven’t had the farm system.”
A few countries at the world championships have male swimmers including the United States, Japan, Germany and China. Spain and Italy also have top competitors.
“There aren’t a lot of countries with strong males,” in the international competition, Andrasko said, noting men often lack the flexibility to compete. “So you might not see a lot of males swimming in the Olympics. I’m concerned it goes to the Olympic Games and we don’t see a male participating. I definitely have that fear.”
“To this point,” he added, “women are still far better at this sport than a man.”
Another fear, apparently unfounded, is that women might resent the men competing in the sport. Men will compete in only team events at the Olympics. Teams have a maximum of eight members — with a limit of two men — which means men might crowd out some women.
There is no requirement for men to be included.
Asked about any acrimony, two-time American Olympian Anita Alvarez replied: “No, not at all.”
Alvarez has blacked out twice in the last two years while competing and had to be resuscitated. She’s been cleared to compete with no diagnosis except physical or mental exhaustion. Holding her breath for too long underwater is also suspected.
Men can add some physicality to routines, and their presence could lead to a wider audience. Alvarez also credits May with choreography skills that he picked up with Cirque du Soleil.
“Having the inclusion of both males and females will make it more open for young boys and young girls to dream of being in the Olympics, parents wanting to start their kids,” Alvarez said.
She ran off her workout routine, sure to scare away men and women — equally.
“We’re training eight-plus hours a day, treading water all day,” she said. “You have to be able to count time and work with music. You have to be able to watch your patterns and stay in line. We don’t wear goggles when we compete. You’re holding your breath. You don’t touch the bottom. There are so many elements that go into it that people don’t see.”
And we’re about to see more men trying it.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.localsyr.com/sports-news/ap-oh-boy-men-to-compete-in-artistic-swimming-formerly-called-synchro-at-paris-olympics/ | 2023-07-17 17:06:34 | 1 | https://www.localsyr.com/sports-news/ap-oh-boy-men-to-compete-in-artistic-swimming-formerly-called-synchro-at-paris-olympics/ |
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Customers started lining up to buy recreational marijuana in Rhode Island on Thursday, a little more than six months after Gov. Dan McKee signed legislation permitting such sales to people 21 and older.
Five stores are currently allowed to sell recreational cannabis products, but the state could eventually have as many as 33 stores, according to the law. The stores authorized to open by the state Office of Cannabis Regulation so far are in Central Falls, Providence, Pawtucket, Portsmouth and Warwick. All five had already been selling medical marijuana.
“This milestone is the result of a carefully executed process to ensure that our state’s entry into this emerging market was done in a safe, controlled and equitable manner,” the Democratic governor said in a statement last week.
Mother Earth Wellness in Pawtucket normally opens at 8 a.m. but people were already waiting outside when it opened at 5 a.m. on Thursday, co-owner Joe Pakuris said. The store made its first recreational sale at 5:18 a.m.
The store had welcomed about 300 customers by mid-morning, about 80% of whom were recreational buyers, he said.
“We've had a very successful day," he said. “I think it has been a smooth transition and the state has done an excellent job of rolling out this program. Everything's great."
The law imposes a 10% state cannabis excise tax in addition to the 7% state sales tax and 3% local tax for the city or town in which the sale takes place. It's expected to generate about $15 million in tax revenues in the first full fiscal year of sales.
The law prohibits smoking or vaping cannabis products in any public place where smoking or vaping of tobacco products is prohibited, and anywhere where there is potential harm to children. People are also not allowed to operate a vehicle while under the influence of cannabis.
The legislation also provides for the expungement of any prior conviction for possession of cannabis that will be decriminalized.
About 20 states nationwide had approved recreational marijuana sales, including neighboring Massachusetts where it's been legal for about four years. In Connecticut, recreational pot has been legalized but sales are not expected to start until next year.
Not everyone is happy. State law enforcement agencies have expressed concern about the potential for more impaired motorists on the roads. | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Rhode-Island-latest-state-to-allow-recreational-17624080.php | 2022-12-01 18:07:58 | 0 | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Rhode-Island-latest-state-to-allow-recreational-17624080.php |
TROY, Ala., June 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Whether you're interested in building valuable leadership skills to propel your career or are interested in learning principles to protect and grow your wealth, Troy University is ready to help those who want to make a commitment to their future by offering two free courses this summer.
TROY's online courses have been ranked among the country's best by U.S. News and World Report. The University is known for emphasizing the importance of developing strong leaders and its leadership program is one of the best in the nation. Beginning July 11, TROY will offer a free online, four-week course entitled an Introduction to Leadership. This course presents a rare opportunity for participants to learn how to lead from a global perspective while incorporating self-evaluation in order to gain a better understanding of how to lead effectively.
"We believe that universities are responsible for building the leaders of tomorrow, and that is a commitment we do not take lightly," said Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., Chancellor. "Our mission is to develop leaders who are well equipped to meet the challenges of today's world. These two free courses are an excellent introduction to all we offer at Troy University while giving participants the chance to learn valuable life skills."
New for 2022, TROY is offering a free personal finance course entitled Your Life, Your Success -- Money Management and Financial Wellness, which is designed to give students an overview of financial principles that will help them succeed. Students will learn about budgeting, filing taxes, different types of loans and insurance products, and an overview of investment options. This course will be offered in two tracks beginning July 11: one for a general audience and one for young adults.
The courses are open to anyone and do not require enrollment in TROY to participate. Participants who enroll at Troy University can earn three credit hours for each course as a general elective or minor course. The courses run for four weeks and end on Aug. 8. To earn academic credit, students must pass a challenge exam at the end of the courses. Current TROY students who participate must have less than 15 hours of university credit to receive academic credit for passing the challenge exam. Register at: troy.edu/freeclass
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SOURCE Troy University | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/06/21/troy-university-is-offering-two-free-four-week-online-courses-july-11-through-aug-8/ | 2022-06-21 18:13:57 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/06/21/troy-university-is-offering-two-free-four-week-online-courses-july-11-through-aug-8/ |
What a German Taught Me About His Country and the Holocaust
In Germany, children learn about the darkest chapter in the county’s history at a young age.
Back when I was in college, a good friend started dating a German guy. He was from a small town in Bavaria and owned lederhosen and everything. After hearing about him, I was really keen to meet him and found out, to my complete surprise, that he didn’t feel the same way. He was terrified to meet me. You see, I would be one of the first Jewish people he would ever meet, and his education on what his people had done to my people in the Holocaust sat heavy on him. How would I regard him? Would our dual-sided generational trauma be a wall between us?
That all shook out quickly between me and the German, and I came to learn that in his homeland, schoolchildren are taught a visceral history of the Holocaust, beginning in elementary school and later including visits to concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau (from which my maternal grandfather was liberated). In the years following the war, the Germans came to understand that to root out a hatred as endemic and ultimately as destructive as the one that gave rise to the Third Reich, they had to target the youngest hearts and minds. As traumatic as this past is to later, innocent generations, to omit or dilute the truth of it from history lessons would only allow the tentacles of anti-Semitism to stretch on.
Today, as a mother of two young children in Philadelphia schools, I’m taking in the national conversation on critical race theory and, more broadly, how we teach America’s history of slavery, racism, and Indigenous genocide in our schools. And I’ve thought a lot about “the German.” It was clear that an unflinching education on the events of the Holocaust left him with feelings of guilt and shame, but those lessons ultimately fertilized a great sense of empathy as well as an openness to discussing history that helped us both heal the decades-old wounds of our peoples’ pasts. He still donned his lederhosen and embraced his German heritage, but he also wore the dark layer of his country’s worst history as a weighty responsibility, without resentment.
I wish that today’s opponents of teaching our children the history of slavery, racism and genocide in America could meet more Germans. If their resistance truly stems from not wanting white children to feel guilt, shame, and loss of pride in who they are, I would point to the empathy I experienced so many years ago, when meeting me made a man shake in his lederhosen. I’ve since met other people educated in Germany, and they’ve all expressed how formative their Holocaust history lessons were to understanding the injustices of our own times, along with a sense of pride in modern Germany. Ultimately, we know that within the opposition lies the very disease we aim to fight, attempting with each generation to mutate and live on — because that’s what diseases do.
Anti-Semitism hasn’t been snuffed out entirely in Germany, just as racism may never be here. But approaching the past honestly is as powerful an antidote as we have. Teaching America’s children about the indelible racism that is our country’s legacy and instilling national pride in them need not be an either/or proposition. Individuals have complicated dualities, and so do nations. If a German and a Jew can come together on that, why can’t America?
Einav Keet is a Philadelphia writer and mother who has enjoyed writing about health, science, technology and politics for more than 15 years.
Published as “Pride and Prejudice” in the September 2022 issue of Philadelphia magazine. | https://www.phillymag.com/news/2022/08/27/german-holocaust-education/ | 2022-08-28 22:53:18 | 1 | https://www.phillymag.com/news/2022/08/27/german-holocaust-education/ |
- Revenue of $2.4 billion, down 9% on an as-reported basis and down 6% on an FX-Neutral basis
- Gross Merchandise Volume of $18.5 billion, down 18% on an as-reported basis and down 14% on an FX-Neutral basis
- GAAP and Non-GAAP EPS per diluted share of $(0.96) and $0.99, respectively, on a continuing operations basis
- GAAP and Non-GAAP operating margin of 21.7% and 28.7%, respectively
- Returned over $1.4 billion to shareholders in Q2, including approximately $1.3 billion of share repurchases and $121 million paid in cash dividends
SAN JOSE, Calif., August 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY), a global commerce leader that connects millions of buyers and sellers around the world, today reported financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2022.
"Once again I am pleased to report another strong quarter. Our team delivered better than expected financial results across the board while continuing to make significant progress on our long-term initiatives," said Jamie Iannone, Chief Executive Officer of eBay. "Our focus category strategy is working, and payments and advertising are driving further growth. eBay is in a stronger position today than it was when we entered the pandemic. Despite rising inflation, and an uncertain macro environment, we remain on track to deliver on our 2022 commitments."
- Revenue was $2.4 billion, down 9% on an as-reported basis and down 6% on a foreign exchange (FX) neutral basis.
- Gross merchandise volume (GMV) was $18.5 billion, down 18% on an as-reported basis and down 14% on an FX-Neutral basis.
- GAAP net loss from continuing operations was $536 million, or $(0.96) per diluted share primarily driven by the change in fair value of our equity investments.
- Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations was $554 million, or $0.99 per diluted share.
- GAAP and Non-GAAP operating margin of 21.7% and 28.7%, respectively.
- Generated $577 million of operating cash flow and $466 million of free cash flow from continuing operations.
- Sold a portion of our shares in Kakao Bank for $242 million and a portion of our shares in Adyen for $129 million.
- Returned over $1.4 billion to shareholders, including approximately $1.3 billion of share repurchases and $121 million paid in cash dividends.
- eBay joined an investment consortium led by The Chernin Group (TCG), which made a strategic investment in Funko. As part of this investment, Funko and eBay are entering into a commercial agreement under which eBay will become the preferred secondary marketplace for Funko, and the companies will partner on creating exclusive product releases.
- eBay acquired KnownOrigin, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that provides artists a place to create unique, authentic, digital collectibles, in the form of NFTs. An early pioneer in the NFT space, KnownOrigin's innovative technology and talented team, together with eBay's reach and reputation, will empower a new wave of NFT creators, sellers and buyers.
- eBay announced it is taking steps to close GittiGidiyor, the company's marketplace business in Turkey. The company regularly reviews its business operations globally and made this strategic decision based on the ongoing dynamics in the market. While the closure of GittiGidiyor will not have a material impact on eBay's revenue and operating income going forward, there are approximately 3 million active buyers included in the company's Q2 active buyer count from the Turkish marketplace.
Revenue Initiatives
- eBay's first party advertising products, primarily driven by Promoted Listings, delivered $232 million of revenue in the second quarter, up 2% on an as-reported basis and up 6% on an FX-Neutral basis.
- The company's total advertising offerings generated approximately $275 million in revenue in the second quarter, representing roughly 1.5% of GMV.
- The company expanded its Buyer FX program to include additional payment options, allowing more flexibility for eBay buyers to purchase in the currency of their choice and further reducing transactional friction for customers.
- During the quarter, eBay rolled out Klarna invoicing and installment payment methods to buyers in Germany.
Tech-Led Reimagination of the Platform
- The company opened the eBay vault, a state-of-the-art facility and digital marketplace for collectors. The vault is now open for single, graded trading cards and graded, pack-pulled autograph cards for $500+, enabling collectors to streamline and secure their assets. The eBay vault is the latest in a series of significant innovations eBay has introduced to its enthusiasts, bringing together physical and digital capabilities that makes collecting more advanced than ever.
- Through a strategic partnership with Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), eBay expanded its Authenticity Guarantee program for trading cards to include graded trading cards sold on eBay for $500+.
- eBay also expanded its Authenticity Guarantee program for sneakers and handbags to Australia and the U.K. In Australia, the company also hosted eBay's Museum of Authentics which showcased a collection of rare sneakers, and partnered with Afterpay's Australian Fashion Week to engage influencers and highlight the marketplace's authentication services for luxury handbags.
- In April, eBay Motors held the first ever New York Auto Parts Show, designed to demonstrate how car enthusiasts can build, fix or maintain their dream car. In the face of unprecedented supply chain challenges, the show debuted a line of "Re-Concept cars" assembled in partnership with some of the industry's top builders and biggest stars, demonstrating the best 'new' car on the road can start with one that already exists.
- In April, the company expanded its eBay Refurbished program across multiple condition grades for tablets, smartwatches, laptops, desktops and more. Hundreds of thousands of items will be added to the program this year, enabling eBay to meet consumer needs at every price point, without sacrificing quality and trust. The expansion included the launch of eBay Refurbished in Canada, giving buyers access to like-new products ranging from moderate wear to pristine condition, all backed by a one- or two-year warranty.
- The company piloted eBay Live beta, a dedicated shopping platform that gives people a new way to browse and buy products in a live, interactive environment. The new beta technology combines entertainment with instant purchasing on one of the world's largest marketplaces.
- eBay collaborated with Snapchat to create a quick, easy way to share eBay listings to Snapchat right from the eBay app. With just a few taps, users can create a Snapchat-ready design with listing details, an image and a clickable link back to the eBay listing.
- eBay announced a partnership with U.K. reality show Love Island, and is now the show's first ever pre-loved fashion partner.
Impact
- eBay published its 2021 Impact Report detailing progress toward its 2025 and 2030 economic empowerment and sustainability goals. For the first time, the company also released its methodology for calculating the environmental and financial benefits of keeping products in circulation, preventing them from immediate disposal to landfill or incineration.
- eBay released its sixth annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Report outlining how the company has remained committed, open and transparent, acknowledging both the wins and the areas in need of improvement.
- eBay, in partnership with GLIDE, hosted its 21st and grand finale Power of One Charity Auction Lunch with Warren Buffett. The auction made history with a record-breaking bid of over $19 million, bringing the total funds raised to more than $53 million over almost two decades to support GLIDE's transformative programs and services that lift people out of poverty, hunger and homelessness.
- eBay for Charity contributed nearly $56 million globally during the quarter, up 52% year-over-year.
- Through the company's matching gifts program, the eBay Foundation matched over $0.5 million in employee donations and volunteer time to causes and communities around the world.
- During the quarter, eBay received three Women's Choice Awards as a Best Company for Diversity, Best Company for Women and Best Company for Millennials. The company was also recognized as one of LinkedIn's Top Companies in Retail, and received the Early Talent Award by Handshake, recognizing eBay's early career program.
Other Selected Financial and Operational Results
- Operating margin – GAAP operating margin decreased to 21.7% for the second quarter of 2022, compared to 27.4% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 28.7% in the second quarter of 2022, compared to 32.8% for the same period last year.
- Taxes – The GAAP effective tax rate for continuing operations for the second quarter of 2022 was 26.3%, compared to 26.6% for the second quarter of 2021. The non-GAAP effective tax rate for continuing operations for the second quarter of 2022 was 16.5%(1).
- Cash flow – The company generated $577 million of operating cash flow and $466 million of free cash flow from continuing operations during the second quarter of 2022.
- Capital returns – The company repurchased approximately $1.3 billion of its common stock, or roughly 25 million shares, in the second quarter of 2022. The company's total repurchase authorization remaining as of June 30, 2022 was $3.4 billion. The company also paid cash dividends of $121 million during the second quarter of 2022.
- Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments – The company's cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $4.5 billion as of June 30, 2022.
Business Outlook
eBay is providing the following guidance for continuing operations for the third quarter and full year 2022.
Dividend Declaration
- eBay's Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.22 per share of the company's common stock. The dividend is payable on September 16, 2022 to stockholders of record as of September 1, 2022.
(1) We use a non-GAAP tax rate for evaluating our operating results. Based on our current long-term projections, we are using a non-GAAP tax rate of 16.5%. This non-GAAP tax rate could change for various reasons including significant changes in our geographic earnings mix or fundamental tax law changes in major jurisdictions in which we operate.
eBay Inc. will host a conference call to discuss second quarter 2022 results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today. Investors and participants can access the call by dialing (888) 655-9638 in the U.S. and (289) 514-2913 internationally. The passcode for the conference line is 7435074. A live webcast of the conference call, together with a slide presentation that includes supplemental financial information and reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, can be accessed through the company's Investor Relations website at https://investors.ebayinc.com. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for at least three months through the same link.
eBay Inc. uses its Investor Relations website at https://investors.ebayinc.com as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor this website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls and webcasts.
eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) is a global commerce leader that connects millions of buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world. We exist to enable economic opportunity for individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations of all sizes. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, California, eBay is one of the world's largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2021, eBay enabled over $87 billion of gross merchandise volume. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.
All growth rates represent year-over-year comparisons, except as otherwise noted. All amounts in tables are presented in U.S. dollars, rounded to the nearest million, except as otherwise noted. As a result, certain amounts may not sum or recalculate using the rounded dollar amounts provided. References to "revenue" refer to "net revenues" as reported in the company's consolidated statement of income.
This press release includes the following financial measures defined as "non-GAAP financial measures" by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate, free cash flow and FX-Neutral basis. These non-GAAP financial measures are presented on a continuing operations basis. These measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The presentation of this financial information, which is not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, is not intended to be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures, except for figures in this press release presented on an "FX-Neutral basis," to the nearest comparable GAAP measures, see "Business Outlook," "Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance," "Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin," "Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income and Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate" and "Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow" included in this press release. For figures in this press release reported "on an FX-Neutral basis," we calculate the year-over-year impact of foreign currency movements using prior period foreign currency rates applied to current year transactional currency amounts. We define Organic FX-Neutral revenue growth as reported revenue growth, excluding incremental revenue from acquisitions or dispositions for the twelve-month period following such acquisitions or dispositions and foreign exchange rate effects.
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the future performance of eBay Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries that are based on the company's current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the future performance of eBay Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, including management's vision for the future of eBay and our ability to accomplish our vision, expected financial results for the third quarter and full year 2022 and the future growth in its business, the effects of COVID-19 on our business and operations and our ability to respond to such effects, operating efficiency and margins, reinvestments, dividends and share repurchases. Actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Other factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in political, business and economic conditions, including impacts from the ongoing war in Ukraine, the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of COVID-19 on our business and operations and on the general economy, including effects on our sellers and customers, any regional or general economic downturn or crisis and any conditions that affect e-commerce growth or cross-border trade; the company's ability to realize expected growth opportunities in payments intermediation and advertising; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company's need to successfully react to the increasing importance of mobile commerce and the increasing social aspect of commerce; an increasingly competitive environment for its business; changes to the company's capital allocation, including the timing, declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends or levels of the company's share repurchases, or management of operating cash; the company's ability to increase operating efficiency to drive margin improvements and enable reinvestments; the company's ability to manage its indebtedness, including managing exposure to interest rates and maintaining its credit ratings; the company's need to manage a large enterprise with a broad range of businesses of varying degrees of maturity and in many different geographies; the ability to successfully intermediate payments on our marketplace platform; the company's need and ability to manage regulatory, tax, data security and litigation risks; the company's ability to timely upgrade and develop its technology systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities at reasonable cost while maintaining site stability and performance and adding new products and features; and the company's ability to integrate, manage and grow businesses that have been acquired or may be acquired in the future.
The forward-looking statements in this release do not include the potential impact of any acquisitions or divestitures that may be announced and/or completed after the date hereof.
More information about factors that could affect the company's operating results is included under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company's Investor Relations website at https://investors.ebayinc.com or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. The company assumes no obligation to update such statements.
eBay Inc.
Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance
To supplement the company's condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, the company uses non-GAAP measures of certain components of financial performance. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate, free cash flow and figures in this press release presented on an "FX-Neutral basis." These non-GAAP financial measures are presented on a continuing operations basis.
These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with the company's results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. These measures should only be used to evaluate the company's results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures.
Reconciliation to the nearest GAAP measure of all non-GAAP measures included in this press release, except for figures in this press release presented on an "FX-Neutral basis," can be found in the tables included in this press release. For figures in this press release reported "on an FX-Neutral basis," the company calculates the year-over-year impact of foreign currency movements using prior period foreign currency rates applied to current year transactional currency amounts. The company defines organic FX-Neutral revenue growth as reported revenue growth, excluding incremental revenue from acquisitions or dispositions for the twelve-month period following such acquisitions or dispositions and foreign exchange rate effects.
These non-GAAP measures are provided to enhance investors' overall understanding of the company's current financial performance and its prospects for the future. Specifically, the company believes the non-GAAP measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses, gains and losses, or net purchases of property and equipment, as the case may be, that may not be indicative of its core operating results and business outlook. In addition, because the company has historically reported certain non-GAAP results to investors, the company believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP measures provides consistency in the company's financial reporting.
For its internal budgeting process, and as discussed further below, the company's management uses financial measures that do not include stock-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation, amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, amortization of deferred tax assets associated with the realignment of its legal structure and related foreign exchange effects, significant gains or losses from the disposal/acquisition of a business, certain gains and losses on investments including changes in fair value, changes in foreign currency exchange rates and the impact of any related foreign exchange derivative instruments, gains or losses associated with a warrant agreement that the company entered into with Adyen, restructuring-related charges and the income taxes associated with the foregoing. In addition to the corresponding GAAP measures, the company's management also uses the foregoing non-GAAP measures in reviewing the financial results of the company.
The company excludes the following items from non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP effective tax rate:
Stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes. This expense consists of expenses for stock options, restricted stock and employee stock purchases. The company excludes stock-based compensation expense from its non-GAAP measures primarily because they are non-cash expenses that management does not believe are reflective of ongoing operating results. The related employer payroll taxes are dependent on the company's stock price and the vesting of restricted stock by employees and the timing and size of stock option exercises, over which management has limited to no control, and as such management does not believe it correlates to the company's operation of the business.
Amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, certain amortization of deferred tax assets and related foreign exchange effects, significant gains or losses and transaction expenses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and certain gains or losses on investments. The company incurs amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets and goodwill in connection with acquisitions and may incur significant gains or losses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and therefore excludes these amounts from its non-GAAP measures. The company also excludes certain gains and losses on investments. The company excludes the non-cash amortization of deferred tax assets associated with the realignment of its legal structure, which is not reduced by the effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and related foreign exchange effects. The company excludes these items because management does not believe they correlate to the ongoing operating results of the company's business.
Restructuring. These charges consist of expenses for employee severance and other exit and disposal costs. The company excludes significant restructuring charges primarily because management does not believe they are reflective of ongoing operating results.
Other certain significant gains, losses, or charges that are not indicative of the company's core operating results. These are significant gains, losses, or charges during a period that are the result of isolated events or transactions which have not occurred frequently in the past and are not expected to occur regularly or be repeated in the future. The company excludes these amounts from its results primarily because management does not believe they are indicative of its current or ongoing operating results. These amounts include changes in fair value and the related change in foreign currency exchange rates of equity securities with readily determinable fair values, globally.
Change in fair market value of warrant. These are gains or losses associated with a warrant agreement that the company entered into with Adyen, which are attributable to changes in fair value during the period.
Income tax effects and adjustments. We use a non-GAAP tax rate for evaluating our operating results. Based on our current long-term projections, we are using a non-GAAP tax rate of 16.5%. This non-GAAP tax rate could change for various reasons including significant changes in our geographic earnings mix or fundamental tax law changes in major jurisdictions in which we operate.
In addition to the non-GAAP measures discussed above, the company also uses free cash flow. Free cash flow represents operating cash flows less purchases of property and equipment. The company considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business after the purchases of property, buildings, and equipment, which can then be used to, among other things, invest in the company's business, make strategic acquisitions, repurchase stock and pay dividends. A limitation of the utility of free cash flow as a measure of financial performance is that it does not represent the total increase or decrease in the company's cash balance for the period.
*Presented on a continuing operations basis
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Feelings
On an intra-day basis, the Nasdaq Composite index has also registered a 20% gain from its low, which came in June. Bear markets regularly include deceptive rallies, but this is a forceful advance.
Meanwhile, as tech stocks have surged, bonds continued to show exceptional volatility. During the course of Wednesday’s trading, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose from 2.7% to 2.84% and dropped all the way back again by the end of the day:
The dramatic rise in yields from Tuesday’s trading remained intact, but this takes a lot of explaining. It’s driven by sentiment more than anything else, but how to explain that sentiment? This summary, offered by George Goncalves, head of US macro strategy at MUFG, to my colleagues Ben Purvis and Mike MacKenzie, is plausible:
“Yields rose to levels that looked attractive and the buyers started with the back end and it feels like cash was being put to work in fixed income. There is no sense of a catalyst, but the fact the market can’t hold higher rates suggests there is some skepticism among investors that the Fed will not really deliver on its tough talk.”
Recession Talk
Where do such sentiments come from? There are many ways to measure this, but straight counts of stories on the Bloomberg terminal (it tallies all the stories available, not just the ones by Bloomberg News) suggests that worries about inflation have begun to recede, just a little:
This chart uses a rolling 20-day sum, because otherwise the spikes on the days that CPI data come out make it difficult to read. But if people are getting a little a less worried about inflation, a Bloomberg story count suggests that fears of recession have just surged to an almost irrational degree. The recent peak owes something to the publication of second quarter gross domestic product data, but the trend is still clear; there are more stories about recession now than there were at the height of the Covid lockdown in March 2020:
Put these together and you have a partial explanation. Falling bond yields are what we would expect if people are more relaxed about inflation and more concerned about a recession. And falling bond yields, in their own right, are good for stock valuations — and particularly, in recent years, for “long duration” companies whose worth is tied up far into the future. Hence, the rebound for the FANGs makes some sense.
Now we come to the problem. The Federal Reserve has made it abundantly clear this week that it doesn’t want anyone to think that it will be relenting on hiking rates any time soon. Behavior in both stock and bond markets is therefore fighting the Fed, which the oldest trading cliche in the book tells traders they must never do.
Tantrums
There’s also a collective action problem. The Fed can raise the rates that it directly controls; but it also needs broader financial conditions to tighten. If the bond market does not oblige, then the chances rise that the Fed has to push harder, risking a financial accident in the process. The contrast with the last time it tried to change market rate expectations this dramatically is instructive. The 2013 “Taper Tantrum,” when the Fed under Ben Bernanke started to try to ease the market off infinite doses of quantitative-easing asset purchases, was startlingly similar to the way the bond market behaved this year. Here is how the 10-year real yield (a measure that truly captures whether financial conditions are tight) moved from the beginning of 2013 and from the beginning of 2022:
At this point in proceedings in 2013, real yields were leveling off. That was in part because the Bernanke Fed didn’t want them to rise too far, and even postponed the start of its tapering from September to December to help the market calm down. This time around, the Fed isn’t so squeamish and wants real yields to keep rising. Unlike in 2013, it’s already hiked rates several times and is actively shrinking its balance sheet. The fact that traders came within a couple of basis points of taking the real yield negative at the end of last week, then, is bizarre. Even during the tantrum, there was no big market rethink and turn of direction like this. So the bond market seems extravagantly confident that it can fight the Fed, and is behaving very differently from the last time the central bank administered such a shock.
