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You’ve done everything on your checklist. Got pet insurance and found a great, affordable veterinarian. Didn’t forget to puppy-proof the house and scanned high and low for the best quality dog food. Just one thing’s missing: What will you name your new furry family member?
In the past century, man’s best friend has had various popular names. Spike, Fido, and Buddy are classic names. But what if you’re looking for something more unique? Or, you want to give them a classic name, like Charlie? Whatever you choose to call your puppy pal, you want to make sure it’s just right.
What’s in a name, you might ask? Sometimes, what you see is what you get. Other times, it’s quite the complete opposite. According to the PetHelpful, the ideal dog name should be kept to one to two syllables. Why? You’ll get your puppy’s attention faster. Another helpful tip: give your furry friend a name you won’t get tired of repeating.
Wag! ranked the 50 most popular dog names in Ohio based on its users’ data. Find your next pup’s name below, or see if your canine companion’s name made the cut.
#50. Willow
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.22%
– National rank: #71
#48. Mia (tie)
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.25%
– National rank: #41
#48. Ollie (tie)
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.25%
– National rank: #45
#47. Gracie
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.26%
– National rank: #58
#46. Brutus
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.26%
– National rank: Not ranked in the top 100
#45. Marley
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.36%
– National rank: #47
#44. Louie
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.38%
– National rank: #50
#43. Roxy
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.38%
– National rank: #38
#41. Jack (tie)
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.43%
– National rank: #19
#41. Murphy (tie)
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.43%
– National rank: #57
#40. Winston
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.44%
– National rank: #46
#39. Ruby
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.44%
– National rank: #48
#38. Ellie
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.49%
– National rank: #49
#37. Harley
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.50%
– National rank: #31
#35. Jax (tie)
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.51%
– National rank: #37
#35. Piper (tie)
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.51%
– National rank: #52
#34. Toby
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.53%
– National rank: #24
#33. Zeus
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.53%
– National rank: #34
#32. Teddy
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.53%
– National rank: #23
#31. Lily
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.54%
– National rank: #28
#30. Penny
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.56%
– National rank: #27
#29. Riley
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.58%
– National rank: #32
#28. Rosie
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.58%
– National rank: #42
#27. Chloe
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.64%
– National rank: #22
#26. Coco
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.66%
– National rank: #7
#25. Nala
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.72%
– National rank: #18
#24. Oliver
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.78%
– National rank: #25
#23. Rocky
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.79%
– National rank: #13
#22. Zoey
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.83%
– National rank: #29
#21. Bentley
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.83%
– National rank: #26
#20. Sophie
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.84%
– National rank: #35
#19. Leo
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.87%
– National rank: #21
#18. Duke
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.87%
– National rank: #20
#17. Molly
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.93%
– National rank: #15
#16. Maggie
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 1.98%
– National rank: #30
#15. Stella
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.00%
– National rank: #17
#14. Bear
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.10%
– National rank: #14
#13. Sadie
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.14%
– National rank: #16
#12. Tucker
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.17%
– National rank: #36
#11. Lola
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.23%
– National rank: #10
#10. Buddy
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.57%
– National rank: #9
#9. Milo
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.67%
– National rank: #11
#8. Bailey
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.83%
– National rank: #8
#7. Daisy
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.86%
– National rank: #6
#6. Cooper
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 2.97%
– National rank: #12
#5. Lucy
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 3.42%
– National rank: #5
#4. Max
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 3.74%
– National rank: #3
#3. Charlie
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 3.84%
– National rank: #4
#2. Luna
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 4.16%
– National rank: #2
#1. Bella
– Share of Ohio’s top 50 names: 5.58%
– National rank: #1
Want to see other state’s rankings? Check out the top 10 in each of the 50 states.
This story originally appeared on Wag! and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/ohio/the-most-popular-dog-names-of-2023-in-ohio/ | 2023-05-20 03:14:32 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/ohio/the-most-popular-dog-names-of-2023-in-ohio/ |
(AP) – Sam Bankman-Fried may be ready to come to the U.S. to face criminal charges related to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX following a chaotic court appearance in the Bahamas.
A lawyer for Bankman-Fried was quoted as saying Monday the disgraced FTX founder has agreed to be extradited to the United States. A court hearing was stopped earlier in the day when his attorneys said it was premature for him to stand before the court.
Jerone Roberts, a local defense attorney for Bankman-Fried, told The New York Times that lawyers will prepare the necessary documents for extradition. “Mr. Bankman-Fried wishes to put the customers right, and that is what has driven his decision,” the Times quoted Roberts telling reporters.
It was not immediately clear when extradition could occur.
The court appearance came just a week after Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had initially said that they planned to fight extradition. An extradition hearing had been scheduled for Feb. 8. The reversal could speed up the timetable for him to be sent to the U.S.
