text string | url string | crawl_date string | label int64 | id string |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiat on Wednesday revealed two more EVs—one smaller, and one larger, than the reborn 500e the automaker has confirmed for U.S. sales starting in early 2024.
The Fiat 600e is a small crossover with a name that references the classic Fiat 600 of the 1950s. The five-door 600e is presented as a more practical alternative to the three-door 500e hatch. At 164.1 inches long, though, it’s 3.1 inches shorter than the current gasoline Fiat 500X crossover.
A 54-kwh battery pack provides an estimated 250 miles of range on the European WLTP testing cycle. DC fast-charging at up to 100 kw can accomplish an 80% charge in less than an hour, according to Fiat, while an 11-kw AC charger can recharge the battery in less than six hours from a Level 2 source.
A single electric motor produces 154 hp, enough for 0-62 mph in 9.2 seconds, according to Fiat. The 600e uses the CMP modular platform from Fiat parent Stellantis, which debuted with the foreign-market Jeep Avenger electric crossover.
Inside, the 600e offers a respectable 12.7 cubic feet of cargo space, augmented by interior storage areas up front, including in a central tunnel. The 600e also has expected tech features like a 10.3-inch touchscreen 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, and driver aids like adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and driver attention monitoring.
Fiat still plans to bring the 500e back to the U.S. starting in the first quarter of 2024, Fiat verified to Green Car Reports Wednesday, but there are no plans to bring the 600e to the U.S. Fiat parent Stellantis has also teased the idea of wireless charging for the 500e—perhaps even dynamic charging that would allow it to charge wirelessly while traveling at highway speeds.
The second new Fiat EV also combines in a retro name with an architecture shared with a fellow Stellantis brand. The Fiat Topolino was the nickname of the original Fiat 500 built from 1936 to 1955. It’s Italian for “little mouse,” a nod to the car’s tiny size.
The new Topolino is tiny as well, but this time it’s a reskinned Citroën Ami. That’s the electric two-seater with a 28-mph top speed that’s technically a “quadricyle” under European regulations, meaning it can be driven without a full driver’s license in that region.
Fiat hasn’t released any specifications for the Topolino, but they likely won’t deviate from the Ami, which Stellantis previously said would be coming to the U.S. on a limited basis as part of Free2Move car-sharing. It’s unclear if the Fiat version will be included in this plan as well.
Related Articles
- Stellantis details platform for mid-size EVs, starting with Europe
- GM acquires more smarts for EV battery health
- Bespoke, electric: How the first Rolls-Royce EV took form
- Rivian made progress ramping up EV production in Q2
- Supplier claims a third more winter EV range with thermal tech | https://pix11.com/automotive/internet-brands/fiat-shows-600e-and-tiny-topolino-for-europe-500e-ev-still-us-bound/ | 2023-07-07 11:38:37 | 0 | https://pix11.com/automotive/internet-brands/fiat-shows-600e-and-tiny-topolino-for-europe-500e-ev-still-us-bound/ |
How to Watch College Softball Super Regionals Streaming Live - Sunday, May 28
Are you a big fan of college softball who doesn't want to miss a game? On Sunday, May 28, there is one NCAA softball game on the slate that are airing on Fubo. Check out the list below to find out how to watch or live stream the action.
Watch even more NCAA Softball games with ESPN+!
College Softball Games Streaming Live Today
Watch NCAA Tournament, Super Regional: Teams TBA
- Game Time: 2:00 PM ET
- TV Channel: ESPN
- Live Stream: Watch on Fubo!
Make sure you're following along with all the College Softball action all season long on Fubo and ESPN+!
Every team's path to the Women's College World Series begins with the NCAA Tournament selection show on Sunday, May 14 at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2. Tournament play kicks off the next weekend with Regionals action from May 18-21, followed by Super Regionals from May 25-28, and culminates with the Women's College World Series from June 1-9, taking place at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbtv.com/sports/betting/2023/05/28/college-softball-super-regionals-live-stream/ | 2023-05-28 09:50:03 | 1 | https://www.wbtv.com/sports/betting/2023/05/28/college-softball-super-regionals-live-stream/ |
WHL
All Times Local
Eastern Conference
Central Division
East Division
Western Conference
B.C. Division
U.S. Division
Note: x - clinched playoff berth; Two points for a team winning in overtime or shootout; the team losing in overtime or shootout receives one which is registered in the OTL or SOL columns.
Wednesday's results
Winnipeg 5 Swift Current 3
Lethbridge 3 Calgary 0
Spokane 6 Portland 2
Kelowna 5 Everett 2
Friday's results
Prince Albert 6 Regina 5
Winnipeg 7 Moose Jaw 1
Kamloops 7 Red Deer 4
Lethbridge 3 Brandon 1
Seattle 4 Tri-City 3 (OT)
Saskatoon 6 Victoria 4
Spokane 4 Everett 3 (SO)
Saturday's results
Brandon at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Winnipeg at Regina, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Red Deer at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
Calgary at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Victoria at Seattle, 6:05 p.m.
Spokane at Tri-City, 6:05 p.m.
Saskatoon at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
Portland at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Sunday's games
Kamloops at Calgary, 2 p.m.
Monday's games
Lethbridge at Regina, 2 p.m.
Prince Albert at Brandon, 2:30 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Red Deer, 2 p.m.
Kamloops at Edmonton, 2 p.m.
Spokane at Vancouver, 2 p.m.
Winnipeg at Swift Current, 4 p.m.
Portland at Prince George, 2 p.m.
Seattle at Victoria, 2:05 p.m.
Tri-City at Kelowna, 2:05 p.m.
Tuesday's games
Lethbridge at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Portland at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
Wednesday's games
Winnipeg at Calgary, 11 a.m.
Kamloops at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Regina, 7 p.m.
Everett at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m. | https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/hko-whl-standings-17792964.php | 2023-02-18 22:57:00 | 0 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/hko-whl-standings-17792964.php |
WASHINGTON — Growing up in mid-sized Virginia Beach, Andrew Waldholtz wanted to live in a big city so he moved to the District of Columbia for college. After four years in the comparatively expensive city, he realized he wanted a place to live that was more affordable.
Waldholtz, 35, eventually found a happy compromise in St. Louis whose Midwestern affordability and opportunities to build his career in corporate compliance had the added bonus that his sister and brother-in-law lived there.
Now living 940 miles away from Virginia Beach, Waldholtz is in a distinct minority among others who reached adulthood in the 21st century in that he resides a half-continent away from where he grew up, according to a new study by U.S. Census Bureau and Harvard University researchers released Monday.
The study found that by age 26 more than two-thirds of young adults in the U.S. lived in the same area where they grew up, 80% had moved less than 100 miles away and 90% resided less than 500 miles away. Migration distances were shorter for Black and Hispanic individuals, compared to white and Asian young adults, and the children of higher income parents traveled farther away from their hometowns than those of less wealthy parents, according to the study.
“For many individuals, the ‘radius of economic opportunity’ is quite narrow,” the report said.
Young adulthood is a period in life when migration is highest in the U.S. The study looked at the likelihood of people born primarily between 1984 and 1992 moving away from the commuting zone they grew up in. Commuting zones are made up of one or more counties that reflect a local labor market, and there are more than 700 commuting zones in the U.S. The birth range in the study overlaps the generation typically referred to as millennials.
It turns out that the most common destinations for young adults were concentrated near where they grew up, said the study which utilized decennial census, survey and tax data.
For instance, three quarters of people who grew up in the Chicago area stayed there. Rockford was the top destination for people who moved away and stayed in Illinois but only represented less than 1% of the young adults from Chicago. Los Angeles was the top destination for those who moved out of state but that accounted for only 1.1% of young adults from Chicago, according to an interactive data tool that accompanies the study.
Where young adults moved to varied by race.
Atlanta was the most popular destination for young Black adults moving away from their hometowns, followed by Houston and Washington. Young Black adults who grew up in high-income households were multiple times more likely to move to these cities in a “New Great Migration” than those from low-income families, according to the study.
For white adults leaving their hometowns, New York, Los Angeles, Washington and Denver were the most population destinations. Los Angeles and New York were the top two destinations for Asians and Hispanic young adults. San Antonio and Phoenix also were popular with Hispanics, while San Francisco also appealed to Asian young adults.
Despite the region’s economic woes and the prospect of job opportunities elsewhere, young adults in Appalachia were less likely to move far from their hometowns compared to those of similar incomes living elsewhere, the report said.
The reluctance of millennials to move far away is backed up by recent studies showing declines in mobility in the U.S. for the overall population. In the middle of the last century, about a fifth of U.S. residents, not just young adults, moved each year. That figure has dropped steadily since the 1950s, going from about 20% to 8.4% last year, due to an aging population, dual-income households that make it more difficult to pick up and move and, more recently, the pandemic, according to a recent report from Brookings.
A Pew Research Center survey released last week showed that a quarter of U.S. adults ages 25 to 34 resided in a multigenerational family household in 2021, up from 9% in 1971. The age groups in the Pew study and the study by the Census Bureau and Harvard University researchers overlap to some degree.
When there were wage gains in a local labor market, most of the benefits went to residents who grew up within 100 miles (161 kilometers) rather than people who had migrated to the area. Wage increases’ effect on migration to an area was rather small, and migrants likely would have moved there regardless of wage hikes. Young Black adults were less likely to move to a place because of wage hikes compared to white and Hispanic millennials, said the study released Monday.
Waldholtz, who is white, graduated into the recession in 2008 and went back to Virginia Beach for work. “Probably the worst time ever to be looking for a job," he said. He eventually went to law school in Ohio and prioritized work opportunities when deciding where to live after graduation three years later.
“All of us need a job to pay our bills," Waldholtz said. “That factor has to be the most important factor." | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/nation-world/study-millennials-havent-strayed-far-from-where-they-grew-up/507-e233014c-6f3a-4441-855e-4ead30c6846a | 2022-07-26 12:22:41 | 0 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/nation-world/study-millennials-havent-strayed-far-from-where-they-grew-up/507-e233014c-6f3a-4441-855e-4ead30c6846a |
SmartMouth Kids eliminates and prevents bad breath for 24 hours with just two rinses a day and features a kid-friendly grape flavor to encourage good hygiene and promote oral health among children
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SmartMouth – a leading provider of innovative oral-care products – continues to expand its product line with the introduction of SmartMouth Kids – the only kids' mouthwash scientifically proven to eliminate and prevent bad breath for 24 hours with just two rinses per day. SmartMouth Kids is available in a 10-ounce dual-chamber bottle on smartmouth.com and Amazon at a suggested retail price of $6.99.
Dentist-recommended SmartMouth Kids is designed to encourage sound oral-hygiene practices and help kids maintain a healthier mouth. SmartMouth Kids' zinc-activated formula promotes oral health and boosts immunity, and its grape flavor was designed with kids in mind to help encourage regular oral-hygiene habits.
"No one likes bad breath, and that includes kids. But let's face it – kids don't always have the best oral-hygiene habits. That's why we created SmartMouth Kids," said SmartMouth CEO Jim Scheetz. "SmartMouth Kids eliminates and prevents bad breath just like our original activated mouthwash, but with a flavor that kids love and are more likely to use every day. And doing so will help kids maintain a healthier mouth."
Similar to other products in the SmartMouth activated mouthwash line, SmartMouth Kids employs two powerful liquids to fight bad breath. Its Sulfur Eliminating Solution destroys the root cause of bad breath: sulfur gases in the mouth. When added to its zinc ion Activating Solution, the combined solution instantly activates to release billions of zinc ions that bond to the germs in the mouth, stopping the return of bad breath for 24 hours with just two rinses a day.
A leading innovator in the long-term prevention of bad breath, SmartMouth also has developed a mild Zinc Ion Toothpaste kids love, a Clinical Activated Oral Rinse combining zinc ion technology with anti-plaque and anti-gingivitis benefits to prevent bleeding gums for optimal oral health, a Mouth Sore Rinse which helps alleviate oral pain and irritation, and a Dry Mouth Mouthwash designed to relieve dry mouth while preventing bad breath. SmartMouth also offers Dry Mouth Dual-Action Mints with zinc and xylitol to provide additional dry mouth relief throughout the day.
Founded in 1993 by Dr. Marvin Cohen, SmartMouth Oral Health Laboratories is a leading innovator in providing long-lasting solutions to bad breath. SmartMouth products utilize a patented zinc-ion-activated technology to eliminate the root cause of bad breath: the mouth's natural production of sulfur gas. The SmartMouth line of homecare oral-hygiene products includes SmartMouth Original Activated Mouthwash, Clinical Activated Mouthwash, Dry Mouth Activated Mouthwash, Dry Mouth Mints and Premium Zinc Ion Toothpaste. For more information about SmartMouth products, visit smartmouth.com.
For additional information, contact:
Patrick Barry - BYRNE PR
314-540-3865
Patrick@BYRNEPR.net
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE SmartMouth | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/08/09/smartmouth-introduces-activated-mouthwash-formulated-kids/ | 2022-08-09 16:20:04 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/08/09/smartmouth-introduces-activated-mouthwash-formulated-kids/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Twitter slid more than 6% at the opening bell Monday after billionaire Elon Musk said that he was abandoning his $44 billion bid for the company and the social media platform vowed to challenge Musk in court to uphold the agreement.
Musk alleged Friday that Twitter has failed to provide enough information about the number of fake accounts it has. However, Twitter said last month that it was making available to Musk a ” fire hose ” of raw data on hundreds of millions of daily tweets when he raised the issue again after announcing that he would buy the social media platform.
Twitter has said for years in regulatory filings that it believes about 5% of the accounts on the platform are fake but on Monday Musk continued to taunt the company, using Twitter, over what he has described as a lack of data.
Musk agreed to a $1 billion breakup fee as part of the buyout agreement, though it appears Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and the company are settling in for a legal fight to force the sale.
“For Twitter this fiasco is a nightmare scenario and will result in an Everest-like uphill climb for Parag & Co. to navigate the myriad challenges ahead around employee turnover/morale, advertising headwinds, investor credibility around the fake account/bot issues, and host of other issues abound,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who follows the company, wrote Monday.
The sell-off in Twitter shares pushed prices below $35 each, far from the $54.20 that Musk agreed to pay for the company. That suggests, strongly, that Wall Street has serious doubts that the deal will go forward.
“This is going to be a long and ugly court battle (Twitter has already hired counsel) ahead in which the fake account/bot issue will be scrutinized for all to see and casts a dark cloud over Twitter’s head in the near term,” Ives said. | https://www.cbs42.com/tech-news/ap-technology/looming-musk-twitter-legal-battle-drags-on-company-shares/ | 2022-07-11 14:26:59 | 0 | https://www.cbs42.com/tech-news/ap-technology/looming-musk-twitter-legal-battle-drags-on-company-shares/ |
(KTLA) – Did you know America spends more money making pennies than they are actually worth?
According to Time Magazine, back in 2009, it cost the United States Mint 1.4 cents to produce a single penny. Since then, it’s gotten even more expensive, with some sources putting the price tag at more than 2 cents per penny.
Needless to say, a penny in 2022 isn’t worth a lot in the United States. Unless you have a particular eye for valuable coins.
Just this past weekend, 10 100-year-old pennies sold for a whopping $1.1 million at an auction held by a California-based auction house.
The coins were sold Sunday night during an auction by GreatCollections.
“The ten pennies were specially struck proof coins made for collectors by the United States Mint in Philadelphia in the early years of the Lincoln cents. All are still in pristine, mint red condition and sold for a combined total of $1,113,174,” the auction house said.
One of the coins in particular is of record-breaking value. The coin is a “first-year” issue of a 1909 penny that includes the initials of the coin’s designer, Victor D. Brenner. The letters ‘VDB’ can be found on the “tail’s side” of the coin.
The designer’s initials can no longer be found at the bottom of the back side of the pennies. They were removed soon after the production of Lincoln cents began in 1909 and are now located on the front of the coins just above the rim below Lincoln’s arm.
That coin was sold for more than $365,000, which is a record for that coin, according to Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections. Four other pennies dated between 1909 and 1915 that were also in “superb quality” sold for more than $100,000 each, Russell said.
The coins previously belonged to a collector in New York who spent 50 years searching out some of the rarest coins in existence.
The record-breaking penny that sold for more than 300K is considered the “finest known surviving example” of the coin, which was specially made in 1909 to commemorate the centennial of Lincoln’s birth.
Russell called it the “king of Lincoln proof cents.” | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/10-pennies-sell-for-1-1-million-at-auction/ | 2022-08-30 13:52:41 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/10-pennies-sell-for-1-1-million-at-auction/ |
COVID-sniffing dogs had more than 90% success rate in study, researchers say
(CNN) – You already know dogs can sniff out bombs, drugs, and even trapped earthquake survivors – but a new study suggests they can also sniff out COVID-19.
Using skin swab samples, researchers trained four dogs to detect COVID-19 infections caused by the original strain of the virus.
The dogs correctly identified 92% of positive samples and 91% of negative samples.
Then they moved on to sniffing hundreds of airport passengers, where they correctly identified 98.7% of negative samples.
The dogs only missed three positive cases, but there weren’t enough positive samples among the airport passengers to get an accuracy percentage.
The preliminary study out of Finland was published Monday in the journal BMJ Global Health.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/05/17/covid-sniffing-dogs-had-more-than-90-success-rate-study-researchers-say/ | 2022-05-17 18:08:44 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/05/17/covid-sniffing-dogs-had-more-than-90-success-rate-study-researchers-say/ |
NEW DELHI (AP) — Embattled Indian billionaire Gautam Adani called off his flagship company’s $2.5 billion share sale late Wednesday after a tumultuous week saw his conglomerate shed tens of billions of dollars in market value after claims of fraud from a U.S.-based short-selling firm.
Citing a volatile market and an unprecedented situation, the Adani Group said in a statement it decided not to go ahead with its share sale — which was preliminarily sold out as of Tuesday — and will return the proceeds from the offering.
Adani-related shares plunged in recent days after Hindenburg Research, a financial research firm with a track record of sending the stock prices of its targets tumbling, accused the group of “brazen” stock market manipulation and accounting fraud, among other financial abuses.
By the time trading closed Wednesday, Adani Enterprises was down by a whopping 28% — a day after its share sale drew nearly 51 million bids, exceeding the 45.5 million that was offered to the public. Stock in six of Adani’s other listed companies also sunk between 2% and 19%.
“The market has been unprecedented and our stock price has fluctuated over the course of the day. Given these extraordinary circumstances, the Company’s board felt that going ahead with the issue would not be morally correct,” Adani said in his first remarks since the controversy.
He added that the group acted to protect its investors and insulate them from any financial losses.
The share sale and its success were seen as a crucial test of investor confidence in Adani. The stock losses on Wednesday cost Adani his title as the richest man in Asia and in India, as his fortune plummeted to $72 billion, according to Bloomberg. Prior to the Hindenburg report, his net worth at around $120 billion made him the world’s third-richest man.
Hindenburg, which said it was betting against the Adani Group, accused it of “pulling the largest con in corporate history.” It said it judged the seven key Adani listed companies to have an “85% downside, purely on a fundamental basis owing to sky-high valuations.”
The firm said its report followed a two-year investigation. Most of the allegations involved concerns about the group’s debt levels, activities of top executives, use of offshore shell companies to artificially boost share prices and past investigations into fraud. It listed 88 questions for the group to answer.
On Sunday, the Adani Group dismissed Hindenburg’s allegations and issued a 413-page report that rejected its questions, saying none were “based on independent or journalistic fact finding.” Adani’s response included documents and data tables and said the group has made all necessary regulatory disclosures and abided by local laws.
Hindenburg responded by saying Adani had answered only 26 of its 88 questions and failed to address many of the issues it raised.
In his statement Wednesday, Adani said the decision to scrap the share offering would not “have any impact on our existing operations and future plans,” adding that the group’s balance sheet was “very healthy” with strong cashflows and secure assets. “Once the market stabilizes, we will review our capital market strategy,” he said.
Adani made a vast fortune mining coal as energy-hungry India grew swiftly after its economy was liberalized in the 1990s. The market value of his companies has soared in recent years. Adani companies operate airports in major cities, build roads, generate electricity, manufacture defense equipment, develop agricultural drones, sell cooking oil and run a media outlet. | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/business/ap-adani-scraps-2-5b-share-sale-after-fraud-claims-hit-stock/ | 2023-02-02 17:41:24 | 1 | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/business/ap-adani-scraps-2-5b-share-sale-after-fraud-claims-hit-stock/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An energy company should be fined nearly $3.4 million for safety violations involving a 2021 oil pipeline spill that fouled Southern California beaches, a federal regulator said.
Amplify Energy Corp. ignored 83 alarms indicating the offshore pipeline had leaked and failed to notify federal authorities or shut down the pipeline to San Pedro Bay until 17 hours after the first alarms, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in a letter proposing the fine that was sent April 6 to the company’s president.
An email to the Houston-based firm seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned Tuesday.
The pipeline carries oil to shore from platforms in San Pedro Bay, near the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors.
The October 2021 spill of 25,000 gallons (94,600 liters) of crude oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and sent blobs of crude ashore, primarily affecting the cities of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. It further shuttered beaches for a week and fisheries for more than a month, oiled birds and threatened area wetlands.
Amplify Energy said the spill was linked to damage from two ships it accused of dragging anchors and striking the pipeline during a January 2021 storm. It reached an $85 million settlement with the vessel companies.
Southern California fishermen, tourism companies and property owners sued Amplify and the shipping vessels seeking compensation for their losses. Amplify agreed to pay $50 million and the vessel companies agreed to pay $45 million to settle those lawsuits.
Amplify also reached a plea deal with federal authorities for negligently discharging crude.
The company announced last month that it received approval from federal regulatory agencies to restart the pipeline. | https://www.krqe.com/news/national/3-4m-fine-proposed-over-2021-california-oil-pipeline-leak/ | 2023-05-10 19:02:31 | 1 | https://www.krqe.com/news/national/3-4m-fine-proposed-over-2021-california-oil-pipeline-leak/ |
BEIJING (AP) — China strictly adheres to its policy of no first use of nuclear weapons “at any time and under any circumstances,” its Defense Ministry said Tuesday in a scathing response to a U.S. report alleging a major buildup in Beijing’s nuclear capabilities.
The Pentagon last week released an annual China security report that warned Beijing would likely have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, and that it has provided no clarity on how it plans to use them.
That report “distorts China’s national defense policy and military strategy, makes groundless speculation about China’s military development and grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs on the issue of Taiwan,” ministry spokesperson Tan Kefei said in a statement.
Tan accused the U.S. of being the “biggest troublemaker and destroyer of world peace and stability,” and repeated that Beijing has never renounced the use of force to conquer self-governing Taiwan, a U.S. ally that China considers part of its territory.
Tan did not directly address the report’s allegations about a Chinese nuclear buildup, but blamed the U.S. for raising nuclear tensions, particularly with its plan to help Australia build a fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology, which the French president has described as a “confrontation with China.”
Australia has said it will not seek to arm the submarines with nuclear weapons. Tan also accused the U.S. of having the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, although that title is actually held by Russia, a close Chinese military, economic and diplomatic partner.
As of 2022, Russia possesses a total of 5,977 nuclear warheads compared to 5,428 in the U.S. inventory, according to the Federation of American Scientists. China currently has 350 nuclear warheads, according to the federation.
China has long adhered to what it calls a purely defensive national security strategy, including a claim that it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict. That stance has frequently been challenged at home and abroad, particularly if it comes to a confrontation over Taiwan.
“What needs to be emphasized is that China firmly pursues the nuclear strategy of self-defense and defense, always adheres to the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, and maintains its nuclear force at the minimum level required for national security,” Tan said in the statement, which was posted on the ministry’s website.
His remarks came days after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. is at a pivotal point with China and will need military strength to ensure that American values, not Beijing’s, set global norms in the 21st century.
Austin’s speech Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum capped a week in which the Pentagon was squarely focused on China’s rise and what that might mean for America’s position in the world.
China “is the only country with both the will and, increasingly, the power to reshape its region and the international order to suit its authoritarian preferences,” Austin said. “So let me be clear: We will not let that happen.”
Austin was on hand Friday for a dramatic nighttime rollout of the U.S. military’s newest nuclear stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, which is being designed to beat the quickly growing cyber, space and nuclear capabilities of Beijing.
The bomber is part of a major China-centric nuclear overhaul underway that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated will cost $1.2 trillion through 2046.
Already-tense relations between Washington and Beijing soured even more in August when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. China responded by firing missiles over the island and holding wargames in what was seen as a rehearsal for a possible blockade of the island.
While the U.S. and Taiwan have no formal diplomatic relations in deference to Beijing, the U.S. maintains informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan, along with a policy of “strategic ambiguity” over whether the U.S. would respond militarily if the island were attacked.
Despite some moves to improve relations, China has shown an increasingly hard line on military affairs. Following a rare meeting last month between Austin and his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, the Chinese side issued a statement saying, “The responsibility for the current situation facing China-U.S. relations is on the U.S. side, not on the Chinese side.”
In his remarks on Taiwan, Tan warned that, “The Chinese military has the confidence and capability to thwart any external interference and separatist plots for ‘Taiwan independence’ and realize the complete reunification of the motherland.” | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/ap-international/ap-china-blasts-us-report-reiterates-no-1st-use-nuke-policy/ | 2022-12-06 18:49:35 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/ap-international/ap-china-blasts-us-report-reiterates-no-1st-use-nuke-policy/ |
Car hit utility poles causing power outages in Baton Rouge, Entergy says
Published: Jul. 15, 2022 at 6:11 AM CDT|Updated: 2 hours ago
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Nearly 100 Entergy customers are without power due to downed power lines near the intersection South Foster Drive and Government Street Friday morning.
Entergy spokesman David Freese issued a statement on the outage saying:
A spokesman with the Baton Rouge Police Department confirmed that police are on the scene as well.
According to Entergy’s outage map, as of 6:30 a.m., 91 customers have been impacted.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ENTERGY’S OUTAGE MAP.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved. | https://www.wafb.com/2022/07/15/car-hit-utility-poles-causing-power-outages-baton-rouge-entergy-says/ | 2022-07-15 13:16:41 | 1 | https://www.wafb.com/2022/07/15/car-hit-utility-poles-causing-power-outages-baton-rouge-entergy-says/ |
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR says it had a productive test of its new car and promised drivers that solutions to some of their safety concerns should be implemented by next season.
NASCAR’s top leadership held a 75-minute meeting ahead of Saturday’s practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It said it expects a new rear clip, rear bumper structure and center section on next year’s Next Gen car. Those parts are too stiff right now and drivers have complained all season they are feeling the force from routine crashes more than before.
Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch are both sidelined with concussions suffered in crashes in the Next Gen, and Cody Shane Ware won’t race Sunday because he has a broken foot that would be under too much strain on Charlotte’s hybrid road course/oval circuit. It’s the first time in at least two decades that three full time Cup drivers will miss a race.
NASCAR had a slide presentation prepared, but two different drivers likened the session to an episode of “Seinfeld.” Erik Jones described it as an “airing of grievances” while Brad Keselowski, driver and part-owner of RFK Racing, said “everybody had a little bit to say, this may be a little bit of a Festivus.”
“It was definitely tense from the driver side. NASCAR did a good job of trying to answer the questions asked, but you can tell that there’s frustration,” driver Christopher Bell said. “We got through two slides. I believe that they had a much larger presentation available to us, but we got stuck in open conversation that took up the majority of the time.”
Drivers said NASCAR presented them with data from Wednesday’s crash test and outlined the improvements found in the exercise. One of the main goals of the Next Gen was to cut costs and in doing so, the new car was made to be durable and withstand crashes without being destroyed so that teams need only a seven-car fleet for the 38-race season.
The car has proven to be safer in many areas and drivers believe they will be protected in catastrophic crashes. But the impacts to the rear of the cars have been jarring, and after claiming they’ve complained to NASCAR during the entire design process that the Next Gen is too stiff, the drivers finally snapped after Bowman’s concussion two weeks ago and went public with their concerns.
“We just want to feel less inside the car. You look from the outside and you watch crashes and it doesn’t look like anything is happening,” Bell said. “But our body seems to be absorbing the majority of the impacts instead of the car absorbing the impacts. We just want the car to help us out where we’re not absorbing as much.”
Busch, who will miss his 12th consecutive race, attended the meeting. Ryan Blaney said drivers met last week at Talladega to present a unified front in the meeting.
Among the NASCAR representatives present were NASCAR chairman Jim France, president Steve Phelps and the leaders of the Next Gen project.
“The unfortunate side is we knew about this stuff before coming into this year and we thought it would be OK and it wasn’t,” Blaney said. “It is harder. Heck, you had guys saying right away in preseason testing like, ‘These hits feel a lot harder than what it was last year,’ and to us it’s frustrating that no one listened or believed because we’re the only ones who feel these hits.
“No one from NASCAR is strapping in and going and feeling these hits. I’ve always said, ‘All right, go strap in this thing and go wreck it at 160 (mph) with the old car and then go wreck this new one at 160 and you tell me how you feel after the hit.’ You’re gonna know it’s harder. That’s what it’s designed for, but some of the medium impacts feel way harder than the last car, for sure.”
Kevin Harvick, one of the more vocal veterans about the Next Gen car, was penalized this week for an illegal modification found on his Talladega car. NASCAR has denied the penalty was retribution for his comments.
After qualifying, Harvick said he wasn’t convinced he wasn’t being targeted by NASCAR but vowed not to stay silent. He said the NASCAR meeting was “a good step in communication” but cautioned that “actions are a lot louder than words.”
Asked specifically if he felt safe in the Next Gen, Harvick acknowledged this year’s car carries more risk to the drivers than previous models and that three drivers are sidelined is the proof. Harvick, who was thrust into the Cup Series in 2001 when Dale Earnhardt was killed on the final lap of the season-opening Daytona 500, indicated NASCAR is at a critical juncture with safety.
“I just don’t want to see it be like 2001,” Harvick said.
Drivers and teams are clearly fed up with NASCAR. In an extraordinary move Friday, representatives of some of NASCAR’s top teams said the sport business model is broken and they must come to a new revenue sharing agreement with the league for team stability.
The team representatives gave an unprecedented amount of details about business models and financial struggles to publicize their plight. NASCAR responded that it wants to work with the teams to solve their challenges.
___
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.kark.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-nascar-promises-drivers-safety-changes-on-new-car-for-2023/ | 2022-10-09 01:59:14 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-nascar-promises-drivers-safety-changes-on-new-car-for-2023/ |
What is bacterial meningitis, the disease that killed Jeff Beck?
After contracting bacterial meningitis, legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck died Wednesday at the age of 78, according to a statement posted to his official social media accounts and confirmed to CNN by his agent.
"On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck's passing," the statement read. "After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday. His family ask for privacy while they process this tremendous loss."
Unbelievable as it may be, death can occur within hours of contracting bacterial meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. The swelling is typically caused when an infection attacks the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. However, most people recover from the illness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Those who do recover can have permanent disabilities, such as brain damage, hearing loss, and learning disabilities," the CDC noted on its website.
Symptoms of bacterial meningitis
Symptoms of the illness can mimic the flu or COVID-19 and include a headache, fever, nausea or vomiting, brain fog, sensitivity to light, sleepiness or trouble waking, and a stiff neck.
"Meningitis can be acute, with a quick onset of symptoms, it can be chronic, lasting a month or more, or it can be mild or aseptic," according to the Cleveland Clinic.
See a doctor immediately if you or a loved one have a sudden high fever, a severe headache that doesn't ease, confusion, vomiting, or a painful, stiff neck with limited range of motion.
Babies are more susceptible than other age groups, according to the CDC. Signs to look for include irritability, vomiting, inactivity, feeding poorly, abnormal reflexes and a bulging "soft spot," or fontanel, on the head. Call the doctor immediately with any concerns.