Dumb Money
Then there’s the issue of stock traders’ psychology. Lower bond yields, viewed in isolation, are good for stocks. The recession that prompts them, however, is likely to be really bad for share prices. How can stocks possibly be back in a bull market (even if via a dodgy definition) when sentiment has turned so negative about the economy?
That suggests an alternative explanation: It’s traders who’ve lost their heads. And that’s what at least one sentiment indicator is saying. “Dumb Money Confidence,” a creation of SentimenTrader, is an aggregate of indicators that follow “dumb money” trades in the opening minutes of a session. It’s distinct from the “smart money” that waits until stocks have priced in the day’s news and places trades in the closing minutes. SentimenTrader has been computing the measure since 1998, and it works as a rough index of trend-followers’ exposure to stocks.Dumb money traders are traditionally heavily long near market peaks and short near market troughs. Thus, it’s concerning that the indicator has climbed above 60% for the first time in months after a historic stretch of deep pessimism, as this tends to be a critical threshold. According to SentimenTrader’s Chief Research Officer Jason Goepfert:
“This threshold generally serves as a good delineator between healthy and unhealthy markets. During persistent bull markets, the model consistently levitates above 60%. When it stays below 60% consistently, sentiment is poor and periods of recovery tend to bring in sellers.”
The chart above shows that Dumb Money Confidence loosely tracks the S&P 500. When the market is going well, the dumb money gets more bullish and vice versa. The last couple of times it significantly rose, it quickly peaked and equities turned as well. That implies that the next down leg is imminent. So far this year, as the chart below shows, Dumb Money Confidence has continued to tend to chase the S&P, and the 60% barrier has twice acted as a point at which the market turns down (bringing traders’ confidence with it):
What does this tell us? And will it happen again? For Goepfert, a recovery in sentiment is typically a good thing, except during a bear market:
“If we look only at recoveries in bear markets, it’s clear that further gains tend to be muted. Almost by definition, forward returns will be weak, and this is only backward-looking. We don’t know ahead of time whether it will be a bear market signal or a new bull market one.”
In other words, the key question is whether the bear market is really over. If it isn’t, then we’re approaching the end of this rally. And if it really is, there is much, much further to go. A few more trading sessions of rising dumb sentiment and rising share prices would begin to build momentum that would be hard to stop.
All of this is about sentiment. At some point, it could founder on cold economic reality. Quite apart from betting against the Fed doing what it says it will do, and making it harder for the Fed to tighten financial conditions, the dumb money is making a courageous wager on a soft landing. It’s hard to see any other way that rates and inflation will come down swiftly without inflicting any damage on the stock market. Soft landings are difficult, particularly in the current atmospheric conditions.
Some Actual Good News
There are, it is true, some new data that suggest it could happen. This week’s ISM surveys of supply managers in both manufacturing and services for the US show very sharp drops in the prices that managers said they were having to pay. However, the overall level of activity they reported remained robust. So that one data point, at least, suggests that the US economy is at this moment on course for a soft landing:
So, yes, a soft landing could happen. But it would do so amid a wave of fear about a recession, and at a point when sentiment in the equity market seems to have turned infeasibly positive. And the frustrating part, emphasized by Goepfert of SentimenTrader, is that there isn’t much we can do with this data for now except to wait:
“It’s not clear at the time of the recovery in sentiment whether it might present us with a good opportunity to buy or sell... This is more of an attitudinal check. Sentiment has moved out of a pessimistic extreme, and during bear markets, it doesn’t usually get a chance to recover much more before sellers sense an opportunity. During bull markets, those sellers usually get rolled right over. Whichever behavior we see in the weeks and months ahead will determine whether long-term investors would best be served by adding more exposure.”
The odds remain that this is a bear market rally, because the economic situation remains stacked against equity bulls. But we can’t be certain, and that’s infuriating. The best strategy for now is probably to stick with balanced asset allocation, and with decent high-quality stocks. If the bulls win the day, then the dumb money crowd will do better than this, but you’ll still be fine.
—With assistance by Isabelle Lee
Survival Tips
OK, women’s sports. They’re really good. We’re used to women in tennis. Try this Martina Navratilova vs Steffi Graff semifinal at the US Open from 1991, or this semifinal from 2000, pitting Martina Hingis against Venus Williams, which I was lucky enough to see live — it’s competition at its greatest. And we’re also used to women in gymnastics; nothing will ever top the perfection of Nadia Comaneci. But it’s even more fun to see women playing sports that men are accustomed to reserve for themselves.
England is still excited by the Lionesses’ victory over Germany (of course) to win the women’s European Championship of soccer last week, although the quarterfinal against Spain was better (and won with a great goal), while this goal in the semifinal against Sweden was ridiculous. There’s something very liberating about watching women celebrate, free from the testosterone that can mar the festivities when men are victorious; when England’s women interrupted a press conference it was delightful, but I’m not sure it would have come off the same way if the men’s team tried it. The USA has been into women’s soccer at least since the 1999 World Cup, which also ended with a famous celebration involving a sports bra.
Now to admit some bias. The minor league men’s football club that has its ground next to my old high school really discovered something when it decided to pay its women’s team the same total wages as the men. That bought them a team that was capable of beating Liverpool, and hammering others. And when women play rugby, it’s great to watch, too. Particularly when your daughter’s on the team and they win the championship. It’s empowering to behold. And is it really so much less entertaining when played by women rather than muscle-bound men?
More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:
• Pelosi Has Nailed the Optics of Her Taiwan Trip: Matthew Brooker
• Corporate Bond Market Didn’t Get the Recession Memo: Jonathan Levin
• The Fatal Flaw in Your Target Date Fund: Allison Schrager
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
John Authers is a senior editor for markets and Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former chief markets commentator and editor of the Lex column at the Financial Times, he is author of “The Fearful Rise of Markets.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion
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Business What's next for Twitter now that Elon Musk has taken over Published October 28, 2022 at 7:18 AM EDT Twitter LinkedIn Email Listen • 7:39 NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with St. John's University law professor Kate Klonick about Elon Musk's purchase of one of the world's most important platforms for political speech. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wvasfm.org/business/business/2022-10-28/whats-next-for-twitter-now-that-elon-musk-has-taken-over | 2022-10-28 11:50:05 | 1 | https://www.wvasfm.org/business/business/2022-10-28/whats-next-for-twitter-now-that-elon-musk-has-taken-over |
1st missile strike at aerial object over Lake Huron missed
BRUSSELS (AP) — The chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs said Tuesday that the first U.S. missile fired at an unidentified object over Lake Huron missed the second target and “landed harmlessly” in the water, but that the second one successfully hit.
The acknowledgment by Gen. Mark Milley of the errant strike comes amid questions about whether the shootdown of aerial objects that military officials say didn’t pose a threat is creating unnecessary risk.
The object taken down Sunday was the third in as many days to be shot from the skies. The White House has said the objects differed in size and maneuverability from a Chinese surveillance balloon that U.S. fighter jets shot down earlier this month, but that their altitude was low enough to pose a risk to civilian air space.
Milley said the Pentagon works to make sure that the air space is clear, and to evaluate the potential debris field, before embarking on such a strike.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wagmtv.com/2023/02/14/1st-missile-strike-aerial-object-over-lake-huron-missed/ | 2023-02-14 15:50:19 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/2023/02/14/1st-missile-strike-aerial-object-over-lake-huron-missed/ |
Further broadens the company's trusted outsourced offerings to the front office
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon (NYSE: BK) announced today a new outsourced trading offering for buy-side institutions globally, including asset managers and asset owners. The offering by BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC will be powered by xBK, the buy-side trading division that executes more than $1 trillion in volumes on average annually for the company's Investment Management franchise (one of the world's largest asset managers1). This comprehensive, global multi-asset trading service will give clients significant opportunities for operational and strategic efficiencies, savings and expansion.
The outsourced trading offering can help clients to:
- Reduce spending on data, trading infrastructure, analytics and reporting, and all associated trade execution support functions
- Efficiently expand into new asset classes and regions leveraging our economies of scale
- Improve trading outcomes through automation, innovation, and a systematic workflow
- Access BNY Mellon's portfolio of services across front, middle and back-office functions
- Refocus investments toward core competencies and alpha generating activities
Adam Vos, CEO of BNY Mellon Markets & Execution Services, said: "We are committed to supporting the buy-side as they position themselves for long-term growth and competitiveness. By leveraging the full scale of the BNY Mellon enterprise, combined with our expertise in trading, we are uniquely positioned to provide a high-quality outsourced trading offering to our clients worldwide."
Fueled by substantial investments across technology, data science and quantitative modelling, the company plans to offer external clients a range of services, including:
- Coverage of all major asset classes, with the ability to transact across most global markets
- Significant expertise in supporting complex workflows of more than 150 investment products across equity, fixed income, and global asset allocation strategies
- Data science capabilities which utilize quantitative insights to fine-tune execution strategies, reduce transaction costs and execute trades within a risk-controlled framework
Dragan Skoko, Head of Outsourced Trading & xBK, BNY Mellon, said: "The asset management industry is at a critical inflection point as it continues to address fee pressures, higher operating costs, increased trading complexity and heightened regulatory requirements. Against this backdrop, we have expanded access to our deep execution expertise and invested heavily to build a cutting-edge technology stack. We are ready to meet our clients wherever they are along their journey to reduce costs, enter new markets faster or expand their investment product line-up."
To learn more about the outsourced trading offering from BNY Mellon, visit: https://www.bnymellon.com/us/en/solutions/capital-markets-liquidity-financing/execution-services.html
About BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment and wealth management and investment services in 35 countries. As of Dec. 31, 2022, BNY Mellon had $44.3 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.8 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.
Media Contact:
Ryan Wells
ryanw@bnymellon.com
+1 212 298 1249
Disclaimer
Outsourced Trading is offered in the US and select countries in EMEA where permitted by local law through BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC. Not all products and services are offered in all countries. BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC ("Capital Markets") is a full-service registered broker-dealer and an indirect wholly owned non-bank subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation ("BNY Mellon"). BNY Mellon and its affiliates lend and provide other products and services to issuers and others and provide and receive related fees and compensation. Capital Markets is a member of FINRA and SIPC, which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). Explanatory brochure available upon request or at www.sipc.org. SIPC does not protect against loss due to market fluctuation. SIPC protection is not the same as, and should not be confused with, FDIC insurance. This material is for reference purposes only and not intended to be a recommendation with respect to, or solicitation or offer to buy or sell, any particular financial instrument, including but not limited to BNY Mellon stock, or to participate in any particular trading strategy and is not tax, legal, investment or accounting advice. Nor is it an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation would be illegal. Capital Markets does not make representations as to the actual value to be received in connection with a transaction. Although information is from sources believed reliable, there is no undertaking as to accuracy and opinions and information contained herein are subject to change without notice. Difficulties in the mortgage and broader credit markets have led to a substantial decrease in the availability of credit. The extent and duration of any future continued weakening of U.S. and global credit and financial markets, higher costs of borrowing, and disruptions in debt and equity markets potentially make it more difficult to liquidate an investment, or determine the impact, if any, on the performance and prospects of particular issuers or securities. A client should not enter into any transactions unless it has fully understood all risks and that not all investments will be suitable, and has independently determined that such transactions are appropriate, for the client. Prices may fluctuate and it is possible that such fluctuations may be substantial in response to many factors including, without limitation, general market and market sector conditions, U.S. and global, in addition to company specific conditions. Past performance is not a guide to future performance of any instrument, transaction or financial structure, and a loss of original capital may occur. UK Financial Promotion Disclosure: This communication is being issued by BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC to, and/or is directed at, persons to whom it may lawfully be issued or directed at under the United Kingdom ("UK") Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "FPO") including persons who are authorised ("authorised persons") under the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Act (the "Act") and certain persons having professional experience in matters relating to investments. The products/services referenced in this communication are only available to such persons in the UK and this communication must not be relied or acted upon by any other persons in the UK. BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC is not an "authorised person" in the UK under the Act. Please note that the individual with whom you are communicating, has the authority to issue communications on behalf of more than one entity within The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation group of entities, and may not be employed by BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC. Please consult an authorised person if in doubt. The communication is not covered by UK regulatory regime protections. This communication is exempt from the general restriction in Section 21 of the Act on the communication of invitations or inducements to engage in investment activity on the grounds that it is being issued to and/or directed at only the types of person referred to above. The content of this communication has not been approved by an authorised person and such approval is, save where this communication is directed at or issued to the types of person referred to above, required by Section 21 of the Act. Fixed Income Securities. Fixed income investments, including municipal bonds, are subject to various risks including changes in interest rates, call features, credit quality, possible default, difficulty in market valuations, liquidity, prepayments, early redemption, tax ramifications, inflation and other factors. Equity Securities. Prices may fluctuate and it is possible that such fluctuations may be substantial in response to many factors including, without limitation, general market and market sector conditions, U.S. and global, in addition to company specific conditions. Dividends are not guaranteed and are subject to change or elimination. Derivatives Disclosure: Where distribution of material is subject to the rules of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "CFTC"), it shall be considered a "solicitation" of derivatives business generally, as such term is used within CFTC Rule 1.71 and 23.605, pursuant to the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act. Options. Options carry a high level of risk and are not suitable for all investors. An option holder may lose the entire amount paid for the option in a relatively short period of time and an options writer may incur significant loss if the price of the underlying interest declines. No Tax, Legal or Accounting Advice. Capital Markets does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should independently and carefully consider whether any information or investment instruments are suitable for your particular investment objectives and financial position and, if you believe it appropriate, seek professional advice, including tax, legal and accounting advice. Past performance is not indicative of nor a guarantee of future performance and a loss of original capital may occur. You should not enter into any transactions unless you have fully understood all risks, that not all investments will be suitable, and you have independently determined that such transactions are appropriate, for you. Investing in securities involves risk, including loss of the principal amount invested. Additional information is provided on FINRA's Web site at https://www.finra.org/investors/learn-to-invest/key-investing-concepts/evaluating-investment-performance. BNY Mellon (including its broker-dealer affiliates) may have long or short positions in any currency, derivative or instrument discussed herein. BNY Mellon has included data in this material from information generally available to the public from sources believed to be reliable. Any price or other data used for illustrative purposes may not reflect actual current conditions. No representations or warranties are made, and BNY Mellon assumes no liability, as to the suitability of any products and services described herein for any particular purpose or the accuracy or completeness of any information or data contained in this material. Price and other data are subject to change at any time without notice. ©2023 BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC. All rights reserved. Trademarks, service marks and logos are the property of their respective owners. Securities Products: Not FDIC-Insured – Subject to Loss in Value – Not a Deposit of or Guaranteed by a Bank or any Bank Affiliate.
1 https://www.pionline.com/largest-money-managers/2022
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ATLANTA, Feb. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) today provided an update on environmental monitoring and community assistance for the Village of East Palestine, Ohio. To date, Norfolk Southern has:
- Completed nearly 500 in-home air tests in conjunction with the U.S. EPA and other governmental agencies. In-home air monitoring has not detected substances related to the incident and does not indicate health risks.
- Removed 3,150 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the incident area.
- Removed 942,000 gallons of contaminants and contaminated liquid from the immediate site.
Further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that their test results from the village's municipal well sampling show no water quality concerns. Additionally, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's office reaffirmed that municipal water is safe to consume. Norfolk Southern continues to partner with the Ohio and U.S. EPAs to conduct air and water testing. Norfolk Southern has also:
- Implemented an extensive outdoor air monitoring program in the community. Thousands of data points have been collected, which continue to indicate no risk to health from incident-related substances. Air monitoring is also being conducted in the broader region outside of the Village of East Palestine.
- Actively sampling the Village of East Palestine's drinking water supply wells, drinking water system, and private wells in areas potentially impacted by the incident. Completed tests have confirmed that water is safe to drink.
Residents who want air and water testing should contact the Residential Re-Entry Request Hotline at (330) 849-3919. If residents have further questions or concerns, they may call the CTEH Taggart Road Hotline at (234) 542-6474 to speak with a toxicologist.
Today, Norfolk Southern's President and CEO Alan H. Shaw released an open letter to the village's residents where he stated, "…we are here and will stay here for as long as it takes to ensure your safety and to help East Palestine recover and thrive." The letter follows continued direct engagement with the community, including:
- Distributing over $1.7 million in direct financial assistance to more than 1,100 families and a number of businesses to cover costs related to the evacuation. Those include reimbursements and cash advancements for lodging, travel, food, clothes, and other related items.
- Establishing a $1 million fund available immediately to the community.
- Reimbursing the East Palestine Fire Department $220,000 to replace Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) air packs, which allow firefighters to breathe compressed air when responding to fires.
- Providing more than 100 air purifiers for residents to use in their homes. Air purifiers are also being purchased for the East Palestine municipal building in coordination with the City Manager.
Those in need of assistance should visit the Norfolk Southern Family Assistance Center at Abundant Life Church located 46469 State Route 46, New Waterford, Ohio, or call 1-800-230-7049.
About Norfolk Southern
Since 1827, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) and its predecessor companies have moved the goods and materials that drive the U.S. economy. Today, it operates a customer-centric and operations-driven freight transportation network. Committed to furthering sustainability, Norfolk Southern helps its customers avoid 15 million tons of yearly carbon emissions by shipping via rail. Its dedicated team members deliver more than 7 million carloads annually, from agriculture to consumer goods, and is the largest rail shipper of auto products and metals in North America. Norfolk Southern also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S., serving a majority of the country's population and manufacturing base, with connections to every major container port on the Atlantic coast as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes. Learn more by visiting www.NorfolkSouthern.com.
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SOURCE Norfolk Southern Corporation | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/02/16/east-palestine-community-update-environmental-monitoring-assistance-feb-16/ | 2023-02-17 01:23:14 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/02/16/east-palestine-community-update-environmental-monitoring-assistance-feb-16/ |
Five-year-old Levi Tassen meets Mr. Red as the Cincinnati Reds Caravan makes a stop at the Huntington Mall on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in Barboursville.
Nine-year-old Hayden Bowen asks Cincinnati Reds players a queison as the Reds Caravan makes a stop at the Huntington Mall on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in Barboursville.
Cincinnati Reds Vice President and assistant general manager Nick Krall talks with media as the Cincinnati Reds Caravan makes a stop at the Huntington Mall on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in Barboursville.
Five-year-old Levi Tassen meets Mr. Red as the Cincinnati Reds Caravan makes a stop at the Huntington Mall on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in Barboursville.
Nine-year-old Hayden Bowen asks Cincinnati Reds players a queison as the Reds Caravan makes a stop at the Huntington Mall on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in Barboursville.
Cincinnati Reds Vice President and assistant general manager Nick Krall talks with media as the Cincinnati Reds Caravan makes a stop at the Huntington Mall on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in Barboursville.
BARBOURSVILLE -- About 500 fans attended the Cincinnati Reds Winter Caravan stop Thursday at the Huntington Mall.
Several said it was the smallest crowd for the annual event they've ever seen. That the visitation of Reds players and front office officials was mid-week rather than on a weekend might have had something to do with the low turnout, as could have the snowy, windy weather.
That the team is coming off a 60-102 record and ownership has rankled fans likely was a greater factor.
"We're trying to win," Reds general manager Nick Krall said. "We're not trying to compete. I hate that word. To compete means you're just good enough to lose. We don't want to be competitive, we want to win."
Krall said the Reds' method of building a winner differs from some other teams. Cincinnati's payroll figures to be about $70 million this season. The New York Mets' is more than $287 million. The league average is about $140,000.
"We're building a strong base," Krall said. "The core of what we're doing is scouting and player development. We have a solid group of guys on our big league club and in our minor league system. We have to build sustainability to have success."
Reds president Phil Castellini asked on opening day last season, "Where are you going to go?" when asked about the club's futility. The rhetorical question angered fans who stayed away from the ballpark last season.
The Reds drew 1,395,770 spectators in 2022, more than 400,000 fewer than in pre-COVID 2019 and their lowest attendance in 38 years.
Krall said the team's 6-23 start to last season hurt attendance, but that the team improved as the season progressed. He said he expects a better beginning this season.
"I'm excited about our young starters," Krall said. "Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft, I'm excited about. Our bullpen was solid in the second half. Having (second baseman) Jonathan India and (catcher) Tyler Stephenson healthy will help us."
Krall said the team is "pretty much" done with player acquisitions heading into spring training in three weeks. Cincinnati's biggest offseason moves were signing free agent outfielder Wil Myers, catcher Curt Casali and pitcher Luke Weaver.
Outfielder T.J. Friedl, who joined minor leaguers Casey Legumina and Nick Northcut on the caravan, said he's optimistic about the 2023 season. He said he's enjoyed meeting longtime Reds fans, many who remember the franchise as a powerhouse that won world championships in 1975, 1976 and 1990.
"I'm excited about how young our team is," Friedl said. "We have a bunch of young guys who are hungry, who want to prove themselves and solidify themselves at the major league level, mixed with a future Hall-of-Famer in Joey Votto and a guy like Wil Myers. We want to pick their brains and implement it into our game."
Fans posed for photos, asked questions and acquired autographs from the caravan participants. How many will show up at Great American Ball Park is to be seen.
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CANONSBURG, Pa., July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CONSOL Energy has been nationally recognized for its transparency in communicating about corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The company is a finalist in Ragan's CSR & Diversity Awards for its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) campaign for "Trust and Transparency in Communications."
"There are preconceived notions about our industry, and they couldn't be more wrong. To be recognized for the transparency and trustworthiness of our Environmental and Social Governance messaging is an honor. Our commitment to reimagining this industry has been at the forefront of our corporate strategy and communications," said Jimmy Brock, president and CEO of CONSOL Energy. "Now, more than ever, we are focused on sustainably leading the transformation of a mature industry that still holds high potential to benefit society going forward."
Ragan Communications, a leading voice in internal and external organizational communications for more than 50 years, honors communications professionals and campaigns that have a commitment to improving their communities in the annual CSR & Diversity Awards. The awards recognize companies across the country that use communications efforts to keep employees involved and engaged and take the charge on diversity, organizational transparency and social good.
CONSOL is being honored for a body of work including its employee communications video deployed during the annual fire safety training, the educational and community outreach work of its philanthropic arm, the CONSOL Cares Foundation, and its social media campaigns focusing on the company's ESG goals and partnerships, positive environmental impacts, ethical goals and human rights policy.
CONSOL will be among dozens of elite companies across the nation recognized at a special event on July 14 at the Yale Club in New York City. Ragan will announce the category winner at that time.
For more information on CONSOL Energy, visit www.consolenergy.com.
CONTACT: Erica Fisher: EricaFisher@consolenergy.com
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SOURCE CONSOL Energy | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2022/07/12/consol-energy-named-finalist-ragan-csr-amp-diversity-awards/ | 2022-07-12 20:44:52 | 1 | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2022/07/12/consol-energy-named-finalist-ragan-csr-amp-diversity-awards/ |
A hearing is underway to consider whether the Amazon Labor Union's historic union victory on Staten Island should stand — or whether a re-do election is warranted.
This spring, workers at the largest Amazon warehouse on Staten Island, employing more than 8,000 workers, voted 2,654 to 2,131 to join the Amazon Labor Union, a scrappy, grassroots organization founded by current and former Amazon warehouse workers.
Just a week after ballots were tallied on April 1, Amazon filed 25 objections to the election. Among its complaints, the company says the National Labor Relations Board's regional office in Brooklyn, which oversaw the election, favored the union and facilitated its victory.
The company also raised objections to some of the Amazon Labor Union's actions, charging that organizers harassed and threatened employees who weren't supporting the union, including suggesting they may lose their benefits if they didn't back the union. Amazon also charges that union organizers handed out marijuana to workers in return for their support. In fact, union leaders have spoken openly about providing workers with marijuana, but not as a bribe.
Because the NLRB regional office in Brooklyn was named in Amazon's filing, the case was moved out of the region per standard protocol. The NLRB says its regional office in Phoenix was chosen because it had capacity to take the case on. The hearing is expected to last several days and is being live-streamed on Zoom.
Amazon is asking the NLRB for a do-over election, calling the actions of the NLRB's Brooklyn office and the Amazon Labor Union "substantially more egregious than the installation of a mailbox," referring to events in the Amazon union saga in Bessemer, Alabama.
In that election, held in early 2021, warehouse workers voted by more than 2 to 1 against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, but those results were thrown out and a new election was ordered after the NLRB found that Amazon had improperly interfered in the election by having a mailbox installed outside the warehouse.
A do-over election at the Bessemer warehouse took place earlier this year, but the results were too close to call. Both sides — Amazon and the union — have filed objections to that election.
In late April, the Amazon Labor Union lost its second union election on Staten Island, but vowed to continue its push to unionize warehouse workers across the country.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2022-06-13/amazon-seeks-to-overturn-historic-staten-island-union-victory-at-labor-hearing | 2022-06-13 17:23:42 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2022-06-13/amazon-seeks-to-overturn-historic-staten-island-union-victory-at-labor-hearing |
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (PFLT) on Wednesday reported a loss of $1.6 million in its fiscal first quarter.
On a per-share basis, the Miami Beach, Florida-based company said it had a loss of 4 cents. Earnings, adjusted for investment costs, came to 30 cents per share.
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The investment company posted revenue of $31.3 million in the period.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PFLT at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PFLT | https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/pennantpark-fiscal-q1-earnings-snapshot-17772464.php | 2023-02-08 22:14:35 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/pennantpark-fiscal-q1-earnings-snapshot-17772464.php |
Let your pet inspire you in 2023! That's our topic today with DR. MAR DOERING, DVM, All Paws Medical and Behavioral Center. Dr. Doering says those exercise goals you set? Include your pet! That 'new adventures' resolution? Include your pet! Want to live in the moment? Include your pet! January 20, 2023 | https://www.kbia.org/september-2022-august-2023/2023-01-20/paul-pepper-mar-doering-dvm-all-paws-medical-and-behavioral-center-inspiring-pets | 2023-01-20 15:44:16 | 1 | https://www.kbia.org/september-2022-august-2023/2023-01-20/paul-pepper-mar-doering-dvm-all-paws-medical-and-behavioral-center-inspiring-pets |
DETROIT (AP) — Arizona rookie Corbin Carroll hit his first grand slam in a seven-run seventh inning for his second homer of the night and the Arizona Diamondbacks handed the Detroit Tigers their seventh straight loss, 11-6 on Friday.
Carroll also doubled in the ninth. On Wednesday night in a 6-2 victory in Washington in NL West-leading Arizona’s previous game, the speedy outfielder was 4 for 5 with a homer and two RBIs. He’s hitting .307.
“It seems like he’s picking up firsts every night, and we’re enjoying getting to watch,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He believes he’s going to be successful and he doesn’t care what stadium, what pitcher and what team we’re playing against. He’s just playing his game and it has translated into some big moments.”
Carroll is the first Arizona rookie with 10 total bases since A.J. Pollock on April 10, 2013.
“I can’t say I woke up this morning expecting this,” Carroll said.
Merrill Kelly (8-3) improved to 7-0 in his last six starts, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five.
Jake Rogers homered twice for Detroit, and Javier Báez homered in the ninth.
“We did some good things late in the game, and it was good to see Jake and Javy get those homers,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s hard to take many positives out of an 11-6 game, though.”
The game was tied at 2 after six innings, with Carroll’s grand slam capping the seven-run seventh.
Christian Walker and Emmanuel Rivera led off the seventh with doubles, giving Arizona a 3-2 lead. After a sacrifice bunt, Jake McCarthy punched a single over the drawn-in infield to put make it 4-2.
“(Rivera) is a young guy making the most of his opportunity,” Lovullo said. “That double was really the game-winning RBI and then he scored the fourth run to give us some momentum.”
Arizona loaded the bases with two out, and Will Vest walked Ketel Marte to force in the fifth run. Carroll then hit a 2-2 fastball down the left-field line for his 13th homer to give Arizona a 9-2 lead.