Bahamian authorities arrested Bankman-Fried last Monday at the request of the U.S. government. U.S. prosecutors allege he played a central role in the rapid collapse of FTX and hid its problems from the public and investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Bankman-Fried illegally used investors’ money to buy real estate on behalf of himself and his family. The 30-year-old could potentially spend the rest of his life in jail.
Bankman-Fried arrived at the courthouse in a black van marked Corrections, which was escorted by a SWAT vehicle and a police vehicle. Police quickly whisked him into an entrance at the back of the courthouse.
A handful of people who said they were either crypto enthusiasts or FTX customers came to the courthouse to witness the proceedings.
“We want him to feel the weight of what he’s done,” said Ben Armstrong, the founder of the BitBoy Crypto website. Armstrong said he’d come to the courthouse with a dozen people, some of whom had lost their money with FTX.
If he is brought to New York, Bankman-Fried will likely be held, at least temporarily, in a federal detention center in Brooklyn. Other famous prisoners at the Metropolitan Detention Center in recent years have included the sexually-abusive singer R. Kelly, the pharmaceutical company executive Martin Shkrelli and the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of helping the millionaire Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse children.
During her time at the MDC, which houses around 1,600 prisoners, Maxwell’s lawyers repeatedly complained to a judge that it was unsanitary, plagued by cockroaches and rodents. In recent years, three guards there have been convicted of sexually abusing inmates. In 2019, a power failure left inmates shivering for a week in the dead of winter.
Once he’s back in the U.S., Bankman-Fried’s attorney will be able to request that he be released on bail. A separate judge in the Bahamas denied Bankman-Fried’s request for bail last week on the grounds he was a flight risk.
Bankman-Fried’s downfall, from crypto evangelist to pariah, occurred with stunning speed. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11 when it ran out of money after the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run.
Before the bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried was considered by many in Washington and on Wall Street as a wunderkind of digital currencies, someone who could help take them mainstream, in part by working with policymakers to bring more oversight and trust to the industry.
Bankman-Fried had been worth tens of billions of dollars — at least on paper — and was able to attract celebrities like Tom Brady or former politicians like Tony Blair and Bill Clinton to his conferences at luxury resorts in the Bahamas. One prominent Silicon Valley firm, Sequoia Capital, invested hundreds of millions of dollars in FTX.
The new CEO of FTX, John Ray III, told a congressional committee on Tuesday that there was nothing sophisticated about what Bankman-Fried was up to.
“This is just old fashion embezzlement, taking money from others and using it for your own purposes,” he said. | https://cbs4indy.com/news/national-world/ftx-founder-agrees-to-extradition-to-us-attorney-says/ | 2022-12-20 02:23:55 | 0 | https://cbs4indy.com/news/national-world/ftx-founder-agrees-to-extradition-to-us-attorney-says/ |
Global Transformation of Sheraton Hotels & Resorts Gains Momentum Throughout Greater China
Published: Dec. 29, 2022 at 7:33 AM CST|Updated: 1 hour ago
From Xi'an to Nanjing, new and reimagined properties join the iconic brand's reinvention journey
BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 29, 2022/PRNewswire/ -- With 2022 coming to a close, the transformation of Sheraton Hotels & Resorts – the most global brand within Marriott Bonvoy's® portfolio of 30 extraordinary hotel brands – continues to build momentum across the globe, with Greater China now featuring eight properties exemplifying the modernized design concept, including the soon-to-open Sheraton Xi'an Chanba. These hotels join the growing number of properties around the world displaying the brand's design transformation, totaling more than 30 properties by the end of the year.
"Following the transformation of four incredible hotels across Greater China, we're excited to welcome these four additional hotels in the region entering a new chapter showcasing the brand's new vision," said Amanda Nichols, Global Brand Leader, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. "As Sheraton continues to inspire new journeys into the new year, we look forward to welcoming guests to enjoy all the familiar comforts of the brand, but with fresh, contemporary updates along with new, exciting guest-programming experiences."
The new approach draws on the brand's roots as a community hub with places to connect and be productive. The design balances timelessness with a fresh and modern feel, creating an environment where guests feel comfortable and at ease whether working, meeting, or relaxing. Built with its global, productivity-focused guest in mind, Sheraton's new elevated food and beverage philosophy and seamless technology integration are additional focal points of the brand's transformation.
With proximity to many places of interest in Xi'an, Sheraton Xi'an Chanba offers 228 residential-style guest rooms and suites with serene, bright spaces and captivating views over the city.