How do you get bacterial meningitis?
A number of bacteria can cause meningitis, as can viruses, parasites, fungi, amoeba, and some injuries, drugs, and conditions like lupus or cancer. Treatment differs based on the cause of meningitis, so it's important to know the source. To find out, doctors will collect samples of blood or do a spinal tap, which they send to a laboratory for analysis.
"Doctors treat bacterial meningitis with a number of antibiotics. It is important to start treatment as soon as possible," the CDC said.
Viral meningitis, while serious, is much less deadly than the bacterial version, and people with a normal immune system typically get better on their own, the CDC said.
A viral case of meningitis is "not generally considered to be contagious," according to Meningitis Now, an information and support charity based in the United Kingdom.
"Viral meningitis is not passed on to others by being in close contact — unlike the meningococcal form of bacterial meningitis — so no preventive treatment is needed for relatives," the group stated.
The types of bacteria that cause meningitis can be spread in a number of ways. Group B Streptococcus and E. coli bacteria can be passed from mother to child during birth.
Pregnant women are also susceptible to Listeria monocytogenes infections, which can lead to "miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn, including meningitis," the CDC said.
Several other bacteria that cause meningitis — Haemophilus influenzae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae — are passed to others by coughing or sneezing. Bacteria called Neisseria meningitidisis spread by sharing saliva or spit, which typically occurs when people are kissing, coughing or living in close contact.
Not everyone who spreads the bacteria that causes meningitis gets sick. Some people carry these germs in their noses or on their bodies without knowing it.
"These people are 'carriers.' Most carriers never become sick, but can still spread the bacteria to others," the CDC noted.
People with certain medical conditions, such as HIV infection or serious immune deficiency, those who don't have spleens and patients on chemotherapy, are more likely to contract the disease, the CDC said. Travelers to sub-Saharan Africa, which has a "Meningitis belt" that extends from Senegal to Ethiopia, are also at increased risk.
Meningococcal meningitis
Meningococcal disease refers to any sickness caused by Neisseria meningitidis. The infection can lead to both meningitis and a serious infection of the bloodstream called sepsis, or blood poisoning. Sepsis can travel within hours throughout the body, causing extremities to quickly gangrene and organs to fail.
A skin rash can be a sign of meningococcal meningitis, along with the typical symptoms of high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting, confusion, and sensitivity to light.
"Meningococcal disease is rare and has declined in the United States since the 1990s. However, it is a severe disease with a significant risk of death or lasting disabilities in people who get it," according to the CDC.
"Even when it is treated, meningococcal disease kills 10 to 15 infected people out of 100. And of those who survive, about 10 to 20 out of every 100 will suffer disabilities such as hearing loss, brain damage, kidney damage, loss of limbs, nervous system problems, or severe scars from skin grafts," the agency added.
Cases occur during summer camps or in college dorm settings due to the close quarters, claiming the lives of students such as San Diego State University freshman Sara Stelzer. She died in 2014 three days after contracting a strain of meningococcal meningitis that wasn't included in the recommended vaccine at the time.
Preventing meningitis
Keeping you and your family up to date on vaccines is a key way to prevent bacterial and viral meningitis, the CDC advised.
There are four basic types of vaccines: pneumococcal vaccines, Hib vaccines, two meningococcal vaccines and the Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine that protects against tuberculosis.
One meningococcal vaccine protects against serogroups A, C, W and Y. To be protected against serogroup B, the disease that has taken the lives of a number of college students, a different vaccine called MenB is used.
Vaccine efficacy can wane over time, so it's wise to check with your health care provider to see whether you might need a booster. | https://www.wtae.com/article/what-is-bacterial-meningitis-disease-that-killed-jeff-beck/42479243 | 2023-01-13 04:23:57 | 0 | https://www.wtae.com/article/what-is-bacterial-meningitis-disease-that-killed-jeff-beck/42479243 |
Vice President Harris expressed concern over threats to voting rights and democracy in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” aired on Sunday, during which she emphasized the importance of getting out the vote for the midterm elections.
“Everything is on the line in these elections in just less than two months,” she said while discussing voting rights.
Harris stressed that the issue is high on the Biden administration’s agenda and that the president will “not let the filibuster get in the way” of signing bills into law that make it easier to vote.
“Because what is happening in our country … they are passing laws making it more difficult for people to vote,” said Harris.
Harris specified President Biden’s support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. Both bills have been approved by the House but blocked in the Senate by Republican filibusters.
The vice president said that after Biden was elected in 2020 “you almost saw, almost immediately, so-called extremist leaders around the country starting to pass laws making it more difficult for people to vote.”
“I think that scared some people that the American people were voting in such large numbers,” she said, referencing the record voter turnout that year.
Harris also addressed election deniers running for secretary of state around the country and some lawmakers’ refusal to condemn the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, voicing concern over how the country is handling “attacks from within.”
Asked by anchor Chuck Todd whether current internal threats to American democracy are “equal or greater than what we faced after 9/11,” Harris said that the two are “different.”
“Each are dangerous and extremely harmful, but they’re different,” said Harris.
She continued: “When I think about what we have been seeing in terms of the attacks from within, I wish that we would approach it … as Americans, instead of through some partisan lens.”
Harris claimed that threats to democracy from within the U.S. affect relations with other nations by indicating that America is not “valuing what they talk about.”
“I’m very concerned about it. Because there are so many issues going on in the world that I think require, at least how we as Americans have traditionally thought about what is right, what is good, what should be fought for, what should be human ideals, and certainly the ideals of democracies,” said Harris.
“And I think that through the process of what we’ve been through, we’re starting to allow people to call into question our commitment to those principles.”
Todd also asked the vice president how she might deal with disputes about the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, saying, “Have you thought about how you might handle a certification that did not reflect the outcome of the popular vote in the state?”
“I haven’t gotten to that point yet,” Harris told him.
“I have to believe that the United States Congress and all the people who have taken an oath to defend our democracy will ensure and will stand up against anyone who tries to destroy or circumvent the rules and the practices and procedures that we’ve had in place that have allowed a peaceful transfer of power since the inception of our nation and the founding of our nation,” she said.
Todd also broached the topic of a potential prosecution of former President Trump, who is currently facing multiple investigations, to which Harris responded that she “wouldn’t dare tell the Department of Justice what to do.”
Harris appeared to push back against the argument, raised by Todd, that it would be “too divisive for the country to prosecute a former president,” however.
She said that “the unthinkable has happened” before in U.S. history in situations “where there has been a call for justice, and justice has been served.”
“And I think that’s potentially going to always be the case in our country that people are going to demand justice and they rightly do,” she said. | https://cw33.com/hill-politics/harris-on-voting-rights-everything-is-on-the-line-in-these-elections-in-just-less-than-two-months/ | 2022-09-12 23:49:04 | 1 | https://cw33.com/hill-politics/harris-on-voting-rights-everything-is-on-the-line-in-these-elections-in-just-less-than-two-months/ |
OpenRadioss now available worldwide
TROY, Mich., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Altair (Nasdaq: ALTR), a global leader in computational science and artificial intelligence (AI) announced that Altair Radioss – an industry-proven finite element analysis (FEA) dynamic simulation code – is now available as an open-source technology under the name OpenRadioss. With OpenRadioss Altair aims to accelerate the global pace of innovation and address the ever-increasing multidisciplinary challenges – particularly climate change and sustainability objectives – faced by all industries.
For more than 30 years, Radioss has been a successful commercial software product utilized around the globe to help major automotive OEMs develop 5-star rated crash performance vehicles, aerospace companies simulate "hard" landings and bird strikes, and consumer electronics manufacturers analyze impact events, like cell phone drops.
"Radioss is a first-rate technology for solving transient dynamic events with outstanding robustness and accuracy. It is a tool that's massively parallel and readily scalable, and gives numerically consistent and reliable results," said James R. Scapa, founder and chief executive officer, Altair. "Staying true to Altair's open architecture philosophy, OpenRadioss allows everyone to contribute, drive their own innovations, develop and share their own models, and experiment by getting inside the code. This makes OpenRadioss an agile tool that always stays on the cutting edge, regardless of industry."
With OpenRadioss, Altair envisions faster advances in technology that will speed up research focused on solving today's most complex challenges. Additionally, the newly established OpenRadioss Community will benefit from the industry-proven comprehensive code base, modern software architecture with the most advanced hybrid (SMP+MPI) parallel structure, and robust numerical methods based on explicit time integration schemes.
This highly engaged international community from the world's best universities, most innovative startups, and the industry's biggest technology providers and top researchers will extend OpenRadioss's capabilities, disseminating the code to new users, industries, and organizations. This revolutionary way to collaborate bridges the gap between state-of-the-art research and industry needs and leverages Altair's expertise to maintain this production-grade open software platform to develop advanced technologies, share best practices, and enrich model libraries around OpenRadioss.
"OpenRadioss is a game changer for academia, research institutions, and industry alike, and gives the users the power to modify mature codes for their own use – without having to start from scratch – and lets users collaborate to accelerate the pace of innovation," said Elham Sahraei, associate professor of mechanical engineering, Temple University.
Additionally, OpenRadioss can read and run models written with LS-DYNA* syntax, enabling the community to contribute and harmonize model building. As such, OpenRadioss is positioned to be the most accessible, powerful, open-source software for accurate simulation of complex multiphysics dynamic events. To learn more about OpenRadioss, its philosophy, its capabilities, and to join the OpenRadioss community, visit www.openradioss.org.
Altair is a global leader in computational science and artificial intelligence (AI) that provides software and cloud solutions in simulation, high-performance computing (HPC), data analytics, and AI. Altair enables organizations across all industries to compete more effectively and drive smarter decisions in an increasingly connected world – all while creating a greener, more sustainable future. For more information, visit https://www.altair.com/.
*LS-DYNA® is a registered trademark of Livermore Software Technology Corporation, which is an affiliate of Ansys, Inc. Hereunder, there is no actual or implied affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any kind.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Altair | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/industry-proven-altair-radioss-finite-element-analysis-solver-now-available-open-source-solution/ | 2022-09-08 12:25:11 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/industry-proven-altair-radioss-finite-element-analysis-solver-now-available-open-source-solution/ |
Now through July 9, the Trenton Circus Squad (TCS) returns to Cooper’s Poynt Park (801 Delaware Ave, Camden, NJ) for its fifth Big Top Tour. The annual residency features 11 public performances by its Youth Squad members.
Since 2016, the Big Top Tour has traveled around New Jersey presenting 90-minutes of daring feats by Youth Squad performers, including dazzling acrobatics, high-wire walking, and unicycle stunts. During its Camden residency, TCS will host eight free performances through July 4, plus three paid shows on July 8 and 9. Tickets are available for $15 per person. Audiences are recommended to purchase tickets or register in advance online.
Additionally, the non-profit organization partners with local youth organizations to invite children to participate in free workshops led by squad members and coaches. The Youth Squad and coaches work with 100 kids in each workshop, teaching them a variety of circus acts, including aerials, tight wire, juggling, group pyramids, acrobatics, and clowning. These workshops maintain TCS’s goal of sharing the wonder and tradition of circus arts with young people while giving their Youth Squad opportunities to engage with the community. | https://www.phillytrib.com/entertainment/trenton-circus-squad-comes-to-camden-to-teach-and-entertain/article_4224bb9f-7f39-511d-b981-756c91d6f166.html | 2022-07-01 11:37:15 | 1 | https://www.phillytrib.com/entertainment/trenton-circus-squad-comes-to-camden-to-teach-and-entertain/article_4224bb9f-7f39-511d-b981-756c91d6f166.html |
GRAND FORKS, N.D., June 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Thread, the leading technology company in enterprise-scale asset maintenance solutions for the energy and utilities sector, today announced the appointment of Arnaud Thiercelin to the newly created role of Chief Technical and Product Officer.
Mr. Thiercelin brings nearly two decades of experience in software development, team development, and the management of deep-stack embedded systems. His broad expertise, ranging from embedded systems to cloud infrastructure, positions him as a strategic leader who is poised to drive Thread's technology development efforts.
"Arnaud's wealth of knowledge in both technical and leadership aspects of software development makes him a valuable addition to the Thread team," said Josh Riedy, Founder and CEO of Thread. "His insights and forward-thinking approach will be crucial as we continue to advance our technology solutions for enterprises in the renewable energy sector."
Prior to joining Thread, Mr. Thiercelin served as Chief Product Officer at Smarkets, Head of Enterprise Product at Auterion, and Head of R&D of North America at DJI. This blend of international experience and cross-functional leadership will be pivotal as Thread accelerates its growth and expands its technological capabilities.
"Thread represents a unique convergence of energy, utilities, and digital transformation, an intersection I am excited to contribute to," said Thiercelin. "I look forward to working closely with the talented team at Thread to build solutions that make a meaningful impact on our clients' businesses and contribute to a sustainable future."
In his new role as Chief Technical and Product Officer, Mr. Thiercelin will drive Thread's product strategy and shape the future of the company's proprietary technology that automates enterprise inspection workflows. His leadership will further cement Thread's position as a technology frontrunner in the expanding renewable energy sector.
Thread has established itself as a technology trailblazer, growing from a startup to serving Fortune 500 energy and utility companies, as well as DoD clients. Mr. Thiercelin's addition to the team bolsters the company's commitment to fostering regional economic growth, driving job creation, and propelling the digitization of the world's critical infrastructure.
About Thread: Thread, formerly Airtonomy, is the leading technology solution for enterprises seeking to streamline and transform critical infrastructure lifecycle management. Leveraging its proprietary, data-driven, and robust platform technology, Thread embeds uncrewed aerial systems and robotics with a suite of applications to automate enterprise inspection workflows. In doing so, digital asset information becomes vital to stakeholder decision management within the enterprise while also being easier and more efficient to maintain up-to-date information.
For more information, please visit http://www.thread.one.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Thread | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2023/06/30/thread-bolsters-leadership-team-adding-renowned-industry-innovator/ | 2023-06-30 11:19:39 | 0 | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2023/06/30/thread-bolsters-leadership-team-adding-renowned-industry-innovator/ |
BERLIN (AP) — Germany wants to buy mothballed Leopard 2 battle tanks from Switzerland to replace tanks that Berlin and its Western allies are sending to Ukraine, the Swiss government said Friday.
The Swiss Defense Ministry said that Germany’s defense and economy ministers wrote on Feb. 23 to Swiss Defense Minister Viola Amherd, setting out German manufacturer Rheinmetall’s interest in buying Leopard 2 tanks that the Swiss army doesn’t plan to put back into service.
They assured Amherd that the tanks, if bought, wouldn’t be sent to Ukraine and would be used by Germany or its NATO and European partners to fill the gaps in their own stocks created by their donations of tanks to Kyiv and to improve the availability of replacement parts.
That’s an issue because Switzerland has a long tradition of neutrality. Germany so far has been unable to persuade the Swiss to provide supplies from their stockpile of ammunition for Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns that Berlin provided to Ukraine.
The ministry, in an emailed response to a query after Swiss daily Blick reported on the request, didn’t specify how many tanks Germany would like to buy. Switzerland has 230 of the German-made Leopard 2 tanks, 96 of which aren’t in operation, according to German news agency dpa.
Amherd this week responded to the German government that any sale would require a decision by the Swiss parliament to declare the tanks officially removed from service, and that while there are discussions in parliament, no such decision has yet been made.
Her ministry said that the army has determined that in principle it would be possible to do without a “limited number” of battle tanks.
Germany is providing 18 of its own military’s Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, and they are expected to be delivered later this month. Together with tanks provided by Sweden and Portugal, they will make up a battalion. Poland and other countries also are providing Leopard 2 tanks.
Germany’s defense minister has pushed for the tanks to be replaced as quickly as possible.
German Defense Ministry spokesman Arne Collatz confirmed Germany’s interest in the tanks from Switzerland but said there had been no discussion yet of how many tanks might be involved.
Asked whether similar queries were made to other countries, Collatz replied that “we are in constant contact and good talks with many partners.” He didn’t elaborate. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/germany-seeks-to-buy-mothballed-swiss-leopard-2-tanks/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2023-03-03 12:21:18 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/germany-seeks-to-buy-mothballed-swiss-leopard-2-tanks/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Percentages: FG .491, FT .824.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
3-Point Goals: 3-12, .250 (Essegian 1-2, Hepburn 1-2, Klesmit 1-4, Lindsey 0-1, McGee 0-1, Davis 0-2).
Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 2 (Crowl, Essegian).
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Turnovers: 8 (Essegian 3, Wahl 3, Crowl, Klesmit).
Steals: 4 (Crowl, Gilmore, Hepburn, Klesmit).
Technical Fouls: None.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Percentages: FG .521, FT .579.
3-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (Garcia 3-6, Henley 1-1, Carrington 1-2, Battle 1-6, Cooper 0-3).
Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 4 (Battle, Cooper, Garcia, Henley).
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Turnovers: 11 (Cooper 4, Battle 2, Payne 2, Carrington, Garcia, Ola-Joseph).
Steals: 5 (Garcia 2, Battle, Cooper, Ola-Joseph).
Technical Fouls: None.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
. | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/wisconsin-71-minnesota-67-17821629.php | 2023-03-06 03:32:10 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/wisconsin-71-minnesota-67-17821629.php |
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Aug. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Knowledge Matters, an eDynamic Learning company and the leading provider of career-based simulations for high schools, colleges, and corporations, announces the official release of two new Case Simulation collections. The Entrepreneurship and Management Case Simulation collections are now available in time for fall classes, and join the Marketing, Hotel, Sports Management, and Restaurant Case Simulation collections as immersive resources for professors to meet the needs of today's college students and keep them engaged. In Case Simulations, students are in the virtual driver's seat to apply their knowledge of business concepts learned in lectures in these areas of study in a zero risk, game-like setting, whether they are learning remotely or in the classroom.
Maureen Ginley, General Manager of Knowledge Matters said, "Knowledge Matters is thrilled to bring the Entrepreneurship and Management Case Simulation collections to the market. In the Entrepreneurship collection, college students can now choose from 20 simulated businesses to apply fundamentals like: business planning and operation, hiring and employee management, and marketing, and take part in special projects like Mega-Mogul. The new Management Case Simulation collection is exciting and unique because it takes students on a journey through operations management, pricing and sales, and also includes a focus on human resources management, which is a notable differentiator in the business simulation space."
"eDynamic Learning is excited to expand offerings to college professors and students all over the world through the new Case Simulation collections." said Jerry Wooden, President and CEO of eDynamic Learning. "The simulations help professors connect with modern college students through experiential learning in a capacity that empowers them to make the important business decisions they may face after graduation. The zero-risk virtual environment gives them the confidence to continually try new things and learn by doing, and the game-like setting makes it entertaining and fun."
Knowledge Matters' simulations are used by leading universities in five continents and in over one-third of all U.S. high schools. The company also has a long standing relationship with Collegiate DECA, iCHRIE, and other leading CTSOs where students across the globe participate in simulation competitions. These competitive events are valued by professors and students alike, as they provide an elevated level of engagement for important hospitality and business concepts, and also a chance to win cash prizes and industry conference registrations. Many student competitors also include their competition scores and accomplishments on graduate school applications and resumes.
Knowledge Matters continually creates new content and simulations based on feedback from leading collegiate partners, in fact, additional new Case Simulations are planned for release later this year. The latest news on product updates, releases, podcasts, funding information, and industry content can be found on their social media channels Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Knowledge Matters is the leading simulation-based educational content solution for Business, Marketing, Finance, Hospitality, & Human Services. Knowledge Matters' online visual simulations allow students to control their own virtual businesses - learning valuable business and marketing concepts using simulation game-based technology. The Virtual Business line of simulations are used in over one-third of all the US high schools and the Case Simulation collections are used by leading universities globally.
With offices in Southlake, Texas and Kelowna, BC, Canada, eDynamic Learning is a teacher-founded company, established with a mission to support schools in helping students find their passion and ensure they leave high school with the knowledge and preparation needed to make life-shaping college and career decisions. eDynamic Learning offers over 200 CTE and career-focused elective digital courses and Knowledge Matters' career-based simulations. All curriculum is available online and works continuously in any instructional model, and is compatible with nearly all LMS systems.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE eDynamic Learning | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/08/03/edynamic-learning-announces-new-experiential-learning-case-simulations-college-students-knowledge-matters/ | 2022-08-03 11:18:26 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/08/03/edynamic-learning-announces-new-experiential-learning-case-simulations-college-students-knowledge-matters/ |
BRUSELAS (AP) — Inflación en los países que utilizan el euro alcanza récord de 8,6% ante alza en costos de energía por guerra en Ucrania.
- Radiohead is never coming back
- Fish are reportedly raining from the sky across San Francisco
- SF was named second-worst-run city in US. Officials are livid.
- New In-N-Out to open in the Bay Area next year
- Warriors already ruled out of Kevin Durant trade sweepstakes
- Juan Toscano-Anderson joined this Western Conference rival
- Suspect arrested in Costa Rica in killing of SF cyclist
- Man missing in area with 'abnormal' number of disappearances
- Do mask mandates work? Bay Area data from June says no.
- Silicon Valley tech giant hack due to workers’ bad passwords
- Horoscope for Wednesday, 6/29/22 by Christopher Renstrom
- SF PG&E worker found dead in Tahoe lake during backpacking trip
MOST POPULAR | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Inflaci-n-en-los-pa-ses-que-utilizan-el-euro-17278588.php | 2022-07-01 09:58:21 | 0 | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Inflaci-n-en-los-pa-ses-que-utilizan-el-euro-17278588.php |
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — An 8-year-old boy who was inside an apartment where two people were fatally shot will be allowed to testify at the suspect's murder trial next week after proving to a judge that he understands the difference between the truth and a lie.
Prosecutors want the boy to take the stand at the trial of Bruce Miles, who is charged with killing a man and a woman in Syracuse, New York, in 2021, the Post-Standard of Syracuse reported. Jury selection is scheduled to start Monday.
The boy was questioned by prosecution and defense lawyers at a hearing Thursday before Onondaga County Judge Gordon Cuffy, who said he was satisfied that the boy was able to respect the importance of telling the truth in a courtroom.
When asked by defense attorney Ed Klein whether he had ever told a lie, the boy said he once told his uncle that he had eaten some noodles when he hadn’t. He said he knew that telling the truth was good and telling a lie was bad.
The child was inside the apartment when a gunman unleashed a barrage of bullets, killing Shabriah Gainey, 29, and Julian Mansaw, 33. Gainey was shot five times and Mansaw was hit 10 times, according to an indictment.
The boy's relationship to the victims was not disclosed.
Assistant District Attorney Anthony Copani told the judge the boy would be asked at trial why he woke up the night of the shooting and what he saw and did. The prosecutor said the boy was the only living witness to leave the apartment that day.
Miles was arrested in Ohio and is charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty. | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/judge-to-allow-8-year-old-to-testify-at-17830741.php | 2023-03-10 03:44:55 | 0 | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/judge-to-allow-8-year-old-to-testify-at-17830741.php |
Thanksgiving approaches, and with it, nominations for the 65th annual Grammy Awards.
As usual, University of North Texas alumni are among the luminaries from pop to jazz.
Thanksgiving approaches, and with it, nominations for the 65th annual Grammy Awards.
As usual, University of North Texas alumni are among the luminaries from pop to jazz.
Norah Jones, who studied at UNT, nabbed a nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for her I Dream of Christmas (Extended) record. She's up against artists who sell out stadiums: Michael Bublé (Higher); Kelly Clarkson (When Christmas Comes Around); Arlington a cappella juggernaut Pentatonix (Evergreen) and Diana Ross (Thank You).
Denton's homegrown jazz, funk and R&B fusion act Snarky Puppy is nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Empire Central, and is in the running with Jeff Coffin (Between Dreaming and Joy); Domi & JD Beck (Not Tight); Grant Geissman (Blooz) and Brad Mehldau (Jacob's Ladder).
Alumna Maren Morris keeps up her Grammy nomination streak with three bids. She's nominated for Best Country Solo Performance for "Circles Around This Town." She's in the category with Kelsea Ballerini ("Heartfirst"); Zach Bryan ("Something in the Orange"); Miranda Lambert ("In His Arms"); and Willie Nelson ("Live Forever"). Morris is also nominated for Best Country Song for the same track, vying for the golden gramophone along with Luke Combs ("Doin' This"); Taylor Swift ("I Bet You Think About Me"); Miranda Lambert ("If I Was a Cowboy"); Willie Nelson ("I'll Love You Till the Day I Die")'; and Cody Johnson ("Til You Can't"). Finally, Morris is nominated for Best Country Album for Humble Quest. She's nominated alongside Luke Combs (Growin' Up); Miranda Lambert (Palamino); Ashley McBryde (Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville) and Willie Nelson (A Beautiful Time).
UNT alumni are routinely recognized in jazz categories. Alumnus John Beasley is nominated in two jazz categories, Best Improvised Jazz Solo for "Cherokee/Koko" and Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for Bird Lives. Beasley also earned a nomination for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for “Scrapple From the Apple.”
The awards show will be broadcast Feb. 5 on CBS.
For a list of all nominees, visit www.grammy.com
LUCINDA BREEDING-GONZALES can be reached at 940-566-6877 and via Twitter at @LBreedingDRC.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.
Thank you.
Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
A receipt was sent to your email. | https://dentonrc.com/entertainment/music/norah-jones-maren-morris-among-unt-alumni-with-grammy-nominations/article_28debfec-7014-5fe8-9fe7-572b4bd56ebd.html | 2022-11-17 00:54:07 | 1 | https://dentonrc.com/entertainment/music/norah-jones-maren-morris-among-unt-alumni-with-grammy-nominations/article_28debfec-7014-5fe8-9fe7-572b4bd56ebd.html |
HOUSTON, June 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SkillGigs, Inc., an ecommerce talent marketplace that pairs skilled healthcare and technology job seekers with AI-matched opportunities, has been named one of the largest healthcare staffing firms in the U.S. in 2023 by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). SkillGigs was ranked #100 on the list of Largest U.S. Healthcare Staffing Firms, and #68 on the list of Largest Travel Nurse Staffing Firms in the U.S. 2023 is the second year for SkillGigs on the travel nurse firm list, and the first year on the largest staffing firms list.
The healthcare staffing firms on this list represent more than 90% of the market and $61.7 billion in revenue. SkillGigs' placement on this list is a notable achievement, as the company is a technology platform for AI-powered direct talent sourcing, rather than a traditional recruiting firm. SkillGigs is also a Joint Commission Gold Seal certified staffing agency, which is also unusual among digital talent marketplaces.
"Our growing market share in the healthcare staffing space demonstrates that both hospitals and clinicians are hungry for 21st-century solutions," said SkillGigs CEO and Founder Kashif Aftab. "Being listed in the top 70 for travel nurse agencies, specifically, speaks volumes about the trust that travel nurses put into our brand. I am proud of the entire SkillGigs team for the work they have done, and look forward to continued innovation in this space."
The easy-to-use SkillGigs Travel Nurse Bidding feature allows job seekers to directly contact employers and bid on gigs in real time with their ideal pay rate. If they win a bid, this opens the interview process. Likewise, employers can submit a bid to any candidate, and start interviews with a new level of efficiency and transparency.
About SkillGigs, Inc.
SkillGigs, Inc. is an ecommerce talent marketplace that pairs skilled healthcare and technology job seekers with AI-matched work opportunities. Founded in 2017 on the belief that companies and talent should be able to interact seamlessly, SkillGigs is dedicated to empowering the users. SkillGigs elevates and maximizes the hiring process by removing traditional barriers. The company's patented AI software matches talent with jobs tailored to their skills, while giving companies with open positions strong candidates who are ready to work—all without a single recruiter. Learn more at skillgigs.com.
CONTACT
Sarah Flocken
sarah@conwaymarketinggroup.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Skillgigs | https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2023/06/28/skillgigs-named-one-top-100-largest-us-healthcare-staffing-firms-2023/ | 2023-06-28 19:21:09 | 1 | https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2023/06/28/skillgigs-named-one-top-100-largest-us-healthcare-staffing-firms-2023/ |
ROCHESTER, Minn. - It will be another fun season for the Rochester Grizzlies.
They're coming off a championship win in the Fraser Cup.
About 70 skaters are hitting the ice this weekend for the Grizzlies main camp.
There are a few familiar faces back, but not many.
Over half the team will be new.
Head Coach Chris Ratzloff says this camp is a little more skilled and all the athletes are looking good.
KIMT News 3 Sports asked Coach and Per Waage what excites them the most about this season.
"Seeing, you know, what's the team going to look like. What kind of an identity are they going to have. You know, the culture has been the same since the Grizzlies have started here, but each team has had a little bit of a different identity. So that's going to be the fun thing to see. What kind of identity they're going to give themselves," says Coach Ratzloff.
"I think it's just that we know how to do it now. We know what it takes. It's up to us veterans and leaders to pass it on to the younger guys and let them know how we get to the championship game and hopefully win it again this year," says Per Waage.
If you want to check out some of the action this weekend, the All-Star game is tomorrow morning at 10:30.
The Grizzlies start the season on the road against the St. Louis Jr. Blues on Friday, September 9. | https://www.kimt.com/sports/the-rochester-grizzlies-host-their-main-camp-this-weekend/article_d2e2ba8c-2102-11ed-8cb7-574528fe70f1.html | 2022-08-21 06:15:46 | 1 | https://www.kimt.com/sports/the-rochester-grizzlies-host-their-main-camp-this-weekend/article_d2e2ba8c-2102-11ed-8cb7-574528fe70f1.html |
Two Sincera Reproductive Medicine locations to operate under Main Line Fertility, furthering expanding Prelude's comprehensive fertility services to aspiring parents
HOUSTON, July 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Prelude Network® (Prelude), the largest and fastest-growing network of fertility clinics in North America, announces today its continued expansion through the acquisition of two locations of Sincera Reproductive Medicine (Sincera), formerly Abington Reproductive Medicine. The Fort Washington and Langhorne locations of Sincera will join and operate as part of Main Line Fertility, Philadelphia's premier fertility provider and part of Prelude's global network. This partnership establishes Main Line Fertility as the largest fertility practice in the Greater Philadelphia area.
These Sincera clinics and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) have been a successful resource in the reproductive journey of aspiring parents for over thirty years. Joining Prelude, the clinic network of Inception Fertility™ (Inception), and Main Line Fertility gives these locations an exclusive opportunity to engage with and learn from the Prelude's extensive community of physicians, several of whom are leading figures in the field of reproductive medicine. Many of today's advancements in assisted reproductive technologies, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), cryopreservation, egg freezing, and pregenetic implantation testing (PGT) have been spearheaded by Prelude's award-winning REIs and embryologists.
Dr. Stephen G. Somkuti, M.D., Ph.D., Sincera's Medical Director, plays an important role in the new relationship formed with Main Line Fertility. As an authority in fertility research, trials, and the recipient of multiple awards, his expertise enriches this collaboration. Dr. Somkuti's commitment to research compliments the Inception Research Institute, a program launched in 2022 that embarks on the latest fertility studies to further advance the science and patient experience of reproductive medicine.
"Prelude is proud to welcome Sincera Reproductive Medicine to our premium network of fertility clinics and expand our world-class care to more locations in Pennsylvania," says TJ Farnsworth, Founder and CEO of Inception Fertility™, the parent company to Prelude. "We also look forward to providing more aspiring parents access to Inception's brands and broad scale of fertility options that will aid in their fertility journey."
Main Line Fertility offers a full spectrum of female and male fertility care, including diagnostics, treatments such as intrauterine insemination (IUI), IVF, egg freezing, genetic screening (PGD/PGS), egg donation, and LGBTQ+ fertility-focused fertility services.