“I was late on a couple pitches, but I was able to foul them off,” he said. “I finally got one I could hit, but I lost it off the bat, so I was afraid it was going to go foul again.”
Michael Lorenzen (2-3) gave up six runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out three.
“Michael was really throwing the ball well, and even when they got the two doubles, we were fine,” Hinch said. “But we just couldn’t get the inning to end. They put together some good at-bats, but the walk to Marte really hurt.
“That sets up Carroll, and he’s a star in the making.”
The Diamondbacks took a 1-0 lead in the first on Carroll’s homer, and made it 2-0 on Geraldo Perdomo’s RBI single in the second.
Zack Short’s RBI double made it 2-1 in the bottom of the second, and Short’s 395-foot sacrifice fly tied it in the sixth.
“I kept running and when I checked the wall, I was nowhere near it,” McCarthy said. “This is what playing in the Polo Grounds must have been like – this is a big center field.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
The Tigers activated OF Kerry Carpenter (shoulder) from the 10-day injured list and optioned UTL Tyler Nevin to Triple-A Toledo. Carpenter, Detroit’s best power hitter, had four homers in 69 at-bats before his injury on April 27. … Detroit OF Akil Baddoo left the game with a right quadriceps injury trying to beat out a groundball in the fourth. Hinch said Baddoo was undergoing tests after the game.
TOUGH GAME
Rogers was called for catcher’s interference twice, the second one wiping out a Detroit double play.
“We thought the first one was going to be overturned, but it looks like the bat might have hit the strings,” Hinch said. “Obviously, getting two in a game is unusual.”
AIR QUALITY
Detroit has also been dealing with smoke issues because of the Canadian wildfires, and the Air Quality Index (AQI) was at 129 — unhealthy for sensitive groups — at the first pitch.
UP NEXT
The teams are set to Saturday, with Detroit’s Matthew Boyd (3-4, 4.57) facing Ryne Nelson (2-3, 5.40).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://who13.com/sports/ap-sports/rookie-star-corbin-carroll-hits-1st-grand-slam-diamondbacks-pound-tigers-11-6/ | 2023-06-10 17:35:24 | 0 | https://who13.com/sports/ap-sports/rookie-star-corbin-carroll-hits-1st-grand-slam-diamondbacks-pound-tigers-11-6/ |
Combined Entity Provides Scale Across Core Northern Markets Minnesota/Wisconsin
CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LRS, one of the nation's leading independent waste, recycling and portable services providers, today announced its acquisition of J&J Rubbish Service Inc., a family-owned business since 1968, which has served as the marketplace leader across Winona, Minnesota.
This investment adds 15,000 residential and 1,000 commercial customers to LRS' growing footprint across the Midwest, including the bridging of LRS' Minnesota and Wisconsin operations, allowing for further density within its core marketplace. All J&J employees will continue forward with LRS as the company continues its commitment to bring all customers the excellent service that has set it apart in the industry across generations of Serva-Patzner family ownership.
LRS first entered the Winona marketplace in 2022 through the acquisition of Matejka Recycling, the leading waste and recycling transfer station in the area. Now, LRS sees the opportunity to bring additional value to the community by entering the collections market with long-standing J&J Rubbish. This acquisition further highlights the LRS mission of building an industry-leading waste and recycling platform fueled by grassroots origins and a commitment to innovative services across the greater Midwest.
LRS President and CEO, Alan T. Handley, highlighted the core motivation behind this acquisition, "As LRS works to scale our operations across the Midwest, we continue to enrich the DNA of our company with what helped propel us to this point - an entrepreneurial spirit, best-in-class talent and a relentless focus on customer service excellence in every community we serve. J&J Rubbish has embodied each of our core values through their 55 years in business across four generations. We welcome the J&J team, customers and communities to the LRS family and look forward to carrying their legacy forward."
J&J Rubbish President, Karla Serva-Patzner, added, "On behalf of our family, announcing the sale of our long-standing business and family legacy is bittersweet. It's truly been a privilege to serve the families, businesses and communities of Winona County for the last 50+ years. I know the LRS team well, and the communities we serve can expect the same dedication to all customers and employees that they've known with us. The J&J team is thrilled to continue forward with LRS and looks forward to the opportunities ahead."
This news follows on the heels of the LRS January 9 announcement of its largest acquisitions to date: Michigan-based Michiana Recycling & Disposal and Modern Waste Systems. These cornerstone pieces of news kick off 2023, LRS' 10-year anniversary.
About LRS
LRS is North America's fifth largest privately-held waste and recycling company. Since 2013, LRS has specialized in providing comprehensive, fully integrated waste diversion and recycling services for millions of residential and commercial customers across ten states: Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. Diversified and growing exponentially, LRS also offers affordable roll-off container services, C&D recycling, portable restroom rentals, municipal and commercial street sweeping, mulch distribution, on-site storage and temporary fencing.
LRS owns and operates 88 facilities, safely deploys a fleet of fuel-efficient trucks and thrives on the passion of 2,700 full-time employees. The company processes more than 3.8 million tons of waste each year, providing safe, innovative, sustainability-driven services to clean and beautify the cities, neighborhoods and communities it serves. To learn more, visit www.LRSrecycles.com.
Contacts:
SVP, Sales & Marketing - Emily Olson-Torch, EOlson-Torch@LRSrecycles.com
Director of M&A - Ryan McGuire RMcguire@LRSrecycles.com
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SOURCE LRS | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2023/01/24/waste-recycling-leader-lrs-announces-highly-strategic-acquisition-jampj-rubbish-service-inc/ | 2023-01-24 17:28:33 | 1 | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2023/01/24/waste-recycling-leader-lrs-announces-highly-strategic-acquisition-jampj-rubbish-service-inc/ |
The 24/7 Automated Pizzeria Concept Expands to University of New Orleans, LSU Medical Center, and New Orleans VA Medical Center
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PizzaForno, one of North America's only automated pizzerias that bakes artisanal pizzas in less than three minutes, has announced its expansion to New Orleans with fully-operational locations at University of New Orleans (2101 Leon C Simon Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70122), LSU Medical Center (433 Bolivar St 3rd Floor Nola, LA 70112), and New Orleans VA Medical Center (2400 Canal St, New Orleans, LA 70119).
Accessible 24/7 at the tap of a digital screen, this revolutionary brand with exclusive distribution rights offers a selection of innovative menu options, each made with top quality ingredients.
With their first grand opening event set for Thursday, September 29th on the campus of University of New Orleans, serial entrepreneurs Miller Engelhardt, Andrew Herrington, and Robert Laurent will be expanding development across the South, and will be seeking spirited entrepreneurs looking to build their portfolios and add on a substantial income to their existing businesses.
"PizzaForno units are designed to fit perfectly in prime high-foot traffic areas, maximizing use of space with only 65 square feet and zero on-site labor," stated master licensee, Miller Engelhardt. "As we continue to bring the future of pizza to New Orleans and expand across the state of Louisiana, potential licensees now have the chance to be one of the first to break into the registered U.S. markets."
Kicking off the 'Pizza with a Purpose' initiative in New Orleans, the local entrepreneurs will donate a percentage of sales one day a week, from each location indefinitely, to Team Fleur de Que and Hogs for The Cause, an organization that works with hospitals nationwide to create partnerships, funds and housing to mitigate financial burdens for all pediatric brain cancer diagnoses. All three of the licensees have been on the fundraising Team Fleur de Que for the last 8 years. As Herrington's nephew passed away last year from pediatric brain cancer, Hogs for the Cause has special significance for the three founders.
'Pizza with a Purpose,' is the foundation for how PizzaForno selects licensees to join in on the development of their "Pizzaruption." In addition to staying focused on purpose driven initiatives, they work with each of their local owners to identify opportunities to help support non-profit organizations within their community.
PizzaForno not only offers a high ROI but has the ability to operate 24/7 with zero on-site labor costs, limited waste and gives the option for licensees to scale quickly. Unlike most on-the-go pizza options loaded with added preservatives, PizzaForno has selected healthy, natural ingredients to deliver on quality and consistency to scale the business.
As volume demands, each unit can hold up to 70 fully prepared pre-boxed pizzas made fresh in the U.S. and replenished frequently. As soon as the customer selects their preferred menu item, the state-of-the-art oven gives the customer the option to Take-n-Bake or bake the 12" premium artisan pizza in under three minutes.
"Not only does the pizza taste great, but it comes with a healthy crust made from a pinsa flour-amaranth, rice, and a spelt combination. It also has 14 grams of protein," said Engelhardt.
Now fully-operational on a total of 4 college campuses in the United States, PizzaForno is catching the eyes of investors who want to be a part of disrupting the pizza industry as we know it. "Taking QSR to the next level, there is endless growth potential with public access points in heavy pedestrian areas and private units in dorms, hospitals, and apartment complexes," stated Les Tomlin, Co-Founder and President of PizzaForno.
To learn more about PizzaForno and their licensing opportunities, visit https://www.pizzaforno.com/become-a-licensee/.
ABOUT PIZZAFORNO
Founded in 2018 by Canadian entrepreneurs William Moyer and Les Tomlin, PizzaForno is North America's only automated pizzeria which introduces gourmet artisanal pizzas in less than three minutes. Accessible 24/7 at the tap of a digital screen, PizzaForno offers a selection of innovative menu options, each made with high quality ingredients, with an authentic approach. Utilizing technology made popular in France by ADIAL, PizzaForno has built their brand on a proven machine with already 2,000 operating in Europe. PizzaForno currently has 51 operating locations and over 100 additional locations committed in the U.S. alone, with the first 15 U.S. locations already established in Michigan, Texas, and Louisiana. In 2020, PizzaForno was honored with the Restaurants Canada 2020 Innovation Award. To learn more about PizzaForno, visit https://www.pizzaforno.com/. To inquire about the licensee opportunity, visit https://www.pizzaforno.com/become-a-licensee/.
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SOURCE PizzaForno | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/22/pizzaforno-becomes-first-to-market-new-orleans-with-three-new-automated-pizzerias-more-come/ | 2022-09-22 20:33:44 | 0 | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/22/pizzaforno-becomes-first-to-market-new-orleans-with-three-new-automated-pizzerias-more-come/ |
Six months after she was immortalized with a U.S. quarter, Asian American Hollywood trailblazer Anna May Wong has received another accolade affirming her icon status — her own Barbie.
Mattel announced Monday the release of an Anna May Wong doll for Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month.
The figure has her trademark bangs, eyebrows and well-manicured nails. The doll is dressed in a red gown with a shiny golden dragon design and cape, inspired by her appearance in the 1934 movie “Limehouse Blues.”
Wong’s niece, Anna Wong, gave her blessing and worked closely with the brand to develop the Barbie’s look.
“I did not hesitate at all. It was such an honor and so exciting,” Wong told The Associated Press in an email. “I wanted to make sure they got her facial features and clothing correct. And they did!”
As a child, Anna Wong owned a Barbie and Skipper doll (Barbie’s little sister) and a Barbie dream house and car. She loves the idea that Asian children will now have a doll who looks like them.
The doll is part of the Barbie “Inspiring Women” series, which features dolls in the likeness of pioneering women. Past inspirations include aviator Amelia Earhart and artist Frida Kahlo.
“As the first Asian American actor to lead a U.S. television show, whose perseverance broke down barriers for her gender and AAPI community in film and TV, Anna May Wong is the perfect fit for our Barbie Inspiring Women Series,” Lisa McKnight, an executive vice president at Mattel, said in a statement.
Born in Los Angeles, the Chinese American actor is considered the first major Asian American movie star. She started out during the silent movie era in the 1920s and gained international notice in films like “The Thief of Bagdad” as well as for her fashion sense. In the ’30s, Anna May Wong was acting opposite actors like Marlene Dietrich in “Shanghai Express.” But in 1937, she lost the lead role of a Chinese villager in “The Good Earth” to Luise Rainer, a white actor who went on to win a best actress Oscar.
In the ensuing decades, Anna May Wong went to Europe to act. But she later returned to the U.S. In In 1951, she led her own television show, “The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong.” The short-lived mystery series was believed to be the first with an Asian American lead.
In another first, she was the first Asian American woman to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for acting in 1960. She died a year later at age 56. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/barbie-launches-anna-may-wong-doll-for-aapi-heritage-month/ | 2023-05-01 21:57:47 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/barbie-launches-anna-may-wong-doll-for-aapi-heritage-month/ |
Russia didn’t take US phone call after Poland missile strike
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. military officer said Wednesday that he tried to reach out to his Russian counterpart in the aftermath of the missile explosions in Poland, but wasn’t able to get through.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said his staff tried to get Russia’s top-ranking military official Gen. Valery Gerasimov on the phone to discuss the incident with “no success.”
Milley didn’t elaborate on the efforts, but the lack of communications raises concerns about high-level U.S.-Russian communications in a crisis. A strike against Poland, a NATO member, could have risked a larger conflict if it turned out that Russia had launched the strike.
The U.S. and other top leaders now say they believe the strike was probably launched by Ukrainian air defenses to defend against a Russian missile bombardment. But uncertainty swirled for hours. Several U.S. defense officials said it isn’t unusual for Gerasimov to not be available for a call.
The lack of communication is worrisome, especially given the potential implications of the strike, said John Tierney, director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington.
Open lines of communication “are vital if we are to avoid the risk of conflict caused by misconception, miscalculations or mistake,” Tierney said. “It is unsettling to learn from General Milley that his counterpart was unreachable or not willing to engage when an explosion occurred in Poland.”
Milley did talk to his military counterparts in Ukraine and Poland as the governments worked quickly to assess whether the missile that killed two people in Poland had been launched by Russia or Ukraine.
The conversation came as Milley has said that Russia’s recent defeat in the key southern city Kherson and the possible slowdown of military operations in the winter could provide an opportunity to negotiate.
“You want to negotiate at a time when you’re at your strength, and your opponent is at weakness,” Milley said at a Pentagon briefing Wednesday. “The Russian military is suffering tremendously,” he said, citing large losses of Russian tanks, fighting vehicles, fighter jets and helicopters.
If fighting slows down, Milley said that may become “a window” for talks about a political solution.
Both he and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that they expect Ukraine to keep fighting through the winter, and the U.S. and its allies will continue to provide more support and weapons. And it will be up to Ukraine to determine any negotiation plans.
“We’ve said repeatedly that the Ukrainians are going to decide that and not us. And we will support them for as long as it takes,” said Austin, who was also at the briefing.
The missile that landed in Poland Tuesday was launched during the “largest wave of missiles that we’ve seen since the beginning of the war,” Austin said. On Tuesday Russia launched as many as 100 missiles at Ukraine as Moscow intensifies its airstrikes following significant ground losses.
Milley said it’s unlikely that either side can gain a military victory quickly. He said the chance of Russia, which currently controls about 20% of Ukraine, overrunning the entire country “is close to zero.” And, he added, the “task of militarily kicking the Russians physically out of Ukraine is a very difficult task. And it’s not going to happen in the next couple of weeks unless the Russian army completely collapses, which is unlikely.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kbtx.com/2022/11/16/russia-didnt-take-us-phone-call-after-poland-missile-strike/ | 2022-11-16 22:20:23 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/2022/11/16/russia-didnt-take-us-phone-call-after-poland-missile-strike/ |
Mountaineers have long climbed atop Mount Everest, and scientists in submersibles have descended into the Antarctic Ocean. In recent decades, travelers with deep pockets and little expertise have joined these explorers or even ventured further, paying to visit the bottom of the ocean or the edge of space, touching the literal bounds of Earth. But as the deaths of five people aboard the Titan submersible make evident, there are no clear safeguards in place when something goes wrong.
The tragedy last week spotlighted the issues around rescue operations and government oversight in this new world of extreme travel — who is responsible for search and rescue, and who pays for it? Is it even possible to purchase insurance against catastrophe? It also raises questions about when risk is too great and dangers too immense for rescue.
This all comes at a time when an increasing number of thrill seekers are undertaking risky — and riskier — adventures and expeditions.
“People want these experiences, and they’re going to continue to want them and be willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money for them,” said Anthony Berklich, a travel adviser and founder of the luxury travel service Inspired Citizen.
An Adrenaline Rush With a High Price
Innovations in technology have opened up the possibilities of travel in recent years, and wealthy travelers are willing to spend more to go further, especially when it comes to space travel and underwater exploration.
“Some people like watches, other people like exploring, because that’s how they get their kicks,” said Roman Chiporukha, of Roman & Erica, a referral-based luxury lifestyle and travel firm based in New York City, and the SpaceVIP service, which connects clients to space tourism operators.
About 1 million tourists a year embark on some sort of underwater sightseeing expedition, according to Triton Submarines, a Florida-based company offering “superyacht submersibles.” (These large, ultraluxury and customizable underwater vessels reportedly cost between $2.5 million and $40 million to build and count the “Titanic” movie director, James Cameron, as an investor.)
The expeditions can range from short submarine tours, like a two-hour, $180 trip that dips 100 feet below the waves of the Hawaiian island of Maui to an overnight stay in Lovers Deep, a submarine hotel equipped with a chef and butler, which will take passengers through reefs of St. Lucia in the Caribbean for nearly $300,000 a night. The expedition on the Titan to view the Titanic was priced at $250,000 a person.
Diego Gomes, 36, a medical director from Seattle, visited Antarctica in February. He booked passage with Seabourn Cruise Line, where most cabins start at $10,000, and after reaching the Antarctic Ocean, was able to get a glimpse of the ocean floor in Seabourn’s Expedition Submarine.
The experience, Gomes said speaking before the fate of the Titan was known, went above his expectations. The public, he said, “never hears about underwater life in Antarctica, and that’s what made me sign up for it.”
Before boarding, he and other travelers were given a tour of safety features on the submarine, he said, and were in constant connection with the ship while they went 1,000 feet below.
“I felt extremely secure,” he said. “I’d do it again.”
Then there is space tourism. The sector is booming, with billionaire-led companies such as Blue Origin and SpaceX already successfully launching suborbital spaceflights. Virgin Galactic, where tickets for a suborbital spaceflight start at $450,000, said in a news release that it plans to launch its first flight this week.
“With last year’s Blue Origin and Virgin launches, and the James Webb telescope photos, there is renewed interest in space and it has become the cultural zeitgeist,” Chiporukha said. His SpaceVIP service, he said, has seen a 40% increase in inquiries this year.
And little training is required for aspiring space travelers. Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, whose passengers have included “Star Trek” television star William Shatner, says that passengers can “fully train” for the experience of blasting 62 miles above Earth in just two days.
When Things Go Wrong
For many forms of adventure travel, insurance and support systems are available. Those who wish to climb Everest can join expedition companies, hire Sherpas to guide them along the ascent and purchase travel insurance to offer various protections up to the mountain’s high altitudes.
When things go wrong, companies can often swoop in to whisk you away to a hospital or conduct a field rescue, if and when they know where you are. A helicopter can fetch you if you get frostbite while attempting a summit in the Himalayas. If you’re mired in civil unrest abroad, former Navy SEALs can come to extract you.
Nick Goracy, a spokesperson for Servius Group, a company offering private travel security on a case-by-case basis, said that fees can hover between five and six figures.
Then there are travel-assistance companies that provide yearly memberships for security needs, medical evacuations and rescue services. Covac Global offers “fully indemnified” packages for medical and security evacuation, including search and rescue, costing about $2,800, with up to $1.3 million in expenses covered, said Ross Thompson, the company’s CEO.
To date, no client has exceeded the coverage’s maximum, he said, adding that the priciest evacuation, from Indonesia to Canada, was for a traveler with a critical case of COVID-19. It cost $400,000.
In the United States, federal and state agencies, including the National Park Service, will cover the costs of search and rescue efforts, depending on where you are. For water rescues, the U.S. Coast Guard, which led the Titan rescue, is not legally allowed to charge for its operations, an agency spokesperson said.
Three countries deployed at least nine vessels and multiple aircraft and remotely operated vehicles during the vast rescue effort to save the doomed Titan submersible. Experts estimate the cost will be in the tens of millions of dollars, at least.
Thompson priced the Titan search and rescue response at around $100 million, adding that ROVs are “very expensive to operate.”
“Ultimately, taxpayers will be responsible because that is where the Coast Guard’s budget comes from,” said Mikki Hastings, president of the National Association for Search and Rescue, a nonprofit that focuses on wilderness rescues.
But most domestic search and rescue teams are volunteer organizations, said Chris Boyer, the executive director of the search and rescue association.
He underscored that the new level of extreme travel requires rethinking what rescue efforts can reasonably be made when disaster strikes.
“Can people do things like this and expect a voluntary response? Or do they expect an agency and government response?” Boyer said of space tourism particularly. “Who is going to do that and how does it work?”
Indeed, as the Titan’s doomed journey indicates, even established travel-assistance companies face limits.
“There’s nothing that you can do to help somebody that’s 15,000 feet below the surface of the ocean,” said Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue, which provides evacuation and field rescue services. “We can only do what’s humanly possible.”
In terms of insurance policies, there may be new calculations about insuring extreme risk, said Thompson of Covac Global. Old models may no longer make sense for complex rescue efforts whose costs are unprecedented. We are “a long way from anyone saying, ‘I’ll cover the dive down to the Titanic,’” Thompson said.
The Federal Aviation Administration oversees regulation of commercial space tourism and requires operators to have “insurance, or demonstrate financial responsibility to cover potential damage and injury to the public, public property, and any government personnel and property at risk from the operation,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Additional policies, such as insurance for participants climbing into capsules for travel into space, are a “matter between the operator and the participant.”
Murkiness With Oversight
Regulation for these otherworldly experiences is also lagging behind the pace of the booming market.
The FAA’s oversight of space tourism is limited to “protecting the public on the ground and others” in the country’s domestic and over-sea airspace, said the agency’s spokesperson. The FAA has no role in “regulating the safety of passengers onboard commercial space vehicles.”
And the “niche little market” of plunging to the deep sea in a submersible to see wreckage up close has little oversight, said Salvatore Mercogliano, a maritime history expert and professor at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina.
There was little to no regulation regarding the Titan’s design. Classification of submersibles is not compulsory in international waters, Mercogliano said, a loophole allowing OceanGate Expeditions to skirt this step. The Everett, Washington-based company claimed that the Titan was so advanced that certification by assessment agencies would take years, a circumstance the organization described in a 2019 blog post as “anathema to rapid innovation.” (The post has since been removed.)
Complicating the matter further, the Titan was operating in international waters, where it wasn’t subject to the jurisdiction of any one nation, Mercogliano added.
“There is no real outside agency to ensure that things like a redundant communication system was fitted, an emergency beacon to be launched if necessary,” he said.
International maritime law requires all available vessels to respond to distress calls in the sea, a regulation implemented after the Titanic sank more than a century ago and which prompted last week’s huge search-and-rescue response.
Who Should Go?
Whether last week’s ill-fated Titan expedition will lead to better oversight remains to be seen. But the incident has sparked conversations among explorers and wealthy travelers alike about who exactly should be embarking on this type of danger-filled travel.
West Hansen, a 61-year-old ultramarathon canoe racer and member of the Explorers Club, has paddled the 2,100-mile Volga River in Russia and the entire length of the Amazon River. Along with four other experienced kayakers, Hansen will embark on a journey to paddle the Northwest Passage. He believes that the tourists who are “dabbling” in areas that “explorers are just getting to see” may have a false sense of security.
The drive to explore and test limits is deeply human, Hansen added, but money does not “diminish potential danger.” | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/money-can-buy-a-visit-to-space-or-the-deep-sea-but-it-cant-guarantee-safety/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2023-06-25 23:12:04 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/money-can-buy-a-visit-to-space-or-the-deep-sea-but-it-cant-guarantee-safety/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
Census wants to know how to ask about sexuality and gender
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The 2020 census questionnaire drove Scout crazy. With no direct questions about sexual orientation and gender identity, it made him feel left out of the U.S. head count.
Among LGBTQ people, the census only asked about same-sex couples living together, and Scout didn’t live with his partner. So to compensate, he hounded his gay, cohabiting neighbors in Providence, Rhode Island to respond and provide at least some visibility for the community.
“I was stalking them to fill out the census form because mine didn’t make a difference,” said Scout, a transgender man who uses one name. “There’s no question I’m absolutely made invisible by the census.”
This could change soon. Recognizing the difficulty of persuading people to reveal information many find sensitive, the U.S. Census Bureau is requesting millions of dollars to study how best to ask about sexual orientation and gender identity. The results could provide much better data about the LGBTQ population nationwide at a time when views about sexual orientation and gender identity are evolving.
“Change is in the air,” said Kerith Conron, research director at the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, which researches these issues. “It’s exciting.”
The Census Bureau’s request comes as President Joe Biden declared June as LGBTQ “Pride Month,” and as U.S. passports now offer an “X” in addition to “M” or “F”, for non-binary or intersex individuals. It is taking place as some Republican-dominated state legislatures restrict what can be discussed about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and banned transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports.
“We are seeing that numbers matter when politicians are demeaning and conducting culture wars against people,” said Gina Duncan, a transgender woman who advocates in Orlando with Equality Florida.
As the nation’s largest statistical agency, the bureau sets an example for how other agencies and businesses ask these questions, she noted.
The most common terms used for sexual orientation are lesbian, gay, bisexual or straight. Gender norms are typically understood as male, female, both or neither.
The $10 million would be spent over several years to fund Census Bureau field tests of different wording and placement of questions that would appear on its annual American Community Survey.
The bureau is particularly interested in examining how answers are provided by “proxies” such as a parent, spouse or someone else in a household who isn’t the person about whom the question is being asked.
Other federal agencies already ask about sexual orientation, primarily in health surveys conducted by trained interviewers with respondents answering for themselves. The much more widely circulated Census Bureau surveys tend to rely on proxies more.
Wording and design matter since they can affect accuracy.
A confusing layout on the 2010 census form led some census takers to misreport the genders of opposite-sex couples, falsely inflating the number of same-sex households. Studies also have shown that some transgender people are more likely to leave gender questions blank or check both “male” and “female.”
Some respondents might not want to share such personal information, or may be unsure of how to answer. And some proxies might not know the sexual orientation and gender identity of everyone in their household. In places like New Zealand and the United Kingdom, surveys don’t allow proxy reporting for sexual orientation questions because of concerns about accuracy and confidentiality.
The federal statistical system currently is unable to provide high-quality information about sexual and gender minorities without improving and expanding data gathering on this topic, the Census Bureau said in its 2023 budget submission.
“This research can help us measure the growing and diverse LGBTQ population in the United States,” a Census Bureau statement said.
Next week, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform is discussing legislation that would require data on sexual orientation and gender identity to be collected voluntarily in federal surveys.
Federal data collection traditionally has treated sexual orientation and gender identity as binary — gay or straight, male or female — but this can mask greater complexities and wide-ranging identities, according to a report the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine and Engineering released this spring.
The once-a-decade census, the yearly American Community Survey and the annual Current Population Survey now allow same-sex couples a chance to answer if they are in a marriage or domestic partnership. But that omits LGBTQ people who are single or not living in the same household with their partner, and for the gender question, “male” and “female” are the only options.
Because the same-sex response is limited to individuals living together, it captures only a fifth of the nation’s LGBTQ population, Conron said.
Only the bureau’s online Household Pulse Survey, created at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, includes “transgender” and “none of these” alongside the “male” and “female” options. It also allows respondents to identify as gay, straight, bisexual, “something else” and “I don’t know.” However, the Household Pulse Survey is categorized as experimental and may not meet some of the bureau’s statistical quality standards.
Other nations that already ask about sexual orientation in their data collection include Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the countries of the United Kingdom.
A report from a working group of U.S. agencies recommends that sexual orientation be asked separately from gender identity and that language used for older adults be tweaked when asking teens questions, since their preferred terminologies, like “queer,” may be different. Cultural, regional and language differences also must be considered. Some Native Americans may identify as “two-spirit” rather than gay or bisexual, and in Spanish, “heterosexual” was found to reduce confusion over “straight, that is, not gay” which doesn’t translate directly, the report said.