The soon-to-open new hotel takes its design cues from the city's history and culture, especially that of the Tang Dynasty. The lobby art installation made of metal, ceramics, and resin glass were inspired by lamps lit in celebration of the local Lantern Festival. A host of public spaces and amenities have been created, including the brand's signature Community Table. The hotel offers elevated food and beverage experiences with a bar and three restaurants. Part bar, part coffee bar, part market, &More by Sheraton transitions guests seamlessly from day to night with food & beverage options that are locally sourced, easy to enjoy while working, and customizable to accommodate all tastes and time schedules. Through collaboration with Laihui Coffee, it also creates unique coffee drinks inspired by local ingredients, including chestnuts from Qinling.
Sheraton Club, an exclusive space for Marriott Bonvoy Elite members and Club-level guests, features a circular-shaped Oval Bar and is an ideal place for guests to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning or cocktails in the evening over mesmerizing skyline views.
Located at the heart of Xi'an Software New City in Xi'an Hi-tech Industries Development Zone, Sheraton Xi'an South offers proximity to many Fortune 500 enterprises and is set to be the new hub for locals and travelers to connect and collaborate.
The hotel offers 321 modern guest rooms and suites that feature bright, well-lit spaces with warm, residential appeal comprised of soft finishes and light wood tones accentuated with black metal accents. With Xi'an Talent Park nearby, guests staying on the north side of the hotel enjoy beautiful garden views from their room. All guest rooms are equipped with new and modern amenities that foster productivity, including height-adjustable working table, integrated power and charging, and layered lighting.
The property offers an elevated food and beverage experience with local, gourmet-market themed Daily Social, Chinese poetry-inspired YUE, and the curated, intimate bar, Unspoken. The brand's reimagined look is also incorporated in the lobby, which is designed with a flow that is natural, intuitive, and uncomplicated. Additional facilities include a Grand Ballroom, five meeting rooms, and the Sheraton Fitness.
Sitting on a 575-mile coastline in Xiangshan, Sheraton Ningbo Xiangshan Resort lays claim to some of the area's most beautiful settings. The property is the first resort in the Asia Pacific region to bring Sheraton's design transformation to life. The ingenious interior design incorporates elements that denote the distinctive rock formations in the area and the local fishing heritage. In the lobby, the design pays homage to Xiangshan's culture by utilizing black and white colors to form a dramatic visual contrast, showcasing the aesthetics of fishing nets and wood carvings that are unique to the area. The resort offers 270 spacious and modern guest rooms and suites, most of which boast views of the sea or mountains through large floor-to-ceiling windows, with selected guest rooms featuring a large outdoor balcony.
Sheraton Ningbo Xiangshan Resort offers two elevated dining outlets – Daily Social and YUE – and a sophisticated dessert house Sweet Box, providing guests with an eclectic choice of flavors.
Sheraton Nanjing Kingsley Hotel & Towers commands a prime location in Nanjing's financial and commercial center – the Xinjiekou business zone. The renovation was well-thought to combine the hotel's over 20 years of history into a design that matches the lifestyle of today's travelers, with elements that reinterpret local cultures and arts, such as the staircase handrails and screens that create a modern rendition of the local Jinling Folding Fans. Equipped with the brand's signature Community Table and tech-enabled Studios, the expansive lobby has been repositioned as an open, shared space, aiming to promote social interaction and collaboration. It is also a reflection of Sheraton's commitment to creating places where guests from around the world can come together. It welcomes guests to 70 newly renovated guest rooms and suites as part of the first phase of guest rooms refresh. Additional facilities include the all-day dining restaurant Daily Social, YUE Chinese restaurant, Danny's Irish Restaurant & Pub, the Sheraton Towers Lounge, and &More by Sheraton, where guests can enjoy a cup of Julius Meinl, Austria's national treasure coffee originated from 1862.
These four properties join Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel, Sheraton Mianyang, Sheraton Zhaoqing Dinghu, and Sheraton Chengdu Pidu as transformed Sheraton branded properties in Greater China. Sheraton plans to continue its transformation journey in the region with the brand expecting additional hotels to showcase the new modernized look next year with the openings of Sheraton Beihai Resort and Sheraton Lanzhou Anning.