"We are thrilled to welcome my esteemed colleague, Dr. Stephen G. Somkuti M.D., Ph.D. and his professional staff to Main Line Fertility. Our individual dedication is renewed and the desire for patient success is reinforced by the complementary vision of the expanded practice. Main Line Fertility will continue to be the region's foremost provider of preeminent fertility services assisting hopeful patients to become parents," says Michael J. Glassner, MD, Founding Partner and Medical Director at Main Line Fertility.
About Inception Fertility™
Inception Fertility™ (Inception) is a family of fertility brands committed to helping patients build their own families. Built by patients for patients, Inception's purpose is to achieve the highest bar in experience, science and medicine in an effort to enhance each patient's experience and achieve better outcomes.
Inception's medical experts are leading pioneers in fertility care. Our doctors are some of the first to use breakthrough assisted reproductive technologies (ART) – including in vitro fertilization (IVF), preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and fertility preservation services – and they continue to lead the industry by building on these technologies by through development, research and thought leadership.
Through its growing family of national organizations – which includes The Prelude Network®, the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America; Pathways Fertility, clinics that provide affordable, individualized and high quality care; MyEggBank®, one of the largest frozen donor egg banks in North America; BUNDL Fertility™, a multi-cycle fertility service bundling program; HavenCryo™, a long-term reproductive preservation and storage solution provider and NutraBloom®, a premium lifestyle brand with expertly formulated supplements to support individuals' health and wellness goals for preconception – Inception is working to deliver on its promise to push the envelope of what is possible for exceeding patient expectations.
About The Prelude Network®
The Prelude Network® (Prelude), the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America, is the clinic network of Inception Fertility™ – a family of fertility brands that touches every part of the fertility journey, including diagnostics and treatment to financial accessibility.
Each clinic, as part of the Prelude Network, is committed to delivering the highest level of personalized fertility care by the nation's leading reproductive endocrinologists, embryologists, and practitioners by focusing on an excellence in science, medicine and the patient experience. The growing Prelude Network has over 40 total locations nationwide, offering a wide range of fertility services including egg freezing, IVF, genetic testing and egg/embryo storage, among others.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Mia Humphreys
Krupp
239-297-6592
MHumphreys@kruppagency.com
View original content:
SOURCE The Prelude Network | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/05/prelude-network-acquires-sincera-reproductive-medicine-establish-largest-fertility-practice-greater-philadelphia/ | 2023-07-05 14:22:16 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/05/prelude-network-acquires-sincera-reproductive-medicine-establish-largest-fertility-practice-greater-philadelphia/ |
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — LaMonte Wade Jr. and J.D. Davis homered on consecutive pitches in the sixth inning, Joey Bart also connected, and the slumping San Francisco Giants beat the Oakland Athletics 7-3 on Saturday.
Carlos Rodón allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings for his team-leading 10th victory as the Giants won for the fourth time in 16 games since the All-Star break.
“It felt good to do something today. A good team win,” Wade said. “We’re starting to click a little bit on both sides of the ball. Anytime at full health I think we’re pretty good.”
The Giants have been banged up and missing key pieces for much of the season but got shortstop Brandon Crawford and outfielder Joc Pederson back in the lineup for the third Bay Bridge rivalry game this year.
Crawford got San Francisco going with a bases-loaded walk in the first inning, and Pederson had an RBI single in the second.
“I don’t think there’s any question that when our lineup is kind of deep and healthier, it feels like we have a chance to put runs on the board,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “These are the guys that we’re going to need to perform if we’re going to the postseason. And it’s going to need to be a lot of consistent and especially good performance. That’s what we saw today.”
Wade, who doubled and scored in the second, hit his fourth home run of the season off Adam Oller (1-5) following Bart’s leadoff single. Davis, acquired earlier in the week from the Mets for Darin Ruf, followed with a pinch-hit shot to center on the first pitch from Kirby Snead for his second home run in three games with his new team.
Bart hit his ninth homer in the seventh against Snead.
The seven runs are the most by the Giants since a 9-5 win over the Brewers in their last game before the break. San Francisco opened the second half with seven consecutive losses to the Dodgers and Diamondbacks and was swept by Los Angeles in another four-game series before beating Oakland for the second time in three games this season.
Skye Bolt homered for the A’s. Sean Murphy had two hits and an RBI in the game between the two Bay Area rivals that drew a season-high crowd of 40,065 to the Coliseum.
Rodón (10-6) was the subject of trade talks leading up to last week’s deadline after reaching an incentive that allows him to become a free agent in the offseason. But Giants general manager Farhan Zaidi held on to the Rodón, and the All-Star left-hander responded with an effective outing.
Rodón allowed five hits, struck out three, and didn’t issue a walk for the second consecutive start.
“I thought they put together some very good at-bats,” Rodón said. “It seems like they didn’t want to swing at spin and they did a good job sticking to their plan. Almost all of them were deep into counts, full counts, 2-2 counts. I’d get ahead and they’d get back in the count with sticking to their plan. They had a really good approach against me and got me out of the game earlier than I would like.”
After allowing Murphy’s two-out RBI single, Rodón fanned Ramón Laureano on a 98 mph fastball to end the third. Rodón set down seven of the next eight and left after Murphy flied out to open the sixth.
Oller allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings in his first career appearance against the Giants.
KEPT HIS EYE ON IT
Laureano provided the A’s with one of their few highlights when he made a brilliant defensive play in the ninth. The veteran outfielder ran in on pinch-hitter Yermin Mercedes’ short fly to right, slipped and fell on his rear end, then reached over his body and caught the ball.
“You’d say acrobatic maybe but it takes an athlete to do that and Ramón’s a tremendous athlete,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “Thankfully he was able to control himself to a certain extent and reach back and make the play.”
A’S HONOR FOSSE
Longtime A’s broadcaster and two-time All-Star catcher Ray Fosse, who died of cancer last October, was named winner of the Monte Moore Award. Fosse’s widow, Carol, accepted the award in her husband’s honor during a pregame ceremony. Moore was a lead radio and television broadcaster for the A’s starting in 1962 when the team played in Kansas City and continuing through 1980 in Oakland.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: Crawford returned from a rehab assignment and started at shortstop after missing 16 games with left knee inflammation. Pederson also came back from the 7-day concussion injured list. IF David Villar was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento and IF Dixon Machado was designated for assignment.
Athletics: RHP Brent Honeywell (right elbow) will throw a bullpen against hitters on Monday.
UP NEXT
Giants RHP Logan Webb (9-5, 3.20 ERA) starts Sunday’s finale of the two-game series. Webb has lost two straight decisions and is coming off his worst outing of the season, allowing six earned runs in five innings against the Dodgers last Monday. RHP Adrián Martínez (2-2, 6.52) will be called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to start for the A’s.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Giants-bust-out-of-slump-beat-A-s-7-3-for-17356996.php | 2022-08-07 04:13:25 | 0 | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Giants-bust-out-of-slump-beat-A-s-7-3-for-17356996.php |
ANDOVER, Mass., Feb. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transmural Systems the leader in transcatheter electrosurgery for structural interventions announced today successful first-in-human procedure with its TELLTALE electrosurgical guidewire system. The TELLTALE Guidewire System is the first and only dedicated electrosurgical solution to simplify the BASILICA-TAVR procedure for transcatheter traversal and laceration of native and bioprosthetic tissue in patients at risk for coronary obstruction or compromised coronary access.
The TAVR market is expected to be $10 billion by 2028 with the expansion into low-risk younger patients. However, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) may cause life threatening coronary artery obstruction, whether implanted for native aortic stenosis or bioprosthetic valve failure. Coronary obstruction during TAVR is associated with up to 50% mortality. The TELLTALE guidewire may be used to lacerate both native and bioprosthetic valve leaflets to enable safe implantation of the TAVR by preventing coronary obstruction.
The first TELLTALE procedure in the United States was performed at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center, Roslyn NY, by Dr. Jaffar Khan and team. "TELLTALE is a beautifully elegant and intuitive device that allowed us to successfully treat this patient with severe native aortic stenosis who was at high risk of TAVR-induced coronary obstruction," commented Dr. Khan. "The targeted leaflet was effectively lacerated within just a few minutes, allowing for safe implantation of the TAVR valve."
"Doctors Babaliaros and Greenbaum, Co-directors of the Structural Heart and Valve Center at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and pioneers in the field propose that "Transcatheter electrosurgery-assisted BASILICA is the only 'tried and true' method to guarantee laceration while minimizing unwanted tearing or embolization of often heavily calcified leaflets. The Transmural Systems dedicated TELLTALE guidewire system is the first to accomplish this and promises to be a huge advance for those in need of leaflet modification prior to TAVR."
"The TELLTALE system will offer a much-needed treatment option for patients with native valves or failing bioprosthetic valves requiring a TAVR," said Dr. Toby Rogers, interventional cardiologist, and scientific lead for the MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute Structural Heart Disease program.
"We are very pleased with the start of enrollment in the United States allowing us to move forward with our clinical plan said Transmural Systems CEO Nasser Rafiee. We believe TELLTALE will provide the simplicity and reliability physicians have been asking for during BASILICA procedures. We expect to be the first dedicated electrosurgical leaflet laceration device coming to market as early as 2024."
About Transmural Systems
Transmural Systems is a medical device company with a platform of innovative electrosurgical therapies and new treatment options for patients suffering from heart failure. Transmural Systems is a privately held company located in Andover, MA.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Transmural Systems LLC | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/02/23/transmural-systems-electrosurgical-guidewire-system-telltale-used-first-procedure-united-states-ide-pivotal-study/ | 2023-02-23 13:35:59 | 0 | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/02/23/transmural-systems-electrosurgical-guidewire-system-telltale-used-first-procedure-united-states-ide-pivotal-study/ |
Loyola’s Sister Jean turns 103, has train stop named for her
CHICAGO (AP) — Loyola University’s Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt got some Chicago hardware with her name on it for her 103rd birthday. School, city and state leaders celebrated Sunday with the Catholic nun who became something of a folk hero as chaplain for the Loyola men’s basketball team that reached the NCAA Final Four in 2018. A highlight was the renaming in her honor of the Chicago train station plaza at the Loyola campus, with a large sign marking it as “Home of the World Famous Sister Jean!” She called the plaza dedication “very special” and gave her secrets to longevity as “I eat well. I pray well — I hope I pray well — and I sleep well.” | https://kion546.com/news/2022/08/22/loyolas-sister-jean-turns-103-has-train-stop-named-for-her/ | 2022-08-22 17:11:02 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/2022/08/22/loyolas-sister-jean-turns-103-has-train-stop-named-for-her/ |
Bryce Young’s ability to elude opposing defenses failed him Tuesday.
In fact, a non-contact jersey may not have helped him.
It’s OK. Most quarterbacks don’t stand much of a chance against an Alabama pass rush.
His Heisman Trophy designation didn’t help him either when it comes tradition.
Young’s birthday was met by a team tradition. His star status didn’t help him.
The reigning Heisman Trophy winner was caught by teammates and carried for the traditional dunk into the cold tub at the Alabama facility. It was all captured on video and displayed for the masses on social media.
Young is coming off a season where he set the Alabama single-season marks with 4,872 yards passing and 47 touchdowns.
Check out the birthday celebration below.
Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. | https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2022/07/bryce-young-cant-elude-this-alabama-pass-rush-teammates-dunk-qb-on-his-birthday.html | 2022-07-27 13:17:25 | 0 | https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2022/07/bryce-young-cant-elude-this-alabama-pass-rush-teammates-dunk-qb-on-his-birthday.html |
WFO DALLAS / FT. WORTH Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, December 23, 2022
_____
HARD FREEZE WARNING
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Fort Worth TX
1055 AM CST Thu Dec 22 2022
...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CST THIS EVENING...
...HARD FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING
TO 9 AM CST FRIDAY...
* WHAT...For the Hard Freeze Warning, sub-freezing temperatures as
low as 7 above expected. For the Wind Advisory, north winds 20
to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.
* WHERE...All of North and Central Texas.
* WHEN...For the Hard Freeze Warning, from 6 PM this evening to
9 AM CST Friday. For the Wind Advisory, until 8 PM CST this
evening.
* IMPACTS...Unsecured outdoor items may be blown around in the
wind. Driving on area roadways may become difficult,
especially for high-profile vehicles. Frost and freeze
conditions will kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and
possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Temperatures will fall into the single
digits and low teens Thursday night. Wind speeds will peak
during the early to mid afternoon before gradually weakening
this evening.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Wind Advisory means that sustained winds of at least 20 to
30 mph are expected. Winds this strong can make driving
difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Boaters should
use extra caution when venturing onto area lakes. Residents may
wish to take action to secure trash cans, lawn furniture, and
other lightweight outdoor objects that may be blown around in the
strong winds.
Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. To prevent
freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes they should
be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. Those that have
in-ground sprinkler systems should drain them and cover above-
ground pipes to protect them from freezing.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-DALLAS-FT-WORTH-Warnings-Watches-and-17671920.php | 2022-12-22 18:22:21 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/TX-WFO-DALLAS-FT-WORTH-Warnings-Watches-and-17671920.php |
They say their six-year-old son ordered nearly $1,000 worth of takeout while playing with their phone. Some of the orders were stopped by the bank.
Copyright 2023 NPR
They say their six-year-old son ordered nearly $1,000 worth of takeout while playing with their phone. Some of the orders were stopped by the bank.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.knau.org/2023-02-02/michigan-couple-recently-learned-a-valuable-lesson-child-lock-your-apps | 2023-02-02 12:44:53 | 1 | https://www.knau.org/2023-02-02/michigan-couple-recently-learned-a-valuable-lesson-child-lock-your-apps |
___
- Morales filing highlights final city election entries
- Legendary Permian coach Gary Gaines dead at 73
- Midland man charged with intoxication assault
- Hodges to run against Trischitti for school board
- Weekend rainfall drenches drought-plagued Midland
- Kerosene and castor oil — home cures were once universal...
- MHS senior McDonald heading to eventing national championships
- NWS: Midland breaks 1965 temperature record on Monday
Most Popular
More from MRT
- Here is a roundup of high school volleyball action from Tuesday.
- The first-place RockHounds (26-19) saw their lead cut to one game over second-place Frisco...
- The Legacy volleyball team faced a high-energy Monahans squad Tuesday that fought hard for every...
- See which establishments racked up the biggest tabs:
- Midland Realtor is ready to hear what constituents have to say
- First-year Midland Christian coach Chris Cunningham called his team’s season-opening game at El...
- If early indications are correct, it looks like the Greenwood football team will once again have...
- Midland College board votes unanimously to accept a plan to conditionally reopen the program.
- Gary Gaines gained national fame when the Odessa Permian head football coach was chronicled in...
- On “Make it Happen Day,” Yelp wants to help 50 Texans make repairs to their homes and businesses... | https://www.mrt.com/sports/article/Toronto-Team-Stax-17394117.php | 2022-08-24 04:47:24 | 1 | https://www.mrt.com/sports/article/Toronto-Team-Stax-17394117.php |
The Phillies’ last two first-round picks, Mick Abel and Andrew Painter, have joined forces on the pitching staff of the high-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws. Arguably the Phillies’ top two prospects, they have formed a brotherhood along with Ben Brown, a 33rd-round pick in 2017 who also is on the Jersey Shore staff.
“Sometimes competition can get the best of you or make you get bitter, but I don’t see that with any of these guys,” Brown says. “Seeing how they pull for each other, seeing how they pull for me, it makes me want to pull for them even more.”
— Jim Swan, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
We want to know about what you think to help us learn the best ways we can build a better Sports Daily newsletter together. Take this anonymous survey for a free 28-day subscription and a chance to win a $50 American Express gift card.
Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher and new coach John Tortorella have stressed that the first step to fixing the Flyers is making the team “harder to play against” and embracing the identity of Flyers teams of yesterday.
That is all fine and good. The issue is that the Flyers still lack the necessary talent to compete, and as Fletcher announced Wednesday, there isn’t any more help on the way. Yes, the Flyers will likely be more physical and harder to play against next season, but as Mike Sielski writes, the bottom line is they’ll also be harder to watch.
The newest Flyer, enforcer Nic Deslauriers, met with the media Thursday and handed out a lesson in French in the process.
The French Canadian answered questions in both English and French, explaining that he thinks Philadelphia is a “perfect fit” and saying he believes his game will translate in this city. Here are the highlights from Deslauriers’ first comments as a Flyer.
The Flyers also held the third and final on-ice day of development camp practices ahead of Friday’s scrimmage. Olivia Reiner was in Voorhees and has the story of a special guest coach and an update on one of the team’s highest-rated prospects.
The Phillies will select 17th in the first round of the MLB draft on Sunday night. This draft is said to be heavy on talented position players, while several top pitchers have been dealing with injuries.
So what will the Phillies do with their top pick? Will they select a pitcher for the third straight year? It’s a tough choice for scouting director Brian Barber and his army of talent evaluators. They cannot afford a mistake with a high-risk pick.
Next: The Phillies open a three-game series with the Marlins on Friday at 6:40 p.m. (NBCSP). Kyle Gibson (4-3, 4.53 ERA) will oppose Miami ace Sandy Alcantara (9-3, 1.73).
Eagles running back Miles Sanders found himself drawn to his hometown of Pittsburgh for training this offseason, mentioning one benefit in workouts: “There’s hills everywhere.” Sanders split his time this offseason mostly between Pittsburgh and Houston, traveling with his longtime trainer Craig Williams.
Sanders found time to run a free football camp in the Steel City for about 300 children between the ages of 6 and 13. “I’m still grinding, too,” Sanders says of his training. “Probably like a week or a couple days before [training camp,] I’ll just chill out and relax my body, then it’s go time.”
Next: The Eagles open training camp on July 26.
Longtime 76ers employees Tyler Lashbrook and Dwayne Jones are getting a unique opportunity to further their coaching careers. Lashbrook was the Sixers’ summer league head coach in Salt Lake City last week before Jones took on that role during the team’s stay in Las Vegas that continues Friday night against Denver.
The Union picked up Julían Carranza’s purchase option this week and manager Jim Curtin is awfully glad they did. “... Now we have a guy that is ours, and is a great striker in the league,” Curtin said.
Worth a look
Heading for Philly? The National Women’s Soccer League plans to expand by two teams by 2024. Commissioner Jessica Berman says that Philadelphia could be an attractive candidate for a team.
What you’re saying about the Flyers’ playoff chances
We asked you: Will the Flyers turn things around and make the playoffs in the upcoming season?
Among your responses:
NO WAY! A raging dumpster fire lacking a hydrant! [Ed] Snider lost his way, sold out to clueless Comcast.
[Ron] Hextall and [Chuck]Fletcher buried the remains of a great franchise. The hockey version of the Jacksonville Jaguars!
A fan from 1967 who is done!!!!!! — Frank W.
Why ??? What have they done to improve the team? Allowing [Johnny] Gaudreau to sign with Columbus because of incompetent front office management leaves little hope.
What a mess. They have become irrelevant. — Bill M.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Scott Lauber, Alex Coffey, Gina Mizell, EJ Smith, Olivia Reiner, Giana Han, Mike Sielski, Jonathan Tannenwald, and Isabella DiAmore. | https://www.inquirer.com/newsletters/sports/phillies-minor-leagues-prospects-lakewood-20220715.html | 2022-07-15 12:26:40 | 1 | https://www.inquirer.com/newsletters/sports/phillies-minor-leagues-prospects-lakewood-20220715.html |
DEAR ABBY: My adult granddaughter, “Kaia,” is in a relationship with “Jenny.” Jenny’s stepmom doesn’t believe in gay marriage or homosexuality. I’m having a hard time dealing with the fact that Jenny’s family doesn’t accept Kaia or allow her in their home. Kaia is excluded from all holidays and family functions.
I don’t know what to do or say to her about this. They are getting married in two months, and Jenny’s family is still shunning her. How do I deal with these “holy rollers” who use the church as a reason to hate my granddaughter? I don’t want to die knowing she’ll have a miserable life ahead of her. Please help me.
— SUPPORTIVE IN CALIFORNIA
DEAR SUPPORTIVE: If Jenny’s family are truly good Christians, they may not dislike your granddaughter. They may be following a misguided directive to love the “sinner” but hate the “sin.” I cannot advise strongly enough that Kaia and Jenny discuss the ramifications of that family’s stance BEFORE they marry. I am surprised Jenny would attend family gatherings from which Kaia is excluded. If this continues after the marriage, it could damage their relationship. A counselor at the nearest LGBTQ center would be helpful in facilitating this discussion.
Be as supportive to your granddaughter and Jenny as you can so they know you’re always in their corner. Encourage them to cultivate their own “chosen family” as they move into their future.
.
DEAR ABBY: My husband, “Jonah,” comes from a large family. They are rude people who live in a small, rural town, and they don’t like outsiders. Jonah and I have been together 15 years (married for eight), and I have never been invited to his mother’s home or some of his siblings’ homes.
We love to entertain, so they attend our holiday parties, where they literally walk in without greeting me. They eat all our food and leave without saying goodbye or even helping with the cleanup. It’s “pack behavior.” They do this all together.
I have reached the point that I no longer want to host these events. I feel uncomfortable in my own home. Jonah and I have started cutting back on the number of parties we host, and now they are making rude comments about it. My husband acknowledges that they’re a bunch of miserable, rude people, but that doesn’t help the situation.
I don’t want anything to do with them, and I don’t want to be forced to keep inviting a bunch of ungrateful individuals who don’t have even the courtesy to speak to me. How can I make Jonah understand how I feel? Please help.
— ANNOYED IN NEW JERSEY
DEAR ANNOYED: If you have expressed to your husband what you have written in your letter, he DOES understand, but doesn’t want to acknowledge it. The way his family has treated you is deplorable. If you don’t wish to entertain them, let your husband buy and prepare the food and do the cleanup with no help from them afterward, while you go and do something alone or with people whose company you enjoy. He can also visit his relatives without you if he wishes.
. | https://www.unionleader.com/news/human_interest/dear-abby-accepting-grandma-irked-by-intolerance-of-others/article_f17f8170-ebf5-5d22-89a7-d5f1282350f4.html | 2022-04-14 01:38:24 | 0 | https://www.unionleader.com/news/human_interest/dear-abby-accepting-grandma-irked-by-intolerance-of-others/article_f17f8170-ebf5-5d22-89a7-d5f1282350f4.html |
GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WATE) — A 7-year-old girl has died after a tree fell on a tent in a Great Smoky Mountains campground overnight, according to a spokeswoman for the national park.
The girl is identified only as being from Georgia. Her father and two siblings were uninjured, according to park officials.
First responders were called to the Elkmont Campground 10 miles outside of Gatlinburg around 12:30 a.m. early Wednesday morning. There they found a large tree — a red maple — that was approximately two feet in diameter that had fallen on the tent, the park said.
The campsite and those immediately near it were closed Wednesday. A park spokeswoman said Elkmont Campground remains open.
This is the second child killed by falling trees while sleeping in the Smokies this year. In January, a 7-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on a rental cabin in Townsend.
The region has received a large amount of rainfall in recent weeks, including a flash flood at Greenbrier Campground, roughly 16 miles north of Elkmont, on July 13. Greenbrier is fully closed due to landslides and washouts that park officials said made the roads too dangerous to remain open.
Emergency responders from Gatlinburg Fire Department, Gatlinburg Police Department, and the National Park Service responded to the call for help at the campground. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/national/girl-7-dies-after-tree-falls-in-great-smoky-mountains-national-park/ | 2022-07-27 18:28:09 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/national/girl-7-dies-after-tree-falls-in-great-smoky-mountains-national-park/ |
EDGEWOOD, N.Y., April 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SMP Nutra, a US-based supplement manufacturing company, has received NSF certification for their manufacturing facility. This certification is an important step in ensuring the safety and purity of their products.
NSF International is an independent public health and safety organization that provides third-party testing and certification services for food, water, and dietary supplements. They are committed to providing consumers with confidence in their food choices by ensuring that products meet or exceed regulatory requirements while remaining safe for consumption.
The NSF certification process includes audits of all aspects of production, including raw materials sourcing and handling; product formulation; manufacturing processes; packaging materials; finished product testing; storage conditions; distribution methods; and more. These audits help ensure that SMP Nutra's facility meets or exceeds international standards for quality control and safety management systems at every step along the way -- from raw material acquisition through final product delivery -- so that consumers can trust that every product they purchase will meet or exceed their expectations in terms of quality and effectiveness.
SMP Nutra is dedicated to continually expanding on the certifications they have to maintain the utmost health and safety practices to deliver products to their customers that are safe and at the top quality possible. It is anticipated that the team at SMP Nutra will continue to work on gaining additional awards as well as certifications.
View original content:
SOURCE SMP Nutra | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/04/03/smp-nutra-us-based-supplement-manufacturing-company-has-received-nsf-certification-their-manufacturing-facility/ | 2023-04-03 14:28:28 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/04/03/smp-nutra-us-based-supplement-manufacturing-company-has-received-nsf-certification-their-manufacturing-facility/ |
Spencer Torkelson Player Prop Bets: Tigers vs. Orioles - April 23
Published: Apr. 23, 2023 at 12:28 PM EDT|Updated: 49 minutes ago
On Sunday, Spencer Torkelson (.211 batting average in his past 10 games, with three doubles, a home run, two walks and three RBI) and the Detroit Tigers play the Baltimore Orioles, whose starting pitcher will be Grayson Rodriguez. First pitch is at 1:35 PM ET.
He had a hitless showing in his most recent game (0-for-3) against the Orioles.
Spencer Torkelson Game Info & Props vs. the Orioles
- Game Day: Sunday, April 23, 2023
- Game Time: 1:35 PM ET
- Stadium: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Orioles Starter: Grayson Rodriguez
- TV Channel: MASN2
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -182)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +675)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +210)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +175)
Looking to place a prop bet on Spencer Torkelson? Check out what's available at BetMGM and sign up with this link!
Spencer Torkelson At The Plate
- Torkelson has four doubles, two home runs and three walks while hitting .222.
- Torkelson has reached base via a hit in 11 games this year (of 19 played), and had multiple hits in four of those games.
- In 19 games played this year, he has gone deep in two of them.
- In seven games this year, Torkelson has picked up an RBI, with more than one RBI once.
- He has scored at least one run seven times this season (36.8%), including one multi-run game.
Ready to play FanDuel Daily Fantasy? Get in the game using our link.
Spencer Torkelson Home/Away Batting Splits
Orioles Pitching Rankings
- The nine strikeouts per nine innings compiled by the Orioles pitching staff ranks 12th in the league.
- The Orioles have a 4.32 team ERA that ranks 16th across all league pitching staffs.
- Orioles pitchers combine to rank 16th in baseball in home runs surrendered (23 total, 1.2 per game).
- The Orioles will send Rodriguez (0-0) to the mound for his fourth start of the season. He is 0-0 with a 6.91 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings pitched.
- The right-hander last appeared in relief on Friday, when he tossed 2/3 innings against the Detroit Tigers while giving up hits.
- The 23-year-old has put up an ERA of 6.91, with 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings, in three games this season. Opponents are batting .276 against him.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/sports/betting/2023/04/23/spencer-torkelson-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-04-23 17:18:29 | 1 | https://www.wnem.com/sports/betting/2023/04/23/spencer-torkelson-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed an open records request seeking correspondence between two journalism professors connected to the University of Missouri and the executive director of a fact-checking group.
In a move that appears to be unprecedented in Missouri, Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, filed a request in June asking for three years of emails sent and received by the professors while they worked at the Columbia Missourian.
Most correspondence generated at private media firms is not subject to the state's open records law, but the Missourian could be because it is attached to the University of Missouri, which is a public entity.
The Missourian is not overseen by university officials, but most of its staff are students who are working for credits toward a journalism degree. The professional editors work as university faculty members.
David Kurpius, dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, said the school has hired outside legal counsel to determine which emails could be released to the attorney general. Some records, such as those that identify students’ personal information, are protected by federal law.
Jean Maneke, an attorney with the Missouri Press Association, said the request puts the university in “unchartered territory” because most public institutions do not have journalists attached. She was unaware of any similar request in the past.
“There's no clear instructions for what they should do when faced with these kind of parameters,” Maneke said.
The request was first reported by the Missourian, which discovered it after filing an unrelated open records request.
Schmitt's spokesman, Chris Nuelle, said in a statement that the attorney general is “simply trying to get to the bottom of the fact checking process.” He declined to answer further questions.
Schmitt previously used open-records laws to seek copies of handouts, emails and other resources that address race from school districts as part of efforts targeting “critical race theory.” He also opened a “transparency portal” to allow parents to see his efforts.
In the latest request, Schmitt is seeking any email correspondence starting June 15, 2018, sent to or from Mike Jenner, Tom Warhover, who previously worked with the Missourian, and Aaron Sharockman, the executive director of PolitiFact.
Warhover, an associate professor at the university, was executive editor at the Missourian for 16 years before resigning in 2017. Jenner, board member of the Missourian Publishing Association, a nonprofit that governs the Missourian, succeeded Warhover for about two years.
Warhover noted the fact-checking course involving PolitiFact hasn't been offered for about 1 1/2 years. He did not see a similar request during his years at the Missourian.
“My initial and continuing reaction is one of confusion,” Warhover said. “What the attorney general would want with this is befuddling."
Sharockman told The Missourian in an email statement that Poltifact doesn't use off-the-record information and publishes a list of sources with each story.
“Our methods and reporting are transparent, and we’d be happy to sit down with the attorney general at any time to discuss our work, or his ideas for continued accountability journalism," he said.
Maneke noted the attorney general's office is one of the primary entities that advises citizens and enforces the state's Sunshine Law. In this case, Schmitt appears to be using the law as a “battering ram” against the university and journalists who are housed at the university, she said.
“It creates a real conflict in interest in what the attorney general is doing and how citizens view the office of attorney general as a Sunshine Law advocate,” she said.
Kurpius said the school will comply without whatever determination its legal team makes about which records should be released. He noted that the journalism school often uses the Freedom of Information Act and strongly supports open records laws.
“We also obviously believe in the process of journalism,” Kurpius said. “Fact checking, making sure we get things right is important in having the trust of the public we serve.” | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Missouri-attorney-general-seeks-journalism-school-17416241.php | 2022-09-02 21:50:07 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Missouri-attorney-general-seeks-journalism-school-17416241.php |
New insurance program brings advanced financial protection to enterprises running their business on AWS
PLEASANTON, Calif., Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cowbell Cyber, a leading provider of cyber insurance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), today announced a new partnership with Swiss Re to bring expertly designed cyber insurance coverages to enterprises with up to $750 million in revenue who are building their digital footprint on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Cloud adoption continues on its rapid adoption trajectory, fueled by the new reality of remote and hybrid work. As enterprises digitize their operations, embracing a cloud-first approach has become the new norm for any business that desires a competitive advantage at speed. With worldwide spending on public cloud services forecasted to grow more than 20% and reach $494.7 billion, Cowbell and Swiss Re have combined their respective cyber risk expertise – insurance provision by Cowbell and risk monitoring technology developed by Swiss Re – to bring tailored coverages to organizations running in cloud environments.
"The world is digitizing fast and cyber insurance needs to keep up. The partnership between Cowbell and Swiss Re is focused on bringing peace of mind to enterprises who are actively establishing their footprint in the cloud," said Jack Kudale, founder and CEO at Cowbell. "Our partnership brings together a wealth of cyber risk expertise and enables us to make sure policyholders are well protected with accurate insurance coverages that are specifically tailored to cloud environments. "
The program grants customers access to Cowbell Factors which provide a relative rating of an organization's risk profile against the company's monitored risk pool of 25 million U.S. businesses which represents 78% of U.S. SMEs. The first-of-its-kind program also features Cyber Guardian, Swiss Re's cyber risk technology platform, which leverages security configuration data directly from the customer's AWS environment to allow risk monitoring and risk scoring used in underwriting. A credit towards a subscription to AWS Security Hub is included as part of this program.