“Each new generation is more diverse in its sexuality and gender,” Duncan said. “The Census Bureau should stay up to date with that evolution.”
___
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2022/06/12/census-wants-know-how-ask-about-sexuality-gender/ | 2022-06-12 08:30:21 | 0 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2022/06/12/census-wants-know-how-ask-about-sexuality-gender/ |
DETROIT (AP) — Shortages of computer chips and other parts continued to hobble the U.S. auto industry last year, contributing to vehicle sales dropping 8% from 2021 to their lowest level in more than a decade.
But there's good news for consumers in the gloomy numbers: Vehicle supplies on dealer lots are growing, albeit slowly, and automakers expect at least a small easing in prices this year as inventories grow.
Automakers reported Wednesday that they sold 13.9 million cars, trucks, SUVs and vans last year as the parts shortage limited factory output amid high demand for new vehicles. It was the lowest sales number since 2011 when the economy was recovering from the Great Recession.
But sales were up slightly in the fourth quarter and inventories grew as parts supplies improved enough to increase production a little. Analysts are now expecting sales to grow by roughly 1 million to around 14.8 million this year as demand remains strong. But they'll still be far short of the normal 17 million per year before the pandemic.
With many models still in short supply, though, the average new vehicle price rose 2.5% in December to a record of just over $46,000, according to J.D Power.
There are signs, however, that prices may be starting to ebb a little as inventories expand.
Toyota, for instance, finished the year with just under 24,000 vehicles on Toyota and Lexus brand dealer lots nationwide. That's up from about 19,000 at the end of 2021, but still far short of the 300,000 during normal years before the pandemic.
The improvement, although small, is allowing consumers to haggle a little on some slower-selling vehicles such as sedans, and even some luxury vehicles. But they're still getting top dollar for gas-electric hybrids and other more popular vehicles that are sold before they arrive on lots, said David Christ, general manager of the Toyota Division.
For most of last year, people who wanted new vehicles had to pay sticker price or above and take whatever models and colors dealers could get. But dealers have told Christ that changed a bit in the past two or three months for models that aren't as popular. Plus, he said more people are interested in lower-cost vehicles because inflation and higher interest rates are taking a bite out of their budgets.
"They're coming in and saying, 'Hey, can I get a deal here?'" Christ said. "I do think that on some vehicles, not just in our brand, and across the industry, there has become a little more of a buyer's market where the customer can negotiate."
Whether that holds up all year remains to be seen. If demand stays strong and people are willing to pay sticker price, then dealers will get that, Christ said. But if demand wanes or supplies increase dramatically, discounts could rise and prices could drop a bit.
Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.com, said Toyota's experience is likely to repeat itself through the industry with small price decreases on some models.
"There isn't as much disposable income to be put into a vehicle," she said. "We've seen prices high before, but we've never really seen higher prices with the (higher) interest rates."
But electric vehicles and other hot sellers will remain expensive because people want to buy them now, she added.
Caldwell doesn't see vehicle supplies or prices returning to pre-pandemic levels this year, and she's not sure if we'll ever get back to 2019 levels.
The computer chip shortage dates to the spring of 2020, when automakers were forced to shut down factories due to rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases. Chip makers shifted production to consumer electronics to feed a computer and gaming sales boom when people were stuck at home. When the auto plants restarted earlier than expected, chip makers weren't making as many semiconductors for automobiles, which must be made to withstand vibration and huge temperature extremes.
Auto chip production has improved, but still isn't back to pre-pandemic levels, so auto plants still aren't back to their full output.
As a result, the 13.9 million vehicles that automakers sold last year was about 1.2 million below 2021 numbers, according to Motorintelligence.com.
General Motors, with full-year sales up 2.5%, retook its traditional spot as the nation's top selling automaker. Toyota, which won the crown in 2021, saw its sales fall 9.6% last year. Ford reports sales on Thursday.
Sales at Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, dropped 13%, while Honda sales plummeted 32.9%. Hyundai posted just under a 1% increase to outsell Nissan, whose sales tumbled 25.4%. Kia sales fell 1.1% for the year, while Subaru was down 4.7%.
Electric vehicle sales hit more than 807,000 last year, up almost 65% from 2021.
Pickups and SUVs were 77.3% of sales while cars dropped to 22.7%. | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/supply-chain-woes-caused-us-auto-sales-to-fall-8-last-year | 2023-01-05 01:23:56 | 0 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/supply-chain-woes-caused-us-auto-sales-to-fall-8-last-year |
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A woman who family members believe was the toddler who was kidnapped by a babysitter 51 years ago has been reunited with her family in Fort Worth, in a meeting filled with long-overdue hugs and joyful tears.
Melissa Highsmith was 22 months old when she was abducted by a purported babysitter in 1971. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that she lived in Fort Worth most of her life as Melanie Brown and didn’t know she was kidnapped until her biological father, Jeffrie Highsmith, submitted DNA to 23andMe and learned that he was a match to Brown's children.
The family said in a news release that they worked with an amateur genealogist to help interpret the DNA results and mine public records to find Melissa, who reunited with her parents and two of her siblings this weekend.
“It was just a mixture of joy and terrifying. Being terrified and excited and just trying to understand, you know, make sense of everything,” Melissa Highsmith told KDFW-TV.
In a statement Monday, the Fort Worth Police Department said it’s “overjoyed” to hear that 23andMe led the Highsmiths to Melissa, and they will conduct official DNA testing to confirm her identity. The investigation into her kidnapping will continue.
“I couldn’t stop crying,” Melissa’s sister, Victoria Garner, wrote on Facebook. “I was overjoyed and I’m still walking around in a fog trying to comprehend that my sister is right in front of me and that we found her.”
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Melissa Highsmith’s biological mother, Alta Apantenco, had recently separated from the girl's father and moved to Fort Worth when she placed an ad for a babysitter in the newspaper. A woman who answered the ad said she wanted to watch the girl at her own house, and Apantenco agreed. The babysitter picked up the baby from Apantenco's roommate on Aug. 23, 1971 and never brought her back.
The family said they never forgot about Melissa.
“It’s overwhelming and incredible to me,” said Sharon Highsmith, Melissa’s younger sister. “For 50 years, my mom has lived with the guilt of losing Melissa. She’s also lived with community and nationwide accusations that she hurt or killed her own baby. I’m so glad we have Melissa back. I’m also grateful we have vindication for my mom."
Jeffrie Highsmith told KDFW that the family never gave up the hope of finding Melissa.
"We had several tips, we would go off to other states. We would go off and talk to different girls, have DNA made, and our hopes were dashed," he said. “It was hard.” | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Woman-believed-to-be-1971-kidnap-victim-reunites-17618756.php | 2022-11-29 20:43:01 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Woman-believed-to-be-1971-kidnap-victim-reunites-17618756.php |
Video shows impatient Florida man pull semi-automatic handgun on ATM user
A Florida man was caught on camera pointing a gun at another man who was making a deposit at an ATM machine.
According to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the victim said he was trying to make a deposit at a drive-thru ATM when an unknown man pulled up behind him in a black Cadillac sedan and started honking his horn.
The victim told police he got out of his van to get a deposit slip from the back of the vehicle, and then the two men "exchanged words." That’s when the Cadillac driver stepped out of his car and pulled out a gun.
Video shows the suspect is a bald man with tattoos who was armed with a semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine.
He’s believed to be in his 40s or 50s and can be heard yelling and cursing at the victim before driving away.
Suspect wanted for pointing gun at man in drive-thru ATM line (Broward County Sheriffs Office)
Anyone with information is asked to contact BSO Violent Crimes Detective Jennifer Petrofsky at 954-321-4238 or submit a tip through the SaferWatch app. If you wish to remain anonymous, please contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477), online at browardcrimestoppers.org, or dial **TIPS (8477) from any cellphone in the United States. | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/video-shows-impatient-florida-man-pull-semi-automatic-handgun-atm-user | 2023-05-20 20:50:48 | 0 | https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/video-shows-impatient-florida-man-pull-semi-automatic-handgun-atm-user |
Updated March 7, 2023 at 8:10 PM ET
MUMBAI, India — It felt like an earthquake. That's what shopkeeper Safayet Hossain told local media after an explosion blew out the first two floors of a multistory commercial building Tuesday in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka.
The blast was near his shop in the city's old quarter. He said he saw 20 to 25 people lying in the road in front of the damaged building.
"They were crying for help. 'Save us, save us,'" he said. Footage from the scene shows firefighters carrying burn victims out of the wreckage on stretchers.
At least 17 people were killed, and more than 100 were injured. Officials say the death toll is likely to rise.
At least 15 dead, 108 injured in blast in #Dhaka. Bomb disposal squad on spot to find cause of blast. 11 fire engines deployed to rescue injured. Blast apparently on 3rd floor of 55-storey building full of shops and bank branches in crowded Gulistan area. #Bangladesh #BREAKING pic.twitter.com/h1wJIlUbbx
— Monideepa Banerjie (@Monideepa62) March 7, 2023
The blast hit just before 5 p.m. local time, the end of the work day, in a building that houses a plumbing supply shop and other businesses in a busy commercial district. Electricity was severed for a city block in either direction, and police cordoned off streets.
Officials say they're investigating the cause of the blast, and that a bomb squad is on the scene. One official told reporters at a nearby hospital that it appeared to be an accident. In the past 48 hours, there have been two other blasts blamed on gas leaks in the city.
Fire and building safety can often be shoddy in Bangladesh. It was home to one of the world's deadliest industrial disasters, the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse, which killed more than 1,100 people. Hundreds die in fires in Dhaka alone each year.
Earlier this week, a massive fire at a cluster of Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh left some 12,000 homeless, according to the United Nations.
Rescuers at Tuesday's blast site in Dhaka reportedly had to pause their work and evacuate the wreckage at one point, when someone spotted a crack in a support wall.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kvpr.org/npr-news/2023-03-07/an-explosion-in-bangladeshs-capital-dhaka-kills-17-and-injures-more-than-100 | 2023-03-08 01:47:46 | 0 | https://www.kvpr.org/npr-news/2023-03-07/an-explosion-in-bangladeshs-capital-dhaka-kills-17-and-injures-more-than-100 |
By Morf Morford, Tacoma Daily Index
Google has been the undisputed king of search engines for several years now, for the entire lifetimes of many users.
Other search engines have come and gone, some arguably better or at least more comprehensive. Or more industry specific.
Microsoft’s Bing search engine has been on the sidelines, almost lost among a variety of search engines with a whole range of special niches from security to academic specialities.
But to use a phrase that has become something like a motto lately, that was then, and this is now.
The search experience has become routine – and, oddly enough, has barely changed in about twenty years – which in terms of technology, is like a century or two.
For better or worse, search engines will not be what they once were. And that experience, to my mind, is long overdue.
Far too often I have Googled a search and have given up because I did not need a list, or, even worse, ads related either to the item or to possible sites for purchase. I needed some background on both what I needed to know and what I did not know that I needed. What I really needed, without really thinking about it, was someone who knew more about the topic I was searching who would let me know essential things that I never would have thought of.
I needed a search engine as something like a travel companion – one who had lived in my target destination for many years and could guide me beyond the predictable tourist destinations. I needed, as Microsoft put it, a copilot.
From their website, February 7th, 2023: To empower people to unlock the joy of discovery, feel the wonder of creation and better harness the world’s knowledge, today we’re improving how the world benefits from the web by reinventing the tools billions of people use every day, the search engine and the browser.
Today, we’re launching an all new, AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser, available in preview now at Bing.com, to deliver better search, more complete answers, a new chat experience and the ability to generate content. We think of these tools as an AI copilot for the web.
Blame it on AI
A Google search should never have been somehow equated with “research”. Google was great,or at least adequate, for simple information or data requests.
The new Bing can be used for more complex requests, or searches that require solid documentation – and, perhaps most importantly, can minimize hurdles or even outright obstacles to information and its practical use and application.
Bing’s thousand character search bar allows for, maybe even forces, a more fully developed question which, in turn, brings about a fully, more comprehensive answer – or set of answer choices.
In other words, search engines had to become dramatically “smarter”.
In short, the web, or at least access to it, is being re-invented. The web as we know it, or at least how we have known it, is being reshaped.
Besides the familiar “search” function, this innovation will equip users for a more comprehensive and effective discovery experience.
Chat orchestration
To put it mildly, “orchestration” might seem like an odd metaphor for a search engine. But if what Microsoft says is proven, it just might be true.
Just as “the cloud” changed computing, the incorporation of AI is changing the pace, texture and reach of what had become a relatively hum-drum search. AI allows a full range of unseen assistants accompanying and facilitating traditional searches.
Welcome to the era of generative AI
Generative AI is the term for a system or program than analyzes and learns from itself. The flow looks something like this; test, analyze, improve, and then test, analyze, improve again. And again. In other words, a generative AI system’s work is never done.
The more, the better
Some companies and innovations are deliberately held back, and kept, thanks to paywalls, to a limited customer base.
A search service, especially one powered by artificial intelligence, and that, again, for better or worse, learns from every encounter, almost by definition, requires the largest participating audience base possible.
Stay tuned for a roll-out over the next few weeks. If you want to see the details on the new Bing or give it trial run, you can start here. To see a video of the official Microsoft announcement, look here.
And then there was DIALOG
Note for internet historians/nerds: DIALOG was the first interactive, real-time, online search system addressing, connecting and accessing large databases – mostly corporate and academic.
It was developed at Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory in 1966, extended through contracts with NASA, and finally offered commercially in 1972. Its speed, ease of use, and wide range of data content developed an audience of professional users worldwide including scientists, attorneys, educators, writers, researchers and librarians. DIALOG was, by far the first; preceding major, widely used and commonly known internet search tools by more than two decades.
And yes, DIALOG was the first search engine I ever used. | https://www.tacomadailyindex.com/blog/microsofts-bing-challenges-google/2464892/ | 2023-02-14 02:46:37 | 1 | https://www.tacomadailyindex.com/blog/microsofts-bing-challenges-google/2464892/ |
Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record high on Thursday, the third such milestone in a week that already rated as the hottest on record.
The planetary average hit 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17.23 degrees Celsius), surpassing the 62.9-degree mark (17.18-degree mark) set Tuesday and equaled Wednesday, according to data from the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, a tool that uses satellite data and computer simulations to measure the world’s condition.
That average includes places that are sweltering under dangerous heat — like Jingxing, China, which checked in almost 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) — and the merely unusually warm, like Antarctica, where temperatures across much of the continent were as much as 8 degrees Fahrenheit (4.5 degrees Celsius) above normal this week.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday issued a note of caution about the Maine tool’s findings, saying it could not confirm data that results in part from computer modeling.
“Although NOAA cannot validate the methodology or conclusion of the University of Maine analysis, we recognize that we are in a warm period due to climate change,” NOAA said.
Still, the Maine data has been widely regarded as another troubling sign of climate change around the globe. Some climate scientists said this week they weren’t surprised to see the unofficial records.
Robert Watson, a scientist and former chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said governments and the private sector “are not truly committed to address climate change.” Nor are citizens, he said.
“They demand cheap energy, cheap food and do not want to pay the true cost of food and energy,” Watson said. | https://www.qcnews.com/nexstar-media-wire/earth-sets-unofficial-heat-record-for-3rd-time-this-week/ | 2023-07-07 11:32:12 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/nexstar-media-wire/earth-sets-unofficial-heat-record-for-3rd-time-this-week/ |
TOKYO (AP) — The lower house of Parliament approved Tuesday a budget for the coming fiscal year that includes a record 6.8 trillion yen ($50 billion) in defense spending, part of Japan’s effort to fortify its military as China’s influence in the region grows.
The 2023 defense budget, up 20% from a year earlier, includes 211.3 billion yen ($1.55 billion) for deployment of U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that can be launched from warships and can hit targets up to 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) away.
The planned purchase of the Tomahawks has drawn criticism over the cost, with opposition lawmakers blasting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for prioritizing arms spending over other issues such as Japan’s shrinking population.
“The improvement of childcare has been neglected for more than 10 years,” Chinami Nishimura, a lawmaker with the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told a lower house budget committee meeting Tuesday. “Why did the budget for spending so much money on Tomahawks get approved so quickly?”
“I don’t think it’s about choosing between one or the other,” Kishida responded. “Both are important for the lives and livelihood of the people.”
Japan is to pay the United States another 110 billion yen ($830 million) in the coming fiscal year, which begins in April, for equipment and software needed to launch the Tomahawks plus fees for technology transfers and training.
Kishida told a parliamentary session Monday that Japan will purchase 400 units of Tomahawks.
Passage of the 114 trillion yen ($836 billion) budget by the lower house of parliament, the more powerful of its two chambers, ensures it will be enacted by the end of March regardless of any decision by the upper house.
The hefty defense budget is the first installment of a five-year, 43-trillion-yen ($315-billion) military spending plan as part of Japan’s new National Security Strategy, which was announced in December.
The new strategy includes developing a “counterstrike capability” to preempt enemy attacks, a controversial change given Japan’s commitment to retain only defensive capabilities after its defeat in World War II. Military spending is due to nearly double within the next five years as Japan builds up its defenses in response to potential threats from China, North Korea and Russia.
The new spending target conforms to NATO standards and will eventually push Japan’s annual defense budget to about 10 trillion yen ($73 billion), the world’s third biggest after the United States and China.
Kishida has called Japan’s rapidly aging and shrinking population a national crisis and promised to compile a package of comprehensive measures to tackle the problem in coming months. A new government department, the Children and Families Agency, is due to be launched in April to help coordinate government policies on various social issues including child poverty and child abuse.
The budget allocates 4.8 trillion yen ($35 billion) for the new agency, but experts say more funding and broader social changes are needed to alleviate the burdens of child care and education and encourage younger Japanese to marry and have children.
Government statistics released Tuesday showed births in 2022 fell to a record low 799,728, dropping below 800,000 for the first time since 1899 and at a faster-than-expected pace than earlier predicted. The number of births last year was one-third of the peak of nearly 2.7 million in 1949.
The 2023 budget also allocates more than 850 billion yen ($6.25 billion) to the Economy and Industry Ministry to help phase out use of fossil fuels and 53 billion yen ($388 million) to promote digitalization and increase domestic manufacturing of computer chips.
On Tuesday, government-backed chip maker Rapidus announced plans to build a new semiconductor plant in Chitose on the northern main island of Hokkaido. Rapidus said it plans to launch a prototype line in 2025, with mass production of cutting-edge chips planned for “the second half of the 2020s.”
Rapidus includes automaker Toyota Motor Corp., electronics makers Sony Group Corp. and NEC Corp., SoftBank Corp., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. and computer memory maker Kioxia. The company recently announced a tie up with International International Business Machines Corp. in the development and production of 2-nanometer chips. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/ap-japan-oks-new-budget-incl-hefty-arms-cost-to-deter-china/ | 2023-03-01 02:32:32 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/ap-japan-oks-new-budget-incl-hefty-arms-cost-to-deter-china/ |
Villanova football ‘chomping at the bit’ to prove preseason naysayers wrong
The Wildcats were picked No. 7 in Coastal Athletic Association preseason polls ahead of CAA football media day on Tuesday. It comes on the heels of a 4-4 conference finish last season (6-5 overall).
Villanova football will be out to prove a number of naysayers wrong — including the pundits within its own conference.
The Wildcats were picked No. 7 in Coastal Athletic Association preseason poll ahead of CAA football media day on Tuesday. It comes on the heels of a 4-4 conference finish last season (6-5 overall) for a Villanova team that brought in 11 new players this offseason.
» READ MORE: Villanova men’s basketball to host UCLA on Dec. 9
Seeing where his team landed in the rankings wasn’t surprising for Villanova coach Mark Ferrante, but noted that it is somewhat motivating.
“It’s hard not to see it,” Ferrante said to reporters Tuesday via Zoom. “With social media today, you’re going to see all the preseason rankings and preseason all-league selections. It’s unavoidable … but we try to approach every season not looking at the [record] from the season before.”
Villanova, which opens against Lehigh (noon, Sept. 2), returns a number of players who fueled its offense last season, including graduate quarterback Connor Watkins. Watkins threw for 2,057 yards and 16 touchdowns last season and was second on the team with 467 yards rushing, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
Additionally, Watkins’ favorite target, wide receiver Jaaron Hayek, returns for his final season, coming off a year in which he led the team and conference with 36 catches for 810 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns. Hayek, who alongside Wildcats graduate offensive lineman Michael Corbi was named to the CAA’s preseason all-conference team, led the conference in receiving last season.
Defensively, Villanova will look to improve on a group that finished near the bottom of the conference, allowing 4,386 total yards, with more than half of that on the ground (2,273). However, with a returning secondary, the Wildcats will look to put the clamps on opponents this season — now that the core group knows what to expect.
» READ MORE: John Shackleton, Villanova’s strength and conditioning guru, leaves a legacy behind
“It makes things a lot easier because it’s more than one voice talking,” said graduate defensive back Jalen Goodman, who also was named a CAA preseason honorable mention. “When everyone has that kind of experience, then they know what to expect and what’s going to come when that motion happens and it makes everything easier on the field when there’s that much experience in the back.”
Villanova also has experience against its season-opening opponent, Lehigh. The Wildcats opened against Lehigh last season and won, 45-17, at home. With a mid-table preseason ranking and a great deal to prove, it’s setting up to be a must-watch on the tone Villanova is looking to set for the season.
“I know our guys are chomping at the bit to get started,” Ferrante said. “Especially the ones returning from last year’s program because they especially are not happy with how our season went.” | https://www.inquirer.com/college-sports/villanova/villanova-football-caa-media-day-lehigh-jaaron-hayek-20230725.html | 2023-07-25 19:50:57 | 1 | https://www.inquirer.com/college-sports/villanova/villanova-football-caa-media-day-lehigh-jaaron-hayek-20230725.html |
LONDON, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- International multi-asset trading platform Vantage (or "Vantage Markets") is announcing the launch of Vantage Connect, a liquidity solution for institutions and corporates in the UK.
To be officially announced at Finance Magnates London Summit 2022, the news comes as part of a wider strategic push by Vantage to expand the institutional side of their business in response to growing demand among hedge funds, family offices, banks, brokers, money managers and asset managers for bespoke trading solutions.
Widespread volatility has led to a 17.2% year on year increase in trading volumes globally this September. This presents both risks and opportunities for institutions, who must navigate rapidly changing market conditions, such as the LSE widened the spread limit on UK gilts, as well as bigger spreads, such as on the CFD and derivatives contracts that are commonly used in hedging strategies.
Vantage Connect allows these institutional clients to manage volatility effectively and make the most of market opportunities by leveraging Vantage's deep liquidity pool to buy and sell complex assets quickly.
The offering is customised depending on what the clients' needs are across the full range of Vantage's services, including in-house built risk management and their unique PAMM (percentage allocation management module). It is quick and secure, as clients can easily plug into the service via an API, ensuring speed to market, and are protected under Vantage's FCA license.
Vantage Connect will be exhibiting at this year's FMLS and will be joined by the McLaren Extreme E team, who will be featuring their new vehicle.
David Shayer, UK CEO at Vantage, commented: "Market volatility often brings opportunities for those who know where to look, and we've seen the increasing volumes over the last few months. We've built up a strong retail solution, and now is the right time to expand to institutional investors. We have a strong team in the UK, all of whom are excited to launch the new service, that ensures that Vantage can be a trusted partner and a one-stop shop for the institutional trading community, and gives them the springboard to make the most of market opportunities."
About Vantage
Vantage is a global, multi-asset broker offering clients access to a nimble and powerful service for trading CFDs on Forex, Commodities, Indices, Shares and ETFs.
With more than 13 years of market experience, Vantage now has over 1,000 employees across more than 30 global offices.
Vantage is more than a broker. It provides a trusted trading ecosystem and a user-friendly trading platform that enables clients to take advantage of trading opportunities.
Be empowered to better capitalise on winning market opportunities when you trade smarter @vantage
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SOURCE Vantage | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/11/15/vantage-launches-uk-liquidity-service-institutional-traders/ | 2022-11-15 10:09:08 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/11/15/vantage-launches-uk-liquidity-service-institutional-traders/ |
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until January 3, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Enviva Inc. (NYSE: EVA), if they purchased the Company's securities between February 21, 2019 and October 11, 2022, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.
Enviva investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-eva/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.
Enviva and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.
On October 12, 2022, pre-market, Blue Orca Capital reported a range of allegations against the Company including that "new discovered data suggests . . . the company is flagrantly greenwashing its wood procurement"; "Enviva is a dangerously levered serial capital raiser whose deteriorating cash conversion and unprofitability will drain it of cash next year"; and, that it is "a product of deranged European climate subsidies which incentivize the destruction of American forests so that European power companies can check a bureaucratic box."
On this news, shares of Enviva stock fell approximately 13.13% to a closing price of $51.23 per share.
The case is Fagen v. Enviva, et al., 22-cv-02844.
ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.
To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.
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SOURCE ClaimsFiler | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/12/03/enviva-shareholder-alert-claimsfiler-reminds-investors-with-losses-excess-100000-lead-plaintiff-deadline-class-action-lawsuit-against-enviva-inc-eva/ | 2022-12-03 16:42:04 | 1 | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/12/03/enviva-shareholder-alert-claimsfiler-reminds-investors-with-losses-excess-100000-lead-plaintiff-deadline-class-action-lawsuit-against-enviva-inc-eva/ |
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — The rolling prairie lands of northeastern Wyoming have been a paradise of lush, knee-deep grass for sheep, cattle and pronghorn antelope this summer.
But it’s a different green — greener energy — that geologist Fred McLaughlin seeks as he drills nearly two miles (3.2 kilometers) into the ground, far deeper than the thick coal seams that make this the top coal-mining region in the United States. McLaughlin and his University of Wyoming colleagues are studying whether tiny spaces in rock deep underground can permanently store vast volumes of greenhouse gas emitted by a coal-fired power plant.
This is the concept known as carbon storage, long touted as an answer to global warming that preserves the energy industry’s burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity.
So far, removing carbon dioxide from power plant smokestacks and pumping it underground hasn’t been feasible without higher electricity bills to cover the technique’s huge costs. But with a $2.5 billion infusion from Congress last year and now bigger tax incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress on Friday, researchers and industry continue to try.
One goal of McLaughlin’s project is to preserve the lifespan of a relatively new coal-fired power plant, Dry Fork Station, run by Basin Electric Power Cooperative. State officials hope it will do the same for the whole beleaguered coal industry that still underpins Wyoming’s economy. The state produces about 40% of the nation’s coal but declining production and a series of layoffs and bankruptcies have beset the Gillette area’s vast, open-pit coal mines over the past decade.
While the economics of carbon storage remain uncertain at best, McLaughlin and others are confident in the technology.
“The geology exists,” McLaughlin said. “It is a resource we’re looking for — and the resource is pore space.”
HOW IT WORKS
By pore space, McLaughlin doesn’t mean skin care but microscopic spaces between grains of sandstone deep underground. Countless such spaces add up: Enough, he hopes, to hold 55 million tons (50 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide over 30 years.
McLaughlin and his team used the same drill rigs as the oil industry to bore their two wells almost 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), taking core samples from nine geological formations in the process. The researchers will study how injection at one well, using saltwater as a stand-in for liquid carbon dioxide, could affect fluid behavior at the other.
“It’s basically like a call and response, if you want to think of it that way,” McLaughlin said. “We can ground truth our simulations.”
McLaughlin’s team also does a lot of lab work on carbon sequestration back at the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources in Laramie, studying on a microscopic scale how much carbon dioxide different sandstone layers can hold. They model on computers how much carbon dioxide, well by well, could be pumped underground north of Gillette.
Eventually they want to advance to carbon dioxide captured from the smoke plume at nearby Dry Fork Station, using a technique developed by California-based Membrane Technology and Research, Inc.