Note on Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of United States federal securities laws, including statements related to expected hotel additions and renovations; and similar statements concerning anticipated future events and expectations that are not historical facts. We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to numerous evolving risks and uncertainties that we may not be able to accurately predict or assess, including the risk factors that we identify in our U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Any of these factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations we express or imply in this press release. We make these forward-looking statements as of the date of this press release and undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Sheraton® Hotels & Resorts Sheraton Hotels & Resorts makes it easy for guests to feel welcome at over 435 hotels and resorts in nearly 75 countries and territories around the world. As the most global brand within Marriott Bonvoy's portfolio of extraordinary hotel brands sitting at the center of hundreds of communities around the world, Sheraton has a rich heritage in creating a sense of belonging for guests, wherever they are in the world. Sheraton is currently undergoing a major brand transformation, creating a signature community experience for the next generation of travelers and locals alike at properties across the globe. The new vision for Sheraton features intuitive design, tech-forward experiences, and upgrades to everything from public space and F&B to flexible meeting space. For more information, please visit www.sheraton.com, and stay connected on Facebook, and @sheratonhotels on Twitter and Instagram. Sheraton is proud to participate in Marriott Bonvoy®, the global travel program from Marriott International. The program offers members an extraordinary portfolio of global brands, exclusive experiences on Marriott Bonvoy Moments™, and unparalleled benefits, including free nights and Elite status recognition. To enroll for free or for more information about the program, visit www.marriottbonvoy.com.
About Marriott Bonvoy® Marriott Bonvoy's extraordinary portfolio offers renowned hospitality in the most memorable destinations in the world, with 30 brands that are tailored to every type of journey. Members can earn points for stays at hotels and resorts, including all-inclusive resorts and premium home rentals, and through everyday purchases with co-branded credit cards. Members can redeem their points for experiences including future stays, Marriott Bonvoy Moments™, or through partners for luxurious products from Marriott Bonvoy Boutiques®. To enroll for free or for more information about Marriott Bonvoy, visit www.marriottbonvoy.com.
The above press release was provided courtesy of PRNewswire. The views, opinions and statements in the press release are not endorsed by Gray Media Group nor do they necessarily state or reflect those of Gray Media Group, Inc. | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/12/29/global-transformation-sheraton-hotels-amp-resorts-gains-momentum-throughout-greater-china/ | 2022-12-29 15:00:30 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2022/12/29/global-transformation-sheraton-hotels-amp-resorts-gains-momentum-throughout-greater-china/ |
DUBROVNIK, Croatia (AP) — A pair of U.S. Air Force B52 strategic bombers on Monday flew low over the Croatian resort of Dubrovnik and three other NATO-member states in the region as a sign of support amid the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
In addition to the walled Croatian tourist resort of Dubrovnik, the aircraft flew over the government headquarters in Skopje, North Macedonia, the downtown Skanderbeg Square in the Albanian capital, Tirana, and up the Adriatic coast of Montenegro.
The Balkans and the Adriatic Sea have lately seen increased military, intelligence and propaganda activity by Moscow, which considers the region of its strategic interest because of its access to the Mediterranean.
“The purpose of each flyover is to demonstrate U.S. commitment and assurance to NATO allies and partners located in southeastern Europe,” the U.S. Air Force said in a statement. “Additionally, this will provide citizens an opportunity to take photos, videos, and enjoy the aircraft flying overhead.”
Crowds gathered on the squares in Skopje and Tirana, and tourists watched in Dubrovnik and Montenegro as the giant bombers thundered overhead. Some onlookers waved American flags.
North Macedonia was the last nation to join NATO in 2020 and Montenegro did it in 2017, both despite strong opposition from Russia.
North Macedonia’s Army Chief of Stuff, Lt. Colonel Jovan Azmanovski, told TV broadcaster Kanal 5 that the bombers’ flights were symbolic proof that “our skies are safe.”
“People in North Macedonia were able to see a flights of USAF B52 two strategic bombers over Skopje, which demonstrate our NATO membership and the safety and security of our and skies of entire alliance. Our skies are safe and our (NATO) membership is more than visible,” Azmanovski said.
In Tirana, Albanian Army Chief of Staff Arben Kingji said “we are witnessing a strategic military demonstration.”
“Our strategic partners are hand to hand with us, it’s a message of unity,” he said at the square where people gathered.
The two B-52 Stratofortress aircraft are assigned to the 23rd Bomb Squadron currently operating out of RAF Fairford, United Kingdom.
Since 2018, the U.S. has conducted more than 200 Bomber Task Force sorties with allies and partners.
Most recently, this involved B-1B Lancer flights over the Nordic, Baltic, and Black Sea regions in May, as well as an air policing overflight of North Macedonia in June. In June, Stratofortresses conducted flights over the Arctic Ocean, and later took part in BALTOPS, the largest annual exercise in the Baltic Sea.
In the Baltic Sea, the amphibious warship USS Kearsarge — the largest warship ever to visit Lithuania — was officially welcomed Monday. The country borders fellow NATO member Poland and Belarus, a Moscow ally.