"Cyber resilience is a topic of growing concern globally and an increasing share of the digital economy is now reliant on the cloud. That's why Swiss Re is committed to closing the protection gap and driving innovation in the insurance industry," said Pranav Pasricha, global head of P&C solutions at Swiss Re. "We are pleased to announce a new class of cyber insurance products and risk assessment platform for AWS customers. Our platform will offer active telemetry, continuous monitoring, and cloud security, giving our partners the ability to offer innovative insurance products to SMEs."
In addition to providing robust cyber insurance protection, the program offers continuous guidance to policyholders on how to deploy cybersecurity best practices in a cloud environment. It also grants customers tools to monitor exposure to cyber threats. Cowbell's in-house team of cyber claims experts handles all cyber incidents and a 24/7 incident response hotline is available to all policyholders.
Similar to other Cowbell insurance offerings, cyber insurance policies contained in this new program are distributed and available nationwide through Cowbell's robust network of 17,000 brokers across 3,000 agencies, the largest cyber insurance distribution network in the U.S.
Cowbell continues to grow its business with a 260% year-over-year growth in written premium, 272% in revenues and 438% in policyholders for the first-half of 2022.
Brokers interested in distributing this program from Cowbell and Swiss Re can learn more at: https://cowbell.insure/prime-cloud/
About Cowbell Cyber
Cowbell is signaling a new era in cyber insurance by harnessing technology and data to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with advanced warning of cyber risk exposures bundled with cyber insurance coverage adaptable to today and tomorrow's threats. In its unique AI-based approach to risk selection and pricing, Cowbell's continuous underwriting platform, powered by Cowbell Factors, compresses the insurance process from submission to issue to less than 5 minutes. Cowbell Insurance Agency is currently licensed in 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Cowbell Reinsurance Company is a licensed insurance captive in the State of Vermont. For more information, please visit www.cowbell.insure.
Media Contact
John Kreuzer
Lumina Communications for Cowbell Cyber
Cowbell@LuminaPR.com
408-963-6418
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Cowbell Cyber | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/11/cowbell-swiss-re-partner-offer-first-ever-cyber-insurance-program-dedicated-cloud-workloads/ | 2022-08-11 13:50:37 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/11/cowbell-swiss-re-partner-offer-first-ever-cyber-insurance-program-dedicated-cloud-workloads/ |
NEW YORK, July 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- If you are a merchant who incurred an unreimbursed EMV/chip Fraud Liability Shift chargeback on a Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover credit or debit card transaction that occurred from October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2017, a pending class action lawsuit may affect your rights.
Class action litigation (B&R Supermarket, Inc, et al. v. Visa Inc., et al., 17-cv-02738) is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In this litigation, Plaintiffs assert that Defendants Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover violated antitrust laws by illegally acting in concert in shifting the liability for certain fraudulent charges to merchants when the card was enabled with EMV/chip technology and the merchant's terminal was not. The Court has not yet decided who is right. The Court has decided this case should proceed as a class action lawsuit. Liability has not yet been determined. No trial date has been set. There is no money available now. There is no guarantee there ever will be. However, your legal rights may be affected and you must make a choice now.
Your options are either:
1. Do nothing. Stay in this case. Await the outcome. Give up certain rights. If you do nothing, you keep the possibility of getting money or benefits that may be awarded at trial or through a settlement. You will be legally bound by all of the Orders the Court issues and Judgments the Court makes in this litigation. However, if you stay in the case, you give up any rights you may have to sue the Defendants separately concerning any claims based on the facts and conduct raised by this lawsuit. If you choose, you may enter an appearance in this case through an attorney.
2. Exclude yourself. Get out of this case. Get no money from it, if any is recovered in the future. Keep any rights you may have to sue on your own. If you ask to be excluded from the Class, you will not be entitled to any recovery, if any ultimately is awarded. But you, on your own or through an attorney you hire, may be able to sue the Defendants concerning the same legal claims that are the subject of this lawsuit. To exclude yourself, you must send a letter stating you want to exclude yourself from the Class to: FLS Litigation Administrator, P.O. Box 6430, Portland, OR 97228-6430. Your exclusion request must be postmarked no later than 08/31/2022.
If you have any questions or want to review documents that have been filed in this case, including the detailed Notice that describes how to request exclusion, you may visit www.FraudLiabilityShiftLitigation.com. All dates are subject to change, and current dates are available on the website.
VISIT WWW.FRAUDLIABILITYSHIFTLITIGATION.COM OR CALL TOLL-FREE 1-855-662-0073.
URL: www.FraudLiabilityShiftLitigation.com
View original content:
SOURCE U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/07/01/if-you-are-merchant-who-incurred-an-unreimbursed-emvchip-fraud-liability-shift-chargeback-visa-mastercard-american-express-or-discover-credit-or-debit-card-pending-class-action-lawsuit-may-affect-your-rights/ | 2022-07-01 14:25:09 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/07/01/if-you-are-merchant-who-incurred-an-unreimbursed-emvchip-fraud-liability-shift-chargeback-visa-mastercard-american-express-or-discover-credit-or-debit-card-pending-class-action-lawsuit-may-affect-your-rights/ |
PARIS, April 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Technogym is Official and Exclusive Supporter of the cardio, strength and functional training equipment for the athletic preparation of the participants who will compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In Paris, Technogym will equip 29 training centers for the athletes to train prior to and during the Olympic Games. The main training center, equipped for the need of all sport disciplines will be the Olympic and Paralympic Village in Paris Saint Denis, while other training centers specifically designed for different sport disciplines will be located at the competition venues and at the off-Paris Olympic Villages in Lille, Marseilles and Tahiti.
A total number of approximately 1.200 pieces of equipment will be made available to the 14.900 athletes – between Olympic and Paralympic, coming from over 200 different countries and performing in 32 different Olympic Sports and 22 Paralympic Sports. Moreover, Technogym will provide a team of professional athletic trainers to support the athletes as well as all related services (gym layout, installation and technical service).
Paris 2024 athletes will have the possibility to train on a selection of the best and most innovative products covering all training areas such as cardio, strength and functional training. All Technogym smart equipment will be connected within Technogym Ecosystem.
Nerio Alessandri, President and Founder of Technogym said: "We are very proud to be Official and Exclusive Supporter of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. At Technogym, we work every day to create the most innovative products and digital technologies to support athletes all over the world improving their performance and reaching their goals. The partnership with the Olympic Games means a lot to us, not only because of the invaluable feedback we get from the athletes, but above all because the Games represent a unique platform for sharing our commitment to spreading the culture of wellness, sport and health with the whole world".
"Technogym has always been working closely with athletes by creating high quality sports equipment. As an athlete, I know their expertise personally and I am delighted that this company, a world market leader, is supporting us as Official and Exclusive Supplier to the Paris 2024 Games. Technogym's experience and knowledge of the sports ecosystem will be essential to enable athletes around the world to train in the best conditions. This partnership also illustrates our common desire to place the athletes at the heart of the project, relying in particular on the advice of the Athletes' Commission. Thanks to Technogym for its commitment, and welcome to the adventure»! Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024.
In addition to the partnership with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Technogym is globally recognized as the benchmark brand for elite sports training.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2045565/Technogym_1.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2031509/Technogym_Logo.jpg
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Technogym | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2023/04/03/technogym-is-official-supporter-paris-2024-olympic-games/ | 2023-04-03 09:27:58 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2023/04/03/technogym-is-official-supporter-paris-2024-olympic-games/ |
Veronika Kudermetova 2023 Libema Open Odds
Veronika Kudermetova will play Celine Naef next in the Libema Open quarterfinals. At +275, Kudermetova is the favorite to win this tournament at Autotron Rosmalen.
Find all the latest odds for the 2023 Libema Open and place your bets with a new user bonus from BetMGM.
Kudermetova at the 2023 Libema Open
- Next Round: Quarterfinals
- Tournament Dates: June 9-18
- Venue: Autotron Rosmalen
- Location: Rosmalen, Netherlands
- Court Surface: Grass
Watch live sports without cable! Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo!
Kudermetova's Next Match
In the quarterfinals on Friday, June 16 (at 10:15 AM ET), Kudermetova will meet Naef, after defeating Carol Zhao 6-1, 6-3 in the last round.
Veronika Kudermetova Grand Slam Odds
- Wimbeldon odds to win: +3300
- US Open odds to win: +2000
- Libema Open odds to win: +275
Want to bet on Kudermetova? Head to BetMGM using our link for a bonus bet special offer for new players!
Kudermetova Stats
- Kudermetova is coming off a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 163-ranked Zhao in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
- Kudermetova is 35-20 over the past year, with zero tournament victories.
- In two tournaments on grass over the past year, Kudermetova has gone 3-1.
- Kudermetova, over the past year, has played 55 matches across all court surfaces, and 21.8 games per match.
- Kudermetova, over the past year, has played four matches on grass, and 21.0 games per match.
- Kudermetova has won 34.6% of her return games and 71.9% of her service games over the past year.
- On grass over the past 12 months, Kudermetova has been victorious in 72.7% of her service games and 47.5% of her return games.
Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbtv.com/sports/betting/2023/06/09/veronika-kudermetova-libema-open-betting-odds/ | 2023-06-15 19:53:59 | 0 | https://www.wbtv.com/sports/betting/2023/06/09/veronika-kudermetova-libema-open-betting-odds/ |
ALIQUIPPA, Pa., July 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Pines Trucking, www.spinestrucking.com, a leader in the specialized and cryogenic transportation industries, announces the addition of Darren Coast to their leadership team as President, Cryogenic Division. Southern Pines' Cryogenic Division provides cryogenic gas transportation services to numerous industries including steel, healthcare, aerospace, food and beverage, chemicals/refining and electronics. As President of the Cryogenic Division, Coast will grow the tanker fleet and further diversify Southern Pines' customer base while maintaining the company's high standards of safety, service and quality relationships.
"My top priority is our drivers. I understand the daily challenges they face and the high demand that exists for their services. Our highly skilled drivers are the reason we're able to provide such safe and reliable service to our customers. I'm here to help them and add to our growing team of professional drivers," said Coast.
Prior to joining Southern Pines, Coast served as the Chief Financial Officer of PGT Trucking, Inc., an affiliate of Southern Pines, and held several key leadership positions at PGT for more than 20 years. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Westminster College and has over 27 years of experience in the transportation and logistics industries. He is a member of the American Trucking Association, the Truckload Carriers Association, and National Tank Truck Carriers. Coast brings his extensive knowledge and background across multiple disciplines to Southern Pines.
"Darren has held many different positions during his tenure at PGT, and we are always looking to provide opportunities for career development and advancement to our employees," said Pat Gallagher, Southern Pines Trucking Chief Executive Officer. "Darren is a great fit to lead the Cryogenic Division, and I look forward to seeing Southern Pines grow and succeed under his direction."
Southern Pines Trucking is a multi-service transportation firm offering cryogenic tanker and heavy haul services in the continental U.S. and parts of Canada. With more than 20 years' experience in the specialized transportation industry, Southern Pines is equipped to handle any unique shipment needs. Southern Pines provides safe, reliable transportation services, builds quality relationships and offers a challenging and rewarding work environment. For more information, visit www.spinestrucking.com.
Contact: Katie Irvine, PGT Trucking
Phone: 724.987.1812 Email: kirvine@pgttrucking.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Southern Pines Trucking | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/07/05/darren-coast-joins-southern-pines-trucking-president-cryogenic-division/ | 2022-07-05 17:43:45 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/07/05/darren-coast-joins-southern-pines-trucking-president-cryogenic-division/ |
GENEVA (AP) — The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths reported globally continued to fall nearly everywhere in the world in what the World Health Organization described as a “welcome decline” at a media briefing on Wednesday.
The U.N. health agency said there were 4.5 million new COVID-19 cases reported last week, a 16% drop from the previous week. Deaths were also down by 13%, with about 13,500 fatalities. WHO said COVID-19 infections dropped everywhere in the world while deaths decreased everywhere except for Southeast Asia, where they climbed by 15% and in the Western Pacific, where they rose by 3%.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that with the coming onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the possible emergence of a more dangerous new COVID-19 variant, experts expect to see a spike in hospitalizations and deaths. Tedros said vaccination rates, even in rich countries, were still too low, noting that 30% of health workers and 20% of older people remain unimmunized.
“These vaccination gaps pose a risk to all of us,” he said. “Please get vaccinated if you are not and a booster if it’s recommended that you have one.”
In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration cleared its first update to COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, booster doses that target today’s most common omicron strain. Authorities said shots could begin within days.
Until now, COVID-19 vaccines have targeted the original coronavirus strain, even as wildly different mutants emerged. The new U.S. boosters are combination, or “bivalent,” shots. They contain half that original vaccine recipe and half protection against the newest omicron versions, called BA.4 and BA.5, which are considered the most contagious yet.
Earlier this month, Britain decided it would offer adults 50 and over a different booster option from Moderna, a combo shot targeting that initial BA.1 omicron strain.
On Friday, the European Medicines Agency will consider whether to authorize the combination COVID-19 vaccine including BA.1 made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Another version of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine incorporating the BA.5 subvariant of omicron is also under review by the EU regulator.
___
Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic | https://www.wane.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-who-new-covid-cases-deaths-keep-falling-nearly-everywhere/ | 2022-09-01 02:33:14 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-who-new-covid-cases-deaths-keep-falling-nearly-everywhere/ |
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the New York Lottery's "Win 4 Evening" game were:
0-1-8-2
(zero, one, eight, two)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the New York Lottery's "Win 4 Evening" game were:
0-1-8-2
(zero, one, eight, two) | https://www.sfchronicle.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Win-4-Evening-game-17578939.php | 2022-11-12 04:36:17 | 1 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Win-4-Evening-game-17578939.php |
– The Sanderson Study is Freenome's clinical study that combines multiomics with real-world data to detect multiple cancers
– Geisinger to enroll patients across its network, expanding access to clinical studies and advancing cancer research
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Freenome, a privately held biotech company, announced today that Pennsylvania-based Geisinger is joining as a study partner for the Sanderson Study, a study for the detection of multiple cancers that pairs multiomics with real-world data.
Freenome is developing a tailored multi-cancer screening approach that assesses a person's individual risk and identifies cancer signals in order to provide patients with a clear path forward. Freenome uses a multiomics platform that combines tumor and non-tumor signals with machine learning to detect cancer in its earliest stages using a standard blood draw.
The Sanderson Study encompasses both traditional and real-world data to generate evidence of clinical validation for certain high- and elevated-risk populations while also refining the platform's cancer classification and risk prediction models.
According to the American Cancer Society, nearly two million people in the United States were expected to be diagnosed with cancer in 2022. In addition, it was estimated that more than 85,000 people in Pennsylvania would be diagnosed with cancer in 2022.1
"This partnership with Geisinger helps ensure communities across Pennsylvania are on the forefront of research," said Lance Baldo, M.D., chief medical officer at Freenome. "It's important that we give patients actionable next steps when it comes to screening for cancer. By integrating real-world data and multiomics, we accelerate our path to do just that."
With 10 hospital campuses and 130 clinic sites, Geisinger reaches more than 550,000 patients across Pennsylvania in both urban and rural communities. Geisinger will recruit patients across its network to participate in the study.
"Geisinger's mission is to make better health easier for the communities we serve, many of which are rural communities with challenges accessing care. Studies like the Sanderson Study will help us bring innovative care to our patients and, we hope, diminish the burden of cancer in our communities," said Adam Buchanan, principal investigator for the Sanderson Study at Geisinger.
The Sanderson Study is enrolling approximately 8,000 patients and will focus on multiple cancers.
Freenome's clinical studies are named for employees' loved ones who fought cancer. This study honors Tim Sanderson, the loving father of a Freenome engineer.
For more information on the Sanderson Study, visit clinicaltrials.gov or the Sanderson Study web page.
Freenome is a biotechnology company with a comprehensive multiomics platform for the early detection of cancer using a standard blood draw. The company combines its deep expertise in molecular biology with advanced computational biology and machine learning to detect disease-associated patterns among billions of circulating cell-free biomarkers. Freenome is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.
Geisinger is committed to making better health easier for the more than 1 million people it serves. Founded more than 100 years ago by Abigail Geisinger, the system now includes 10 hospital campuses, a health plan with more than half a million members, a Research Institute and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. With nearly 24,000 employees and more than 1,700 employed physicians, Geisinger boosts its hometown economies in Pennsylvania by billions of dollars annually. Learn more at www.geisinger.org, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
1American Cancer Society 2022 Facts & Figures
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Freenome Holdings, Inc. | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2023/01/18/freenome-partners-with-geisinger-sanderson-study/ | 2023-01-18 13:58:03 | 0 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2023/01/18/freenome-partners-with-geisinger-sanderson-study/ |
NEW YORK (WPIX) – Port Authority Police Officer Anthony Varvaro, a former baseball player, died in a crash Sunday as he headed to the World Trade Center for a 9/11 commemoration event, according to the Atlanta Braves.
Varvaro spent four seasons in Atlanta, according to the team. He left in 2016 to become a police officer.
“The entire Port Authority family is heartbroken to learn of the tragic passing of Officer Anthony Varvaro,” Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole and Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said in a joint statement. “Officer Varvaro represented the very best of this agency, and will be remembered for his courage and commitment to service.”
He leaves behind a wife and four children, O’Toole and Cotton said.
Varvaro played baseball at St. John’s University before a six-year career in the majors as a relief pitcher with the Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox.
St. John’s head baseball coach Mike Hampton said he was “at a loss for words” over Varvaro’s death.
“Not only was he everything you could want out of a ball player, he was everything you could want in a person,” said Hampton, who was an assistant coach at St. John’s during all three of Varvaro’s seasons there. “My heart goes out to his family, friends, teammates and fellow officers.”
Raised in Staten Island in New York City, Varvaro was drafted by Seattle in the 12th round in 2005. He played for the Mariners in 2010 and Atlanta from 2011 to 2014.
Varvaro was traded to the Red Sox in late 2014 and pitched 11 innings for Boston early in the 2015 season. In May 2015, the Chicago Cubs claimed him off waivers from Boston, but returned him to the Red Sox after testing showed he had a elbow injury in his right pitching arm, which resulted in season-ending surgery.
For his major league career, he pitched 183 innings in 166 games, compiling a 3.23 earned run average, 150 strikeouts and one save.
In 2016, he appeared in 18 games for Boston’s top minor league affiliate before retiring in June and beginning his police training.
Varvaro, who studied criminal justice at St. John’s and graduated in 2005, told the student newspaper, The Torch, in December 2016 that he inquired about police jobs at the Port Authority while pitching in the majors.
“I figured that I had a pretty successful career in baseball, I had played a number of seasons, and I was fine moving on to the next step of my life,” he told the newspaper.
Port Authority officials said Varvaro became a police officer in December 2016 and was assigned to patrol for nearly five years before transferring to the Port Authority Police Academy to become an instructor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/former-mlb-player-who-became-a-cop-dies-in-crash-on-the-way-to-9-11-event/ | 2022-09-12 13:36:05 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/former-mlb-player-who-became-a-cop-dies-in-crash-on-the-way-to-9-11-event/ |
PHOENIX — The miracle of modern technology is changing lives inside United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona.
Physical therapist Atalie Holem is prepping 7-year-old Alexandra Anderson to work with their newest robot.
“It allows us to practice balance and walking with the support of a dynamic trolly,” said Holem.
It’s called the ZeroG Gait and Balance Training System, and for Alexandra, it’s giving her the best chance of eventually walking on her own.
“Before she was even diagnosed, we knew there were some delays. She wasn’t meeting those baby milestones checklists that they hand you,” said Alexandra’s mom, Nicole.
Nicole says at 15 months old, her daughter was diagnosed with Pitt Hopkins Syndrome. A single missing gene from her eighteenth chromosome would change Alexandra’s life forever.
“Without that gene, it kind of wreaks havoc on her body. She has extreme difficulty with a lot of neurodevelopment issues,” said Nicole.
She’s nonverbal and faces a vast number of physical limitations. While she’s never taken an independent first step, they hope the robot will get her there. Once hooked into the harness, Alexandra can put her walking muscles to work. The ZeroG, running on an overhead track, is programmed to move with her, providing specified weight support while tracking countless data points.
“It will tell me the average body weight support that it provided, it will tell me how many falls it prevented, it will tell me the distance that the child walked. These are all things that I can then use to document progress,” said Holem.
We saw the progress ourselves after the harness was removed. Following a half-hour session on the ZeroG, Alexandra’s brain and body were now firing on memory.
“Getting to see her make those steps in the gait trainer, the ZeroG, and then when it’s off of her being able to take those assisted steps just holding Atalie’s hand, I mean, that is just pure magic,” said Nicole.
The real magic is in the hope this technology can infuse into so many families like this one. It’s the only one of its kind in the southwest.
The $300,000 investment was made possible thanks to donations from the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, the Arizona Board of Visitors, and Thunderbird Charities.
A recent study shows children who received robotic gait training in unison with conventional physical therapy had a higher chance of gaining independent mobility than those who received only conventional therapy. | https://www.ksby.com/news/national/new-robot-helping-children-gain-the-confidence-to-take-first-steps | 2022-09-20 21:57:02 | 0 | https://www.ksby.com/news/national/new-robot-helping-children-gain-the-confidence-to-take-first-steps |
Anna Osland has been named associate director of research at the Blanco Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and will led its new research program on economic and environmental resilience, which will delve deeply into research and policy issues critical to Louisiana.
Osland has been a senior research associate at the Blanco Center for two years and led or collaborated on projects including coastal restoration, coastal financing, transportation policy, workforce development, flood hazard mitigation, poverty and broadband connectivity.
She previously was director of workforce and policy issues for One Acadiana. She earned a master’s and Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree from Willamette University, which named her Distinguished Alum of the Year in 2021.
DaCoda Bartels was hired as senior vice president of operations at FlyGuys Nationwide Drone Services.
Bartels has a decade of experience in drone technology and software. In 2014 he co-founded Aerobotics Energy Group, which was acquired by GIS as Aerobotics Drone Division in 2018. He is a licensed commercial helicopter pilot and has an FAA Section 333 and FAA Part 107 drone license.
FlyGuys is a nationwide drone services company that delivers aerial data collection solutions for commercial industries and public sector entities.
Blaise Zuschlag was named to board of directors for First National Bank of Louisiana.
Zuschlag is chief administrative officer at Acadian Companies and manages Acadian’s purchasing, fleet maintenance, IT and building maintenance departments, and assists in planning and directing all corporate administrative, financial and operational activities. Zuschlag also works on special projects and strategic initiatives at Acadian Companies, including acquisitions, innovation and governmental relations. | https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/business/acadiana-newsmakers-anna-osland-named-blanco-centers-associate-director-of-research/article_83e6eb00-76fd-11ed-a60a-834ecdbedf3b.html | 2022-12-08 15:46:27 | 0 | https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/business/acadiana-newsmakers-anna-osland-named-blanco-centers-associate-director-of-research/article_83e6eb00-76fd-11ed-a60a-834ecdbedf3b.html |
LOS ANGELES -- Steve Carell is starring in "The Patient," a new FX series now streaming on Hulu.
He plays therapist Alan Strauss, who's just lost his wife to cancer and is estranged from his adult children.
"It's a very complicated family experience that he's trying to get through," Carell tells On The Red Carpet. "And on top of that, he gets abducted by a serial killer, so that thickens the plot just a bit!"
His patient Sam, played by Domhnall Gleeson, chains Strauss to a bed and keeps him captive in his basement in the hopes that the good doctor will be able to help quell his serial killer compulsions.
"Sam is a really troubling, intriguing character who every now and again you empathize with," Domhnall says. "They made somebody who does the most horrific things, who when you hear the facts you judge him, correctly. But when you spend time with him, you begin to care about him maybe just a little bit."
Joe Weisberg, co-creator of "The Patient" says, "you also have to think about the day-to-day things just to make them feel real because everyone's got their quirks and interests and obsessions."
One of Sam's obsessions? Food. The show creators came up with some wild concoctions for Sam to feed his hostage. So we had to ask what the best meal would be to pair with watching "The Patient." Find out in the video above.
Stream "The Patient" now on Hulu.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC station. | https://abc30.com/steve-carell-hulu-the-patient-new-show/12181569/ | 2022-08-31 02:39:20 | 0 | https://abc30.com/steve-carell-hulu-the-patient-new-show/12181569/ |
School nurses share five tips to keep kids healthy at school
Posted/updated on: September 1, 2022 at 6:35 am(NEW YORK) -- The start of a new school year is a time for new learning, new schedules and new teachers and friends.
Unfortunately, it can also be a time for new illnesses as kids return to spending time inside classrooms.
This school year is also the third consecutive year to take place during the coronavirus pandemic, which is still present even as kids return to school in-person.
ABC News' Good Morning America spoke with school nurses at schools across the country for their tips to ensuring kids have a great and healthy school year.
Read their tips below:
1. Make sure your child is up-to-date on vaccinations.
"Please, please vaccinate your children for COVID and all other vaccine-preventable childhood illnesses," said Robin Cogan, a school nurse in Camden, New Jersey. "We have taken a bit of a backslide on vaccinations for our children, we can reverse that negative trend this school year."
COVID-19 vaccines are now available for all children ages 6 months and older.
Holly Giovi, a school nurse in Suffolk County, New York, said parents should also make sure their children are up to date on doctor appointments and annual screenings with specialists like the dentist and optometrist.
"COVID is still here and so are many other childhood illnesses, such as the new news we are hearing about polio numbers rising in upstate New York," she said. "So please keep up with all your doctor appointments and immunizations."
2. Keep your child home if they don't feel well.
"Fevers over 100.4 is one indication of not feeling well. Congestion with an excessively runny nose is another example," said Cogan. "Keep your children home until they are fever-free, or free from other common ailments, like vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication."
Sandi Braymer, a school nurse in Salem, New York, said it's important to keep kids to a bedtime on school nights, with limited technology, and to keep them home from school if they are not feeling up to attending.
"Keep your child home if they are sick or not feeling themselves, especially if they haven’t had enough sleep," she said.
3. Get to know your child's school nurse.
Gail M. Smith, director of health services for the Pickens County School System in Jasper, Georgia, said parents should introduce themselves to the school nurse and make sure they have all information needed about their child.
"It's important to keep the lines of communication open between parents, students, schools and healthcare providers," she said, adding, "Make sure that you have the proper documentation and information in the school clinic about your child and your child’s healthcare needs."
Giovi said parents should not only provide their contact information to the school nurse, but should also make sure their phone's voicemail system is set up so that they can be reached, in addition to setting up a backup plan in case there is a conflict when they're needed.
"Create a relationship with your school nurse even if your child does not have a chronic medical condition, allergies, or any need for accommodations during the school day," she said. "School nurses do not just take care of students but the entire community, so we want to really know everyone."
And if your child's school does not have a school nurse, Cogan said parents should feel empowered to ask for one.
"Advocate for a full-time school nurse in your child's building all day, every day," she said, noting that as many as 25% of schools in the United States do not have a nurse on staff.
4. Work at home to set up your child for success.
Braymer said that in addition to making sure kids get enough sleep, it's almost important to fuel them for the day by making sure they eat a solid breakfast, even if it means grabbing something on the go.
Giovi added that parents can be great examples for their kids and set the tone for their time at school by preparing them properly.
"Get into a great routine including outdoor play, brushing teeth, showering, bedtime routines, reading, getting proper restful sleep, minimizing electronic play usage on devices with a plug, wake-up routines, eating a healthy breakfast, and packing healthy snacks for school," she said.
5. Keep school nurses aware of changes in your child.
"Keep your school nurse informed of any changes that could impact your child's mental and/or physical health," said Cogan. "We are a safe space to help with care coordination and are a wealth of resources should you need confidential assistance."
She continued, "The school nurse and the parents are on the same team. We want to keep our students safe, healthy, and able to learn. We are your partners in school health and safety."
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. | https://ktbb.com/post/?p=1158986 | 2022-09-01 13:37:04 | 0 | https://ktbb.com/post/?p=1158986 |
DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys have made their first big maneuvers of the offseason on the second day of the tampering period that ignites the NFL offseason transaction period. The first moves in free agency, to no one’s surprise, was re-signing their own players.
The team kept safety Donovan Wilson on a three-year deal, worth up to $24 million with $13.5 million guaranteed over the first two years. In addition, former first-round linebacker Leighton Vander Esch was brought back on a two-year contract worth $11 million.
The signings represent solid deals for two draftees who both became important performers on the Cowboys’ defense. The contracts also should work out well for Dallas, as they didn’t break the bank for the 28-year old play-making safety Wilson, nor Vander Esch, who shores up a thin area on the roster.
After taking care of a couple of their own, Dallas next parlayed one of their compensation draft picks to acquire a player meant to enhance the secondary. In exchange for a 5th-rounder, the Cowboys landed two-time All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore from the Indianapolis Colts.
Gilmore, the 2019 AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year, comes to Dallas to fit in opposite top corner Trevon Diggs to give the Cowboys another cover man after the position was decimated by injuries during the 2022 campaign. With Gilmore in the mix, the Cowboys suddenly have a solid stable of cornerbacks with standout rookie DaRon Bland an option to cover the slot.
Wilson, meanwhile, entrenched himself as starter in his second season under former defensive coordinator Mike Nolan back in 2020 but has taken his game to another level under current DC Dan Quinn. Last year was Wilson’s best as he led Dallas’ defense in tackles – breaking the century mark at 101 – while also adding a career-high five sacks, tops among safeties across the NFL.
In the last three years, Wilson has been responsible for 11 turnovers, second only to Diggs. His hard-hitting style has made him one of the enforcers on the Cowboys’ defense and now he will return with the hopes of building on his big season.
Wilson has become a big part of the defensive turnaround in Dallas, where he plays at all three levels. Quinn utilizes Wilson as an effective blitzer, as a pseudo linebacker, where Wilson led all safeties in run stops with 40, and he has the ability to mark his man in coverage. There aren’t many safeties doing as much for their defense as the Cowboys ask of Wilson.
Wilson was a priority free agent for the Cowboys, and his re-signing will keep their three-headed safety monster intact. In joining fellow safeties Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker, both of whom got new deals last offseason, Wilson completes the best safety group the defense has had at the position in some time. It could also be argued that they form the best safety trio in the league.
All three safeties are now signed at least through 2023 and the Cowboys have covered themselves in case Kearse or Hooker aren’t retained after this season. Meanwhile, with Gilmore likely starting opposite Diggs, Dallas won’t be as pressed to retain free agent Anthony Brown if the financials don’t make sense with Jourdan Lewis, Nahshon Wright, and Kelvin Joseph providing depth at the position.
With Wilson returning, and with Gilmore joining the roster, the Cowboys have different ways that they can utilize their depth in the secondary. Third year safety Israel Mukuamu showed enough to earn more opportunities after last season, and he can continue to take snaps from the hybrid CB/Safety type of role that he’s more suited for. The team felt more comfortable with this alignment, which gives Mukuamu another year to develop.
The 27-year old Vander Esch returns after enjoying a Pro Bowl season for the Cowboys as a rookie before injuries piled up in the subsequent years. Healthy again, the former Boise State Bronco had his best season in four years with 90 tackles, four tackles for a loss, a sack, and a forced fumble as he spent most of his time sniffing out the opposing ground game.
The Cowboys currently don’t have much in the way of depth at linebacker so bringing back Vander Esch became paramount. With Micah Parsons focusing more on disrupting the quarterback, Vander Esch was counted on to make the tough tackles in the middle of the field.
Rookie linebacker Damone Clark had a solid debut campaign, but second year player Jabril Cox didn’t take the step forward that the Cowboys were expecting in 2022 so, even with Vander Esch returning, linebacker could be an area that Dallas looks to keep making additions or a position to keep an eye on at the NFL Draft.
