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WASHINGTON (AP) — Conflicting signs about the health of the U.S. economy have thrust the Federal Reserve into a difficult spot.
With inflation raging at a four-decade high, the job market strong and consumer spending still solid, the Fed is under pressure to raise interest rates aggressively.
But other signs suggest the economy is slowing and might even have shrunk in the first half of the year. Such evidence would typically lead the Fed to stop raising rates — or even cut them.
For now, though, the Fed is focused squarely on its inflation fight, and this week it’s set to announce another hefty hike in its benchmark interest rate. Together with its previous rate increases, the Fed's moves will make borrowing costlier for individuals and companies and likely weaken the economy over time.
“Until there’s very clear evidence of the labor market beginning to meaningfully deteriorate, the No. 1 focus for the Fed must be inflation,” said Matthew Luzzetti, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank.
When it ends its latest policy meeting Wednesday, the Fed is expected to impose a second consecutive three-quarter-point hike, elevating its key rate to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%. It will be its fourth rate hike since March, when it announced a quarter-point increase. Since then, with inflation setting new four-decade highs, the central bank has tightened credit ever more aggressively.
By raising borrowing rates, the Fed makes it costlier to take out a mortgage or an auto or business loan. In turn, consumers and businesses will likely borrow and spend less, cooling the economy and slowing price increases. The Fed's hikes have already led to a doubling of the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the past year, to 5.5%, and home sales have tumbled. The central bank is betting it can slow growth just enough to tame inflation yet not so much as to trigger a recession — a risk that many analysts fear may end badly.
The Fed's rate hikes aren't suited to address all the causes of high inflation. Higher borrowing rates can reduce spending. But they cannot reverse other factors, notably the global shortages of food, energy, factory parts and other items, which have been worsened by Russia's war against Ukraine and COVID-19-related shutdowns in China.
It will also likely take months for the Fed's higher rates to reduce spending on airline flights, restaurant meals and other services. Many economists worry that this means the Fed will have to clamp down even harder on consumer and business demand, to bring it into balance with the economy's restricted supply of goods and labor.
A news conference that Chair Jerome Powell will hold Wednesday — and whatever signals, if any, he sends about the Fed's next steps — will draw intense interest. Since the Fed met in June, the government has reported that inflation accelerated to a 9.1% annual rate, the most since 1981. Though that jump reflected a spike in gas prices, which have since declined, inflation worsened even after excluding the volatile energy and food categories.
The nation's June jobs report showed that hiring has remained healthy, with employers adding 372,000 jobs last month. Employers' continued need for labor has been elevating wages and contributing to inflation as companies pass their higher labor costs on to customers in the form of price increases.
Oddly enough, though, despite the robust job market and its role in keeping inflation high, by some measures the economy is barely growing, if at all. When the government reports Thursday on growth in the April-June period, it may show that the economy shrank for a second consecutive quarter.
Though two straight quarters of negative growth are sometimes seen as an informal definition of recession, few economists think the economy is in a downturn. Instead, recessions are defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit group of economists. The NBER assesses a broad range of data in determining recessions and places heavy weight on incomes and jobs. Economists note that employers have added 2.7 million jobs so far this year, which points to an economy far from recession.
If, as expected, the Fed raises its short-term rate this week to 2.25% to 2.5%, it would move it near a level that officials think neither stimulates nor discourages growth. After that, the policymakers could raise the rate in smaller increments to levels that would slow the economy. Fed officials have signaled that they expect to raise it to a range of 3.25% to 3.5% by year's end.
On Wednesday, Powell is expected to hammer home the Fed's determination to raise rates until inflation falls, even at the risk of slowing growth too much.
“What we’re looking for is compelling evidence that inflationary pressures are abating and that inflation is moving back down,” he said at a news conference after the Fed's June meeting. “We’d like to see that in the form of a series of declining monthly inflation readings.”
At a central banking forum last month in Portugal, Powell added: “Is there a risk that we would go too far? Certainly there’s a risk, but I wouldn’t agree that’s the biggest risk to the economy. The biggest mistake to make…would be to fail to restore price stability.”
Other officials have made clear they expect the Fed to continue raising rates for the foreseeable future.
“I have not seen any convincing evidence that inflation has turned the corner,” said Loretta Mester, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, earlier this month.
Still, the economy's conflicting signals have whiplashed Fed policy for months, leaving many analysts calling for a clearer message. In June, policymakers had signaled that a half-point rate hike was likely — until just before their meeting, when expectations abruptly shifted to a three-quarter-point increase.
And after the June inflation report showed that price increases were accelerating, Wall Street traders bet that the Fed would impose a full percentage point hike this week. That expectation, too, faded after several Fed officials dismissed the idea. The rapid swing in expectations was “borderline ridiculous,” Krishna Guha, an economist at Evercore ISI, an investment bank, wrote to clients.
The policymakers should “lay out the thinking a little bit more of how they see the pace of rate increases going forward,” said Ellen Meade, an economics professor at Duke University and a former senior Fed economist. "Will they react to a dramatic slowing in the economy if that should occur before they see inflation slow in a meaningful way? Having a little more information as to how they’re thinking about it could be helpful.” | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Fed-set-to-impose-another-big-rate-hike-to-fight-17327300.php | 2022-07-25 18:08:26 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Fed-set-to-impose-another-big-rate-hike-to-fight-17327300.php |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Wichita Police Department (WPD) has released the names of the two who were killed in a shooting last Friday night.
WPD says Jose Alvarez, 39, and Neosha Allen, 22, were inside an apartment in the 900 block of S Mission Rd on Friday, Dec. 23.
At approximately 9:55 p.m., officers were dispatched to a report of a shooting.
Upon arrival, officers found two victims outside the residence with multiple gunshot wounds. Those victims were taken to a local hospital and are now in stable condition after undergoing surgery.
While officers were on the scene, they learned Alvarez and Allen were inside an apartment near where the other two were shot. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
WPD arrested Kenneth Jackson in connection to the incident. He was found after a short police pursuit that ended near the intersection of 31st St N and N Fairview Ave.
The incident is still under investigation. | https://www.ksn.com/news/wpd-releases-victims-names-in-last-fridays-fatal-shooting/ | 2022-12-31 01:42:02 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/wpd-releases-victims-names-in-last-fridays-fatal-shooting/ |
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A judge has ended the nearly 50 years of federal oversight of police in Hartford, Connecticut, despite continued concerns the department still has not hired enough minority officers to reflect the city's large Black and Hispanic populations.
U.S. District Judge Kari Dooley in Bridgeport issued a 10-page ruling late Friday saying the plaintiffs failed to prove the police department was violating any part of the original 1973 consent decree agreement or revisions made to it in 2010. Dooley approved the city's request to dissolve the consent decree, which was to have ended four years after the 2010 revisions but was later extended.
The consent decree was one of the longest in the country and resulted from a 1969 civil rights lawsuit against city police by several Hartford residents. The lawsuit accused police of inflicting numerous acts of violence, intimidation and humiliation upon Hartford citizens based on their race and ethnicity.
Sydney Schulman, a Hartford lawyer for the plaintiffs who has been involved in the case since 1969, said Monday that he was reviewing the ruling and would be contacting his clients about a possible appeal or other actions.
“I was totally shocked by getting the opinion," Schulman said. “I'm extremely concerned. ... It’s always been the position of the ... plaintiffs that the city of Hartford should have a police force that reflects the population of the city of Hartford, which is mostly minority."
“We need officers in Hartford who understand the culture and the community of color," he said. "We need officers who understand the city, who are living in the city or have lived in the city. We need officers who are out on the street and can work with community residents in order to avoid the violence that we’ve seen.”
Messages left for Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and a city police spokesperson were not immediately returned Monday.
Just last month, the city council passed a resolution calling for an indefinite extension of the consent decree until the police department fully complies with it.
In court papers filed in October, the plaintiffs said there has been little change in the racial and ethnic makeup of the department since the late 1960s. They said only about 35% of the 400-plus member force is non-white. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 36% of city residents are Black and 46% are Hispanic or Latino.
Corrie Betts, president of the Greater Hartford NAACP, called the judge's ruling troubling and disappointing. He said he would be talking to national NAACP officials about a response, including possible legal action.
“Given the troubling circumstances surrounding the Hartford police department, the decision really makes no sense at all,” Betts said.
Besides not hiring enough people of color, the plaintiffs also claim the department has not been complying with the consent decree because it has failed to conduct immediate investigations into some instances of officers discharging their firearms. They also said the force is not always taking sworn statements from citizens when seeking arrest warrants as required.
The judge, however, rejected all their arguments and noted police officials have provided evidence of their efforts to increase the recruitment and promotion of minority officers.
Schulman said that while the department has increased recruiting of minorities, many of them have had trouble passing police academy tests. Betts said the department hasn't done enough to change those tests so more Black and Hispanic officer candidates get hired.
In court papers, police officials say there have been numerous reforms at the department, and the consent decree and federal oversight were no longer warranted.
“The conditions present in 1969 that led to the federal jurisdiction are no longer present,” city lawyers wrote. “Simply put, over 50 years of litigation has exhausted any basis for continuing jurisdiction over this matter.” | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/judge-ends-hartford-police-consent-decree-despite-concerns/SPPRAJNO6ZEQXAB224BXX2DOQA/ | 2023-04-17 19:05:06 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/judge-ends-hartford-police-consent-decree-despite-concerns/SPPRAJNO6ZEQXAB224BXX2DOQA/ |
BOSTON and GABORONE, Botswana, July 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, and the Ministry of Health ("MoH") representing the Government of the Republic of Botswana today announced a pathogen monitoring program at key ports of entry to identify new and emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2.
Through this program, Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, will collaborate with the MoH to monitor wastewater and nasal swab samples collected on a voluntary, anonymous basis from arriving international travelers for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. Ginkgo and the MoH will work together to establish Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) as a new node in a global network of pathogen monitoring infrastructure, complementing the insights generated from Concentric's existing travel biosecurity programs at several major international airports. The program builds on Ginkgo's previously announced MOU to develop and implement biosecurity capabilities in Botswana, and will also incorporate pathogen monitoring at land borders, at municipal wastewater treatment works, and for livestock in the food system.
"I am proud of the team and our partners for jointly laying the foundation for the biosecurity infrastructure necessary to help prevent the next pandemic. Botswana is protecting its citizens and bordering communities by joining a global network of public health leaders committed to ensuring the next pandemic threat won't catch us by surprise," said Matt McKnight, General Manager, Biosecurity at Ginkgo Bioworks.
This program is built upon a shared recognition by Concentric and the Botswana MoH of the importance of international collaboration and cooperation to promote global health security. Effective pathogen monitoring and data sharing capabilities can empower government officials, community leaders, and other stakeholders to make informed public health decisions. Building biosecurity infrastructure and capacity will also support the long-term development of a knowledge-based economy and biotechnology workforce.
Grace Muzila, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health of Botswana observed, "We are putting in place the tools that will enable us to detect and respond to future public health threats today, because biological threats will continue to emerge, and they will continue to put a strain on healthcare institutions in our country and globally."
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com and concentricbyginkgo.com, read our blog, or follow us on social media channels such as Twitter (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks and @ConcentricByGinkgo), or LinkedIn.
About the Botswana Ministry of Health
The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Botswana was established by an act of Parliament as a custodian of public health in Botswana with a regulatory oversight function. MoH is mandated to protect the public from health hazards and to ensure the delivery of quality health services to Botswana. It formulates acts, policies, regulations and norms, standards and guidelines for health services. As the key custodian of healthcare services, almost every village or community has a healthcare facility located within a 5km radius.
Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of the partnership and Ginkgo's biosecurity platform. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (ii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and to identify and realize additional business opportunities, (iii) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (iv) the unpredictability of the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for COVID-19 testing and the commercial viability of our COVID-19 testing business, (v) changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and regulations, (vi) our ability to realize the expected benefits of merger and acquisition transactions, (vii) the outcome of any legal proceedings against Ginkgo, including as a result of recent acquisitions, (viii) our ability to realize the expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry platform programs, (ix) our ability to successfully develop engineered cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other deliverables, and (x) the product development or commercialization success of our customers. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of Ginkgo's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on May 10, 2023 and other documents filed by Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.
GINKGO MEDIA CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
BOTSWANA MINISTRY OF HEALTH MEDIA CONTACT:
cnyanga@gov.bw
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SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/17/ginkgo-bioworks-ministry-health-republic-botswana-announce-pathogen-monitoring-program-key-ports-entry/ | 2023-07-17 12:39:39 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/17/ginkgo-bioworks-ministry-health-republic-botswana-announce-pathogen-monitoring-program-key-ports-entry/ |
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The man behind the frenetic, mind-bending memes that TCU has used to celebrate victories this season is an aspiring filmmaker from Maine who roots for the New England Patriots.
Jon Petrie’s official title is coordinator of creative video for TCU’s social media team. He was hired to film an ESPN+ series called “TCU Football: Carter Boys,” documenting this past season in Fort Worth, Texas.
Who knew it would lead to the College Football Playoff?
Petrie only dabbles in memes, but his have gone viral this season and captured the “Hypnotoad” ethos of TCU’s unlikely CFP run.
“The meme background is too much time on Reddit and too much time on Twitter,” Petrie said earlier this week.
The third-ranked Horned Frogs — or Hypnotoads, borrowed from the animated television show “Futurama” — face No. 2 Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday.
The memes started after the Oklahoma State victory that put TCU alone in first place in the Big 12 Conference in mid-October.
“The first one was just trying to come up with as many frog things I could think of,” said Petrie, a recent graduate of the University of Maine.
The posts are a fast-paced compilation of images and sounds that often seem random and disconnected but end up kind of mesmerizing. For a TCU team picked seventh in the Big 12 that won seven straight game by 10 points of fewer, the memes matched the vibe of the season.
“I don’t think a lot of people expected this team to be as good as they were, and that surprise and that excitement, I think is chaotic. And a lot of the way that the games ended,” Petrie said.
“I think the one that really ties it together is the way the Baylor game ended. That’s a very chaotic ending and to lean into that with a very chaotic meme I think is, like, perfect.”
TCU beat Baylor on a last-second field goal when the Frogs ran the kicking team on the field with no timeouts left to come away with a one-point victory to stay unbeaten.
Petrie said he was not surprised the memes caused a buzz.
“The internet kind of runs on shock value and absurdity when it comes to content a lot of the time. And so if you just lean into that, it’s going to pop off,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to be as big as it was, but I didn’t also expect it to flop. I expect it to be well received.”
Because it’s social media, of course, there were some critics who found the memes less than sportsmanlike. The pleasant surprise for Petrie was that the most important people never pushed back.
“What shocked me was the silence from the administrators at TCU. Usually those are the people who are like, ‘you better not push buttons here.’ The fact there was nothing kind of showed a trust in the media team to do what our job is,” he said.
RECRUITING C.J.
Peach Bowl opponents No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Ohio State cross paths on the recruiting trail regularly as they target the best players in the country — including one time in Southern California when quarterback C.J. Stroud was trying to decide where to go to school.
Stroud landed at Ohio State and has gone on to become a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist with the Buckeyes. But he was interested enough in Georgia to persuade head coach Kirby Smart to make the cross-country trip.
“I was so upset (with) my assistant when I had to fly all the way out to California to go out there. I was like, are you sure we’re going to have a chance?” Smart said Friday in Atlanta. “It wasn’t my favorite travel trip when you have to go all the way to Cali, but it was worth it when you got to sit down with that young man and his mom. He was very impressive.”
Stroud made a return trip to Georgia.
“Usually when you get him on your campus, that means you have a shot,” Smart said. “I certainly enjoyed getting to know him and the relationship with him because of the young man he is.”
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 | https://www.wowktv.com/sports/ap-mind-bending-memes-capture-vibe-of-tcus-chaotic-season/ | 2023-01-01 14:46:21 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/sports/ap-mind-bending-memes-capture-vibe-of-tcus-chaotic-season/ |
BEIJING, May 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Friday morning invited the first ladies of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to visit the historic Yisushe Theater in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
The guests were Aigul Japarova, wife of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and Ziroatkhon Mirziyoyeva, wife of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Japarov and Mirziyoyev were in Xi'an for the China-Central Asia Summit, which concluded on Friday.
Peng first took her guests to a Qinqiang opera art museum in the Yisushe Theater cultural block, where they viewed exquisite items related to the folk opera.
They stopped in front of a piece of mural work, looking closely at how local musicians performed together with their peers from the Western Regions back in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). They were briefed on the popularity of Qinqiang in China.
Peng and her guests also had a try at making shadow puppets at an exhibition hall and talked with veteran artists of the folk art. At the Yisushe Theater, they watched a classical Qinqiang performance.
Qinqiang Opera, a Chinese folk opera genre originating in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 B.C.-771 B.C.), continues to thrive in a vast region of northwest China and was added to the country's intangible heritage list in 2006.
Like many forms of traditional Chinese opera, Qinqiang incorporates singing, dancing, martial arts and acrobatics. Performed in the Shaanxi dialect, its repertoire primarily consists of old stories and folk tales.
China stands ready to strengthen cultural exchanges and cooperation with Central Asian countries and promote mutual understanding and friendship among peoples, Peng said.
Japarova and Mirziyoyeva said they felt the Silk Road had connected the cultures of Central Asia and China. They expected both sides to deepen people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning.
Long lasting cultural exchanges yield fruitful results
In the 30-plus years since the diplomatic relations were established, people in China and Central Asian countries have renewed the millennial friendship, reaped fruitful results in such areas as education, culture, health, tourism and sub-national exchange and fostered a multi-faceted framework of people-to-people exchanges.
There are 62 pairs of sister provinces, regions and cities between China and Central Asia. In 2022, China proposed holding a China-Central Asia people-to-people friendship forum and vowed to bring the number of sister cities, twinned with Chinese cities, in the five countries to 100 within a decade.
Since 2004, China has established 13 Confucius Institutes and 24 Confucius Classrooms in Central Asia, with over 18,000 students now studying at these learning institutions.
From 2010 to 2018, the number of Central Asian students studying in China increased from 11,930 to 29,885, with an average annual growth rate of 12.33 percent. China has become one of the main destinations and preferred countries for students in Central Asian countries to study abroad. The number of Central Asian students studying in China has rapidly increased after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Xi also stressed the need to strengthen dialogue between civilizations during his keynote speech at Friday's China-Central Asia Summit, saying that China invites Central Asian countries to take part in the "Cultural Silk Road" program, and will set up more traditional medicine centers in Central Asia.
"We will speed up the establishment of cultural centers in each other's countries. China will continue to provide government scholarships for Central Asian countries, and support their universities in joining the University Alliance of the Silk Road," Xi added.
"We will ensure the success of the Year of Culture and Arts for the Peoples of China and Central Asian Countries as well as the China-Central Asia high-level media dialogue. We will launch the China-Central Asia Cultural and Tourism Capital program, and open special train services for cultural tourism in Central Asia," Xi noted.
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SOURCE CGTN | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2023/05/20/peng-liyuan-spouses-central-asian-leaders-visit-historic-theater/ | 2023-05-20 01:34:39 | 1 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2023/05/20/peng-liyuan-spouses-central-asian-leaders-visit-historic-theater/ |
CEO Rene Jones led the ceremony
BUFFALO, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB), a leading financial services provider, today proudly rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in recognition of Black History Month. The bell ringing celebrated the significant contributions and achievements of African Americans in the United States and honored the legacy of Black history and culture.
"As a bank for our communities, we are committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our business," said Rene Jones, CEO of M&T Bank, one of only a few Black CEOs of a publicly traded company. "This bell-ringing ceremony is a testament to our commitment to creating a more inclusive future for all."
M&T Bank has a long history of serving its communities and empowering people to achieve their financial goals. The bank's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion extends beyond Black History Month and is reflected in its everyday operations, community investments, and support for initiatives that promote diversity and equity in the financial services industry.
"Celebrating Black History Month starts with understanding that this is more than a month. Black history influences and transforms our world today as we celebrate the power of Black communities, commemorate past contributions, applaud today's achievements, and visualize a future we can create together," said Glenn Jackson, Chief Diversity Officer at M&T Bank. "While we celebrate Black History at today's bell ringing, we also need to continue on our collective journey of building diverse, equitable, and inclusive systems and celebrate Black people always."
As part of M&T's employee and community engagement efforts, the bank operates more than 80 employee resource groups – including the African American Resource Group (AARG) – in communities throughout its footprint. The AARG includes more than 1,400 employees and provides professional development and advancement opportunities for its members and colleagues at M&T Bank.
About M&T Bank
M&T Bank Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T's principal banking subsidiary, M&T Bank, provides banking products and services in 12 states across the eastern U.S. from Maine to Virginia and Washington, D.C. Trust-related services are provided in select markets in the U.S. and abroad by M&T's Wilmington Trust-affiliated companies and by M&T Bank.
Media Contact:
Maya Dillon, Head of Corporate Communications
(646) 735-1958
mdillon@wilmingtontrust.com
© 2023 M&T Bank. Member FDIC.
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SOURCE M&T Bank Corporation | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2023/02/10/mampt-bank-rings-opening-bell-new-york-stock-exchange-marking-black-history-month/ | 2023-02-10 19:32:31 | 0 | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2023/02/10/mampt-bank-rings-opening-bell-new-york-stock-exchange-marking-black-history-month/ |
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — There appears to be celebrity interest in buying the Ottawa Senators, the National Hockey League team for sale in Canada’s capital city.
Rap impresario Snoop Dogg said in an Instagram post Monday that he was “looking forward” to being part of a bid by Los Angeles-based businessman Neko Sparks, who would be the first Black owner of an NHL team.
“I WANNA BRING HOCKEY TO OUR COMMUNITY,” Snoop Dogg wrote.
Last week, Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds was reportedly linked to a bid that would top $1 billion for the team. Neither Sparks nor Reynolds have publicly confirmed their interest in buying the Senators.
Reynolds and fellow actor Rob McElhenney last month basked in the storybook run of their Welsh soccer club, Wrexham, which secured promotion to the fourth tier of the English game.
The board of directors of Senators Sports & Entertainment announced in November that a process has been initiated for the sale of the club. The board retained Galatioto Sports Partners, a firm specializing in the sports finance and advisory business, as its financial adviser.
“A condition of any sale will be that the team remains in Ottawa,” the team said at the time.
Senators owner Eugene Melnyk died last year at 62 after battling an illness. He had previously said he planned to leave the team to his daughters, Anna and Olivia. Melnyk purchased the Senators in 2003 for $92 million at a time when the franchise faced bankruptcy and a tenuous future in the nation’s capital.
A recent valuation by Forbes listed the Senators at $800 million, 24th out of the NHL’s 30 teams.
Under Melnyk, the Senators played in the Stanley Cup final in 2007 when Ottawa lost in five games to the Anaheim Ducks. Ottawa nearly returned to the Cup final a decade later but lost the deciding game of the conference final in double overtime. Since that loss, the Senators have missed the playoffs six straight seasons.
The team has played at the Canadian Tire Centre in a former suburb since the arena opened in 1996. The team has expressed interest in building an arena at a site closer to downtown Ottawa.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wjhl.com/sports/us-world-sports/ryan-reynolds-snoop-dogg-in-mix-to-buy-ottawas-nhl-team/ | 2023-05-02 18:39:51 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/sports/us-world-sports/ryan-reynolds-snoop-dogg-in-mix-to-buy-ottawas-nhl-team/ |
New film starring Jennifer Lawrence depicts experience of U.S. Veteran with traumatic brain injury with scientific accuracy and depiction of invisible wounds
NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB) fully supports portrayals in Causeway for its accurate depiction of traumatic brain injury and the Veteran experience. Cohen Veterans Bioscience is pleased to see brave artists take an unflinching approach to bring this difficult topic of TBI out of the shadows. Jennifer Lawrence stars as a military engineer healing from TBI and the invisible wounds of war. The film follows "Lynsey," who suffers a traumatic brain injury while deployed in Afghanistan and her struggles with rehabilitation and depression adjusting to life back home.
"We hope the film Causeway will do for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) what Concussion did for CTE in taking the first step of normalizing the conversation by spreading awareness about these invisible wounds. CVB is committed to advancing the science of and treatments for TBI and we encourage all people touched by traumatic brain injury to openly discuss and seek the help they need to heal," said Magali Haas, MD, PhD, CEO & President, Cohen Veterans Bioscience.
TBIs result from a bump, blow, or jolt to the head, or from a penetrating head injury. Explosive blasts can also cause TBIs; this is a particular concern among those who serve in the military. Essentially, any external force that causes the brain to move within the head can disrupt normal brain function, leading to loss of consciousness, or being dazed and confused.
- Any period of loss of or decreased consciousness
- Any loss of memory for events immediately before or after the injury
- Neurologic deficits such as muscle weakness, loss of balance and coordination, disruption of vision, change in speech and language, or sensory loss
- Any alteration in mental state at the time of the injury such as confusion, disorientation, slowed thinking, or difficulty with concentration
Military service members and veterans of recent conflicts and combat are a population of special concern.
Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. has deployed more than 2.7 million men and women to support combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to the Department of Defense's evaluation of U.S. military casualty statistics:
- From 2000-2019 Q3, 413,858 United States military personnel worldwide experienced a TBI; 82.8% were considered mild, 9.8% moderate, and 2.3% penetrating or severe.
- The incidence of TBI has increased since 2000, with a peak in 2011 and 2012.
- Approximately 80% of new TBI cases occur in non-deployed settings, with military members also sustaining TBIs during training activities.
- Out of 770,000 veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom who sought care from a VA Medical Center, nearly 60,000 were evaluated or treated for a TBI-related condition.
Further, military personnel with a history of mild TBI are at an increased risk for developing post-traumatic stress (PTS).
Among U.S. Army infantry soldiers returning from Iraq, 43.9% of those who reported a TBI with loss of consciousness also reported symptoms of PTS.
Cohen Veterans Bioscience is a non-profit 501(c)(3) biomedical research and technology organization dedicated to advancing brain health by fast-tracking precision diagnostics and tailored therapeutics.
We are accelerating the development of next-generation diagnostics and treatments for brain disorders by harnessing the power of biotechnology (including neuroimaging, 'omics, and biosensors) in combination with high-performance computing and data analytics, to understand the underlying mechanisms of disease and discover new ways to improve brain health
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Cohen Veterans Bioscience | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2022/11/04/cohen-veterans-bioscience-scientific-advocacy-leaders-tbi-ptsd-applauds-newly-released-film-causeway/ | 2022-11-04 20:35:35 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2022/11/04/cohen-veterans-bioscience-scientific-advocacy-leaders-tbi-ptsd-applauds-newly-released-film-causeway/ |
CHONGQING, China, April 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from iChongqing- Chongqing - The 5th China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative Financial Summit (CCI-FS) commenced on April 20 in Southwest China's Chongqing and Singapore, featuring leaders from both Singaporean and Chinese governments, financial departments, and heads from ten central banks of ASEAN countries presented at the opening ceremony.
"Singapore-Chongqing collaboration in financial services has evolved in tandem with the broadening of our cooperation under the CCI, from providing traditional cross-border financing to companies in Chongqing and China," said Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs of Singapore, at the opening ceremony via video link. "Our collaboration has expanded to include areas such as green and sustainable finance."
Other participating guests include consuls general of RCEP member countries in Chongqing, Chengdu, and Kunming, leaders of the regions along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), as well as executives of large financial institutions, multinational companies, and global financial scholars.
During the opening ceremony, 90 projects related to the China-Singapore financial cooperation and the construction of the ILSTC and Western Financial Center were signed, with the amount reaching 111 billion yuan (US$16 billion).
Centered on the topics of financial co-founding the Belt and Road, the implementation of RCEP, the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, and the ILSTC, the two-day summit will hold 12 main events and 9 special events. The events will concentrate on the cooperation and co-construction mechanism of financial services in the ILSTC, exploring the digital innovation of financial models, proposing strategies for building digital financial service platforms, and promoting financial connectivity and green finance innovation.
Since 2018, the CCI-FS has been held consecutively for four times. Over the past seven years, Chongqing and Singapore have deepened their financial cooperation under the CCI. Chongqing enterprises invested more than US$60 million in Singapore, and Singaporean institutions directly invested US$3.4 billion in Chongqing.
The 5th CCI-FS is jointly held by the Ministry of Commerce of China, People's Bank of China, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore, Monetary Authority of Singapore and Chongqing Municipal Government.
For more details on 5th CCI-FS, please click https://www.ichongqing.info/special/cci-fs-2023/
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SOURCE iChongqing | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/04/21/5th-cci-fs-opened-chongqing-singapore-advancing-green-sustainable-finance/ | 2023-04-21 03:43:21 | 0 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/04/21/5th-cci-fs-opened-chongqing-singapore-advancing-green-sustainable-finance/ |
(NEXSTAR) – The White House confirmed on Thursday that President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19. While he is said to be experiencing mild symptoms, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden is taking Paxlovid.
But what is Paxlovid?
Paxlovid is an antiviral therapy produced by Pfizer and given to patients with COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the pill in December, making it the first approved for use against COVID-19 in the U.S. It’s intended to reduce the severity of COVID symptoms.
The pill is available by prescription, and the FDA recently authorized state-licensed pharmacists to prescribe it to eligible patients. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the move “could expand access to timely treatment for some patients who are eligible.” Previously, only doctors could prescribe the pill.
Paxlovid must be taken within five days after COVID symptoms begin, according to the FDA.
Currently, the antiviral pill is only authorized to treat patients 12 years old and older who weigh at least 88 pounds after they test positive for COVID. Paxlovid can be used in patients with mild to moderate COVID that are at high risk of progressing to severe COVID, which could lead to hospitalization or death.
This includes older people – Biden is 79 – and those with health issues like heart disease, obesity, cancer, or diabetes.
Paxlovid is given as three tablets: two nirmatrelvir tablets and one ritonavir tablet. The nirmatrelvir inhibits a SARS-CoV-2 protein, which stops the virus from replicating, and the ritonavir, which slows the breakdown of the nirmatrelvir, the FDA explains. The three tablets are taken together twice a day for five days.
Paxlovid isn’t approved to prevent a person from getting COVID, or in place of getting a vaccine.
The U.S.’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, took Paxlovid last month after testing positive for COVID. He later said he had a recurrence of symptoms after taking the antiviral pill.
While speaking at a global health forum, Fauci said he tested negative for COVID for three consecutive days after finishing his five-day Paxlovid series. On the fourth day, though, Fauci said he tested positive and began having worsening symptoms.
He referred to it as “Paxlovid rebound,” which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged may happen. The agency issued an advisory in May that patients may again have symptoms and a positive COVID test within two to eight days of finishing their Paxlovid series.
Fauci ultimately did a second round of Paxlovid, which the CDC has not determined to be necessary if patients experience a rebound of symptoms. Instead, experiencing symptoms after taking the pill “may be part of the natural history” of the virus.
Biden is now the second president to test positive for COVID. Former President Trump contracted the virus in October 2020 and was hospitalized for three days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Melanie Vásquez Russell and Michael Bartiromo contributed to this report. | https://who13.com/news/national-news/what-is-paxlovid-the-pill-biden-is-taking-after-testing-positive-for-covid/ | 2022-07-21 19:24:11 | 1 | https://who13.com/news/national-news/what-is-paxlovid-the-pill-biden-is-taking-after-testing-positive-for-covid/ |
Deion Sanders might lose his left foot as a result of circulation issues that forced him to have two toes amputated in 2021.
Sanders allowed camera crews with " Thee Pregame Show " to film a meeting with his medical team at the University of Colorado, where he's preparing for his first season as head football coach.
In at 11-minute segment released Friday on YouTube, Sanders met with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ken Hunt, vascular surgeons Dr. Donald Jacobs and Dr. Max Wohlauer and athletic trainer Lauren Askevold to discuss his daily pain levels and possible next steps.
“You just have to understand what the risks are. Things can cascade,” Jacobs said, adding that Sanders might not just lose another toe but "he could lose the foot.”
“Well, I know what risks are," Sanders replied. “I only have eight toes. So, I’m pretty sure I understand.”
Sanders said he has no feeling on the bottom of his left foot and said if a procedure is recommended he wants to get it done right away because once the season starts he'll too busy.
“I want to do it this summer because when we get rolling, I’m not going to have time to do it,” Sanders said. “This is the best downtime I have.”
Sanders missed three games at Jackson State in 2021 after having two toes amputated during the season.
Sanders took over the downtrodden Buffaloes program in December following Colorado's 1-11 season in 2022. His hiring has led to a resurgence of interest in the program that's had just two winning seasons since 2016, one of those was a 4-2 mark during the pandemic season of 2020.
The Buffs sold out their spring game in April and has sold out its season ticket allotment for the first time in nearly three decades. Colorado opens at TCU on Sept. 2 and hosts former Big 12 rival Nebraska a week later at Folsom Field.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/university-of-colorado-football-coach-deion-sanders-might-have-to-have-his-left-foot-amputed/AHFWWKRVS5B5LJY5ZPHFGSHP2M/ | 2023-06-16 22:21:29 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/university-of-colorado-football-coach-deion-sanders-might-have-to-have-his-left-foot-amputed/AHFWWKRVS5B5LJY5ZPHFGSHP2M/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homebuilders have pumped the brakes on new single-family home construction this year, a trend that’s likely to extend into 2023, according to several forecasts.
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Single-family housing starts were running at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of about 1.16 million properties in January, when the average rate on a 30-year mortgage hovered below 4%. By October, starts had slowed to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 855,000, as long-term mortgage rates climbed above 7% for the first time in two decades, crushing many would-be homebuyers’ purchasing power.
The slowdown has single-family housing starts set to fall for the first time in 11 years, with another pullback likely in 2023.
Carl Reichardt, a homebuilding analyst at BTIG, forecasts that single-family housing starts will drop about 11% this year and double that in 2023, before climbing 5% in 2024.
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A homebuilding industry forecast released this week by Fitch Ratings has a similar outlook, calling for a 10% in single-family housing starts this year and declines of 13% and 5% in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
“We expect 2023 to be a challenging year for U.S. homebuilders as persistent affordability issues will lead to housing demand continuing to weaken," Robert Rulla, senior director at Fitch Ratings wrote in the report.
Single-family home construction had risen steadily since 2012, before surging during the first two years of the pandemic as ultra-low mortgage rates fueled demand.
“Now we’re getting a correction,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders.
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He predicts homebuilding will start to recover in 2024, and that mortgage rates will ease back from current levels to a range between 4.5% and 6% by 2025.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell for the fourth week in a row this week to 6.33%, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago it was 3.1%.
Reichardt at BTIG cautions against drawing parallels between the last housing slump and this one, noting that in October the inventory of both previously occupied homes and new-construction properties is about half of what it was in October 2005, just after the historical peak in housing starts overall.
As such, Reichardt expects the housing market will avoid a “negative feedback loop” where lower prices cause more forced home sales and increase inventory -- as long as there’s isn’t a significant increase in job losses.
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Still, he's expecting a 40% drop in homebuilders' earnings per share next year due to the housing slowdown.
Homebuilder stocks are already down sharply this year as the housing slump deepened. But Reichardt recently raised his stock price targets and has “Buy” ratings on D.R. Horton, Lennar and PulteGroup. | https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Gimme-shelter-fewer-homes-being-built-as-17640901.php | 2022-12-08 19:33:13 | 0 | https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Gimme-shelter-fewer-homes-being-built-as-17640901.php |
Corporate Officers Fully Cooperated with IRS - Company Looks Forward to Amicable Resolution
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., June 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Insurance Care Direct (ICD), one of the nation's leading health benefits providers, today released the below statement in response to a summons enforcement action filed in federal court against corporate officers last month. The summonses, which were issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), relate to captive insurance arrangements used by the company.