On Monday, the NATO air police mission in Lithuania reported that jets were scrambled four times last week to identify and escort Russian war planes, which violated rules of international airspace. | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/in-sign-of-support-us-bombers-fly-over-dubrovnik-balkans/ | 2022-08-23 14:09:14 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/politics/ap-politics/in-sign-of-support-us-bombers-fly-over-dubrovnik-balkans/ |
How to save your sleep from holiday stress and indulgence
Holidays and stress seem to go hand in hand. To cope, many people often steal hours from their sleep to pack in all the cooking, shopping, gift wrapping, parties and family time.
"Even a night or two of short sleep can have short-term effects on your health, mood and wellbeing," said sleep specialist Kristen Knutson, an associate professor of neurology and preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, in an email.
"You will enjoy the holidays more if you can protect your sleep time — and you may actually get more done if you aren't tired and inefficient from sleep deprivation, she said.
Be careful with excess food
Eating large, heavy meals causes the body to work harder to digest the foods, which can contribute to fatigue, said Steven Malin, an associate professor in the department of kinesiology and health at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
"The carbohydrate and protein as well as fat induce a series of hormonal changes that can promote changes in serotonin, which is a feel-good, pleasure hormone that promotes sleepiness," he said via email.
Eating smaller portions and taking breaks to check in with your body on how full you are can help, said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
"I know this seems cruel especially when a delicious meal is right in front of you, but this tip can help reduce your feelings of sleepiness," he said.
Try replacing the sugary and fatty foods on your holiday plate with more unprocessed, fiber-rich foods. These substitutions "slow digestion such that people feel full longer," Malin said.
"Another approach is considering water intake. Consuming adequate water prior to eating can help extend the stomach and create a sensation of fullness," he added.
Exercise also helps counteract feelings of sluggishness, Malin said. Even standing and moving around the house or neighborhood can help reset that "tired" switch.
And don't keep eating and eating until the wee hours. Digestion slows when we sleep, which can lead to indigestion, heartburn or acid reflux that may wake us up, Knutson said.
"Ideally, we should stop eating 2 or more hours before we want to go to sleep. If you are hungry before bed a light snack is okay but heavy, rich food should be avoided," she said via email.
The special role of sugar
All those holiday sweets, especially if consumed on an empty stomach while waiting for the meal, can cause swings in blood glucose, or blood sugar. Keeping your blood steady throughout the day is best for the body.
When blood sugar rises, it triggers the release of insulin, which clears glucose from the blood, Malin said.
"Drops in blood glucose due to insulin-promoting clearance in bodily cells, can promote the 'crash' feelings. At the same time, consuming sugar-based foods later in the evening can promote bursts of energy that shift sleep back, making it harder to fall asleep," he said via email.
Watch your alcohol intake
While many of us believe that alcohol helps us fall asleep, it actually impairs sleep quality, Dasgupta said.
"Remember, alcohol can make you fall asleep faster and sleep heavier during the first portion of the night. However, alcohol can disrupt your sleep during the second half of the night," he said.
Alcohol acts as a suppressant on the brain, so when we drink a bit too much (or too late in the evening) we will experience drowsiness. However, halfway through the night, the liver will have finished metabolizing the alcohol into a stimulant called acetaldehyde, according to Dr. Bhanu Kolla, an addiction psychiatrist and sleep medicine expert at the Mayo Clinic.
"Therefore if you drink too much alcohol right before going to bed, in about four hours it is converted to aldehyde which can disrupt sleep and wake you up," Kolla told CNN in a prior interview.
If you're in a deep, restorative sleep phase about the time you wake, that interrupts the brain's ability to repair and restore cells.
Similar to eating, try to stop drinking at least two hours before you want to go to bed to minimize its impact on your sleep, Knutson said.
Be strategic with naps
Many people look forward to that holiday nap and often point to the turkey as the cause. First, a bit of myth-busting: Turkey is not the culprit.
"Tryptophan from turkey is unlikely to enter the brain and make enough serotonin to make us sleepy," Malin said.
In fact, you'd have to eat about 8 pounds for turkey to have an effect, Malin said. Instead, it's the rich, processed foods, such as candied sweet potatoes or pecan pie, that are making you feel tired.
If you do decide to have a nap, be sure to not do it too soon after eating, Dasgupta suggested.
"In general, it's never a good idea to lay down right after a big meal especially if you have heartburn. Also, if you are someone who dealing with insomnia, I would not recommend taking a nap," he said.
"But if you are sleep deprived from the long travel, didn't get a lot of sleep the night before, and it's not too late in the day, a 15 to 20-minute nap is OK," he added via email. "Just don't blame the nap on the turkey!"
Watch for depression
If you suffer from anxiety, depression or seasonal affective disorder (a condition that causes sadness when there's less daylight), watching your sleep is key, experts said.
"Depression and sleep are linked. Poor sleep can impair our mood, and depression can lead to unhealthy sleep," Knutson said.