The team wanted Wilson and Vander Esch back for continuity on a stellar defense and needed someone to pair with Diggs. With the moves made on Tuesday, Dallas keeps key parts of its defense while bolstering their ability in pass coverage as they try to lead the league in turnovers for a third straight season.
In a twist, what appeared to be another example of the Cowboys merely taking care of their own in free agency became a rare example of the team taking in an exciting external talent.
Do you think the Cowboys have one of the league’s top secondaries? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi. | https://www.ktvb.com/article/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys-stephon-gilmore-trade-donovan-wilson-leighton-vander-esch-signing/287-15a93f49-13ad-4ec3-ad53-a69716f435a8 | 2023-03-18 14:49:11 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys-stephon-gilmore-trade-donovan-wilson-leighton-vander-esch-signing/287-15a93f49-13ad-4ec3-ad53-a69716f435a8 |
April 17, 1948-July 12, 2022
Lynn Mertie Miller was born April 17, 1948, the daughter of William and Lorraine Kammerdiner Miller at the Presbyterian Hospital in Waterloo. Lynn passed away at UnityPoint Allen Hospital July 12, 2022 after courageously battling Refectory Celiac Disease Sprue 2 and Enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma.
Lynn attended school in Waterloo. She graduated from East High, class of 1966. Lynn was active in French class in high school culminating in a class trip to France in 1967. She attended UNI, graduating in 1974. She moved to Chicago, Ill. and worked as a CPA for Arthur Anderson. On the move again, she relocated to the west coast in California and Nevada. She was employed as Controller by San Diego Gas & Electric. Moving to Reno, Nev., she was employed as a Controller by Sierra Pacific Power. Her next move was to Pasadena, Calif. as CFO for California Power Exchange. She then decided to move back to Iowa to be closer to her mom and family. Her next jobs were in the offices for Terex Global Business Service in Waverly and Viking Pump in Cedar Falls. Her last job was as CFO for Cedar Falls Utilities, which is where she finally retired.
Lynn loved traveling with her family, taking care of all her flowers, watching baseball, particularly the Chicago Cubs and great-niece’s softball games, NFL, USHL hockey games, watching all college sports and cherished her visits from her nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephew.
Survived by her siblings, Larry (Bich Nguyen) Miller of Round Rock, Texas, Carolyn (Stanley) Kral of Waterloo and Neal (Wendy) Miller of Highlands Ranch, Colo; five nieces and two nephews, Sarah (Ed) Donaher of Georgetown, Texas, Todd (Kelli) Miller of Georgetown, Texas, Tram Nguyen of Round Rock, Texas, Courtney (Joshua) Carter of Cedar Rapids, David (Heather) Kral of Oelwein, Rachel and Olivia Miller of Highlands Ranch, Colo.; and four great-nieces and a great-nephew, Kennedy and Mallory Miller, MaKenna and Quinn Carter and Kysen Kral.
Preceded in death by her parents and grandparents.
Funeral service will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 20 at Hagarty-Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Service on West Ridgeway with burial in Fairview Cemetery. Public visitation will be from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, July 19 at the funeral home.
Memorials will be determined at a later date.
Condolences may be left at www.hagartywaychoffgrarup.com. | https://wcfcourier.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/lynn-mertie-miller/article_dd7a26be-0bae-5225-b54a-244b3dda75b0.html | 2022-07-17 08:05:23 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/lynn-mertie-miller/article_dd7a26be-0bae-5225-b54a-244b3dda75b0.html |
NEW YORK (AP) — As he campaigns for a Manhattan congressional seat against fellow Democrats twice his age, 38-year-old Suraj Patel harnesses the frustration of his generation toward those who have held office for decades.
In his telling, Reps. Jerry Nadler, 75, and Carolyn Maloney, 76, are part of a crop of Democrats who rose to power in the 1990s only to fail on issues ranging from guns to climate change and abortion. The redistricting process that merged their congressional districts offers a chance for new leadership, Patel says.
“If we keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different result: That’s not just the definition of insanity,” he said. “That’s also the definition of incumbency.”
More than 1,100 miles to the west in the presidential testing ground of Iowa, Republican Jeremiah Bronson was also considering whether someone other than 76-year-old Donald Trump might carry his party into the future. Bronson expressed growing interest in 55-year-old Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“He seems to be on the same page with conservatives around the country,” Bronson, 39, said as he dined on barbecued pork sandwiches with a half-dozen other Story County Republicans.
In a nation faltering along seemingly every conceivable divide, there’s a shared desire among Democrats and Republicans for a new generation of political leadership. The conversation is most pronounced when it comes to the White House as Trump considers another campaign and President Joe Biden confronts skepticism about his ability to mount a reelection bid in 2024 when he is 82.
“There’s just a sense of like, that rematch between these two old guys seems ridiculous to people,” said Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist who conducts almost weekly focus groups with voters across the country and political spectrum.
There are recurring calls for youth and change in U.S. politics.
Bill Clinton’s appeal for a new generation of leadership helped him rise from governor of Arkansas to the first baby boomer president in 1992. In 2008, Barack Obama’s relative youth was an asset in his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton and during the general election against Arizona Sen. John McCain.
More recently, Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential bid gained traction with its focus on fresh leadership before being overtaken by Biden, viewed by many Democrats as the safer choice against Trump.
The dynamics have shifted since then, with some Democratic voters furious that Biden and leaders in Congress haven’t done more to protect abortion rights, respond more aggressively to a wave of mass shootings and address climate change.
A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll shows 83% of U.S. adults say the country is on the wrong track. Only 36% approve of Biden’s leadership overall, while 62% disapprove. Polling from AP-NORC in recent months captured deepening pessimism among members of his own Democratic Party about Biden, the direction of the country and t he state of the economy. A January AP-NORC poll found just 28% of those surveyed and 48% of Democrats said they want Biden to run for reelection in 2024.
Julián Castro, a former Obama housing secretary and onetime presidential candidate, said there’s “no doubt” that members of his party are frustrated and that Democrats in Washington need to show a sense of urgency and produce results. In a telephone interview from the Texas Democratic Convention in Dallas, he said Democrats seemed energized.
“My immediate hope is that that angst and frustration is going to be channeled positively to turnout in November,” he said, referring to the midterm elections. “And then we’ll reckon with what’s beyond that when November happens.”
Biden has repeatedly insisted he will run for reelection. But should he decide to step aside, a host of younger Democrats could be in contention. They include Vice President Kamala Harris, who is 57. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, 54, and Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker, 57, have garnered attention for their responses to the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling and mass shootings.
Some Democrats seeking office this year have been clear about their desires that a new generation take its place in politics.
Last month, the Democratic candidate for governor in South Carolina, Joe Cunningham, proposed not only term limits but also age limits for officeholders, saying it was time to end America’s “geriatric oligarchy” of politicians who are staying “in office way past their prime.” To Cunningham, who recently turned 40, that includes the incumbent he hopes to oust in November, 75-year-old Republican Henry McMaster, who is the state’s oldest sitting governor.
But Cunningham also said the proposal was intended to apply to Biden.
For Republicans, the most pressing debate often seems to focus less explicitly on age and more on whether the party should move on from Trump. That’s particularly true in the wake of hearings by the House Jan. 6 committee that have drawn new attention to his desperate efforts to stay in office after losing the 2020 election.
The Jan. 6 hearings may be sending voters looking elsewhere.
An AP-NORC in June found that 48% of U.S. adults say Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the siege of the U.S. Capitol. January’s AP-NORC poll showed that people were just as down on Trump running again in 2024 as they were Biden: Just 27% of U.S. adults wanted Trump to run again, including a slim majority – 56% — of Republicans. That poll also showed the former president’s popularity with the GOP dropped somewhat, with 71% of Republicans saying they had a favorable opinion of Trump compared with 78% in a September 2020 AP-NORC/USAFacts poll.
Longwell, the Republican strategist, said the hearings seem to be having an impact even among Republican voters who are not watching the sessions or persuaded by them because they are a reminder of the tumult that has surrounded Trump.
“One of the things I hear coming up over and over again in the groups is that Trump has a lot of baggage and that there’s all these other stars, Republican stars, and maybe it’s time Trump should be like an elder statesman,” she said.
A number of figures from Trump’s world and outside it are seen as potential challengers in 2024. Trump and his associates are especially focused on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who, at 43, is increasingly viewed as a younger heir to the former president’s brand of politics.
Other Republicans making increasingly overt moves toward a presidential run include Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, 45; former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, 50; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, 51; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 58; and former Vice President Mike Pence, 63.
Pat Brady, the former chair of the Illinois Republican Party who is not a Trump supporter, said he thinks the “fever has broken” when it comes to Trump’s standing with the GOP.
“I think the combination of him just spending all his time, every speech, relitigating 2020. Voters typically look forward. They don’t look backward,” he said.
Brady said part of the frustrations voters have with their political leaders is the age-related.
“When you look at the leadership, I’m old and those guys make me look young,” said 61-year-old Brady. “This is a vibrant youthful country, fundamentally, and we’ve got a bunch of old people running it.”
___
Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Cambridge, Iowa, Hannah Fingerhut in Washington and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections
and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics | https://cbs4indy.com/news/politics/ap-politics/one-thing-voters-agree-on-fresh-voices-needed-in-politics/ | 2022-07-24 17:07:36 | 1 | https://cbs4indy.com/news/politics/ap-politics/one-thing-voters-agree-on-fresh-voices-needed-in-politics/ |
Agencies team up to offer one-stop-shop for boat and trailer owners
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Office of Motor Vehicles have teamed up to allow people to register their boats and trailers at the same location.
Starting Monday, June 13, a representative from the Officer of Motor Vehicles will be at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries headquarters at 2000 Quail Drive in Baton Rouge. That representative will offer help with both services between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The partnership will last every Monday until further notice.
“We hope that this partnership with the Office of Motor Vehicles will help streamline the boat and trailer registration process and create a more convenient process for our customers,” said LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet.
You can visit the website www.expresslane.org for more details including a complete list of services offered by the OMV.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved. | https://www.wafb.com/2022/06/12/agencies-team-up-offer-one-stop-shot-boat-trailer-owners/ | 2022-06-12 16:33:10 | 0 | https://www.wafb.com/2022/06/12/agencies-team-up-offer-one-stop-shot-boat-trailer-owners/ |
World-class central coast destination offers summer-ready reasons to visit
MONTEREY, Calif., May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer, Monterey County is offering a diverse lineup of events and festivals taking place across the county June through September. According to the U.S. Travel Association, approximately six in 10 Americans are planning at least one summer trip this year. In addition to soaking up the sun along the destination's 99-miles of Pacific coastline or playing a round of golf at the iconic Pebble Beach Resorts, travelers can experience an unforgettable summer escape in tandem with one or more of the unique events and festivals taking place in the months ahead.
Here is a list of ten not-to-miss events and festivals taking place this summer and early fall:
June
Castroville Artichoke Festival – June 11-12
Experience a one-of-a-kind event dedicated to all things artichoke in the "Artichoke Capital of the World." The Castroville Artichoke Festival will return to the Monterey County Fairgrounds for a weekend filled with cooking demonstrations by Monterey County's top chefs, family-friendly activities and live entertainment. Taste-test unique artichoke dishes, including the always popular fried baby artichokes, and learn about the region's top growers. The festival will also include a wine tasting event featuring a host of California wineries. Tickets available online through June 12.
California State Parks Week – June 14-18
Join the first annual California State Parks Week celebration by responsibly exploring the six participating state parks in Monterey County. As part of Stewardship Day on June 17, Monterey State Historic Park invites visitors to learn about the conservation of some of California's oldest buildings during its Historic Sites Preservation Tour. Following the tour, head to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to hike the newly reopened Pfeiffer Falls Trail. Visitors can now enjoy a new segment of the trail that traverses the redwoods and includes majestic waterfall views. Find inner peace amid the bluffs at the under-the-radar Fort Ord Dunes State Park in Marina. The park's four miles of coastline offers beautiful views of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
July
GEICO Motorcycle MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest – July 8-10
Held at the renowned WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the high-speed, family-friendly event includes over 180 riders competing in seven classes of road racing – HONOS Superbikes, Supersport, Stock 100, Twin Cup, Junior Cup, King of the Baggers and Heritage Cup. Enjoy qualifying races on Friday before two full days of racing on Saturday and Sunday. Ticket packages offer the opportunity to meet the riders at the open race paddock and ride on the famous track with the Saturday Fan Lap.
California Rodeo Salinas – July 21-24
As the largest rodeo in California, the event takes place at the Salinas Sports Complex and features performances by cowboys and cowgirls from across the U.S. Events include bull riding, team roping, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding and more. Visitors can also enjoy shopping, food and the always-entertaining track acts. New to this year's action-packed lineup is the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)'s Xtreme Bulls Tour. The tour, showcasing PRCA's top bull riders, will make a stop at the Salinas Sports Complex on July 20.
Carmel Bach Festival – July 14-30
The Carmel Bach Festival will once again celebrate the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Now in its 85th year, the two-week festival will feature an array of concerts at stunning venues throughout Carmel-by-the-Sea, including the Sunset Cultural Center and the historic Carmel Mission Basilica. Festival highlights include the Light of my Life, Brahms' Requiem and Easter Oratorio concerts. While in town, be sure to taste your way through some of the region's best wines on the Carmel-by-the-Sea Wine Walk, a self-paced and self-guided tour using a mobile app, and catch a sunset at Carmel Beach.
August
Salinas Valley Food & Wine Festival – August 6
The agricultural bounty of the Salinas Valley will be on full display in Oldtown Salinas on August 6. Stroll along Main Street and browse food and wine sampling stations highlighting the fertile land of the Salinas Valley. The region, nicknamed the "Salad Bowl of the World," produces 150 different crops and award-winning wine varietals, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir. Tickets purchased in advance or at the door include wine and beer tastings along with an abundance of culinary delights from local chefs.
Monterey Car Week and Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance – August 12-21
As one of the most anticipated automobile events in the world, car enthusiasts and collectors alike gather in August to enjoy nearly 30 car events over 10 days. The event kicks off on August 12 with a classic car show along Monterey's Alvarado Street and concludes with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on the legendary 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links. A tradition going back over half a century, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is where the finest collector cars meet and compete. For a sneak peak of the cars participating in Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, head to the Pebble Beach Tour dʻElegance by Rolex on August 18. Other can't-miss events include Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 17-20 and The Little Car Show in downtown Pacific Grove on August 17.
Sand City West End Celebration – August 27-28
Watch as Sand City comes alive with over 100 visual and performing artists showcasing their talents during the Sand City West End Celebration. During the two-day event, six blocks of Sand City are transformed into sidewalk galleries and theaters while live music from local acts fill the air. Stroll the streets while sipping wine, beer or a nitro margarita from local vendors including Post No Bills Craft Beer House. Visitors can mix their art-filled escape with equal parts beach time during a stay at nearby Monterey Tides. Nestled among the sand dunes, the boutique hotel is the perfect spot to catch one of Monterey County's magnificent sunsets and enjoy oceanfront dining
September
Monterey County Fair – September 1-5
Labor Day weekend fun will be in full force at the Monterey County Fair held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Come ready to partake in all the traditional fair fun with carnival rides and games, delicious food, art exhibits, livestock competitions and more.
Monterey Jazz Festival – September 23-25
Celebrating its 65th anniversary, the Monterey Jazz Festival is the longest continuously running jazz festival in the world. The festival will return in September with three days of programming dedicated to the legacy of jazz in Monterey. This year's headliners include vocalist Gregory Porter, Cuban pianist-composer Chucho Valdés performing La Creación, the all-women supergroup, Artemis, and more. Three-day and single-day tickets are available for purchase online. For a preview of all the fun to come, listen to the custom 2022 Monterey Jazz Festival playlist on Spotify.
All Summer Long
Farmers' Markets
Earning the name the "Salad Bowl of the World," it is no surprise Monterey County is home to a plethora of farmers' markets of varying sizes and specialties. The region offers 1.4 million acres of land that produces lettuce, strawberries, artichokes, wine grapes and more. Several markets also feature food booths serving up Monterey County's finest delicacies. Live entertainment makes the Old Monterey Marketplace, held Tuesdays on Alvarado Street, a local favorite.
Art Walks
On the second Saturday of every month, visitors can partake in Carmel-by-the-Sea's Carmel Art Walk. Starting at Kevin Milligan Gallery and ending at Bennett Sculpture, the walk is the perfect way to be immersed in the village's lively art scene, which comes complete with nearly 100 galleries within one-square mile. Standout artist-owned galleries include Lisa's Studio, Gallery North and Travis Hall Fine Art.
Live Music
Nothing says summertime like live music. Monterey County offers a variety of venues to enjoy live music including Carmel Plaza in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Folktale Winery in sun-soaked Carmel Valley. For a live music experience unique to the Monterey Bay, dine at Pebble Beach Resorts and listen to the bagpiper put the golf course to sleep at sunset with a sweet melody.
Visitors are encouraged to travel responsibly in Monterey County by following all current health and safety guidelines and respecting the area's iconic landscapes by staying on trails and leaving no trace behind. For more information on what's happening in Monterey County this summer, checkout the events tab and plan a trip at SeeMonterey.com or download the See Monterey app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
ABOUT MONTEREY COUNTY CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
The Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau (Monterey County CVB) is a 501c6 non-profit organization that drives tourism for Monterey County. Tourism is the largest industry on the Monterey Peninsula and the second largest in the County. The MCCVB is a partnership of the hospitality community and local governments that aims to drive business growth through compelling marketing and targeted sales initiatives that maximize the benefits of tourism to its guests, members and the community. Travel spending in Monterey County was $2.5 billion in 2021, supporting 21,600 jobs and generating $264 million in state and local tax revenue that directly benefited the community. For more information, visit www.SeeMonterey.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
MEDIA CONTACT
Rachel Dinbokowitz
831-657-6434
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/summer-events--festivals-abound-in-monterey-county-california-301554186.html
SOURCE Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_sports/summer-events-festivals-abound-in-monterey-county-california/article_6590b140-7036-5957-8b8e-3bee2eada630.html | 2022-05-24 19:02:37 | 0 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_sports/summer-events-festivals-abound-in-monterey-county-california/article_6590b140-7036-5957-8b8e-3bee2eada630.html |
MIAMI — While Jalen Brunson was ascending to a higher status of greatness in the playoffs, the annual NBA awards trickled in and demonstrated the Knicks point guard still hasn’t captured his due respect.
Brunson didn’t come close to winning any of the three categories that he should’ve been considered as a viable candidate. It followed up his snub for the All-Star team this year.
Meanwhile, Julius Randle, who had been a disappointment in the playoffs heading into Friday’s Game 6, was named to the All-NBA Third Team.
“Obviously, it’s a great honor. It’s a testament, you know, those things don’t happen without the group of guys that we have,” Randle said. “I’ve said it all year, it takes the belief of the front office, our coaching staff, and most of all my teammates. They trust me to go out there and compete every night and play at a high level. I just Thank God. It’s a huge honor.”
As Randle spoke about the honor, teammate RJ Barrett was motioning like he was counting money. It was a reference to the performance bonus Randle might receive. However, Randle doesn’t have an All-NBA bonus attached to his contract. He already earned an extra $1.2 million this season by being an All-Star. If Randle is named All-NBA next season, he qualifies for a supermax contract as a free agent in 2026 or 2027.
But Randle hasn’t played up to a supermax contract. Brunson has.
The point guard entered Friday averaging 26.5 points, 5.9 assists and five rebounds with just two turnovers in the playoffs. His Game 5 performance — 38 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, one turnover in 48 minutes — was a gem that earned him high praise from the opposition.
“He has a great competitive will,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “So, he’s going to continue to attack, he’s going to try to manipulate the defense. He’s aggressive, he’s physical, but he also knows how to draw fouls.
“He’s clever, so he has that combination. So be it, you have to respect him as a competitor and then find a way to get the job done.”
Brunson finished third for the Most Improved Player Award after Utah’s Lauri Markkanen and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He was 339 voting points behind Markkanen.
Brunson was fourth in the voting for the Clutch Player Award, finishing 383 points behind the winner De’Aaron Fox of the Kings.
For All-NBA, Brunson received just five votes for Second Team and eight votes for Third Team.
The Daily News voted Brunson on Third Team All-NBA and second for Most Improved. The voting process predictably created controversy when former Knicks point guard Mark Jackson, now an ESPN analyst, acknowledged that he absent-mindedly left Nikola Jokic off his MVP ballot.
“One thing I live by, you make a mistake, you own it,” Jackson said in an interview Thursday with SiriusXM NBA Radio. “Absolute mistake made by me… I’m thinking, how did I make that mistake? You can tell I put one center, two forwards and two guards. So I wasn’t even thinking.
“I apologize to the Denver Nuggets. I apologize to Nikola Jokic, who is not only in the MVP discussion and deserved to be on my ballot but he is one of the greatest players in the history of this game and a top-10 center of all time. So I own it. If you want to take away my vote or do whatever, more than welcome. I made a mistake.”
() | https://www.twincities.com/2023/05/12/jalen-brunsons-awards-snubs-shows-voters-didnt-understand-his-impact-on-knicks/ | 2023-05-12 19:44:57 | 1 | https://www.twincities.com/2023/05/12/jalen-brunsons-awards-snubs-shows-voters-didnt-understand-his-impact-on-knicks/ |
A storm will bring rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow to Maine on Friday.
Slick travel is likely Friday evening, especially inland and toward northern Maine.
We’ll start off in the 30s or low 40s for Friday morning, and temperatures will fall through the rest of the day.
Rain will begin in the morning and continue into the afternoon for southern Maine.
As temperatures get colder in the afternoon and evening, we will see a switch to freezing rain, sleet and then snow before things wrap up for the evening.
Overall, southern Maine should not see much winter precipitation.
In southern and central Maine, a coating up to an inch of snow and sleet is expected.
There could also be up to 1/4 of an inch of freezing rain in central to downeast Maine.
Roads could be slick heading into the evening.
For the mountains through eastern Maine, 1 to 3 inches of snow is expected with up to 6 inches in the highest elevations.
Northern Maine towns like Fort Kent and Houlton will receive the most snow, with a half-foot up to a foot expected.
Temperatures drop into the teens Friday night, and Saturday looks cool and quiet with 30s and a mix of sun and clouds.
Sunday will bring a quick return to milder weather. Highs will reach the 40s with mostly cloudy skies.
Mild weather continues into President’s Day on Monday. Highs will be in the upper 40s, and we will see rain showers through the day.
Somewhat cooler temperatures return next Tuesday. Highs will be in the 30s to around 40, with more sunshine.
Our next snow chance arrives Tuesday night into Wednesday, but it looks like a fairly weak system at this time.
Our next significant storm will arrive next Thursday. It has the potential to bring widespread snowfall to the state. | https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/02/17/weather/weather-rain-sleet-snow-expected-across-maine-friday/ | 2023-02-17 14:19:03 | 1 | https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/02/17/weather/weather-rain-sleet-snow-expected-across-maine-friday/ |
Russia, China show off ties amid maneuvering over Ukraine
(AP) - Russia and China showcased their deepening ties Wednesday in a series of meetings closely watched for signs that Beijing might offer the Kremlin stronger support for its war in Ukraine.
The visit by Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s most senior foreign policy official, to Moscow comes as the conflict in Ukraine continues to upend the global diplomatic order.
Relations between Russia and the West are at their lowest point since the Cold War, and ties between China and the U.S. are also under serious strain. Moscow suspended its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with Washington this week. And the U.S. expressed concern in recent days that China could provide arms and ammunition to Russia.
Speaking at the start of talks with Wang, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed ties between the two countries and added that the Kremlin expects Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Russia.
The Russian leader noted escalating international tensions, adding that “in this context, cooperation between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation on the global arena is particularly important for stabilizing the international situation.”
While Wang that “Chinese-Russian relations aren’t directed against any third countries and certainly can’t be subject to pressure from any third countries,” the specter of the war and the ways in which it has galvanized the West and deepened its divide with Russia hung over his meeting with Putin.
For instance, Wang emphasized that Moscow and Beijing both support “multipolarity and democratization of international relations” — a reference to their shared goal of countering the perceived U.S. dominance in global affairs.
Earlier Wednesday, Wang held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “Our ties have continued to develop dynamically, and despite high turbulence in the global arena, we have shown the readiness to speak in defense of each other’s interests,” Lavrov said.
Wang responded in kind, underlining Beijing’s focus on deepening ties with Russia — a relationship it has said has “no limits.”
China has pointedly refused to criticize the invasion of Ukraine while echoing Moscow’s claim that the U.S. and NATO were to blame for provoking the Kremlin . The government in Beijing also has blasted the sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
Russia, in turn, has staunchly supported China amid tensions with the U.S. over Taiwan.
The two nations have held a series of military drills that showcased their increasingly close defense ties. China, Russia and South Africa are holding naval drills in the Indian Ocean this week.
A Russian frigate, the Admiral Gorshkov, arrived in Cape Town in recent days sporting the letters Z and V on its sides, letters that mark Russian weapons on the front lines in Ukraine and are used as a patriotic symbol in Russia.
The rapprochement has worried the West. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said any Chinese involvement in the Kremlin’s war effort would be a “serious problem.”
Government-backed scholars in China shrugged off Washington’s warnings over Beijing’s relationship with Moscow as a reflection of what they described as a polarizing and distorted U.S. view.
The Global Times quoted Zhang Hong, associate research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as saying the U.S. and its allies have looked at the Russia-Ukraine conflict through “colored glasses.”
“It seems like anyone who talks with Russia will be seen as siding with Moscow in Russia-Ukraine conflict,” the English-language Chinese newspaper quoted Zhang as saying.
Wang’s talks with Lavrov followed his meeting Tuesday with Nikolai Patrushev, the powerful secretary of Russia’s National Security Council, who called for closer cooperation with Beijing to counter what he described as Western efforts to maintain dominance by thwarting an alliance between China and Russia.
While China recently has emphasized its close ties with Moscow, it also has to tread carefully to avoid an escalation of tensions with the West as it looks to stimulate its economy following the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.
“Isolation from the West is not something (Beijing) wants to risk,” Yu Jie, senior research fellow for China in the Asia-Pacific program at Chatham House, a British think tank, said in comments published Wednesday. “President Xi and his colleagues have begun to realize that cooperation with Russia comes with substantial limits to avoid undermining China’s own political priorities and longer-term economic interests.”
Wang’s trip to Moscow took place against a backdrop of grinding battles in Ukraine as neither side appeared to gain momentum, following weeks of virtual stalemate during the winter. Ukraine’s presidential office said at least seven civilians were killed between Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
During a speech at a patriotic concert, Putin on Wednesday hailed Russia’s “heroic” troops and claimed Moscow’s forces were fighting for the country’s “historic frontiers” to protect its “interests, people, culture, language and territory.”
“When we stand together we have no equals,” he shouted to enthusiastic crowds at a Moscow sports arena.
The growing relationship between China and Russia is another example of the ways the war could spread into perilous new terrain.
Putin’s announcement Tuesday that Russia would suspend its participation in the New START Treaty, raising new concerns about the fate of the arms pact, which was already on life support.
The move follows Moscow’s decision last fall to allow the resumption of U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites but also its refusal to hold a scheduled round of consultations under the pact.
The lower house of Russia’s parliament on Wednesday quickly endorsed Putin’s move to suspend the treaty, with officials and lawmakers casting it as an 11th-hour warning to Washington amid the tensions over Ukraine.
Reflecting Beijing’s cautious stance, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the treaty was key to peace and stability and said China hopes “the two sides will properly resolve their differences.”
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wsaz.com/2023/02/22/russia-china-show-off-ties-amid-maneuvering-over-ukraine/ | 2023-02-22 14:42:20 | 0 | https://www.wsaz.com/2023/02/22/russia-china-show-off-ties-amid-maneuvering-over-ukraine/ |
DEAR AMY: I’m halfway through a two-week visit with my 89-year-old mom, and my stress level is through the roof.
On the one hand, I know that her life isn’t easy due to numerous health issues, including memory and vision loss – plus the death of my dad just over a year ago.
On the other hand, and my siblings would all agree, she makes everything so much harder than it has to be, for herself and for everyone around her.
The criticisms, complaints, put-downs, constant demands and need to control everything makes it so hard to find the patience and compassion I should have.
It doesn’t take very long when trying to do anything with her before I’m stressed out and frustrated at the way she treats me and what I’m being put through while trying to help her.
And I hate myself for it.
I can hear the whine of an unhappy child in the grumbling of the adult I’m supposed to be, and by nightfall it’s not just one day’s worth of issues I’m trying to let go of, but decades of conflict, misunderstandings, and bad behavior on both our parts.
She’s 89. She’s sick. She’s alone. She’s struggling to cope.
She’s my mom.
Why can’t I be more tolerant?
– Intolerant Caregiver
DEAR INTOLERANT: The reason you can’t be more tolerant when providing care to your mother is because providing care for an ill and challenging parent is a huge and heartbreaking experience.
This is one reason that qualified, experienced and reliable professional caregivers are worth their weight in gold. Caregivers outside the family are not triggered by a lifetime of memories of their client. They also go home at the end of their shift. Adult children caregivers remain emotionally engaged, even when they’re not physically present.
I hope that you and your siblings can support one another through this time. Sharing, venting, and comparing notes will help you all to provide your mother with the compassionate care that she needs.
You might also benefit from reading “The Conscious Caregiver: A Mindful Approach to Caring for Your Loved One Without Losing Yourself,” by Linda Abbit (2017, Adams Media).
***
DEAR AMY: Responding to the question from “Terminated,” I was also tempted to flame a former boss who harassed me out of a great corporate job.
I cooperated with HR with a candid exit interview, but left it at that. Some six years later I had another excellent corporate position and the former boss’s name came up at a meeting.
I was less than flattering in response.
Later my CEO took me aside and said, “I know Mr. X was very difficult to work for, but you should know that when it came down to hiring you or the other finalist, it was his glowing recommendation that got you the job.”
(I had certainly NOT put him down as a reference, but the company meticulously checked with former employers.)
The lesson: Don’t burn bridges.
– Been There
DEAR BEEN THERE: Absolutely.
***
MORE FROM ASK AMY:
Ask Amy: What happens to the advice I offer once it leaves my desk?
Ask Amy: Should I ask my travel companion to stop answering texts while we’re on trips together?
Ask Amy: Neighbor’s music problem is amplified on FB
Ask Amy: I avoid my husband’s friend’s wife because all she ever wants to talk about is herself
***
(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
©2023 Amy Dickinson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. | https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/advice/2023/06/ask-amy-shes-89-shes-sick-shes-alone-shes-my-mom-why-cant-i-be-more-tolerant.html | 2023-06-28 11:40:46 | 1 | https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/advice/2023/06/ask-amy-shes-89-shes-sick-shes-alone-shes-my-mom-why-cant-i-be-more-tolerant.html |
BEIJING, Aug. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nanchang county in east China's Jiangxi province recently kicked off its "lotus festival", an annual economic, trade and cultural event to promote business environment and attract investment.
With opening ceremony held on August 18, this year's festival covers rural revitalization, digital economy and fine business environment with activities such as cultural and tourism product trade and expo, art exhibition as well as night market expected to last for four months.
In its sixth this year, the lotus economic and trade festival has become the hallmark event for Nanchang county to better promote its charm, to attracts more talents and also for local people to have fun in all sorts of cultural activities. What's more, it has become the platform for project matching, negotiation and a booster for local development, a business participant noted.
It is introduced during the opening ceremony that digital economy and optimizing business environment are the priorities of Nanchang county this year, which has actively promoted digital industrialization and industrial digitization. The county has launched a number of digital projects such as Xiaolan · Taihao VR Industrial Park, China Mobile Jiangxi Xiaolan data center, and China Unicom's only VR / AR research base in China.