WYOMING’S CARBON DREAMS
With an eye toward carbon storage, Wyoming in 2020 became one of just two states, along with North Dakota, to take over from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency primary authority to issue the kind of permit McLaughlin and his team will need to pump large volumes of carbon dioxide, pressurized into a high density “supercritical” state, underground.
Besides the permit, the geologists will also need more funding. The U.S. Department of Energy Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) program is funding 24 carbon capture and storage projects nationwide, and this is one of the furthest along.
Such projects were likely already eligible for some of the roughly $2.5 billion in last year’s infrastructure bill. Now the new Inflation Reduction Act will boost the “45Q” tax credit for electricity producers who sequester their carbon from $50 to $85 per ton.
Pumping carbon dioxide underground is nothing new. For decades, the oil and gas industry has used carbon dioxide, after it’s separated from the methane sold for fueling stoves and furnaces, to recharge aging oil fields.
UNTIL NOW, FAILED EXPERIMENTS
Critics, however, point out the process is expensive to use at power plants and provides a lifeline of sorts to the coal, oil and natural gas industries when the world, in their view, should stop using fossil fuels altogether.
To date, only one commercially-operational, large-scale project in the U.S. has pumped carbon dioxide from a power plant underground. But to defray costs, NRG Energy’s Petra Nova coal-fired power plant outside Houston sold its carbon dioxide to increase local oil production.
After three years in operation, Petra Nova closed in 2020, when low oil prices made using the gas to recharge a nearby oil field unprofitable.
In December, a U.S. Government Accountability Office review found that Petra Nova was the only one of eight carbon capture and storage projects at coal-fired plants to actually go into operation, after getting $684 million in Department of Energy funding since 2009.
Some communities that have dealt for years with industrial air pollution also worry that companies will use promises of carbon storage as a way to expand.
For Massachusetts Institute of Technology research engineer Howard Herzog, a carbon capture and storage pioneer, the question isn’t whether the technique is technically feasible at scale. He’s certain that it is. But whether it can be economically feasible is a different matter.
“People are starting to take it more seriously even though fundamentally changing our energy systems is not an easy task,” Herzog said. “It’s not something you do in the short term. You’ve got to really set the policy in place and we still haven’t really done that.”
It may be expensive, said Herzog. But doing nothing when it comes to climate, “may be much more expensive.”
___
Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/new-climate-deal-spurs-hopes-of-more-carbon-storage-projects/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business | 2022-08-15 13:11:10 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/new-climate-deal-spurs-hopes-of-more-carbon-storage-projects/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
CHICAGO (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson plans to step down from leading the Chicago civil rights organization Rainbow PUSH Coalition he founded in 1971, the organization announced Friday.
“Reverend Jesse Jackson is officially pivoting from his role as president of Rainbow PUSH Coalition. His commitment is unwavering, and he will elevate his life’s work by teaching ministers how to fight for social justice and continue the freedom movement,” the organization said in a statement. “Rev. Jackson’s global impact and civil rights career will be celebrated this weekend at the 57th annual Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention, where his successor will be introduced.”
The Rev. Janette Wilson, a senior adviser to Jackson and longtime staff member of the organization, told The Associated Press that the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate will address members Saturday about his decision.
Jackson, who will turn 82 in October, has remained active in civil rights in recent years despite health setbacks.
He announced in 2017 that he had begun outpatient care for Parkinson’s disease two years earlier. In early 2021, he had gallbladder surgery and later that year was treated for COVID-19 including a stint at a physical therapy-focused facility. He was hospitalized again in November 2021 for a fall that caused a head injury.
Jackson, a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., broke with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1971 to form Operation PUSH — originally named People United to Save Humanity — a sweeping civil rights organization based on Chicago’s South Side.
The organization was later renamed the Rainbow PUSH Coalition with a mission ranging from encouraging corporations to hire more minorities to voter registration drives in communities of color. Its annual convention is set for this weekend in Chicago.
Jackson has long been a powerful voice in American politics.
Until Barack Obama’s election in 2008, Jackson was the most successful Black candidate for the U.S. presidency, winning 13 primaries and caucuses for the Democratic nomination in 1988.
Jackson has helped guide the modern civil rights movement on a wide variety of issues, including voting rights and education.
He stood with the family of George Floyd at a memorial for the Black man murdered in 2020 by a white police officer, whose death forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism. Jackson also participated in COVID-19 vaccination drives to battle hesitancy in Black communities.
Santita Jackson, one of his daughters, said in an interview that her father would not be vanishing. “While the flesh may not be willing, the spirit is,” she said, adding that she hoped her father would provide a living history. “Dr. King gave him his assignment and he’s been faithful to it in every iteration of his life. Many people have said Dr. King was the architect and Rev. Jackson was the builder.”
One of his sons, U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, told the Chicago Sun-Times that his father “has forever been on the scene of justice and has never stopped fighting for civil rights” and that will be “his mark upon history.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called Jackson “an architect of the soul of Chicago” in a statement Friday.
“Through decades of service, he has led the Rainbow PUSH Coalition at the forefront of the struggle for civil rights and social justice. His faith, his perseverance, his love, and his relentless dedication to people inspire all of us to keep pushing for a better tomorrow,” said Johnson, who was endorsed by Jackson when he ran for mayor earlier this year.
Al Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network, said in a statement that he had spoken to Jackson on Friday morning and “told him that we will continue to glean from him and learn from him and duplicate him in whatever our organizations and media platforms are. Because he has been an anchor for me and many others.”
Sharpton called Jackson his mentor, adding: “The resignation of Rev. Jesse Jackson is the pivoting of one of the most productive, prophetic, and dominant figures in the struggle for social justice in American history.”
___
Fields reported from Washington, D.C. Savage is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/ap-us-news/ap-jesse-jackson-is-stepping-down-as-head-of-civil-rights-organization-rainbow-push/ | 2023-07-15 12:51:49 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/ap-us-news/ap-jesse-jackson-is-stepping-down-as-head-of-civil-rights-organization-rainbow-push/ |
Finland’s conservative party picks ministers for right-wing coalition government
By JARI TANNER
Associated Press
HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s conservative National Coalition Party, the winner of April’s general election, has unveiled its picks for key Cabinet posts in the upcoming government that observers say is set to be the most right-wing in the Nordic country’s recent history. Following lengthy talks over seven weeks, NCP announced Friday a deal with three other parties for a governing coalition that includes the far-right, eurosceptic Finns Party which runs largely on a nationalist and anti-immigration agenda. The prime minister-designate and NCP leader, Petteri Orpo, is expected to be appointed by Wednesday after a confidence vote in parliament. His party will get eight ministerial portfolios, including foreign affairs and defense. The populist Finns Party is set to get seven ministerial posts. | https://kion546.com/news/2023/06/18/finlands-conservative-party-picks-ministers-for-right-wing-coalition-government/ | 2023-06-18 16:39:20 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/2023/06/18/finlands-conservative-party-picks-ministers-for-right-wing-coalition-government/ |
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR has opened an investigation into how a derogatory message was broadcast on the radio channel of Bubba Wallace’s race team during last weekend's All-Star race.
Wallace, NASCAR's only Black driver in the Cup series, had just finished Sunday's race at North Wilkesboro Speedway when a person not on the 23XI Racing team said over the radio, “Go back to where you came from” and then added another non-racial expletive.
NASCAR spokesman Mike Forde said Wednesday the series immediately had its security and racing electronic teams look into the hack. He said Wallace did not hear the remark.
Forde said NASCAR is trying to determine who cracked Wallace's radio communications and how it was done, as well the best method toward preventing it from happening in the future.
Forde said the investigation was ongoing and would have happened no matter the nature of the comment.
“We certainly take that seriously, no doubt about that,” he said. “But we can't have fans interfering with team radio and potential competition implications.”
Wallace's 23XI Racing team said Thursday it was in contact with NASCAR and feels “confident with their handling of the situation.”
NASCAR had already said earlier this week there were no plans to penalize Wallace after he appeared to make an obscene gesture on camera before a live interview with Fox Sports.
Wallace, who is from Alabama, in 2020 successfully called on NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its events.
He has not been shy in using his platform, but it’s come with detractors and scrutiny, including a noose found in his Talladega Superspeedway garage stall after his call for the banning of the Confederate flag.
The FBI ruled the garage pull was indeed fashioned as a noose but that it was a coincidence it was in Wallace’s stall, and he was not the victim of a hate crime.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wsls.com/sports/2023/05/24/nascar-opens-investigation-into-wallaces-hacked-radio-channel-at-all-star-race/ | 2023-05-25 17:45:03 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/sports/2023/05/24/nascar-opens-investigation-into-wallaces-hacked-radio-channel-at-all-star-race/ |
Barenaked Ladies make a tour stop in Gilford
GILFORD — Pinch me! Tickets are still available for Barenaked Ladies’ “Last Summer on Earth 2023” tour, with Five for Fighting and Del Amitri, at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Bank of NH Pavilion.
The group has sold 15 million records worldwide and built up an arsenal of hits such as “If I Had $1,000,000,” “One Week,” “Pinch Me” and “The Big Bang Theory Theme.”
BNL has hosted a cruise (“Ships and Dips”), had its own ice cream flavor, won eight Juno Awards in Canada, and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2018.
“Detour de Force,” released in 2021, is Barenaked Ladies’ 16th studio album, the latest in the Toronto quartet’s 33-year history.
Tickets start at $29.
Info: banknhpavilion.com or 603-293-4700.
Keep NH Brewing Festival returns for eighth year
CONCORD — The eighth annual Keep NH Brewing Festival returns on Saturday, from 1 to 4 p.m., at the Everett Arena Waterfront Park.
This signature beer festival features one of the largest gatherings of New Hampshire craft breweries and craft beers on tap in the Granite State. More than 50 breweries will take part in the event, with 120-plus craft beers on tap.
The festival will take place rain or shine.
General admission is $50-$55. Designated driver cost is $20.
This is a strictly 21-plus event. No children or pets are allowed.
Info: nhbrewers.org.
ABBA fans won’t want to miss Dancing Dream tribute
LACONIA — Dancing Dream: The Tribute to ABBA will perform two shows, at 4 and 8:30 p.m., Saturday at the Lakeport Opera House, 781 Union Ave.
Dancing Dream pays tribute to the legendary Swedish group. Each show includes some of ABBA’s greatest hits, including “Mamma Mia,” “Dancing Queen,” “Take a Chance on Me,” “Fernando” and many more.
The New York City-based touring act, founded by two European singers in 2009, will take audiences on a nostalgic trip back to the glitz and glamour of the ’70s with beautiful harmonies, elaborate costumes and exciting choreography.
Tickets are $55-$65.
Info: lakeportopera.com or 603-519-7506.
Opera North’s Summerfest opens with circus show
CORNISH — Opera North’s Summerfest begins Friday with “Cavalcade of Stars and Arias,” a circus parade of acrobats and artists, at the Blow-Me-Down Farm at the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, 139 Saint-Gaudens Road.
This is Opera North’s signature circus-opera mashup of arias and aerialists.
Show times are Friday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Performances run through July 30.
Tickets start at $30.
Summerfest continues in July with Bizet’s “Carmen” and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel,” and in August with “Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon.”
Info: lebanonoperahouse.org or 603-448-0400.
‘Guys and Dolls’ concludes at New London Barn Playhouse
NEW LONDON — Are you feeling lucky? Roll the dice and experience the dazzling world of love, chance and gambling as the New London Barn Playhouse presents “Guys and Dolls.”
This is the last weekend to see the show. Times are Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 5 p.m.
This beloved award-winning romantic comedy will transport audiences to the gritty streets of 1950s New York City, filled with high-stakes gamblers and sassy showgirls.
“Guys and Dolls” is based on the colorful world and characters of Damon Runyon. The story follows couples Nathan Detroit, Miss Adelaide and Sarah Brown and Sky Masterson as they navigate through the trials of love, and gambling.
The show opened on Broadway in 1950 and has been revived countless times since.
Tickets start at $22.
Info: nlbarn.org or 603-526-6710. | https://www.unionleader.com/nh/weekend-top-5---7-6-7-9/article_27612da7-faa2-55b5-b007-10f13edbf4a7.html | 2023-07-06 04:08:22 | 1 | https://www.unionleader.com/nh/weekend-top-5---7-6-7-9/article_27612da7-faa2-55b5-b007-10f13edbf4a7.html |
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Jordan Miller took 20 shots in the regional final for Miami and made them all, helping the Hurricanes rally their way into the Final Four. The personification of clutch.
It was around this time two years ago when Miami then-assistant coach Bill Courtney’s phone rang with news that Miller had entered the transfer portal and was leaving George Mason. Courtney dove into some tape and began looking into Miller’s background. Turns out, one of Courtney’s old pickup-game buddies from Virginia — Clutch, real name Gary Collins — was Miller’s AAU coach.
“The recruitment got pretty simple from there,” said Courtney, now the Hurricanes’ associate head coach.
Good thing that recruitment went the way it did, because Miami has absolutely needed Miller this season — never more than it did on Sunday. Miller was 7 for 7 from the field and 13 for 13 from the foul line in Miami’s 88-81 win over Texas, a victory that sent the Hurricanes (29-7) into Saturday’s national semifinals against UConn (29-8). For the season, Miller is averaging 15.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, second-most for Miami in both categories.
He helped them get to the Elite Eight last season — and at least one step further this season.
“That loss sat with me for a really, really long time,” Miller said of the defeat to eventual national champion Kansas in last year’s tournament. “I had to put it in the past because it was a new season, but having the opportunity to kind of right your wrongs almost and get past something that stumped you previously is a great feeling.”
The 20-for-20 combined shooting effort from the field and the line against Texas matched Christian Laettner’s historic game for Duke against Kentucky in a regional final in 1992. Laettner — who went 10 for 10 from both the field and the line in that game — tweeted congratulations to Miller on Monday; Miller responded with “Appreciate you! Glad to join some elite company.”
There is rich irony in that Miller came to Miami from George Mason — as did Hurricanes coach Jim Larrañaga, who took that school to the Final Four in 2006 and got Miami to the Final Four on exactly the 17th anniversary of that win.
“I just asked Jordan to ask the people at George Mason know what kind of coach I am and if he’d fit in my program,” Larrañaga said. “And a lot of them told him, ‘Yeah, you should go play for Coach L.’ I was so impressed with him as an individual. You know, the basketball ability is one thing but his personality, his work ethic, his basketball IQ made me feel like ‘OK, this kid will fit in really, really well.’ I had no idea he was this good.”
The Hurricanes were even talking to other players — frankly, with better numbers — than Miller had when he entered the portal. Had it not been for Clutch, it’s extremely likely that Miami would have gone in a different direction. And then who knows how this season would have turned out for Miller or the Hurricanes.
“I don’t know if anyone expected this,” Courtney said. “Clutch was the only one who told me he could be this.”
Larrañaga doesn’t think many people know how good Miller is. He calls the 6-foot-7, 195-pound wing “the most underrated player in the country.”
That moniker might not hold up anymore, especially not after the show Miller put on on Sunday. The 27 points might be a breakout of sorts; it was the second-best scoring effort of his 141-game collegiate career, and by far the most points he’s managed in a postseason game at either George Mason or Miami.
Larrañaga essentially challenged Miller when last season ended to be this guy.
“I sat down and talked to Jordan before this season began. I just said to him, ‘Your role is going to completely change. We’re going to expand it,’” Larrañaga said. “He asked me one question: ‘Hey, if I get a defensive rebound, can I push it in transition, dribble it up the court?’ I asked him one question: ‘Are you going to turn the ball over?’ And he said no. I said then you can do it.”
They chart everything in every practice at Miami, as is the case at many schools, and Larrañaga quickly became enthralled by the idea of Miller getting his way — grabbing a rebound like a big guy, then heading downcourt like a guard. For every turnover he had in scrimmages, he had seven assists. Such a ratio is absurd for point guards; for wings and combo players like Miller, it’s unheard of. During the season, it’s still a very respectable 2:1.
“He’s underrated because he’s under been under the radar,” Larrañaga said. “People just haven’t seen him to understand how good he is. I think he showed the country have done good he is these past two weeks.”
Indeed, thanks to Clutch, he’s been clutch. And Clutch is heading to Houston this weekend, to see if Miller and Miami can grab a national championship. The underrated kid might end up standing tallest of all.
___
AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/2023/03/28/march-madness-miami-uconn/c56844dc-cd4e-11ed-8907-156f0390d081_story.html | 2023-03-28 10:43:55 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/2023/03/28/march-madness-miami-uconn/c56844dc-cd4e-11ed-8907-156f0390d081_story.html |
TUPELO, Miss — Local news reports say a stolen airplane that circled over north Mississippi for hours Saturday morning has landed safely. Police said the pilot had threatened to crash into a Walmart in Tupelo, Mississippi, leading to the store's evacuation.
The Tupelo Police Department said in a Facebook post that the Walmart and a nearby convenience store had been evacuated. The plane started circling over Tupelo, Mississippi, about 5 a.m. It was in the air for hours, eventually flying away from Tupelo and circling over another community nearby.
Local NBC station WTVA reported late Saturday morning that the plane appeared to have landed safely in a field. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal said local law enforcement had taken the pilot into custody.
“Citizens are asked to avoid that area until an all clear is given," police wrote earlier in the morning. “With the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo.”
Law enforcement told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal shortly after 8 a.m. that the stolen plane had left the airspace around Tupelo and was flying near a Toyota manufacturing plant in nearby Blue Springs.
Authorities believe the aircraft was stolen and are working to determine whether the pilot threatening to crash the plane is an employee of a local airport, two people briefed on the matter told The Associated Press. Multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are now involved in the investigation and are working to discern a motive, the people said.
Investigators were continuing to monitor the flight’s path and have been in communication with the pilot, the people said.
An online flight tracking service showed a looping path for the plane.
“State law enforcement and emergency managers are closely tracking this dangerous situation,” Gov. Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter. “All citizens should be on alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department.”
Leslie Criss, a magazine editor who lives in Tupelo, woke up early and was watching the situation on TV and social media. Several of her friends were outside watching the plane circle overhead.
“I've never seen anything like this in this town,” Criss told The Associated Press. “It's a scary way to wake up on a Saturday morning.”
Former state Rep. Steve Holland, who is a funeral director in Tupelo, said he had received calls from families concerned about the plane.
“One called and said, ‘Oh, my God, do we need to cancel mother’s funeral?'" Holland said. “I just told them, ‘No, life’s going to go on.'”
A Walmart spokesperson confirmed the evacuation Saturday morning and said it is working closely with investigators.
This is a developing story. Val Lick contributed. | https://www.12news.com/article/news/nation-world/tupelo-airplane/507-e1525b4e-de90-4f97-9f8d-40e87ba576f6 | 2022-09-03 15:58:20 | 1 | https://www.12news.com/article/news/nation-world/tupelo-airplane/507-e1525b4e-de90-4f97-9f8d-40e87ba576f6 |
March Madness is here! Here is what to know about the women’s NCAA Tournament, including the favorites and underdogs as well as key games and how to watch: TOP SEEDS
The top four seeds in the tournament are South Carolina, Indiana, Virginia Tech and Stanford. Each is in a region, some tougher than others (on paper). We break them down for you: SOUTH CAROLINA (32-0): The defending national champions are the No. 1 overall seed and the Greenville I Region breaks down favorably. It includes two teams in No. 2 seed Maryland (25-6) and No. 4 seed UCLA (23-9) who the Gamecocks beat earlier this season. South Carolina is loaded, with two-time Southeastern Conference player of the year Aliyah Boston and leading scorer Zia Cooke.
INDIANA (27-3): After a loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semis, some wondered if the Hoosiers might miss out on a top seed. They landed it in the Greenville II Region and start against either Tennessee Tech or Monmouth. Mackenzie Holmes leads Indiana with 22.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Top challengers include No. 2 seed Utah, No. 3 seed LSU and No. 4 seed Villanova, which is led by scoring sensation Maddy Siegrist.
VIRGINIA TECH (27-5): The Hokies won their first ACC Tournament championship and will lead the Seattle 3 Region. Elizabeth Kitley has stepped things up down the stretch as Virginia Tech won its final eight games. Virginia Tech could have to navigate No. 4 seed Tennessee in the Sweet 16 and No. 2 seed UConn or No. 3 seed Ohio State after that.
STANFORD (28-5): The committee looked to Stanford's steadiness for much of the season in giving it the top seed in the Seattle 4 Region. The Cardinal are led by Cameron Brink and Haley Jones, who have combined to score more than 28 points per game this season. Look for a potential high-wattage battle for the Final Four against No. 2 seed Iowa, led by national player of the year candidate Caitlin Clark.
GAMES TO WATCH
No. 3 seed Notre Dame (25-5) vs. No. 14 seed Southern Utah (23-6), Friday. The Fighting Irish's chances for a deep run will certainly be affected by how seriously do-everything leader Olivia Miles is hurt. She left the ACC Tournament quarterfinals two weeks ago with a knee injury.
Monmouth (18-13) vs. Tennessee Tech (22-9), Thursday, ESPNU. Monmouth, surprise winners of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, have not played in the NCAA tourney since 1983 and get the chance to extend its stay in a First Four contest Wednesday. Either the Hawks or the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament champions in Tennessee Tech, both 16 seeds, will have to take on top-seed Indiana on Friday.
No. 5 seed Louisville (23-11) vs. No. 12 seed Drake (22-9), Saturday. The Cardinals were a Final Four team a season ago and start their journey back as a No. 5 seed. They’ll open things against Drake (22-9), which was seeded fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament yet defeated Belmont to take the league’s automatic bid. Louisville is led by Hailey Van Lith, who's averaged 19.2 points a game this season.
No. 4 seed Villanova (28-6) vs. No. 13 seed Cleveland State (30-4), Saturday. Villanova features one of the country's best players in Maddy Siegrist, a two-time Big East player of year. The Wildcats are in a stacked region with top seed Indiana, No. 2 seed Utah and No. 3 seed LSU in front of them. Cleveland State won the Horizon League and made the NCAAs for the first time since 2010.
HOW TO WATCH
Every game of the women’s tournament will be available on ESPN's networks or streaming, with fans encouraged to navigate to the “Watch” tab on ESPN’s sites. The NCAA will have a women's basketball specific March Madness app by AT&T.
There are multiple sites listing game times and other details, including the NCAA site.
BETTING GUIDE Who’s going to win the national championship? The betting favorites as of this week to reach the Final Four are (in order): South Carolina, UConn, Stanford, Indiana, Iowa and LSU, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The Gamecocks are a heavy favorite to become the first repeat champion in the women’s tournament since UConn won the last of four straight in 2016.
MARCH MADNESS CALENDAR Selection Sunday set the brackets for First Four games (March 15-16) and first- and second-round games (March 17-20) at multiple sites across the country.
Sweet 16 weekend brings a twist this year for the women’s teams: There will be two regional sites instead of four, with Greenville, South Carolina, and Seattle each hosting eight teams.
Where is the women’s Final Four? In Dallas, where the semifinals are March 31 and the championship game is April 2. As it happens, the men’s Final Four is a four-hour drive down the road in Houston that same weekend. | https://www.phillytrib.com/sports/basketball/march-madness-2023-south-carolina-women-chasing-3rd-title/article_61761841-9c2d-5e47-9224-67d9211e4d4b.html | 2023-03-13 16:48:46 | 0 | https://www.phillytrib.com/sports/basketball/march-madness-2023-south-carolina-women-chasing-3rd-title/article_61761841-9c2d-5e47-9224-67d9211e4d4b.html |
REHOVOT, Israel, Dec. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A poster presented at the recent ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress in Geneva demonstrates that the cResponse platform can be applied for the modeling and evaluation of immune modulating drugs in cancer tissue. The cResponse assay maintains the high viability of human cancer, uniquely preserving the 3D architecture together with its microenvironment, including immune cells for sufficient time to assess Immuno-oncology response. The data presented shows the capacity of T-Cells to undergo activation and cancer tissue recruitment when stimulated using an immuno-oncology compound, in colorectal, lung and pancreatic cancer.
Curesponse is a commercial stage precision oncology start up, maker of the cResponse platform, an AI-driven, functional-genomics drug prioritization technology.
"We are proud to present results applying our technology using an Immuno-oncology compound at the largest Immuno-Oncology conference in Europe" said Dr Vered Bar, VP R&D of Curesponse . "Modeling immuno-therapy response is critical for the development of more accurate cancer therapies and for targeting sensitive patient populations. Our combined genomic-functional platform has already been utilized by dozens of cancer researchers and global pharma companies and we look forward to offering the platform to cancer researchers and pharmaceutical partners globally".
The cResponse platform combines rapid next generation sequencing (NGS) with a proprietary functional assay that assesses the response of a cancerous tissue to various drug and drug combinations, while preserving functional Tumor Microenvironment (TME). This combination enables cResponse to be the world's first platform that can offer patients, oncologists, and pharma partners a truly empirical test that captures the sensitivity and resistance of an individual tumor to different drugs and drug combinations within 2 weeks from tissue sampling. The technology works across the full therapeutic modality spectrum including chemo-therapy, targeted therapy, and as in the case of this research immuno-therapy.
The company is collaborating with leading pharma partners, offering cResponse as a more timely and predictive drug development platform. In addition, the cResponse test is CE marked and is routinely reimbursed by private payers in Israel for personalized cancer treatment decision guidance. The test will be offered to cancer patients in the UK and EU in H1 2023, and to patients in the USA in 2024.
For further information please contact info@curesponse.tech
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1972847/cResponse.jpg
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Curesponse | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/12/21/curesponse-shows-applicability-next-generation-immuno-oncology-drugs-pan-cancer-cresponse-system/ | 2022-12-21 14:38:50 | 1 | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/12/21/curesponse-shows-applicability-next-generation-immuno-oncology-drugs-pan-cancer-cresponse-system/ |
ATLANTA (AP) — Courtney Williams scored 17 points, Alyssa Thomas added 15 and Connecticut held Atlanta to one field goal in the final seven minutes, defeating the Dream 72-61 on Sunday.
Thomas also had 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Sun (13-6). Williams grabbed 10 rebounds and DeWanna Bonner added 12 points.
Aari McDonald had 17 points and Rhyne Howard scored 12 for Atlanta (8-10).
Connecticut led by 11 points heading to the fourth quarter before a 3-pointer from McDonald and a pull-up 20-footer by Howard drew the Dream within seven with 7:04 remaining. However, the Dream went the next four minutes without a point and would make one more field goal the rest of the game — a 20-footer by Cheyenne Parker with 1:47 remaining.
Atlanta finished the game at 33% from the field and made just 5 of 19 3-pointers.
With Connecticut leading 58-51, Natisha Hiedeman hit a 3-pointer to put the Sun back up by 10 with 6:34 remaining. Courtney Williams added a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 64-51. Those were Connecticut's only two made 3-pointers in 20 attempts. The Sun shot 42% overall.
The Sun outscored the Dream 20-5 in the second quarter to build a 39-22 halftime lead.
___
More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Sun-shut-down-Dream-in-fourth-quarter-win-72-61-17266951.php | 2022-06-26 22:31:35 | 0 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Sun-shut-down-Dream-in-fourth-quarter-win-72-61-17266951.php |
WFO BUFFALO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, July 28, 2022
_____
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Buffalo NY
1026 AM EDT Thu Jul 28 2022
...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of northeastern Niagara
and Orleans Counties through 1100 AM EDT...
At 1026 AM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Middleport, or 9 miles northwest of Medina, moving east at 40 mph.
HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph, pea size hail, and heavy rain.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
possible. Heavy rains could cause flooding.
Locations impacted include...
Medina, Albion, Newfane, Middleport, Waterport, Lakeside Beach State
Park, Point Breeze, Kent, Ridgeway, Shelby, Gaines, Lyndonville,
Barker, Gasport, Barre Center, Knowlesville, and Olcott.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm.
Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe
shelter inside a building or vehicle.