Calming strategies can include a relaxing transition before going to sleep in which you could take a bath, meditate or listen to soothing music, she said.
To help quiet your mind, leave a notepad by your bedside so you can jot down any to-do items that may pop into your head as you try to fall asleep, Knutson suggested.
Another effective strategy is regular exercise. It plays an important role in sleep and depression, experts said, as it alleviates stress and promotes the release of the "feel-good" hormones called endorphins.
"Exercising improves sleep by reducing sleep onset, meaning it takes less time to fall asleep and decreases the amount of time you are lying in bed awake during the night," Dasgupta said.
"Studies have shown that exercise enables individuals with insomnia to fall asleep faster, sleep longer, and enjoy better sleep quality," he said. "Exercise is also great way to relieve stress and depression that have been common issues for people during the holidays." | https://www.wtae.com/article/how-to-save-your-sleep-from-holiday-stress-and-indulgence/42047457 | 2022-11-24 04:14:18 | 0 | https://www.wtae.com/article/how-to-save-your-sleep-from-holiday-stress-and-indulgence/42047457 |
LOUDON. N.H. (AP) — John Hunter Nemechek survived a wreck-marred NASCAR race Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and won for the fourth time this season in the Xfinity Series.
The 26-year-old Nemechek followed last week’s win at Atlanta with another dominant performance for Joe Gibbs Racing. Nemechek pulled away off the final caution, the perfect spot to avoid one more final wipeout behind him. Nemechek rolled in the No. 20 Toyota to the finish line under caution — the 10th of race — that ended the race under the white flag.
It’s a familiar path to victory lane for Nemechek, who became the first Xfinity driver to win consecutive races this season. He took the lead off the final restart in Atlanta and drove away from the pack to earn his third victory of the season.
The race was slowed by wild wrecks after restarts and a slew of damaged cars limped to the garage. Cole Custer and Sheldon Creed wrecked to bring out the final caution. That was enough to help Chandler Smith, who started from the pole, to finish in second place. He was followed by Austin Hill, Daniel Hemric and Sammy Smith.
“I felt like that was the best race car I had,” Hemric said.
Nemechek, the son of former NASCAR second-tier series champion Joe Nemechek, led 137 laps and gave Joe Gibbs Racing its 199th career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
“Had I think our first clean race this year,” Nemechek said. “I’m a lucky guy that gets to sit behind the wheel of this 20 car every weekend.”
JGR could get a No. 20 weekend sweep on Sunday. Christopher Bell, who won last year’s race at New Hampshire, starts Sunday in the No. 20 Toyota on the pole for the Cup race.
Smith finished second and then slumped against his car on pit road in exhaustion in large part because of a malfunction inside his cool suit that pumped hot water through it and caused exhaustion.
____
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/sports/ap-john-hunter-nemechek-wins-at-new-hampshire-for-2nd-straight-xfinity-checkered-flag/ | 2023-07-16 14:02:17 | 0 | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/sports/ap-john-hunter-nemechek-wins-at-new-hampshire-for-2nd-straight-xfinity-checkered-flag/ |
Everything you need for an outdoor theater
Theaters enhance the movie-watching experience with larger-than-life visuals and booming sound. Many build home theaters so they don’t have to leave their houses for an immersive viewing experience. When the weather is nice, you can take your viewing experience outside to simulate a drive-in theater. There are a few special considerations when building an outdoor theater.
IN THIS ARTICLE:
- Anker Nebula Mars II Outdoor Projector
- Elite Screens Yard Master 2
- Bose 251 Wall-Mounted Outdoor Speakers
Choosing a projector and screen
The projector is the centerpiece of your outdoor theater, so choosing one that fits your needs is essential. Consider how you’ll get your content. If you want a projector with built-in streaming services or plan to use a streaming stick, you must ensure you get a solid Wi-Fi signal outside. If you don’t, you may need to buy a Wi-Fi signal extender.
Outdoor theaters tend to have more room than their indoor counterparts, but you don’t want to go overboard on screen size unless it’s in your budget. Many projectors claim to project video that measures 100 inches or more from corner to corner. However, you’ll want to pay close attention to their “recommended” screen size, which better indicates their capabilities. For example, if a 4K projector says it can project a 100-inch screen, but the recommended screen size is only 50 inches, you’ll likely only get 4K quality if the size is set to 50 inches or less.
Projector screens also play a role in image quality. High-quality projector screens are thick enough to prevent the projection from bleeding through the back of the screen. If you’re projecting in high-definition, you’ll want a screen with a smooth texture, which prevents the image from deforming. Additionally, it’s a good idea to choose a durable-but-lightweight screen that’s easy to move from your house to your yard.