Nanchang county has been constantly improving business environment as well. The county has been building and upgrading its online corporate services and e-government services to provide convenient, round-the-clock services for individuals and enterprises while providing favorable policies for cutting cost for businesses.
Nanchang county is the first in Jiangxi province that ranks among China's top 100 counties. Statistics shows that its GDP reached 102.78 billion yuan in 2019, also a first among counties in Jiangxi to exceed 100 billion yuan. The county has formed a "3 + 3 + N" industrial structure of automobiles and new energy vehicles, green food, biomedicine, intelligent equipment manufacturing, semiconductors, new energy and new materials.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2022/08/22/xinhua-silk-road-echina-jiangxi-nanchang-county-holds-promotional-event-show-charm-attract-investment/ | 2022-08-22 08:45:04 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2022/08/22/xinhua-silk-road-echina-jiangxi-nanchang-county-holds-promotional-event-show-charm-attract-investment/ |
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Standing at an Alabama Statehouse microphone before lawmakers voted on new congressional districts, state Rep. Chris England said that change in the Deep South state has often happened only through federal court order.
The Democratic lawmaker accused Republicans of repeating history and flouting a judicial mandate to create a second majority-Black district in the state or “something quite close to it.”
“Alabama does what Alabama does. Ultimately, what we are hoping for, I guess, at some point, is that the federal court does what it always does to Alabama: Forces us to the right thing. Courts always have to come in and save us from ourselves,” said England, a Black lawmaker from Tuscaloosa.
The fight over whether Alabama’s congressional map complies with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 now shifts back to federal court as state Republicans submit their new plan to the same three-judge panel that struck down the previous districts.
The outcome could have consequences across the country as the case again weighs the requirements of the Voting Rights Act in redistricting. It could also impact the partisan leanings of one Alabama congressional district in the 2024 elections with control of the U.S House of Representatives at stake.
Alabama lawmakers on Friday approved new district lines six weeks after the surprise U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding a lower court ruling that the state’s previous map — with one Black-majority district out of seven in a state that is 27% Black — likely violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting power of Black residents.
The state’s Republican legislative supermajority boosted the percentage of Black voters in the majority-white 2nd Congressional District, now represented by Republican Rep. Barry Moore, from about 31% to almost 40%. The plan also dropped the Black voting-age population in the state’s sole majority Black district, now represented by Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell, to 50.65%.
A group of voters who won the U.S. Supreme Court decision announced that they will challenge the new plan. The three-judge panel has set an Aug. 14 hearing on the new plan and could eventually order a special master to draw new lines for the state.
“The Alabama Legislature believes it is above the law. What we are dealing with is a group of lawmakers who are blatantly disregarding not just the Voting Rights Act, but a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court and a court order from the three-judge district court,” the plaintiffs said in a statement. “Even worse, they continue to ignore constituents’ pleas to ensure the map is fair and instead remain determined to rob Black voters of the representation we deserve,” the plaintiffs said.
Alabama will argue that the map complies with the court order and adheres to other redistricting principles such as keeping districts compact and not dividing communities of interest.
“The Legislature’s new plan fully and fairly applies traditional principles in a way that complies with the Voting Rights Act. Contrary to mainstream media talking points, the Supreme Court did not hold that Alabama must draw two majority-minority districts,” state Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office said in a statement. ”Instead, the Court made clear that the VRA never requires adoption of districts that violate traditional redistricting principles.”
In a July 13 letter to the state legislative redistricting committee, Marshall said the plaintiffs in the case “now demand a plan that provides not just a ‘fair chance’ to compete, but instead a guarantee of Democratic victories in at least two districts.”
Republicans, who have been reluctant to create a Democratic-leaning district, are gambling that the court will accept their proposal or that the state will prevail in a second round of appeals. In his letter, Marshall noted that Justice Brett Kavanaugh only partly joined with the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling against Alabama.
“I’m confident that we’ve done a good job. It will be up to the courts to decide whether they agree,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed, a Republican from Jasper.
The three-judge panel that struck down Alabama’s existing map in 2022 said the “appropriate remedy” is a map with a second majority-Black district or “an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.” The judges added that it should include a second majority-Black district or “something quite close to it.”
The meaning of “opportunity” dominated much of the floor debate in the Legislature as Democrats criticized the GOP proposal they said would ensure the reconfigured district stays under white Republican control.
“Your opportunity district gives you a majority-white population. … It’s not an opportunity to win. It’s an opportunity to lose,” said Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, a Democrat from Greensboro.
Reed said the court did not give state lawmakers a definition of opportunity, but he argued that the district had been substantially altered.
“If you look at the difference at what the district was before and what the district is now, is there a greater opportunity for others to be elected there other than Republicans? I think the answer is yes,” Reed said.
An analysis by The Associated Press, using redistricting software, shows that the 2nd District map approved Friday has mostly voted for Republicans in recent statewide elections. Donald Trump won the district by nearly 10 percentage points in his 2020 reelection bid.
Alabama was the site of a court case that led to the Supreme Court decision that effectively ended the requirement in the Voting Rights Act that states with a history of racial discrimination in voting, mainly in the South, get Washington’s approval before changing the way they hold elections.
With the current fight over a congressional map, some Alabama Democrats accused Republicans of trying to provoke another challenge to the landmark civil rights law.
“I’m really disappointed in my colleagues who want to tee up the Voting Rights Act up to be gutted,” Singleton said.
___
The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-the-fight-over-alabamas-congressional-redistricting-now-shifts-back-to-federal-court/ | 2023-07-23 12:17:23 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-the-fight-over-alabamas-congressional-redistricting-now-shifts-back-to-federal-court/ |
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — A California judge has ruled in favor of a bakery owner who refused to make wedding cakes for a same-sex couple because it violated her Christian beliefs.
The state Department of Fair Housing and Employment had sued Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, arguing owner Cathy Miller intentionally discriminated against the couple in violation of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act.
Miller’s attorneys argued her right to free speech and free expression of religion trumped the argument that she violated the anti-discrimination law. Kern County Superior Court Judge Eric Bradshaw ruled Friday that Miller acted lawfully while upholding her beliefs about what the Bible teaches regarding marriage.
The decision was welcomed as a First Amendment victory by Miller and her pro-bono attorneys with the conservative Thomas More Society.
“I’m hoping that in our community we can grow together,” Miller told the Bakersfield Californian after the ruling. “And we should understand that we shouldn’t push any agenda against anyone else.”
A spokesperson said the fair housing department was aware of the ruling but had not determined what to do next. The couple, Eileen and Mireya Rodriguez-Del Rio, said they expect an appeal.
“Of course we’re disappointed, but not surprised,” Eileen told the newspaper. “We anticipate that our appeal will have a different result.”
An earlier decision in Kern County Superior Court also went Miller’s way, but it was later vacated by the 5th District Court of Appeal, which sent the lawsuit back to the county.
The decision comes as a Colorado baker is challenging a ruling he violated that state’s anti-discrimination law by refusing to make a cake celebrating a gender transition. That baker, Jack Phillips, separately won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing on religious grounds to make a gay couple’s wedding cake a decade ago. | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Judge-sides-with-California-baker-over-same-sex-17528775.php | 2022-10-23 19:38:52 | 0 | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Judge-sides-with-California-baker-over-same-sex-17528775.php |
TOKYO, Dec. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- QunaSys Inc. sponsored Q2B 2022: Practical Quantum Computing Conference (Dec 6 -8) the world's largest gathering of the quantum computing community.
On December 8th at 11:10am PST, Hirokazu Sato, Technology specialist from Bridgestone's Material Simulation Research Section, Digital Engineering Division, Bridgestone, and Elena Yndurain, QunaSys Europe's CEO discussed how to wrap your head around building a quantum computing adoption strategy.
QunaSys and Bridgestone shared their collaboration work focused on different product and service lines on current and new materials that create both social and customer values with sustainable growth.
Quantum computing is a nascent technology that promises to address challenging problems. Companies are defining a strategy and use case adoption roadmap based on the technology readiness. "Bridgestone is working with QunaSys to better understand how to get ready for quantum computing by learning the necessary skills, selecting, and prioritizing the use cases to test as the technology becomes available." Hirokazu Sato, Bridgestone's Technology specialist.
About QunaSys Inc.
QunaSys is the world's leading developer of innovative algorithms in chemistry focused on accelerating the development of quantum technology applicability. QunaSys enables maximization of the power of quantum computing through its advanced joint research that addresses cutting-edge technologies providing Qamuy™, the most powerful quantum chemical calculation cloud software; fostering development of collaboration through QPARC industry consortium; and working with research institutions from academia and government. QunaSys software runs on multiple technology platforms with applicability in all chemical related industries to boost quantum computing adoption.
About Bridgestone Corporation
Bridgestone Corporation is a global leader providing sustainable mobility and advanced solutions. Bridgestone manufactures and markets a diverse portfolio of original equipment and replacement tires, tire-centric solutions, mobility solutions, and other rubber-associated and diversified products that deliver social value and customer value. Guided by its global corporate social responsibility commitment, Our Way to Serve, Bridgestone is dedicated to shaping a sustainable future of mobility and improving the way people move, live, work and play.
About Q2B event
Q2B is the largest quantum computing community industry event that is happening for the sixth year in a row. The event features top academics, industry end users, government representatives and quantum computing vendors from all over the world.
Media inquiries: Tennin Yan and Tomoyo Matsuoka pr@qunasys.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE QunaSys Inc. | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/12/21/qunasys-participated-q2b-2022-silicon-valley-practical-quantum-computing/ | 2022-12-21 14:07:42 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/12/21/qunasys-participated-q2b-2022-silicon-valley-practical-quantum-computing/ |
BEIJING – Global stock markets surged Friday after Wall Street rebounded from a slump caused by higher-than-forecast inflation numbers.
Market benchmarks in London and Paris opened up more than 1%. Tokyo jumped 3.3% for its biggest one-day gain in seven months. Hong Kong and Shanghai also rose. Benchmark U.S. crude rose almost $2 per barrel.
On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index was down 0.4%.
Wall Street slumped Thursday after the U.S. consumer price index for September rose 8.2%. But the S&P 500 rebounded to end up 2.6% for its biggest daily gain in 2 1/2 years.
The “sticker shock” of inflation was "shrugged off,” possibly because traders already expect another sharp interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month to cool surging prices, said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in a report.
The Fed and central banks in Europe and Asia have raised rates by unusually wide margins this year to contain inflation that is at multi-decade highs. Traders worry they might tip the global economy into recession.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.6% to 6,894.30 and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.8% to 5,925.44. The DAX in Frankfurt advanced 0.5% to 12,420.24.
On Wall Street, the future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3%.
On Thursday, the Dow rose 2.8% and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2.2%.
Thursday's CPI report showed inflation is spreading more widely across the economy.
The CPI was down from August's 8.3% increase. But core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy costs to show the long-term trend, accelerated to 6.6% from August's 6.3%. Prices in September rose 0.6% from the previous month.
That appeared likely to reinforce Fed plans for more big rate hikes. Most traders already expected a rise of up to three-quarters of a percentage point, three times its usual margin, at the U.S. central bank's next meeting in November.
Thursday's data prompted some investors to expect yet another rate hike of the same size in December.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped to 27,090.76 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1.2% to 16,587.69.
The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.8% to 3,071.99 after official data showed inflation rose to a 29-month high of 2.8% in September from the previous month’s 2.5%. That was below the official ceiling of 3%, leaving Beijing room to stimulate weak economic growth.
The Kospi in Seoul rose 2.3% to 2,212.55 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 1.8% to 6,758.80. and
India’s Sensex advanced 1.8% to 58,257.86. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets also rose.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.38 to $88.65 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 4 cents to $94.53 per barrel in London.
The dollar rose to 147.59 yen from Thursday's 147.17 yen. The greenback is at a 32-year high against the Japanese currency.
The euro declined to 97.51 cents from 97.85 cents. | https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/10/14/global-stocks-up-after-wall-st-rebounds-from-inflation-jolt/ | 2022-10-14 10:03:12 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/business/2022/10/14/global-stocks-up-after-wall-st-rebounds-from-inflation-jolt/ |
WFO PHOENIX Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Saturday, October 15, 2022
_____
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Phoenix AZ
1221 PM PDT Sat Oct 15 2022
...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 PM PDT
FOR SOUTHWESTERN IMPERIAL COUNTY...
At 1221 PM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near El Centro
Naval Airfield, or near Imperial, moving northwest at 20 mph.
HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to
roofs, siding, and trees.
Locations impacted include...
Imperial, El Centro Naval Airfield and Seeley.
This includes the following highways...
CA Route 78 between mile markers 11 and 13.
CA Route 86 between mile markers 12 and 17, and between mile markers
31 and 46.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Remain alert for a possible tornado! Tornadoes can develop quickly
from severe thunderstorms. If you spot a tornado go at once into the
basement or small central room in a sturdy structure.
For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a
building.
...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of southwestern La Paz,
northern Imperial and Riverside Counties through 115 PM MST/115 PM
PDT/...
At 1223 PM MST/1223 PM PDT/, Doppler radar was tracking a strong
thunderstorm over Palo Verde, or 33 miles northwest of Martinez Lake,
moving northwest at 20 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and penny size hail.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
possible.
Blythe, Palo Verde and Cibola.
CA Interstate 10 between mile markers 130 and 140.
CA Route 78 between mile markers 75 and 80.
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
LAT...LON 3341 11464 3334 11473 3351 11513 3371 11488
TIME...MOT...LOC 1923Z 133DEG 17KT 3341 11473
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.75 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-PHOENIX-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17511661.php | 2022-10-15 19:41:33 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-PHOENIX-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17511661.php |
WFO SPOKANE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, August 12, 2022
_____
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Spokane WA
520 PM PDT Fri Aug 12 2022
...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of northwestern Ferry
and northeastern Okanogan Counties through 545 PM PDT...
At 519 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 14
miles southeast of Oroville, or 33 miles northeast of Omak, moving
northeast at 30 mph.
HAZARD...Winds in excess of 30 mph and half inch 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...
Sitzmark Hill, Lost Lake Campground, Bonaparte Lake Campground,
Molson, Chesaw and Havillah.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.
LAT...LON 4870 11914 4874 11932 4900 11924 4900 11882
TIME...MOT...LOC 0019Z 205DEG 26KT 4883 11915
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN
MAX WIND GUST...30 MPH
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/WA-WFO-SPOKANE-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17370825.php | 2022-08-13 00:39:41 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/WA-WFO-SPOKANE-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17370825.php |
The full impact of former President Trump’s decision to again seek the presidency became clear for the first time on Friday — but not in the way Trump wanted.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of a special counsel to helm two big investigations surrounding Trump — one pertaining to attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the other into the handling of sensitive documents that ended up at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Garland has appointed career prosecutor Jack Smith to the role. The attorney general insisted the decision “will not slow the completion of these investigations.”
More importantly from a political standpoint, Garland made clear that Trump’s entry into the 2024 presidential race was the key catalyst for his decision.
“It is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution based on some developments,” Garland said during an afternoon news conference, at which he took no questions.
Those developments, he added, included, “the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well.”
Garland, whose 2016 nomination to the Supreme Court was halted by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is realistic enough to know there is no possibility of his decision quietening the claims from Trump loyalists that the investigations are partisan witch hunts.
But he is at least hoping to preserve respect for the Department of Justice with the broader public at a time when it is under fire from a new Republican majority soon to take control of the House of Representatives.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have said they will use their new power in January to launch probes into a number of areas, including what they contend is the politicization of the Justice Department.
Democrats roll their eyes at the charge given Trump’s actions while in office, including firing James Comey as FBI director and pressuring then-Attorney General William Barr to find nonexistent evidence of widespread election fraud in 2020.
Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, said he believed Garland had made a “nuanced legal call” on the special counsel.
“I do think there is a classic conflict of interest once Trump became a candidate, because prosecuting him can aid the president — and indirectly aid Garland,” Litman said.
While Litman noted that there was no chance of the move winning over ardent supporters of the former president, he added, “Hopefully it convinces whoever is left in the middle that [the DOJ] have done whatever they can to make it without fear or favor.”
The White House is adamant in asserting its non-involvement in the attorney general’s decision.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Friday’s media briefing that Biden “was not aware” that Garland was going to appoint a special counsel.
“We were not given advance notice,” she added.
Trump, naturally, has come out with all guns blazing.
In an interview with Fox Digital, the former president branded the appointment “a disgrace” and said that it was “only happening because I am leading in every poll in both parties.”
His first assertion is a matter of opinion, but his second is untrue.
Trump has fallen behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in some polls of a hypothetical 2024 GOP primary battle.
DeSantis had perhaps the best midterm election of any. Republican, storming to a resounding reelection victory over Democratic opponent Charlie Crist. Trump, meanwhile, saw some of his most high-profile endorsees lose, renewing questions about whether he is an electoral liability to the GOP.
The timing of Trump’s 2024 campaign launch, beneath that political cloud, was widely interpreted as being an attempt to get out in front of the legal perils he faces.
A declaration of candidacy makes it easier to do what Trump is now doing — casting any moves by prosecutors as a sinister effort to hobble his candidacy.
Many of his allies push a similar line.
“If this is anything like the [Robert] Mueller investigation, the American people are in for a two-act comedy,” long-time Trump associate Michael Caputo told this column.
“Every time someone says the noose is getting tighter around Donald Trump, we find out there is nothing to it at all. This will not be the first time that an investigation came up empty-handed,” Caputo predicted.
Trump also promised in a Truth Social post that he would make a further statement on “the never ending Witch Hunt” at Mar-a-Lago later on Friday evening.
Still, beyond the president’s bluster, his troubles appear to be deepening. Smith, a prosecutor since 1994, has a stellar resume that includes spearheading the pursuit of possible war criminals at the special court in The Hague.
He is unlikely to be unnerved by Trump.
And that could be bad news, legally and politically, for the former president.
The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage. Brett Samuels contributed. | https://www.wric.com/hill-politics/the-memo-trump-and-garland-go-to-war-on-special-counsel/ | 2022-11-19 01:24:29 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/hill-politics/the-memo-trump-and-garland-go-to-war-on-special-counsel/ |
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
Rachel A. Davis, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
(THE CONVERSATION) Imagine growing up tormented by fears and life-consuming rituals that make no sense to you or those around you. Then imagine the shame of being told by mental health providers that, because you understand that your behaviors are illogical but keep doing them anyway, you must want to stay sick.
One of my patients, Moksha Patel, who is a doctor himself, endured this from childhood until his early 30s. In September 2021, Patel underwent deep brain stimulation surgery, a rare neurosurgical procedure that can be used for severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, when it has been resistant to less invasive treatments.
Patel has consented to this publication of his medical information. He shares his story publicly to combat stigma and to provide hope for other sufferers that relief is possible.
The term OCD is thrown around casually, often by someone joking about how organized they are: “I’m so OCD.” But true obsessive-compulsive disorder is debilitating and leads to significant suffering.
I lead a team that treats people with OCD using evidence-based approaches. I am also co-director of the OCD surgical program at the University of Colorado, Anschutz campus, and UC Health, a nonprofit health care system in Colorado.
Our surgical program is one of the few academic centers in the U.S. that offer deep brain stimulation for the treatment of OCD. My experience and research have given me insight into how a rare procedure can be used in real-world settings to provide relief to those who suffer from OCD when other less invasive treatments have not been successful.
What does OCD feel like for a sufferer?
A brain with OCD is primed to detect any signs of potential danger. Many people with OCD wake up every day with a sense of dread and an expectation of bad things happening. Daily life is overshadowed by ever-present guilt, shame, fear and doubt. As a result, they carry out compulsive and repetitive activities to attempt to forestall disaster and manage the painful emotions.
OCD fears most often involve the things and people that matter the most to the sufferer, such as their values, loved ones or purpose in life. For example, someone who values kindness and compassion might fear that they will offend, betray or somehow hurt the people they care about.
Sometimes what is hardest for someone who suffers with OCD is a recognition that the fears and behaviors are illogical – insight that provides no relief.
And because other people usually don’t understand, those with OCD do their best to hide their illness so they won’t be judged as ridiculous or “crazy,” which often leads to long delays in diagnosis and treatment. This is a painful and lonely life for the approximately 1%-2% of the world population with OCD.
Current OCD treatment options
The best initial treatment for OCD is a type of mental health therapy called exposure and response prevention. During these sessions, OCD sufferers are supported in gradually confronting their fears while also limiting the behaviors they have come to associate with providing safety.
For instance, someone with a fear of harming others might start by sitting near a butter knife and work their way up to holding a sharper knife to their therapist’s throat. They either learn that their fear does not play out, or – in the case of fears that cannot be disproved – that they can tolerate their anxiety or distress and move forward even in the absence of certainty.
The primary medications used to treat OCD are serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SRIs/SSRIs, which are commonly prescribed for treatment of depression and anxiety. But when used for OCD, these medications are typically prescribed at much higher dosages.
Unfortunately, OCD is a chronic condition for most; studies show that only 65% of people with OCD respond to standard treatment, which is a combination of therapy and medication, and only about 35% recover completely. About 10% of individuals with OCD remain severely impaired, regardless of how intensively they are treated.
The potential of deep brain stimulation
For this small group of individuals with severe and persistent OCD, deep brain stimulation – a procedure that fewer than 400 people with OCD have undergone worldwide – provides hope.
Patel, an internal medicine doctor, first came to my office in 2019. He is one of 13 patients I’ve worked with to provide deep brain stimulation for OCD and other psychiatric illnesses.
He has suffered with OCD since the age of 4 or 5, with obsessive fears about germs, contamination and social interactions, among other things. He learned to function and succeed by shaping his life around his rituals – for example, by not consuming water or food at work so that he would not need to use public restrooms.
Patel, like many others with OCD, is conscientious, thorough and compassionate, traits that contribute to his success as a physician. However, before deep brain stimulation, most of his life outside of work was occupied by painful, consuming rituals. These included scrubbing himself with harsh chemicals for hours.
He had explored every treatment he could find, seeing 13 mental health providers since high school and participating in years of exposure therapy. He had tried at least 15 different medications, all with little benefit. Then he learned that deep brain stimulation was available at the hospital where we both work.
How deep brain stimulation works
Deep brain stimulation requires a neurosurgical procedure to place thin electrodes into deep structures of the brain, specifically a region known as the ventral capsule/ventral striatum. These electrodes deliver electrical currents to the brain. The current is produced by pulse generators in the chest that look much like cardiac pacemakers. They are connected to the electrodes in the brain by wires tunneled beneath the skin.
We researchers do not yet have a precise understanding of exactly how deep brain stimulation works, but we do know that it normalizes the communication between parts of the brain responsible for taking in information and those responsible for acting on this information. These areas are hyperconnected in people with OCD, leading to a reduced ability to make thoughtful, value-driven decisions and an over-reliance on reflexive or habitual behaviors. And the changes induced by deep brain stimulation correlate with a reduction in OCD symptoms.
This type of neurostimulation is most commonly used to manage symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, a movement disorder that leads to tremors and body rigidity. OCD is the only psychiatric disorder that currently has approval from the Food and Drug Administration for deep brain stimulation treatment. But deep brain stimulation has been investigated in other conditions, including major depression, Tourette syndrome, schizophrenia, substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and eating disorders.
Deep brain stimulation is a procedure of last resort for patients with OCD. Because of the invasive nature of brain surgery and the potential for serious adverse effects such as infection or hemorrhage, individuals need to try standard, less invasive treatments first and meet the criteria for severe and persistent OCD, which have been established based on OCD and brain stimulation research.
But for those who do undergo the procedure for OCD treatment and receive ongoing stimulation, up to 70% have a good long-term response. “Good” is considered to be a 35% reduction in OCD symptoms based on a standardized scale for obsessive-compulsive behavior that experts in our field rely on.
This, for example, could mean that someone goes from spending more than eight hours per day on OCD behaviors and not leaving the house at all to spending four hours per day and being able to go to school with significant support. Such progress is remarkable, given how ill these individuals are.
Barriers and stigma
There aren’t very many treatment centers anywhere in the world, so patients who need this procedure may have trouble getting to one. Additionally, as our team has described in published research, getting insurance coverage for the procedure is often time-consuming and sometimes prohibitive.
Another barrier is the stigma associated with brain surgery for psychiatric illness. The reasons behind this stigma are complicated, and some factors have historical roots. In the early to mid-1900s, destructive, dangerous and not very effective brain surgeries such as lobotomies were performed routinely for mental illness without regulation, ethical guidelines or regulatory oversight.
A way forward
After I worked with Patel for about a year, including trials of six additional medications and ongoing exposure and response prevention therapy, his symptoms remained severe. I recommended he begin the extensive evaluation process for deep brain stimulation surgery.
Three weeks after his surgery, I turned on electrical stimulation, and we began the intensive programming procedure to determine the optimal settings. This process takes several hours a day over the course of several days, with fine-tuning in the following weeks and months.
Patel recalls that early on, during programming, he experienced a roller coaster of feelings, shifting between “giddiness and sadness.” Most individuals experience gradual improvement over the course of six to 12 months. At first, they feel happier and less anxious, and weeks to months later they experience a decrease in OCD symptoms.
Most commonly, stimulation is constant, 24 hours a day. But the treating psychiatrist may give the patient the ability to turn it off, such as at night if the stimulation causes problems with sleep.
Since surgery, Patel has continued weekly therapy sessions. Research shows that deep brain stimulation is most effective when people continue to engage in exposure and response prevention therapy. Electricity alone will not break years of hard-wired habits, but it can be the catalyst that allows for new neural pathways to be established and new behaviors to be learned. Likewise, most individuals need to continue medication. Though the effects of deep brain stimulation can be remarkable, it is not a cure.
Patel has experienced a 54% reduction in his OCD, according to the standardized scale. This means that his symptoms decreased from the “extreme OCD” to the “moderate” range.
He can now eat and drink at work and use public restrooms. He has more social connections, seeks less reassurance and spends less time decontaminating himself and his belongings. While sleep was previously his only respite, Patel is now intentional about finding meaningful activities to fill the hours that are no longer occupied by rituals.
Most importantly, he is beginning to feel hopeful that it just might be possible to build a life driven by purpose and intention, rather than by fear.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/deep-brain-stimulation-can-be-life-altering-for-ocd-sufferers-when-other-treatment-options-fall-short-186109. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Deep-brain-stimulation-can-be-life-altering-for-17472299.php | 2022-09-28 13:33:22 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Deep-brain-stimulation-can-be-life-altering-for-17472299.php |
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — At least 44 people were killed by Islamic extremists in multiple attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the government said Saturday.
Jihadis attacked Kourakou and Tondobi villages in Seno province, said Lt. Col. P.F Rodolphe Sorgho, governor of the Sahel region in a statement. Sorgho called the attacks on Thursday and Friday “despicable and barbaric” and said the government was stabilizing the area. He called on people to remain calm.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
The West African nation has been overrun by jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that's killed thousands and displaced 2 million people over six years. Fighting has frustrated and divided a once peaceful population, leading to two military coups last year with each junta leader vowing to stem the attacks.
But the violence is intensifying and spreading as jihadis blockade villages, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from moving freely.
In February, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for killing more than 70 soldiers, wounding dozens and taking five hostage, in an ambush on a military convoy in the north. A few weeks before that, jihadis killed at least 32 people, including soldiers and civilians, in multiple attacks across the country.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
The violence has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the country's history, forcing one in five citizens —some 4.7 million people — to be in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations. | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/world/article/at-least-44-people-killed-by-jihadis-in-burkina-17886278.php | 2023-04-08 18:39:57 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/world/article/at-least-44-people-killed-by-jihadis-in-burkina-17886278.php |
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has arrived in Cairo on the first leg of a Middle East tour that comes ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to the region next month.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt received bin Salman on Monday at the airport, a courtesy to the de-facto leader who is a steady financial backer of the Egyptian government. Both leaders are scheduled to hold talks in the country's presidential palace in Cairo on Tuesday. After that, the Saudi crown prince departs to Jordan for talks with its monarch, King Abdullah II, also a close ally of Saudi Arabia.
Bin Salman is then scheduled to travel to Turkey later this week.
Biden is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia at the tail end of his July 13-16 Middle East trip that includes stops in Israel and the occupied West Bank. He will hold talks with the crown prince as part of an effort to reset U.S.-Saudi ties, the Associated Press reported. The administration could use help from the oil-rich kingdom to alleviate soaring prices at the pump for motorists at home and around the globe. | https://www.wtvr.com/news/national/saudi-crown-prince-visits-egypt-ahead-of-president-bidens-mideast-trip-next-month | 2022-06-20 20:13:07 | 0 | https://www.wtvr.com/news/national/saudi-crown-prince-visits-egypt-ahead-of-president-bidens-mideast-trip-next-month |
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Six people were hurt — two critically — when part of a heating and ventilation system collapsed at a resort pool in Colorado on Saturday, fire officials said.
Aurora Fire Rescue said there were 50 to 100 guests in the pool when the collapse occurred Saturday morning at the Gaylord Rockies resort near Denver International Airport.
Fire Chief Alec Oughton said crews were already at the resort, running up and down its stairs for physical training, when the collapse happened.
An operator who answered the phone at the resort hung up on a reporter who called seeking comment.
The resort will be conducting an investigation into the cause of the collapse and will be responsible for keeping guests out of the pool area, Oughton said.
The resort and convention center has more than 1,000 rooms, a water park and meeting spaces. | https://www.wivb.com/news/u-s-headlines/air-conditioning-collapse-injures-6-at-colorado-resort-pool/ | 2023-05-06 19:35:51 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/news/u-s-headlines/air-conditioning-collapse-injures-6-at-colorado-resort-pool/ |
CONCORD, Calif. (KRON) — A man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman before he attempted to kidnap her, and police are believe the suspect may have had more victims, according to the Concord Police Department.
On Christmas Day, a woman walking on Wilson Lane near Dianda Drive told police that a man approached her and offered her food. When she refused, the man allegedly grabbed her and sexually assaulted her before attempting to kidnap her. The woman fought the man off and he left in a white 2001 Chevrolet Blazer, according to CPD.
Police were able to get the license plate number of the suspect’s vehicle. They areested 27-year-old Michael Anton later that night on charges of attempted kidnapping and sexual assault. Anton is now in Contra Costa County Jail and charges have been filed by the District Attorney’s Office.
KRON On is streaming now
Police say their investigation showed that Anton may have approached other women who were walking by themselves in the area. CPD is encouraging anyone who may have witnessed a crime or been a victim of Anton to reach out to the Special Victims Unit at 925-603-5864. | https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/concord-police-seek-information-on-sexual-assault-suspect/ | 2022-12-29 00:47:30 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/concord-police-seek-information-on-sexual-assault-suspect/ |
DENVER and TORONTO, Aug. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Canvass Analytics Inc. ("Canvass AI"), a leader in industrial AI software, today announced the appointment of Kevin Smith as its Chief Commercial Officer. Mr Smith will lead the go-to-market team to accelerate customer acquisition and growth globally. The hire follows the announcement of Canvass AI's Series A completion of US$14.23 million.
Canvass AI is revolutionizing the industrial sector by integrating its industrial AI platform into the day-to-day process and asset management practices of its customer base. Kevin Smith brings decades of experience helping clients improve facility operations and maximize the potential of their workforce.
"The industrial sector is demanding a solution that brings the benefits of AI direct to their workforce. With Kevin leading our go-to-market efforts, Canvass AI is primed to meet the demand as Industrials increasingly accelerate their AI adoption strategies to advance their key productivity and sustainability initiatives," said Humera Malik, CEO, Canvass AI.
Prior to joining Canvass AI, Kevin was the Senior Vice President, Strategic Advisory Services at Aspen Technology and the Chief Commercial Officer and an Executive Director at KBC Advanced Technologies, where he was instrumental in orchestrating the company's acquisition by Yokogawa.