LAT...LON 4336 7871 4341 7853 4342 7812 4317 7813
4317 7866
TIME...MOT...LOC 1426Z 252DEG 33KT 4329 7855
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/weather/article/NY-WFO-BUFFALO-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17334956.php | 2022-07-28 15:34:49 | 1 | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/weather/article/NY-WFO-BUFFALO-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17334956.php |
The U.S. Department of Education gets sued over free college program restrictions
Eastern Gateway sued the U.S. Department of Education on Friday, alleging violation of due process and overstepping their legal authority.
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September 7th, 2022Eastern Gateway Community College (EGCC) sued the U.S. Department of Education on Friday, alleging violation of due process and overstepping their legal authority.
On July 18, 2022 the Division Chief of the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Division sent a cease-and-desist letter to EGCC and to not disburse Pell grant funds to any new students enrolling in the Free College Benefit program, as EGCC statement from July 20,2022 reported.
EGCC hopes the complaint would provide some form of clarification for how to manage over 30,000 students awaiting answers regarding their collegiate career with EGCC.
“While we have tried to engage with the agency on their allegations and directive to cease offering the Free College Benefit Program, they have not responded to our questions, have not commented on our proposed modifications, have not released the program review on which their enforcement actions are based, and have not permitted us to take advantage of the administrative appeals process. In order to preserve access to education for our students, we had to take this legal action. We are optimistic that the court will agree that there is a better and more equitable way to address the concerns expressed by ED officials and help us maintain access to higher education for our students,” stated College President Michael Geoghegan in the latest release.
Eastern Gateway has operated a free College Benefit program for the past seven years, intended to help students pay for tuition after financial aid has been applied. However, The Education Department argued the program takes advantage of students who receive Pell funding by overcharging tuition fees when compared to students who do not use Pell, according to a letter the department sent Eastern Gateway.
RELATED CONTENT
Although EGCC disagreed with the Education Department’s letter, it suspended new enrollment to the Free College Program in July.
The lawsuit states 74.5% of the college revenue is derived from Pell grants.
“In order to preserve access to education for our students, we had to take this legal action,” Geoghegan said. “We are optimistic that the court will agree that there is a better and more equitable way to address the concerns expressed by ED officials and help us maintain access to higher education for our students.”
To read the lawsuit click here.
COPY AND OPEN NOW………>>> 𝐰𝐰𝐰.𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤.𝐜𝐨𝐦 | https://aldianews.com/en/education/education/us-dept-ed-sued-egcc | 2022-09-12 18:21:44 | 1 | https://aldianews.com/en/education/education/us-dept-ed-sued-egcc |
Tile ensures all that is missing isn't lost with easy-to-use QR adhesive Labels to complement Bluetooth capabilities
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tile, a Life360 company and the pioneer in finding technology, today announces the launch of Lost and Found Labels. Available now online on Tile.com, Lost and Found Labels combine an adhesive QR code Label with the free Tile app to connect owners and finders. Lost and Found Labels are Tile's latest solution to aid in its mission of keeping everyone connected to the things they love by simplifying the return of lost items to their owners.
Lost and Found Labels allow owners to attach the QR code Label to important items, and add contact information with a personalized message through the free Tile app. If the item is lost, the finder can simply scan the QR code Label, clearly marked with the Tile logo, view the provided contact information and return the item. Lost and Found Labels offer a discreet solution for adding identifiable information to items where Bluetooth trackers are not the right option. This reduces the time it takes to be reunited with lost items, and provides owners with peace of mind that if important items go missing, they will make it home. Items that would be a fit for Lost and Found Labels include school books, travel mugs, musical instruments, sports equipment, and earbud cases.
"The addition of Lost and Found Labels to Tile's product suite enhances our global network by making all important items findable," said Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Life360 Chris Hulls. "This is the first of many steps Life360 and Tile combined are taking to make every day easier with ways to stay organized, connected with family members, and safe."
Tile began incorporating QR codes on the back of Bluetooth devices in 2021 to support the return of lost items. Lost and Found Labels are Tile's first stand-alone QR code-style adhesive, making Tile's family of products that much more versatile to help users keep track of their favorite items. Tile's entire product line comes in various shapes, sizes, and styles, including the Tile Pro, Tile Mate, Tile Slim, and Tile Sticker.
Lost and Found Labels are available in forest, plum and teal colors and can be purchased at Tile.com.
Life360 operates a platform for today's busy families, bringing them closer together by helping them better know, communicate with and protect the people they care about most. The Company's core offering, the Life360 mobile app, is a market leading app for families, with features that range from communications to driving safety and location sharing. Life360 is based in San Francisco and had 42 million monthly active users (MAU) as at June 2022, located in more than 150 countries.
Tile, a Life360 company, locates millions of unique items every day by giving everything the power of smart location. Leveraging its superior nearby finding features and vast community that spans over 150 countries, Tile's cloud-based finding platform helps people find the things that matter to them most. In addition to devices in multiple form factors for a variety of use cases, Tile's finding technology is embedded in over 55 partner products across audio, travel, wearables, smart home, and PC categories. For more information, please visit Tile.com.
Media Contact:
Stephanie Reynolds
(415) 320-6143
press@life360.com
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SOURCE Life360 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2022/09/19/tile-launches-lost-found-labels-alongside-signature-bluetooth-trackers-creating-comprehensive-lost-found-network/ | 2022-09-19 16:56:13 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2022/09/19/tile-launches-lost-found-labels-alongside-signature-bluetooth-trackers-creating-comprehensive-lost-found-network/ |
As if canceled flights and lost luggage weren't enough of a hassle, would-be Southwest Airlines passengers faced another hurdle to their holiday travel this week: High fares on other carriers.
Southwest announced on Thursday it would resume normal operations this weekend, after canceling roughly 13,000 flights in the last week. Many of those who tried to find flights on different airlines encountered sky-high prices — in some cases, triple or quadruple the rate for the same route in the last few months.
Take, for example, a one-way ticket from Chicago to Denver, two of the cities impacted the most by Southwest's operations errors. Those Googling on Thursday for an afternoon ticket would've found the best price at Delta Air Lines: $599. A week ago, the price of the same flight was $139.
But even routes that weren't impacted by the storm, like a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco, were starting at $415 on United, more than four times higher than the cost three days ago.
The trend was strong enough to raise questions even for those who weren't slighted by Southwest. Were airlines taking advantage of weary travelers?
Before you start throwing around the term "price-gouging," though, consider what some experts told NPR this week.
Yes, fares are super high. But so is demand
"This kind of last-minute-booking price spike is actually fairly normal," said Sally French, a lead travel writer for NerdWallet.
"Unlike with other forms of travel where you might find a great last-minute hotel room or cruise cabin that the company is trying to fill, airfares rarely offer last-minute deals."
Kyle Potter, executive editor of Thrifty Traveler, said last-minute fares are always more expensive in part because, at this late in the booking game, supply of open seats is incredibly low.
"Planes are routinely 90-95%, even 100% full on a normal day these days. And demand right now is about as high as it gets. [We're] heading into the New Year, plus the storm has added to that," he told NPR.
Not to mention Southwest's relative size: The airline is one of the largest carriers in the country. That means that hundreds of thousands of Southwest customers were suddenly stranded this week, all simultaneously searching fare sites as they snaked through rebooking lines, texting their families who were at home doing the same.
"I really think part of what we're seeing play out here is less about the price itself and more about record-high awareness of these pricing patterns," Potter said. "Hundreds of thousands, even millions, of Americans are suddenly scrambling to find a last-minute ticket on another carrier. Plenty more are just looking out of curiosity."
Laura Lindsay, a global travel trends expert for Skyscanner, agrees that sudden change in inventory as travelers snap up seats is having an impact.
"Airlines use complicated algorithms to set their pricing [...] The one factor which outweighs all of these and is the ultimate determiner for the price paid: demand," she said.
"Flight prices are all based on supply and demand, and when demand is high, so are the airfares."
What you're seeing on that search tool might not be an economy seat
Potter said there's also an "alphabet soup" of fare class offerings, which each come with their own rules, restrictions and, yep, price.
"Airlines regularly pull certain fares from sale in the waning days before a flight – they don't want to offload their cheapest fare classes last minute and may need to keep some seats open for crew, upgrades, flight changes, etc.," Potter said.
Potter said a good practice is to check your eye-popping fare with the airline's website. Sometimes clicking through might reveal it as a business or first-class ticket.
You should also check the options again later: Sometimes an airline will add back a cheaper economy seat when they finalize crew schedules or flight changes.
Airlines said they'd limit fare increases through the weekend, but the details are fuzzy
As Southwest's cancellation wave drags on, airlines including American, Alaska, Delta and United all said they'd impose fare caps domestically for the next few days.
NPR requested specifics from the airlines, including a list of cities impacted and ceilings for the caps. None elaborated on their policies. A lack of price transparency is standard operating procedure for the highly competitive aviation industry.
"Fare caps are built into Alaska's everyday pricing model," said the West Coast-based airline. "In addition, we have further lowered fares in select cities and we're doing everything we can to get guests, whose travel was impacted by winter storms, to their destinations."
United Airlines said it capped fares through Saturday with a focus on "domestic and Latin American markets served by Southwest".
American Airlines said it first notified customers of the price cap rules via Twitter replies to screenshots showing thousand-dollar flights.
We’re doing our part to help get people where they need to be and we’re putting a cap on fares for select cities.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) December 28, 2022
In an interview with Nexstar Media, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he was working with other airlines to ensure they're offering affordable fares, but acknowledged that his power to enforce such fares was limited.
"We're going to look at every authority that we legally have, but, again, we're really expecting airlines to go beyond the legal minimum and do the right thing," he said. "It shouldn't take an enforcement action from our department in order to get people taken care of."
Those who suspect airlines are mistreating them can file a consumer protection complaint with USDOT. The department was unable to provide NPR with specific complaint numbers for the last week, but described the number as "surging".
One more thing: Don't bet on Southwest reimbursing your fare if you switch airlines
If you do decide to pay up for a new airline ticket, keep in mind that Southwest has no legal obligation to reimburse you for the difference.
Southwest has said they'll honor "reasonable requests" for reimbursement, but it's unclear what might constitute "reasonable". (Customers looking to make those reimbursement requests should use this self-service portal, the company has said).
This summer, Southwest told USDOT it would pay for meals, hotel accommodations and ground transportation for customers facing overnight cancellations. But it didn't agree it would cover rebooking on another airline when some of its competitors did.
There's nothing stopping Southwest from changing any of those policies now.
The Biden administration has proposed new rules around airline fees, but as it currently stands, U.S. law currently only requires airlines to offer a full refund after a cancellation.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/2022-12-30/flight-fare-prices-skyrocketed-following-southwests-meltdown-was-it-price-gouging | 2022-12-30 11:10:01 | 1 | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/2022-12-30/flight-fare-prices-skyrocketed-following-southwests-meltdown-was-it-price-gouging |
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to accurately reflect Amazon’s stage of planning for a fulfillment center in Greensboro, North Carolina.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – The dozens of fulfillment centers Amazon is closing, canceling or delaying means a proposed Greensboro facility may never come to fruition.
CNBC reported that there would be 44 canceled or closed facilities and 25 delayed sites, based on a post by logistics consultant MVPVL International. That report said that delivery stations are the most common type of facility being closed.”
Amazon said Thursday that plans for a Greensboro fulfillment center were never finalized.
Seattle-based Amazon doubled the size of its operations during the pandemic, adding more warehouses and workers to keep up with demand from homebound consumers who felt more comfortable buying things online. But as the worst of the pandemic eased, it found itself with too much warehouse space and too many workers. In May, it announced it planned to sublease some of its warehouse space.
In November, the Greensboro City Council approved the annexing and rezoning of 109 acres from residential property to light industrial for Amazon to open a distribution center.
Documents on file with the city planning department said a facility as large as 634,812 square feet could be built, and a representative for the developer told the City Council that “the tenant is committed to being a long-term asset in the community.”
The facility apparently would have employed about 1,000.
Nexstar’s WGHP reached out to Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan and City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba seeking comment on this development and was still awaiting a response at publishing time.
Thursday’s announcement might not be unpopular with residents near the site, some of whom have expressed displeasure with the rezoning to accommodate the facility.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.wdtn.com/nexstar-media-wire/amazon-closing-canceling-delaying-fulfillment-centers-nationwide/ | 2022-09-15 21:24:44 | 1 | https://www.wdtn.com/nexstar-media-wire/amazon-closing-canceling-delaying-fulfillment-centers-nationwide/ |
TSX.V: EU
OTCQB:ENCUF
www.encoreuranium.com
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Aug. 2, 2022 /CNW/ - enCore Energy Corp. ("enCore" or the "Company") (TSXV: EU) (OTCQB: ENCUF) today announced continuing positive results from its uranium delineation drilling programs at its 100% owned Rosita Project in South Texas. The on-going drilling program is currently concentrating on the Rosita Extension PAA (Production Authorization Area), adjacent to enCore's fully licensed Rosita ISR (In-Situ Recovery) Processing Plant. The drilling program has confirmed, expanded and upgraded the historic mineralized trends, which will be the initial source of uranium feed for processing at the Rosita Plant.
Highlights of the Rosita Extension Project uranium delineation drill program include:
- Significant mineralization in 59 of 145 holes with Grade Thickness (GT) above 0.3 encountered in 37 holes ("GT" or "Grade Thickness" is defined as the grade multiplied by the thickness of a mineralized intercept). A GT of 0.3 is the established minimum for inclusion in a wellfield for shallow ISR, with 0.45 considered typical ISR ore-grade for shallow deposits;
- High-grade mineralization was encountered in 8 holes which have a GT of 0.85 to 1.73;
- Delineation drill results have established three distinct mineralized horizons in the sandstone host rock as opposed to only one that was previously identified within the PAA;
- The Company has expanded the drill program to four drill rigs on site.
Please visit https://bit.ly/3Q6WJMG to view Rosita project maps and view the Rosita drill program video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlFSTsFvPnA&t=1s.
Paul Goranson, enCore Energy Chief Executive Officer said, "enCore continues to be pleased with the drill results in terms of both grade and extent of mineralization at our Rosita Extension area. We look forward to additional drilling results as we advance the project into development. enCore remains on budget and on schedule to meet its 2023 operational plans and contract delivery commitments."
enCore's Rosita Plant, located approximately 60 miles from Corpus Christi, Texas, is a licensed, past-producing in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium plant that is completing refurbishment. The final stage of refurbishment work will be completed with the delivery of six pumps that have been delayed due to unexpected supply chain interruptions. We remain on budget and the delay is not expected to impact scheduled production startup in 2023. The Rosita Plant is designed to process uranium feed from multiple satellite operations, all located in the South Texas area, and is 1 of 11 licensed and constructed uranium processing plants in the United States, 2 of which are owned by enCore Energy.
All drill holes are 5.625-inch diameter rotary-mud holes. Each hole is logged with electrical and gamma methods upon completion. Any anomalous gamma readings are followed up with Prompt Fission Neutron (PFN) surveys which provide direct and accurate in-situ uranium values eliminating any concerns over disequilibrium. The Company owns and operates 2 logging trucks and 5 PFN tools.
Many uranium deposits have a degree of disequilibrium, whereby the radioactivity measured in drill holes using traditional gamma methods does not accurately correspond to ore grade, due to the continued decay of uranium daughter products including potassium, thorium, lead and bismuth relative to radium (Ra226), a significant gamma emitter. Traditionally, accurate uranium values are therefore determined by chemical assay of drill core which is time consuming and expensive.
Without accurate uranium values, the potential for inaccurate estimates of mineralization on both the high and low side is ever present. Real-time PFN analysis accurately eliminates potential errors by using neutron activation to directly detect and quantify uranium content in place down the drill hole.
The PFN tool creates very fast neutrons (14MeV) and fires 108 neutrons per second. Therefore, the neutrons emitted by the PFN tool excite, at an atomic level, in-situ uranium atoms in the drill hole, creating fast (epithermal) neutrons and slow (thermal) neutrons. The ratio of epithermal to thermal neutrons is proportional to uranium, allowing the U3O8 ore grade to be accurately calculated. This provides a relatively inexpensive and instantaneous means for accurate assaying of in-situ ore grades over large areas, and it allows for accurate ore body mapping, resource estimation, and wellfield planning.
Mark Pelizza, MSc. Geo. Eng., CPG-11821, a Director for the Company, and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has approved the technical disclosure in this news release.
With approximately 90 million pounds of U3O8 estimated in the measured and indicated categories and 9 million pounds of U3O8 estimated in the inferred category1, enCore is the most diversified in-situ recovery uranium development company in the United States. enCore is focused on becoming the next uranium producer from its licensed and past-producing South Texas Rosita Processing Plant by 2023. The South Dakota-based Dewey Burdock project and the Wyoming Gas Hills project offer mid-term production opportunities, with significant New Mexico uranium resource endowments providing long-term opportunities. The enCore team is led by industry experts with extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of ISR uranium operations and the nuclear fuel cycle.
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the intended use of the net proceeds of the Offering and the completion of any capital project or property acquisitions. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; future legislative and regulatory developments; inability to access additional capital; the ability of enCore to implement its business strategies; and other risks. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
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SOURCE enCore Energy Corp. | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/08/02/encore-energy-q22022-uranium-drilling-update-new-trend-discovery-rosita-project-texas/ | 2022-08-02 11:49:25 | 1 | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/08/02/encore-energy-q22022-uranium-drilling-update-new-trend-discovery-rosita-project-texas/ |
Virgin Galactic plans its next commercial flight to the edge of space for August
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Virgin Galactic is aiming for early August for its next flight to the edge of space, a trip that is expected to include the first of many ticket holders who have been waiting years for their chance at weightlessness aboard the company’s rocket-powered plane.
The company announced Thursday that the window for the commercial flight from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico will open Aug. 10. The short up-and-down flight will be streamed live on Virgin Galactic’s website.
Virgin Galactic confirmed that three private passengers will be on the flight. The plane has room for six — two Virgin Galactic pilots and four passengers.
Hundreds of people have purchased tickets over the years, including celebrities, scientists and entrepreneurs. The company is expected to release more details about the crew and three passengers next week.
The flight will mark Virgin Galactic’s third this year. The most recent was in June — a research flight during which two Italian Air Force officers and an engineer with the National Research Council of Italy conducted a series of microgravity experiments during their moments of weightlessness.
Virgin Galactic has been working for more than a decade to send paying passengers on short space hops and in 2021 finally won the federal government’s approval. Founder Richard Branson joined Virgin Galactic employees for the first flight that summer.
It usually takes about an hour for the mother ship to carry the plane to an altitude where it is released and fires its rocket motor to make the final push to the edge of space.
Once they reach their highest point, passengers can unstrap from their seats, float around the cabin for a few minutes and take in views of the Earth. Then they strap in for the glide back down to the runway.
Virgin Galactic plans to fly monthly from its outpost in the New Mexico desert.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/13/virgin-galactic-plans-its-next-commercial-flight-edge-space-august/ | 2023-07-13 20:41:51 | 1 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/2023/07/13/virgin-galactic-plans-its-next-commercial-flight-edge-space-august/ |
ATLANTA, July 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rollins Inc. (NYSE: ROL), a premier global consumer and commercial services company, announced today that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved the Company's long-term leadership succession plan.
The plan provides that effective January 1, 2023, the Company's current President and Chief Operating Officer, Jerry Gahlhoff Jr., is expected to become Rollins' President and Chief Executive Officer. Gary W. Rollins, current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is expected to remain as Chairman of the Board of Directors. In preparation for this expected promotion, Jerry will spend the next 5 months working on this transition with Gary and John Wilson, Vice Chairman.
"I've had the pleasure of supporting the company and our pest control business for over 56 years and am fortunate to have had the opportunity to lead this great organization," said Gary Rollins, Chairman and CEO at Rollins. "I look forward to Jerry's advancement and my continuation as Chairman of the Board. I am extremely pleased with our succession plan and our outstanding leadership team."
Jerry joined Rollins during the Company's 2008 acquisition of HomeTeam, where he served in a variety of leadership roles including President. He was named President and COO of Rollins in 2020 and joined the Board of Directors in 2021.
"Jerry is an exceptional leader, with great vision and a deep understanding of our industry and our customers," Rollins said. "His years of service have been marked by outstanding performance, most recently as our President and COO. Jerry has had the unique opportunity to be intimately involved in most every facet of our organization. I have the utmost confidence he will continue to build on the strong heritage of our organization, and its track record."
Jerry Gahlhoff commented, "I am deeply honored to be named incoming CEO and look forward to leading this great organization into our next phase of growth and achievement. I am confident that the solid foundation Gary and others have created over the years – grounded in our culture of providing excellent customer service and business expansion – will serve us for years to come. Our entire organization is grateful for Gary's leadership, and I know we will continue to benefit from his vision and guidance as our Chairman."
ABOUT ROLLINS, INC.
Rollins, Inc. is a premier global consumer and commercial services company. Through its family of leading brands, Orkin, HomeTeam Pest Defense, Clark Pest Control, Northwest Exterminating, McCall Service, Trutech, Critter Control, Western Pest Services, Waltham Services, OPC Pest Services, The Industrial Fumigant Company, PermaTreat, Crane Pest Control, Missquito, Orkin Canada, Orkin Australia, Safeguard (UK), Aardwolf Pestkare (Singapore), and more, the Company and its franchises provide essential pest control services and protection against termite damage, rodents and insects to more than 2.8 million customers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia from more than 800 locations. You can learn more about Rollins and its subsidiaries by visiting our web site at www.rollins.com, where you can also find this and other news releases by accessing the news releases button.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release together with other statements and information publicly disseminated by the Company, may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning the business of Rollins, Inc. We have based these forward- looking statements largely on our current opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions and projections about future events. Such forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans and expectations in connection with the CEO succession plan and transition of CEO leadership from Mr. Rollins to Mr. Gahlhoff, the relationship of Mr. Rollins to the Company post-transition and other plans and expectations.
It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events discussed in this press release may not occur and actual results may differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should read this press release with the understanding that our actual future results, performance and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect. In addition, these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in the section titled "Risk Factors" set forth in Part I, Item 1A of our 2021 Annual Report and in our other SEC filings. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and you should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements because of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. While we believe that such information provides a reasonable basis for these statements, such information may be limited or incomplete. These statements are inherently uncertain, and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on these statements.
For Further Information
Julie Bimmerman (404) 888-2103
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SOURCE Rollins, Inc. | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/07/27/rollins-inc-board-directors-approves-2023-ceo-succession-plan/ | 2022-07-27 15:38:58 | 0 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/07/27/rollins-inc-board-directors-approves-2023-ceo-succession-plan/ |
School photographer facing child porn charges; previously arrested for lewd acts
GILBERT, Ariz. (Arizona’s Family/Gray News) - Authorities in Arizona say a school photographer has been arrested and is facing child porn charges.
Arizona’s Family reports that undercover agents began investigating an online chat in November 2022 where they identified Robert Anthony Lagunas making sexually charged statements about images being shared in the group chat.
According to court documents, an agent private messaged Lagunas, who said he was a 29-year-old man living in Arizona.
Later, Lagunas reportedly told the undercover agent that he was a school photographer, adding that he worked at elementary, middle and high schools.
When asked if he had done anything, Lagunas responded, “sadly, no,” as stated in court documents.
Agents said they then subpoenaed all of Lagunas’ accounts that pinpointed him to a home in the Gilbert area.
Investigators continued their surveillance of Lagunas into this year, including obtaining a location of a high school where he reportedly took school pictures.
Special agents said they later confirmed with a Lifetouch manager that Lagunas was employed with the company and had been assigned to take pictures at the school.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said that Lagunas was arrested at his home Thursday morning.
Arizona’s Family reports that previous criminal records uncovered that Lagunas had been arrested in 2008 in California for alleged lewd acts with a child under 14. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years probation.
Copyright 2023 Arizona's Family via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbay.com/2023/02/03/school-photographer-facing-child-porn-charges-previously-arrested-lewd-acts/ | 2023-02-03 21:51:19 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/2023/02/03/school-photographer-facing-child-porn-charges-previously-arrested-lewd-acts/ |
SportScene 13 for Monday, March 20th
Updated: 6 minutes ago
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - UW-Eau Claire Athletic Director Dan Schumacher is retiring.
Also, scores from Blugolds baseball and softball and WBCA honorees.
Copyright 2023 WEAU. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/2023/03/21/sportscene-13-monday-march-20th/ | 2023-03-21 03:52:36 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/2023/03/21/sportscene-13-monday-march-20th/ |
Some have reported a shortage of menstrual products is impacting women across the US. The recent shortage has left shelves in major drug stores completely empty.
One of the hardest brands to find right now is Tampax.
Its maker, Procter and Gamble, acknowledged the problem but said the situation is only temporary and that it's producing tampons 24/7 to replenish the supply.
Even if the shortage is short-lived, nonprofits that provide these products to needy people said they have to turn people away.
PERIOD distributes free menstrual products nationwide. The group used to get massive donations, but service manager Kate Barker Swindell said those have slowed significantly in recent months.
“So we had to take the unusual step of closing our waitlist and just we're just working through it now and like sorry we can't take any more,” said Swindell.
She said supply chain issues and increased demand are likely to blame for the decline. She also blames policy.
“When these items are not deemed as essential when they're not deemed as necessary, included in programs as things that people need, they languish,” she said. “They don't get the attention they need.
Food stamps and other relief programs do not currently cover feminine hygiene products. It’s estimated that more than 20% of women have trouble affording these products each month. | https://www.ksby.com/news/national/tampon-shortage-making-products-hard-to-find-for-nonprofits | 2022-06-20 15:52:04 | 1 | https://www.ksby.com/news/national/tampon-shortage-making-products-hard-to-find-for-nonprofits |
CEDAR FALLS — Cedar Falls Community Schools' officials Monday detailed how supplemental dollars are spent to help “at-risk” students.
The money is raised every year by the district through property taxes but the modified supplemental funding must first get approval from the state's School Budget Review Committee.
The Board of Education unanimously approved submitting the application to levy $1.02 million in property taxes as part of the 2023-24 budget. That amount would be raised with a tax rate of $0.45 per $1,000 of assessed value, an increase of just under 2 cents from the current year.
“This is one area where we as a board have discretion because it’s an assessment for property taxes,” said board president Jeff Hassman. “It’s a very important thing. We want our students to be successful."
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Jill White, executive director of student services, said at-risk can mean any students who require additional support because they’re not expected to meet the goals of their educational program. They largely include homeless youth as well returning dropouts in grades 7-12 and students who are deemed "potential dropouts" due factors like absenteeism, lack of extracurricular participation, disciplinary issues, or poor grades.
“Last year, we had 17 returning dropouts at the high school that we served plus 18 students who didn’t meet graduation requirements but came back to finish the year,” White said. “Our high school does a great job of finding those kids and making sure that we get them to graduate.”
Each year, about 50 to 60 students are classified as homeless.
Of the potential funding, $132,869 would go toward mental health services, funding 2.6 full-time equivalent positions. More specifically, that would include two full-time therapists and two part-time therapists along with two interns.
Last year, they served 193 students – ages 4-19 – and that happened in a little more than 2,800 therapy sessions.
The alternative programs and intervention center, or “in-school suspension out of school,” would receive $389,177 for 3.5 full-time equivalent positions. The alternative options served 72 students while the intervention center served 164 students last year.
Other secondary supports, supplemental reading programs and the district’s summer reading program would receive $821,844. Those programs served 200 students, 533 students, and 150 students, respectively, last year.
The junior high ECHOES program offers clubs and enrichment, assistance with homework, and an overall positive and safe space for students after school. ECHOES, a similar high school program and another orientation program for incoming seventh graders known as BOOST would receive $20,168.
ECHOES, which stands for Every Child Has an Opportunity to Excel and Succeed, is estimated to serve 100 students per week while the after-school high school program serves 250 students per year and the summer BOOST program served about 360 students last year.
In addition, $26,000 would fund the high school resource officer position in partnership with the city. Another $124,761 would be for other personnel hours and supplies for additional student support services.
The total budget is $1.51 million. Other funding sources include a 25% match of $341,000 from the district's general fund and $150,761 remaining from last year's budget.