Getting theater-quality sound outside
Many indoor speakers use your room’s walls and acoustics to enhance their sound. Although these speakers outperform a projector’s internal speakers when used outside, you may want something designed for outdoor use.
Outdoor speakers are generally designed to project audio to a larger area. These speakers have internal subwoofers rather than the standalone woofers you’ll see with indoor speakers. Outdoor speaker design also differs; they’re usually larger and more durable.
Seating
Comfortable outdoor seating is an excellent way to enhance your viewing experience. Low-budget options include picnic blankets, bean bag chairs and air mattresses, although you’ll have to pack them up and take them inside when your movie is done.
Deck chairs and sun loungers often have comfortable cushions and are built to withstand the elements, meaning you can leave them outside.
Power
The trickiest part is figuring out how to power your projector and speakers. Those with outdoor wall outlets can simply plug their devices in with an extension cord. The extension cord’s length will play a role in its power capacity, with each foot of the cord decreasing the amount of power it can deliver. You’ll also want to consider the extension cord’s amperage, which determines how many amps it can handle.
You can run a long cord into your home if you don’t have an outdoor outlet. Alternatively, you can use a portable power station or buy a battery-powered projector.
Decor and essentials
- String lights: Outdoor lighting can create an inviting environment for your guests and make it easier to see where they’re going. Still, projectors perform best in dark environments, so you’ll want to use relatively-dim lights.
- Popcorn maker: An outdoor popcorn maker is an excellent way to create an authentic theater experience.
- Drink cooler: If you don’t want guests wandering in and out of your house, consider investing in a large drink cooler and plenty of ice.
- Insect repellant: Pesky bugs can ruin your outdoor movie. Consider having a can of insect repellant for you and your guests.
- Trash can or recycling bin: Bring a large trashcan or recycling bin outside, so your guests can dispose of their cans, bottles and scraps.
Best outdoor theater products
It features a 4K upscaling feature to enhance non-HD content. It projects vivid colors and has Motionflow technology for smooth visuals. It has a native 4K resolution and a bright projection.
Sold by Amazon
Anker Nebula Mars II Outdoor Projector
This features a compact design and high-quality internal speakers. It has a handle for enhanced portability. It refocuses automatically, giving you a crisp image without toggling its settings.
Sold by Amazon
This screen is optimized for 4K projectors and is easy to assemble. It has a durable frame but doesn’t stand up to strong winds. It’s available in nine sizes, from 58 to 135 inches.
Sold by Amazon
Sewinfla Inflatable Projector Screen
It’s made from a durable, easy-to-clean fabric. It comes with a blower and only takes around five minutes to inflate. It’s available in five sizes, from 16 to 24 feet.
Sold by Amazon
NetGear Orbi Outdoor Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi Extender
This extender can boost your Wi-Fi coverage by up to 2,500 square feet. Its weather-proof design makes it an excellent choice for outdoor theaters. It must be used with an Orbi mesh Wi-Fi system.
Sold by Amazon
NetGear Orbi Tri-band Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System
This system covers up to 5,000 square feet, and the tri-band technology ensures it doesn’t slow down when multiple devices are connected. It’s compatible with the Orbi Outdoor Wi-Fi Extender.
Sold by Amazon
Oppelo Seven-Piece Sectional Seating Group
This comfortable sectional seats up to five people. It comes with a pair of ottomans and a table. It’s available in five colors, including slate, ash and navy.
Sold by Wayfair
Worth checking out
- This Greenworks extension cord is suitable for medium-duty inputs and can be used indoors or outside.
- The Oniva Outdoor Blanket Tote is large and easy to transport, thanks to its fold-up design and handle.
- A set of solar string lights is an excellent way to add ambiance without using extra plug outlets.
- The JBL Flip 5 is an affordable way to upgrade your theater’s audio quality.
- The Bose 251 Wall-Mounted Outdoor Speakers have a multi-chamber bass enclosure and a water-resistant design.
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Cody Stewart writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.pahomepage.com/reviews/br/home-br/decor-br/transform-your-yard-into-an-outdoor-media-room-with-these-picks/ | 2023-05-08 16:14:29 | 0 | https://www.pahomepage.com/reviews/br/home-br/decor-br/transform-your-yard-into-an-outdoor-media-room-with-these-picks/ |
MORRISVILLE, N.C., Nov. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Immorna, a rapidly expanding biotechnology company, focusing on the development of multi-platform RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its investigational new drug (IND) application to conduct a Phase 1/2 multi-center study of JCXH-221, a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) complexed broadly protective mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infection and diseases. The goal of this multi-center study is to assess the safety and immunogenicity of JCXH-221 in healthy adult subjects.