"I'm delighted to be working with Canvass AI who is trailblazing the use of AI in industrial operations," added Kevin Smith. "The company is uniquely focused on making AI accessible to industrial users and providing practical AI based solutions that accelerate sustainable value creation. This focus aligns perfectly with my passion for helping to drive organizational excellence."
Canvass AI's customers span the oil and gas, chemical and petrochemical, metals and mining, and energy sectors, all of which contribute significantly to the global economy and will play a key role in combating climate change. The Canvass AI platform provides industrial engineers with easy-to-use AI solutions to apply and scale across their operations to address their operational challenges, without requiring coding or data science expertise. Today, leading industrials and manufacturers use Canvass AI to reduce carbon emissions and waste, improve yields, optimize facility operations, improve asset reliability and integrity, and optimize energy consumption.
Canvass AI is a leading industrial AI software provider that puts the power of AI in the hands of industrial workforces to solve day-to-day operational problems. Some of the world's largest companies use Canvass AI's patented industrial AI Platform to reduce carbon emissions and waste, improve yields, and optimize facility operations. Backed by Alphabet and Yamaha Motor Ventures, the Company is recognized by CB Insights as one of the world's top 50 technology companies that is advancing manufacturing. Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.
View original content:
SOURCE Canvass Analytics | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/08/16/canvass-ai-appoints-digital-operational-excellence-veteran-kevin-smith-chief-commercial-officer/ | 2022-08-16 12:47:39 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/08/16/canvass-ai-appoints-digital-operational-excellence-veteran-kevin-smith-chief-commercial-officer/ |
Brewers vs. Mets: Betting Trends, Odds, Records Against the Run Line, Home/Road Splits
Francisco Lindor and the New York Mets square off against William Contreras and the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday at 7:10 PM ET, in the first of a four-game series at Citi Field.
The Mets are the favorite in this one, at -190, while the underdog Brewers have +155 odds to play spoiler. The over/under is 8.5 runs for this contest (with -110 odds on the over and -110 odds to go under).
Rep your team with officially licensed Brewers gear! Head to Fanatics to find jerseys, shirts, and much more.
Brewers vs. Mets Odds & Info
- Date: Monday, June 26, 2023
- Time: 7:10 PM ET
- TV: MLB Network
- Location: Queens, New York
- Venue: Citi Field
- Live Stream: Watch on Fubo!
Bet with King of Sportsbooks and use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers! Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Brewers Recent Betting Performance
- The Brewers have played as the underdog in five of their past 10 games and have gone 2-3 in those contests.
- When it comes to the total, the Brewers and their opponents are 4-5-1 in their previous 10 games.
- The previous 10 Brewers games have not had a spread posted by oddsmakers.
Read More About This Game
Brewers Betting Records & Stats
- The Brewers have come away with 16 wins in the 35 contests they have been listed as the underdogs in this season.
- Milwaukee has played as an underdog of +155 or more twice this season and lost both games.
- The moneyline set for this matchup implies the Brewers have a 39.2% chance of walking away with the win.
- Milwaukee and its opponents have gone over the total this season in 32 of its 77 opportunities.
- In 10 games with a line this season, the Brewers have a mark of 4-6-0 against the spread.
Check out the latest odds and place your bets on and the with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Brewers Splits
Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbay.com/sports/betting/2023/06/26/brewers-vs-mets-mlb-betting-trends-stats/ | 2023-06-26 14:00:19 | 0 | https://www.wbay.com/sports/betting/2023/06/26/brewers-vs-mets-mlb-betting-trends-stats/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose the highest level since August but still remains low by historic standards.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that 240,000 people applied for jobless aid last week, up by 17,000 from the week before. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose by 5,500 to 226,750.
Applications for unemployment benefits are a proxy for layoffs and the current low levels shows that American workers enjoy extraordinary job security.
But it may not last.
To combat inflation that hit four-decade highs earlier this year, the Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest rate six times since March. The housing market has buckled under the strain of mortgage rates that have more than doubled from a year ago. And many economists expect the United States to slip into a recession next year as higher borrowing costs slow economic activity.
But the job market has remained strong. Employers added 261,000 jobs last month and are creating an average of nearly 407,000 a month this year. — on pace to make 2022 the second-best year for hiring (after 2021) in government records going back to 1940. There are nearly two job openings for every unemployed American. The unemployment rate is 3.7%, a couple of ticks above a half-century low.
New weekly applications for unemployment benefits were extremely low early this year -- staying below 200,000 for much of February, March and April. They began to tick up in late spring and hit 261,000 in mid-July before trending lower again.
“We expect layoffs to rise as demand softens in response to higher interest rates,'' Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said in a research report. “However, the move is likely to be gradual given businesses are still struggling with labor shortages and will be reluctant to cut their workforce.''
The Labor Department said Wednesday that 1.55 million people were receiving jobless aid the week that ended Nov. 12, up by 48,000 from the week before. | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Unemployment-claims-rise-to-240-000-highest-17606062.php | 2022-11-23 13:57:17 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Unemployment-claims-rise-to-240-000-highest-17606062.php |
BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the Massachusetts Lottery's "Numbers Evening" game were:
2-1-6-7
(two, one, six, seven)
BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the Massachusetts Lottery's "Numbers Evening" game were:
2-1-6-7
(two, one, six, seven) | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Numbers-Evening-game-17293866.php | 2022-07-09 02:15:38 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Numbers-Evening-game-17293866.php |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Connor McDavid won his third Hart Trophy as NHL MVP on Monday night, falling one vote short of unanimous selection after the highest-scoring season by a player in more than a quarter-century.
McDavid also won the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHL’s most outstanding player as voted by his peers. The Edmonton Oilers’ captain led the league with 64 goals, 89 assists and 153 points. That’s the most points since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96.
McDavid previously won the Hart in 2017 and 2021 and the Lindsay in 2017, 2018 and 2021. Universally recognized as the best hockey player in the world, McDavid is still searching for his first Stanley Cup title after Edmonton lost in the second round of the playoffs to eventual champion Vegas.
“Certainly it’s not lost on me what these trophies mean in the grand scheme of our game,” McDavid said. “To do it a number of times, it means a lot to me. Obviously, it’s not the motivating factor, but it’s special still.”
One voter out of 196 picked Boston’s David Pastrnak as MVP. The Bruins had a big night at the league’s awards ceremony after setting the record for the most wins and points in a regular season, records made possible in part by rule changes.
This year was a rare instance in which most of the major award winners were obvious since before the end of the regular season.
San Jose’s Erik Karlsson also became a three-time award winner, receiving the Norris Trophy as top defenseman — his first such honor since 2015. Karlsson at age 32 was the first defenseman to surpass 100 points in a season since Brian Leetch in 1992.
“I still feel like I had a fantastic year and I felt good the whole way, but I feel like there’s more,” said Karlsson, who has expressed interest in being moved to a team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup. “That’s what makes me excited moving forward.”
The Bruins had three award winners: captain Patrice Bergeron, goaltender Linus Ullmark and coach Jim Montgomery.
The Vezina Trophy as top goalie and Jack Adams Award as coach of the year were each a first for Ullmark and Montgomery. Ullmark led the league with a 1.89 goals-against average and .938 save percentage and was tied for the most wins with 40 — getting them in just 48 starts.
“You want to be the best at your position or even the best player, which is very tough when you have guys like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby playing against you, that’s a tough one,” Ullmark said. “Still, you have that goal.”
Montgomery coached Boston to 65 wins in his first season with the team, and he thanked those who supported him through a low point in his career.
“Three and a half years ago, the Dallas Stars terminated my contract because of my struggles with alcohol, and I had to change my actions and behaviors,” Montgomery said. “For those who struggle out there, you can change, you can affect change within yourself, and it doesn’t happen alone. You need a team.”
Bergeron won the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward for a sixth time, building on the NHL record he broke last year. At age 37, he led the league in faceoff wins and percentage and was only on the ice for 27 goals against at even strength in 78 games.
Seattle’s Matty Beniers won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Beniers led all rookies with 57 points and was tied for the lead among them in goals with 24, helping the Kraken make the playoffs in their second year of existence.
“I think I was pretty fortunate this year production-wise,” Beniers said. “Every year is not going to be like that, I know that, but it was definitely a good start. I was obviously really happy and thankful for the year.”
Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings won the Lady Byng Award for gentlemanly conduct, Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Mark Messier Leadership Award, and Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins — who had a stroke on Nov. 28 but returned to play 12 days later — won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance and dedication.
Members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association vote on the Hart, Norris, Selke, Calder, Masterson and Lady Byng. General managers determine the Vezina, while members of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association pick the Jack Adams.
___
AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.kxnet.com/sports/connor-mcdavid-wins-lindsay-award-and-is-expected-to-add-third-nhl-mvp/ | 2023-06-27 19:42:23 | 0 | https://www.kxnet.com/sports/connor-mcdavid-wins-lindsay-award-and-is-expected-to-add-third-nhl-mvp/ |
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) has completed the sale of the 595-megawatt (MW) Cardinal Plant Unit 1 in Brilliant, Ohio, from AEP Generation Resources, the company's competitive generation affiliate, to Buckeye Power.
In March, AEP reached an agreement to sell Cardinal Plant Unit 1 and the company's ownership stake in Cardinal Operating Company to Buckeye Power. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the sale on May 19. AEP Generation Resources will purchase 100% of Unit 1's output through a power purchase agreement through 2028. Cardinal Operating Company currently operates Cardinal Plant, and Buckeye already owns the other two units at the plant. Due to the competitive nature of the transaction, the sale price will not be disclosed.
The sale of Cardinal Plant Unit 1 completes AEP Generation Resources' exit from competitive generation ownership in Ohio and reinforces AEP's focus on its regulated business operations and infrastructure.
American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is powering a cleaner, brighter energy future for its customers and communities. AEP's approximately 16,700 employees operate and maintain the nation's largest electricity transmission system and more than 224,000 miles of distribution lines to safely deliver reliable and affordable power to 5.5 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation's largest electricity producers with approximately 31,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including more than 7,100 megawatts of renewable energy. The company's plans include growing its renewable generation portfolio to approximately 50% of total capacity by 2030. AEP is on track to reach an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2000 levels by 2030 and has committed to achieving net zero by 2050. AEP is recognized consistently for its focus on sustainability, community engagement, and diversity, equity and inclusion. AEP's family of companies includes utilities AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana, east Texas and the Texas Panhandle). AEP also owns AEP Energy, which provides innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide. For more information, visit aep.com.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE American Electric Power | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/08/02/aep-completes-sale-cardinal-plant-unit-1/ | 2022-08-02 19:44:14 | 0 | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/08/02/aep-completes-sale-cardinal-plant-unit-1/ |
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny contesting prison regulations that allow prison officials to deprive him of stationery and pens.
Navalny is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud and contempt of court in a maximum security penal colony in Melekhovo 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of Moscow. This week, another trial against the Kremlin’s archfoe began right there in the penal colony on charges of extremism. If convicted, Navalny will remain behind bars for at least two more decades.
In the lawsuit considered by the Supreme Court on Thursday, Navalny complained that prison officials in the restricted housing unit, where he is held in isolation, no longer gave him a pen and paper.
“Some are being given a pen and paper for an hour. In some places, for 15 minutes, and a convict needs a week to finish a letter. In my case, the time for writing materials was removed from my schedule entirely. How come? The prison chief decided so, that’s how,” Navalny wrote in a typically sardonic social media post on the eve of the hearing.
The complaint is one of many the 47-year-old politician has filed against prison officials, alleging multiple violations of his rights as a convict. All of his lawsuits and petitions have been rejected by Russian courts.
Navalny appeared at the Supreme Court hearing via video link from the Melekhovo colony. During the hearing, Russian authorities argued that there was nothing wrong with prison regulations and that Navalny should be given a pen and paper whenever he asked for them, if he was not required to do something else at that time.
Navalny’s arguments that it doesn’t work that way in his prison were brushed off, and the court quashed his lawsuit.
Navalny, who exposed official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests, was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
While imprisoned, the anti-corruption crusader has spent months in a tiny one-person cell, also called a “punishment cell,” for purported disciplinary violations such as an alleged failure to properly button his prison robe, properly introduce himself to a guard or to wash his face at a specified time.
Navalny’s associates and supporters have accused prison authorities of failing to provide him with proper medical assistance and voiced concern about his failing health. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/international/russias-highest-court-quashes-navalnys-lawsuit-over-depriving-him-of-pen-and-paper-in-prison/ | 2023-06-22 13:56:26 | 1 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/international/russias-highest-court-quashes-navalnys-lawsuit-over-depriving-him-of-pen-and-paper-in-prison/ |
As part of the book giant's "best offer of 2022," Millionaire's Club members save 22% on their entire online purchase, now through Wednesday.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Books-A-Million launches a special, limited time online-only sales event exclusively for members of their award-winning Millionaire's Club.
Now through Wednesday, July 13, Millionaire's Club members get 22% off their entire online purchase of $40 or more when they enter the code MEMBER22 at checkout.
This offer also includes free shipping, which is an everyday member perk. Bargain hunters who are not currently members of the Millionaire's Club can easily join at this link. After signing up, they can take advantage of this sales event as well as other member benefits year-round, including:
- Up to 40% off bestsellers
- An extra 10% off in-store purchases
- More than $100 in bonus coupons for signing up
As a leading retailer of books, toys, gifts, and more, Books-A-Million prides itself on providing an extensive and varied selection at great prices. Promotions like the currently running Summer Stock-Up Sale offer deals on thousands of books in stores and online.
To learn more about the Millionaire's Club Member Exclusive Sales Event, the Summer Stock-Up Sale, or to start shopping, visit Booksamillion.com.
Books-A-Million operates more than 200 stores in 32 states as well as its e-commerce site, Booksamillion.com. A leading retailer of books, toys, games, and collectibles since 1917, the company has grown to be the nation's second largest bookstore chain.
CONTACT
Olivia Anderson McDaniel
Vice President of Marketing, Omnichannel
205.909.3563
mcdanielo@booksamillion.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Books-A-Million, Inc. | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/07/11/books-a-million-kicks-off-its-limited-time-member-exclusive-sales-event/ | 2022-07-11 20:11:45 | 0 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/07/11/books-a-million-kicks-off-its-limited-time-member-exclusive-sales-event/ |
MISSION VIEJO, Calif., March 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BENEV Company Inc., an FDA-registered manufacturer with a global presence, is proud to announce the addition of two world-renowned physicians to their Medical Advisory Board.
Dermatologist Suneel Chilukuri, MD, FAAD, FACMS in Houston, TX, was the first practitioner to serve as moderator for the BENEV Aesthetic Elite Summit in November of 2022. He has been an exceptional leader and active contributor to our Medical Advisory Board, having shared his expert advice and innovative solutions that add value to our physicians, and medical spas, and their patients and clients.
"I was honored to partner with the BENEV team due to the company's strong commitment to providing best-in-class innovative solutions for improving our patient's health and wellness. Their dedication to scientifically advancing regenerative medicine and their commitment to excellence is second to none," says Dr. Chilukuri.
Renato Saltz, MD, FACS, is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Salt Lake City, UT, and a Past President of The Aesthetic Society and the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Dr. Saltz joined the BENEV Medical Advisory Board in 2023 and was an early adopter of the Sylfirm X RF Microneedling System. He has also been a loyal supporter of the BENEV Regenerative Trifecta, Sylfirm X, BENEV Exosomes and Miracu® PDO Threads.
"It is a great honor to join the BENEV Advisory Board and to participate in the company's state-of-the-art developments and new technology. BENEV's leadership team has brought us together to share our collective experience in science, marketing, education, and business. This collaborative effort will generate innovative developments based on modern science for the medical aesthetic industry that will ultimately benefit our patients as well as our business," he says.
These key opinion leaders join our prestigious medical board that includes;
- Richard Goldfarb, MD, FACS
- Richard Jin, MD, PhD
- Diane Duncan, MD, FACS
- JD McCoy, NMD
About BENEV
BENEV, established in California in 2000, is an FDA-registered drug manufacturer, specializing mainly in topical solutions for skin and hair, including its exosome products, as well as innovative medical devices such as PDO threads and radiofrequency microneedling device, in the U.S. and around the world. BENEV is an established leader in the medical aesthetic market emphasizing health, longevity, and beauty related products in the U.S., Asia and other parts of the world. BENEV has a fully integrated business model, which includes manufacturing, research and development, sales, and marketing.
For more information, susan@benev.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE BENEV Company Inc | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2023/03/20/benev-announces-two-new-members-their-prestigious-medical-advisory-board/ | 2023-03-20 11:41:24 | 0 | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2023/03/20/benev-announces-two-new-members-their-prestigious-medical-advisory-board/ |
On this day in history, March 1, 1872, majestic Yellowstone becomes America's first national park
Yellowstone National Park, an almost mystical 2.2-million acre wonderland of dynamic hydrothermal activity, breathtaking scenery and spectacular wildlife, was established on this day in history, March 1, 1872.
It was the first national park in the United States and, to most people around the world, the first known on the planet.
It quickly inspired an international conservation movement in the wake of the Industrial Revolution.
"The headwaters of the Yellowstone River … is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale … and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people," states the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant.
A bison grazes on grasses in the Hayden Valley section of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, FEB. 28, 1983, 'M*A*S*H' FINALE DRAWS RECORD TV AUDIENCE OF OVER 100 MILLION
The park is located mostly in the northwestern corner of Wyoming, the least populated state in the Union, but also crosses into Montana and Idaho.
Its area of 3,472 square miles makes it bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.
"Although Yellowstone had been thoroughly tracked by tribes and trappers, in the view of the nation at large it was really ‘discovered’ by a series of formal expeditions" between 1869 and 1871, reports the National Park Service.
David E. Folsom, Charles W. Cook and William Peterson explored the park in 1869 and reported on its spectacular physical features for media back east.
Tower Fall, Yellowstone Grand Canyon and the geysers of Firehole River were among the marvels they described for first time.
A new expedition in 1870 led by surveyor Henry D. Washburn recorded the size and scope of Yellowstone's greatest landmarks.
Finally, in 1871, Ferdinand V. Hayden, head of the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, led a large scientific expedition that reported back on the incredible scope and magical scenery of Yellowstone.
"The geysers of Iceland … sink into insignificance in comparison with the hot springs of the Yellowstone and Fire-Hole Basins," Hayden reported.
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL: 50 MUST-SEE LANDMARKS THAT TELL OUR NATIONAL STORY
Photographer William Henry Jackson and artists Henry W. Elliot and Thomas Moran joined him on the trip. The expedition's rhapsodic tales and images captured widespread attention from the American public — and from political leaders in Washington D.C.
"The crowning achievement of the returning expeditions was helping to save Yellowstone from private development," writes the National Park Service.
FILE - Mountain Prairie with Lodgepole Pine Forest with Double Rainbow over River Lamar Valley Yellowstone National Park Wyoming. (Photo by: Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
"The wonders of Yellowstone — shown through Jackson’s photographs, Moran’s paintings and Elliot’s sketches — had captured the imagination of Congress. Thanks to their reports, the United States Congress established Yellowstone National Park just six months after the Hayden Expedition."
Yellowstone today includes one of the greatest collections of large mammals on the planet, including grizzly bears, bison, wolves, moose and elk — among scores of other species.
‘YELLOWSTONE’ STAR KEVIN COSTNER TALKS FALLING ‘SHORT’ BY SAYS ‘WE KEEP ON TRYING’
It also features, most dramatically, more than half the world's known hydrothermal landmarks: geysers, hot springs, mudpots and steam vents.
Its most famous geyser, Old Faithful, reliably erupts about 17 times each day.
A general view of Old Faithful erupting in Yellowstone National Park on May 25, 2021 in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
The geysers and hot springs, however, betray the boiling cauldron of volcanic and seismic activity beneath the surface of Yellowstone. One of the world's largest super volcanoes poses the potential to erupt with cataclysmic results for life on Earth, while experiencing about 3,000 mostly minor earthquakes each year.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
"Past volcanic eruptions that have taken place at Yellowstone National Park have been global disasters," reports National Geographic.
An aerial photograph of Excelsior Geyser and Grand Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, June 22, 2006. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).
"Today, scientists are trying to predict how this ticking time bomb will explode — or fizzle out."
Yellowstone geologist Dr. Jacob Lowenstern told NatGeo, "There is no current activity that is going on that would indicate anything is happening. If there was something coming, there is nothing to show at this point in time."
FILE - A Mother Grizzly and her cub walk through a meadow in Yellowstone National Park. (Photo by Will Powers/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Yellowstone is widely reported as the world's first national park.
But one global preserve makes a much earlier claim.
Bogd Khan Uul National Park, a small 260-square mile reservation in a remote part of Mongolia, was established in 1783. It remained unknown to much of the world at the time and remains so even today.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, AUGUST 25, 1916, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CREATED UNDER PRESIDENT WILSON
The creation of Yellowstone National Park 151 years ago today from the emerging international power known as the United States generated worldwide headlines and interest in conservation.
National parks were quickly created in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and elsewhere around the world.
By the end of the 19th century, the United States added Sequoia, Yosemite and Mount Rainier to its list of national parks.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The National Park Service today manages 424 "units" in all 50 states, protecting 85 million acres of American wilderness. | https://www.fox4news.com/news/march-1-1872-yellowstone-becomes-americas-first-national-park | 2023-03-01 14:23:00 | 0 | https://www.fox4news.com/news/march-1-1872-yellowstone-becomes-americas-first-national-park |
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A pair of dogs gifted by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018 are now mired in a South Korean political row, with the country’s former president blaming his conservative successor for a lack of financial support as he gave the animals up.
Moon Jae-in, a liberal who left office in May, received the two white “Pungsan” hunting dogs – a breed known to be indigenous to North Korea – from Kim following their peace summit in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in September 2018.
The dogs are officially considered state property, but Moon took the pair and one of their seven offspring home after he left office. The move was made possible by a change of law in March that allowed presidential gifts to be managed outside of the Presidential Archives if they were animals or plants.
But Moon’s office on Monday said he decided he could no longer raise the three dogs because the current government of President Yoon Suk Yeol was refusing to cover the costs for the animals’ food and veterinary care. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said that the dogs were returned to the government on Tuesday and that the parent dogs originally sent from Kim were being examined at a veterinary hospital in the city of Daegu.
In its statement released on Facebook, Moon’s office accused Yoon’s office of “inexplicably” blocking the ministry’s proposal to provide government funds for the animal’s care.
The ministry confirmed it had drafted a budget plan to provide a monthly 2.5 million won ($1,810) in subsidies, including 500,000 won ($360) for the dogs’ food and veterinary care and 2 million ($1,450) for hiring workers to look after them. But the ministry said the plans were put on hold for months because of unspecified “opposing opinions” from within the ministry and the Ministry of Government Legislation.
“It seems that the presidential office, unlike the Presidential Archives and the Interior and Safety Ministry, has a negative view about entrusting the care of the Pungsan dogs to former President Moon,” Moon’s office said.
If that’s the case, Yoon’s government should be “cool” about ending that entrustment, Moon’s office said.
“There would be disappointment and regrets as they were companion animals (Moon) grew attached to, but there would be no way to reject the termination of entrustment,” it said.
Yoon’s office shifted the blame to Moon, saying it never prevented him from keeping the animals and that the discussions about providing financial support were still ongoing.
“It was entirely the decision of former President Moon Jae-in to return the Pungsan dogs to the Presidential Archives” instead of waiting out a legislative amendment to secure the subsidies, Yoon’s office said.
Moon and Yoon’s spat over the dogs sparked criticism online, with users lamenting that the animals were being treated only as properties.
Staking his single presidential term on inter-Korean rapprochement, Moon met Kim three times in 2018 and lobbied hard to help set up Kim’s meetings with former U.S. President Donald Trump. But the diplomacy never recovered from the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in 2019 in Vietnam, where the Americans rejected North Korea’s demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for dismantling an aging nuclear facility, which would have amounted to a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
Kim has since vowed to bolster his nuclear deterrent to counter “gangster-like” U.S. pressure and sped up his weapons development despite limited resources and pandemic-related difficulties. The North has fired dozens of missiles this year, using the distraction created by Russia’s war on Ukraine to increase arms development and ramp up pressure on the United States and its regional allies. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/strange-news/ap-strange-news/ap-dogs-gifted-by-kim-jong-un-at-center-of-south-korean-row/ | 2022-11-08 19:48:07 | 0 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/strange-news/ap-strange-news/ap-dogs-gifted-by-kim-jong-un-at-center-of-south-korean-row/ |
TOKYO — The world's great cuisines can regale the eye and the palate. Or, alternatively, they may celebrate the plain and exalt the humble — for example, by recreating home-style comfort food in a restaurant setting.
A popular and compact eatery in Tokyo's Toshima ward, called Onigiri Bongo, does just that. It has served one of Japan's most humble foods, the onigiri, or rice ball, for some 60 years.
Diners at Onigiri Bongo — named for the drum, whose sound resonates far and wide like the restaurant's reputation — are squeezed into nine seats around an L-shaped counter. Its tiny space, and its reputation as one of the city's top onigiri emporia, produces lines of customers stretching down the street, waiting for three or four hours, or more.
Behind the counter is the restaurant's wiry and sprightly owner, 70-year-old Yumiko Ukon. She scoops rice from a huge pot, putting it in triangular molds and packing them with a variety of fillings — more than 50, including standards such as bonito or salmon flake, pickled plum, mustard greens and cod roe, and innovations such as pork and kimchi, and fried chicken with mayonnaise and soy sauce.
Then she puts more rice on the top, and deftly shapes them with three final squeezes. She wraps each rice ball in a thin sheet of seaweed and serves them to customers at the counter. The restaurant serves between 1,200 and 1,500 onigiri every day.
Japanese people have been eating onigiri for 2,000 years
The onigiri is sometimes born of the leftovers of family rice pots, and often packed in school and travel lunchboxes and hiking and picnic bags. Packaged, commercial versions of onigiri line the shelves of convenience stores across Japan.
Archaeological evidence from Japan's Yayoi period (roughly 300 B.C.E. to 250 C.E.) seems to suggest that Japanese have been eating variations of onigiri for more than 2,000 years. The rice balls are known by different names, depending on the era and region. The word onigiri itself comes from the Japanese word "nigiru," to squeeze, referring to how the rice ball is shaped by hand.
Bongo Onigiri's main ingredients are sourced from around the country, including short-grain Koshihikari rice from terraced paddies of Ukon's native Niigata prefecture, seaweed from Japan's Ariake Sea and salt from Okinawa.
For the current owner, the restaurant was "love at first sight"
At Onigiri Bongo, Ukon's gentle squeezes leave the rice balls fluffy and crumbly. The onigiri are sizable, the rice a bit al dente, and the tastes simple, genuine and straight-up scrumptious. The rice balls are often served in a set, including pickles and miso soup. A weekday meal set with two onigiri and tofu soup goes for for 800 yen, about $5.98 — in Tokyo, a very affordable lunch.
But to Ukon, what makes onigiri special is not the details of preparation, but their meaning, and the way people bond over them.
"It's not about the technique. It's about how much feeling you can put into each onigiri. That's why I'll never forget my mother's onigiri for the rest of my life," she says.
"It was part of our culture not to buy them, but to make them at home," she recalls.
After she moved to Tokyo at around age 20, "Onigiri were always there in my happy memories, like of athletic festivals or school hikes," says Ukon. "My best memories of onigiri are of the ones my mother made when I came home from Tokyo."
Freshly arrived in the capital, she says she felt like a "food refugee" because "I couldn't find food I liked," she recalls. "But a friend introduced me to a delicious rice ball restaurant, and it was love at first sight."
Ukon was not destined to be just another customer. She married the restaurant's owner, Tasuku Ukon, 27 years her senior. After he passed away in 2012, she took over.
Now, after more than 40 years of running the place, she continues to serve up onigiri with vigor and passion.
"I thought about retiring at 70," she says, "but I'm still in good health, and I want to see the smiling faces of the people eating the rice balls."
Chie Kobayashi contributed to this report in Tokyo.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.apr.org/business-education/2023-01-05/people-in-tokyo-wait-in-line-3-hours-for-a-taste-of-these-japanese-rice-balls | 2023-01-05 10:45:03 | 1 | https://www.apr.org/business-education/2023-01-05/people-in-tokyo-wait-in-line-3-hours-for-a-taste-of-these-japanese-rice-balls |
GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Dec. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SKF has achieved a Platinum Medal from EcoVadis, one of the world's most trusted providers of sustainable ratings for use in supply chains. This is the third year SKF has been awarded the Platinum medal and now ranks in the top 1 percent of all companies assessed by EcoVadis. In addition, SKF has received an A- Climate Change rating from the CDP, the global non-profit that runs the world's largest climate and environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions.
Magnus Rosen, Head of Sustainability at SKF, says: "We are proud to have been awarded the EcoVadis Platinum Medal for the third year running and to receive an A- Climate Change rating from CDP, enabling us to be recognised as one of the top performing companies assessed in both schemes. These ratings both highlight the commitment and progress we are making towards our 2030 and 2050 net zero targets and how we are working with our suppliers, partners and customers to drive the sustainability agenda and achieve positive change."
The EcoVadis assessment evaluates 21 sustainability criteria across four key themes: Environment, Labour and Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. The business sustainability ratings are based on international sustainability standards, such as the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and the ISO 26000 standard. The ratings provide an evidenced-based analysis on performance and an actionable roadmap for continuous improvement.
The CDP Climate Change score provides a snapshot of a company's disclosure and environmental performance. The scoring methodology provides a comparable dataset across the market. To earn leadership recognition (A/A-), companies must show environmental leadership, disclosing action on climate change. They must demonstrate best practice in strategy and action as recognised by frameworks such as the TCFD and others.
SKF has committed to achieve net zero status for all its operations by 2030 and to have a supply chain with net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As solid progress towards these goals, 2021 saw year-on-year reduction of scope 1 and 2 emissions of 3.2% - adding up to a 45% absolute reduction since 2006. In 2021, SKF also reached a 50% share of renewable electricity used at its facilities around the world.
For further information, please contact:
PRESS: Carl Bjernstam, Group Communication
tel: 46 31-337 2517; mobile: 46 722-201 893; e-mail: carl.bjernstam@skf.com
INVESTOR RELATIONS: Patrik Stenberg, Head of Investor Relations
tel: 46 31-337 2104; mobile: 46 705-472 104; patrik.stenberg@skf.com
The following files are available for download:
View original content:
SOURCE SKF | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/12/15/skf-awarded-top-sustainability-ratings/ | 2022-12-15 10:47:42 | 0 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/12/15/skf-awarded-top-sustainability-ratings/ |
MASTIC BEACH, NY (PIX11) — A 14-year-old boy allegedly raped a woman in front of her child, choked the woman and then stabbed the mom when she tried to protect her child, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said Tuesday.
The teen and an accomplice, who has not yet been arrested, allegedly broke into a Mastic Beach home on April 19, prosecutors said. They kicked a locked bedroom door and found a 23-year-old mom and her 4-year-old daughter inside.
While the teen’s accomplice looked for property to steal, the teen allegedly sexually assaulted and choked the mom, all in front of her child, officials said. He forced the woman into the hallway where the sexual assault continued.
The teen then dragged the mom back into the room and allegedly tried to pull the woman’s daughter out of the bedroom, prosecutors said. The mom fought to stop the teen. He put the child on the bed, then took the mom into another room where he pulled out a switchblade and allegedly slashed the woman’s face. He then stabbed her in the chest.
“Aside from the extreme violence of the criminal activity, what makes this case so shocking is the
age of the defendant who is accused of committing such callous and violent crimes,” Tierney said.
“It is becoming increasingly common to hear of violent cases like this involving minors as the
perpetrators of such vicious acts. Despite this, we will make sure justice is served.”
The teen was indicted on April 27 and arraigned Tuesday. He was remanded into custody. Police are still looking for his accomplice.