"Insurance Care Direct (ICD) and all corporate executives, including Seth Cohen, Brad Cohen and Ed Carriero, have fully cooperated with every request from the IRS. To date, the company and its executives have spent hundreds of hours and a significant expenditure of company resources to fully comply with requests from the IRS, including multiple rounds of production encompassing thousands of pages of documents.
ICD and corporate leadership continue to fully cooperate with the IRS. Seth Cohen, Brad Cohen and Ed Carriero, by and through counsel Brian Harris of Fogarty Mueller Harris, PLLC, are currently working with the Department of Justice to collaboratively resolve the issues raised in the case.
In a motion filed on Friday, the company with the DOJ's agreement requested that the court continue the proceedings to allow the parties more time work together toward a mutual resolution."
Captive insurance arrangements are recognized under federal law and provide insurance policies that may not be commonly available or not available at affordable prices for businesses.
About Insurance Care Direct
Founded in 2001, Insurance Care Direct has grown into one of the largest health and life insurance agencies in the country. The Company offers a wide array of competitive products. Headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Florida, Insurance Care Direct is a family-owned business and is heavily involved in the local Florida community.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/insurance-care-direct-responds-to-irs-summons-on-insurance-policies-carried-by-company-301561558.html
SOURCE Insurance Care Direct | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_health/insurance-care-direct-responds-to-irs-summons-on-insurance-policies-carried-by-company/article_db864781-d898-5a57-851c-2755bdde51ae.html | 2022-06-06 12:05:32 | 1 | https://www.wfmz.com/news/pr_newswire/pr_newswire_health/insurance-care-direct-responds-to-irs-summons-on-insurance-policies-carried-by-company/article_db864781-d898-5a57-851c-2755bdde51ae.html |
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A look at what's happening around the majors today:
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TROUT DROUGHT
Angels star Mike Trout has struck out in seven straight at-bats during a tough series in Houston.
Trout was 0 for 4 on Saturday after going 0 for 3 on Friday night against the Astros, fanning every time.
“Just losing my posture up there,” he said. “It makes my swing long. Just grinding through some stuff with the lower half. It’ll be all right.”
The three-time AL MVP is having another stellar season, with a .378 on-base average and .632 slugging percentage.
The AL West-leading Astros will try for a sweep when lefty Framber Valdez (8-3, 2.65 ERA) faces Angels left-hander José Suárez (1-2, 4.36).
JAKE'S TURN
Mets ace Jacob deGrom is set, at last, to pitch in a competitive game.
Sidelined by injuries since last July, the two-time Cy Young Award winner is scheduled to make a minor league rehab start for Class A St. Lucie against the Jupiter Hammerheads. He’s expected to throw about 25 pitches and two innings.
It will be the first game action since spring training for deGrom, slowed all year because of a stress reaction in his right scapula that caused inflammation.
The announcement Saturday by NL East-leading New York came nearly a year since deGrom’s last major league outing on July 7, 2021. He missed the second half of last season with right forearm tightness and a sprained elbow, then returned in spring training this year and made two Grapefruit League starts.
As he builds up arm strength and stamina, the 34-year-old deGrom will need several minor league rehab outings before he’s ready to rejoin New York’s rotation. So the likelihood is deGrom still won’t be back in the big leagues until at least late July, after the All-Star break.
Fellow ace Max Scherzer (5-1, 2.54 ERA) is scheduled to return from a strained left oblique muscle Tuesday night at Cincinnati. Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, got hurt May 18 against St. Louis and recently made two rehab starts for Double-A Binghamton.
NOT RED HOT
The Reds have lost 10 straight home games after falling to Atlanta 4-1 at Great American Ball Park. They dropped a season-high 25 games under .500 at 26-51.
This is Cincinnati's worst home skid since it lost the first 11 games at Riverfront Stadium in 1986. The Reds ended that drought by beating Atlanta 2-0 as player-manager Pete Rose got two hits.
The Reds have lost four in a row overall.
“There’s plenty of frustration, staff, players, myself,” manager David Bell said. “I know our players are doing everything in their power to try to turn this around. I’m looking long and hard at what I need to do to turn this around.”
Luis Castillo (3-4, 3.32 ERA) starts for the Reds against Charlie Morton (4-3, 4.73 ERA) in the series wrapup.
MIGGY'S MILESTONES
Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera is one hit away from matching Hall of Famer Craig Biggio for 25th place on the all-time list with 3,060.
Cabrera also is two RBIs behind Manny Ramirez’s 1,831 for 18th place.
Cabrera can keep moving up the lists when Detroit plays the Royals at Comerica Park.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/LEADING-OFF-Trout-s-strikeout-slump-deGrom-s-17281924.php | 2022-07-03 07:29:01 | 0 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/LEADING-OFF-Trout-s-strikeout-slump-deGrom-s-17281924.php |
WFO MEDFORD Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, May 19, 2022
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WIND ADVISORY
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Medford OR
218 AM PDT Thu May 19 2022
...WIND ADVISORY IS CANCELLED...
While winds are expected to remain breezy across the area through
this afternoon, speeds have lowered below critical thresholds and
no longer pose an immediate threat.
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Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.mrt.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-MEDFORD-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17183581.php | 2022-05-19 10:12:50 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-MEDFORD-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17183581.php |
On Sunday night, the Floyd Mayweather jr-John Gotti III exhibition boxing match turned into mayhem after the sixth round.
Mayweather was boxing against John Gotti III, a former MMA fighter turned boxer, when the fight abruptly ended in the sixth round.
The two had been trash-talking throughout the battle until referee Kenny Bayless intervened and stopped the fight to get them to stop.
Related:Iyanna Mayweather Sentenced To Six Years Probation For 2020 Stabbing Incident
It didn’t work, as Gotti continued swinging in Mayweather’s way following the pause during which resulted in almost 60 people entering the ring.
It was giving ghetto, take a look at how it all went down.
The fight took place at FLA Live in sunrise, Florida.
Mayweather hasn’t fought professionally since his 2017 victory with Conor McGregor. In his career, he is 50-0 with 27 knockouts. Instead, he’s participated in lucrative exhibition fights against everyone from Logan Paul to Gotti. His fight against Gotti was deemed disqualified.
Gotti was in his third boxing battle and had a 2-0 professional record. He’s also a 5-1 MMA fighter.
He documented the post-fight chaos on Instagram Stories several times. He referred to Mayweather as a “punk b**” and a “enemy for life.”
The post Floyd Mayweather Jr-John Gotti III Fight Ends in Complete Havoc[WATCH] appeared first on 97.9 The Beat.
Floyd Mayweather Jr-John Gotti III Fight Ends in Complete Havoc[WATCH] was originally published on thebeatdfw.com | https://hot1009.com/3665234/floyd-mayweather-jr-john-gotti-iii-fight-ends-in-complete-havocwatch/ | 2023-06-12 22:36:28 | 1 | https://hot1009.com/3665234/floyd-mayweather-jr-john-gotti-iii-fight-ends-in-complete-havocwatch/ |
Diamondbacks vs. Blue Jays Predictions & Picks: Odds, Moneyline, Spread - July 16
Sunday's contest between the Toronto Blue Jays (52-41) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (52-41) at Rogers Centre should be a close matchup, as our computer prediction projects a final score of 5-3, with the Blue Jays taking home the win. Game time is at 1:37 PM ET on July 16.
The probable starters are Yusei Kikuchi (7-3) for the Blue Jays and Tommy Henry (5-1) for the Diamondbacks.
Diamondbacks vs. Blue Jays Game Info & Odds
- When: Sunday, July 16, 2023 at 1:37 PM ET
- Where: Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario
- How to Watch on TV: SNET
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
Bet on this matchup with BetMGM Sportsbook and use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Diamondbacks vs. Blue Jays Score Prediction
Our prediction for this matchup is Blue Jays 5, Diamondbacks 4.
Total Prediction for Diamondbacks vs. Blue Jays
- Total Prediction: Under 9 runs
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Explore More About This Game
Diamondbacks Performance Insights
- In six games as the underdog over the last 10 matchups, the Diamondbacks have posted a mark of 1-5.
- When it comes to the over/under, Arizona and its foes are 2-7-1 in its previous 10 contests.
- The Diamondbacks' previous 10 matchups have not had a spread posted by sportsbooks.
- The Diamondbacks have won in 23, or 48.9%, of the 47 contests they have been named as odds-on underdogs this year.
- Arizona has a win-loss record of 4-6 when favored by +140 or worse by oddsmakers this year.
- The moneyline set for this matchup implies the Diamondbacks have a 41.7% chance of walking away with the win.
- Arizona is the eighth-highest scoring team in baseball, averaging 4.9 runs per game (453 total).
- The Diamondbacks have the 19th-ranked ERA (4.40) in the majors this season.
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Diamondbacks Schedule
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/07/16/diamondbacks-blue-jays-mlb-picks-predictions/ | 2023-07-16 12:57:20 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/07/16/diamondbacks-blue-jays-mlb-picks-predictions/ |
WFO MEDFORD Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, January 11, 2023
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WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Medford OR
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642 PM PST Wed Jan 11 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS
EVENING ABOVE 4000 FEET...
* WHAT...Snow above 4000 feet expected. Additional snow
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accumulations of up to 3 inches. Winds gusting as high as 40
mph.
* WHERE...Western and southern Siskiyou County, especially at
Highway 89 at Snowman Summit. Other affected areas include
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Highway 3 south out of Callahan including Sawyers Bar Road,
Tennant and the Mt. Shasta Ski Park.
* WHEN...Until 10 PM PST this evening.
* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. Gusty winds could
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bring down tree branches.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snow levels will continue to rise through
the evening, with periods of snow affecting 4500 feet this evening
before the snow levels rise to 6000 feet.
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* View the hazard area in detail at
https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/map/?wfo=mfr
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
* Slow down and allow extra time to reach your destination.
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* Carry tire chains and be prepared for snow covered roads and
limited visibilities.
* See http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov for latest road conditions.
* A Winter Weather Advisory for snow means that periods of snow
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will cause travel difficulties.
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Copyright 2023 AccuWeather | https://www.seattlepi.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-MEDFORD-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17712203.php | 2023-01-12 03:56:55 | 0 | https://www.seattlepi.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-MEDFORD-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17712203.php |
We’ve written over and over again about how friendly the schedule has been for the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s one of the biggest reasons they are the last undefeated team in the NFL.
That continues in Week 10, not just with their opponent.
The Eagles are two weeks removed from their bye, and will be plenty rested heading into their home game vs. Washington on Monday Night Football. They played Thursday night in Week 9, and won’t play again until 11 days later. Rested or not, the Eagles were always going to be big favorites over Washington. Here’s a look at the early lines from BetMGM.
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Eagles vs. Commanders odds (BetMGM)
Point spread: Eagles -10.5
Moneyline: Eagles -500, Commanders +375
Total: 44.5 points
The Eagles enter Week 10 with a two-game lead over the Cowboys and Giants in the NFC East and a 4.5-game lead on last-place Washington, which had a late lead over 7-1 Minnesota before losing Sunday at home.
The Eagles, the largest favorite of Week 10, dominated the first meeting in Washington, 24-8, winning comfortably as a 6-point road favorite. That was vs. old friend Carson Wentz, who is no longer quarterbacking the Commanders, who have looked somewhat better with Taylor Heinicke under center.
» READ MORE: Eagles’ Dallas Goedert earns high praise from coach Nick Sirianni as one of the best tight ends in the NFL
Being a 10.5-point favorite certainly doesn’t guarantee a victory. Just ask the Buffalo Bills, who lost as the same favorite Sunday to the Jets on the road.
The Monday Night Football matchup will mark the fourth primetime appearance for the Eagles in nine games.
The Eagles remain favorites at BetMGM to win the NFC. They were +180 to reach the Super Bowl as of Monday morning. The NFC team with the second-shortest odds is San Francisco (+450).
Week 10 notables
BetMGM didn’t yet have a line for Chiefs-Jaguars as of Monday morning, but Kansas City is a 9.5-point favorite over at FanDuel, the second-largest spread of Week 10.
NFL schedule makers probably didn’t expect the matchup they’re getting in Germany. The NFC West-leading Seahawks are 1.5-point underdogs to Tom Brady’s Bucs, who are looking to get back to .500.
The Vikings, second in the NFC with a 7-1 record, are 7.5-point underdogs for their game in Buffalo.
The Cowboys, looking to keep pace with the Eagles, are 4.5-point favorites for their Sunday afternoon game in Green Bay.
Week 10 gets started Thursday night in Carolina, where the host Panthers are 2.5-point underdogs to Atlanta.
» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only. | https://www.inquirer.com/sports/betting/nfl/nfl-week-10-odds-eagles-commanders-monday-night-football-20221107.html | 2022-11-07 13:19:01 | 0 | https://www.inquirer.com/sports/betting/nfl/nfl-week-10-odds-eagles-commanders-monday-night-football-20221107.html |
Alex Kirilloff Player Prop Bets: Twins vs. Tigers - June 16
Published: Jun. 16, 2023 at 5:24 PM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
On Friday, Alex Kirilloff (.270 on-base percentage in past 10 games, 128 points below season-long percentage) and the Minnesota Twins play the Detroit Tigers, whose starting pitcher will be Will Vest. First pitch is at 8:10 PM ET.
He had a hitless performance in his last game (0-for-4) against the Tigers.
Alex Kirilloff Game Info & Props vs. the Tigers
- Game Day: Friday, June 16, 2023
- Game Time: 8:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Target Field
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Tigers Starter: Will Vest
- TV Channel: BSN
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -227)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +675)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +170)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +125)
Looking to place a prop bet on Alex Kirilloff? Check out what's available at BetMGM and use bonus code "GNPLAY" when you sign up with this link!
Explore More About This Game
Alex Kirilloff At The Plate
- Kirilloff has seven doubles, three home runs and 19 walks while hitting .273.
- Kirilloff has recorded a hit in 21 of 35 games this year (60.0%), including eight multi-hit games (22.9%).
- In 35 games played this year, he has hit a homer in two of them.
- In nine games this year (25.7%), Kirilloff has picked up an RBI, including two games with multiple runs batted in.
- In 10 games this season (28.6%), he has scored, including multiple runs twice.
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Alex Kirilloff Home/Away Batting Splits
Tigers Pitching Rankings
- The pitching staff for the Tigers has a collective 8.1 K/9, the fifth-worst in the league.
- The Tigers have the 25th-ranked team ERA across all MLB pitching staffs (4.62).
- The Tigers rank 20th in baseball in home runs allowed (84 total, 1.3 per game).
- Vest (2-0) pitches for the Tigers to make his second start this season.
- His last time out came in relief on Thursday when the righty threw one scoreless inning against the Minnesota Twins without giving up a hit.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/sports/betting/2023/06/16/alex-kirilloff-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-06-16 23:26:34 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/sports/betting/2023/06/16/alex-kirilloff-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB) announced today that VP of Finance, Ellie Mertz, will speak at the Evercore ISI 2nd Annual Technology Conference on Wednesday, September 7, beginning at 5:45am PT / 8:45am ET. A live webcast of the session will be available to the public at https://wsw.com/webcast/evercore28/abnb/2317343. A replay will be made available for 90 days following the event on the Investor Relations website at https://investors.airbnb.com.
About Airbnb
Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, Hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.
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SOURCE Airbnb | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/08/24/airbnb-participate-evercore-isi-2nd-annual-technology-conference/ | 2022-08-24 21:23:08 | 1 | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/08/24/airbnb-participate-evercore-isi-2nd-annual-technology-conference/ |
Jena DeMoss: April showers leaving you in the dark? Bring on the sunshine with Vitamin D
Published 6:34 pm Tuesday, April 19, 2022
If you need a pick-me-up after the long winter months, look no further than Vitamin D! Vitamin D can be the tool you need to provide your body with mood-boosting, disease-fighting and bone-building benefits. Add Vitamin D-rich foods to your grocery list and enjoy time in the sun while your body manufactures Vitamin D to reap all of its benefits.
What is the buzz behind Vitamin D? Vitamin D’s anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective properties support immune health, muscle function and brain cell activity. In addition, Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin your body needs for building and maintaining healthy bones. Your body can only absorb calcium, the primary component of bone, when Vitamin D is present. Your body also makes Vitamin D when direct sunlight converts a chemical in your skin into an active form of the vitamin (calciferol). Studies show that Vitamin D can reduce cancer cell growth, help control infections and reduce inflammation. Many of the body’s organs and tissues have receptors for Vitamin D, which suggest important roles beyond bone health benefits.
Vitamin D is not naturally found in many foods; however, vitamin D can be found in salmon, eggs, mushrooms and fortified foods. Use these simple ways to incorporate these vitamin D-rich foods into your diet:
• Salmon — Add cooked or smoked salmon to any fresh green salad for a vitamin D and protein boost.
• Eggs — Eggs are not just for breakfast! Consider hard-boiled eggs for a vitamin D-rich afternoon snack.
• Mushrooms — Try the “blend” by adding chopped mushrooms to ground beef to increase volume while reducing overall saturated fat content and provide a good source of vitamin D.
Wanting to learn more about Vitamin D? Our dietitian team is very excited about our external launch of Vitamine, our personalized vitamin subscription program! Vitamine was created to help individuals continue to meet their health and wellness goals, especially when there is a large selection of vitamins available for customers that can be confusing. It is a dietitian-led program; if you need additional help, you know that you are getting support from food and nutrition experts. You can also take the quiz at www.vitaminewellness.com for personalized recommendations from our team of dietitians.
Enjoy this delicious Vitamin D-filled recipe:
Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
Serves 6
All you need
• 2 (10-oz each) pkg Hy-Vee signature large portabella mushroom caps
• 2 tbsp Hy-Vee Select olive oil, divided
• Hy-Vee salt, to taste
• Hy-Vee ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 (15-oz) can Bush’s reduced-sodium garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup chopped zucchini
• 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4 oz Kraft pepper jack cheese, shredded
• ¼ cup tahini
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup water
All you do
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper; set aside. Wipe mushrooms clean; scrape out the gills and remove the stems. Place mushrooms, cap sides down, on prepared baking pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Roast in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat while mushrooms are roasting. Add garbanzo beans and sweet potatoes; cook for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in zucchini and red and yellow bell peppers.
3. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Spoon sweet potato mixture into each mushroom. Top with cheese. Roast 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.
4. Whisk together tahini and lemon juice; whisk in water until smooth. Serve with mushrooms.
Recipe source: Hy-Vee.com
Recipe link: www.hy-vee.com/recipes-ideas/recipes/vegetarian-stuffed-portabella-mushrooms | https://www.austindailyherald.com/2022/04/jena-demoss-april-showers-leaving-you-in-the-dark-bring-on-the-sunshine-with-vitamin-d/ | 2022-04-20 05:04:25 | 0 | https://www.austindailyherald.com/2022/04/jena-demoss-april-showers-leaving-you-in-the-dark-bring-on-the-sunshine-with-vitamin-d/ |
Twitter will take weeks to restore suspended accounts, Musk says
(CNN) - Twitter’s new billionaire CEO Elon Musk reiterated Tuesday night that accounts suspended from the platform will not return right away.
Musk tweeted, “Twitter will not allow anyone who has been de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back until we have a clear process for doing so.”
He added that the process could take weeks, meaning that users, including former President Donald Trump, likely will not be able to rejoin the social media site before the midterm elections.
Last week, Musk announced the formation of a content moderation council that would guide decision-making on user bans and policing of the platform.
The council will reportedly include groups from the civil rights community and those who face hate-fueled violence.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wsaz.com/2022/11/02/twitter-will-take-weeks-restore-suspended-accounts-musk-says/ | 2022-11-02 15:35:11 | 0 | https://www.wsaz.com/2022/11/02/twitter-will-take-weeks-restore-suspended-accounts-musk-says/ |
DeSantis set to make much-anticipated presidential campaign announcement, formalizing Trump rivalry
(AP) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an outspoken cultural conservative long seen as Donald Trump’s leading rival for the Republican nomination, is set to launch his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old Republican governor plans to announce his decision in an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the announcement publicly.
The audio-only event will be streamed on Twitter Spaces beginning at 6 p.m. EDT. He will follow up with a round of prime-time appearances on conservative programs, including Fox News and Mark Levin’s radio show.
DeSantis will join a crowded Republican contest to decide whether the party will move on from Trump in 2024 as it works to retake the White House from President Joe Biden.
Beyond Trump, those already in the GOP field include former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Former Vice President Mike Pence is expected to announce his candidacy in the coming weeks.
DeSantis has embraced Trump’s combative style and many of his policies, but casts himself as a younger and more electable version of the former president.
In choosing Twitter, DeSantis is taking a page out of the playbook that helped turn businessman-TV celebrity Trump into a political star.
The timing of DeSantis’ long-expected announcement has been shrouded, with various iterations of plans being leaked over the past few days. Some close to him suspected that he was providing conflicting information about the timing and location to root out leakers. Others believe he changed his initial preparations after news reports came out about them.
Musk, speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit event in London on Tuesday, seemed to confirm the Wednesday event, saying DeSantis would be making “quite an announcement” on Twitter. “The first time something like this is happening on social media,” he said, with live questions and answers.
The news of DeSantis’ impending announcement came as Trump was making a video appearance in a New York courtroom as part of his criminal case. A judge tentatively scheduled Trump’s trial to begin March 25, which falls in the heart of the presidential primary season. Trump pleaded not guilty last month to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records at his family company, the Trump Organization.
DeSantis was expected to meet with donors Wednesday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami before the evening Twitter conversation.
While it is common for campaigns to publicize their announcements in videos shared on social media, it is far more unusual — and perhaps unprecedented — to hold a campaign announcement in a live social media forum.
“Big if true ...,” DeSantis’ wife, Casey, posted Tuesday on Twitter, linking to a Fox News story on the announcement and adding a smiley face.
DeSantis has emerged as a national star in Republican politics as an unapologetic leader on controversial cultural issues.
The governor sent dozens of immigrants from Texas — by way of Florida —to a small island off the Massachusetts coast to draw attention to the influx of Latin American immigrants trying to cross the Southern border. He signed and then expanded a Parental Rights in Education bill — known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law — which bans instruction or classroom discussion of LGBTQ issues in Florida public schools for all grades.
More recently, he signed a law banning abortions at six weeks, which is before most women realize they’re pregnant. And he removed an elected prosecutor who vowed not to charge people under Florida’s new abortion restrictions or doctors who provide gender-affirming care.
Trump’s allies mocked DeSantis’ announcement plans.
“This is one of the most out-of-touch campaign launches in modern history. The only thing less relatable than a niche campaign launch on Twitter, is DeSantis’ after party at the uber elite Four Seasons resort in Miami,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump’s super PAC.
Trump himself frequently dismisses his rival as Ron “DeSanctimonious.”
In choosing to announce with Musk, DeSantis is linking his presidential announcement to one of the world’s richest men, who has emerged as a conservative cult hero of sorts.
Since buying Twitter last October, Musk has reinstated the accounts of prominent Republicans, including Trump and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had been removed. Popular conservative broadcasters have flocked to Twitter, with ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the podcast hosts of The Daily Wire announcing they will start streaming on the platform.
Musk himself has promoted far-right conspiracy theories on Twitter, including misleading claims questioning a Texas mall shooter’s background and a debunked rumor that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband had a relationship with an assailant who attacked him.
Earlier this month, Musk’s tweets likening billionaire philanthropist George Soros to a Jewish supervillain were met with criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, which said they would embolden antisemitic extremists. Musk said he would “be more thoughtful in the future.”
Twitter was once Trump’s most important megaphone — one he used to dominate his rivals in the 2016 primary and to command the news cycle for years. Trump was barred from the platform after a mob of his supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with Twitter citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.” Although his access was reinstated shortly after Musk took over, he has yet to tweet.
About 1 in 5 U.S. adults say they use Twitter, the Pew Research Center found last year.
Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans to say they have Twitter accounts, according to a Fox News poll from December. Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say Musk buying Twitter was a good thing and to have a favorable view of him.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2023/05/24/desantis-set-make-much-anticipated-presidential-campaign-announcement-formalizing-trump-rivalry/ | 2023-05-24 12:48:38 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2023/05/24/desantis-set-make-much-anticipated-presidential-campaign-announcement-formalizing-trump-rivalry/ |
Breakthrough in asset management, plant operations, and predictive maintenance with the advent of AI-based virtual assistant.
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- UptimeAI, a leading AI-based digital transformation solution provider for the energy, chemicals, and heavy industries, has raised a total of $3.5 Million in funding led by Emergent Ventures. Joining the round are existing investors YourNest Venture Capital and new investors Sharad Sanghi, AI Sprouts, and Venture Catalysts. With the funding, UptimeAI plans to expand in the US to cater to its growing customer base.
Founded by Jagadish Gattu and Vamsi Yalamanchili, UptimeAI offers an AI-based virtual assistant software that uses patented self-learning workflows and system models to deliver human-like learning and diagnosis. The software empowers operators to improve reliability, performance, and energy efficiency with less effort. The result is 10X improvements in ROI over traditional predictive analytics and asset performance management solutions. Over the past 1.5 years, UptimeAI has deployed its solution for Fortune 500 companies across Asia, ME, and North America in Power Generation, Renewables, Oil & Gas, Chemicals, LNG, and Cement.
"Traditional digital tools provide KPIs, dashboards, and data analysis tools, which require weeks of manual effort to troubleshoot, build and maintain data science models. Instead of endless pilots, operations and remote monitoring teams are looking for automated intelligence that detects the reason for losses, suggests mitigation, and gets smarter like an expert," said Jagadish Gattu, CEO of UptimeAI. "UptimeAI delivers exactly that by consolidating point solutions and combining cutting-edge AI innovation with 200 years of SME (Subject Matter Expert) knowledge."
"In UptimeAI, we found a startup that is developing a comprehensive and purpose-built AI solution for manufacturing based on a deep understanding of operational challenges," said Girish Shivani, Executive Director & Fund Manager, YourNest Venture Capital. "Further, the combination of AI with their robust domain expertise puts them in a league of their own, and we are excited to enable their journey ahead."
"There used to be a time when young graduates would join heavy industrial companies and work there till they retired. Now, these companies compete for talent with digital-first companies, and retaining talent is not easy. This industry is in a transition," said Ankur Jain, Partner, Emergent Ventures. "UptimeAI enables these companies to deploy AI-led automation and sets them up to leverage the modern workforce."
About UptimeAI:
UptimeAI is an Artificial Intelligence company that offers virtual AI assistant software for improving plant and asset performance. UptimeAI's 'AI Expert' uniquely combines artificial intelligence with subject matter knowledge from 200+ years of cumulative experience to explain interrelations across upstream/downstream equipment, identify problems, and give prescriptive diagnosis at scale. To maintain high availability, improve efficiency, and eliminate unplanned downtime, AI Expert continuously learns while providing prescriptive measures. The company's customers include several in the Fortune 500.
UptimeAI Media Contact:
Vinod D. N.,
Head of Marketing
vinod@uptimeai.com
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1969582/UptimeAI_funding.jpg
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SOURCE UptimeAI | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/12/15/ai-based-asset-amp-plant-performance-company-uptimeai-raises-35-million/ | 2022-12-15 16:48:25 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2022/12/15/ai-based-asset-amp-plant-performance-company-uptimeai-raises-35-million/ |
AI-driven home analytics platform unlocks growth opportunities for Calque, DropOffer, and SphereBuilder
BELLEVUE, Wash., Feb. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Plunk, the first real-time analytics platform for residential real estate, recently announced a partnership with Calque, Drop-Offer and SphereBuilder™—three emerging companies who are uniquely positioned to transform the residential real estate industry with their breakthrough innovations for mortgage lending, housing inventory, and influencer marketing.
"Access to accurate, real-time analytics helps us serve our customers faster and Plunk is at the forefront of providing what real estate needs right now," commented Jeremy Foster, CEO and Founder of Calque.
Each partner will be utilizing Plunk's Real-time Market Insights™ as they bring their latest innovations to market:
- Calque has pioneered a program called The Trade-In Mortgage™ which enables homeowners to use the equity in their current homes to buy their next home.
- DropOffer is expanding home inventory options by developing a system which allows real estate agents and their clients to submit offers on unlisted properties and essentially turn the off-market on.
- Launching in March, SphereBuilder™, a digital marketing platform for real estate agents and SphereIndex™, a real-time assessment of an agent's online presence, will help agents measure and build their digital sphere to, ultimately, generate more business.
Historically, real estate data and market insights have been limited by a dependence on old data and out-of-date approaches. Other forms of investment have real-time data available at many different levels of aggregation. The stock market, for example, is updated by the second with an abundance of performance data immediately available to investors. This comparative information deficit has been a major barrier toward building innovative solutions for the entire real estate ecosystem.
"Now more than ever, timely and relevant financial advice cuts through the real estate marketing noise," remarked Russ Cofano, CEO of Collabra Technology, which operates SphereBuilder. "We help agents grow their digital presence, and increase their local market influence, by equipping them with real-time data focused on the neighborhoods they specialize in."
"We give buyers access to the home they truly want while providing homeowners and agents a new avenue to sell properties," said Greg Burns, CEO and Founder of DropOffer. "And by providing more accurate market and value guidance, our clients can make decisions on their greatest investment with confidence."
About Plunk
Plunk is an advanced analytics company revolutionizing the way homeowners, home experts and investors value and invest in residential real estate — through the next-generation application of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and image analysis.
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SOURCE Plunk | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/02/15/plunk-powers-proptech-disruptors-with-real-time-housing-market-insights/ | 2023-02-15 14:23:35 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/02/15/plunk-powers-proptech-disruptors-with-real-time-housing-market-insights/ |
Staying on top of your kids’ online gaming can feel like an uphill battle with how quickly new technology unfolds. Elementary and middle school kids are probably familiar with the popular game Roblox, but parents might not know anything about it. According to Active Player, in the last thirty days, the game has drawn more than 217 million players. It’s advertised as an “imagination platform” and can be played on smartphones, computers, tablets and gaming systems.
But is Roblox safe for kids? Well, for starters, it’s helpful to know how it works.
What is Roblox?
If you’re not familiar with the online gaming platform, here’s how it works. The multi-player platform is a space where you can play games designed by other users and create and share your own game. The company says it’s a “global platform where millions of people gather together every day to imagine, create, and share experiences with each other in immersive, user-generated 3D worlds.” The types of gameplay on Roblox are just as limitless as the imagination of the creators themselves.
After signing up, you can play as many games as you’d like for free and communicate with other users. There’s no minimum age to play and people from any group can chat with each other.
If kids want to customize their avatar with clothing and accessories or play the game to its full ability, they have to purchase “Robux,” the in-game currency that costs real-life dollars. Additional charges come when subscribing to Roblox Premium, which supplies additional features for a fee.
What Precautions Are In Place To Make Roblox Safe For Kids?
Common Sense Media rates Roblox OK for users age 13 and older, but younger children are able to set up accounts and play. Since users of any age can interact with each other, it poses some risks to kids.
Users are given the option to interact with it’s “Chat & Party” function, which has filters in place. So, if someone types in a swear word, it’s replaced by symbols. For those under 13, stronger filters are in place. In 2021, the company implemented an age verification system, requiring anyone 13 and up to show a government-issued ID. Parents who verify their kid’s age means they will be granted access to more features, including voice chat. In addition to programmed filters, employees also monitor chats for inappropriate language and content.
Roblox offers controls that allow parents to restrict how kids can interact with the site and what kind of games they are allowed to play. However, kids of any age can create an account without parental restrictions. For those following the rules, the company has “Experience Guidelines” that rate each game as all ages, 9+ or 13+. To help reduce risk even further, communication and privacy settings should be set to friends-only or no communication.
No matter what gaming platform children use, parents can help their kids stay safe by teaching them online best practices and enabling privacy settings. However, if you have a tech-savvy kid, this could pose a risk. While there are stricter settings on accounts for children under age 13, kids can change the settings if no parent PIN is enabled.
Cost Concerns
Not only do parents want to make sure appropriate settings are in place, but they can now set a cap on their child’s spending habits, thanks to a recent rollout. This is the direct result of parental complaints that their children spent thousands of dollars with Robux without being notified. One man’s daughter spent over $7,200 on Roblox over two months during the lockdown, despite putting a cap on purchases when he originally set up the account. Another man’s granddaughter racked up more than $5,000 in charges, not realizing she was spending real money.
Some kids have reported feeling pressured to buy gifts for others, and scammers have also taken advantage of children, conning them into gifting these expensive items to them. Sometimes the scammers pretend to be famous YouTubers to gain trust. To stop this from happening, parents are urged to check settings on the app and third-party services like iTunes to make sure in-app purchases are either restricted or turned off. You can also install a password to be required for all purchases.
Keeping Online Predators Away
Unfortunately, online predictors lurk wherever games are marketed to children. They try to gradually lure kids off the platform and onto other social platforms where restrictions aren’t in place. In the past, kids have reported sexually suggestive material in the game, or times when their characters were assaulted. This can happen on any multiplayer platform game. People with ill-intentions try to lure others to different platforms under the disguise of being a “friend” and then ask to either meet in person or exchange illicit images.
At the end of the day, the more open communication you have with your child, the better. As a parent, familiarizing yourself with parental controls and setting up restrictions can help create necessary guardrails. And once those basic parameters are in place, your kids can have a relatively fun and safe gaming platform to enjoy.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories. | https://www.wmar2news.com/is-roblox-safe-for-kids-what-parents-should-know | 2023-03-10 14:52:45 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/is-roblox-safe-for-kids-what-parents-should-know |
HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) _ Lazard Ltd (LAZ) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter profit of $42.4 million.
The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company said it had profit of 44 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 69 cents per share.
The company posted revenue of $731.9 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $671 million.
For the year, the company reported profit of $357.5 million, or $3.51 per share. Revenue was reported as $2.77 billion.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on LAZ at https://www.zacks.com/ap/LAZ | https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/lazard-q4-earnings-snapshot-17758885.php | 2023-02-02 13:09:29 | 1 | https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/lazard-q4-earnings-snapshot-17758885.php |
With the 2022 NFL season fast approaching, the South Florida Sun Sentinel takes a look at 10 storylines to watch for in a 10-part series ahead of the Miami Dolphins’ first day of training camp, which is set for July 27.
What makes the Miami Dolphins defense so exciting, aside from all the game-changing plays cornerback Xavien Howard is capable of making, is the way the unit blitzes.
The Dolphins blitzed on 39.6 percent of opposing quarterback dropbacks in 2021, according to Pro Football Reference, which ranked second in the NFL to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 40.8 percent. But nobody is willing to bring more pass rushers than Miami, daring to dial up that patented zero-blitz with the safeties attacking the quarterback and cornerbacks left in single coverage with no help over the top.
Even better than the 48 sacks the Dolphins recorded last season, which were good for fifth in the NFL, Miami led the league in quarterback knockdowns per pass attempt, doing so at a 12.7-percent clip.
The ingredients all return for the Dolphins to have just as effective of a pass rush, if not better. Adding to defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips, the team added veteran three-time Pro Bowl edge defender Melvin Ingram.
Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer is back to orchestrate it with the same pieces, but he’ll also have to prove he can call the defense on his own without former coach Brian Flores supporting him. It’ll be his responsibility now with new coach Mike McDaniel coming to Miami with an offensive background.