In other business, the board:
- Held a hearing for an estimated $525,000 in roof replacements at Cedar Heights Elementary and Holmes Junior High schools. Bids will now be sought for the construction and are expected to be considered by the board Feb. 13.
- Approved a $334,900 contract with H2I Group for new scoreboards at the future Cedar Falls Senior High School on West 27th Street, which includes the base bid and an alternate. The scoreboards will be in the main and auxiliary gymnasiums and the future stadium. The district had $350,000 budgeted for the enhancements and one of the three bids coming in under that amount was a surprise to officials, given inflationary pressures.
- Approved a change order reducing the cost of the future swimming facility at the new high school by $203,326. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/cedar-falls-schools-seeks-taxing-authority-to-help-at-risk-students/article_6ad452fe-536a-5737-9e90-59f38b64e224.html | 2023-01-10 16:04:34 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/cedar-falls-schools-seeks-taxing-authority-to-help-at-risk-students/article_6ad452fe-536a-5737-9e90-59f38b64e224.html |
National Public Radio is quitting Twitter after the social media platform owned by Elon Musk stamped NPR’s account with labels the news organization says are intended to undermine its credibility.
Twitter labeled NPR’s main account last week as “state-affiliated media, ” a term also used to identify media outlets controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments, such as Russia and China. Twitter later changed the label to “government-funded media,” but to NPR — which relies on the government for a tiny fraction of its funding — it’s still misleading.
NPR said in a statement Wednesday that it “will no longer be active on Twitter because the platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent.”
“Defund @NPR,” was Musk’s tweeted response. His latest tiff with a news organization reflects a gamble for the social media platform he bought last year.
Twitter, more than any of its rivals, has said its users come to it to keep track of current events. That made it an attractive place for news outlets to share their stories and reinforced Twitter’s moves to combat the spread of misinformation. But Musk has long expressed disdain for professional journalists and said he wants to elevate the views and expertise of the “average citizen.”
The Public Broadcasting Service said Wednesday it has also stopped tweeting from its main account and that the public TV organization has no plans to resume because “Twitter’s simplistic label leaves the inaccurate impression that PBS is wholly funded by the federal government.”
Media analysts say growing friction between Twitter and news organizations since Musk bought the platform is bad for Twitter, and bad for the public.
“It’s a shame to have proceeded in a direction where, intentionally or otherwise, Twitter is categorizing Russian propaganda outlets in a similar way to very legitimate news sources that get a very modest amount of funding from the U.S. government,” said Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.
This is just the latest example of Musk tangling with mainstream news organizations. He abruptly suspended the accounts of individual journalists who wrote about Twitter late last year, claiming some were trying to reveal his location.
Twitter earlier in April removed the verification check mark on the main account of The New York Times, singling out the newspaper and disparaging its reporting after it said it would not pay Twitter for verification of its institutional accounts.
Twitter used to tag journalists and other high-profile accounts with blue check marks to verify their identity and distinguish them from impostors. But Musk has derided the marks as an undeserved status symbol and plans to take them away from anyone not buying a premium subscription. Those cost as little as $8 a month for individuals and a minimum of $1,000 a month for organizations.
Barrett said Musk appears to be intent on “insulting and antagonizing individuals and organizations that he considers to be too liberal for his taste.” But by driving away legitimate news outlets, Twitter is only harming itself, he said.
“The drift is in an unfortunate direction,” Barrett said. “You want to encourage sources of reliable, well-reported news to be present and prolific on your platform.”
NPR’s main account, which joined Twitter in 2007, had not tweeted since April 4. On Wednesday, it sent a series of tweets listing other places to find its journalism.
NPR spokesperson Isabel Lara said its journalists, employees and member stations can decide on their own if they want to keep using the platform. NPR journalists have not been given the “government-funded” label, at least not yet.
NPR does receive U.S. government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company has said it accounts for less than 1% of NPR’s annual operating budget. Much of its funding comes from sponsorships and dues from its member stations around the U.S., which in turn get revenue from a range of funders including public institutions, corporate donors and listeners.
Twitter’s new labels have often appeared arbitrarily assigned. For example, Twitter hasn’t added the “government-funded” label for many other public broadcasting organizations, such as those in Canada and Australia. It also has changed some labels without explanation, such as when it removed a “United Arab Emirates state-affiliated media” tag from the profile of Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper earlier this year.
In an interview Tuesday with a BBC technology reporter at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, Musk acknowledged that the British organization “is not thrilled” about the label it received and asked the reporter for feedback.
“Our goal was simply to be as truthful and accurate as possible,” Musk said. “So I think we’re adjusting the label to be ‘publicly funded,’ which I think is perhaps not too objectionable. We’re trying to be accurate.”
The BBC said Wednesday it would welcome being described as publicly funded instead of government-funded. Hours later, BBC got its “publicly funded media” label, but not NPR or PBS.
The literary organization PEN America said news organizations are making understandable responses to Twitter’s “unpredictable and capricious” policy decisions but the loss to consumers will be significant.
Liz Woolery, PEN America’s digital policy leader, said “Musk’s approach to managing Twitter has come at the expense of information integrity and user trust, and it has only made it harder for users to sift through the maelstrom of online content to find what is credible.”
___
AP Writers David Bauder and Kelvin Chan contributed to this report. | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/entertainment-news/npr-quits-elon-musks-twitter-over-government-funded-label/ | 2023-04-13 13:50:19 | 1 | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/entertainment-news/npr-quits-elon-musks-twitter-over-government-funded-label/ |
BBB: Scammers could use student loan forgiveness as opportunity to strike
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The announced student loan forgiveness has the Better Business Bureau (BBB) anticipating scammers will use this as an opportunity to strike.
Wednesday’s announcement has many looking for information to see if they qualify for the loan forgiveness. Online, the search leads to the federal student aid website. That’s one place where scammers could take advantage.
The Better Business Bureau said over the course of the next few weeks and months, scammers could reach out, seeking information by claiming to provide “help” with federal student loan forgiveness.
BBB Kansas Region Vice President Denise Groene said it’s important to understand there is no action borrowers need to take.
“(The) federal government will never contact you by email, phone or even text message unsolicited,” Groene said. “So, that’s going to be your first red flag, especially if you are a recipient of federal grants or Pell grants.”
She said it’s important for you to know not to respond to any phishing attempts, nor do you want to give out any personal information about yourself.
If you want to receive updates on the student loan forgiveness plan, including when an application will open, you can sign up for emails from the U.S. Department of Education and subscribe to federal student loan borrower updates.
Copyright 2022 KWCH. All rights reserved. | https://www.kwch.com/2022/08/25/bbb-scammers-could-use-student-loan-forgiveness-opportunity-strike/ | 2022-08-25 21:45:24 | 0 | https://www.kwch.com/2022/08/25/bbb-scammers-could-use-student-loan-forgiveness-opportunity-strike/ |
Car buyers bear a heavy burden as Federal Reserve keeps raising rates: Auto-loan rejections are up
NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday to raise its benchmark rate for the 11th time, by a quarter-point, could once again send ripple effects across the economy.
Mortgage rates, which have surged since the Fed began lifting rates in March 2022, may now rise further. So could rates on credit cards and some business loans.
Perhaps no one has felt the pain more than car buyers. It’s not just that sticker prices are way up. Or that lenders have tightened credit standards. On top of all that, steadily higher auto loan rates have elbowed many would-be buyers out of the market.
Consider: A study by the New York Federal Reserve has found that 14% of applicants for auto loans were rejected over the past year — the highest such proportion since the New York Fed began tracking the figure in 2013 — up from 9% in February.
Auto-loan applicants, of course, aren’t the only borrowers being turned down in larger numbers these days. In that same June 2022-June 2023 period, applicant rejections for credit cards, mortgages, mortgage refinancings and higher credit card limits all rose, too, according to the New York Fed. Overall, the rejection rate for credit applicants reached 21.8 percent, the highest level since June 2018.
Some of those rejections reflect the subpar credit of loan applicants. But some are a direct consequence of the Fed’s rate increases — the most aggressive in four decades. Those hikes, in turn, have made high-cost purchases out of reach for some.
HOW WILL BORROWERS BE AFFECTED BY THE FED’S LATEST MOVE?
Credit card rates are at or near all-time peaks, and mortgage rates have more than doubled in two years.
“No one should expect them to stop rising anytime soon,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst of LendingTree. “Perhaps the scariest thing of all for folks with credit card debt is that interest rates are actually rising more quickly than the Fed is forcing them to.”
The average Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on a currently held credit card that charges interest is 22.16%, according to the latest data from the Fed. That’s up about 6 percentage points from the average rate in the first quarter of 2022. The average APR on a new credit card offer is 24.24%, the highest rate since LendingTree began tracking it in 2019.
Whenever possible, Schulz recommends that card users consider asking their issuers to lower their APR. LendingTree recently concluded that a majority of cardholders who had asked their card issuers for a lower rate received one. The average reduction was significant — 6 percentage points.
“It is well worth your time to make that call,” Schulz said.
I NEED TO BUY A CAR. WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK FOR AUTO LOANS?
Many people were already having trouble affording new vehicles before Wednesday’s quarter-point Fed hike. The average price paid for a new vehicle last month was nearly $48,000 — about 25% above the pre-pandemic average. Used vehicle prices have jumped by even more: The average one now costs nearly $30,000, a stinging 45% above what it was before the pandemic.
In some cases, even people with good credit are being rejected for auto loans. The problem for them is that with vehicle prices up sharply, the additional burden of higher loan rates — from 4.5% on average in March 2022 to 7.2% in June — has made monthly payments unaffordable.
“I think people are just not able to qualify for the payments,” says Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights for Edmunds.com.
The average monthly auto payment last month, she said, was $736. Over the life of an an average loan — just under six years — a typical borrower is paying nearly $9,000 in interest.
David Kelleher, who owns David Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, said he has seen loan rejections rise even in his affluent Philadelphia suburb, though not as much as they have nationally. The larger loan sums that borrowers are now financing, along with a small uptick in delinquencies, have made lenders more cautious.
“I think that’s probably making them tighten the reins a little bit,” he said.
Kelleher said he hopes the Fed stops raising rates after this week, given that vehicle prices, a key component of inflation, have begun to ease. Prices had skyrocketed in 2021, a result of high demand as the economy roared out of the pandemic recession and clogged supply chains caused a severe shortage of vehicles for sale.
“These interest rates,” Kelleher said, “are really starting to hurt us.”
Martin Schwartz, founder and CEO of Vehicles for Change, a nonprofit that helps low-income families obtain cars, said that requests for vehicles from people who don’t qualify for loans have surged in the past year. He attributes the increase, in part, to the higher interest rates.
“The impact on families living in poverty is exponential,” Schwartz said. “If they can even afford a car at the retail prices used cars are selling at, interest rates are going to kill them. If they can afford the car and squeeze the payments out with the interest rates, the repairs are gonna kill them. The combination of those things means we’re getting more and more requests from all over the country.”
Caldwell, of Edmunds.com, said she doesn’t expect the Fed’s latest hike in its benchmark rate — to its highest level in 22 years — to significantly affect current auto loan rates. With factories cranking out more autos and vehicle availability improving, she expects automakers to spend more to subsidize loan rates to help fuel sales.
Despite the rising cost burden, auto sales have remained relatively solid as prices have eased slightly and the supply of vehicles has grown: For the past two months, sales have hit an annual rate of 15 million.
WHAT’S IN STORE FOR SAVERS?
That’s where the good news lies: Yields on savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs) have reached their highest levels in a decade, said Ken Tumin, a banking expert and founder of DepositAccounts.com. The average online savings account yield is 4.08%, up from 3.31% at the start of this year, according to DepositAccounts.com.
Even juicier yields are available from CDs. The average online one-year CD yield is now 4.89%, up from 4.37% on Jan. 1 and from a puny 1.90% one year ago. The average online five-year CD yield is 3.93%, down from 4.04% on Jan. 1, but up from 2.89% a year ago.
All that said, those richer yields might not last if price pressures across the economy ease further.
“If we continue to get good news on inflation in the coming months,” Tumin said, “expect long-term CD rates to drift downward.”
WHAT ABOUT MORTGAGES?
If the economy does cool, Jacob Channel, senior economist for LendingTree, predicts that mortgage rates will end the year closer to 6% than to 7%. The current national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Freddie Mac, is 6.78%.
Rates have fluctuated sharply this year. The average 30-year fixed rate, which had pierced 7% back in October, fell to just above 6% in early February before surging back to 6.96% in mid-July. On the heels of better-than-expected inflation data for June, the average mortgage rate has eased a bit again.
“This goes to show just how much mortgage rates can vary from week to week and how hard it can be to truly determine what trend they’re going to follow in the long term,” Channel said. “It’s likely that mortgage rates will continue to fluctuate in the face of the uncertainty that permeates today’s economy.”
IS THE FED MANAGING TO DEFEAT INFLATION?
The Fed has clearly achieved progress. Inflation, which peaked above 9% last year, was just 3% in June compared with a year earlier. That’s thanks, in part, to easing prices for gasoline, airline fares, used cars and groceries.
Even so, current measures of inflation remain above the Fed’s 2% target. The result is that many households are still being squeezed by higher prices and struggling to afford basic necessities. Reducing inflation back to the Fed’s target level will require more time.
And that means high rates on consumer and business loans are likely to remain in place well into 2024.
___
Krisher contributed from Detroit.
___
The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.ktre.com/2023/07/26/car-buyers-bear-heavy-burden-federal-reserve-keeps-raising-rates-auto-loan-rejections-are-up/ | 2023-07-26 20:08:20 | 0 | https://www.ktre.com/2023/07/26/car-buyers-bear-heavy-burden-federal-reserve-keeps-raising-rates-auto-loan-rejections-are-up/ |
National transportation and logistics provider increases national presence, purchasing power and expands service line offerings
HATTIESBURG, Miss. and SHELBYVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jones Logistics ("JoLo"), a national specialized transportation and logistics company, announces today the acquisition of Nationwide Express ("Nationwide").
Based in Central Tennessee, Nationwide provides dedicated trucking services, warehousing, 3PL logistic services, recycling transportation, and waste management solutions. Its geographic footprint includes operations in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
JoLo is a portfolio company of Jones Capital. Based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, JoLo delivers freight brokerage, managed transportation, and dedicated services to clients across the United States. Through this acquisition, JoLo expands not only its geographic footprint, but also its service line offerings and capabilities, which will now include warehousing and enhanced intermodal and managed transportation solutions. Further, JoLo can now offer Nationwide's customers access to its broad and deep carrier base and its nationwide dedicated offerings.
"Nationwide Express is a highly reputable organization rooted in the same fundamentals of professionalism, quality, and customer satisfaction as Jones Logistics. We share very similar core values and feel that we have complimentary cultures, which was so important to us when looking at this opportunity" says Brian Haynes, CEO of Jones Logistics. "We are excited to welcome the Nationwide Express team to the Jones Logistics family, and we are eager to bring the benefits of our combined team, network, and capabilities to our customer base."
With the acquisition of Nationwide, JoLo's headcount now tops more than 700 team members, with a fleet of over 500 trucks. The combination of the business further enhances JoLo's national presence, flexibility in operations and facilities, and breadth of service and logistics solutions.
"We congratulate Jones Logistics in this latest chapter of their growth and welcome Nationwide Express to the Jones Capital family," says Tom Caughlin, President of Jones Capital. "The Nationwide Express team and ownership group have built a tremendous business over the years, and we look forward to building upon their historic success for the benefit of their customers, employees, and respective communities."
For over 23 years, Jones Logistics has been focused on delivering freight brokerage, managed transportation and dedicated services to clients across the United States. Headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the company has over 700 employees across 25 states. The expertise of Jones Logistics has evolved beyond general transportation to include more specialized services such as brokerage capabilities, flatbed, heavy haul, transportation of forestry by-products, and the dedicated services division. Regardless of industry, the team at Jones Logistics locates the right resources for any transportation or logistics requirement.
Jones Capital (Jones) began as a family business with a simple mission: to help communities, provide jobs and enhance lives. Today, with locations in Houston, TX and Hattiesburg, MS, Jones carries on that mission by being a growth-oriented, value-added capital partner to businesses and management teams that share our common values and vision for long-term, sustainable growth that benefits all stakeholders – customers, communities, employees, and shareholders. Jones.com
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SOURCE Jones Logistics | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/02/02/jones-logistics-acquires-nationwide-express/ | 2023-02-02 17:31:25 | 0 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/02/02/jones-logistics-acquires-nationwide-express/ |
Contact Center Automation leader earns prestigious industry recognition
SAN FRANCISCO, June 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Replicant, the leader in Contact Center Automation, has been named the Best Artificial Intelligence Driven Technology Solution of 2022 as part of the annual SIIA CODiE Awards. The CODiE Awards recognizes companies producing the most innovative business technology products around the world.
"Replicant is honored to be recognized by SIIA as the leading native artificial intelligence solution in 2022," said Gadi Shamia, CEO and Co-founder of Replicant. "The CODiE Awards have built a strong reputation as the top peer-recognized program in the business industry and this award serves as incredible market validation for our work as innovators in Contact Center Automation."
Replicant was founded in 2017 to help companies automate their most common customer service calls while empowering agents to focus on more complex and nuanced customer challenges with Contact Center Automation. Replicant's AI platform allows consumers to engage in natural conversations across voice, messaging and other digital channels to resolve their customer support issues, without the wait, 24/7. In 2022, Replicant closed its Series B funding of $78 million, bringing its total funding to more than $110 million.
"Even during these tumultuous times, business application, software, service and product providers continued the industry's long tradition of developing and marketing innovative solutions to meet business needs," said SIIA President Jeff Joseph. "We are proud to recognize this year's class of CODiE Award winners. They truly represent the best of the best in a highly-competitive and ever-evolving market."
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association for the software and digital content industries, announced the full slate of CODiE winners during an online winner announcement June 8 in the metaverse.
Acknowledged as the premier awards program for the software and information industries for over 35 years, the SIIA CODiE Awards are produced by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association for the software, education, media and digital content industries. Replicant was honored as one of 46 winners across the 45 business technology categories, including seven leadership categories recognizing outstanding companies, individuals and teams.
The SIIA CODiE Awards are the industry's only peer-reviewed awards program. The first-round review of all nominees is conducted by software and business technology experts with considerable industry expertise, including analysts, media, bloggers, bankers and investors. The scores from the expert judge review determine the finalists. SIIA members then vote on the finalist products, and the scores from both rounds are tabulated to select the winners.
Forty-three awards were given this year for products and services deployed specifically for B2B software, information and media companies, including the Best Overall Business Technology Product, awarded to the product with the highest scores of both rounds of judging.
More information about the Awards is available at: siia.net/CODiE.
Details about the winners are listed at https://siia.net/codie/business-technology-winners/
The SIIA CODiE Awards is the only peer-reviewed program to showcase business and education technology's finest products and services. Since 1986, thousands of products, services and solutions have been recognized for achieving excellence. For more information, visit siia.net/CODiE.
As a leader in Contact Center Automation, Replicant helps companies automate their most common customer service calls while empowering agents to focus on more complex and nuanced customer challenges. Replicant's AI platform allows consumers to engage in natural conversations across voice, messaging and other digital channels to resolve their customer support issues, without the wait, 24/7. Replicant scales up or down instantly, can be implemented in weeks and handles millions of customer support interactions a month. For more information, please visit www.replicant.com. Follow Replicant on Twitter @Replicant_AI.
Media Contact:
Kristin Hege
Kristin@Conveypr.com
480-540-6496
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SOURCE Replicant | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/06/15/replicant-receives-siia-codie-award-best-artificial-intelligence-driven-technology-solution/ | 2022-06-15 13:34:01 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/06/15/replicant-receives-siia-codie-award-best-artificial-intelligence-driven-technology-solution/ |
North Iowa Area Community College is offering free health care training opportunities. Choose from eight health care careers: Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) or CNA Refresher, Medication Aid or Manager, Phlebotomy, IV Therapy, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), or Advanced EMT.
According to the press release, these short-term certificates range in length from four weeks to a full semester, and are free for Iowa residents age 18 and older. NIACC has programs that can assist with tuition, books, uniforms, testing fees and transportation costs. Navigators assist students by monitoring progress, problem solving and finding employment after training.
Patti Hanson, Dean of Continuing Education at NIACC said, “These classes provide excellent training with a focus on helping people get into the workforce more quickly and filling the demand for trained health care professionals.
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“This also allows those unsure of returning to school a chance to slowly ease into a learning environment, and often times students will expand their original goals, transferring to a two-year degree program.”
Space is limited. To learn more about this training option and the free supports, contact Pathway Navigators – Melanie 641-422-4078 or Angela 641-422-4312. Navigators will walk you through the application process. Applications will be taken until each class is full. Deadlines apply.
For more information about health care training options at NIACC visit https://www.niacc.edu/health/nurse-aide/. Interested in other short-term training options and supports/assistance available to help you with your goals, visit https://www.niacc.edu/continuing-education/tuition-assistance-programs/. | https://globegazette.com/business/local/niacc-offering-free-health-care-training/article_1a1e55de-13c0-5bd4-996b-25b1dacec491.html | 2023-01-13 21:59:16 | 1 | https://globegazette.com/business/local/niacc-offering-free-health-care-training/article_1a1e55de-13c0-5bd4-996b-25b1dacec491.html |
CEDARHURST, N.Y., Sept. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The securities litigation law firm of Kuznicki Law PLLC issues this alert to shareholders of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), if they purchased the Company's shares between February 19, 2021 to June 8, 2022, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Shareholders have until October 31, 2022 to file lead plaintiff applications in the securities class action lawsuit.
Shareholders are encouraged to contact us at https://kclasslaw.com/cases/securities/nyse-abt/, by calling toll-free at 1-833-835-1495 or by email (dk@kclasslaw.com).
Kuznicki Law PLLC is committed to ensuring that companies adhere to responsible business practices and engage in good corporate citizenship. The firm seeks recovery on behalf of investors who incurred losses when false and/or misleading statements or the omission of material information by a Company lead to artificial inflation of the Company's stock. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
Kuznicki Law PLLC
Daniel Kuznicki, Esq.
445 Central Avenue, Suite 344
Cedarhurst, NY 11516
Email: dk@kclasslaw.com
Phone: (347) 696-1134
Cell: (347) 690-0692
Fax: (347) 348-0967
https://kclasslaw.com
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SOURCE Kuznicki Law PLLC | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/09/22/filing-deadline-kuznicki-law-pllc-announces-class-action-behalf-shareholders-abbott-laboratories-abt/ | 2022-09-22 03:12:42 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/09/22/filing-deadline-kuznicki-law-pllc-announces-class-action-behalf-shareholders-abbott-laboratories-abt/ |
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ECARX (NASDAQ: ECX) and smart have unveiled their co-developed high-performance immersive digital cockpit computing platform powered by AMD technology at CES 2023 in Las Vegas, USA.
The next-generation digital cockpit, set to feature in the smart brand's all-electric production vehicles to be launched from 2024, is the first in-vehicle computing platform designed and developed by ECARX using AMD technology, following their global strategic collaboration announcement in August 2022.
Utilizing AMD Ryzen™ Embedded V2000 Processors and AMD Radeon™ RX 6000 Series GPUs, the digital cockpit will offer advanced computing power and stunning game console-grade visual graphic rendering capabilities. The platform combines AMD hardware with ECARX's innovative product design and software capabilities, and was engineered from the ground up for superior performance and breakthrough display capabilities.
Through collaboration and co-creation, ECARX aims to transform vehicles into seamlessly integrated information, communications, and transportation devices. Ziyu Shen, Chairman and CEO of ECARX said, "Through our collaboration with smart, ECARX has developed a flagship immersive digital cockpit computing platform, powered by AMD, that will define next generation in-vehicle entertainment systems. This is a true breakthrough in intelligent cockpit experiences and further demonstrates the strength of ECARX as a partner to global brands as they rapidly shift toward smart, all-electric mobility".
Rajneesh Gaur, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Embedded Solutions Group, AMD added, "As more functionality gets added to the digital cockpit, the next generation of electric vehicles will require high-performance compute solutions. We are excited to collaborate with ECARX to bring differentiated experiences for smart EVs and advance the in-vehicle experience for consumers."
As a premium all-electric automobile and technology brand, smart aims to explore the best solutions for future urban mobility. "The car is no longer just a vehicle to transport passengers from A to B, instead it is an intelligent companion that can transform mobility into meaningful experiences; this is why the in-car experience is more important than ever before. We are glad to collaborate with ECARX and AMD, and all our leading partners, to design a smarter future together", said Xiangbei Tong, Global CEO of smart Automobile.
ECARX's flagship high-performance digital cockpit computing platform, demonstrated at CES 2023 for the first time, demonstrates an unprecedented immersive cockpit experience including a full 3D human-machine interaction interface, ultra-high definition 4K multiple displays and 3A high-end gaming entertainment. See the demonstration at CES 2023 located in the Venetian Expo – Titian 2302-2305.
About ECARX
ECARX (NASDAQ: ECX) is a global mobility-tech company partnering with OEMs to reshape the automotive landscape as the industry transitions to an all-electric future. As OEMs develop new vehicle platforms from the ground up, ECARX is developing a full-stack solution – central computer, System-on-a-Chip (SoCs) and software to help continuously improve the in-car user experience. The company's products have been integrated into more than 3.7 million cars worldwide, and it continues to shape the interaction between people and vehicles by rapidly advancing the technology at the heart of smart mobility.
ECARX was founded in 2017 and has grown to almost 2,000 team members. The co-founders are two automotive entrepreneurs, Chairman and CEO Ziyu Shen, and Eric Li (Li Shufu), who is also the founder and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group - one of the largest automotive groups in the world, with ownership interests in international brand OEMs including Lotus, Lynk & Co, Polestar, smart and Volvo Cars.
Forward-Looking Statements
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 the beliefs, plans, and expectations of ECARX, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including those identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in the registration statement on Form F-4 filed by ECARX with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and ECARX undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.
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SOURCE ECARX | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2023/01/06/ecarx-smart-reveal-flagship-immersive-automotive-digital-cockpit-computing-platform-powered-by-amd-ces-2023/ | 2023-01-06 01:39:14 | 0 | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2023/01/06/ecarx-smart-reveal-flagship-immersive-automotive-digital-cockpit-computing-platform-powered-by-amd-ces-2023/ |
Company now transfers fully to the hands of Parker Ranch
HONOLULU, Aug. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After an eight-year collaboration, Parker Ranch and Ulupono Initiative jointly announced that Parker Ranch, Inc. has acquired the equity interest in Paniolo Cattle Company, LLC held by Ulupono Holdings, LLC. The move comes in recognition of the joint-venture's success in demonstrating that a pasture-raised beef operation can work at large scale in Hawai'i.
Paniolo Cattle Company was formed in 2014 as a partnership between Parker Ranch and Ulupono Initiative to foster statewide local beef production. The pasture-to-plate enterprise taps into a growing demand for high-quality, affordable, locally raised beef. Parker Ranch now owns 100 percent of the business entity and its assets, including its brands.
"This joint venture was about demonstrating that local beef is a compelling choice for consumers compared to imports while creating an at-home thriving cattle industry that is viable and sustainable," said Dutch Kuyper, President of Parker Ranch.
"As has always been the intention, Ulupono is divesting from our successful partnership with Parker Ranch in the Paniolo Cattle Company," said Murray Clay, Ulupono Initiative's President. "After more than eight years of statewide sales to local customers, we are extremely pleased by what has been accomplished toward the demonstration that there is a viable market for local beef in the islands. Through Paniolo Cattle Company, residents now have access to quality, pasture-raised beef throughout the state."
The demand for grass-fed beef has grown significantly in recent decades. The healthy attributes of natural, grass-fed beef are attractive to discerning consumers seeking a unique high-quality choice compared to most imported beef from the mainland or elsewhere.