“Those responsible for this horrific attack on the victim and her child will be called to answer to the law
and they will be held accountable,” Tierney said. | https://pix11.com/news/local-news/long-island/boy-14-raped-li-mom-in-front-of-her-child-police-search-for-accomplice/ | 2022-05-03 19:46:42 | 0 | https://pix11.com/news/local-news/long-island/boy-14-raped-li-mom-in-front-of-her-child-police-search-for-accomplice/ |
France, Italy, even New Zealand dominate much of the wine market. But maybe on this all-American holiday, explore a few stateside wines. Here are a few reds as American as apple pie (plus a bonus bottle from across the Atlantic that’s too good not to put in the mix).
Smith & Hook Proprietary Red Wine ($25)
A melting pot of a wine? Why not? Smith & Hook Proprietary Red Wine is a blend that includes merlot, petite sirah, malbec and cabernet sauvignon. If that seems too busy, it’s not. Too bold? Not if you love vibrant wines. Fans of this blend have given it five stars for boldness, which matter when you’re loading up on gravies and pies, yams and butter. If you’re looking to punch up from a cabernet, this is a great wine to try.
Biltmore Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($22)
When people talk about American wines, they are basically talking about California with a little nod to Oregon. But what about the east? North Carolina’s Biltmore Estate makes its wine in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Start investigating the vineyard’s offerings with this rich, full-flavor cab. A perfect pairing with cozy winter nights and a big bowl of stew, this wine has a sturdy, medium body that highlights a bit of oak and dark, juicy fruit. Not serving stew on Thursday? It also goes great with a cheese course or on its own.
Balletto Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2019 ($34)
To be clear, the Russian River Valley is in California. It’s a delightful place (or so they say) that produces delightful pinot noirs (so I say). This one is a bit pricey so save it for relatives you really like or need to impress. It’s also an ideal balance – equally dry, tangy and bright with a medium body – of the characteristics that make pinot noirs so damn versatile. This wine is both light enough and forceful enough to shine between bites of pecan pie, mashed potatoes buried in gravy, or a midnight microwave burrito.
Domaine Chanson Le Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2019 ($25)
This wine is French. But it is too good not to drink it on Thanksgiving, July 4th and President’s Day. A lot of wine reviews go on about “notes of cherry, vanilla and baking spices” – and sometimes those words feel right – but what about “notes of forest floor?” I have read this claim and laughed. Then I had this Domaine Chanson Le Bourgogne Pinot Noir and got it. This wine tastes rustic, earthy and old world. It tastes, well, French. It also blooms on the tongue with loads of fruit, mild tannins and a dash of spice. It’s delicious and complex and just right if you are skipping turkey for a holiday dinner of paella, cacio e pepe, or a big, fat hunk of comté.
Join the Conversation
We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions. | https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/11/23/american-reds-perfect-for-thanksgiving-toasts/ | 2022-11-23 06:07:04 | 0 | https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/11/23/american-reds-perfect-for-thanksgiving-toasts/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials said Wednesday they have completed outfitting 43 major U.S. airports with technology to warn when incoming planes are aimed at a taxiway instead of a runway.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the system’s software predicts when a plane is lined up to land on a taxiway and sends an alert to air-traffic controllers.
None of the recent close calls between planes have involved aircraft lined up incorrectly to land on a taxiway, but that type of error nearly resulted in disaster at San Francisco International Airport in 2017.
The National Transportation Safety Board recommended the technology change after the San Francisco incident in which an Air Canada jet nearly crashed into four other planes on a taxiway at night.
The safety board also recommended that the FAA require planes landing at major airports have systems to alert pilots if they are not lined up with a runway. The FAA said it is still considering that recommendation. Commercial planes already have other equipment to help pilots line up with runways at big airports.
Taxiways are paved surfaces that planes use to get in position for takeoffs or taxi to the terminal after landing. Most cases of planes landing on taxiways involve “general aviation” — privately owned small planes — but 16% involve commercial flights, according to the FAA. | https://www.krqe.com/news/business/faa-says-technology-will-help-avoid-some-dangerous-landings/ | 2023-03-09 04:45:59 | 1 | https://www.krqe.com/news/business/faa-says-technology-will-help-avoid-some-dangerous-landings/ |
The union representing striking actors released a document late Monday detailing the status of its negotiations with studios, indicating wide gulfs between the two sides on key issues such as wage increases and artificial intelligence technology, though also signs of compromise in some areas before talks collapsed late last week.
But a spokesman for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Scott Rowe, dismissed the document as a “press release” that “deliberately [distorts] the offers made by AMPTP,” including last-minute proposals that studios offered actors during the final round of talks. “The deal that SAG-AFTRA walked away from on July 12 is worth more than $1 billion in wage increases, pension & health contributions and residual increases and includes first-of-their-kind protections over its three-year term, including expressly with respect to AI,” he said.
The AMPTP, which represents major studios such as Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon and Netflix in the negotiations, released its own document outlining its proposals late last week, after SAG-AFTRA announced that its strike and a self-imposed media blackout on the two sides expired. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. The Post’s interim CEO, Patty Stonesifer, sits on Amazon’s board.)
Here’s where SAG-AFTRA says it stood with the AMPTP on major issues just before talks broke down:
- The union wanted an 11 percent general wage increase under the first year of a new contract. SAG-AFTRA says the studios countered with a 5 percent increase for all actors, and 11 percent only for background actors. The two sides were closer on smaller wage increases in the contract’s second and third year.
- The union wanted performers to share in the residuals earned when their work is streamed, rather than earn a set rate for each streaming service, regardless of how well a show or movie does. It says studios rejected the idea.
- On AI, the union requested protections that would “require informed consent and fair compensation when a ‘digital replica’ is made of a performer, or when their voice, likeness, or performance will be substantially changed using AI.” Although the AMPTP agreed to some safeguards, the union said its counteroffer “failed to address many vital concerns.”
- The two sides are closer to an agreement on self-tapes, or audition videos actors are asked to film themselves, which have become more common since the coronavirus pandemic. Both have agreed to limit the number of script pages for a first audition call, but SAG-AFTRA called the AMPTP’s number “unacceptable.”
- On pension and health funds, both parties have agreed to increase the contribution caps, but SAG-AFTRA says the AMPTP’s offered increase is “insufficient,” while the AMPTP called it “substantial.”
- The actors union said studios have agreed to “a consultation process to guard against racist and sexist ‘wiggings’ and ‘paintdowns’ of stunt performers.”
- The union said the AMPTP refused proposals to increase penalties against studios for failing to provide actors with meal and rest breaks, and offered inadequate dry-cleaning compensation for actors who are required to bring their own costumes.
- The full document can be read here. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/07/18/sag-aftra-amptp-negotiations/ | 2023-07-18 16:56:14 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/07/18/sag-aftra-amptp-negotiations/ |
Updated March 8, 2023 at 6:13 PM ET
House Republicans vowed when they took control of the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterms they would hold the Biden administration accountable for the fallout from the chaotic withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021.
The House Foreign Affairs panel's first oversight hearing on what happened leading up to and after the U.S. end to a more than 20-year war featured emotional and graphic testimony from a Marine injured in the bombing at the Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Lawmakers also heard from a young Army medic who is still haunted by images of trying to save his fellow soldiers killed during that attack. And veterans who scrambled and set up mini State Departments to evacuate Afghan allies recounted frustration with the U.S. government's lack of planning and continued problems as they try to process visas.
The exit of U.S. forces and rushed evacuation of allies by the U.S. military as the Afghan government fell and the Taliban regained control of the country stand as one of the most damaging periods of President Biden's tenure in office.
Panel chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, a persistent and vocal critic of the decision to pull all U.S. forces out in the summer of 2021, declared what happened in Afghanistan "a systemic breakdown of the federal government at every level, and a stunning failure of leadership by the Biden administration."
Multiple Democrats and some of the witnesses noted that the policy ultimately implemented by the Biden administration was a product of multiple administrations' policies. And Democrats were quick to point out that former President Donald Trump set the withdrawal date in motion when he negotiated the framework for pulling out U.S. forces with Taliban leaders months earlier.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the ranking Democrat, acknowledged "mistakes along the way" but he maintained that Biden "made the right decision to bring all our troops home because I can't in good conscience imagine sending more American men and women to fight in Afghanistan."
In a statement White House spokesperson Ian Sams insisted Biden made the "tough decision" to end the war in Afghanistan despite that Trump had "failed to establish an evacuation plan."
"As a result, we are no longer losing American lives and spending tens of billions of dollars a year fighting a war with no end in sight, putting the U.S. in a stronger position to lead the world and address the challenges of the future, while continuing to welcome our Afghan allies and maintaining our ability to deal with terrorist threats in the region," according to the statement.
Marine tells panel: 'Plain and simple, we were ignored'
The hearing's most compelling testimony came from Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a Marine sergeant injured in the Aug. 26, 2021 terror attack at the Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport. He recounted the events leading up to the bombing that left 13 U.S. servicemembers protecting the airport dead, many others injured and scores of Afghan civilians killed.
Vargas-Andrews said he and another Marine assigned to protect the airport received intelligence about a possible suicide bomber approaching the area. He said they spotted him and his associate in the crowd and alerted supervisors and requested authority to engage but never got it. He told the panel he believes those individuals were responsible for the attack. "Plain and simple, we were ignored," he said.
Vargas-Andrews broke down and paused several times as he described the flash of the bomb knocking him off his feet.
"My body was overwhelmed from the trauma of the blast. My abdomen had been ripped open. Every inch of my exposed body took ball bearing and shrapnel." He said no one interviewed him about the attack in the investigation that followed.
"The withdrawal was a catastrophe in my opinion, and there was an inexcusable lack of accountability and negligence," Vargas-Andrews concluded.
Aidan Gunderson, an Army medic who was stationed at Abbey Gate, responded to the attack. He turned 21 on the day he deployed to Afghanistan, but when he and his platoon landed, he heard the head of the government had fled. Gunderson told the committee "not a single person on that plane was prepared for Kabul."
Retired Lt. Col. David Scott Mann, the founder of Task Force Pineapple, a volunteer network of veterans who served in Afghanistan, told the committee the experience working to get allies — often translators and former Afghan military fighters — was "gutting." He warned that the U.S. is on the "front end of a mental-health tsunami." He said calls to the VA hotline spiked 81% in the first year since the withdrawal. Mann reported a friend whom he served with was found dead in a hotel room in the aftermath and his wife told Mann the incident reignited trauma about his experience in Afghanistan and the way allies were treated as the U.S. left.
"We might be done with Afghanistan, but it is not done with us. The enemy has a vote. If we don't set politics aside and pursue accountability and lessons learned to address this grievous moral injury on our military community and right the wrongs that have been inflicted in our most at risk Afghan allies, this colossal foreign policy failure will follow us home," Mann said.
Another veteran who advocates for relief organizations, Peter Lucier, told the panel that years of neglect over four presidents created a humanitarian crisis.
"The failures that led to this point are owned and shared by four administration, by Congress and by 320 million Americans. This was our war." Lucier said it's crucial that we learn lessons, but added "it's not too late."
Panel members trade barbs about whose policies led to chaos
Republicans and Democrats largely agreed that the U.S. has a responsibility to help any remaining Afghan allies get out of the country and the process for granting special immigration visas failed and needs to be evaluated and fixed.
McCaul told the witnesses about those Afghan citizens still trying to leave the country "we need to get them the hell out of there."
But at times the hearing devolved into political sniping. Several Republicans argued that Biden failed to take personal responsibility for the deaths of those servicemembers because his administration lacked a plan and failed to communicate with Congress.
Shortly after the attack, Biden told reporters: "I bear responsibility for fundamentally all that's happened of late." But he immediately added: "You know as well as I do that the former president made a deal with the Taliban."
Panel member Rep. Susan Wild, D-Penn., noted "as a Democrat I was critical of this withdrawal" in 2021. But she emphasized that she agreed with the U.S. policy to get out of Afghanistan. She argued there were "two decades of intelligence failures" and said allies and the American people need "real answers" about "forever wars."
And Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., said Congress deserved criticism for the failures of the end of the Afghan war. She said it underfunded the State Department over the two decades of the conflict, which made it harder for them to coordinate the evacuation.
McCaul said Wednesday's hearing was the first on the topic, and he wanted to hear first from those who served and those who worked tirelessly to evacuate allies. He vowed to invite top Pentagon and other administration officials to appear before the committee.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wvasfm.org/politics/politics/2023-03-08/an-injured-marine-gives-searing-testimony-on-the-chaotic-withdrawal-from-afghanistan | 2023-03-09 00:34:27 | 1 | https://www.wvasfm.org/politics/politics/2023-03-08/an-injured-marine-gives-searing-testimony-on-the-chaotic-withdrawal-from-afghanistan |
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Justice Department announced Wednesday a tentative $144 million settlement with families and victims of a 2017 mass shooting at a Texas church that was carried out by a former U.S. airman who was able to purchase firearms despite a criminal history.
More than two dozen people were killed when Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire during a Sunday service at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Authorities put the official death toll at 26 because one of the 25 people killed was pregnant in what remains the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history.
Kelley had served nearly five years in the Air Force before being discharged in 2014 for bad conduct after he was convicted of assaulting a former wife and stepson, cracking the child's skull. The Air Force has publicly acknowledged that the felony conviction for domestic violence - had it been put into the FBI database - could have prevented Kelley from buying guns from a licensed firearms dealer.
U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez had previously ruled that the Air Force was "60% liable" for the attack because it failed to submit Kelley's assault conviction during his time in the Air Force to a national database. He ruled that Kelley was at fault for the rest.
The Justice Department said the settlement is still subject to court approvals.
"No words or amount of money can diminish the immense tragedy of the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs," said Vanita Gupta, associate attorney general for the Justice Department, in a statement. "Today's announcement brings the litigation to a close, ending a painful chapter for the victims of this unthinkable crime."
Jamal Alsaffar, a Texas attorney who has represented the Sutherland Springs victims in the lawsuit, noted that the settlement was not yet final and said the families have been fighting for justice.
"The Sutherland Springs families are heroes," Alsaffar said in a statement. "The country owes them a debt of gratitude. They have gone through so much pain and loss in the most horrific way."
The settlement would end a long-running lawsuit that was filed in 2018. When lawsuits are filed against federal agencies or programs, they are defended by attorneys with the Justice Department, which has separate divisions for criminal prosecutions and other responsibilities.
The settlement is less than the $230 million that Rodriguez had ordered the government to pay families and the victims last year, but the Justice Department appealed that ruling.
Rodriguez said in 2021 that had the government done its job and entered Kelley's history into the database, "it is more likely than not that Kelley would have been deterred from carrying out the Church shooting."
Kelley was able to purchase four firearms after being discharged in 2014, three of which he carried into the church. After the shooting, the Air Force was blamed for not reporting his record to the FBI. The conviction would have been a red flag in the mandatory background check when Kelley tried to purchase a gun.
Kelley died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was shot and chased by two men who heard the gunfire at the church. | https://abc30.com/texas-news-first-baptist-church-of-sutherland-springs-shooting-justice-department-settles-lawsuit-mass/13090923/ | 2023-04-05 22:17:00 | 1 | https://abc30.com/texas-news-first-baptist-church-of-sutherland-springs-shooting-justice-department-settles-lawsuit-mass/13090923/ |
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian and Chinese strategic bombers on Wednesday flew a joint patrol over the western Pacific in a show of increasingly close defense ties between the two countries.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Tu-95 bombers of the Russian air force and the Chinese H-6K bombers flew over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea during an eight-hour mission.
As part of the drills, the Russian bombers for the first time landed in China and the Chinese bombers flew to an air base in Russia, the ministry said in a statement. It noted that the joint patrols weren’t directed against any other country.
The exercise follows a series of joint drills intended to showcase a growing military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing as they both face tensions with the United States.
In September, Beijing sent more than 2,000 troops along with more than 300 military vehicles, 21 combat aircraft and three warships to take part in a sweeping joint exercise with Russia. The maneuvers marked the first time that China has sent forces from three branches of its military to take part in a single Russian drill, in what was described as a show of the breadth and depth of China-Russia military cooperation and mutual trust.
Defense cooperation between Moscow and Beijing has grown stronger since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. China has pointedly refused to criticize Russia’s actions, blaming the U.S. and NATO for provoking Moscow, and has blasted the punishing sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Russia, in turn, has strongly backed China amid the tensions with the U.S. that followed a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. | https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-russian-chinese-bombers-fly-joint-patrols-over-pacific/ | 2022-11-30 13:25:13 | 1 | https://who13.com/news/international-news/ap-international/ap-russian-chinese-bombers-fly-joint-patrols-over-pacific/ |
Parents accused of attacking high school principal after teen injured in fight
OLIVEHURST, Calif. (KCRA) - Two parents upset that their teenager was beaten up near a California high school are facing several charges after a confrontation in which the school’s principal was assaulted, deputies say.
Two violent incidents happened in the last few weeks on and near the grounds of Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst, California. According to the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office, one incident led to the other.
Deputies arrived at the high school Sept. 28 after getting a call about several teenagers fighting near the campus. The fight was so bad, the sheriff’s office says, that one of the kids needed to go the hospital for treatment.
In a message to the high school community, the school’s principal, Chris Schmidt, addressed the issue that evening.
“Disruptions like this do not align with the core values of our school, and they take focus away from teaching and learning. The students involved in this disruption now face disciplinary action, which may include suspension and expulsion,” read the statement in part.
The day after the fight, the parents of the injured teen, James Renshaw Sr. and Tabitha Heidbreider, showed up at the school, the sheriff’s office said. The two went to the main office, where Renshaw immediately began assaulting the principal, according to authorities.
Deputies arrived and arrested Renshaw shortly thereafter. Heidbreider had left the campus, according to the sheriff’s office.
After getting a warrant to search the parents’ home, deputies say they found a self-made gun with no serial number on it. The sheriff’s office says it confirmed that the so-called “ghost gun” was brought onto the campus by the parents.
Both Renshaw and Heidbreider face an extensive list of charges, including child endangerment and possession of a weapon on a school campus. The former also faces charges of assault on a school employee.
In a statement, the Marysville Joint Unified School District superintendent, Fal Asrani, said in part, “A situation such as this leaves a trail of trauma that permeates the system and requires all of us to take a breath and establish our belief in this beautiful school and the programs it provides.”
Parents and staff members say following the incident, a new security locking system was installed on the office door, which remains locked at all times. A new surveillance camera was also installed, and a security guard now stands on duty outside the office during school hours.
Copyright 2022 KCRA via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wcjb.com/2022/10/17/parents-accused-attacking-high-school-principal-after-teen-injured-fight/ | 2022-10-17 10:31:49 | 0 | https://www.wcjb.com/2022/10/17/parents-accused-attacking-high-school-principal-after-teen-injured-fight/ |
NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Sonder Holdings Inc. ("Sonder" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SOND). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Sonder and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
On November 23, 2022, Sonder issued a press release announcing "an information technology security incident resulting in unauthorized access to one of the company's systems that included certain guest records." Sonder stated its belief "that guest records created prior to October 1, 2021 were involved in this incident," which involved access to guest information including Sonder.com usernames and passwords, guest transaction receipts, dates booked for stays at a Sonder property, and guests' full names, birth dates, phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.
On this news, Sonder's stock price fell $0.03 per share, or 1.74%, to close at $1.69 per share on November 23, 2022.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
888-476-6529 ext. 7980
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/12/05/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-behalf-investors-sonder-holdings-inc-sond/ | 2022-12-05 11:00:11 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/12/05/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-behalf-investors-sonder-holdings-inc-sond/ |
Many scores on the ‘Nation’s Report Card’ plunged during the pandemic. But these students saw unexpected gains
By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
Headlines were bleak when results from the test known as the “Nation’s Report Card” came out last year.
Local newspapers around the country documented their districts’ declining scores. Editorials warned that US schools had failed students during the pandemic. Officials described the exam as an alarming wake-up call.
But one result on the National Assessment of Educational Progress hasn’t gotten much attention — a score that caught even some experts by surprise.
Yes, scores across many age groups, subjects and geographies declined as Covid-19 shook the US education system — a troubling indicator of how many children were still struggling to bounce back after months of remote learning.
But one group saw an unexpected improvement: English learners in 8th grade saw their scores increase on the reading comprehension portion of the 2022 exam.
The shift was so notable that months after results were released it still stuck out to Grady Wilburn, a statistician and research scientist at the National Center for Education Statistics.
“This is a bright spot,” Wilburn said when presenting the data to reporters earlier this year as part of the National Press Foundation’s “Future of the American Child” fellowship.
In a round of testing where results were almost universally grim, the reading score from this group of 8th graders stands out.
“English learners improving their performance from 2019 is actually one of the only improvements that I can recall seeing in the results,” Wilburn said.
Why did this group show some progress when so many other students stagnated or slipped? And what lessons can be learned from this as educators, parents and policymakers chart paths forward for the nation’s children?
What the scores reveal
The 2022 results were the first from the “Nation’s Report Card” since the coronavirus pandemic sent millions of children home from school in 2020 and into remote learning environments many weren’t prepared to handle.
Officials stress that the exam provides a snapshot of student performance and isn’t designed to definitively explain why changes in scores occurred.
Still, it’s surprising to see one group with increasing scores when others’ scores trended in the opposite direction — especially when the group that’s gaining ground is often described as underachieving.
Roughly 1 in 10 students in US public schools are considered English learners — the Department of Education’s designation for students whose first language isn’t English, including both immigrants and US-born students. And the number is growing.
There are more than 5 million English learners in US public schools, according to the latest estimates, and some of the country’s largest school districts say that population makes up at least 20% of their students.
Experts had warned that English learners were at risk of falling far behind as the pandemic put most students in front of screens instead of in classrooms. And recent research shows those concerns were well founded.
But the 2022 results from the “Nation’s Report Card” paint a more complicated picture.
English learners in 8th grade saw their average scores on the reading portion of the exam climb by four points.
That increase may not sound like much, and English learners’ scores were still well below those of their peers who were not English learners. But Wilburn told reporters that the change is worth exploring.
“This is an area that I would encourage others to dig into,” he said.
A spokesman for the Department of Education said in a recent statement to CNN that the bigger picture of the exam also is important to keep in mind.
“Seeing an increase in achievement for English Learners in 8th grade reading since 2019 is notable and demonstrates a resiliency throughout the COVID pandemic,” spokesman Roy Loewenstein said in a written statement. “However, overall, the National Assessment of Educational Progress results are a stark reminder of the impact that this pandemic has had on students across the country.”
So why would 8th-grade English learners see their reading scores improve? CNN asked national and local experts what they think could be behind this unexpected result.
Here are their theories:
Theory: Some high-performing students were deemed English learners longer than they normally would be
Some students who normally would have tested out of “English learner” status as their language skills improved didn’t during the pandemic, because less testing was conducted to change students’ placement during periods of remote learning.
“We know that many states had very limited assessment in 2020, or 2021 in some places. … That likely led to more students remaining in that (English learner) category,” says Karen Thompson, an associate professor at Oregon State University’s College of Education.
And that, Thompson says, could be one reason why 8th grade English learners’ reading scores were higher on this national exam, because higher-performing students were still included in the group.
That possibility relates to a “hidden” trend Thompson and other researchers have been pointing to for years: English learners actually end up doing much better in school than we think. But we don’t usually see that in test results because those former English learners are merged into the general student population.
A Boston Globe report last year noted that former English learners excelled on state standardized tests, and nearly half the valedictorians in that city’s public schools were former English learners.
Theory: Many districts are embracing new teaching strategies
Several experts and school district officials who spoke with CNN about the NAEP results pointed to changing norms in how English learners are taught. They touted a growing emphasis on bilingual education (instructing students both in English and their native language) and programs designed to see the value in students who come to school knowing another language.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, where 8th grade English learners’ reading scores jumped by 12 points from 2019 to 2022, school officials say they believe there’s a clear correlation between the rising scores and the district’s education philosophies.
“We don’t look at learning a second language as a deficit,” Albuquerque Public Schools Associate Superintendent Antonio Gonzales says. “We celebrate it.”
The district offers bilingual seals on students’ transcripts signifying proficiency in two languages, and a growing number of students have received that recognition in recent years, says Richard Cisneros, the district’s interim senior director for language and cultural equity. Another factor that officials believe has helped English learners improve, Cisneros says, is a shift to using new culturally relevant textbooks that “students can see themselves in.”
Marcey Sorensen, chief academic officer of the Fort Worth Independent School District in Texas, says it’s possible the increasing scores of 8th grade English learners in her district, whose reading scores also climbed 12 points, were a result of recent efforts to overhaul the curriculum and change the way English learners there are taught.
When the district shifted to remote learning during the pandemic, she says, that put many students in home environments where they weren’t speaking English. But when students returned to the classroom in late 2020, Sorensen says, teachers intensified efforts to immerse English learners in bilingual language learning.
“We were ready to hit the ground with new materials, new strategies, new supports for tutoring and extended learning opportunities and new professional development for teachers,” she says. “We put a very strong emphasis on the listening, speaking, reading and writing every single day that they weren’t getting during the pandemic.”
And the improvements were dramatic, Sorensen says.
“It’s kind of like a desert, when you’re dry for six months, and then you get this infusion of bilingualism,” she says. “It’s like drinking from a firehose. You’re absorbing so fast.”
And as a result, Sorensen says bilingual students saw greater gains over the same time period than peers who spoke only one language.
Theory: In some districts, the results are part of a longer-term trend
There’s no doubt that the pandemic had a significant impact on schools and students. But some of the districts that saw jumps in this group’s performance had been observing score increases for years. And that’s an important point to consider, says Jorge Macias, chief of language and cultural education at Chicago Public Schools.
“It’s not a one-year wonder kind of thing,” he says, noting that English learners’ scores in his district have been climbing for more than a decade.
“I’m not surprised by the results. I think people are like, ‘Oh, you know, it’s an outlier.’ No, it’s not. You can see by the chart we’ve been improving, and we will continue to improve,” he says.
What’s been the secret to boosting scores there? Macias says years of improved teacher training has a lot to do with it.
“It was a cultural shift. It was a shift in getting more teachers, endorsed teachers in front of students,” he says.
Other efforts also played a role, Macias says, including increased tutoring options for English learners.
Theory: English learners weren’t taken out of classes as frequently
There’s also another theory some advocates have floated, according to Wilburn at the National Center for Education Statistics.
According to this hypothesis, the higher scores may have been an unintended consequence of pandemic teacher shortages. Due to staffing issues, English learners in some districts who normally would have been pulled out of classes for specialized instruction were left alongside their more fluent peers.
“What was happening previous to 2020 is that English learners would be in class, they would be removed from a class, whether it’d be reading or math, to have some special one-on-one focused English learner type of intervention. Given a lot of the shortages that schools were experiencing after Covid, that was happening less often,” Wilburn said during his January presentation.
And advocates who have long pushed for keeping English learners in the classroom rather than pulling them out are pointing to these test results as they continue to make their case.
Some experts caution against drawing conclusions from one year’s results
Experts who spoke with CNN say it’s impossible to pinpoint any one cause behind the changing scores, and that more research is needed.
“We need a lot more exploration to think about whether these kinds of hypotheses might be part of what’s happening, or if we shouldn’t dig too far into this because maybe it’s an anomaly,” Thompson says.
Julie Sugarman, a senior policy analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, says NAEP test scores don’t provide enough information to draw major conclusions.
“To make a grand statement about American education just on the basis of that test score, I don’t think that’s an appropriate use of that,” Sugarman says.
Asked about 8th grade English learners’ improving reading scores, Sugarman said the fact that the same students’ math scores didn’t increase gives her pause, as does the idea of extrapolating too much meaning from one year of results.
“If it’s just one year and it bounces up and down, it’s not a trend,” she says. “If it jumps up, or if it does that for two or three years in a row, that’s something that we want to look at. I wouldn’t say this is something that’s particularly real.”
Asked last year about the 8th grade English learners’ improvement, another longtime researcher also pointed out that test results often fluctuate from year to year.
“A lot of people who cheer the NAEP one year are downtrodden the next,” Tom Loveless told the education news site The 74.
It won’t be long before researchers analyzing the “Nation’s Report Card” will have new results to consider. Another round of exams will take place next year, and results from the 2022 US history and civics tests are scheduled to be released later this week.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://localnews8.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/05/01/many-scores-on-the-nations-report-card-plunged-during-the-pandemic-but-these-students-saw-unexpected-gains/ | 2023-05-01 12:47:46 | 0 | https://localnews8.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2023/05/01/many-scores-on-the-nations-report-card-plunged-during-the-pandemic-but-these-students-saw-unexpected-gains/ |
GRANTVILLE, Pa. — Bella, a 9-year-old Montgomery County girl with congenital heart disease, was granted her wish to become a farmer for a day on Saturday at a South Central Pa. farm.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation teamed up with Batz Farm in Grantville to make Bella's wish come true. She spent the day meeting farm animals and learning what a day on a farm is like.
Erin Borkowski, Bella's mother, said the little girl has always loved animals; anything from a fish to a horse.
Bella and her family finished the day with a picnic in the pasture. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/make-a-wish-grants-day-on-farm-child-with-congenital-heart-disease/521-2b894e28-b970-418f-b7a1-82bd2cd3aa19 | 2022-05-09 13:50:40 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/make-a-wish-grants-day-on-farm-child-with-congenital-heart-disease/521-2b894e28-b970-418f-b7a1-82bd2cd3aa19 |
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga has led thousands of protesters in a third round of anti-government demonstrations on Thursday as the government warned that no more violent protests would be tolerated.
The opposition is blaming President William Ruto for the rising cost of living and alleges he illegally manipulated his election in last year’s polls, although the Supreme Court has upheld the validity of the election results.
Odinga says the protests will only stop after the government lowers the cost of basic food items and allows access to the 2022 election results from the electoral commission’s main computers.
Ruto, who on Thursday arrived back in the country from a four-day trip in Belgium and Germany, has remained adamant that the ongoing protests are illegal.
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, who is in charge of the police, on Wednesday said no more violent protests would be tolerated, stating “we must halt the descent.”
U.S Senator Chris Coons on Wednesday met Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for what the Kenyan leader described as “strengthening ties.”
Coons also met opposition leader Odinga for talks about “upholding the constitution and the rule of law,” according to the Kenyan politician.
Police have been using force to disperse protesters and so far four people are reported to have died since the protests started last week.
Odinga said the protests will be held twice every week until the opposition’s demands are met. A governor from Odinga’s stronghold of Kisumu county had banned protests in the area but quickly rescinded and local government officials joined in Thursday’s demonstrations.
The protests have sparked counter violence against opposition targets. Last Monday saw the destruction of private property at former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family farm outside the capital, Odinga’s gas cylinder manufacturing firm near the central business district and the burning of shops in Odinga’s stronghold of Kibera slums.
The independent Policing Oversight Authority is investigating four incidents of police shooting and killing protesters as well allegations that police failed to respond to a report on the damaging of private property. The authority has urged police to abide by the law while protecting life and property.
Civil society groups that include Amnesty Kenya and the Kenya Human Rights Commission have expressed concern over the abuse of human rights by the police during the protests and urged police to uphold their service to humanity.
The African Union has called for calm and dialogue among stakeholders recalling a “successful conduct of the general elections and confirmation of the outcome by the Supreme Court.”
Western diplomatic missions in Kenya expressed concern over the violence and damage to places of worship and private property.
The Media Council of Kenya said that journalists have been attacked in the demonstrations and said it would work closely with the police to ensure perpetrators face the law. | https://cw33.com/news/international/ap-international/kenya-opposition-in-fresh-protests-amid-government-warning/ | 2023-03-30 13:06:25 | 1 | https://cw33.com/news/international/ap-international/kenya-opposition-in-fresh-protests-amid-government-warning/ |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.