The nature of this pass rush is for it to not be dependent on any one defender to provide pressure, which is evidenced by another season where no Dolphin posted double-digit sacks. It can come from anybody at any time with the various defensive fronts, stunts and exotic blitzes the defense dials up.
Ogbah’s nine sacks led the Dolphins defense in 2021. Beyond the mere sack numbers, Ogbah has become one of the NFL’s best at affecting the passer even when he doesn’t get to him before the throw. He also had 24 quarterback hits, and his 12 pass deflections at the line of scrimmage were most by a defensive lineman since 2016. It helped get Ogbah a four-year, $65 million deal with the Dolphins that includes $32 million guaranteed in the 11th hour as free-agent negotiations with other teams were minutes from beginning.
Opposite of Ogbah, there is the high-motor Phillips entering his second season after setting a Dolphins rookie sack record with 8 1/2 in 2021. The University of Miami alum got over a shaky start to his first professional season to become a valued pass rusher when asked to simply put his head down and get after it instead of being versatile in Miami’s complex fronts. Phillips got leaner in the offseason as he looks to contribute as an all-around outside linebacker.
While most of the Dolphins’ top offseason acquisitions came on offense, the team’s one major defensive boost was provided in Ingram. The 33-year-old brings 55 career sacks between regular and postseason play with him to Miami. Making his mark in his prime with the Chargers, Ingram saw a resurgence in the second half of last season with the Chiefs, becoming a consistent starter and providing persistent pressure in Kansas City’s run that ended a game shy of the Super Bowl. Ingram, who has played both defensive end and outside linebacker in his career, figures to rush the passer more standing up in the Dolphins’ scheme.
Outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel returns his four sacks from last season, which was a small dropoff from 5 1/2 in 2020, but he also recorded a career-high 62 tackles and seven pass deflections. Fellow linebacker Jerome Baker, a leader on the defense, had 5 1/2 sacks last year. In the second half, his potential on the outside was unlocked by sending him out on the edge more often to utilize his speed as Duke Riley consistently contributed inside linebacker reps alongside Elandon Roberts. That tandem returns while Miami also drafted speedy Georgia inside linebacker Channing Tindall in the third round.
On the defensive line, aside from Ogbah, Christian Wilkins became as complete of a defensive tackle as he has been in his third NFL season, recording a career-high 4 1/2 sacks while posting 89 tackles, which is tied for the most by an NFL defensive lineman since 2013 with Pittsburgh’s Cameron Heyward also doing it last year. Wilkins and Zach Sieler are pivotal components to the pass rush, both in their own right and in opening things up for the speed rushers.
The X-factor of the Dolphins’ pass rush over other NFL teams, though, is that willingness to blitz the safeties. Brandon Jones led all NFL safeties with five sacks. Second-year free safety Jevon Holland is capable of either being left alone deep playing center field in those instances or come in on the blitz himself after registering 2 1/2 sacks as a rookie.
It all comes full circle with the cornerback coverage and how allowing Howard, Byron Jones and Nik Needham play man-to-man grants Boyer that ability to blitz extra linebackers and safeties on passing downs.
Previously addressed
Can Dolphins get same production from Tyreek Hill in Miami?
Will Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer be able to prove he doesn’t need Brian Flores’ help?
In what ways can Mike McDaniel’s coaching style, offensive mind benefit Dolphins?
Can wide-zone scheme jump-start Dolphins’ run game?
How much improvement can be expected from Tua Tagovailoa after everything Dolphins put around him?
() | https://www.twincities.com/2022/07/22/how-good-can-emmanuel-ogbah-jaelan-phillips-and-dolphins-pass-rush-be-in-2022-countdown-to-camp/ | 2022-07-22 13:01:26 | 0 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/07/22/how-good-can-emmanuel-ogbah-jaelan-phillips-and-dolphins-pass-rush-be-in-2022-countdown-to-camp/ |
According to fresh reviews through CBS News, this summer is predicted to peer record-high ranges of air trip up to now 4 years. This comes as vacationers brace themselves for packed planes and exorbitant costs. In order to keep away from any useless hassles, people making plans to trip all the way through this period of time are instructed to organize accordingly.
Elise Preston, a correspondent for CBS News, has equipped additional main points at the topic. Notifications for breaking news, are living occasions, and unique reporting may also be enabled for your browser to stick up-to-date on the most recent tendencies. | https://blackchronicle.com/travelers-brace-for-expensive-summer/ | 2023-04-24 06:59:37 | 1 | https://blackchronicle.com/travelers-brace-for-expensive-summer/ |
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady says he’s focused on helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win, not how much longer he may want to play.
“I think we’re all getting one day older at a time. We’re all not sure whether we’re going to be here next year or not,” the 45-year-old quarterback said Thursday “That’s the reality for every player, every coach, every parent. You just never know, so we should all take advantage of the opportunity we have in front of us now.”
It’s been a newsy offseason for the seven-time Super Bowl winner.
He announced his retirement in February, unretired in March, and then missed a chunk of training camp for personal reasons that Brady has not discussed publicly since rejoining the team after an 11-day absence.
The Bucs open the season Sunday night at Dallas.
Brady reiterated he’s focused on the Cowboys, not lingering questions about why he left the team for part of August.
He’s accustomed to being in the spotlight off the field, as well as dealing with speculation about his personal life.
“It’s been like that for a long time for me. … I professionally show up every day and do my job the best way I can” Brady said.
Coach Todd Bowles said this week that he has no doubt Brady will be ready for the season opener and remains fully committed to helping the Bucs get back to the Super Bowl.
“He’s been all-in since we got him. He’s all-in now,” Bowles said. “I don’t follow the off-the-field stuff.”
Brady spoke for 10 minutes on Thursday, fielding questions from local reporters for only the third time since training camp opened in July.
He lauded the addition of Julio Jones to an offense that was already one of the most potent in the NFL.
Brady also spoke highly of two young starters on an injury-depleted offensive line and acknowledged it won’t be easy to replace longtime favorite target Rob Gronkowski, who retired.
“You’d much rather play with a guy like Gronk than not. But he’s not here. We’ve got to do other things and play to the strengths of the players that we have,” Brady said.
“This is what football is all about. The season isn’t going to go like it went last year for anybody. That’s not the reality. You have to deal with where you are in the moment and deal with the challenges you face,” Brady added. “Certain guys aren’t here, certain guys are going to get hurt, things are going to happen to teams. It’s a long marathon, and we’re not even at the starting gate yet.”
___
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TAIPEI, Oct. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Scarlet Tech, a leading instrumentation and construction technology company, announced the launch of Hercules Wireless Hook Crane Camera System today. Hercules is a crane safety monitoring equipment for tower cranes, luffing cranes, mobile cranes, and other heavy-duty cranes. The whole system is an active safety technology that provides crane operators and safety managers with direct 2K live video footage of the surrounding area below the hook and other viewpoints on the construction site, serving as the second pair of eyes for crane operators and construction site HSE (Health Safety and Environment) managers to overcome blindspots and identify potential hazard zones.
"Hercules is the first-of-its-kind in the market," said Dr. David Huang, Scarlet Tech Co-Founder and Managing Director. Hercules is the crane camera system that adopts advanced wireless technology for seamless and stable audio-visual output and the first to have Starlight-enhanced 2K resolution camera for clear night vision. In addition, Hercules supports up to four camera placements in different parts of the crane and worksites for wide-ranging views, improving communication between crane operators and riggers. Smoother communication boosts productivity. Making more picks within the same period of time is no longer empty talk.
What further differentiates Hercules from other competitors is the ability for high-level customization with the network video recorder (NVR) and ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum) protocol, allowing integration with the client's own system. Carried with a dual-powered Lithium Ion and solar battery that can last 40 hours, Hercules's wireless technology has overcome the latency in transmitting images, providing real-time video feeds that helps operators make informative decisions in all kinds of lifting operation. With the starlight camera and defogging functions, Hercules provides better visuals under harsh weather and dark environments.
"In many complex construction sites where there are many high-rise buildings or in underground construction, crane operators often have difficulty in getting a clear and unobstructed view from below the hook", said Dr. David Huang. Using camera safety systems improve communication and overall awareness during lifting operations.
The integration of technology in the construction industry is getting more well-accepted nowadays. "We have been getting positive feedback from our old clients during the exclusive pre-launch," said Dr. David Huang. With the expected growing global tower crane market to reach USD 10 billion by 2028, Hercules is anticipated to be the market leader in the wireless crane monitoring system industry.
Hercules Crane Hook Camera is now available worldwide, starting July 8, 2022.
For more information, please visit www.crane-camera-hercules.com or email info@scarlet.com.tw
About Scarlet Tech
Scarlet Tech is a leading occupational health and safety technology company headquartered in Taiwan with a subsidiary company in the US. Scarlet specializes in wireless and IoT instruments, most well-known for their wireless crane hook camera system and wireless anemometer series. Scarlet products have been used across various industries, including heavy construction equipment, construction, industrial, marine, oil, and gas, to name a few. Scarlet also offers a customization service providing a tailor-made solution for high-profile clients globally.
Contact Us
Official Website ➤ www.scarlet-tech.com | Tel: +886-02-2709-2363
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INT-787 is a selective next generation FXR agonist invented by TES Pharma and licensed to Intercept Pharmaceuticals
INT-787 has shown strong anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects in animal models
TES Pharma is dedicated to the identification of novel therapeutic targets and the discovery and development of new molecules to efficiently address the needs of patients with serious oncological and metabolic conditions
PERUGIA, Italy, Nov. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TES Pharma Srl, an Italian biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel drug products for the treatment of diseases of high unmet medical need, congratulates Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., on the presentation of data from their ongoing first-in-human study of INT-787 and the initiation of the phase 2a FRESH (FxR Effect on Severe Alcohol-Associated Hepatitis) study, a trial evaluating the safety, tolerability, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of INT-787 in subjects with sAH. INT-787 is a selective next generation Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) agonist invented by TES Pharma, and licensed to Intercept Pharmaceuticals within the framework of a licence and collaboration agreement. Details of the clinical studies can be found at www.interceptpharma.com.
Professor Roberto Pellicciari, the founder and CEO of TES Pharma, is also the inventor of obeticholic acid (OCA), a prototypic bile acid derived FXR agonist which is approved for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and commercialised by Intercept Pharmaceuticals in the United States. PBC is a progressive autoimmune disease that damages the bile ducts in the liver and is a leading cause of chronic liver disease leading to liver transplantation.
INT-787 has distinct pharmacological properties that differ from those of OCA and has shown strong anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects in animal models. Data from a murine NASH model comparing OCA and INT-787 were also presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) meeting.
"We are proud of the work we do at TES Pharma, and very pleased about the ongoing first-in-human study of INT-787 and the initiation of the Phase 2a FRESH study in patients with severe alcohol-associated hepatitis, important milestones that encourage us to continue our mission to find new treatments to improve people's lives, especially for patients suffering from serious diseases", said Prof. Pellicciari.
TES Pharma is a research-based biotech company, located in Perugia (Italy), dedicated to the identification of novel therapeutic targets and the discovery and development of new molecules to efficiently address the needs of patients with serious oncological and metabolic conditions. More information about TES Pharma can be found at www.tespharma.com.
TES Pharma was founded in 2011 by Prof. Pellicciari together with Drs. Antimo Gioiello, Antonio Macchiarulo, and Janet Robertson. Prior to founding TES Pharma, Prof. Pellicciari led the Medicinal Chemistry Research Group at the Department of Chemistry and Drug Technologies of the University of Perugia.
CONTACT:
Prof. Roberto Pellicciari
rpellicciari@tespharma.com ,
Phone: +39 075 6978111
E: info@tespharma.com
F: +39 075 6978882
GSM: +39 366 9057122
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SOURCE TES Pharma | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/11/08/tes-pharma-congratulates-intercept-pharmaceuticals-their-presentation-phase-1-int-787-data-aasld-meeting-initiation-phase-2a-fresh-study-patients-with-severe-alcohol-associated-hepatitis/ | 2022-11-08 18:14:36 | 0 | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/11/08/tes-pharma-congratulates-intercept-pharmaceuticals-their-presentation-phase-1-int-787-data-aasld-meeting-initiation-phase-2a-fresh-study-patients-with-severe-alcohol-associated-hepatitis/ |
Long Beach man fatally shot by police in Utah after he killed brother, set fire to his home
A 66-year-old Long Beach man drove more than 700 miles to Ogden, Utah, where he fatally shot his brother and set fire to his home before being killed himself in a shootout with police, officials said.
On the evening of April 27, Jeffrey Roberts, a heavy-set man with a white goatee, arrived at the home of his brother, retired forestry professor Scott Roberts, in a brown van, authorities said.
Jeffrey Roberts was armed with a 9 mm handgun and a total of 23 fully loaded handgun magazines that police photographed later at the scene, police said.
Scott Roberts and his wife, Jodi, were eating dinner alone when Jeffrey Roberts rang their doorbell, according to a statement released by the Weber County attorney’s office.
In video captured by a doorbell camera on the front of the home, Jeffrey calmly tells his brother that he had come by to see their mother. After Scott says that their mother is not there, Jeffrey pulls out a gun and starts shooting as he walks into the home.
A few minutes later, Jeffrey exited the house and then quickly returned carrying a 12-gauge shotgun and a brown duffle bag, breathing heavily, the video shows.
Police were alerted to the incident by a 911 call from a neighbor who heard shots coming from the home. Jeffrey Roberts began shooting at officers as soon as they arrived, according to the Weber County attorney’s office.
A total of five officers were on scene and three returned fire, officials said. Jeffrey Roberts was killed in the shootout from a head wound.
In video from one of the police officer’s body cameras, thick black smoke can be seen pouring out of the house — the result of a fire that Jeffrey started using road flares, authorities said.
Police officials later pronounced Scott Roberts dead from gunshot wounds. Scott’s wife was also shot and is receiving medical treatment for her injuries.
“My mom is alive because my dad fought my uncle and told my mom to run,” Kelsey Turner, Scott Roberts’ daughter, wrote on a GoFundMe page she set up for her mother. “Knowing that my dad died a hero is bringing us a small bit of comfort.”
Turner, who described Jeffrey Roberts as her father’s “estranged brother,” said the GoFundMe Page was to help her mother buy necessities, since she was left with no clothes or personal items because of the fire. “We will be able to recover some things from the house but have been told most of the house was destroyed,” she wrote.
Dozens of Scott Roberts’ former students, friends and colleagues shared condolences on the page and described him as a man of wisdom, warmth and humor.
“Scott, your knowledge and wisdom were remarkable but your sense of humor was limitless. You will be missed by so many,” wrote one well wisher.
An investigation by the Weber County Force Investigation Team is ongoing.
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UN experts warn of impact of abortion bans on US minorities
GENEVA (AP) — Independent U.N. human rights experts expressed concerns Tuesday about the adverse impact on the rights of racial and ethnic minorities from the U.S. Supreme Court decision that stripped away constitutional protections for abortion in the United States, and called on the Biden administration and state governments to do more to buttress those rights.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a group of independent experts who work with the U.N. human rights office, said it was concerned about higher rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, among a host of concerns about the rights of Blacks, Latinos, Indigenous peoples, foreign-born migrants and others in the United States.
The calls came as part of a regular review of U.N. member states by the committee. The U.S. was among seven countries to be considered this summer. A large delegation of U.S. officials, including Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, traveled to Geneva earlier this month for hearings that fed into the committee’s thinking about the rights of ethnic and racial minorities in the U.S.
In its report, the committee ran the gamut of concerns and assessments — including praise for recent legislation and executive orders to improve the rights of minorities, and calls for a “national action plan” to combat systemic racism and racial discrimination and an effort to limit the impact of gun violence on such minorities.
It urged consideration of new laws or a review of existing ones to help fight excessive use of force by law enforcement, and called on the U.S. to adopt “all necessary measures” — including at the federal level — to ensure that all people can vote. It expressed concerns about an increase in new legislation with a “disproportionate impact” on minorities.
While noting some steps by the White House to address high maternal mortality rates, it said: “the committee is concerned that systemic racism along with intersecting factors such as gender, race, ethnicity and migration status have a profound impact on the ability of women and girls to access the full range of sexual and reproductive health services in (the U.S.) without discrimination.”
The concerns came in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in June to strip away women’s constitutional protections for abortion that had been enshrined for nearly a half-century under Roe v. Wade, which paved the way for abortion bans in some states.
The committee, referring to the recent court decision, called on the United States to adopt “all necessary measures” at both state and federal level “to address the profound disparate impact of (the decision) on women of racial and ethnic minorities, Indigenous women and those with low incomes,” and provide safe, legal access to abortion under existing U.S. commitments to human rights.
It called on the U.S. to ensure that women seeking an abortion — or the health care providers who assist them — “are not subjected to criminal penalties.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kxii.com/2022/08/30/un-experts-warn-impact-abortion-bans-us-minorities/ | 2022-08-30 12:25:54 | 1 | https://www.kxii.com/2022/08/30/un-experts-warn-impact-abortion-bans-us-minorities/ |
Nanogrids are an affordable and reliable power supply for underserved households; building blocks for VPPs that promote energy communities
BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from Guidehouse Insights explores opportunities for nanogrids to bring energy access to underserved communities.
Increased volatility in energy prices over the last year has accelerated the need for adopting renewable energy (RE) and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) for better energy reliability, security, and affordability. According to a new report from Guidehouse Insights, concerns about resiliency in remote communities have raised the importance of nanogrids as self-sufficient systems that can integrate local generation units, energy storage, and advanced control systems. It evaluates nanogrids as the building blocks for virtual power plants (VPPs) and creating energy communities while helping create a sustainable environment.
"Nanogrids can operate independently from the traditional grid and ensure reliable electric power to underserved communities that the traditional grid has failed to provide," says Rohith Unni, research analyst with Guidehouse Insights. "As nanogrids are smaller in size than microgrids, they are more capable of resisting extreme weather events, which helps improve their resiliency, and the community's."
Guidehouse Insights recommends that policymakers and regulators include energy storage systems (ESS) in their integrated resource planning; Grid operators promote nanogrids to reduce grid infrastructure costs by deferring network expansion; and solar and storage industries innovate their business models by developing integrated nanogrid and nanogrid swarm solutions. Consumers can benefit from cleaner, more resilient electricity solutions through nanogrids and nanogrid swarms, according to the report.
The report, Nanogrids, the Building Blocks for Virtual Power Plants, Help Create a Sustainable Environment, reviews the opportunities for nanogrids in underserved communities, their various technology combinations, and how a solar plus storage nanogrid can be a win-win situation for prosumers and the electric grid. The report also evaluates nanogrids as building blocks for virtual power plants (VPPs) and energy communities, and looks at how regulatory and market adjustments can improve their adoption. An executive summary of the report is available for free download on the Guidehouse Insights website.
Guidehouse Insights, the dedicated market intelligence arm of Guidehouse, provides research, data, and benchmarking services for today's rapidly changing and highly regulated industries. Our insights are built on in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets. The team's research methodology combines supply-side industry analysis, end-user primary research, and demand assessment, paired with a deep examination of technology trends, to provide a comprehensive view of emerging resilient infrastructure systems. Additional information about Guidehouse Insights can be found at www.guidehouseinsights.com.
Guidehouse is a leading global provider of consulting services to the public sector and commercial markets, with broad capabilities in management, technology, and risk consulting. By combining our public and private sector expertise, we help clients address their most complex challenges and navigate significant regulatory pressures focusing on transformational change, business resiliency, and technology-driven innovation. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing, and digital services, we create scalable, innovative solutions that help our clients outwit complexity and position them for future growth and success. The company has over 16,500 professionals in over 55 locations globally. Guidehouse is a Veritas Capital portfolio company, led by seasoned professionals with proven and diverse expertise in traditional and emerging technologies, markets, and agenda-setting issues driving national and global economies. For more information, please visit www.guidehouse.com.
* The information contained in this press release concerning the report, Nanogrids, the Building Blocks for Virtual Power Plants, Help Create a Sustainable Environment, is a summary and reflects the current expectations of Guidehouse Insights based on market data and trend analysis. Market predictions and expectations are inherently uncertain and actual results may differ materially from those contained in this press release or the report. Please refer to the full report for a complete understanding of the assumptions underlying the report's conclusions and the methodologies used to create the report. Neither Guidehouse Insights nor Guidehouse undertakes any obligation to update any of the information contained in this press release or the report.
For more information, contact:
Cecile Fradkin for Guidehouse
+1.646.941.9139
cfradkin@scprgroup.com
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NEW YORK, June 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Amazon.com, Inc. ("Amazon" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: AMZN) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, Seattle Division, and docketed under 22-cv-00617, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Amazon stock between February 1, 2019 and April 5, 2022, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). Plaintiff pursues claims against the Defendants under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Amazon securities during the Class Period, you have until July 5, 2022 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
Amazon is a multinational technology company that engages primarily in the businesses of e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.
On the Company's Amazon.com e-commerce platform, Amazon sells both third-party merchandise and Amazon's own private-label products. As the owner and operator of the Amazon.com e-commerce platform, Amazon has access to certain non-public data of the third-party sellers that use the Amazon.com platform.
On or around June 3, 2019, the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary initiated a bipartisan investigation into the state of competition online. The investigation, led by the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law (the "Subcommittee"), examined the business practices and market dominance of Facebook, Google, Apple, and, of particular relevance, Amazon (the "Subcommittee Investigation").
In the course of the Subcommittee Investigation, the Subcommittee held several oversight hearings in which various officers of the above referenced companies, including their respective Chief Executive Officers, offered witness testimony on topics such as the effect of market power on the press, innovation, and privacy, and the market dominance of the firms under investigation. After each of the hearings, members of the Subcommittee submitted questions for the record to the witnesses.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Amazon engaged in anticompetitive conduct in its private-label business practices, including giving Amazon products preference over those of its competitors and using third-party sellers' non-public data to compete with them; (ii) the foregoing exposed Amazon to a heightened risk of regulatory scrutiny and/or enforcement actions; (iii) Amazon's revenues derived from its private-label business were in part the product of impermissible conduct and thus unsustainable; and (iv) as a result, the Defendants' public statements throughout the Class Period were materially false and/or misleading.
On March 9, 2022, media outlets reported that the House Judiciary Committee had requested that the U.S. Department of Justice open a criminal investigation into Amazon and certain of its executives for allegedly lying to Congress about its business practices during the course of the Subcommittee Investigation.
In response, Amazon asserted that there was "no factual basis" for the House Judiciary Committee's allegations.
Then, on April 6, 2022, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "SEC Is Investigating How Amazon Disclosed Business Practices." The article reported, inter alia, that the SEC's probe has been underway for more than a year and focuses on Amazon's disclosures regarding its use of third-party seller data for its own private-label business.
On this news, Amazon's stock price fell $105.98 per share, or 3.2%, to close at $3,175.12 per share on April 6, 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
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SOURCE Pomerantz LLP | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/06/27/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-reminds-shareholders-with-losses-their-investment-amazoncom-inc-class-action-lawsuit-upcoming-deadline-amzn/ | 2022-06-28 01:15:06 | 1 | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/06/27/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-reminds-shareholders-with-losses-their-investment-amazoncom-inc-class-action-lawsuit-upcoming-deadline-amzn/ |
11th annual livestream shopping event has raised more than $16 million in support of Cancer and Careers
WEST CHESTER, Pa., May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- QVC, a world leader in live video commerce ("vCommerce") and Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) are proud to announce the return of the highly anticipated Beauty with Benefits multiplatform shopping event, supporting Cancer and Careers. Over the past decade, Beauty with Benefits has raised over $16 million for Cancer and Careers. In its 11th year, the event will offer a video shopping experience for beauty enthusiasts while raising funds to help people with cancer thrive in their workplace. To increase awareness for this year's campaign, celebrity makeup artist and founder of Mally Beauty, Mally Roncal, will lend her vibrant spirit and passion as the spokesperson for the event.
The event will be celebrated across QVC's digital, streaming and social platforms beginning Monday, May 1 with a special live broadcast on May 16, 2023, from 9-11 p.m. ET. Customers can shop an assortment of color cosmetics, fragrance, skincare, body and haircare products from over 40 leading beauty brands such as Drunk Elephant, Laura Geller, tarte, Beekman 1802, SK-II, Too Faced, ELEMIS and WEN by Chaz Dean, as well as newcomers including Hey Honey, Caire Beauty, Timeless Skin Care, Briogeo and Pixi Beauty. A minimum of 70 percent of the purchase price* of donated merchandise benefits Cancer and Careers. As an added incentive for shoppers, QVC is offering a special Gift with Purchase, a 9-piece gift bag with a minimum value of $178**. Every Gift with Purchase includes the following beauty products: Sunday Riley Good Genes All-In-One Lactic Acid Serum, philosophy Purity, TULA Signature Glow Mist, Supergoop! Sheerscreen and Aveeno Oat Milk Blend Conditioner; as well as a selection of additional beauty products from participating vendors.
"I am so honored to be returning this year as the spokesperson to bring awareness to the important work of Cancer and Careers," said Mally Roncal, Founder of Mally Beauty. "This is such a special event for the entire beauty industry and one that I look forward to every year. Beauty is not just about looking your most fabulous on the outside, but also about feeling confident and empowered on the inside. My hope through this event is to inspire everyone to give back and to help make a difference in the lives of cancer survivors."
"We are so proud of the impact Beauty with Benefits has had on the Cancer and Careers organization," said Anna Baker, Vice President, General Merchandise Manager, Beauty, QVC. "Each year this event brings together top beauty brands, influencers, and experts to support a meaningful cause. We are grateful to our beauty community for their commitment and generosity. Together, we are helping survivors thrive."
Cancer and Careers is the only U.S. based nonprofit that focuses on a critical survivorship issue: the fundamental need to work. The organization helps people with cancer navigate the workplace by providing expert advice, interactive tools, and educational events. Over 450,000 individuals nationwide access its expert information, events, and resources each year.
"The success of this campaign directly affects what we are able to offer patients and survivors," shared Rebecca Nellis, Executive Director, Cancer and Careers. "Whether it's career coaching, access to technology, job search support, or time with a social worker, Beauty with Benefits is changing people's lives and improving the workforce for everyone."
Select Beauty with Benefits items are available beginning May 1 on QVC.com and will be available through July 31 while supplies last. The broadcast event will air live on May 16, 2023, from 9-11 p.m. ET.
Participating brands include:
Aveeno / bareMinerals / Beekman 1802 / Belle Beauty by Kim Gravel / Blushly / Briogeo /
Bumble and bumble. / Butter London / Caire Beauty / Campanelli / Conture / Doll 10 / Dr. Denese / Drunk Elephant / ELEMIS / Gleem / hey Honey / Isle of Paradise / IT Cosmetics / Josie Maran / Julep / Lancer / Laura Geller / Lovinah Skincare / LYS Beauty / Mally Beauty / Nakery Beauty / Perfect Formula /
Perricone MD / Peter Thomas Roth / philosophy / Pixi Beauty / SK-II / Skinfix / Spa-Rific / Sunday Riley / Supergoop! / tarte / Timeless Skin Care / Too Faced / TOVA / TULA / Uoma Beauty / WEN by Chaz Dean / Westmore / YENSA
*Purchase price excludes shipping, handling and tax.
**While supplies last. One gift bag per customer. Items and colors may vary.
About QVC®
QVC® is a world leader in video commerce ("vCommerce"), which includes video-driven shopping across linear TV, ecommerce sites, digital streaming and social platforms. QVC empowers shoppers with knowledge and shares insights in a lively and engaging way. QVC offers an ever-changing collection of familiar brands and fresh new products – from home and fashion to beauty, electronics and jewelry – and connects shoppers to interesting personalities, engaging stories and award-winning customer service. Based in West Chester, Pa., and founded in 1986, QVC has retail operations in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Japan and Italy. Worldwide, QVC reaches more than 200 million homes via 12 TV channels, which are widely available on cable/satellite TV, free over-the-air TV, and digital livestreaming TV. The retailer also reaches millions of customers via its QVC+ and HSN+ streaming experience, websites, mobile apps and social pages. To learn more, visit corporate.qvc.com, follow @QVC on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or follow QVC on Pinterest, YouTube or LinkedIn.
Qurate Retail, Inc. (NASDAQ: QRTEA, QRTEB, QRTEP) is a Fortune 500 company that includes the Qurate Retail GroupSM portfolio of brands as well as other minority interests and green energy investments. Qurate Retail Group is the largest player in vCommerce and comprises seven leading retail brands – QVC, HSN®, Zulily®, Ballard Designs®, Frontgate®, Garnet Hill® and Grandin Road® – all dedicated to providing a more human way to shop. For more information, visit qurateretailgroup.com, follow @QurateRetailGrp on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or follow Qurate Retail Group on YouTube or LinkedIn. QVC and Q are registered service marks of ER Marks, Inc.
About CEW, Inc. & Cancer and Careers
CEW is an international organization of 9,000+ individual members representing a cross section of beauty and related businesses. Additional information can be found at www.cew.org. The CEW Foundation is the philanthropic arm of CEW, Inc., which founded Cancer and Careers, a groundbreaking initiative that empowers and educates people with cancer to thrive in their workplace by providing expert advice, interactive tools and educational events. The program serves more than 450,000 people each year, online, in print, and in person. For more information, see www.CancerandCareers.org.
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SOURCE QVC | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/05/01/qvcs-beauty-with-benefits-event-empowers-cancer-survivors-with-every-purchase/ | 2023-05-01 14:37:27 | 0 | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/05/01/qvcs-beauty-with-benefits-event-empowers-cancer-survivors-with-every-purchase/ |
TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BRP Group, Inc. ("BRP Group") (NASDAQ: BRP) today announced the appointments of Kelly Nash to President, Middle Market Client Experience and Go-to-Market Strategy, and Ryan Shinkle to President, Middle Market Business Development. Jeff Hughes has been appointed Regional President, Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners, LLC ("BKS Partners"), succeeding Ms. Nash.
BRP's Middle Market Operating Group provides commercial risk management, employee benefits, and private risk management solutions to clients nationwide.
In her newly created role, Ms. Nash will be responsible for delivering best-in-class platforms and services for the firm's Middle Market clients. She will support BRP's regional leaders in building and executing national capabilities for client service, operations, placement, and other client-facing resources.
Ms. Nash joined BRP in 2017 and most recently served as Regional President of BKS Partners. She has been recognized as a Power Broker by Risk and Insurance and an Elite Woman in Insurance by Insurance Business America.
Mr. Hughes will succeed Ms. Nash in the role of Regional President for BKS Partners. As Regional President, he will take holistic responsibility over the BKS Partners business in the southeast region of the U.S. Most recently, Mr. Hughes served as Managing Director of Employee Benefits, BKS Partners.
As President of Business Development, Mr. Shinkle will be responsible for supporting BRP's U.S. regions in building sales leadership, implementing best practices, and developing the firm's network of advisors across the Middle Market Segment. He will develop and deliver strategies and programs across the organization to build on BRP's track record of exceptional organic growth.
Mr. Shinkle joined BRP in 2020 as part of the firm's Partnership, BRP Group's nomenclature for a strategic acquisition, with Insgroup, Inc. ("Insgroup"). Most recently, he served as Managing Director, Middle Market Business Strategy.
"This is an exciting time for our Middle Market segment as our business continues to rapidly grow and evolve," said Dan Galbraith, Chief Operating Officer, BRP Group. "Both Kelly and Ryan have been instrumental in the expansion of our Middle Market presence and capabilities across the nation. Together, they will make a lasting impact on the way we deliver excellence to our clients and colleagues."
"We're thrilled to announce Jeff's appointment to Regional President of BKS Partners," said Mr. Galbraith. "His experience and expertise will help to drive our business in the southeast region of the U.S. forward. We're excited to see continued growth with him in this leadership role."
BRP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRP) is an independent insurance distribution firm delivering tailored insurance and risk management insights and solutions that give our Clients the peace of mind to pursue their purpose, passion and dreams. We are innovating the industry by taking a holistic and tailored approach to risk management, insurance and employee benefits, and support our Clients, Colleagues, Insurance Company Partners and communities through the deployment of vanguard resources and capital to drive our growth. BRP Group represents over 1,200,000 Clients across the United States and internationally. For more information, please visit www.baldwinriskpartners.com.
This press release may contain various "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which represent BRP Group's expectations or beliefs concerning future events. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical facts and may include statements that address future operating, financial or business performance or BRP Group's strategies or expectations. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may", "might", "will", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "projects", "potential", "outlook" or "continue", or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements.
Factors that could cause actual results or performance to differ from the expectations expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those described under the caption "Risk Factors" in BRP Group's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and in BRP Group's other filings with the SEC, which are available free of charge on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at: www.sec.gov, including those risks and other factors relevant to the business, financial condition and results of operations of BRP Group and factors related to the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on BRP Group's business, financial condition and results of operations. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated. All forward-looking statements and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to BRP Group or to persons acting on behalf of BRP Group are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference to these risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and BRP Group does not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable law.
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SOURCE Baldwin Risk Partners | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/08/03/brp-group-inc-announces-executive-appointments/ | 2022-08-03 19:43:00 | 1 | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/08/03/brp-group-inc-announces-executive-appointments/ |
Updated May 26, 2023 at 5:02 PM ET
Negotiators have hashed out some details of a deal to prevent the country from defaulting on its debt as soon as next week, according to a source familiar with the talks.
The contours of a debt ceiling deal are largely worked out – including on discretionary spending and defense spending — but sticking points include work requirements and permitting, the source told NPR.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters Friday morning that it's "crunch time."
"We know it's not easy, but we're going to make sure we're not just trying to get an agreement," he said. "We're trying to get something that's worthy of the American people that changes the trajectory."
The deal being worked out by negotiators would raise the government's borrowing limit for two years, while putting two-year caps on federal spending, said the source, who was not authorized to speak about the ongoing negotiations. Preliminary details were first reported by the New York Times.
The two sides are also close to an agreement on IRS funding, which Republicans are hoping to cut.
Work requirements remain a redline for White House and GOP
Both sides are dug in on whether to add work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents who rely on federal assistance programs, such as food stamps and Medicaid. Republicans are also seeking to make changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
"Democrats right now are willing to default on the debt so they can continue making welfare payments for people that are refusing to work," said Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves, one of McCarthy's negotiators. "If you're really going to fall on the sword for that versus actually negotiating something that changes the trajectory of the country for spending, I mean, it's crazy to me that we're even having this debate."
Graves added that he is not willing to drop work requirements.
"Hell no. Not a chance. Not happening," he told reporters before heading out to an event at the White House with Biden celebrating the Louisiana State University women's basketball team.
Lawmakers near next week's deadline
In a letter to Congress on Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, the U.S. will run out of money to pay its bills on June 5.
That's a more precise estimate than Yellen had earlier offered, when she said the government could run short on cash "as early as June 1."
"Based on the most recent available data, we now estimate that Treasury will have insufficient resources to satisfy the government's obligations if Congress has not raised or suspended the debt limit by June 5," Yellen said in her letter.
Yellen again urged Congress to raise or suspend the debt ceiling by then or risk a devastating default.
McCarthy has vowed to give members 72 hours to review text before putting it to a floor vote. The Senate will then have to vote on the measure if passed by the House.
When asked if negotiators could reach a deal this weekend, Graves said it's possible and "certainly that's the objective."
On Friday morning, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told CNN that defaulting should not be an option.
"We're making progress and our goal is to make sure that we get a deal because default is unacceptable," Adeyemo said in an interview on CNN. "The president has committed to making sure that we have good-faith negotiations with the Republicans to reach a deal because the alternative is catastrophic for all Americans."