"Over the last 15 years or so, several ranches across the state led efforts to develop the local market for grass-fed beef even before Paniolo Cattle Company, LLC was conceived," said Kuyper. "In fact, we actually supplied some of those programs with cattle when they needed help to fill gaps in their marketing schedules. The Paniolo Cattle Co. brand became the largest in the state over the last few years as consumers demanded more and more local beef. At the same time, we began investing in advertising the brand through television and Hana Hou! – Hawaiian Airlines' inflight magazine – which led to greater brand awareness and market penetration. We are grateful for the support from Ulupono and are looking forward to the next chapter in the development of local beef in our home state of Hawai'i."
For more information about Paniolo Cattle Company, visit paniolocattle.com.
About Parker Ranch
Parker Ranch is one of the largest and oldest cattle ranches in the United States. Parker Ranch, Inc. is owned by Parker Ranch Foundation Trust whose beneficiaries are four non-profits: Queen's North Hawai'i Community Hospital, Hawai'i Preparatory Academy, Parker School and Hawai'i Community Foundation. To learn more, please visit www.parkerranch.com or www.prft.org.
About Ulupono Initiative
A mission-driven venture of The Omidyar Group, Ulupono Initiative was founded in 2009 and strives to improve the quality of life for the people of Hawai'i by working toward sustainable solutions that support and promote locally produced food, renewable energy, clean transportation, and better management of freshwater resources. For more information about Ulupono Initiative, visit ulupono.com or connect with Ulupono on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
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SOURCE Parker Ranch; Ulupono Initiative; Paniolo Cattle Company | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/08/03/paniolo-cattle-co-proves-viability-large-scale-pasture-raised-hawaii-beef-local-market/ | 2022-08-03 04:41:06 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/08/03/paniolo-cattle-co-proves-viability-large-scale-pasture-raised-hawaii-beef-local-market/ |
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, once a White House press secretary for President Donald Trump, is returning to the national stage Tuesday night with a rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address that accuses the president of focusing on “woke fantasies.”
Sanders, 40, is giving the speech Tuesday night less than a month after being sworn in as the first female governor of Arkansas. The daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee, she is also the first Arkansan to deliver the response to a president’s State of the Union since Bill Clinton as governor in 1985.
Sanders is using the speech to lean heavily into conservatives’ fights on culture war issues, including how race is taught in public schools.
“In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race, but not to love one another or our great country,” Sanders said in excerpts of remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday night.
Sanders’ speech is a stark contrast to Biden’s address, which is expected to offer a reassuring assessment of the nation’s condition.
“And while you reap the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day,” Sanders planned to say. “Most Americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight.”
Sanders is also embracing the criticism of technology companies that has become a rallying cry for Republicans after Trump was banned from social media sites following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump has since been reinstated on Twitter and Meta last month said the former president’s Facebook and Instagram accounts will be restored.
In her speech, Sanders complains that “big government colludes with Big Tech to strip away the most American thing there is — your freedom of speech.”
“That’s not normal. It’s crazy, and it’s wrong,” she says.
With her speech, GOP leaders are giving a platform to a figure linked closely to Trump, who remains influential within the party even as Republicans question how much of a hindrance his quest to return to the White House has become. The star turn for Sanders also puts the spotlight on the nation’s youngest governor at a time when recent polling suggests that even many Democrats view the 80-year-old Biden’s age as a liability.
“I am excited for the nation to hear from Governor Sanders on Tuesday and witness a sharp contrast with this exhausted and failing administration,” Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement announcing Sanders’ selection last week.
Republicans have also tapped newly elected Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., to deliver a Spanish-language rebuttal to the president’s speech. And the progressive Working Families of Party will have another newcomer, Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., providing its response in both English and Spanish.
Biden is expected to use his speech before Congress to highlight his efforts to create jobs, fight inflation and improve the nation’s infrastructure. The president, who’s expected to announce in the next few months that he’ll seek reelection, faces a tough political environment and a divided Congress. Polling released this week by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed just 37% of Democrats say they want him to seek a second term.
Sanders, who served roughly two years as White House press secretary, focused heavily on her criticism of Biden during her successful bid for governor last year. She frequently railed against the Democratic president’s COVID-19 pandemic response, immigration policies and other stances.
But since the election, Sanders has mostly avoided weighing in on Trump, who endorsed her bid for governor and was featured in her campaign materials. Sanders hasn’t said whether she plans to endorse Trump, who’s making a third bid for president, and she didn’t mention the former president during her victory speech on election night.
Sanders has focused her attention on some of the former president’s favorite targets, signing several executive orders within hours of taking office that were cheered by conservatives. They included an order prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory in public schools and another banning TikTok from state devices.
Sanders has said her priority is getting her state’s majority-Republican Legislature to approve education legislation that she’s said will include teacher raises and some form of school choice allowing public money to be used to pay for private schools. She’s also called for phasing out the state’s income tax.
The speech is a reintroduction for Sanders, already well known from her time as press secretary and one of Trump’s closest aides. During her time as Trump’s chief spokesperson, she scaled back daily televised briefings after repeatedly sparring with reporters who aggressively questioned her.
She was regularly lampooned by late-night hosts and “Saturday Night Live,” which portrayed her as a dishonest loyalist to Trump with an exaggerated Southern drawl. But Sanders also built an intensely loyal following among Republicans, with frequent appearances on Fox News and other conservative-friendly media outlets.
Sanders is delivering the speech at a time when her predecessor, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, is considering seeking the Republican presidential nomination. Hutchinson has been an outspoken critic of Trump and has said Trump being the GOP’s nominee would be the “worst scenario” for the party.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the State of the Union address at: https://apnews.com/hub/state-of-the-union-address | https://www.fox16.com/news/politics/ap-arkansas-gov-sanders-to-offer-state-of-the-union-rebuttal/ | 2023-02-08 04:13:06 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/news/politics/ap-arkansas-gov-sanders-to-offer-state-of-the-union-rebuttal/ |
SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MGI Tech Co. Ltd. (MGI), a global life science leader and innovator, has been awarded Gold by Instrument Business Outlook (IBO) at the 2022 IBO Design Awards for the outstanding design and functionality of its DNBelab C4 Pocket Single-Cell Lab.
"MGI is proud to be recognized by IBO for the innovative thinking, as well as consistent and thorough consideration we put into designing the DNBelab C4," shared Yajun Zuo, Product Manager at MGI. "During the design process, we carefully and holistically contemplated the portability, ease-of-use, and family design specifications of the user's needs, while taking into account the accuracy and stability of its product performance. This award is a testament to our hard work and MGI's overall inclusive approach towards product design and innovation."
Published by Strategic Directions International, IBO is a twice-monthly newsletter for the life science and analytical instrument industry. Each year, IBO seeks to recognize innovative and eye catching industrial design of laboratory instruments and equipment. In shining the spotlight on stand-out products, the awards not only highlight an instrument's aesthetics but also how the industrial design contributes to functionality and user experience as well as how it can serve as a marketing tool.
Lauded for its handheld size and streamlined modern appearance, the DNBelab C4 Pocket Single-Cell Lab measures 230 mm long, 42 mm wide and 57 mm high and weighs only about 220 grams – a clear juxtaposition to standard benchtop systems for single-cell NGS sample preparation. The device is a "single cell laboratory that can be packed into a pocket", operating with no power supply required and directly driven by negative pressure. Single cell sorting with barcoding can be done with a one-step pull, reaching a high degree of automation, greatly simplifying user experience and lowering the barrier to single-cell research.
"We developed the system with the intended end market and user base at the forefront of our minds. These are people who may use the C4 for research, clinical applications or drug development, therefore the end result is an intuitive and readily accessible tool at low cost," Zuo elaborated. "By employing microfluidics, the design of the C4 contributes to a shortened turnaround time to accommodate the time-sensitive nature of single-cell or nuclear suspensions. In addition, it is made from ABS plastic which can be recycled or safely disposed of after completion, avoiding contamination of the instrument or different samples."
Besides its superior design, the DNBelab C4 stands out for its reliable and precise performance. The system has demonstrated low multiplet rate, high gene detection sensitivity, and the ability to efficiently capture rare cells. It can currently capture up to 12,000 cells every time with doublet rate of 1-8% and is compatible with two of MGI's different sequencing systems, DNBSEQ-T7*and DNBSEQ-G400*, to meet the needs of different users. Paired with the ultra-high throughput sequencer DNBSEQ-T7*, the C4 can achieve a throughput of tens of samples per day and obtain 100,000-level cells.
As single-cell sequencing continues to be a hot industry topic, the DNBelab C4 Pocket Single-Cell Lab is revolutionizing single-cell research. At MGI, product design and innovation centers around the user experience and is rooted in a deep and comprehensive understanding of the diverse needs and pain points of its customers. With sequencing applications entering more market segments, MGI is committed to facilitating advances in the industry and bringing more opportunities for rapid growth through the development and introduction of cost-effective, user-friendly products.
About MGI
MGI Tech Co. Ltd. (MGI), headquartered in Shenzhen, is committed to building core tools and technology to lead life science through intelligent innovation. Based on its proprietary technology, MGI focuses on research & development, production and sales of sequencing instruments, reagents, and related products to support life science research, agriculture, precision medicine and healthcare. MGI is a leading producer of clinical high-throughput gene sequencers*, and its multi-omics platforms include genetic sequencing*, medical imaging, and laboratory automation. MGI's mission is to develop and promote advanced life science tools for future healthcare. For more information, please visit the MGI website or connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube.
*Unless otherwise informed, StandardMPS and CoolMPS sequencing reagents, and sequencers for use with such reagents are not available in Germany, Spain, UK, Hong Kong, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Portugal, Austria and Romania. No purchase orders for StandardMPS products will be accepted in the USA until after January 1, 2023.
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SOURCE MGI Tech Co., Ltd. | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/24/mgi-wins-ibo-design-gold-award-dnbelab-c4-pocket-single-cell-lab/ | 2022-08-24 15:50:13 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/24/mgi-wins-ibo-design-gold-award-dnbelab-c4-pocket-single-cell-lab/ |
CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) — Republican Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz is stepping up his criticism of far-right candidates in Pennsylvania who are gaining traction ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.
After spending much of the campaign steering clear of fellow Republican Senate contender Kathy Barnette, Oz on Saturday said she was out of step with the GOP and would be unable to win the general election in November. In an interview, he took issue with a 2015 tweet from Barnette in which she wrote that “Pedophilia is a Cornerstone of Islam.”
Oz, who would be the nation’s first Muslim senator, described the comments as “disqualifying.”
“It’s reprehensible that she would tweet out something that is defamatory to an entire religion,” Oz told The Associated Press. “This state was based on religious freedom. I’m proud as a Pennsylvanian to uphold those founding beliefs that every faith has its merits.”
The Barnette campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Earlier in the week, Barnette told NBC News that she did not make the statement, which was still live on her Twitter feed on Saturday.
For months, the race for the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat has been an expensive fight between former hedge fund CEO David McCormick and Oz, who have spent millions of dollars attacking each other on television. Each has also faced questions about their ties to Pennsylvania. McCormick grew up in the state, while Oz went to medical school there and was married in Philadelphia.
But in the final days of the Republican primary, a third candidate — Barnette, a conservative commentator who has courted hard-line pro-Trump groups — has emerged. Trump himself has warned that Barnette’s background hasn’t been properly vetted.
With the election just days away, polls show a tight three-way race with a sizable number of undecided voters who could sway the results next week.
Oz has won Trump’s endorsement in the Senate contest, although some Trump supporters continue to question his conservative credentials.
When asked to clarify his views on abortion in the Saturday interview, Oz distanced himself from Trump’s newly minted pick for Pennsylvania governor, Doug Mastriano, a far-right conservative who has called abortion “the No. 1 issue.” In a recent televised debate, Mastriano said he supports banning abortion from conception, with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother.
Oz described himself as “pro-life,” but said he would prefer an abortion ban in Pennsylvania that would include exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
“There are times when we disagree with other pro-life advocates,” Oz told the AP. “In my case, those disagreements often come about because, as a doctor, I’ve dealt with issues that threaten the life of the mother.”
Oz saved his most pointed criticism for Barnette, however, echoing Trump’s concerns that her background hasn’t been properly scrutinized. He lashed out at her previous comments on Islam, noting that she also has a history of anti-gay remarks.
“We know so little,” Oz said. “Every time she answers a question, she raises more questions. But I think it’s disqualifying to make Islamophobic and homophobic comments, not just for the general election, but the Republican primary as well.”
___
Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pa., contributed to this report. | https://phl17.com/national-news/reprehensible-oz-condemns-gop-opponents-tweet-on-islam/ | 2022-05-15 21:32:00 | 0 | https://phl17.com/national-news/reprehensible-oz-condemns-gop-opponents-tweet-on-islam/ |
Royals rookies recent tear provides bright outlook for future
An infusion of youth in the lineup has sparked Kansas City to offensive surge.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A recent infusion of youth in the lineup of the Kansas City Royals sparked by a pre-trade deadline purge of veterans has led to a surge in production and optimism for the future at Kauffman Stadium.
Since the trade deadline, when the Royals sent outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the New York Yankees and utilityman Whit Merrifield to the Toronto Blue Jays, rookies have ruled the Royals lineup.
Before 32-year-old Salvador Perez drove in rookie shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. with a double during the Royals’ Wednesday night win over the Chicago White Sox, rookies had produced a streak of 27 consecutive RBI for manager Mike Matheny’s squad.
READ MORE: Royals infielder Nicky Lopez attends YMCA of Greater Kansas City graduation
Twice in the last two weeks, the Royals have produced a starting lineup that is entirely homegrown players, marking just the second and third time in franchise history that feat has occurred, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. On Wednesday night, MJ Melendez’s go-ahead home run in the seventh inning fueled a come-from-behind 8-3 win over the White Sox and moved Kansas City’s record to 26-25 over the last two months following a 20-41 start.
Melendez’s home run was the 10th such hit in the month of August by a Kansas City rookie, something few franchises can even account for, as 17 of the other 29 clubs in the MLB don’t have 10 home runs from rookies for the entire season.
On Saturday night, 23-year-old first baseman Nick Pratto launched a walk-off home run over the center field fence. On Sunday, Melendez joined superstars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr. as the most recent player to drive in six or more runs in a game at 23 or younger.
Following the weekend’s success, designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino joined Lou Piniella and Bob Oliver as the third Royals rookie to homer in both games of a doubleheader. Piniella and Oliver achieved the feat in 1969.
READ MORE: Buck O’Neil’s lasting legacy in Kansas City
The recent influx of production comes as a welcome sight during a season that Witt Jr. anchors the lineup despite his inexperience.
Kansas City takes on the White Sox in a series finale Thursday at 2:10 before playing host to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series this weekend.
Copyright 2022 KCTV. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/2022/08/11/royals-rookies-recent-tear-provides-bright-outlook-future/ | 2022-08-11 21:27:35 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/2022/08/11/royals-rookies-recent-tear-provides-bright-outlook-future/ |
Which playpen is best?
Every parent knows about the dreaded silence that falls when children get into things they shouldn’t be while you aren’t looking. You can avoid this by using a playpen. Playpens can also help keep toys from being scattered to the four winds by containing everything to a designated play area in addition to occasionally doubling as barriers and fences to make an entire room a playpen.
The best playpen for many occasions and needs is the Baby Care Funzone Play Pen. This highly durable and incredibly safe playpen has effortless setup and takedown. It’s pretty expensive but well worth it.
What to know before you buy a playpen
Types
Standard: Standard playpens have no floor and generally come in adjustable sizes, with four to 14 individual panels. They typically include gates for easy entrance and exit and are often secured to the floor using suction cups or balanced on feet.
Portable: Portable playpens are meant for when you’re on the go. They have a floor to protect your child from the uncomfortable ground and are typically collapsible or at the very least have a carrying case to store panels and the floor.
Playpen material
Plastic: Plastic playpens are generally thick though lightweight. They’re durable, very easy to clean and often come in a wide range of bright colors. They’re less likely to scratch hardwood flooring and they sometimes come with activity panels to help entertain your child. They don’t last very long in the sun as sunlight will bleach out the color and weaken the plastic.
Wood: Wood playpens are thinner than plastic but also heavier. They generally don’t have any activity panels and last even shorter outside, thanks to absorbing moisture. This also means they don’t hold up to chewing. They sometimes have feet to add to stability and limit scratching of hardwood floors. They tend to have a more refined look over plastic that some might desire.
Panel quantity
Where you plan on using your playpen and how often affect how many panels you typically need. You might want to have extras in case of damage or for adjusting play space as required. Certain configurations of panels are also sturdier.
What to look for in a quality playpen
Safety
Playpens generally have a Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association certification label, which shows compliance with all safety standards set by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. If your prospective playpen doesn’t have this, look for a different playpen.
Height
Playpens are generally 20 inches tall at a minimum, so children can’t climb out, but many playpens are taller than this. If you want your playpen to last as long as possible, choose one that has a lot of extra height so your child won’t be able to grow and escape for a long time.
Gate
Some playpens include a gate for easy entrance and exit. These are often usable with one hand to make using the gate and holding your child easy. A playpen without a gate means you’ll have to lift your child in and out when in use.
How much you can expect to spend on a playpen
Playpens can be quite expensive with higher quality and a larger play area space. You can find most average playpens for $100 or a bit less, but some can be well over $150.
Playpen FAQ
Can you buy extra panels if you need to without buying an entire extra playpen?
A. Many playpen, but not all, manufacturers sell extra panels in extension packs. If you think you’ll need more later, check before purchasing if there are extension packs available. Otherwise, you might find yourself needing to repurchase the full playpen.
Do standard playpen types fold up for storage?
A. No, standard playpens don’t fold up for storage. The panels can be taken apart and stacked out of the way to take up less space when not needed, but if easy storage is high on your list of what to look for, purchase a portable playpen.
What’s the best playpen to buy?
Top playpen
What you need to know: Although this playpen is expensive, the easy setup and takedown and large play area make this the top playpen pick.
What you’ll love: Rounded edges and durable construction make this an incredibly safe playpen for children inside and outside.
What you should consider: There are some reports of rare instances of the door not closing or opening easily, plus it isn’t very portable.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Wayfair
Top playpen for the money
Dreambaby Brooklyn Converta Playpen
What you need to know: This dual-purpose mesh playpen can function as a fence or barrier when needed.
What you’ll love: The mesh provides excellent visibility and folds down very easily for maximum storage capability.
What you should consider: It has a smaller play area and corners that seem a bit weak, which doesn’t match up to the slightly high cost.
Where to buy: Sold by Target
Worth checking out
What you need to know: This might be a rather pricey option, but the high quality and additional features make it worth the investment.
What you’ll love: The interlocking panels make setup and takedown incredibly easy, and there’s a swinging door for accessible entrance and exit.
What you should consider: There are gaps in the panels a child can use to climb out of the playpen.
Where to buy: Sold by Wayfair
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.cbs42.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/playroom-furniture-storage-br/best-playpen/ | 2022-12-29 17:50:10 | 0 | https://www.cbs42.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/playroom-furniture-storage-br/best-playpen/ |
'Tis the season for matching PJs, classic and pop culture favorite furry friends and personalized gifts for the whole family
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This season, celebrate togetherness with unique gifts that add a little more heart to life from Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE: BBW). From gifts and décor items to pop culture favorites and collector's items, there's a furry friend or gift option waiting for everyone – even the hard to buy for uncle or loved one who has it all. The Build-A-Bear Holiday Giftshop has every option to make gift-giving easy including visiting a Build-A-Bear Workshop retail location to create an in-person gift, shop the online holiday store, and fill a virtual sleigh with easy shipping or select in-store pickup to ensure delivery by Christmas.
Build-A-Bear has an expanded selection of NEW gift ideas for the entire nice list bringing the biggest smiles and warmest hearts this season.
The most unique and personal gift is a Build-A-Bear HeartBox! These themed gift boxes come with a custom plush bear and a mix of curated gifts of candles, tumblers, candies and teas. With numerous offerings at various price points, guests will find something for every special adult on their list including A Very Merry Christmas Box full of seasonal surprises and festive favorites, the Hanukkah Wishes Box to send warm wishes during the Festival of Lights and the Oh! What Fun Holiday Box to add unforgettable sparkle to a friend this season. With the chance to add holiday scents or personalized record-your-voice messages, HeartBox will make this gift-giving opportunity one to remember.
Family traditions make the holidays memorable and fun – including matching jammies! Pajama Shop, the recently launched Build-A-Bear pajama line, emphasizes the connection between stuffed animals and bedtime. Offering mix and match pajama sets for adults, children, furry friends and four-legged members of the family, Pajama Shop makes for one very special holiday picture. Pajamas are available in designs such as Buffalo Check, Holiday Hugs and Fair Isle, inspired by our beloved bears.
New furry friends are joining the Merry Mission collection, including Snowflake Swirl Glisten, Pink Frost Fox, and Santa's reindeer selection – perfect for an added touch of décor or cuddles. Snowflake Swirl Glisten is a star-powered reindeer ready to soar all season long with her colorful reindeer cape, pom bow or antlers and glittery silver flats. Pink Frost Fox is a cuddly snow fox with perky ears, a bushy white tail and frosty pink fur. Its sequin dress and sparkly silver flats keep this frosty friend sparkling just like fresh snowfall.
Santa's Reindeer return for another year of magical fun to grow a home décor collection or start a new collection for a special friend.
CeleBEARate Christmas with the Beary Merry Advent Calendar, a 25-piece calendar that features six mini plush and 19 mini clothing and accessory pieces. Perfect for children to open each window to see what's in store. The fun continues with two other countdown collections, the Beary Merry Mystery Ornaments is an online exclusive featuring two mini plush ornaments and six mini clothing and accessory pieces, ideal for the holiday décor and decorating friend. The surprise collections continue with the 8 Nights of Hanukkah Surprises celebrating the Festival of Lights with a series of furry friends and celebratory outfits.
It is hard to be a Scrooge this season at the Build-A-Bear Bear Cave with hilarious and party-ready gifts for adults who barely made it off the naughty list.
Shop Build-A-Bear's After Dark collection in the Bear Cave, an age-gated adult line at Build-A-Bear, with unique and specially designed plush to delight adult gift givers. The Bear Cave is the perfect place for playful, risqué or sarcastic creative gifts. The After Dark holiday line includes the Brown Sloth "Only Santa Can Judge Me" Gift Set featuring a tee, holiday boxers and a Santa hat. This next set is perfect decoration for the holiday bar cart with the Pawlette Making Spirits Bright Gift Set complete with a graphic tee, leather skirt, and eggnog cocktail wristie sure to inspire a toast at the next holiday party. And, if feeling a little friendly under the mistletoe, Happy Hugs Teddy Holiday Presents Boxers Gift Set features a red bow necktie, holiday boxers, and a mistletoe headband dangling in the perfect spot to steal a smooch.
Make this year the hoppiest Christmas ever with the new Jolly Jumps Frog or the Spring Green Frog Mistle-Toad Gift Set accompanied by a Christmas tree wristie, white fur boots, a sparkly red tutu, and a new graphic tee.
Start the holiday shopping and enjoy great value at the Build-A-Bear Giftshop, an online shop that makes it easy to find the perfect gift this holiday season. With the new digital Build-A-Bear Gift Finder option online, guests can select the perfect furry friend to show love for everyone on the list this holiday season.
The online Bear Builder tool is a convenient way to make unique, customized gifts they're sure to love by bringing the fun of Build-A-Bear to you – it even includes a virtual Heart Ceremony! Or check out the Bear Builder 3D Workshop, a unique animated e-commerce shopping experience that brings furry friends "to life" online. Include a personalized voice message with a Record Your Voice sound chip for the ultimate customization of a one-of-a-kind furry friend.
This Black Friday, head to Build-A-Bear Workshop for great deals in stores and online. The online Black Friday Bear Building Sale features furry friends starting as low as $9. Head in stores on Black Friday for a special Buy One, Get One select furry friends for $12. Get the whole family in the snuggly spirit for 25% OFF cozy PJ sets from Pajama Shop. Think outside the box this Black Friday with HeartBox! The hottest gift boxes for the season are now up to 50% OFF online for a limited time only.
More information about Build-A-Bear holiday stuffed animals, gifts, events and deals can be found at www.buildabear.com and follow the brand on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
Build-A-Bear is a multi-generational global brand focused on its mission to "add a little more heart to life" appealing to a wide array of consumer groups who enjoy the personal expression in making their own "furry friends" to celebrate and commemorate life moments. Nearly 500 interactive brick-and-mortar retail locations operated through a variety of formats provide guests of all ages a hands-on entertaining experience, which often fosters a lasting and emotional brand connection. The company also offers engaging e-commerce/digital purchasing experiences on buildabear.com including its online "Bear-Builder", the animated "Bear Builder 3D Workshop" and its age-gated adult-focused "Bear Cave". In addition, extending its brand power beyond retail, Build-A-Bear Entertainment, a subsidiary of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., is dedicated to creating engaging content for kids and adults that fulfills the company's mission, while the company also offers products at wholesale and in non-plush consumer categories via licensing agreements with leading manufacturers. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. posted total revenue of $411.5 million in fiscal 2021. For more information, visit the Investor Relations section of buildabear.com
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SOURCE Build-A-Bear Workshop | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/11/23/all-they-want-christmas-can-be-found-build-a-bear/ | 2022-11-23 17:13:00 | 1 | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/11/23/all-they-want-christmas-can-be-found-build-a-bear/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A judge in Florida has ordered a 65-year-old California fugitive held without bond in connection with the death of a woman nearly 40 years ago.
Donald Santini was arrested by U.S. marshals in California last month, and extradited to Florida. He had used at least 13 aliases over the years.
Santini was the last person seen with 33-year-old Cynthia “Cindy” Ruth Wood. The arrest warrant said a medical examiner determined she had been strangled, and Santini’s fingerprints were found on her body.
“You being on the run for almost 40 years is a consciousness of guilt. You knew you were running from something,” Judge Catherine Catlin told Santini during a hearing in Tampa on Thursday.
Photos taken in the courtroom showed Santini weeping before the judge denied bond.
Wood’s stepdaughter, Denise Kozer told the Tampa Bay Times she’s hoping to find closure in a case that resulted in “total devastation” for her family.
Back in 1984, Santini was known as Charles Michael Stevens, which was an alias he used to flee a warrant in Texas. At the time of his arrest, he was living under the name Wellman Simmonds in Campo, California, which is in southeastern San Diego County. He served on the local water board.
“He has a wife and children in California, and I feel sorry for them because they probably didn’t know, either,” Kozer said. “But they’re all still alive. Our lives were devastated, changed forever.”
Kozar told the Times that both Barry Wood and the older son of Cindy Wood had died since the slaying, and her younger half-siblings have suffered from mental health issues since their parents’ deaths.
She told the newspaper she’s spent years knowing that the man who destroyed her family has been free. The case has been featured on “America’s Most Wanted” several times.
Wood met with Santini, who had called her with promises of providing information about her husband, Barry Wood, that could possibly help her win custody of their two children, who were 3 and 5, according to previous reports by the Bradenton Herald. Wood also had a son from a previous relationship. Kozar was Barry Wood’s daughter from another marriage.
Kozar, who was 20 when Wood was killed, said she hopes Santini doesn’t get another chance to escape.
“If they need extra evidence, we’re willing to let them exhume the body — whatever it takes to make sure that he doesn’t go anywhere,” Kozer said.
Santini’s attorney asked the judge for bail. But prosecutors noted that Santini killed Wood after fleeing a charge in Texas related to a convenience store robbery.
The judge didn’t need extra evidence.
“You are the definition of flight risk,” the judge told Santini during the hearing. “There is nothing I can do to preserve the safety of this community if I was to let you go.” | https://www.kron4.com/news/national/ap-us-news/ap-florida-judge-to-murder-suspect-on-run-for-40-years-you-knew-you-were-running-from-something/ | 2023-07-08 06:47:48 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/news/national/ap-us-news/ap-florida-judge-to-murder-suspect-on-run-for-40-years-you-knew-you-were-running-from-something/ |
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