He added that Biden would not invoke the 14th amendment as an option to avoid default.
Most economists agree an actual default could result in a recession. A default would severely affect financial markets, increase mortgage rates and interest rates on credit cards, could cause government workers and Social Security recipients to go unpaid, and could make it difficult for businesses and citizens to borrow money.
McCarthy told reporters Friday that negotiators worked through the night on Thursday, and he believes they made progress.
"There is forward progress but each time there's forward progress the issues that remain become more difficult and more challenging," Rep. Patrick McHenry, one of McCarthy's negotiators, told reporters Friday afternoon.
Negotiators for the administration are currently not scheduled to meet with McCarthy in person on Friday, McHenry said, but the two groups continue to talk virtually.
NPR Congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales and NPR Congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt contributed to this report contributed to this story
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/npr-top-news/2023-05-26/negotiators-find-compromises-to-avoid-default-but-still-have-key-conflicts | 2023-05-26 21:23:52 | 0 | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/npr-top-news/2023-05-26/negotiators-find-compromises-to-avoid-default-but-still-have-key-conflicts |
Gun violence survivors and members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation are renewing their push for the U.S. Senate to vote on restoring the federal assault weapons ban as they prepare to mark 10 years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Speaking from the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, dozens of advocates and survivors came to Washington to implore lawmakers for additional reforms that did not make it into a gun safety bill that passed earlier this year. They are seeking both a ban on assault weapons and the implementation of universal background checks on gun purchases.
Po Murray, chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, said the gun violence survivors traveled from 22 states to ramp up the pressure on senators and specifically Democratic leadership to bring up the bill for a vote before the end of the year — even if it does not have the support required to pass.
“We’re here today to ask the Senate to do more. Specifically, we would like the Senate to schedule a vote to pass the assault weapons ban,” Murray said Thursday morning.
The room was largely silent as survivors went up to the podium one by one to share a photo and a story about a loved one they lost to mass shootings, suicides and gun violence. Many were somber and emotional as they asked the Senate to “pass the ban” to keep their families and communities safe.
Congress implemented a federal assault weapons ban in 1994, but it expired in 2004 and has not been restored despite pushes from some Democratic lawmakers and gun control advocates. The House passed legislation banning such firearms in July, but it has no prospects of clearing a split 50-50 Senate, where Republican votes are required to move most bills forward.
Democrats need buy-in from Republicans to pass legislation since most bills need 60 votes to move forward and overcome filibusters in the Senate. And while Democrats still hold a very narrow majority in the House, they are about to lose control as the GOP takes over next year.
While advocates have been disappointed about the lack of action on those reforms, Congress was able to pass the first major gun safety legislation for the first time in nearly three decades in the early summer.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed that much more needs to be done beyond the bill he championed, including an assault weapons ban. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, among other things, strengthens background checks for those buying firearms under age 21 and incentivizes states to pass a “red flag” law that permits a court to temporarily prevent someone from buying a gun if they are a threat to themselves or others. It also provides money for schools and mental health services.
Murphy told the group on Thursday that he received a briefing last week from the FBI related to the background checks system. He said he saw a list of individuals deemed a danger to themselves or others who were stopped from purchasing a firearm as a result of the newly passed law.
“I understand that law is not close to enough, but it is saving lives as we speak,” Murphy said. “And now we’re here to compel our colleagues to do the right thing and pass legislation that is widely popular in the American public.”
U.S, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., noted that because of the shooting at Sandy Hook, Connecticut has implemented some of the strongest gun reforms in the country. In the wake of the massacre, the state passed a bill that strengthened Connecticut’s assault weapons ban and required background checks for all firearm purchases.
But Blumenthal argued that without nationwide gun prevention measures, Connecticut and other states will not be as protected from gun violence.
“We know no state is protected unless all are protected because guns have no respect for state borders,” Blumenthal said. “They come across state lines, and that’s why Congress needs to do its job.”
Three of the five Connecticut members in the House — Reps. Rosa DeLauro, John Larson and Jim Himes — also attended Thursday’s event. DeLauro said that Rep. Jahana Hayes was back home for a “family emergency” and that Rep. Joe Courtney had a bill on the House floor.
Many of the survivors rallying at the Capitol also attended the 10th annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence on Wednesday night. At a church in Washington, Jackie Hegarty, who was in second grade when a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School, introduced President Joe Biden.
“Ten years ago, this nation’s vigil was created here in Washington to pray for the souls of Sandy Hook and their families,” Biden said. “Ever since that time, this church has been opening its doors to more victims and more families of a violence that rips at the very soul of this nation.”
Lisa Hagen is the federal policy reporter for Connecticut Public and the Connecticut Mirror. | https://www.mainepublic.org/2022-12-08/10-years-after-sandy-hook-shooting-a-push-for-assault-weapons-ban | 2022-12-09 13:50:42 | 1 | https://www.mainepublic.org/2022-12-08/10-years-after-sandy-hook-shooting-a-push-for-assault-weapons-ban |
CEDARHURST, N.Y., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The securities litigation law firm of Kuznicki Law PLLC issues this alert to shareholders of Azure Power Global Limited ("Azure" or the "Company") (NYSE: AZRE), if they purchased the Company's securities between June 15, 2021 and August 26, 2022, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Shareholders have until October 31, 2022 to file lead plaintiff applications in the securities class action lawsuit.
Shareholders are encouraged to contact us at https://kclasslaw.com/cases/securities/nyse-azre/, by calling toll-free at 1-833-835-1495 or by email (dk@kclasslaw.com).
Kuznicki Law PLLC is committed to ensuring that companies adhere to responsible business practices and engage in good corporate citizenship. The firm seeks recovery on behalf of investors who incurred losses when false and/or misleading statements or the omission of material information by a Company lead to artificial inflation of the Company's stock. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
Kuznicki Law PLLC
Daniel Kuznicki, Esq.
445 Central Avenue, Suite 344
Cedarhurst, NY 11516
Email: dk@kclasslaw.com
Phone: (347) 696-1134
Cell: (347) 690-0692
Fax: (347) 348-0967
https://kclasslaw.com
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SOURCE Kuznicki Law PLLC | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/filing-deadline-kuznicki-law-pllc-announces-class-action-behalf-shareholders-azure-power-global-limited-azre/ | 2022-09-08 03:18:46 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/filing-deadline-kuznicki-law-pllc-announces-class-action-behalf-shareholders-azure-power-global-limited-azre/ |
GENEVA (AP) — China’s discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity, the U.N. human rights office said in a long-awaited report Wednesday, which cited “serious” rights violations and patterns of torture in recent years.
The report seeks “urgent attention” from the U.N. and the world community to rights violations in Beijing’s campaign to root out terrorism.
U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, facing pressure on both sides, brushed aside multiple Chinese calls for her office to withhold the report, which follows her own, much-criticized trip to Xinjiang in May. Beijing contends the report is part of a Western campaign to smear China’s reputation.
The report has fanned a tug-of-war for diplomatic influence with the West over the rights of the region’s native Uyghurs and other ethnic groups.
The report, which Western diplomats and U.N. officials said had been all but ready for months, was published with just minutes to go in Bachelet’s four-year term. It was unexpected to break significant new ground beyond sweeping findings from researchers, advocacy groups and journalists who have documented concerns about human rights in Xinjiang for several years.
But the 48-page report comes with the imprimatur of the United Nations and its member countries — notably including rising superpower China itself. The report largely corroborates earlier reporting by advocacy groups and others and injects U.N heft behind the outrage that victims and their families have expressed about China’s policies in Xinjiang.
“Beijing’s repeated denial of the human rights crisis in Xinjiang rings ever-more hollow with this further recognition of the evidence of ongoing crimes against humanity and other human rights violation in the region,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general, said in a statement.
The run-up to the report’s release fueled a debate over China’s influence at the world body and epitomized the on-and-off diplomatic chill between Beijing and the West over human rights, among other sore spots.
China shot back, saying the U.N. rights office ignored human rights “achievements” made together by “people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.”
“Based on the disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces and out of presumption of guilt, the so-called ‘assessment’ distorts China’s laws, wantonly smears and slanders China, and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” read a letter from China’s diplomatic mission in Geneva issued in response to the U.N. report.
China released a 122-page report titled “Fight Against Terrorism and Extremism in Xinjiang: Truth and Facts” that defended its record and was distributed by the U.N. with its assessment.
The U.N. report says “serious human rights violations” have been committed in Xinjiang under China’s policies to fight terrorism and extremism, which singled out Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities, between 2017 and 2019.
The report cites “patterns of torture” inside what Beijing called vocational training centers, which were part of its reputed plan to boost economic development in region, and it points to “credible” allegations of torture or ill-treatment, including cases of sexual violence.
Above all, perhaps, the report warns that the “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of such groups in Xinjiang, through moves that stripped them of “fundamental rights … may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”
The report called on China to release all individuals arbitrarily detained and to clarify the whereabouts of individuals who have disappeared and whose families are seeking information about them.
The report was drawn in part from interviews with former detainees and others familiar with conditions at eight detention centers. Its authors suggest China was not always forthcoming with information, saying requests for some specific sets of information “did not receive formal response.”
The rights office said it could not confirm estimates of how many people were detained in the internment camps in Xinjiang, but added it was “reasonable to conclude that a pattern of large-scale arbitrary detention occurred” at least between 2017 and 2019.
According to investigations by researchers and journalists, the Chinese government’s mass detention campaign in Xinjiang swept an estimated million or more Uyghurs and other ethnic groups into a network of prisons and camps over the past five years.
Beijing has closed many of the camps, but hundreds of thousands continue to languish in prison on vague, secret charges.
The report said that reports of sharp increases in arrests and lengthy prison sentences in the region strongly suggested a shift toward formal incarceration as the principal means for large-scale imprisonment and deprivation of liberty — instead of the use of the “vocational training centers” once touted by Beijing.
“This is of particular concern given the vague and capacious definitions of terrorism, ‘extremism’ and public security related offenses under domestic criminal law,” the report said, saying it could lead to lengthy sentences, “including for minor offenses or for engaging in conduct protected by international human rights law.”
Some countries, including the United States, have accused Beijing of committing genocide in Xinjiang. The U.N. report made no mention of genocide.
Bachelet said in recent months that she received pressure from both sides to publish — or not publish — the report and resisted it all, treading a fine line while noting her experience with political squeeze during her two terms as president of Chile.
In June, Bachelet said she would not seek a new term as rights chief and promised the report would be released by her departure date on Aug. 31. That led to a swell in back-channel campaigns — including letters from civil society, civilians and governments on both sides of the issue. She hinted last week her office might miss her deadline, saying it was “trying” to release it before her exit.
Bachelet had set her sights on Xinjiang on taking office in September 2018, but Western diplomats voiced concern in private that over her term, she did not challenge China enough when other rights monitors had cited abuses against Uyghurs and others in Xinjiang.
In a statement from her office early Thursday, Bachelet said she had wanted to take “the greatest care” to deal with responses and input received from the Chinese government last week. Such reports are typically shared with the concerned country before final publication, but generally to check facts — not to allow vetting or influence of the final report.
“I said that I would publish it before my mandate ended and I have,” she said after the report was published.
Critics had said a failure to publish the report would have been a glaring black mark on her tenure, and the pressure from some countries made her job harder.
“To be perfectly honest, the politicization of these serious human rights issues by some states did not help,” said Bachelet, who early on staked out a desire to cooperate with governments.
“I appeal to the international community not to instrumentalize real, serious human rights issues for political ends, but rather to work to support efforts to strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights,” she added.
Her trip to the region in May was widely criticized by human rights groups, the U.S. administration and other governments as a public relations exercise for China.
Hours before the publication, the spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, said the U.N. chief had “no involvement” in how the report was drafted or handled, citing his commitment to Bachelet’s independence.
Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said Bachelet’s “damning findings explain why the Chinese government fought tooth and nail to prevent the publication of her Xinjiang report, which lays bare China’s sweeping rights abuses.”
Richardson urged the 47-member Human Rights Council, whose next session is in September, to investigate the allegations and hold those responsible to account.
___
Lederer reported from the United Nations. Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report. | https://www.wane.com/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/ap-deadline-looming-china-vies-to-block-un-report-on-xinjiang/ | 2022-09-01 02:44:14 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/ap-deadline-looming-china-vies-to-block-un-report-on-xinjiang/ |
MADISON, Conn., Aug. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Precision X-Ray, Inc. ("Precision"), a global leader in cabinet X-ray irradiators, is pleased to announce the launch of SteriRad, an innovative antimicrobial X-Ray system designed to terminate pathogenic microbes on harvested cannabis buds and ground plants. This X-Ray-based decontamination process is an effective approach to preventing unwanted microbial growth on harvested cannabis without degrading the inherent levels of cannabinoids and terpenes.
SteriRad achieves this result by leveraging Precision's twenty years of experience and leadership in biological X-Ray cabinet systems. Using a cold process, which does not produce heat that can adversely affect the quality of the final product, SteriRad enables cultivators to meet stringent regulatory requirements in states and countries around the world.
"Precision prides itself on knowing and anticipating its customer's needs. That is why we embarked on this journey in a new market of biological decontamination. We are very excited to deploy this proven technology to growers worldwide, ensuring the safety and quality of their products." said Viktoriya Baytser, CEO.
"SteriRad provides the cultivators with the peace of mind knowing that their premium products will pass the stringent microbial testing, ensuring a safer and more enjoyable experience for both medicinal and recreational cannabis consumers," added Bill McLaughlin, Director of Strategic Innovation.
Headquartered in Madison, Connecticut, Precision is the largest global manufacturer of cabinet x-ray irradiation systems providing safe, reliable, and reproducible results. Since the turn of the century, we continue to provide thousands of partners around the world with products that lead technological innovation in commercial, agricultural, and academic irradiation treatment fields.
For more information about the new SteriRad system and other Precision X-Ray products and services, please contact Debra Peris, Marketing Manager at dperis@pxinc.com
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SOURCE Precision X-Ray, Inc. | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/08/16/precision-x-ray-inc-launches-sterirad-an-innovative-antimicrobial-x-ray-system-enhance-health-safety-profitability-burgeoning-cannabis-market/ | 2022-08-16 11:38:19 | 1 | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/08/16/precision-x-ray-inc-launches-sterirad-an-innovative-antimicrobial-x-ray-system-enhance-health-safety-profitability-burgeoning-cannabis-market/ |
NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Sotera Health Company (""Sotera" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SHC). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Sotera and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
On September 19, 2022, news outlets reported that a jury found Sotera's Sterigenics business unit liable for a role in causing a woman's breast cancer and awarded the plaintiff $363 million. The lawsuit specifically alleged that carcinogenic emissions from a Sterigenics plant near the plaintiff's home caused her cancer.
On this news, Sotera's stock price fell $4.90 per share, or 33.27%, to close at $9.83 per share on September 19, 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
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SOURCE Pomerantz LLP | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2022/10/03/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-behalf-investors-sotera-health-company-shc/ | 2022-10-03 18:39:44 | 0 | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2022/10/03/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-behalf-investors-sotera-health-company-shc/ |
VALLEY FORGE, Pa., May 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard today reported expense ratio changes for five mutual funds across multiple share classes. These changes align to funds with fiscal years ending January 2022 and represent an aggregate $2.8 million in net savings for investors.1
Expense ratio changes occur for a variety of reasons, including asset growth and operational efficiencies. For most of Vanguard's external advisory arrangements, the advisor's fee is also subject to an adjustment up or down based on their investment performance relative to the total return of an appropriate benchmark, typically over a three-year or five-year period. Such arrangements strengthen the alignment of interests between the advisor and fund shareholders. Increases in advisory fees because of these arrangements are a recognition of outperformance on behalf of fund shareholders.
Vanguard fund expense ratio changes
About Vanguard
Founded in 1975, Vanguard is one of the world's leading investment management companies. The firm offers investments, advice, and retirement services to individual investors, institutions, and financial professionals. Vanguard operates under a unique, investor-owned structure where Vanguard fund shareholders own the funds, which in turn own Vanguard. As such, Vanguard adheres to a simple purpose: To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success. For more information, visit vanguard.com.
1 Estimated savings for the identified funds is the difference between prior and current expense ratios multiplied by the average assets under management (AUM). Average AUM is based on daily average assets during a month, which are then averaged over the 12 months of the fiscal year ending January 2022.
For more information about Vanguard funds, visit vanguard.com to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.
All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.
ESG portfolios are subject to ESG investment risk, which is the chance that the stocks or bonds screened by the data provider for ESG criteria generally will underperform the market as a whole or, in the aggregate, will trail returns of other portfolios screened for ESG criteria. The data provider's assessment of a company, based on the company's level of involvement in a particular industry or the data provider's own ESG criteria, may differ from that of other portfolios or of the advisor's or an investor's assessment of such company. As a result, the companies deemed eligible by the data provider may not reflect the beliefs and values of any particular investor and certain screens may not exhibit positive or favorable ESG characteristics. The evaluation of companies for ESG screening or integration is dependent on the timely and accurate reporting of ESG data by the companies. The weight given to ESG factors for active non-ESG funds may vary across types of investments, industries, regions and issuers; may change over time; and not every ESG factor may be identified or evaluated. Where ESG risk factor analysis is used as one part of an overall investment process (as is the case for actively managed equity and fixed income non-ESG Funds ), such Funds may still invest in securities of issuers that all market participants may not view as ESG-focused or that may be viewed as having a high ESG risk profile.
Investments in securities issued by non-U.S. companies and governments are subject to risks including country/regional risk and currency risk. These risks are especially high in emerging markets.
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SOURCE Vanguard | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/27/vanguard-reports-expense-ratio-changes-five-funds/ | 2022-05-27 13:57:20 | 1 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/05/27/vanguard-reports-expense-ratio-changes-five-funds/ |
Sepio becomes a Citrix Partner
ROCKVILLE, MD., May 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sepio today announced that its Hardware Access Control solution, HAC-1, has been verified as Citrix Ready®. The Citrix Ready program helps customers identify third-party solutions that are recommended to enhance virtualization, networking, and cloud computing solutions from Citrix. Sepio's HAC-1 completed a rigorous verification process to ensure compatibility with XenApp, XenDesktop server, Receiver and NetScaler Gateway, providing confidence in joint solution compatibility.
"Citrix customers who strive for better visibility into their assets across multiple environments, found the HAC-1 solution an essential component in managing risks related to their hardware assets," said Yossi Appleboum, CEO of Sepio. "Our recent engagement with Citrix guarantees that the HAC-1 solution is fully compatible with the relevant Citrix products, driving more customers to adopt this joint deployment."
About Sepio
Founded in 2016 by cybersecurity industry veterans, Sepio's HAC-1 solution helps enterprises manage risks related to their hardware assets. HAC-1 is the first hardware access control platform that provides unparalleled visibility, control, and mitigation to zero trust, insider threat, BYOD, IT, OT and IoT security programs. Sepio's physical layer fingerprinting technology discovers all managed, unmanaged, and hidden devices that are otherwise invisible to all other security and asset visibility tools. Through multiple 3rd party seamless integration support, HAC-1 insights and actionable measures are easily incorporated into existing automation processes. The company's HQ is in Rockville, Maryland and operates globally through its vast channel partners' network. Learn more: www.sepiocyber.com
Media contact:
Romi Minin
Sepio
romim@sepiocyber.com
+1 240-660-8690
View original content:
SOURCE Sepio Systems | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2022/05/26/sepios-hac-1-solution-verified-citrix-ready/ | 2022-05-26 13:52:12 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2022/05/26/sepios-hac-1-solution-verified-citrix-ready/ |
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Four Russian nationals — three men and one woman — have been arrested and held in custody after they were seen takign pictures of objects that are subject to a ban on photography in central Norway, police said Monday.
Officers found “photographic equipment and relatively extensive image material” in their possession when their car was stopped on Oct. 11. Police didn’t say what they were photographing. The four — none of whom were identified — came to Norway from Finland, police said, adding that they said there were tourists.
Authorities said they was no immediate link to two other cases of Russians detained elsewhere in Norway after police found them in possession of drones. Numerous drone sightings have been reported near Norwegian offshore oil and gas platforms in recent weeks.
Police declined to give further details “due to the nature of the case.”
There is heightened security around key energy, internet and power infrastructure following last month’s underwater explosions that ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that were built to deliver Russian gas to Germany.
The blasts happened off both Sweden and Denmark, in international waters but within the countries’ exclusive economic zone. The damaged Nord Stream pipelines discharged huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the air. | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/international/ap-in-norway-4-russians-caught-taking-photographs-illegally/ | 2022-10-17 20:29:39 | 0 | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/international/ap-in-norway-4-russians-caught-taking-photographs-illegally/ |
Turner will lead the iKONIC Sports and Entertainment affiliated company of Coldwell Banker Exclusive in Los Angeles
MADISON, N.J., May 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, an AnywhereSM (NYSE: HOUS) brand, is excited to announce that executive producer, renovation counselor, real estate investment expert and television personality Page Turner has affiliated with Coldwell Banker Exclusive. Turner's most recent project, HGTV's Fix My Flip, premiered its second season on May 4 and airs Thursdays on the network at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
With more than 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry and as a licensed real estate agent in three states, Turner will lead Coldwell Banker Exclusive's separate and newly created business, iKONIC Sports and Entertainment. This affiliate of Coldwell Banker Exclusive will focus on educating and empowering clients in the sports and entertainment industries – from managers and agents to the athletes and stars themselves – on how to build investment portfolios and generational wealth through real estate.
"Early in my career, I was at a point where I was making money but I didn't know what to do with it or how to diversify it. Once I learned how to invest it into real estate, the passion for teaching others how to do the same began," Turner says. With her existing connections in the industries, the perfect next step was to turn her idea into action.
Co-founded in 2020 by Anthony T. Nguyen alongside CEO Erwin Pineda, Coldwell Banker Exclusive has grown from 25 agents at its inception to over 180. The company spans three offices in California located in Downtown Los Angeles, Chino Hills and Northridge.
QUOTES:
"Real estate has been a prominent income source in my life and I'm passionate about teaching stars and athletes how they can harness its power and turn it into generational wealth. I'm ready to help people invest and guide them home with the support of the Coldwell Banker brand!"
- Page Turner, agent and co-director of iKONIC Sports and Entertainment, an affiliate of Coldwell Banker Exclusive
"We're thrilled to have a dynamic and engaging luminary like Page affiliating with our company and leading this affiliated company. The expertise and professional acumen she brings towards building our sports and entertainment business is invaluable. It is a true game changer."
- Anthony T. Nguyen, co-founder of Coldwell Banker Exclusive
"I can't wait to see how Page continues her upward trajectory working with Coldwell Banker Exclusive. As a champion of women in real estate, it's exciting to welcome a successful woman like Page. Through the global reach of our brand and the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury program, it is wonderful to see Coldwell Banker Exclusive bring on Page to run this separate business. I look forward to celebrating their success."
- Liz Gehringer, president and CEO of Anywhere Franchise Brands, and acting president of affiliate business and COO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate
About Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC
Powered by its network of 100,000 affiliated sales professionals in more than 2,700 offices across 39 countries and territories, the Coldwell Banker® system is a leading provider of full-service residential and commercial real estate brokerage services. The Coldwell Banker brand prides itself on its history of expertise, honesty and an empowering culture of excellence since its beginnings in 1906. The Coldwell Banker brand is committed to providing its network of affiliated sales agents with the tools and insights needed to excel in today's marketplace and is known for its bold leadership and dedication to driving the industry forward. The brand was named among the 2023 Women's Choice Award® "9 out of 10 Customer Recommended Real Estate Agency." Blue is bold and the integrity and values of the Coldwell Banker brand give the Gen Blue network an unbeatable edge. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated. To join Coldwell Banker Real Estate and unlock the Gen Blue possibilities, please visit www.coldwellbanker.com/join.
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SOURCE Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2023/05/12/television-personality-page-turner-joins-coldwell-banker/ | 2023-05-12 12:34:35 | 0 | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2023/05/12/television-personality-page-turner-joins-coldwell-banker/ |
WA Spokane WA Zone Forecast for Tuesday, June 21, 2022
_____
544 FPUS56 KOTX 220914
ZFPOTX
Zone Forecast Product for Eastern Washington and North Idaho
National Weather Service Spokane WA
213 AM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022
WAZ031-222300-
Northeast Blue Mountains-
Including the cities of Anatone and Peola
213 AM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 70s to lower 80s. West wind 5 to
15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph in the afternoon.
.TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s to lower 50s. West
wind 5 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s to lower 70s. Northwest
wind 5 to 15 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid to upper 40s.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s to mid 70s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...Clear. Lows around 50. Highs in the
70s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the
mid 50s to lower 60s. Highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s.
.MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...Mostly clear. Highs in the upper 70s to
upper 80s. Lows in the upper 50s to lower 60s.
$$
WAZ034-035-222300-
Moses Lake Area-Upper Columbia Basin-
Including the cities of Moses Lake, Ephrata, Othello, Quincy,
Ritzville, Grand Coulee, Odessa, Wilbur, and Coulee City
213 AM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower to mid 80s. Breezy. Southwest
wind 10 to 20 mph.
.TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s to lower 50s.
Breezy. West wind 10 to 20 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Highs in the 70s. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 40s to lower 50s.
Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny, warmer. Highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s.
North wind 5 to 10 mph with gusts to around 20 mph.
.FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the
50s. Highs in the 80s.
.SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...Mostly clear. Highs in the mid 80s to
mid 90s. Lows in the mid 50s to mid 60s.
$$
WAZ038-222300-
Okanogan Highlands-
Including the cities of Republic, Inchelium, and Wauconda
213 AM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s. Southwest
wind 5 to 15 mph in the afternoon.
.TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 40s to lower 50s. West
wind 5 to 15 mph in the evening, becoming light.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s to lower 70s.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 40s to lower 50s.
.FRIDAY...Sunny. Highs in the 70s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the
upper 40s to upper 50s. Highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s.
.SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Highs in the lower
80s to lower 90s. Lows in the lower 50s to lower 60s.
.TUESDAY...Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain
showers. Highs in the 80s.
$$
WAZ041-044-222300-
Wenatchee Area-Waterville Plateau-
Including the cities of Wenatchee, Chelan, Entiat, Cashmere,
Waterville, and Mansfield
213 AM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 70s to lower 80s. Breezy. West
wind 5 to 15 mph increasing to 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon.
.TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s to lower 50s.
Windy. Northwest wind 15 to 25 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower to mid 70s. Northwest wind
5 to 15 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s to lower
50s. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny, warmer. Highs in the mid 70s to lower 80s. North
wind 5 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the
lower 50s to lower 60s. Highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s.
.SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...Mostly clear. Highs in the lower 80s to
lower 90s. Lows in the mid 50s to mid 60s.
$$
WAZ043-222300-
Okanogan Valley-
Including the cities of Omak, Okanogan, Brewster, Bridgeport,
Oroville, and Nespelem
213 AM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s. Southwest wind
5 to 15 mph in the afternoon.
.TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s to lower 50s. West
wind 5 to 15 mph in the evening, becoming light. Gusts up to
25 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s to mid 70s. North wind
5 to 15 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s to lower
50s. North wind 5 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY...Sunny, warmer. Highs in the mid 70s to lower 80s. North
wind 5 to 15 mph.
.FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the
lower 50s to lower 60s. Highs in the lower 80s to lower 90s.
.MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Highs in the upper 80s
to lower 90s. Lows in the upper 50s to mid 60s.
.TUESDAY...Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain
showers. Highs in the mid 80s to lower 90s.
$$
WAZ047-222300-
Central Chelan County-
Including the cities of Leavenworth, Plain, and Lake Wenatchee
213 AM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs in the 70s. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph in
the afternoon. Gusts up to 25 mph.
.TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the 40s. Northwest wind 5 to
15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph, except northwest 15 to 25 mph
in the mountains.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s to lower 70s. Northwest
wind 5 to 15 mph.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear. Lows in the 40s.
.FRIDAY...Sunny, warmer. Highs in the mid 70s to lower 80s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the
lower 50s to lower 60s. Highs in the upper 70s to upper 80s.
.MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Highs in the lower 80s
to lower 90s. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s.
.TUESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s.
$$
WAZ048-222300-
Western Chelan County-
Including the cities of Stevens Pass, Holden Village,
and Stehekin
213 AM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022
.TODAY...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain showers
in the morning, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. Highs in the
mid 60s to mid 70s. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph in the afternoon.
Gusts up to 25 mph.
.TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the 40s. Northwest wind 5 to
15 mph in the evening, becoming light. Gusts up to 30 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 60s to lower 70s. Northwest
wind 5 to 15 mph in the afternoon.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Clear. Lows in the 40s.
.FRIDAY...Sunny, warmer. Highs in the lower 70s to lower 80s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the
upper 40s to mid 50s. Highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s.
.SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Highs in the 80s.
Lows in the lower 50s to lower 60s.
.TUESDAY...Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain
showers. Highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s.
$$
WAZ049-222300-
Western Okanogan County-
Including the cities of Mazama, Winthrop, Twisp, Methow,
and Conconully
213 AM PDT Wed Jun 22 2022
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 70s to lower 80s. West wind 5 to
15 mph in the afternoon.
.TONIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid to upper 40s. Northwest
wind 5 to 15 mph in the evening, becoming light. Gusts up to
25 mph.
.THURSDAY...Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s to lower 70s. Northwest
wind 5 to 15 mph in the afternoon.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 40s to lower 50s.
.FRIDAY...Sunny, warmer. Highs in the mid 70s to lower 80s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the
lower 50s to lower 60s. Highs in the upper 70s to upper 80s.
.MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 80s to
lower 90s. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s.
.TUESDAY...Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain
showers. Highs in the 80s.
$$
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.seattlepi.com/weather/article/WA-Spokane-WA-Zone-Forecast-17257328.php | 2022-06-22 10:41:36 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/weather/article/WA-Spokane-WA-Zone-Forecast-17257328.php |
DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — Piscataquis County’s commissioners decided Tuesday to shift millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief money from an emergency radio overhaul to HVAC system upgrades at the jail.
Piscataquis County has about $2.75 million of its $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds left, though it’s unclear whether it will use all of the remaining funds for the HVAC project.
Joshua York, the county’s head of maintenance, told commissioners at a meeting earlier this month that HVAC upgrades were estimated to cost $1.2 million a few years ago. During a meeting Tuesday, he said the project is now closer to $1.7 million.
Tuesday’s meeting provided some clarity on the cost of the HVAC upgrades, though not final figures, and questions remain about the fate of the overhaul to fix chronic radio problems for emergency responders. Commissioners initially planned to use ARPA funds on that project, estimated to cost $5 million for the infrastructure and in the works since 2020. But HVAC issues have become unavoidable, they said.
The Piscataquis County Emergency Management Agency recently requested a little more than $5 million in congressionally directed funding to handle the radio project.
The $1.7 million estimate for HVAC upgrades came from an HVAC company, but York recommended the county hire an engineer to provide an expert opinion on the work that needs to be done and prices.
Separate from the jail in Dover-Foxcroft, York suggested putting heat pumps into the district attorney’s office. Putting that project out to bid to companies that specialize in the technology might generate more affordable options than the HVAC company, he said.
“We definitely have some issues that should be addressed, even if we don’t do everything,” he said.
Commissioners voted unanimously to hire an engineer, though it’s unclear whether they will seek bids or work with an engineer from past projects. York said he will explore options.
Commissioners did not mention the radio project at the meeting, nor did they say that they were shifting the funds from one major project to another. After the meeting, Chairman Andrew Torbett confirmed ARPA dollars would fund the HVAC upgrades. | https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/04/18/news/piscataquis/piscataquis-county-covid-aid-jail-hvac-xoasq1i29i/ | 2023-04-19 01:14:41 | 0 | https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/04/18/news/piscataquis/piscataquis-county-covid-aid-jail-hvac-xoasq1i29i/ |
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Walmart announced a four-point plan to strengthen its jobs and invest in its employees.
According to a January 24 media release, the Bentonville-based retailer will initiate raises next month that will bring the average U.S. associate’s hourly salary to more than $17.50. The raise “includes a mixture of associates’ regular annual increases and targeted investments in starting rates for thousands of stores” and will be reflected in paychecks starting on March 2.
A company spokesperson tells CNBC that store employees will now make between $14 and $19 an hour, up from the $12 to $18 per hour they currently earn.
The retailer is introducing a higher-paying Auto Care Centers team lead position and elevating tech positions to a higher pay band “that reflects the special skills needed for the role and its importance to our business.”
Walmart is also adding new college degrees and certificates to its Live Better U education program, which covers tuition costs for full- and part-time employees.
The changes come a week after Walmart announced it would expand its Associate-to-Driver program, which pays for supply chain associates to earn their commercial driver’s licenses and become company truck drivers.
“And as you continue to focus on your customers, we’re focused on investing in you—our store associates—through higher wages and new opportunities to gain the skills to serve tomorrow’s customers and grow a career with Walmart,” said John Furner, Walmart President and CEO, in a note sent to all U.S. associates. “No matter where you are in your journey, getting your start here can open doors—the first step into jobs that become careers and build better lives.”
In 2021, Walmart raised its average hourly wage to more than $15 per hour.
Other retailers have raised their minimum hourly wages in recent years. Hobby Lobby raised its rate to $18.50 per hour at the beginning of last year, while Starbucks and CVS Health moved to $15 an hour last summer. Target announced in early 2022 that it will set a starting wage range from $15 to $24. | https://cw33.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/walmart-announces-raises-new-programs-for-associates/ | 2023-01-25 03:00:28 | 0 | https://cw33.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/walmart-announces-raises-new-programs-for-associates/ |
A new and unsettling way of life has struck the small college town of Moscow, Idaho, in the days since four university students were murdered near their campus.
Police presence has multiplied, students have fled in droves, and community members are plagued by fear and anxiety as the case remains unsolved.
The town of some 26,000 residents had not recorded a single murder since 2015 before it was upended. Four University of Idaho students -- Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 -- were found stabbed to death on the second and third floors of their shared off-campus home, according to authorities.
The university's typically packed parking lots had many open spots after many students decided to leave the area early, before the start of their fall recess. Many left because of how "emotionally difficult" it was to stay on campus, according to Tanner McClain, president of Associated Students of the University of Idaho, the school's student governing body.
"The whole situation is just terrifying from the start," McClain told CNN. "I'm across the other side of the state right now, and I'm still scared from the overall situation."
Nearly one week after the murders shattered Moscow's sense of security, the community remains on edge as they wait for police to release more details surrounding the students' deaths, locate the weapon used to carry out the heinous attacks and, ultimately, identify and catch a suspect.
Some students, such as Emma Vigil, a senior, said "there are no plans" to return to campus until police bring a suspect into custody.
"I don't know how anyone is supposed to feel safe or go back. All of my friends have left," Vigil, who lives just feet away from the house where the four students were killed, told CNN this week.
"I don't know how I could be safe if they haven't caught the person who did it," Vigil added.
University offers resources, support
The University of Idaho is offering resources for employees and students to help them cope, including drop-in counseling, therapy dog support, and additional security officers on campus to escort students across campus, according to a statement.
"We need to remain flexible this week and grant our students and colleagues room to process these unprecedented events in their own ways. Students, you are encouraged to do what is right for you. Whether this is going home early or staying in class, you have our support," University President Scott Green said in a statement Thursday.
Many professors canceled classes this past week, including Zachary Turpin, assistant professor of American Literature, who wrote on Twitter he "can't in good conscience hold class" until police release more information or identify a suspect in the murders.
Other schools near the university campus have also increased security following the attacks. The Moscow School District, which serves roughly 2,200 students, said Idaho State Police ramped up a presence near the city's public schools on Thursday and Friday, to assist local police in the murder investigation.
Superintendent Greg Bailey told CNN the loss has "hit everyone in the community," which has rarely, if ever, experienced this level of collective tragedy.
Bailey said the school district already had security measures in place with automatically locked doors and cameras. Counselors and teachers are actively monitoring their elementary, junior high and high school students to see whether they are experiencing any levels of stress.
"I think everyone has just a little bit of fear of this scenario because they haven't identified the perpetrator," Bailey said, "People are alert, and it's obviously the discussion."
"We're just having to sit back and wait until further information is available, but there's an understanding that they can't get all the information so that [police] can have a better chance of catching the person."
Students describe 'dark' campus atmosphere
The atmosphere of campus "completely changed" since the tragedy, said McClain, a 21-year-old junior who left the town on Tuesday to stay with his sister in the Boise area. The campus has been inundated with police officers, security and reporters this week, McClain said.
"I was there yesterday, and I've never seen [the] campus, the atmosphere, that dark before," McClain said on Tuesday. "Campus is usually very lively very, very fun, very bright. There's always stuff going on, there's always activities, there's always events being put on."
McClain said he intends to return to campus to finish the semester out of his own sense of responsibility as student body president to bring the community together during this time.
"It's very sad to see, you know, how this tragedy has just, you know, truly devastated our small local community," he said.
The four victims were active in the Greek community, which connected them with many members of fraternities and sororities at the school.
In between long pauses and with an emotional heaviness in his voice, McClain described in an interview to CNN how the group of four friends touched the lives of "countless students" and said he noticed a significant number of students who are part of Greek life fled campus this week.
"Everyone in Greek life in Moscow knows each other in some way or another, which is why the loss ... just devastated that community," McClain said.
Lack of details has students on edge
The unease among the community was compounded after Moscow police, who initially said there was no threat to the public and described the killings as a "targeted attack," backtracked their stance on Wednesday.
"We cannot say there's no threat to the community," said Moscow Police Department Chief James Fry during the Wednesday news conference. "And as we have stated, please stay vigilant, report any suspicious activity and be aware of your surroundings at all times."
Jim Chapin, the father of Ethan Chapin, said in a statement this week the lack of information from the university and local police "only fuels false rumors and innuendo in the press and social media," adding "the silence further compounds our family's agony after our son's murder."
The news conference put some students even more on edge, including Amanda Bauer, a graduate student.
In an interview with CNN affiliate KLEW, Bauer said it was "nerve-wracking to hear them say that we are no longer like totally safe since their first comment, in the beginning, was that we were safe. So, it was definitely a change that made a lot of my friends and I uncomfortable."
Bauer told KLEW she has to stay on campus until Monday when her flight is scheduled to depart, otherwise she would have left sooner.
"My home is in California, so my flight isn't until Monday. But I wish I could go home," Bauer told KLEW.
Other students told CNN because no perpetrator has been caught, the sense of fear on campus is elevated.
"Everybody kind of just went back home because they're scared. ... It's definitely uneasy on campus right now," student Nathan Tinno told CNN.
Another student, Ava Driftmeyer, lives near where the students were killed and described the emotional and mental toll the tragedy has taken on students who feel "helpless" due to the lack of information.
She told CNN police have handled the investigation "poorly" and noted the community was not equipped to deal with this level of tragedy.
Driftmeyer said she had to stay in the area due to her job, and estimated more than half the school's students have left.
"I just don't even think it's like set in yet. ... You know how insane this is? And the fact that there's no answers is like the worst feeling ever," she said.
Other students, such as Chad Huscrost, decided to stay on campus out of respect for the victims and as a show of support to his community, he told CNN affiliate KLEW.
"They're not alone right now," Huscrost told KLEW.
"There is a community, and I think we have to fight back and know that we can conquer over fear," he added.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wlfi.com/news/national/no-plans-on-going-back-an-idaho-community-copes-with-fear-amid-the-unsolved-murders/article_76d4ce77-0a9b-58bc-82f3-43f25f6f6e4d.html | 2022-11-19 23:45:16 | 0 | https://www.wlfi.com/news/national/no-plans-on-going-back-an-idaho-community-copes-with-fear-amid-the-unsolved-murders/article_76d4ce77-0a9b-58bc-82f3-43f25f6f6e4d.html |
Driver dies after crash on Southbound Highway 101 in Salinas
SALINAS, Calif. (KION)- A Monterey County coroner has been called out to a crash on Highway 101 this morning.
The CHP confirmed the crash happened near the Market Street exit on Southbound 101 in Salinas.
Drivers may see some traffic as they had the right lane closed while officers cleared the scene. The CHP confirms one person is dead.
This is a developing story. | https://kion546.com/news/2022/10/25/driver-dies-after-crash-on-southbound-highway-1-in-salinas/ | 2022-10-25 16:34:20 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/2022/10/25/driver-dies-after-crash-on-southbound-highway-1-in-salinas/ |
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says North Korea has fired a missile into the sea in the latest in string of weapons tests.
Alert: South Korea says North Korea has fired a missile into the sea in the latest in string of weapons tests
PI staff stories
Loading … | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Alert-South-Korea-says-North-Korea-has-fired-a-17553894.php | 2022-11-03 00:35:31 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Alert-South-Korea-says-North-Korea-has-fired-a-17553894.php |
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Swapping out their manager didn’t change the Los Angeles Angels’ fortunes Tuesday night.
The Halos matched a franchise record with their 13th straight defeat hours after firing manager Joe Maddon, falling 6-5 to the streaking Boston Red Sox on Christian Vázquez’s go-ahead single in the 10th inning.
Interim boss Phil Nevin lost his managerial debut and Angels star Mike Trout exited with left groin tightness as Los Angeles tied the franchise mark for its longest skid set from 1988-89. The Angels dropped the final 12 games on the 1988 schedule — their worst stretch in a single season before this one — and then their 1989 opener.
“I’m not worried about morale at all,” Nevin said. “You saw the effort from everyone. We had good at-bats. I thought there was a lot of great things. It was just a game where we ended up on the wrong side.”
Boston won its sixth straight with a 15-hit effort, including two from Vázquez. Bobby Dalbec had two RBIs.
Trout homered in the first inning and gingerly ran out a double in the third before leaving with the groin issue. He said he felt a little sore but isn’t overly alarmed. There was no scan or MRI done after Trout left the game.
“Coming out of the box, I didn’t feel it and then I felt like a little cramp. Then I got to second base and a little achy and tried to be smart about it. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow,” Trout said. “At least it isn’t nothing crazy.”
With Trevor Story as the automatic runner in the 10th, Vázquez had a one-out base hit through the hole at second base off Jaime Barria (1-1) to drive in the go-ahead run.
“That was a big hole at second base,” Vázquez said “I love those clutch situations. Somebody needs to do it so why not me?”
Jo Adell had an RBI double and scored a tiebreaking run, but Los Angeles blew a lead in the seventh inning or later for the sixth time during this skid.
After Dalbec’s RBI single cut Boston’s deficit to 5-4 in the sixth, Rafael Devers scored the tying run in the seventh when a grounder up the middle by Story deflected off pitcher Ryan Tepera’s glove.
Tanner Houck (4-3) got the win and Matt Strahm retired the side in the bottom of the 10th for his second save.
Strahm retired Kurt Suzuki to end the game on a grounder to shortstop Enrique Hernandez, who began in center field and slid to short after Xander Bogaerts was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth due to left shoulder tightness.
Boston’s bullpen allowed only one run on two hits and struck out nine in six innings.
“The bullpen did an amazing job. We went to them quick,” manager Alex Cora said. “It was a weird game because we put pressure on them the whole game and we were kind of coming up empty. Christian had a great at-bat in the end.”
Nevin, who played 12 major league seasons for six teams, including the Angels in 1998, returned to the franchise this season as third-base coach after four seasons in the same capacity with the New York Yankees.
Angels GM Perry Minasian said Nevin will be the manager for the rest of the season. This is the first time Nevin has managed in the majors. He has seven years of managerial experience in the minors.
Shohei Ohtani got aboard in the first with a double off the wall in left-center. Trout — who came into the game with one hit in his last 29 at-bats — then drove Garrett Whitlock’s sinker over the wall in center field for his 14th home run of the season and a 2-0 advantage.
Boston took the lead with three runs in the second. The Red Sox had four hits and a walk in the frame, including RBI base hits from Dalbec and Enrique Hernandez.
The Angels tied it in the home half of the frame when Juan Lagares scored after first baseman Dalbec booted a slow ground ball hit by Andrew Velazquez. Los Angeles grabbed a 4-3 advantage in the third on Max Stassi’s RBI ground-rule double down the right-field line and extended it in the fifth when Adell drove in Luis Rengifo with a double.
Both teams had runners in scoring position in the ninth inning, but were unable to score.
FOR STARTERS
Whitlock went four innings and allowed four runs on six hits with five strikeouts. It was the first time in seven games a Boston starter has given up two or more runs.
José Suarez made his first start since April 30 and went a season-high five innings. The lefty allowed three runs and seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: Chris Sale (right rib stress fracture) did not throw his scheduled bullpen due to a stomach bug. The lefty was originally slated to throw to hitters on Friday before the illness.
Angels: RHP Chase Silseth, who went 1-2 in four starts, was optioned to Double-A Rocket City to make way for Suarez.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (3-2, 3.41 ERA) is 2-2 with a 5.02 ERA in 10 career games against the Angels.
Angels: LHP Reid Detmers (2-2, 4.20 ERA) has allowed four home runs and has a 0-1 record in three starts since throwing a no-hitter on May 10 against Tampa Bay.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.texomashomepage.com/sports/angels-lose-13th-straight-trout-injured-after-firing-maddon/ | 2022-06-08 23:48:07 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/sports/angels-lose-13th-straight-trout-injured-after-firing-maddon/ |
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AAA20Group, LLC, a subscription-based robotic solutions leader, announced today that they will be introducing their new, high-capacity cooperative palletizing robot at the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE). The expo takes place in Las Vegas, NV, on September 18 through September 21, 2022. AAA20 Group will exhibit at Booth #7162 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. According to Karen Mallouk, Co-Founder of Las Vegas, NV-based AAA20 Group, LLC, "Attending IBIE enables us to meet face-to-face with bakery leaders from around the Western Hemisphere. In addition, our cost and labor-saving messages are compelling for bakery operators looking to boost capacity and cut costs by adding automation to their business".
Investment in a growing trend
AAA20Group is investing over $1 million in its robot-as-a-service (RaaS) business model. This investment enables the company to offer a new, more efficient palletizing robot that adds much-needed automation capacity to end-of-line packaging. Perfect for medium to large bakery operations, the CP-200 robot delivers a gripping capacity of 44 lbs., doubling that of the popular CP-100 model. Depending on the application, the C-100 and C-200 systems can offer a significant cost-saving potential for nearly any packaging line requiring end-of-line palletizing. From a cost-benefit standpoint, these cooperative palletizing robots can easily replace a human worker doing equivalent work. In addition to the hourly labor cost savings, the robotic systems reduce the possibility of repetitive motion injury.
Easy introduction to bakery packaging automation
Mallouk continues, "Our program eliminates the need for robotics expertise, as our application experts will fully configure the system and deliver a turn-key solution. The implementation process is efficient, convenient, and offers the benefits of 100% financing. Additionally, by leasing the labor-saving robots, resources may be shifted from capital expense to operating expense. Following either the traditional way of buying machinery or the robot-as-employee (subscription), growing bakery operations can reallocate their workforce toward higher-level activities and, as a result, optimize valuable human capital."
A hedge against tightening labor markets
Though an ongoing shortage of workers affects many industries, some medium-sized bakery operations are still reticent about investing in automation. However, most entrepreneurs agree that anything that can help reduce labor count is attractive at this particular time. The goal to minimize labor overhead is why AAA20 Group is responding to the growing demand for cooperative robotic solutions. The approach is gaining specific traction among bakery operations. Karen Mallouk adds, "Our automation systems are affordable, highly productive, and easy to operate; they are excellent at following precise, repetitive movements typical in bakery packaging operations."
About AAA20 Group, LLC
AAA20 Group, LLC is a privately held company headquartered in Las Vegas, NV. The company provides collaborative robotic equipment solutions used in the packaging industry. Proven automation industry leaders manufacture the robots offered for lease by AAA20. More about the new model C-200 collaborative palletizer: (pending publication)
https://youtu.be/LN2_JObr9ws
Corporate contact:
Karen Mallouk, Co-Founder
10241 Kirkwood Gaps Ave.
Las Vegas, NV 89135 USA
(847) 220-6733
https://collaborativepalletizer.com
sales@collaborativepalletizer.com
Media contact:
Robert Goldberg
StartupFactory, LLC
robert@startupfactory.biz
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SOURCE AAA20Group, LLC | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2022/09/14/aaa20group-llc-investing-over-1-million-robot-as-a-service-designed-streamline-end-of-line-bakery-palletizing-operations/ | 2022-09-14 13:38:36 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2022/09/14/aaa20group-llc-investing-over-1-million-robot-as-a-service-designed-streamline-end-of-line-bakery-palletizing-operations/ |
What is New Jersey’s most iconic dessert?
🎂 The most iconic dessert from all 50 states has been revealed in a new report
🍰 Everything from cakes to pies to cookies and ice cream are represented
🍨 Can you guess New Jersey's most iconic dessert?
Cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, and ice cream! If you have a sweet tooth, then this is for you.
Femanin.com put out a list of “The Most Iconic Dessert from Each State.”
Before we get to New Jersey, let’s see what delectable treat hails from its neighboring states, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware.
Connecticut
Snickerdoodles are the official state cookie for Connecticut. So, it should come as no surprise that the cookie is The Constitution State’s choice as its most iconic dessert. What is a Snickerdoodle? A classic Snickerdoodle tastes like a sugar cookie generously flavored with cinnamon sugar. The cookie has crispy edges and a chewy center making them super yummy.
Delaware
Nicknamed The First State, Delaware’s state flower is the peach blossom. So, it makes sense that peach pie is the state’s iconic dessert of choice. In fact, Delaware designated peach pie as the official state dessert in 2009.
According to statedesserts.com, Delaware Peach Pie is made with peaches, lemon juice, flour, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, brown sugar, rolled oats, and salt in a 9-inch crust. When made right, it tastes like summer on a plate.
New York
While New York is known as The Empire State, New York City is dubbed “The Big Apple.” So, you may think that the classic apple pie is the iconic dessert of New York. But you would be wrong.
Cheesecake is the state’s most popular dessert. Cheesecakes have been on the New York scene in the 1920s. There are so many flavors to choose from: classic, blueberry, cherry, chocolate, marble, and so many more.
Nonetheless, there is a difference between a New York-style cheesecake and a regular cheesecake. Regular cheesecake uses heavy cream and sour cream to thin the batter and create a creamier texture. New York-style cheesecake is heavy on cream cheese which is why it’s so rich and dense.
Don’t forget the buttery graham cracker crust and you have the perfect dessert!
Pennsylvania
Shoofly pie is common in The Keystone State, especially in Lancaster County, home of the Amish. But let’s not forget about the Hershey factory and Chocolate World in Hershey, PA.
Therefore, it makes sense here that the state chose the chocolate chip cookie as its iconic state dessert.
A crispy cookie with a gooey chocolatey middle is the perfect pick-me-up that no one can turn down.
According to HersheyLand, the perfect chocolate chip cookie is made with butter, granulated sugar, packed light brown sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, chopped nuts (optional), and of course Hershey’s milk or dark chocolate chips.
New Jersey
By now you’re probably wondering what dessert is the iconic dessert of The Garden State. New Jersey is home to some of the best boardwalk and carnival treats like ice cream, donuts, funnel cakes and of course, blueberry pie.
But none of them make the cut!
You may or may not be surprised to learn that according to this site, the most iconic dessert of New Jersey is the crumb cake!!!
Originating in Germany, the crumb cake is considered a flat cake covered with a sweet crumb topping referred to as streusel (something scattered). The crumb cake is a Jersey favorite and can be found in almost every bakery across the state.
Food.com has a New Jersey crumb cake recipe you may want to try on your own. It’s made with sugar, eggs, milk, flour, baking powder, and vanilla. The crumb topping is made with butter, sugar, biscuit mix, cinnamon, and powdered sugar, all baked to perfection.
Enjoy with a morning cup of coffee out on the deck this summer, on the beach with an iced latte, or at night by a fire pit with friends.
For a full list of iconic desserts from each and every state, visit here.
Report a correction | Contact our newsroom
Each State in America and Their Favorite Type of Cereal... | https://catcountry1073.com/iconic-desserts-from-every-state-new-jersey-2023/ | 2023-06-09 19:34:23 | 0 | https://catcountry1073.com/iconic-desserts-from-every-state-new-jersey-2023/ |
PARIS, May 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- https://www.babolat.com/news/tennis-LPR-kids-racquets.html?section=news
Thirty children had the opportunity of a lifetime yesterday when Toni Nadal taught them how to become champions, while playing with Carlos Alcaraz and Dominic Thiem. The event in Paris was part of the launch of a range of specially designed Babolat racquets for young players.
Racquets for children are hardly new, but until now, most of them have been simply smaller versions of a full-sized model. Thanks to Babolat's pioneering work with scientists, coaches and behavioural experts in France and America, the Lyon-based company has now brought out a whole range of racquets conceived, designed and developed with the specific needs of 4-12 year-olds in mind.
As part of the launch of these racquets, the most successful coach of the French Open Toni Nadal taught 30 youngsters aged 8-12 how to play like the best. 2020 US Open Champion Dominic Thiem and US Open reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz were also part of the event to play with the kids.
The lucky youngsters were selected from Parisian tennis associations, Yannick Noah's Fête le Mur charity and Lagardère Paris Racing, the country club that hosted the event. The kids learned how to string a racquet – as Babolat believes 50% of a racquet's effectiveness comes from strings.
Babolat teamed up with two respected partners and a group of coaches to create the world's first racquet range designed to meet the specific needs of young players.
Scientific input came from the French laboratory LIBM (Laboratoire Inter-universitaire de Biologie et Motricité), which looked at what a racquet needs to offer a child for optimum development to prevent injuries in growing bodies. LIBM analysed more than 300 children from 15 tennis clubs in France to determine the best characteristics, like size, balance and grip.
Pedagogic advice came from a group of around 10 top coaches who specialise in techniques of learning and teaching tennis.
Psychological and behavioural expertise came from Court 16, the tennis club in New York for children, which looks at exciting new ways of teaching and practising tennis.
The racquets in the Babolat kids range are named BFly (girls) and Ballfighter (boys), each with a different specification. Find all the pictures and videos of the event ; and Carlos Alcaraz & Dominic Thiem's first reactions prior to the Paris grand slam https://www.babolat.com/news/tennis-LPR-kids-racquets.html?section=news
Contact: shirley@zrcommunication.com
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2086408/Babolat_racquets.jpg
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SOURCE Babolat | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/05/26/teaching-youngsters-what-learn-carlos-alcaraz-babolat-launches-pioneering-range-specially-designed-childrens-racquets/ | 2023-05-26 11:08:58 | 0 | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/05/26/teaching-youngsters-what-learn-carlos-alcaraz-babolat-launches-pioneering-range-specially-designed-childrens-racquets/ |
VERO BEACH, Fla., May 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Watercrest Winter Park Assisted Living and Memory Care in Winter Park, Florida has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a 2022-23 Best Assisted Living Community and Best Memory Care Community.
Watercrest Winter Park is one of the senior living communities recognized by U.S. News that earned "Best" status by achieving the highest possible rating for both Assisted Living and Memory Care. U.S. News awards the designation of Best Senior Living only to those communities that satisfy U.S. News's objective statistical assessment of each senior living community's performance from consumer satisfaction surveys administered between March 2021 and February 2022, reflecting the viewpoints of more than 200,000 current residents and family members of residents living in thousands of senior living communities nationwide.
"It is a great honor and distinction for Watercrest Winter Park to be awarded a Best Senior Living Community by an esteemed organization such as U.S. News & World Report," says Marc Vorkapich, principal and chief executive officer of Watercrest Senior Living Group. "This recognition is a first-hand testament from our residents as to the excellence in care and service they enjoy in our Watercrest communities."
The inaugural U.S. News Best Senior Living ratings and profiles offer comprehensive information and exclusive analysis of consumer satisfaction data evaluating such factors as community & activity, food & dining, caregiving, and management & staff for nearly 2,500 communities in the continental U.S. and Hawaii. For more than 30 years, U.S. News has served the American public as an unbiased arbiter of quality across a variety of important choices. Whether picking a college, selecting a hospital or moving to a nursing home, consumers go to U.S. News to research and make consequential life decisions.
"Until now, families have had limited information when comparing providers of independent living, assisted living, memory care or continuing care," said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News. "The Best Senior Living ratings fill this informational gap with comprehensive and transparent data to help older consumers and their families identify high-quality senior living communities that meet their needs and preferences."
For more information behind the data analyzed in the U.S. News ratings for Senior Living, please refer to the methodology.
Watercrest Winter Park is a signature Watercrest product offering 75 assisted living and 32 memory care apartments with premium accommodations, exceptional amenities and world-class care. Ideally located at 1501 Glendon Parkway, the community boasts a stunning promenade, pool, fireplace, signature water wall, multiple dining venues, children's play space, grand balconies and Southern style outdoor living spaces. Additionally, Watercrest's uniquely designed Market Street Plaza, showcases an 'outdoor' streetscape with numerous LifeBUILT programming touches; a highlight and crucial element of their multi-sensory memory care programming. For information, please contact the community at 321-730-2666.
About Watercrest Senior Living Group
Watercrest Senior Living Group was founded to honor our mothers and fathers, aspiring to become a beacon for quality in senior living by surpassing standards of care, service and associate training. Watercrest senior living communities are recognized for their luxury aesthetic, exceptional amenities, world-class care, and innovative memory care programming offering unparalleled service to seniors living with Alzheimer's and dementia. A certified Great Place to Work, Watercrest specializes in the development and operations of assisted living and memory care communities and the growth of servant leaders. For information, visit www.watercrestseniorliving.com
About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. A multifaceted digital media company with Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News and 360 Reviews platforms, U.S. News provides rankings, independent reporting, data journalism, consumer advice and U.S. News Live events. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
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SOURCE Watercrest Senior Living Group | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2022/05/18/us-news-amp-world-report-names-watercrest-winter-park-2022-23-best-assisted-living-memory-care-community/ | 2022-05-18 16:52:47 | 0 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2022/05/18/us-news-amp-world-report-names-watercrest-winter-park-2022-23-best-assisted-living-memory-care-community/ |
NEW YORK -- "General Hospital" taped its 15,000th episode this past June, and it will pass another milestone early next year when the show celebrates its 60th anniversary on ABC.
It is the longest running American soap opera still on the air.
Finola Hughes first joined the cast back in the Spring of 1985, and all these years later, she finds her character, Anna Devane, involved in a steamy, love affair with Valentin Cassadine, played by James Patrick Stuart.
Their on-screen relationship has been praised as "authentic" and "electric," which is all the more unusual because both stars are veterans with decades of acting experience.
"Being in Hollywood, you're reminded constantly that it's done. You're over, and we're not," Finola said. "And, I like to think that maybe I'm holding a torch for women everywhere."
The two characters are one-time enemies who found love this past summer of "General Hospital."
The show's writers took their time bringing the pair together.
"I don't want to rush this," Valentin tells Anna, to which she replies, "we can go slow next time."
"People have sort of gone a little crazy about it," Finola continued. "Twitter kind of blew up, and I have to say at this stage in my life for people to react that well to a love scene on television, I was amazed."
Even more interesting were the tweets of some younger fans.
"They weren't sure about watching this because it was grown-grown people, and I really liked that," she said. "And I retweeted that because it was, two grown people on television in bed."
Finola calls this "gratifying" after a career that has spanned so many decades.
After all, 40 years have passed since she was in "Staying Alive" opposite John Travolta on the big screen.
"Maybe we're just starting to regard women that they don't have a 'sell by' date," she said. "It would be nice. It's a battle hard won."
"General Hospital" airs every weekday afternoon on ABC. | https://abc30.com/general-hospital-finola-hughes-soap-opera-abc/12323931/ | 2022-10-13 22:47:39 | 0 | https://abc30.com/general-hospital-finola-hughes-soap-opera-abc/12323931/ |
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is nearly ready to reveal his decision on entering the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, saying Sunday that he would make an announcement on May 22.
Scott didn’t definitively say that he’ll be announcing his official campaign, but he told those gathered at a downtown Charleston school during a town hall that he would be coming out with his decision at an event in about three weeks in North Charleston, which he calls home.
“It is time to make the final step,” Scott said to a room packed with cheering supporters, as well as a film crew, which a longtime Scott adviser said was gathering “content” for future use, a flick at a potential launch or campaign ad video.
“We will have a major announcement,” Scott added.
Scott, 57, has been inching ever closer to formally entering the GOP nomination race, where he would join other announced candidates, including former President Donald Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and “anti-woke” biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Another of those is Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina governor who appointed Scott in 2012 to the Senate, where he is the sole Black Republican. Haley hasn’t commented on Scott’s potential entry into the race, while Scott has dismissed suggestions of any awkwardness in running against the former governor who appointed him to his Senate seat.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence are among those considering launching their own presidential campaigns in the coming months.
Last month, Scott created an exploratory committee, a mechanism that allowed him to raise money for polling and travel related to making a determination on the race. In a video announcing that effort, Scott positioned himself as the antidote to the “radical left,” with a self-made success story as the son of a single mother who overcame poverty, and bemoaned Democratic leaders as needlessly dividing the country by fostering a “culture of grievance.”
“When I fought back against their liberal agenda, they called me a prop. A token. Because I disrupt their narrative,” he said in the video, which was shot on the site of Fort Sumter in his hometown of Charleston, where the Civil War’s first shots were fired. “I threaten their control.”
In February — a day after Haley’s official campaign launch — Scott kicked off a listening tour that has taken him to other early voting states, including Iowa and New Hampshire, where he’s held events ranging from political meetings with evangelical pastors to town halls and speeches. In his time on the trail, Scott has tried to present a more positive vision for the future than many of his potential rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
Scott told The Associated Press in Iowa that voters he has spoken with respond favorably to his optimistic outlook for the country and his conservative ideals.
“I think my candidacy is really designed around what the American people want to talk about, what their priorities are and what their issues are,” Scott told AP.
If Scott enters the race, he would have just over one month to raise money before the end of the second quarter, with more candidates in the GOP field intensifying the competition for donor dollars.
But Scott has already proven that he can attract significant money. A pro-Scott super PAC, Opportunity Matters Fund, spent more than $20 million to help Republicans in 2022 and reported $13 million-plus on hand to start 2023. Tech billionaire Larry Ellison has donated at least $30 million to the organization since 2021, according to federal filings.
Sunday’s town hall took place at Meeting Street Academy, part of a charter school network founded by one of Scott’s top donors, Charleston philanthropist Ben Navarro. Scott was introduced by South Carolina businessman and longtime supporter Mike Johnson, who is serving as a national finance co-chair for Scott and a day after the planned May 22 announcement is hosting a day-long “call day and retreat” with Scott supporters.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP | https://www.kark.com/news/politics/ap-politics/tim-scott-sets-may-22-announcement-for-2024-presidential-bid/ | 2023-05-01 06:15:03 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/news/politics/ap-politics/tim-scott-sets-may-22-announcement-for-2024-presidential-bid/ |
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona city council scheduled a vote next month on replacing park and road names that have century-old ties to the Ku Klux Klan.
Tempe councilmembers will consider replacement names during a March 2 meeting. The new names were proposed by community members and vetted by council-appointed volunteers who met several times.
The renaming effort began in 2021 after historical research determined that several parks and streets were named after former community leaders who were members of an area Klan chapter in the 1920s. Resident Drew Sullivan helped start the initiative and staffers at the Arizona Historical Society and Tempe History Museum had a hand in the research, which also used records from the Phoenix Public Library.
A Klan chapter called Butte Klan No. 3 included many prominent Tempe residents, including mayors, council members, bankers and other power brokers, according to documents released by the city. At the time, the city’s elementary schools were segregated, as was a swimming pool at Tempe Beach Park.
The Tempe Elementary School District already has renamed three schools bearing some of the associated names.
Tempe city officials in February settled on the list of proposed replacement names, which includes civil rights activists, the first African American landowners in what is now Tempe, and married pioneers Adolfo Romo and Joaquina Jones, who fought and won in court for their children to be able to attend school with white children. Their 1925 case helped pave the way for desegregation in the United States.
“This is really touching to me because I’ve had people (in my family) who have died by hanging by the Ku Klux Klan, so I understand what this means emotionally,” Berdetta Hodge, the first Black woman to sit on the city council, told the Arizona Republic.
Pending action by the City Council, it could be the summer for the actual name changes are made.
The city is still organizing how it will reimburse residents who have to update their addresses. Residents will have one year to file claims after the properties are officially renamed. | https://www.mrt.com/news/politics/article/arizona-city-considers-replacing-street-names-17792871.php | 2023-02-18 21:55:58 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/politics/article/arizona-city-considers-replacing-street-names-17792871.php |
MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian government pressed its crackdown against critical voices on Monday by branding the global anti-corruption group Transparency International as “undesirable,” effectively banning it from operating in the country.
The Russian prosecutor’s office charged that while “formally acting as an organization fighting corruption around the world, it interferes in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation, which poses a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the Russian Federation.”
Daniel Eriksson, CEO of Berlin-based Transparency International, said in a statement: “Despite these allegations, Transparency International will continue to shine a light on corruption and kleptocracy in Russia and everywhere else to promote transparency, accountability, integrity, and to hold power to account.”
The group is best known for an annual index ranking countries, including Russia, on their degree of corruption.
Since launching its military operation in Ukraine last February, the Russian government has intensified its crackdown on dissent and toughened legislation to muzzle critical voices. The authorities have methodically targeted people and organizations critical of the Kremlin, branding many as “foreign agents” and declaring some as “undesirable.” | https://www.krqe.com/news/world/ap-russia-declares-transparency-international-undesirable/ | 2023-03-07 04:57:30 | 0 | https://www.krqe.com/news/world/ap-russia-declares-transparency-international-undesirable/ |
FAA to give airports $1 billion for terminals and upgrades
The Biden administration is giving nearly $1 billion to 85 airports to expand and upgrade terminals and other facilities, using money approved in last year's huge infrastructure bill.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the projects will help meet future demand for travel and make flying safer and more efficient.
“I don’t think anybody could look at airports across America today and say that the existing system and existing levels of funding have been adequate,” Buttigieg told reporters.
The grants announced Thursday are the first installment of $5 billion for airport projects that were included in an infrastructure bill that Congress approved and President Joe Biden signed last November.
The largest of the Federal Aviation Administration grants include $60 million to improve the terminal and replace the bag-handling system at Denver International Airport, $50 million apiece for Boston's Logan Airport and Orlando International Airport in Florida, $49.6 million for Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., to build a new concourse and $20 million for Pittsburgh International Airport to build a new terminal next to the old one.
The main airports in Detroit and Philadelphia will get more than $20 million each to renovate their restrooms.
The FAA said 532 airports submitted applications for 658 projects that, if all had been granted, would have totaled more than $14 billion.
In the past, federal funds have gone largely into runways, taxiways and towers while airports paid for terminal upgrades with money they get from passenger facility charges, or PFCs — up to $4.50 per flight that is tacked onto every airline ticket.
Buttigieg said it is fine to spend taxpayer money on projects that were generally funded by passenger fees in the past because “there is a need out there; taxpayers expect it and want it.”
Congress could consider raising ticket taxes for airport projects next year. Airports want to raise the fees, but airlines don’t. | https://www.wmur.com/article/airports-to-get-1-billion-for-terminals-and-upgrades/40540984 | 2022-07-07 13:04:14 | 1 | https://www.wmur.com/article/airports-to-get-1-billion-for-terminals-and-upgrades/40540984 |
Milliman PPFI plans see estimated investment returns of 4.7% in aggregate during July
SEATTLE, Aug. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the latest results of its Public Pension Funding Index (PPFI), which consists of the nation's 100 largest public defined benefit pension plans.
During July, the Milliman 100 PPFI funded ratio increased, climbing from 74.0% on June 30 to 77.3% as of July 31. Public pensions recovered the majority of June's market losses, thanks to an estimated 4.7% investment return for these plans, in aggregate. Individual plans' estimated returns ranged from 2.1% to 8.2%. During July, the plans gained market value of approximately $217 billion, which was offset by net negative cash flow of $8 billion.
"July's modest market recovery gave a nice boost to public pension funding, resulting in just over a quarter of the plans in our study now being 90% funded or greater," said Becky Sielman, author of Milliman's PPFI. "That's still far below where we were at the close of 2021, when 46 plans were 90% funded or better – underscoring the importance of market returns on the health of these plans."
For more information and to view the full Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding Index, go to http://www.milliman.com/ppfi/. To see Milliman's full range of annual Pension Funding Studies, go to https://www.milliman.com/en/retirement-and-benefits/pension-funding-studies. To receive regular updates of Milliman's pension funding analysis, contact us at pensionfunding@milliman.com.
About Milliman
Milliman is among the world's largest providers of actuarial and related products and services. The firm has consulting practices in healthcare, property & casualty insurance, life insurance and financial services, and employee benefits. Founded in 1947, Milliman is an independent firm with offices in major cities around the globe. For further information, visit milliman.com.
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SOURCE Milliman, Inc. | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/08/23/milliman-analysis-public-pensions-recover-majority-junes-market-losses-reach-773-funded-july-31/ | 2022-08-23 17:35:03 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/08/23/milliman-analysis-public-pensions-recover-majority-junes-market-losses-reach-773-funded-july-31/ |
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
C. Milton Wright's Larry Thompson tries to make. move around the Havre de Grace defense as he brings the ball up the court during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
C. Milton Wright's Jordan Ross puts up a three-point shot during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
The C. Milton Wright bench begins to celebrate as the final seconds tick down for the team's win during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
Havre de Grace's Cameron Ball puts up the shot over the C. Milton Wright defense during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
Havre de Grace's Tristian Blackwell pulls down the rebound during the game against C. Milton Wright at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
C. Milton Wright head coach Mario Scott celebrates a bit as he team takes the lead during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
C. Milton Wright's Larry Thompson tries to make a move to get around Havre de Grace's Jason Hayes as he brings the ball up the court during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
C. Milton Wright's Larry Thompson brings the ball up the court during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
C. Milton Wright's Dylan Sander sees his chance and drives to the rim with Havre de Grace's Johnny Coit staying tough on defense during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
Havre de Grace head coach Brian Eberhardt directs his players on the court during their home game against C. Milton Wright Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
C. Milton Wright head coach Mario Scott directs his players on the court during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
boys basketball C. Milton Wright vs Havre de Grace
C. Milton Wright's Larry Thompson stays ready on defense as Havre de Grace's Cameron Ball tries to move the ball up the court during the game at Havre de Grace Friday, January 6, 2023. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media) | https://www.baltimoresun.com/photos/cng-ag-sp-boys-hoop-vg-20230110-imo5pmvqp5gpjfgm3jp5g7kn2i-photogallery.html | 2023-01-10 17:37:28 | 1 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/photos/cng-ag-sp-boys-hoop-vg-20230110-imo5pmvqp5gpjfgm3jp5g7kn2i-photogallery.html |
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Gay Men's Chorus presents The Body Electric on March 25 and 26 at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts.
The concert centers around the theme that everyone has the right to lead lives of freedom, peace and joy.
The Body Electric honors the never-ending crusade against oppression in the pursuit of a more perfect union, and the inalienable power found within each individual.
"In addition to speaking about these really important social issues, there are moments of real beauty and real excitement. The entire concert is augmented by some stunning visuals, both chorus movement soloists, featured instrumentalists, and then we have some spectacular lighting effects," PGMC Artistic Director Dr. Brayden Ayers said.
The show takes full advantage of the Reser's acoustics with some great songs, including some sophisticated pieces that show off what PGMC has to offer.
"The thing that the Portland game's chorus is famous for its wall of sound," PGMC Executive Director Richard Jung said. "And you know, there are very few institutions in this country that can have 100 people on stage and make the sound that we do."
PGMC is also looking for new members. All are welcome. They will be holding auditions the first weekend in April. Learn more at pdxgmc.org.
The Body Electric is happening Saturday, March 25 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 26 at 3 p.m. It's happening at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts. Find your ticket at thereser.org.
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See a typo in this article? Email web@kgw.com for corrections | https://www.kgw.com/article/entertainment/portland-gay-mens-chorus/283-ac437927-f09c-480a-be06-e2955ba8a554 | 2023-03-21 04:38:08 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/entertainment/portland-gay-mens-chorus/283-ac437927-f09c-480a-be06-e2955ba8a554 |
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Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/you-speak-english-lehigh-valley-lyft-driver-kicks-rider-out-over-comment/3240197/ | 2022-05-16 11:39:03 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/you-speak-english-lehigh-valley-lyft-driver-kicks-rider-out-over-comment/3240197/ |
PARIS (AP) — French authorities see the police as protectors who are ensuring that citizens can peacefully protest President Emmanuel Macron’s contentious retirement age increase. But to human rights advocates and demonstrators who were clubbed or tear-gassed, officers have overstepped their mission.
In the months since mass protests against the proposed pension changes began roiling France, some law enforcement officers have been accused of resorting to gratuitous violence. A man in Paris lost a testicle to an officer’s club, and a police grenade took the thumb of a woman in Rouen. A railroad worker hit by grenade fragments lost an eye.
“Where is your humanity?” a woman shouted at officers who knocked an apparently homeless man to the ground in Paris, kicked him and used vulgar language while ordering him to get up and go. In a video posted on Twitter, another passerby helped the man to his feet at the scene last month near the Place de la Bastille.
The violence adds to the anger in the streets and complicates efforts to invite dialogue between the government and labor unions, who are planning an 11th round of mass demonstrations Thursday.
The protests, which began in January, gained momentum after Macron’s decision last month to push a bill to raise the retirement age through the lower house of parliament without a vote. The common French reference to law enforcement officers as “forces of order” has been turned on its head. Now the question is whether police represent force or order.
Jarred by the bad publicity, authorities have shifted to damage control by offering accolades for security forces.
“There is no police violence,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Wednesday on RTL radio while condemning “individual acts” of officers who use disproportionate force. “Can’t we occasionally thank the forces of order?” he pleaded.
The concerns about police brutality have reverberated beyond France. Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights and the Council of Europe — the continent’s main human rights body — were among the organizations that cited excessive police violence during what has been a largely peaceful protest movement.
French police are sent into demonstrations with weapons that are prohibited in most European countries, including stun grenades and rubber bullets, according to Sebastian Roche, an expert on security forces with France’s National Center for Scientific Research.
Demonstrations and potentially mutilating weapons are a combustible combination, Roche said, because “the temptation will be very big to use these armaments” especially when police come under a cascade of objects hurled at them, including Molotov cocktails.
The strategy is “at once very violent” and in some aspects illegal, Roche said, citing cases in which demonstrators were detained en masse and then released without charges the next morning. Lawyers’ and magistrates’ associations have said such practices are an abuse of the law.
Jonas Cardoso, a 20-year-old student, was among more than 100 people detained during a March 23 protest in Paris.
“I spent hours in a cell for four people with nine other protesters. I slept on the floor,” he told The Associated Press. Cardoso denied any wrongdoing and was released without charges.
Worse, Cardoso said, is that violence may beget more violence.
“If the government doesn’t listen to us, the violence will rise. Our worst fear is that someone will die while protesting,” the young man said.
Videos of police brutality posted on social media largely fail to capture the presence of black-clad ultra-leftists or anarchists who have infiltrated the protest marches, destroyed property and attacked police officers.
“There are troublemakers, often extreme left, who want to take down the state and kill police and ultimately take over the institutions,” Darmanin said after a protest in March that turned especially violent.
The ranks of these provocateurs have grown, bolstered by opportunists and some leftist students. The intruders work in small, highly mobile groups, appearing and disappearing in formations known as black blocs.
Black blocs are not a new phenomenon, but they represent a danger to police. In one dramatic video posted on social networks, an officer is seen crashing to the ground after being hit with a paving stone. Colleagues dragged him away.
Violence by and against police is not limited to Paris, or to protests over Macron’s retirement plan.
Gendarmes and militants opposed to an artificial water basin recently clashed in rural France. Four people — two gendarmes and two protesters — were hospitalized in serious condition.
According to French policing rules, the use of force “must be absolutely necessary, strictly proportionate and graduated.”
“Of course, the police response is proportionate,” Paris Police Chief Laurent Nunez insisted in a television interview. Police intervene only when black blocs move into action, he said.
“Without police, demonstrations wouldn’t take place,” he said, insisting on their role as guardians of peace.
However, some protesters have found themselves trapped by police tactics such as encirclement, in which officers surround marchers so police can chase down troublemakers. But protesters stuck inside the police bubble can’t escape tear gas fumes.
Roche said the latest tensions show that France has “an accumulation of (police) crises that no other European country has.”
He cited the 2018-2019 Yellow Vest protests for social and economic justice where a brutal police response left two people dead, and multiple protesters lost eyes. Next came a debacle during last year’s Champions League Cup final when British soccer fans were gassed by police at the Stade de France.
Amnesty International’s France chief, Jean-Claude Samouiller, said last week at a news conference that France should improve its policing strategy and cited “a doctrine of de-escalation and dialogue” that is observed in Germany, Belgium and Sweden.
Compared with other European countries, Samouiller said, the two protest deaths in France in recent years put the nation at the bottom of the class, in the category of “bad student.”
___
Associated Press writers Jade Le Deley and Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report. | https://www.wfla.com/news/international/ap-international/pension-protests-raise-tension-between-police-demonstrators/ | 2023-04-03 10:37:07 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/international/ap-international/pension-protests-raise-tension-between-police-demonstrators/ |
PROVIDENCE, R.I., July 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bally's Corporation (NYSE: BALY) today announced the final results of its modified "Dutch Auction" tender offer, which expired at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, at the end of the day on July 22, 2022.
Based on the final count by American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, the depositary for the tender offer, 4,697,619 common shares were validly tendered at or below the final purchase price of $22.00 per share and not validly withdrawn, including shares that were tendered through notice of guaranteed delivery.
In accordance with the terms and conditions of the tender offer, Bally's has accepted for purchase a total of 4,697,619 common shares at the purchase price of $22.00 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $103,347,618, excluding fees and expenses relating to the tender offer. These shares represent approximately 8.9% of Bally's outstanding common shares. As Bally's accepted for purchase all shares that were validly tendered at a purchase price at or below $22.00 per share and not validly withdrawn, there is no proration factor. The depositary will promptly pay for all shares accepted for purchase.
Bally's may, in the future, decide to make share repurchases from time to time on the open market or in private transactions, subject to applicable law. Any of these repurchases may be on the same terms or on terms that are more or less favorable to the selling shareholders in those transactions than the terms of the tender offer. Bally's currently has $334.6 million available for use under its previously announced capital return program.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as the lead dealer manager for the tender offer and Capital One Securities, Inc., Truist Securities, Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as the co-dealer managers. MacKenzie Partners, Inc. served as the information agent and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC acted as the depositary.
Bally's Corporation is a global casino-entertainment company with a growing omni-channel presence of Online Sports Betting and iGaming offerings. It currently owns and manages 14 casinos across 10 states, a horse racetrack in Colorado and has access to OSB licenses in 18 states. It also owns Gamesys Group, a leading, global, online gaming operator, Bally Interactive, a first-in-class sports betting platform, Monkey Knife Fight, the fastest growing daily fantasy sports site in North America, SportCaller, a leading, global B2B free-to-play game provider, and Telescope Inc., a leading provider of real-time fan engagement solutions.
With approximately 10,000 employees, Bally's Casino operations include more than 15,800 slot machines, 500 table games and 5,300 hotel rooms. Upon closing the previously announced Tropicana Las Vegas (NV) transaction, as well as completing the construction of a land-based casino near the Nittany Mall in State College, PA, Bally's will own and manage 16 casinos across 11 states. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "BALY."
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than those of historical fact, and generally may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan" and "will" or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. As a result, these statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual events may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by Bally's in this press release, its reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and other public statements made from time-to-time speak only as of the date made. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for Bally's to predict or identify all such events or how they may affect it. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to the payment for shares accepted in the tender offer and the timing thereof, and those factors discussed in Bally's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, subsequent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other reports filed by Bally's with the SEC. Bally's undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
Investor Contact
Robert Lavan
Chief Financial Officer
401-475-8564
InvestorRelations@ballys.com
Media Contact
Richard Goldman
Kekst CNC
646-847-6102
BallysMediaInquiries@kekstcnc.com
BALY-INV
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SOURCE Bally's Corporation | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2022/07/27/ballys-announces-final-results-tender-offer/ | 2022-07-27 12:31:28 | 1 | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2022/07/27/ballys-announces-final-results-tender-offer/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. congressional leaders have invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint meeting of Congress during a visit to Washington later this month as the U.S. looks to deepen its bonds with India, the world’s most populous democracy, to counter China’s growing influence even as Modi has faced criticism for eroding India’s democratic traditions and human rights.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other leaders announced Friday that Modi has been invited to make the address on June 22, stating in a letter that the “partnership between our two countries continues to grow” and calling the address an “opportunity to share your vision for India’s future and speak to the global challenges our countries both face.”
The U.S. is seeking to forge stronger ties overseas — especially in Asia — to counter China’s aggression in the region. Modi’s congressional address would come amid a state visit with President Joe Biden, which includes plans to celebrate Modi with high diplomatic honors reserved for close U.S. allies.
The White House has said that Modi’s visit will be a chance to build on a commitment to a free and secure Indo-Pacific region, as well as develop technology partnerships and tackle climate change.
Biden met with Modi in Japan last month at the Group of Seven summit, and he was expected to travel with the prime minister to later meetings in Papua New Guinea and Australia. But, the second leg of Biden’s trip was canceled so the president could travel home to deal with the stand-off with House Republicans over lifting the U.S. national debt.
Congress routinely welcomes heads of state to deliver an address during a joint meeting, a high-profile opportunity to showcase bonds between the U.S. and other nations. Modi became the fifth Indian prime minister to address Congress in 2016.
Modi’s visit seven years ago came after the politician was shunned for years because of religious violence in his home state while he was chief minister. Since ascending to become prime minister of India in 2014, his Hindu nationalist party has stifled dissent, cracked down on press criticism and introduced divisive policies that discriminate against Muslims and other minorities.
India routinely denies criticism of its human rights and civil liberties record.
Modi has also only lightly criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and refused to impose sanctions.
Despite those concerns, the U.S. has more to gain than lose from a close friendship with India, the White House has reasoned. Biden is looking to strengthen the Quad, an international partnership with the U.S., Australia, India and Japan, that is seen as a potential bulwark against China’s dominance in the region.
Congressional leaders seemed to agree. Their letter to Modi states, “We look forward to paving the way for greater collaboration between our countries in the years to come.” | https://www.wivb.com/news/political-news/ap-politics/indian-prime-minister-narendra-modi-invited-to-address-congress/ | 2023-06-03 14:59:17 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/news/political-news/ap-politics/indian-prime-minister-narendra-modi-invited-to-address-congress/ |
Webb telescope peers into the frozen heart of a space cloud
The James Webb Space Telescope peered inside a wispy molecular cloud located 630 light-years away and spied ices made of different elements.
Molecular clouds are interstellar groupings of gas and dust where hydrogen and carbon monoxide molecules can form. Dense clumps within these clouds can collapse to form young stars called protostars.
The Webb telescope focused on the Chamaeleon I dark molecular cloud, which appears blue in the new image. A young protostar, called Ced 110 IRS 4, glows in orange to the left. The journal Nature Astronomy published a study including the image on Monday.
More orange dots represent light from stars in the background, piercing through the cloud. The starlight helped astronomers determine the diverse range of frozen molecules within the Chamaeleon I dark molecular cloud, which is forming dozens of young stars.
The Webb telescope views the universe through infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. Infrared light can reveal previously hidden aspects of the cosmos and pierce dense clusters of gas and dust that would otherwise obscure the view.
Astronomers have used the space observatory to discover a diverse range of some of the coldest ices in the darkest regions of a molecular cloud to date. During a survey of the cloud, the international research team identified water ice, as well as frozen forms of ammonia, methanol, methane and carbonyl sulfide.
These icy molecules could contribute to the formation of stars and planets — and even the building blocks of life.
Ices can supply planets with carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur, which could lead to the formation of a habitable planet like Earth, where they are used in planetary atmospheres as well as amino acids, sugars and alcohols.
"Our results provide insights into the initial, dark chemistry stage of the formation of ice on the interstellar dust grains that will grow into the centimeter-sized pebbles from which planets form in disks," said lead study author Melissa McClure, an astronomer and assistant professor at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, in a statement. McClure is the principal investigator of the observing program.
"These observations open a new window on the formation pathways for the simple and complex molecules that are needed to make the building blocks of life."
Foundations of planetary birth
In addition to simple molecules, the researchers saw evidence of more complex molecules.
"Our identification of complex organic molecules, like methanol and potentially ethanol, also suggests that the many star and planetary systems developing in this particular cloud will inherit molecules in a fairly advanced chemical state," said study coauthor Will Rocha, an astronomer and postdoctoral fellow at Leiden Observatory, in a statement.
"This could mean that the presence of precursors to prebiotic molecules in planetary systems is a common result of star formation, rather than a unique feature of our own solar system."
Astronomers used starlight filtering through the cloud to search for chemical fingerprints and identify the elements.
"We simply couldn't have observed these ices without Webb," said study coauthor Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, in a statement.
"The ices show up as dips against a continuum of background starlight. In regions that are this cold and dense, much of the light from the background star is blocked, and Webb's exquisite sensitivity was necessary to detect the starlight and therefore identify the ices in the molecular cloud." | https://www.wtae.com/article/webb-telescope-frozen-space-cloud/42624426 | 2023-01-23 23:17:50 | 0 | https://www.wtae.com/article/webb-telescope-frozen-space-cloud/42624426 |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a high-profile prisoner exchange as the U.S. released notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. But the U.S. failed to win freedom for another American, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.
The deal, the second in eight months amid tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, secured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad and achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden. Yet it carried what U.S. officials conceded was a heavy price.
“She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home,” Biden said from the White House, where he was accompanied by Griner’s wife, Cherelle, and administration officials.
Biden’s authorization to release Bout, the Russian felon once nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” underscored the heightened urgency that his administration faced to get Griner home, particularly after the recent resolution of her criminal case on drug charges and her subsequent transfer to a penal colony. Griner, who also played pro basketball in Russia, was arrested at an airport there after Russian authorities said she was carrying vape canisters with cannabis oil.
Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, Baylor University All-American and Phoenix Mercury pro basketball star, whose arrest made her the most high-profile American jailed abroad. Her status as an openly gay Black woman, locked up in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LBGTQ community, injected racial, gender and social dynamics into her legal saga and brought unprecedented attention to the population of wrongful detainees.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the swap, saying in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that the exchange took place in Abu Dhabi and that Bout had been flown home. Russian media showed Griner walking off a Russian plane in Abu Dhabi where she was greeted by a U.S. official. Two Russians greeted Bout with a hug.
Later, Russian TV showed Bout walking off the plane on a snow-covered tarmac in Moscow, his mother and wife hugging him, giving him flowers.
Biden spoke by phone with Griner, and she was expected back in the U.S. within 24 hours, Biden said. U.S. officials said she would be offered specialized medical services and counseling.
Both Russian and U.S. officials had conveyed cautious optimism in recent weeks after months of strained negotiations, with Biden saying in November that he was hopeful that Russia would engage in a deal now that the midterm elections were completed. A top Russian official said last week that a deal was possible before year’s end.
Even so, the fact that the deal was a one-for-one swap was a surprise given that U.S. officials had for months expressed their determination to bring home both Griner and Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government have said are baseless.
“We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan,” Biden said. “We will keep negotiating in good faith for Paul’s release.”
However, U.S. officials said they did not see an immediate path to bringing about Whelan’s release, saying Russia has treated his case differently because of the “sham espionage” charges against him. Still, they said they believe communication channels with the Russians remain open for negotiations for his freedom.
“We didn’t want to lose the opportunity today to secure the release of one of them,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Whelan’s brother David said in a statement he was “ so glad” for Griner’s release but also disappointed for his family. He credited the White House with giving the Whelan family advance notice and said he did not fault officials for making the deal.
“The Biden administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen,” he said.
In releasing Bout, the U.S. freed a former Soviet Army lieutenant colonel whom the Justice Department once described as one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers. He was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the U.S. in 2010.
Bout was serving a 25-year sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons that U.S officials said were to be used against Americans. Biden issued an executive grant of clemency to free the arms dealer from a federal prison in Illinois to effect the prisoner swap.
The deal drew criticism from some prominent Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, his party’s nominee to become speaker once the GOP retakes control of the chamber in January.
“This is a gift to Vladimir Putin, and it endangers American lives,” he said of Bout’s release. “Leaving Paul Whelan behind for this is unconscionable.”
The U.S.-Russia exchange was carried out despite deteriorating relations between the powers prompted by Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The White House said that Kyiv was provided assurances that the terms were limited to the prisoner swap and would not impact U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense.
Over the summer, the imprisonment of Americans produced the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow — a phone call between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — in more than five months.
In an extraordinary move during otherwise secret negotiations, Blinken revealed publicly in July that the U.S. had made a “substantial proposal” to Russia for Griner and Whelan. Though he did not specify the terms, people familiar with it said the U.S. had offered Bout.
The public overture drew a rebuke from the Russians, who said they preferred to resolve such cases in private, and carried the risk of weakening the U.S. government’s negotiating hand for this and future deals by making the administration appear desperate. But the announcement also communicated to the public that Biden was doing what he could and to ensure pressure on the Russians.
The release also followed months of back channel negotiations involving Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a frequent emissary in hostage talks, and his top deputy, Mickey Bergman.
Following Griner’s arrest at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February, she pleaded guilty in July but still faced trial because admitting guilt in Russia’s judicial system does not automatically end a case.
She acknowledged in court that she possessed the canisters with cannabis oil but said she had no criminal intent and their presence in her luggage was due to hasty packing.
Before being sentenced on Aug. 4 and receiving a punishment her lawyers said was out of line for the offense, an emotional Griner apologized “for my mistake that I made.” She added: “I hope in your ruling it does not end my life.”
Her supporters had largely stayed quiet for weeks after her arrest, but that approach changed in May once the State Department designated her as unlawfully detained. A separate trade, Marine veteran Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted in the U.S. in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy, spurred hope that additional exchanges could be in the works.
Whelan has been held in Russia since December 2018. The U.S. government also classified him as wrongfully detained. He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison.
Whelan was not included in the Reed prisoner swap, escalating pressure on the Biden administration to ensure that any deal that brought home Griner also included him.
____
Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Aamer Madhani contributed to this report. | https://pix11.com/news/national-news/ap-national/ap-griner-for-bout-wnba-star-freed-in-us-russia-prisoner-swap/ | 2022-12-09 00:08:24 | 1 | https://pix11.com/news/national-news/ap-national/ap-griner-for-bout-wnba-star-freed-in-us-russia-prisoner-swap/ |
PLEASANT PLAINS, Staten Island (WPIX) — A man walking his dog in New York found a human hand on Thursday, but police have since determined where it came from.
The unnerving find was made on Staten Island, in a wooded area near the North Mount Loretto State Forest in Pleasant Plains around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, the NYPD said.
Officials from the city medical examiner’s office responded and confirmed the body part to be a right hand.
On Saturday morning, officials with the NYPD’s Public Information office confirmed that investigators identified the severed hand’s fingerprints and determined it had belonged to a 63-year-old woman who died in 2011.
The woman had been buried at Resurrection Cemetery, about a mile’s drive from where the hand was found. Police said a plot next to hers had recently been excavated on Feb. 27 for a new burial.
It is believed the equipment used to remove the soil from the plot severed the deceased’s hand, and that soil was later dumped along the tree line near the state forest.
The NYPD told Nexstar there is currently no open investigation into the case. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/human-hand-found-by-man-walking-dog-in-nyc-investigators-find-out-who-it-belonged-to/ | 2023-03-11 21:35:04 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/human-hand-found-by-man-walking-dog-in-nyc-investigators-find-out-who-it-belonged-to/ |
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee wins 1st full term in office
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Dan McKee has defeated Republican challenger Ashley Kalus to win his first full term in office.
McKee is a former lieutenant governor who became the state’s chief executive in March 2021 when two-term Gov. Gina Raimondo was tapped as U.S. commerce secretary. He was the heavy favorite in the liberal state as both a Democrat and incumbent, who was endorsed by a host of large unions. Kalus is a business owner and political novice who moved to the state last year.
McKee said in his victory speech that he would continue working to help families and municipalities, and create jobs.
“Let’s make sure that we do what what we need to do to bring this state to a level that we’ve never seen before because we have momentum like we’ve never seen before in this state,” he said. “We’re going to keep it, and we’re just getting started.”
McKee sought to differentiate himself from Kalus by talking about how he’s a lifelong Rhode Islander with decades of public service in the state. Like Democrats nationwide, he worked to keep abortion rights front and center in the campaign and convince voters that he would champion reproductive rights.
He highlighted the executive order he signed after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that prohibits cooperation with other states investigating people who travel to Rhode Island to seek abortions.
“It is more important than ever to make sure we have strong leadership on the state level that will fight to protect those rights,” he said. “Governors are the last line of defense, and as long as I am governor, the right to choose will always be protected.”
Only about 15% of registered voters in the state are Republicans. Kalus tried to convince independent voters, who make up more than 40% of the electorate, that McKee is an insider politician who is beholden to special interests. She seized on the fact that the FBI is now investigating the awarding of a controversial state contract and criticized McKee over the approval of public financing for developers. She told voters she would end the “I know a guy system” in Rhode Island and help working families.
She thanked her supporters in her concession speech, telling them it has been the “honor of a lifetime” to serve as their voice.
Kalus, who owns a COVID-19 testing company that is suing the state over a canceled contract, moved to Rhode Island last year from Illinois and previously worked for former Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. She bought a home in Newport, registered to vote in Rhode Island as a Republican in January and declared her candidacy in March.
With a week to go before the election, profane texts were shared with media outlets that Kalus sent a contractor in 2018 and 2019 in Chicago. Kalus was upset over construction delays and billing disputes when she was opening a new medical office with her husband. She defended the texts to WPRO, saying they show she and taxpayers would not be taken advantage of if she were governor.
Independent candidates Zachary Hurwitz and Paul Rianna and libertarian Elijah Gizzarelli were also on the ballot.
Voter turnout as the polls closed in the general election was about 43% of the 815,000 residents eligible to vote, according to an unofficial tally by the secretary of state’s office. Turnout in the 2018 midterm elections was 48% in Rhode Island.
In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the Justice Department monitored polls for compliance with federal voting rights laws. The city was one of 64 jurisdictions in 24 states selected. The Justice Department has sent attorneys to monitor election sites nationwide for more than five decades.
McKee was endorsed by large unions representing teachers, firefighters, building trades, auto workers and others. Planned Parenthood’s political action committee in Rhode Island and gun safety groups also endorsed McKee. He survived a tough primary, earning only one-third of the vote against former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, who saw a late surge in the polls, and Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea.
The governor campaigned on his efforts to help the state’s economy recover from COVID-19, promising that he could continue the momentum. He said he would continue to work to pass “smart gun safety laws” to make sure every resident is safe.
McKee’s 94-year-old mother, Willa, was a hit during the primary for a humorous ad. She returned to help him in the general election, appearing in another ad and jokingly interrupting him when he steals her line.
McKee said he has enjoyed seeing his mother “become quite a celebrity” in Rhode Island.
In other statewide races, Democrat Peter Neronha was reelected attorney general and Democrat Gregg Amore was elected secretary of state.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/rhode-island-gov-dan-mckee-wins-1st-full-term-in-office/ | 2022-11-09 03:19:52 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/rhode-island-gov-dan-mckee-wins-1st-full-term-in-office/ |
FORT MOORE, Ga. (AP) — The Army’s training hub in Georgia was renamed Fort Moore during a ceremony Thursday, replacing the name of a Confederate officer that had adorned the base for more than a century with that of a decorated Vietnam War commander and his wife.
The name change for the post formerly known as Fort Benning had been in the making for more than a year, since an independent commission recommended in May 2022 renaming nine of its bases commemorating Confederate officers.
Soldiers and dignitaries attended a ceremony Thursday unveiling the new sign that will stand outside the base headquarters. The post commander, Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, welcomed attendees for the first time to Fort Moore, named in honor of the late Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julia Moore.
Located just outside Columbus, the Georgia base trains soldiers to fight in the infantry, to serve in tank crews and is home to the elite Army Ranger School. Roughly 70,000 soldiers and civilian workers are stationed there.
The name Fort Moore marks the first time the Army has named a base in honor of a married couple.
Hal Moore served in Vietnam as commander of a cavalry battalion based at Fort Benning and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Julia Moore successfully lobbied the Pentagon to adopt a policy that military families would be notified of war casualties in person rather than by telegram.
“Together Hal and Julie Moore embody the very best of our military and our nation,” Buzzard told the ceremony crowd. “And the renaming of this installation as Fort Moore is a fitting tribute to their lifelong dedication to the Army and its soldiers and their families.”
Founded in 1918 as Camp Benning, the Georgia base had long been named for Henry L. Benning, a justice on the Georgia Supreme Court who vocally supported secession after Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in 1860. Benning joined the Confederate Army during the Civil War and rose to the rank of brigadier general.
The name changes are part of a broader effort by the U.S. military to confront racial injustice. The Pentagon in January ordered that the names of Confederate officers and soldiers be stripped from bases, ships, streets and other places by the end of the year.
Some of the changes have already been completed. Fort Pickett in Virginia became Fort Barfoot in March. And Fort Hood, Texas, was renamed Fort Cavazos on Tuesday.
Others will soon follow. Fort Bragg in North Carolina will be redesignated Fort Liberty next month. Later this year in Georgia, Fort Gordon outside Augusta will be renamed for former President Dwight Eisenhower, who served as a five-star Army general. No date has been set. | https://pix11.com/news/national-news/ap-national/army-officially-designates-fort-moore-dropping-confederate-name-benning/ | 2023-05-12 14:06:24 | 1 | https://pix11.com/news/national-news/ap-national/army-officially-designates-fort-moore-dropping-confederate-name-benning/ |
Emma Romig is in the process of turning her "ah-ha"moment — discovered while RVing — into a market-ready innovation with her company, AMPD Camp.
"We're taking parked vehicles, particularly recreational vehicles, and using their batteries and solar panels basically to contribute to the grid," said Romig.
She said none of the progress she's making would be possible without the access she gets at the Testbeds program at the University of Washington Clean Energy Institute in Seattle.
"This shows that what we're doing works at a real scale, and that's really important," said Romig.
"We're in a special, purpose-built laboratory that's trying to reduce the barriers to turning early stage energy innovations into actual impact, which means commercializing them and getting them to scale," said Devin MacKenzie, the director of the Testbeds program.
He said when developing something like clean energy technology, you have to see how it works at a large-scale level. What will it do to the energy grid? What happens when it powers a car? Will this large field of solar panels work?
MacKenzie said figuring out those answers takes years, special skills, and a lot of money — things a clean-energy startup usually doesn't have.
SEE MORE: Tips to save on your energy bill this summer
"The kinds of equipment you need to do these things can be, you know, million-dollar scale equipment, and you might only need it for a short period of time," he said.
Inside a nondescript former manufacturing plant in Seattle, the Testbeds program houses that kind of equipment to test new batteries, solar panels, or other innovations — equipment like a computer that mimics an entire electric grid, a machine that creates flexible solar panels like a newspaper printing press, a quantum printer and many other cool things that are nerd-out worthy.
With either a monthly fee, a per-hour equipment fee, or through a grant, startups have open access not only to these fancy machines, but to people who are employed here who know how to run them.
"People can come and get their solutions very, very rapidly as opposed to being on a long learning curve," said MacKenzie.
There are a few other facilities across the country offering the same kind of technical help to startups. Some are with universities, while others are run by the government. While they differ in what they offer or how they operate, the goal is the same — to get new tech out fast to meet society's need for clean energy solutions.
"We focus on sort of accelerating that adoption and scaling of clean energy, because there are solutions out there," said MacKenzie.
In the rush to find alternatives to fossil fuels, the Testbeds program and facilities like it say they're helping to get clean energy solutions out quickly and as cost-effectively as possible.
"There's urgency sort of throughout the whole system to get something done and make it happen, so that quickness and ability to sort of turn ideas quickly, try new things, break things quickly, is absolutely critical," said Romig.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.wptv.com/test-beds-help-fast-track-clean-energy-tech-from-idea-to-market | 2023-06-26 22:59:49 | 0 | https://www.wptv.com/test-beds-help-fast-track-clean-energy-tech-from-idea-to-market |
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ken Blanchard Companies®, a global leader in management training, consulting, and coaching, was named the winner of a Silver Stevie® Award for Best New Product of the Year in the 19th Annual International Business Awards® today.
The Conversational Capacity® course won Best New Product of the Year in the Business-to-Business category. The course teaches people how to engage in constructive, learning-focused dialogue when challenging topics or conflicts arise so they can make informed decisions and find the best solutions, even under high pressure. That's where difficult exchanges turn into learning opportunities and unfocused meetings become innovation incubators.
"We spent almost two years working with Craig Weber designing engaging learning experiences to bring his Conversational Capacity model to our clients," said Jay Campbell, Chief Product Officer with The Ken Blanchard Companies. "While there are other conversation skills programs out there, nothing is as simple and powerful as Conversational Capacity. The twin forces of candor and curiosity are helping Blanchard clients across seniority levels and industries. We're so proud to win this Silver Stevie® Award for Best New Product of the Year."
Craig Weber, author of the book Conversational Capacity and course design team member, adds, "I am thrilled to see The Ken Blanchard Companies' Conversational Capacity course win this award. The course is designed to help people perform more effectively under pressure and build healthier organizations, teams, and work relationships. It's wonderful to see it recognized in this way."
As one judge stated, the course "…addresses a #1 ongoing business challenge. The world needs more of what this offers."
The Ken Blanchard Companies is a global leader in management training, consulting, and coaching. For more than 40 years, Blanchard has been helping organizations develop inspired leaders at all levels and create cultures of connection that unleash talent and deliver extraordinary results. Blanchard's SLII® powers inspired leaders and is the leadership model of choice for more than 10,000 organizations worldwide. Blanchard also offers a suite of other award-winning leadership development solutions through flexible delivery modalities to meet the specific needs of its clients. Learn more at www.kenblanchard.com
Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 nominations each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com
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SOURCE The Ken Blanchard Companies | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2022/08/15/ken-blanchard-companies-wins-silver-stevie-award-2022-international-business-awards/ | 2022-08-16 00:21:28 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2022/08/15/ken-blanchard-companies-wins-silver-stevie-award-2022-international-business-awards/ |
House Republicans are divided on whether the raucous heckling of President Biden during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night was inappropriate — or whether it helped them effectively communicate their position to the American public.
Many Republicans thought the uproar in response to Biden’s comment accusing Republicans of wanting to sunset Social Security and Medicare was justified, blaming the president for “instigating” a desired reaction that would put Republicans in a bad light. But some expressed doubts about the rowdiness that followed.
The claim about Social Security was the first to draw such an audible reaction from Republicans, who are fighting for spending cuts as a condition of raising the debt ceiling and seeking to sell those cuts to the American public.
“He started off, I thought, wonderfully. … But then you can’t stand up there and blatantly lie,” Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) said. “So as much as I wish we had had more decorum, OK, you are instigating that behavior. So it starts with the leader.”
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also put the blame on Biden.
“The president was trying to goad the members, and the members are passionate about it,” McCarthy said on Fox News Wednesday morning. “But the one thing that the president was saying was something that he knew was not true.”
Though Republicans have sought for decades to privatize Social Security and cut Medicare — and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) released a proposal last year to sunset all federal programs after five years — McCarthy has repeatedly said that cuts to entitlement programs are “off the table” in debt ceiling talks, which he launched with Biden last week.
Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) said while he thought the president deserves respect, he understands why some members found it difficult to “uphold decorum.”
“The office of the president deserves respect, period, agree or disagree,” he said.
“I got a little uneasy in my seat and pretty frustrated listening to some of the allegations that are just patently false,” Graves added.
Once the vocal pushback started, though, it didn’t stop. Later in the speech, some Republicans chanted “secure the border” and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) yelled “It’s your fault” when Biden mentioned fentanyl deaths.
Some thought the uproar went too far.
“I think it’s important that proper decorum be addressed not only in the chamber, but everywhere we go. And we should hold ourselves to a higher ground,” said Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), chair of the more centrist Republican Governance Group. “That’s something we shouldn’t engage in, and we should at least show the respect that’s due and owed [to] the office of president when he comes to our chamber to speak.”
The most high-profile of the hecklers Tuesday night was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a conservative firebrand who stood and yelled that Biden was a “liar” when the president accused Republicans of wanting to eliminate Social Security and Medicare.
The episode was reminiscent of Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) outburst during the State of the Union in 2009, when he shouted “you lie” to protest then-President Obama’s claim that Democrats had no designs to provide health care to undocumented immigrants.
House Democrats formally reprimanded Wilson on the floor, and the South Carolina Republican quickly apologized for letting “my emotions get the best of me.”
Greene is conceding no such fault.
“I let him know exactly how the people feel. I got more text messages last night and this morning than I did on my — probably winning both elections,” Greene told reporters outside the Capitol on Wednesday. “So, no, I have no regrets.”
McCarthy is just starting negotiations with Biden on the debt limit fight, and he projected ahead of the address that Republicans would be civil and not play “childish games” during the State of the Union.
Republican members were reminded in a morning conference meeting that there would be hot mics and cameras, and McCarthy pledged that he would not rip up a copy of Biden’s speech — in reference to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tearing in half a copy of former President Trump’s speech.
While McCarthy, in his Fox interview, largely defended the hecklers, he also expressed some disappointment that they had taken “the bait” in the form of Biden’s entitlements jab.
“We need to be smart,” he said. “Don’t take the bait.”
Greene, however, had other ideas.
“I wasn’t goaded into anything,” she said. “I was reacting based on how the American people feel. They’re fed up with President Biden. And I don’t have any problems with Speaker McCarthy; he’s doing a great job.”
She said McCarthy has not spoken to her since Tuesday’s speech.
Multiple times, McCarthy appeared to be shushing his conference as they jeered Biden — gestures captured by the C-SPAN cameras for the public to see — and some moderate Republicans praised the Speaker for trying to keep his conference in order.
“Kevin McCarthy’s, I think he’s doing a great job of trying to be a statesman, stand above the fray,” moderate Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said. “I’ve been impressed with what he’s been doing since he won the Speaker’s fight on Jan. 7.”
It remains to be seen whether the rowdy response will affect debt ceiling negotiations, but initial polling and research show a largely positive reaction to Biden’s speech, while independents were turned off by the back-and-forth — not welcome signs for Republicans.
A CNN flash poll found 72 percent of adult viewers, including 67 percent of independents, had a very or somewhat positive reaction to Biden’s speech.
Lee Carter, president at the communications consulting firm Maslansky + Partners, said in an analysis of live voter opinion data on Fox News that when Biden was heckled while talking about fentanyl and the border, both Republicans and Democrats gave the speech a grade of a “B” – but independent voters put it at a “D.”
“The independents were really turned off by the whole exchange, and that’s one of the themes that you saw for the night,” Carter said. “The way that the Republicans behaved really did turn off a lot of independent voters.”
“What people were saying over and over again was, there should be some amount of decorum. You can fight back, you can slap back, there’s a lot of other times and places to do it,” Carter said. “They just didn’t like the sort of coliseum feel that was happening last night.”
Mychael Schnell and Aris Folley contributed. | https://www.wowktv.com/hill-politics/gop-divided-over-whether-heckling-biden-hurts-them/ | 2023-02-09 13:37:30 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/hill-politics/gop-divided-over-whether-heckling-biden-hurts-them/ |
MCLEAN, Va., July 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) ("Iridium"), a leading provider of global voice and data satellite communications, today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2023 and reiterated its full-year 2023 outlook. Net loss was $30.7 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2023, as compared to net income of $4.6 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2022. Operational EBITDA ("OEBITDA")(1) for the second quarter was $115.8 million, as compared to $105.9 million for the prior-year period, representing a year-over-year increase of 9%. The net loss was primarily the result of the write-off of Iridium's remaining ground spare satellite following the successful launch of five of its six ground spare satellites in May. This charge offset the benefits of strong revenue growth in Iridium's Commercial Service lines and an increase in Engineering and Support revenue.
Iridium reported second-quarter total revenue of $193.1 million, which consisted of $145.1 million of service revenue and $48.0 million of revenue related to equipment sales and engineering and support projects. Total revenue increased 10% versus the comparable period of 2022, while service revenue grew 9% from the year-ago period. Service revenue, which represents primarily recurring revenue from Iridium's growing subscriber base, was 75% of total revenue for the second quarter of 2023.
The Company ended the quarter with 2,140,000 total billable subscribers, which compares to 1,875,000 for the year-ago period and is up from 2,051,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. Total billable subscribers grew 14% year-over-year, driven by growth in commercial IoT.
"We had another great quarter of double-digit growth in subscribers and commercial service revenue, which drove record operational EBITDA," said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. Desch added, "Iridium's strong cash flow continues to support ongoing business investment and the return of capital to our shareholders."
Iridium Business Highlights
Service – Commercial
Commercial service remained the largest part of Iridium's business, representing 61% of the Company's total revenue during the second quarter. The Company's commercial customer base is diverse and includes markets such as maritime, aviation, oil and gas, mining, recreation, forestry, construction, transportation and emergency services. These customers rely on Iridium's products and services as critical to their daily operations and integral to their communications and business infrastructure.
- Commercial service revenue was $118.6 million, up 12% from last year's comparable period due to broad-based growth across all revenue lines.
- Iridium's commercial business ended the quarter with 1,999,000 billable subscribers, which compares to 1,731,000 for the prior-year quarter and is up from 1,912,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. IoT data subscribers represented 79% of billable commercial subscribers at the end of the quarter, an increase from 76% at the end of the prior-year period.
- Hosted payload and other data service revenue remained consistent at $15.1 million in the second quarter compared to the year-ago period.
Service – U.S. Government
Iridium's voice and data solutions improve situational awareness for military personnel and track critical assets in tough environments around the globe, providing a unique value proposition that is not easily duplicated.
Under Iridium's Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services contract (the "EMSS Contract"), a seven-year, $738.5 million fixed-price airtime contract with the U.S. Space Force signed in September 2019, Iridium provides specified satellite airtime services, including unlimited global standard and secure voice, paging, fax, Short Burst Data®, Iridium Burst®, RUDICS and Distributed Tactical Communications System services for an unlimited number of Department of Defense and other federal government subscribers. Iridium also provides maintenance and support work for the U.S. government's dedicated Iridium gateway under two other contracts with the U.S. Space Force. Iridium Certus airtime services are not included under these contracts and may be procured separately for an additional fee.
- Government service revenue remained flat at $26.5 million in the second quarter, reflecting the contractual rate in the EMSS Contract.
- Iridium's U.S. government business ended the quarter with 141,000 subscribers, which compares to 144,000 for the prior-year quarter and 139,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. Government voice and data subscribers decreased 3% from the year-ago period to 60,000 as of June 30, 2023. Government IoT data subscribers decreased 1% year-over-year and represented 57% of government subscribers at quarter-end.
Equipment
- Equipment revenue was $27.4 million in the second quarter, down 19% compared to $33.8 million in the prior-year quarter.
- For full year 2023, the Company expects equipment sales in line with 2022's record level.
Engineering & Support
- Engineering and support revenue was $20.6 million during the second quarter, compared to $8.3 million in the prior-year quarter, due to a rise in both government and commercial activity.
- The Company expects Engineering and Support revenue in 2023 to be higher than 2022 primarily due to the full year impact of the Space Development Agency contract, which was granted in mid-2022.
Capital expenditures were $22.4 million for the second quarter, including $1.3 million in capitalized interest. In May, Iridium successfully launched five of its remaining ground spares to enhance the redundancy of its global satellite network. Capital expenditures associated with this launch were less than $40 million, including about $6.0 million in the second quarter. The Company ended the second quarter with gross debt of $1.5 billion and a cash and cash equivalents balance of $103.5 million, for a net debt balance of $1.4 billion, representing net leverage of 3.1 times OEBITDA.
Iridium paid its second dividend of $0.13 per common share on June 30, 2023. Dividends through the second quarter of 2023 have resulted in $32.7 million in payments to stockholders.
During the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 1.1 million shares of its common stock under its previously announced share repurchase program at a total purchase price of $66.1 million. As of June 30, 2023, $60.4 million remained available and authorized for repurchase under this program through December 31, 2023.
2023 Outlook
The Company reiterated its full-year 2023 outlook:
- Total service revenue growth between 9% and 11% for full-year 2023. Total service revenue for 2022 was $534.7 million.
- Full-year 2023 OEBITDA between $455 million and $465 million. OEBITDA for 2022 was $424.0 million.
- Negligible cash taxes in 2023. Cash taxes are expected to be negligible through approximately 2024.
- Net leverage of between 2.5 and 3.5 times OEBITDA at the end of 2023, assuming the completion of the Company's total $600.0 million share repurchase authorization and the payment of four quarters of dividends. Net leverage was 3.2 times OEBITDA at December 31, 2022.
(1) Non-GAAP Financial Measures & Definitions
In addition to disclosing financial results that are determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company provides Operational EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, as a supplemental measure to help investors evaluate the Company's fundamental operational performance. Operational EBITDA represents earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, income (loss) on equity method investments, net, and share-based compensation expenses. Such charges are incidental to, but not reflective of, the Company's day-to-day operating performance. Operational EBITDA does not represent, and should not be considered, an alternative to U.S. GAAP measurements such as net income or loss. In addition, there is no standardized measurement of Operational EBITDA, and the Company's calculations thereof may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. The Company believes Operational EBITDA is a useful measure across time in evaluating its fundamental core operating performance. Management also uses Operational EBITDA to manage the business, including in preparing its annual operating budget, debt covenant compliance, financial projections and compensation plans. The Company believes that Operational EBITDA is also useful to investors because similar measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in their evaluation of companies in similar industries. As indicated, Operational EBITDA does not include interest expense on borrowed money, the payment of income taxes, amortization of the Company's definite-lived intangible assets, or depreciation expense on the Company's capital assets, which are necessary elements of the Company's operations. Since Operational EBITDA does not account for these and other expenses, its utility as a measure of the Company's operating performance has material limitations. Due to these limitations, the Company's management does not view Operational EBITDA in isolation, but also uses other measurements, such as net income (loss), revenues and operating profit, to measure operating performance. Please refer to the schedule below for a reconciliation of consolidated GAAP net income to Operational EBITDA and Iridium's Investor Relations webpage at www.iridium.com for a discussion and reconciliation of this and other non-GAAP financial measures. We do not provide a forward-looking reconciliation of expected full-year 2023 Operational EBITDA guidance as the amount and significance of special items required to develop meaningful comparable GAAP financial measures cannot be estimated at this time without unreasonable efforts.
Conference Call Information
As previously announced, the Company will host a conference call to discuss its results at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. Callers should dial 1-412-902-6740 to access the call. The conference call will also be simultaneously webcast on Iridium's Investor Relations webpage at www.iridium.com. An archive of the webcast will be available following the live conference call.
About Iridium Communications Inc.
Iridium® is the only mobile voice and data satellite communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables connections between people, organizations and assets to and from anywhere, in real time. Together with its ecosystem of partner companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of reliable solutions for markets that require truly global communications. In 2019, the company completed a generational upgrade of its satellite network and launched its new specialty broadband service, Iridium Certus. Iridium Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and its common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol IRDM. For more information about Iridium products, services and partner solutions, visit www.iridium.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Iridium's expectations with respect to total service revenue growth, OEBITDA, net leverage and cash taxes for 2023; cash taxes over the longer-term; anticipated equipment sales and engineering and support service revenue for 2023; amount and timing of share repurchases, the payment of dividends, and expected revenues from its EMSS contract with the U.S. government. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "anticipates," "may," "can," "believes," "expects," "projects," "intends," "likely," "will," "to be" and other expressions that are predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties regarding customer demand for Iridium's products and services, including demand from the U.S. government; Iridium's ability to maintain the health, capacity and content of its satellite constellation, and the development of and market for Iridium's products and services, as well as general industry and economic conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and technological factors. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include those factors listed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 16, 2023, as well as other filings Iridium makes with the SEC from time to time. There is no assurance that Iridium's expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium's underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected, estimated or projected. Iridium's forward-looking statements are based on information available to it as of the date of this press release and speak only as of the date of this press release, and Iridium undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc. | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/25/iridium-announces-second-quarter-2023-results-reports-record-operational-ebitda/ | 2023-07-25 11:47:49 | 1 | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/25/iridium-announces-second-quarter-2023-results-reports-record-operational-ebitda/ |
CA Medford, OR Zone Forecast for Sunday, July 10, 2022
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709 FPUS56 KMFR 111037
ZFPMFR
Zone Forecast Product for Southern Oregon and Northern California
National Weather Service Medford, OR
337 AM PDT Mon Jul 11 2022
CAZ080-112300-
Western Siskiyou County-
Including the cities of Somes Bar, Happy Camp, Callahan, Etna,
Fort Jones, Greenview, and Scott Bar
337 AM PDT Mon Jul 11 2022
...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT
THIS EVENING...
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs 90 to 100. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.
.TONIGHT...Clear. Lows in the mid 60s to lower 70s. Northwest
winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the east well after midnight.
.TUESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s to mid 90s. Southeast
winds around 5 mph shifting to the southwest in the afternoon.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower to mid 60s. West
winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the north after midnight, then
shifting to the east well after midnight.
.WEDNESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s to lower 90s. East
winds around 5 mph shifting to the west in the afternoon.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...Clear. Lows in the mid 50s to
lower 60s. Highs in the lower 80s to lower 90s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s.
.SATURDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s.
.SUNDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s.
$$
CAZ081-112300-
Central Siskiyou County-
Including the cities of Hilt, Klamath River, and Yreka
337 AM PDT Mon Jul 11 2022
...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT
TUESDAY...
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs 95 to 105. North winds 5 to 10 mph.
.TONIGHT...Clear. Lows in the mid 60s to lower 70s. North winds
5 to 10 mph shifting to the east well after midnight.
.TUESDAY...Sunny. Highs 95 to 100. Southeast winds around 5 mph
shifting to the northeast late in the morning, then shifting to
the southeast early in the afternoon shifting to the south 10 to
15 mph late in the afternoon.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 60s. Southwest
winds 10 to 15 mph shifting to the north in the late evening and
early morning, then shifting to the northeast around 5 mph well
after midnight.
.WEDNESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s to mid 90s. East winds
around 5 mph shifting to the north late in the morning, then
shifting to the west in the afternoon.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Cooler. Lows in the mid 50s to
lower 60s.
.THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...Clear. Highs in the mid 80s to mid
90s. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows around 60.
.SATURDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s to mid 90s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s.
.SUNDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s to lower 90s.
$$
CAZ082-112300-
South Central Siskiyou County-
Including the cities of Mount Shasta, Dunsmuir, and McCloud
337 AM PDT Mon Jul 11 2022
...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT
TUESDAY...
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs 90 to 100. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph
shifting to the southeast late this afternoon.
.TONIGHT...Clear. Lows in the mid 50s to mid 60s. Southwest winds
around 5 mph shifting to the northwest after midnight.
.TUESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s to mid 90s. South winds
5 to 10 mph.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 50s to lower
60s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the northwest after
midnight.
.WEDNESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s to lower 90s. South
winds 5 to 10 mph.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 50s to lower
60s.
.THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...Clear. Highs in the lower 80s to lower
90s. Lows in the lower 50s to lower 60s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 50s to lower 60s.
.SATURDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s to lower 90s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower to mid 50s.
.SUNDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s to lower 90s.
$$
CAZ083-112300-
North Central and Southeast Siskiyou County-
Including the cities of Pondosa, Bray, and Tennant
337 AM PDT Mon Jul 11 2022
...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT
TUESDAY...
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs 90 to 100. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph
shifting to the east 5 to 10 mph late this afternoon.
.TONIGHT...Clear. Lows in the lower to mid 60s. West winds 5 to
10 mph.
.TUESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s to mid 90s. Southwest
winds 10 to 15 mph.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s to mid 60s.
Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph shifting to the west around 5 mph
after midnight.
.WEDNESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s to lower 90s.
Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Cooler. Lows in the lower 50s to
lower 60s.
.THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...Clear. Highs in the lower 80s to lower
90s. Lows in the lower 50s to lower 60s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 50s to lower 60s.
.SATURDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s to lower 90s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower to mid 50s.
.SUNDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower to mid 80s.
$$
CAZ084-112300-
Northeast Siskiyou and Northwest Modoc Counties-
Including the cities of Newell, Tulelake, Dorris, and Macdoel
337 AM PDT Mon Jul 11 2022
...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT
TUESDAY...
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower to mid 90s. North winds around
5 mph shifting to the east this afternoon.
.TONIGHT...Clear. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s. East winds
around 5 mph shifting to the northwest late in the evening, then
shifting to the southwest after midnight.
.TUESDAY...Sunny in the morning then becoming partly cloudy.
Highs in the mid 90s. South winds around 5 mph shifting to the
southwest 10 to 15 mph.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s.
West winds 10 to 20 mph decreasing to around 5 mph after
midnight.
.WEDNESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s to lower 90s. South
winds around 5 mph shifting to the southwest 10 to 15 mph in the
afternoon.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...Clear. Lows in the lower to mid
50s. Highs in the mid 80s to lower 90s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s.
.SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...Clear. Highs in the mid 80s to lower
90s. Lows in the lower to mid 50s.
$$
CAZ085-112300-
Modoc County-
Including the cities of Day, Lookout, Adin, Alturas, Canby,
Davis Creek, and Likely
337 AM PDT Mon Jul 11 2022
...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT
TUESDAY...
.TODAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower to mid 90s. Northeast winds
5 to 10 mph.
.TONIGHT...Clear. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s. North winds
around 5 mph shifting to the southeast well after midnight.
.TUESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the lower to mid 90s. South winds 5 to
10 mph shifting to the southwest 10 to 15 mph late in the
afternoon.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s to lower 60s.
West winds 10 to 20 mph decreasing to 5 to 10 mph after midnight.
.WEDNESDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s to lower 90s. Southwest
winds 5 to 10 mph increasing to around 15 mph late in the
afternoon.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower to mid 50s.
.THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...Clear. Highs in the mid 80s to lower
90s. Lows in the lower to mid 50s.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower to mid 50s.
.SATURDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s to lower 90s.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...Mostly clear. Lows in the lower to mid 50s.
.SUNDAY...Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s to lower 90s.
$$
Visit us at www.weather.gov/Medford
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Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.ourmidland.com/weather/article/CA-Medford-OR-Zone-Forecast-17296566.php | 2022-07-11 11:52:38 | 0 | https://www.ourmidland.com/weather/article/CA-Medford-OR-Zone-Forecast-17296566.php |
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Magdolna Gozon nibbles spicy green peppers from a fruit and vegetable stall at a sprawling indoor market in Budapest, sampling them to make sure they’re hot enough for a soup she’s cooking.
The 83-year-old retiree can’t afford to buy more if they don’t have enough kick — not with her small pension and Hungary facing the biggest spike in food prices in the European Union.
“I don’t buy fruits. We got potatoes from the municipality, so we don’t have to buy that, but onions became expensive,” said Gozon, who has stopped buying dairy and rarely shops for meat.
Food prices have risen dramatically across Europe in recent months, jumping 19.6% in March from a year earlier and becoming the main driver of inflation as energy costs have fallen. But in Hungary, food prices have surged more than 45% over the year, according to EU statistics office Eurostat, far surpassing the next highest figure of just over 29% in Slovakia.
Such price hikes are hitting consumers hard in the Central European country, forcing them to change what kind of food they buy and how much of it they can afford, and leading businesses to rethink what they offer for sale.
“Habits have definitely changed, so people are really thinking about what they buy. We’re almost to the point where sausage and ham are considered luxury food items,” said Szilvia Bukta, a manager at a butchery stall in Budapest’s historic Grand Market Hall.
“We also have to buy less because the prices are more expensive, and we know that there are not as many customers, so we definitely make purchases more carefully,” Bukta added.
Some types of food in Hungary have nearly doubled in price in the past year. Staples like eggs, milk, butter and bread cost 72% to 80% more, pinching pocketbooks in a country where the median net wage is just over $900 per month.
While most European economies are facing similar difficulties as Russia’s war in Ukraine fuels a cost-of-living crisis, inefficiencies in Hungary’s farming and food processing industries and a historic devaluation of the forint currency made the country’s “extreme inflation” worse than anywhere else in the EU, said Peter Virovacz, chief economist at ING Hungary.
“There have been droughts everywhere, energy prices have increased everywhere, supplier costs have increased everywhere,” he said. “But if production is not efficient enough, then of course the domestic producers will find that it is much more burdensome to pay for these costs.”
To make ends meet, not just farmers but restaurants, bakeries and other businesses have raised prices for customers and changed what they offer to avoid the most expensive ingredients.
Cafe Csiga, a restaurant and bar on a leafy square in central Budapest, took hamburgers and French fries off the menu late last year in response to the soaring price of ingredients like meat and cooking oil, general manager Andras Kelemen said.
“The (price of) raw materials has sharply increased. There were some items that went up around 100%,” he said. “Vegetables, especially in the winter period, and certain meats and meat products rose unbelievably.”
It has sent Hungary’s overall inflation rate up to 25.6%, also the highest in the EU, whose average slowed to 8.3% last month. The rising cost of living has led to rapid increases in wages — added costs that businesses are partly pushing onto customers.
“All our costs are constantly rising, and we have to raise wages in the meantime,” Kelemen said. “There is a certain point above which we do not want or dare to raise sales prices — but a 30% increase has been typical.”
Eszter Roboz, owner of Babushka Bakery in Budapest, said she too has had to charge customers more. She also began using olive oil in some cakes because butter prices jumped 68% in March.
“All the ingredients have risen in price to some degree, but for us, it was probably butter, olive oil and flour that were the most noticeable,” she said.
While Hungary is a major producer of wheat, corn, oil seeds and meat, some 30% of food items in its grocery chains are imported, according to a 2022 study by the National Food Chain Safety Office.
The Hungarian forint weakened more than 40% against the U.S. dollar and over 20% against the euro last year, making the costs of imports — and thus prices off the shelf — much higher, Virovacz said.
“This simply means extra costs for suppliers, which they try to pass on to consumers in the end,” the economist said.
Hungary’s food prices have shown meager signs of slowing, dropping three points from a peak in December of nearly 50%.
But Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria recently banning grain imports from Ukraine amid a glut they say is hurting local farmers could drive food inflation higher, said Ian Mitchell, an economist and London-based co-director of the Europe program at the Center for Global Development.
Virovacz, however, said people are spending less as their purchasing power and savings erode, so they likely won’t be willing to pay more for locally made bread and other food, preventing suppliers from passing on the extra costs.
“We have reached a point where there is such an increase in prices and such a depletion of household reserves that people have actually started to tighten their belts and have started to consume much less,” he said. | https://www.wane.com/news/business/ap-business/no-fruit-ham-a-luxury-hungary-food-prices-spike-most-in-eu/ | 2023-04-22 08:52:45 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/business/ap-business/no-fruit-ham-a-luxury-hungary-food-prices-spike-most-in-eu/ |
Chicago Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips will retire at the end of the season after nearly 40 years with the franchise.
Phillips, an accountant by trade, joined the Bears as the team's controller in 1983 and spent four years in that position before moving up the organization's ladder. He became president in February 1999 and has had a hand since then in hiring four general managers, including Ryan Poles this year. Phillips oversaw several renovations to the team's suburban headquarters and played a key role in negotiating the oft-criticized renovation of Soldier Field in 2002.
Most recently, his focus has been on purchasing a 326-acre tract of land in suburban Arlington Heights, Illinois, where a new stadium and entertainment complex could be built. The team is scheduled to unveil conceptual plans for the site — about 30 miles northwest of Soldier Field — at a community meeting Thursday in the town.
Phillips said Friday in a statement he has been "truly blessed” to work for the Bears. He said he appreciated the support of the McCaskey family owners and called “overseeing this amazing growth of the Chicago Bears” a “dream come true.”
“Every day has been a true pleasure and being surrounded by so many talented and wonderful people has made my job richly rewarding on many levels," he said. "I will always bleed blue and orange and forever be proud to be a part of the Chicago Bears family.”
Team matriarch Virginia McCaskey, the daughter of founder George Halas, said in a rare public statement the Bears were “very blessed” to have Phillips.
The Bears said a search for his replacement is underway and a successor will be hired “in the coming months.”
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.ourmidland.com/sports/article/Bears-President-Ted-Phillips-to-retire-at-end-of-17415599.php | 2022-09-02 18:30:38 | 0 | https://www.ourmidland.com/sports/article/Bears-President-Ted-Phillips-to-retire-at-end-of-17415599.php |
BILOXI, Miss., Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Peoples Financial Corporation (the "Company") (OTCQX Best Market: PFBX), parent of The Peoples Bank, announced earnings for the third quarter ending September 30, 2022. Additionally, the company declared a cash dividend of $0.10 per common share, payable November 10, 2022 to shareholders of record as of November 07, 2022.
Third Quarter Earnings
Net income for the third quarter of 2022 was $1,749,000 an increase of $642,000 or 58% compared to net income of $1,107,000 for the third quarter of 2021. The earnings per weighted average common share for the third quarter of 2022 were $0.37 compared to earnings per weighted average common share of $0.23 for the third quarter of 2021. Per share figures are based on weighted average common shares outstanding of 4,678,186 and 4,878,557 for the third quarters 2022 and 2021, respectively.
The improvement in net income for the third quarter of 2022 was primarily due to an increase in net interest income of $634,000 to $5,663,000 for the third quarter of 2022 as compared with $5,029,000 for the third quarter of 2021. This increase was attributable to higher interest income on securities.
Net income for the first nine months of 2022 decreased $2,535,000 to $3,691,000 compared to net income of $6,226,000 for the first nine months of 2021. The earnings per weighted average common share for the first nine months of 2022 were $0.79 compared to earnings per weighted average common share of $1.28 for the first nine months of 2021. Per share figures are based on weighted average common shares outstanding of 4,678,186 and 4,878,557 for the first nine months of 2022 and 2021, respectively.
The primary reason for the decrease in net income over the first nine months of 2022 as compared to the prior year was a non-recurring gain during the first nine months of 2021 that was caused by a reduction in the allowance for loan losses of $5,004,000. This reduction was the result of a recovery of $4,510,000 related to a previously charged off loan. Results for the first nine months of 2021 also included a non-recurring expense of $1,125,000 relating to the settlement of a lawsuit.
Other Real Estate
Other real estate decreased from $2,525,000 at September 30, 2021, to $334,000 at September 30, 2022.
"The Company continues its implementation of its strategic plan focusing on improving asset quality with those efforts resulting in the significant reduction in past due loans, nonaccruals and other real estate," said Chevis C. Swetman, chairman and chief executive officer of the Company and the Bank.
Shareholders' Equity
Total shareholders' equity decreased from $94,362,000 at September 30, 2021, to $47,666,000 at September 30, 2022. Consistent with a similar decrease experienced during the first and second quarters of this year, the decrease was again largely attributable to $45,142,000 in unrealized losses on the available for sale securities portfolio during the first nine months of 2022 that reduced accumulated other comprehensive income on the Company's balance sheet, thereby reducing shareholders' equity. These unrealized losses resulted primarily from higher interest rates that have impacted the current market value of available for sale securities, but they are not related to any credit deterioration within the portfolio. The Company does not foresee a sale of any affected securities in the near future, and it does not currently anticipate any realization of these losses that could impact the Company's net income in the current year.
The available for sale securities portfolio of $411,304,000 consists primarily of U.S. Treasury securities with approximately $65,000,000 maturing prior to year-end. Most of the purchases in the treasury portfolio occurred at the end of 2021 and as these securities mature, they will be replaced by higher yielding treasury securities. The Company's leverage ratio and total risk-based capital ratios have not been impacted by these unrealized losses on available for sale securities due to an opt-out election previously made by the Company in accordance with current regulatory capital requirements and therefore remained strong at 9.67% and 20.31%, respectively as of September 30, 2022.
Acquisition of Corporate Trust Business
On March 17, 2022, the bank subsidiary signed a definitive agreement with Trustmark National Bank ("Trustmark") to acquire substantially all of the Trustmark's corporate trust business for a purchase price of $650,000. This book of business was added to the bank subsidiary's existing corporate trust portfolio in its Asset Management and Trust Services Department. The purchase was approved by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and closed on August 15, 2022, during the third quarter of 2022.
About the Company
Founded in 1896, with $882 million in total assets as of September 30, 2022, The Peoples Bank operates 18 branches along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Hancock, Harrison, Jackson and Stone counties. In addition to offering a comprehensive range of retail and commercial banking services, the Bank also operates a trust and investment services department that has provided customers with financial, estate and retirement planning services since 1936.
Peoples Financial Corporation's common stock is listed on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol PFBX. Additional information is available on the Internet at the Company's website, www.thepeoples.com, and at the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission, www.sec.gov.
This news release reflects industry conditions, Company performance and financial results and contains "forward-looking statements,' which may include forecasts of our financial results and condition, expectations for our operations and businesses, and our assumptions for those forecasts and expectations. Do not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risk factors and uncertainties which could cause the Company's actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectation expressed in such forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements are described under "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Regulation and Supervision" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, and in other documents subsequently filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at the SEC's website and the Company's website, each of which are referenced above. To the extent that statements in this news release relate to future plans, objectives, financial results or performance by the Company, these statements are deemed to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are generally identified by use of words such as "may," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "will," "should," "plan," "estimate," "predict," "continue" and "potential" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.
Forward-looking statements represent management's beliefs, based upon information available at the time the statements are made, with regard to the matters addressed; they are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties that change over time and could cause actual results or financial condition to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. All information is as of the date of this news release. Except to the extent required by applicable law or regulation, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement for any reason.
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SOURCE Peoples Financial Corporation | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/10/26/peoples-financial-corporation-reports-results-third-quarter-2022-announces-dividend/ | 2022-10-26 21:11:48 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/10/26/peoples-financial-corporation-reports-results-third-quarter-2022-announces-dividend/ |
(The Hill) — Former President Donald Trump released a statement on Thursday slamming Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for being an “average” governor and “playing games” amid a wave of positive press for DeSantis following the midterm elections.
“NewsCorp, which is Fox, the Wall Street Journal, and the no longer great New York Post (bring back Col!), is all in for Governor Ron DeSanctimonious, an average REPUBLICAN Governor with great Public Relations,” wrote Trump, repeating a nickname he first used for the governor last week. Col Allan, the former editor-in-chief of the New York Post, retired in 2016.
Trump attributed DeSantis’s political success as governor to the weather in his state, saying that he “has the advantage of SUNSHINE, where people from badly run States up North would go no matter who the Governor was, just like I did!”
The former president claimed that his endorsement of DeSantis won him the Florida gubernatorial election in 2018.
Trump said that DeSantis approached him in “desperate shape” while he was “politically dead” in 2017 to ask for an endorsement.
He added that “Ron DeSanctimonious is playing games” by not answering questions about whether he will run for president in 2024. DeSantis is seen as Trump’s leading challenger for the GOP nomination in that year’s election should both decide to run.
“The Fake News asks him if he’s going to run if President Trump runs, and he says, ‘I’m only focused on the Governor’s race, I’m not looking into the future,’” wrote Trump.
“Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer.”
Trump earlier this week warned DeSantis against seeking the White House in 2024 during an interview with Fox News. “I don’t know if he is running,” he told the network. “I think if he runs, he could hurt himself very badly. I really believe he could hurt himself badly.”
The former president’s Thursday statement comes after DeSantis cruised to reelection Tuesday on a night otherwise largely marked by disappointment for the GOP, fueling further talk of a presidential bid and praise from other Republicans and the conservative media. Meanwhile, a number of Republicans have criticized Trump following the midterms and even blamed him for key losses.
On Thursday, Trump warned that he and his supporters will again triumph over his critics just as he said they did in 2015 and 2016 despite a “Media Assault (Collusion!)”
“Fox News fought me to the end until I won, and then they couldn’t have been nicer or more supportive. The Wall Street Journal loved Low Energy Jeb Bush, and a succession of other people as they rapidly disappeared from sight, finally falling in line with me after I easily knocked them out, one by one,” said Trump.
“We’re in exactly the same position now,” he continued. “They will keep coming after us, MAGA, but ultimately, we will win. Put America First and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” | https://www.wivb.com/hill-politics/trump-attacks-desantis-amid-positive-press-an-average-republican-governor/ | 2022-11-11 14:43:19 | 0 | https://www.wivb.com/hill-politics/trump-attacks-desantis-amid-positive-press-an-average-republican-governor/ |
NetSuite helps award-winning hand sanitizer business drive efficiencies and sustain its rapid growth
AUSTIN, Texas, May 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Touchland, a health and beauty brand, is working with Oracle NetSuite to support its vision of bringing unexpected joy and expression to every act of self-care. With NetSuite, Touchland has been able to take advantage of an integrated business system to improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of its financial processes and help scale its operations to support more than 4,000 retail locations across the country.
Launched in 2018 in Miami, Florida, Touchland has rapidly expanded, and its award-winning hand sanitizers are now sold in major retailers including Sephora, Ulta, and Target. To meet soaring customer demand and increase efficiencies across its rapidly expanding operations, Touchland needed to replace its accounting system. It was unable to integrate financial and operational systems and that was leading to inaccurate data, unnecessary manual tasks, and slow order fulfillment. After careful evaluation, Touchland selected NetSuite to address these challenges and establish a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
"Scaling a fast-growing business that is growing triple digit year over year, we had to be fully automated to accommodate increased demand, additional channels, and new product innovations," said Andrea Lisbona, founder, and chief executive officer, Touchland. "With NetSuite, we now have one system that can connect data across our operations and help us proactively refine processes. The enhanced insights and comprehensive reporting capabilities that NetSuite provides have helped us understand market opportunities and launch our products in thousands of retail locations."
With NetSuite, Touchland has been able to move to a single cloud business system to consolidate, automate, and scale its core business. For example, NetSuite Connector has enabled Touchland to increase productivity by synching its systems with Amazon to automatically track inventory across warehouses, record transactions, and manage payables. NetSuite Demand Planning has enabled Touchland to drive further efficiencies by helping it fulfill orders from six warehouses, each targeting different sales channels, and increase inventory turnover. Touchland also works with NetSuite Advanced Customer Support (ACS) to maximize its investment in NetSuite and better understand the market opportunities within its existing data.
"Touchland is transforming the health and beauty space through its award-winning products and the growth it has achieved in the last five years is extremely impressive," said David Rodman, senior vice president of customer success, Oracle NetSuite. "With NetSuite, Touchland has a single view into its business and that has helped it increase efficiencies, scale its operations, and establish a foundation for future growth."
About Oracle NetSuite
For more than 20 years, Oracle NetSuite has helped organizations grow, scale and adapt to change. NetSuite provides an integrated system that includes financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), inventory management, HR, professional services automation and omnichannel commerce, used by more than 34,000 customers in 217 countries and dependent territories.
Learn more at https://www.netsuite.com. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
Trademarks
Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud company--ushering in the new era of cloud computing.
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SOURCE Oracle NetSuite | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2023/05/09/touchland-cleans-up-its-financial-systems-with-netsuite/ | 2023-05-09 12:36:06 | 0 | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2023/05/09/touchland-cleans-up-its-financial-systems-with-netsuite/ |
Grand jury indicts Co. deputies in shooting death of young man
DENVER (AP) - A grand jury has indicted two Colorado sheriff’s deputies in the death of a 22-year-old man who was shot after calling 911 for roadside assistance while experiencing what his mother described as a mental health crisis, according to online court records.
The indictments of former Clear Creek County Sheriff’s deputies Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould were returned Wednesday, five months after Christian Glass was killed by law enforcement. The case has become a flashpoint amid a national outcry for police reforms focused on crisis intervention and de-escalation.
Charges against the two deputies include second-degree murder, official misconduct, and criminally negligent homicide, according to the court records, which did not provide further details.
The records did not list a lawyer for either deputy. A telephone message left at a number believed to be Buen’s was not immediately returned. No telephone listing could be found for Gould.
A federal judge issued warrants for both Buen and Gould, who face bonds of $50,000 and $2,500 respectively, according a press release from Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum, who empaneled the grand jury.
Nichole Lentz, spokesperson for the Clear Creek County Sheriff, said in a statement that both officers have been terminated following the indictments.
The sheriff office’s ongoing internal investigation found “policy and procedural failures,” Lentz said, adding that the office’s initial news release following the shooting “does not reflect the entirety of what happened on that terrible night.”
Late on June 10, Glass called the police because his car had become stuck on an embankment. Body camera videos show Glass refusing to get out of his car while telling police he is “terrified” and making heart shapes with his hands to officers.
Officers talked to him to try to persuade him to leave the car. After more than an hour of negotiations, police said Glass was being uncooperative and they broke the passenger window and removed a knife from the vehicle.
Glass offered to throw two knives out of the window but the video shows officers telling him not to.
Once the window was shattered, Glass seemed to panic and grabbed a second knife. Police then shot Glass with bean bag rounds and shocked him with a stun gun. The footage shows Glass twisting in his seat and thrusting a knife toward an officer who approaches the rear driver window. Then another officer fired his gun, hitting Glass six times, according to the autopsy report.
During a September news conference, Glass’s mother, Sally Glass, said her son suffered from depression, had recently been diagnosed with ADHD and was “having a mental health episode” and was “petrified” the night he was killed.
___
Jesse Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2022/11/24/grand-jury-indicts-co-deputies-shooting-death-young-man/ | 2022-11-24 11:47:34 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/2022/11/24/grand-jury-indicts-co-deputies-shooting-death-young-man/ |
LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the European countries using the euro currency hit another record in August, fuelled by soaring energy prices mainly driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Annual inflation in the eurozone’s 19 countries rose to 9.1% in August, up from 8.9% in July, according to the latest figures released Wednesday by the European Union statistics agency.
Inflation is at the highest levels since record-keeping for the euro began in 1997.
Energy prices surged 38.3%, while food prices rose 10.6%. Prices for goods were up 5% and the cost of services rose 3.8%.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://wtmj.com/national/2022/08/31/inflation-hits-9-1-in-countries-using-euro-currency/ | 2022-08-31 20:16:46 | 0 | https://wtmj.com/national/2022/08/31/inflation-hits-9-1-in-countries-using-euro-currency/ |
Increasing Footprint Across Five States
CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) plans its largest-ever service area and product expansion in 2023, increasing health care coverage options for as many as 1.1 million additional Medicare-eligible individuals in more than 150 new counties across Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
The proposed expansion, which focuses on providing access to care in rural and underserved areas, allows the company to offer Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) plans to 7.5 million people in more than 330 total counties across the states it serves – a more than 40% increase from 2022's record buildout.
"We're excited to follow up last year's historic expansion with an even bigger launch for 2023, building on our long-standing commitment to increase access to quality, cost-effective and equitable health care in the communities we serve," said Christine Kourouklis, HCSC's Medicare President. "We're not just expanding our geographic reach – we're also expanding our products and services to best serve the specific needs and lifestyles of the growing Medicare population."
HCSC currently insures more than 17 million Americans in five states, including seniors who enjoy coverage through its Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Many HCSC MA plans provide additional benefits beyond traditional Medicare, including dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage at a variety of price points, including options with $0 monthly premiums.
For 2023, HCSC's MA plans and benefits are designed to meet the evolving and diverse needs of Medicare members, including options intended to lower out-of-pocket costs, support affordability of prescription drugs and increase access to enhanced benefits.
"As we continue to grow our Medicare offerings, we've carefully chosen the expansion areas and product offerings to provide access to equitable, affordable and quality care to our members and potential new members," said Nathan Linsley, HCSC Senior Vice President, Government and Individual Markets. "We are committed to the Medicare population and will continue to grow and evolve our products and networks to deliver the best member experience and overall outcomes."
HCSC is supporting the MAPD county footprint with an expansion of provider networks across all five states to help members have access to specialized care when and where they want and need it.
HCSC is in the process of seeking all necessary regulatory approvals for 2023. The Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Annual Election Period starts October 15 and ends December 7, 2022. For more information, visit.medicare.gov.
Health Care Service Corporation is the country's largest customer-owned health insurer, with nearly 17.5 million members in its health plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. A Mutual Legal Reserve Company, HCSC is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
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SOURCE Health Care Service Corporation | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/01/hcsc-expand-medicare-offerings-11m-more-seniors-150-new-counties/ | 2022-08-02 00:58:44 | 0 | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/01/hcsc-expand-medicare-offerings-11m-more-seniors-150-new-counties/ |
An eastern Ohio man told investigators that he tried to burn down an Ohio church because he wanted to prevent a drag show that was scheduled to take place there, federal prosecutors allege in newly unsealed charges.
Aimenn Penny, a 20-year-old from Alliance who is a member of a “white lives matter” group that espouses racist and neo-Nazi views, tried to burn down the Community Church of Chesterland early on March 25, authorities allege in court documents unsealed Monday. Chesterland is a small community east of Cleveland.
Drag shows have become a target of conservative groups and leaders around the nation, with some claiming the art form sexually grooms children. Performers and event organizers, though, say the shows are innocent fun and that it’s those who protest against them who are terrorizing and harming children and making them political pawns.
According to the criminal complaint in the Ohio case, Penny said he tried to burn down the church using Molotov cocktails because he wanted to “protect the children and stop the drag show event.” He also regretted that it didn’t work, authorities said.
The FBI said the church, which was unoccupied at the time, sustained minimal damage and had scorch marks on the front door. According to court documents, investigators found broken glass from a vodka bottle and a beer bottle each containing a cloth-type material, along with a burnt matchstick and a blue plastic spray bottle filled with gasoline.
Penny was arrested March 31 and remains in custody. His attorney, John Greven, has declined to comment on the charges.
Penny is charged with violating the Church Arson Prevention Act, using fire to commit a federal felony, the malicious use of explosive materials and possessing a destructive device. He faces up to 50 years in prison if he’s convicted on all counts.
Concerns over security matters or potentially violent protests at drag shows have led to some being canceled or moved, including to venues that don’t admit children.
Several hundred bills restricting transgender people’s rights have been introduced in statehouses this year, including bills stipulating which bathrooms they can use and banning gender affirming care for minors. Transgender people have also faced increasingly hostile rhetoric from conservative lawmakers who are introducing such proposals.
Some of the most stringent measures have been enacted in Tennessee, where the Republican governor signed into law drag show restrictions, though they have been blocked from taking effect. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/ap-us-news/feds-man-tried-to-firebomb-ohio-church-to-stop-drag-show/ | 2023-04-25 18:42:17 | 1 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/ap-us-news/feds-man-tried-to-firebomb-ohio-church-to-stop-drag-show/ |
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a draft bill that would impose a ban on gender-affirming surgery, the latest move in the Kremlin-orchestrated crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights.
The draft submitted by 400 members of the 450-seat lower house, the State Duma, would ban any gender-affirming surgery except that intended to treat “congenital physiological anomalies.” Those exclusive cases will be regulated by dedicated medical panels that will be closely overseen by the government.
The proposed legislation would also ban legal name and gender changes in public records and official documents.
Pyotr Tolstoy, a senior lawmaker who is among the bill’s authors, said it’s intended to “protect Russia with its cultural and family values and traditions and to stop the infiltration of the Western anti-family ideology.”
The proposed bill, which is all but certain to win quick approval by the Duma and rubber-stamped by the upper house before Russian President Vladimir Putin signs it into law, reflects an increasingly intolerant Kremlin stand on gender issues. It comes along with an intensifying clampdown on free speech and human rights amid the Russian military action in Ukraine.
Putin, who has initiated constitutional changes that among other things included an amendment defining the marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman, has repeatedly mocked LGBTQ+ rights, casting them as the trappings of a decadent West.
In December, Putin signed a law that bans advertising, media and online resources, books, films and theater productions deemed to contain “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.” The law broadly expanded a 2013 ban on such ”propaganda” aimed at minors that effectively outlawed gay pride marches.
Rights groups have harshly criticized the law as a state encouragement of homophobia, intolerance and discrimination. | https://www.koin.com/news/international/ap-russian-lawmakers-introduce-draft-bill-to-ban-gender-affirming-surgery/ | 2023-05-31 15:13:30 | 0 | https://www.koin.com/news/international/ap-russian-lawmakers-introduce-draft-bill-to-ban-gender-affirming-surgery/ |
Scoreboard: Feb. 3, 2023
Published 6:56 pm Friday, February 3, 2023
Prep schedule
SATURDAY
Boys hockey: Mankato West at Albert Lea, 7:15 p.m.
Girls hockey: Albert Lea at Mankato West, 2 p.m.
Wrestling: NRHEG at Maple River/United South Central, 9 a.m. (tournament)
MONDAY
Boys basketball: Alden-Conger at Madelia, 7 p.m.
Central Springs at Northwood-Kensett, 7:30 p.m.
Girls basketball: Albert Lea at Mankato West, 7:30 p.m.
Nicollet at Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons, 6 p.m.
United South Central at Leroy-Ostrander, 6 p.m.
Central Springs at Northwood-Kensett, 6:15 p.m.
Wrestling: NRHEG at Westfield, 5 p.m.
TUESDAY
Boys basketball: Albert Lea at Rochester John Marshall, 7:30 p.m.
St. Charles at Alden-Conger, 7 p.m.
Leroy-Ostrander at Glenville-Emmons, 7:15 p.m.
Medford at NRHEG, 7:15 p.m.
Maple River at United South Central, 7:15 p.m.
North Union at Lake Mills, 7:30 p.m.
Girls basketball: Rochester John Marshall at Albert Lea, 7:30 p.m.
NRHEG at Medford, 7:15 p.m.
North Union at Lake Mills, 6:15 p.m.
Thursday’s results
Girls basketball
Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 53, Spring Grove 40
Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons stats: Macy Mattson 21 points; Alyvia Newman 10 points; Avery Hornberger 8 points; Cearra Grunzke 8 points; Rachel Heskett 3 points; Courtney Bakkedahl 3 points
Belmond-Klemme 43, Northwood-Kensett 35
Northwood-Kensett stats: Chloe Costello 12 points; Ella Leonard 8 points; Morgan Wallin 8 points; Madalynn Hanson 7 points
Boys hockey
Albert Lea 5, Winona 2
AL 0 2 3 – 5
WN 1 1 0 – 2
Albert Lea stats: Tim Chalmers 1 goal, 1 assist; Spencer VanBeek 1 assist; Jack Ladlie 1 goal, 1 assist; Eli Farris 2 goals, 1 assist; Joseph Yoon 2 assists; Jaeger Miller 1 goal, 1 assist; Connor Pirsig 2 assists; Dakota Jahnke 36 saves
Girls hockey
Albert Lea 6, Winona 0
AL 2 2 2 – 6
WN 0 0 0 – 0
Albert Lea stats: Haley Austinson 1 assist; Emery Nelson 1 assist; Hanna Austinson 1 assist; Keira Erickson 1 assist; Shelby Evans 1 assist; Morgan Goskeson 1 goal; Mika Cichosz 4 goals; Lily Steven 1 goal, 1 assist; Jayda Moyer 15 saves
Tuesday’s results
Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 41, Martin County West 35
Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons stats: Macy Mattson 17 points; Alyvia Newman 15 points; Cearra Grunzke 5 points; Rachel Heskett 4 points
NRHEG 63, Maple River 59
NR 37 26 – 63
MR 30 29 – 59
NRHEG stats: Faith Neilsen 19 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist; Quinn VanMaldeghem 2 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals; Erin Jacobson 13 points, 15 points; Hallie Schultz 3 points, 3 rebounds; Sidney Schultz 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists; Adalyn Stadheim 2 steals, 2 assists; Camryn VanMaldeghem 2 points, 1 rebound, 4 steals, 1 assist; Preslie Nielsen 3 points
St. Ansgar 59, Northwood-Kensett 40
Northwood-Kensett stats: Chloe Costello 13 points; Ella Leonoard 13 points; Madalynn Hanson 9 points; Morgan Walling 4 points; Lexi Hanson-Brandsoy 1 point
Monday’s results
Boys basketball
Maple River 69, NRHEG 46
MR 29 40 – 69
NR 22 24 – 46
NRHEG stats: Sam Olson 15 points; Daxter Lee 14 points; Sawyer Prigge 6 points; Will Tuttle 4 points, 5 rebounds; Alden Dobberstein 3 points; Lukas Loverink 2 points; Greyson Schaefer 2 points
GHEC/ML/T 63, Alden-Conger 60
Girls basketball
Owatonna 71, Albert Lea 52
OW 39 32 – 71
AL 22 30 – 52
Albert Lea stats: Kristina Espinosa 21 points, 7 rebounds; Naveah Wacholz 13 points, 10 rebounds; Jai Maligaya 11 points
NRHEG 62, Belle Plaine 55
NR 23 39 – 62
BP 29 26 – 55
NRHEG stats: Faith Nielsen 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals; Quinn VanMaldeghem 3 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 charge; Erin Jacobson 9 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal; Hallie Schultz 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist; Sidney Schultz 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists; Adalyn Stadheim 2 points; Camryn VanMaldeghem 2 points, 2 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 assist; Preslie Nielsen 3 points, 1 rebound
GHEC/ML/T 70, Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 45
Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons stats: Macy Mattson 14 points; Cearra Grunzke 9 points; Courtney Bakkedahl 8 points; Rachel Heskett 6 points; Alyvia Newman 5 points; Ashley Newman 3 points
Boys hockey
Albert Lea 8, Austin 1
AL 3 3 2 – 8
AU 0 1 0 – 1
Albert Lea stats: Tim Chalmers 2 goals, 2 assists; Max Edwin 1 goal, 1 assist; Jack Ladlie 3 assists; Eli Farris 3 goals; Joseph Yoon 2 goals, 5 assists; Dakota Jahnke 44 saves | https://www.albertleatribune.com/2023/02/scoreboard-feb-3-2023/ | 2023-02-04 05:57:59 | 1 | https://www.albertleatribune.com/2023/02/scoreboard-feb-3-2023/ |
Market Leading Supplier Intelligence Data Platform Validates UMass Supplier Diversity Spend Efforts by 28% increase YoY
TORONTO, Dec. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TealBook, the leading supplier data platform that autonomously enhances supplier data, and the University of Massachusetts, a world-class public research university system, today announced the details of their successful first year as partners. The partnership has enhanced UMass' existing supplier information to ensure diverse suppliers are identified and leveraged throughout the university's five campuses.
Due to the university system's expansive size and tremendous economic impact on the state of Massachusetts, UMass has made it a priority to increase diverse spending within their supplier base. With the help of TealBook's supplier diversity intelligence platform, UMass was able to increase both their list of diverse suppliers and diverse dollars spent. Additional results of the first year of the partnership include:
- 28% increase in identified diversity spend for their FY22, up from around $50 million to $64 million for suppliers
- 28% increase in identified diverse suppliers in FY22, from 709 suppliers to 906 suppliers
- Deeper visibility into spend with other minority business enterprise (MBE) groups
- New online portal that includes dashboards of curated UMass supplier diversity data, spend categorization and watchlist notifications
"Since the launch of the Unified Procurement Services Team (UPST), we have been striving to be a much more data-driven organization that uses empirical evidence to ensure sound business decisions," said Dave Cho, Chief Procurement Officer at UMass. "Our partnership with TealBook allows UMass to use data to validate that we are truly living up to our values by increasing our supplier diversity spend by around 33 percent since UPST was launched in 2020. I'm very excited about additional potential uses of this platform."
"UMass has enjoyed continued success throughout the last year in their supplier diversity goals, and TealBook is proud to have been part of that advancement," said Stephany Lapierre, CEO and founder of TealBook. "As the leading supplier data platform, TealBook is committed to giving businesses the tools they need to evaluate and report on their diverse supplier bases."
For more information about TealBook and their product offerings, visit tealbook.com.
TealBook is the leading supplier data platform that automates the collection, enrichment and distribution of supplier data to power the end-to-end procurement lifecycle. Using AI and ML, TealBook enables procurement teams to unlock and realize the investment made in suppliers, people, source-to-pay and ERP systems. The world's most innovative procurement organizations are building their data foundations with TealBook's trusted supplier data. TealBook has been adopted by Fortune 100 companies and is the winner of many prestigious awards including: Spend Matters 50 Vendors to Know, ProcureTech Top 100, LinkedIn Top Startups, and Gartner Cool Vendor. For more information, visit www.tealbook.com.
The University of Massachusetts is a world-class public research university system committed to advancing knowledge and transforming lives. UMass is renowned for the quality of its academic programs, the scope and impact of its research, and the strength of its public service mission. With four comprehensive campuses, a world-class medical school and a mission-driven law school, UMass educates more than 74,000 students, has more than half a million alumni, conducts $752 million in annual research, and is responsible for $7.5 billion in economic impact every year. The university system comprises UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester and the UMass School of Law in Dartmouth and is one of the largest employers in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.massachusetts.edu/
Media Contact:
Marisa Miller
317-806-1900
tealbook@blastmedia.com
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SOURCE TealBook | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/12/07/tealbook-partnership-positions-umass-further-success-supplier-diversity/ | 2022-12-07 14:58:13 | 1 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/12/07/tealbook-partnership-positions-umass-further-success-supplier-diversity/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Adults. They, too, need fun stuff for the holidays.
From sweet treats to things with wheels, some ideas for pleasing a child at heart this holiday season:
BOARD GAMES
The Shakespeare Game: This bard-in-a-box extravaganza has players collecting characters and racing around London’s theaters. The idea is to put on as many plays as possible before others “steal your ideas, burn down your theaters or spread the plague!” The winner rakes in the most box office bucks and is the fastest to fame and glory. $35.
Wordle: The Party Game. Did you see it coming? Hasbro and The New York Times have made the get-it-in-six daily treat a board game. In each round, a player picked as host writes down a five-letter word. Others must figure it out in, you guessed it, six tries, competing to do it in the least number of attempts. Dry erase boards and familiar color coding are used. $19.99.
Paco Sako: This chess variant was originally the subject of a Kickstarter by Felix Albers, the Dutch dad who created it. Played on a regular chess board with regular chess pieces, there are unions that look like hugs and the winner “embraces” the opponent’s king, as opposed to capturing it. Pieces move the same as in chess but generally don’t leave the board. Still don’t get it? Have a look at reviews and how-tos before you plunk down $49.99.
EDIBLE TREATS
Dylan’s Candy Bar is a sugary, gifty playground year round, and especially at the holidays. The company’s clear plastic tackle boxes offer a little something for everybody. There’s one for $125 full of festive, shiny-wrapped candy bling. Another for $85 is a trip down memory lane for boomers with Zots, Mallo Cups, Chick-O-Sticks and more. Millennials have their own sour feast at the same price.
Got a licorice lover? The Danish confectionery Lakrids by Bulow has brought back their Advent calendar filled with 24 days of licorice covered in chocolate. I repeat. Licorice encased in chocolate, with flavors like raspberry and salted caramel. The goodness comes in a sleek, black-and-white packaging design. $55.
COLLECTIBLES & NOSTALGIA
A prize baseball card. A treasured stamp or coin. Figurines, vintage kitchenware. Surely you know at least one gift recipient with a collection of some sort. No? Then go the way of TikTok and embrace minis. They’re everywhere in those round wrapped eggs and other mystery containers (You never know which mini in a set you’ll get). For the truly obsessed, one company makes minis in minis featuring beloved candy brands. Those aren’t actually edible. $7.99.
For the beer lover, Etsy seller Pretentious Beer Glass has on offer four hand-blown Pilsner glasses for $162.
Big fans of Little People alert: Fisher Price has a six-piece collector set of figures from the hit “Ted Lasso.” The gang’s all here: Ted Lasso, Rebecca Welton, Keeley Jones, Coach Beard, Roy Kent and Sam Obisanya for a hit of toy nostalgia. $29.97.
Feeding the taste for nostalgia, Build-a-Bear has launched “The Bear Cave” line of plush bears and other characters partaking of Champagne, cocktails and beer. All are under $60.
Lite Brite sells a line of ‘50s and ’60s pop art sets intended to be hung on a wall after they’re created. They’re in the $100 range. Ho ho ho.
WHEELS
The American icon Schwinn makes something called the Shuffle Deluxe Scooter. It has two wheels and bicycle-like handlebars but retains scooter status with a nostalgic wood step board. With kickstand. $249. Razor recently launched the Razor Icon. It’s bigger, faster and electric.
If scooters aren’t how your giftees roll, try a longboard. They’re everywhere. Koastals are plentiful and come in a range of prices and designs. They’re handcrafted in Southern California. From $99 to $280. Buy complete or customize.
THEATER
At $129.99 a year, the streaming service BroadwayHD serves up full-length stage plays and musicals, including exclusive livestreams. It’s an unlimited, on-demand library of more than 300 theater productions from Broadway, the West End and beyond. Some ballets and concerts, too. Not looking to spend that much? Buy a month or two at $11.99 each.
Or you could pick up an original cast recording of a favorite musical, or a biography on a theater legend. “Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told ” by Kenneth Turan and Papp himself holds up. It’s been out since 2009 so shop around for a good price.
BOOZE
Can’t think of anything unusual? Research and reach for a special bottle. There are too many variables and options for too many palates to make one solid recommendation, but special splurges abound. Consider Garrison Brothers Distillery for bourbon. It has a range of price points.
Look for “premier cru” or “grand cru” on Champagne labels noting top vineyards, as in the Krug Grande Cuvée Brut. It’s in the $180 range. Got a wine buff? How about the 2019 Insignia from the Napa Valley Joseph Phelps Vineyards. $330.
“THE OFFICE”
For whatever reason, considering all the Lego sets and all the TV shows in the land, folks are frothing for Lego’s 1,164-piece set based on the Emmy-winning “The Office.” It’s Dunder Mifflin down to the tiniest detail and includes 15 mini-figures of the show’s main characters. A dozen of the figures have two facial expressions when the heads are turned around. Classic scenes come to life in Jim’s teapot, Michael’s World’s Best Boss mug and Dwight’s Jell-O-encased stapler. $119.99.
Lots of big-kid sets are out there if this one doesn’t do it. Among the Lego Ideas sets: a manual typewriter, the “Seinfeld” apartment set and a shoutout to “The Flintstones.”
OUTDOORS
Remember the cozy hygge phenom? Well, the Scandinavian concept of friluftsliv (roughly FREE-loofts-leeve) is another Nordic secret that’s spreading. It’s the idea of enjoying slow nature, and being kind to the Earth. Swedish-American Linda Akeson McGurk has written a book, “The Open-Air Life,” sharing the 10 principles of friluftsliv. She explains how to make a more meaningful relationship with the great outdoors. $20.
Searches for all things sporty chic, mountainside-style, are up on Etsy, said Dayna Isom Johnson, the handmade marketplace’s trend expert. Sellers there, and their buyers, are “looking to the mountains and snowy caps for inspiration,” she said. That includes folks looking for vintage ski gear.
A cheaper alternative to feed the outdoor trend? One Etsy seller, Cai Cai Handmade, offers mountain soy and beeswax candles that can be customized by color and scent, including pine forest.
To further friluftsliv a female giftee, wrap up some Moment mints by MotherBar. They’re nearly 100% organic and each includes 40 mg of full-spectrum CBD, along with Szechuan flower, peppermint and Bulgarian rose. $65 for 10. Recommended to start with one at a time, but who’s counting. The packaging and marketing are gender specific.
THE VIBRATIONS
Know somebody who needs a little help shaking off their pandemic funk?
Gift a card deck of affirmations and good vibes. Two sisters, Shanna Cancino and Cherish Wilson, have created The Vibe Check Deck of 52 cards with prompts to help people perk up. Such as: “Give someone a hug for 20 seconds” and “Explore your senses. Name five things you see, four things you feel, three things you hear, two things you smell, one thing you taste.” Not feeling those? How about: “Send a positive wish to your water and drink.” Surely, your gift recipient will at least smile, wryly or otherwise. $29.99.
Tarot decks are bountiful. For beginners, Clarkson Potter sells “Illuminated: A Journal for Your Tarot Practice.” It offers ways to more meaningfully engage with a deck and log observations and reflections. $16.
NETS & MORE NETS
Move over pickleball, Jazzminton Sport is on your tail. It’s an indoor-outdoor game played with paddles and birdies and a unique net with a horizontal cut out. There are no boundaries. No court is required. Set up is simple. Two people play. Just bat the birdie back and forth through the hole until the winner reaches an agreed-upon point number. $199.99.
If one net isn’t enough, go for four with Crossnet. It’s a four-square-meets-volleyball game for indoors, outdoors, on sand or concrete, in water or on grass. Play is, uh, complicated. In a nutshell: Four people are up or break into teams of two. Play goes around one hit per return across four nets until the ball hits the ground or goes out of bounds. People are rotated in and out. The net height is adjustable. $149.99 at Crossnetgame.com.
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For more AP gift guides, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gift-guide.
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Follow Leanne on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie | https://pix11.com/entertainment/ap-entertainment/ap-adults-need-toys-too-some-holiday-gift-suggestions/ | 2022-11-15 19:22:00 | 1 | https://pix11.com/entertainment/ap-entertainment/ap-adults-need-toys-too-some-holiday-gift-suggestions/ |
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina reported a monthly inflation rate of 7.4% in July, the highest number in two decades for a country where citizens are used to increasing prices.
Over the past year, Argentina’s consumer prices have soared a whopping 71%, the INDEC national statistics agency said Thursday.
At a time when many people around the world are trying to deal with rapidly rising prices, these latest numbers cemented Argentina’s position among countries with the highest inflation rates in the world.
The effects of the inflation scourge is plainly evident in Villa Fiorito, around 15kms (9 miles) from downtown Buenos Aires, where unemployed women gather in the hopes of bartering goods for food in a plaza.
Every afternoon, women set up their blankets and carefully lay out all kinds of goods, including clothes, toys and used kitchen utensils with the hope of exchanging them for food to feed their families.
The bartering that takes place every day in Villa Fiorito, famous for being the birthplace of late soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona, has emerged as a way for dozens of women who do not have a fixed income to make ends meet at a time when the cost of living has soared.
Things are likely to get worse before they get better in Argentina as analysts project that inflation this year will likely be higher than 90% with many speculating that a three-digit inflation rate is likely if the government of President Alberto Fernández fails to put the brakes on rising prices.
The price increases have hit food products particularly hard, worsening the poverty rate that already affects around 40 percent of the population of around 47 million.
Soledad Bustos, 31, sets up shop in the Villa Fiorito fair every afternoon while one of her children is in school and another is under the care of her sister.
Bustos offers jeans, leather boots, sneakers and shirts that she either took out of her own closet or bought through Facebook. In exchange she asks for powdered milk, which has become inaccessible.
“I can’t get to the end of the month, the money isn’t enough,” Bustos, a single mom, said.
Bustos is unemployed and says she receives around 36,000 pesos ($255) per month from the state, which is not enough to feed her family.
“I can’t survive with the welfare. Besides food I also have to buy the things for the kids’ school and medicine. I have no choice but to come here to be able to get a little more,” Bustos said.
These types of bartering fairs started spreading in Argentina after the economy collapsed in 2001 during the biggest economic crisis in its modern history. But they have reemerged in recent years amid a galloping inflation rate that has been stuck in double digits for years.
“This is living hand-to-mouth,” said María Inés Pereyra, 48, the coordinator of the fair that runs Mondays through Saturdays. “Whatever they obtain today they take it straight to the dining table.”
For safety reasons, only women can participate in bartering and most of the exchanges had already been previously arranged via Facebook or WhatsApp.
Although there is no set value for the used merchandise, Pereyra set a maximum price of 300 pesos ($2) for each item of clothing.
As an example, she pointed to a pair of leather sneakers that could be traded for a packet of sugar, cooking oil, flour and a local tea infusion.
Fernández’s administration has blamed the high inflation rate in July on a currency crisis caused by “speculative movements that tried to generate a crisis of uncertainty and push a devaluation,” Gabriela Cerruti, the government’s spokeswoman, said Thursday before the inflation rate was released.
The acceleration of the country’s already high inflation rate comes shortly after the government had three economy ministers within one month amid uncertainty that led the local currency to depreciate sharply in the financial market.
Analysts, and even members of Fernández’s administration, expect the August inflation rate to be similar to July in part due to increases in the price of public transport and energy.
In Villa Fiorito, Bustos says she and her fellow barterers are only focused on “surviving.” | https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/bartering-increases-in-argentina-as-inflation-keeps-soaring/ | 2022-08-12 15:28:53 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/bartering-increases-in-argentina-as-inflation-keeps-soaring/ |
“Once you send that photo, you can’t take it back,” goes the warning to teenagers, often ignoring the reality that many teens send explicit images of themselves under duress, or without understanding the consequences.
A new online tool aims to give some control back to teens, or people who were once teens, and take down explicit images and videos of themselves from the internet.
Called Take It Down, the tool is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and funded in part by Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram.
The site lets anyone anonymously — and without uploading any actual images — create what is essentially a digital fingerprint of the image. This fingerprint (a unique set of numbers called a “hash”) then goes into a database and the tech companies that have agreed to participate in the project remove the images from their services.
Now, the caveats. The participating platforms are, as of Monday, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Yubo, OnlyFans and Pornhub, owned by Mindgeek. If the image is on another site, or if it is sent in an encrypted platform such as WhatsApp, it will not be taken down.
In addition, if someone alters the original image — for instance, cropping it, adding an emoji or turning it into a meme — it becomes a new image and thus need a new hash. Images that are visually similar — such as the same photo with and without an Instagram filter, will have similar hashes, differing in just one character.
“Take It Down is made specifically for people who have an image that they have reason to believe is already out on the Web somewhere, or that it could be,” said Gavin Portnoy, a spokesman for the NCMEC. “You’re a teen and you’re dating someone and you share the image. Or somebody extorted you and they said, ‘if you don’t give me an image, or another image of you, I’m going to do X, Y, Z.’”
Portnoy said teens may feel more comfortable going to a site than to involve law enforcement, which wouldn’t be anonymous, for one.
“To a teen who doesn’t want that level of involvement, they just want to know that it’s taken down, this is a big deal for them,” he said. NCMEC is seeing an increase in reports of online exploitation of children. The nonprofit’s CyberTipline received 29.3 million reports in 2021, up 35% from 2020.
Meta, back when it was still Facebook, attempted to create a similar tool, although for adults, back in 2017. It didn’t go over well because the site asked people to, basically, send their (encrypted) nudes to Facebook — not the most trusted company even in 2017. The company tested out the service in Australia for a brief period, but didn’t expand it to other countries.
But in that time, online sexual extortion and exploitation has only gotten worse, for children and teens as well as for adults. Many tech companies already use this hash system to share, take down and report to law enforcement images of child sexual abuse. Portnoy said the goal is to have more companies sign up.
“We never had anyone say no,” he said.
Twitter and TikTok so far have not committed to the project. Neither company immediately respond to a message for comment Sunday.
Antigone Davis, Meta’s global head of safety, said Take It Down is one of many tools the company uses to address child abuse and exploitation on its platforms.
“In addition to supporting the development of this tool and having, reporting and blocking systems on our on our platform, we also do a number of different things to try to prevent these kinds of situations from happening in the first place. So, for example, we don’t allow unconnected adults to message minors,” she said.
The site works with real as well as artificial intelligence-generated images and “deepfakes,” Davis said. Deepfakes are created to look like real, actual people saying or doing things they didn’t actually do. | https://www.kxnet.com/news/national-news/take-it-down-tool-offers-teens-chance-to-remove-explicit-images/ | 2023-02-27 18:57:28 | 0 | https://www.kxnet.com/news/national-news/take-it-down-tool-offers-teens-chance-to-remove-explicit-images/ |
The Washington Wizards have agreed to trade center Kristaps Porzingis to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team trade that also includes Marcus Smart heading to the Memphis Grizzlies, two people with knowledge of the deal said Thursday morning.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreements hadn’t been announced. The trade comes with Porzingis accepting his player option for next season.
The deal also includes the Grizzlies acquiring Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, from Boston in exchange for first-round draft picks in 2023 and 2024. ESPN reported the Wizards are also receiving guard Tyus Jones from Memphis, and forwards Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari and a second-round pick this year from Boston.
The Celtics add the 7-foot-3 Porzingis after they lost in seven games to Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. Porzingis is coming off a solid season in Washington in which he averaged a career-high 23.2 points per game along with 8.4 rebounds. Most importantly, he stayed healthy enough to play in 66 games, his most since 2016-17 when he was with the New York Knicks.
Porzingis’ departure completes a swift breakup of Washington’s core after the Wizards agreed to trade Bradley Beal to Phoenix, and Kyle Kuzma declined his option. Washington has missed the playoffs the past two seasons and is now clearly in a rebuilding mode under new team president Michael Winger.
Smart has played in Boston all nine of his NBA seasons, was its longest-tenured player and one of the strongest presences in the locker room. He also ranks fourth on the franchise’s career lists for 3-pointers (911) and assists (2,700). His departure leaves the Celtics with Derrick White and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon as the top two candidates to replace Smart.
Smart brings much needed experience to a young Memphis team that needs help at point guard following the announcement of Ja Morant’s 25-game suspension for next season. Smart also brings postseason experience to the Grizzlies, who have won only one playoff series despite finishing second in the West the past two seasons.
The Celtics reached the NBA Finals in 2022, but were unable to make it back this season despite their talented tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Boston becomes Porzingis’ fourth NBA team. Drafted in 2015 by New York with the fourth overall pick, he played three seasons with the Knicks before being traded to Dallas before the deadline in 2019 — when he was recovering from knee surgery. The Wizards acquired him from Dallas 16 months ago.
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Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wdtn.com/sports/ap-sports/wizards-agree-to-trade-porzingis-to-celtics-ap-source-says-smart-reportedly-headed-to-grizzlies/ | 2023-06-22 14:18:41 | 1 | https://www.wdtn.com/sports/ap-sports/wizards-agree-to-trade-porzingis-to-celtics-ap-source-says-smart-reportedly-headed-to-grizzlies/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan woman was awarded over $400,000 on Friday by a federal jury after suing New York City and its police department, saying she suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was thrown to the ground by a police sergeant while serving as a medic for protesters during 2012 Occupy Wall Street events.
Mary Tardif, 33, won the $431,250 award nearly a decade after suing in 2013. She had sought unspecified damages for injuries she incurred as a medic for protesters at multiple rallies staged by the grassroots movement that began in Manhattan, spread globally, and was known for its refrain: “We are the 99 percent.”
In an interview, Tardif called the verdict “very vindicating.”
“I feel like I have actually known justice for the first time,” said Tardif, who works at Broadway Advocacy Coalition where she does sign language interpreting for Broadway shows and serves as a disability adviser.
Tardif, who has had epilepsy since she was 19, said she considered the verdict, which found “battery” had occurred but no assault, a win for those “occupiers who never got to see this day or never got to have their day in court.”
“It feels like a win for all of us. I wish I could share it with them. There were so many,” she said, speaking of others who were injured at rallies, as she celebrated at a restaurant near the courthouse with her service dog, Daisy, a black Labrador Retriever who was with Tardif throughout the trial but was hidden from jurors.
Nick Paolucci, a New York City Law Department spokesperson, said the city was “disappointed with this result" and was reviewing options.
He noted that a jury in 2018 had rejected the claims before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reinstated the case, citing flaws in the first trial.
Paolucci said Tardif “was never thrown to the ground, as she claimed. Additionally, and unfortunately, the jury was not aware that the plaintiff had introduced new injuries at this second trial that were never alleged in the initial case.”
During opening statements, city attorney Michael Viviano said a police sergeant who has since been promoted to lieutenant grabbed onto Tardif's arms on March 21, 2012, and moved her away as police were clearing a park in Union Square because she had put her hands on a police officer's back.
“The plaintiff then falls to the ground. The plaintiff was not thrown,” he said.
Reza Rezvani, an attorney arguing on Tardif's behalf, told jurors in an opening statement that the sergeant grabbed her with both of his hands.
“He throws her to the ground. Her head hits the pavement,” he said.
Tardif maintained in her 2013 lawsuit that her epileptic condition was often ignored after she suffered violent abuses from police officers who arrested her at several protests while she served as a medic. The lawsuit said they kicked her, walked on her limbs and tossed her to the ground.
According to trial evidence and Tardif's statements, the violent encounter at Union Square caused her head to slam into the ground with such force that she was left with a permanent brain injury that leaves her unable to work except for a job where she has flexible hours and can sometimes call in sick when she is completely immobile. | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Woman-awarded-431-000-for-Occupy-Wall-Street-17280419.php | 2022-07-02 01:20:47 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Woman-awarded-431-000-for-Occupy-Wall-Street-17280419.php |
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