"We are excited to receive our second US IND clearance this year for our innovative RNA-based pipeline asset, and further strengthen our portfolio," said NgocDiep Le, M.D., Ph.D., Global Chief Medical Officer of Immorna. "Vaccination remains a key component of the complex approach required to reduce the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection and diseases. The continued emergence of new variants, the waning of the immune response after vaccination, and the limited availability of currently approved vaccines in lower-income countries, necessitate the development of new COVID-19 vaccine candidates with broadly protective potential and ready availability for rapid pandemic response. We strongly believe that JCXH-221 is an excellent vaccine candidate to address this unmet medical need."
JCXH-221 is a mono-valent yet broadly protective mRNA-LNP vaccine. Once administered, the single chain mRNA will translate and be spontaneously assembled into multimers that contain immune epitopes from several SARS-CoV-2 strains. The multimer configuration is believed to further enhance their immunogenicity. In preclinical testing, JCXH-221 elicited robust neutralizing antibodies against an assay of viral strains, including the ancestral, Beta, Delta, Omicron BA.1, BA.2.12.1, and BA.4/5. JCXH-221 is formulated with a thermal stable nanoparticle delivery system that is stable at 2-8°C for at least 18 months.
Zihao Wang, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Immorna added, "The COVID-19 virus will likely remain a challenge for the foreseeable future and continue to evolve. New variants may be able to evade the protective immunity that individuals have established from prior infection or immunization. A resurgence of the past, more lethal, variants could also have a devastating effect on those whose immunity has waned. Therefore, we believe developing a broadly protective (ideally universal) COVID-19 vaccine is critically important to keep this virus under control. Additionally, lessening the ultra-low temperature storage and transportation requirements could enable a more affordable and accessible vaccine option worldwide. We believe the combined features of JCXH-221 could address these needs and make it well positioned to become a next generation vaccine against this evolving pandemic."
The Phase 1 part of this study will be a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study to assess the safety, immunogenicity, and determine the Recommended Phase 2 Dose (RP2D) for JCXH-221. The Phase 2 part will be a randomized, double-blinded, active-controlled study to further characterize the safety and immunogenicity of JCXH-221 at the RP2D.
More information can be found at www.immorna.com.
About Immorna
Immorna is a rapidly expanding biotechnology company, focusing on the development of RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines. Immorna is utilizing multiple RNA platforms, including conventional, self-replicating and circular RNA.
Since its founding in 2019, Immorna has built a robust CMC platform for RNA synthesis, purification, and analytical testing that is well suited for clinical and commercial development. In addition, with its state-of-the-art screening tools, Immorna has developed an arsenal of RNA delivery vehicles, including polymers and lipid nanoparticles featuring multiple proprietary ionizable cationic lipids suitable for intramuscular, intravenous and tissue-targeting delivery.
Immorna has a growing intellectual property portfolio and a diverse RNA development pipeline spanning cancer immunotherapy, infectious diseases, rare genetic diseases, and medical cosmetology, and quickly advancing its oncology drug and infectious disease vaccine candidates into clinical stages.
Website: www.immorna.com
E-mail: info@immornabio.com
View original content:
SOURCE Immorna | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/11/21/immorna-receives-ind-clearance-conduct-phase-12-study-jcxh-221-broadly-protective-mrna-based-covid-19-vaccine/ | 2022-11-21 13:16:22 | 0 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/11/21/immorna-receives-ind-clearance-conduct-phase-12-study-jcxh-221-broadly-protective-mrna-based-covid-19-vaccine/ |
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — When you bring friends or family to the Tampa Bay Area, you’ll likely have them visit John’s Pass in Madeira Beach. City leaders say the long-term goal of one proposal on the table is to keep John's Pass Village viable.
This weekend, if you take a short walk through John’s Pass, you might have a hard time passing up all the food at your fingertips.
“I remember growing up going to the Seafood Festival,” said Dylan Hubbard, owner of Hubbard’s Marina.
The John’s Pass Seafood Festival is back again, bringing in hundreds of people and a big boom in business.
“John’s Pass, on average through an annual period, averages a little more than a million people visiting this area, and this weekend alone can sometimes bring in 100-150,000 people,” said Hubbard. “It’s a really big event, and it’s a great way to explore John’s Pass.”
It’s also a paradise many people are looking to protect.
John Hendricks, the Mayor of Madeira Beach, said this week city leaders advanced a proposal that would designate John’s Pass Village as an activity center.
“All we’re doing is trying to protect businesses that in the event of a catastrophe like what happened in Ft. Myers Beach and Sanibel, these business owners can rebuild,” said Hendricks. “The way things are written right now, they can’t do that.”
Hendricks explained a few purposes of the activity center plan are to establish standards to preserve and rebuild the existing character, uses, and density of John’s Pass Village in the event of a disaster, as well as reconcile existing land use inconsistencies in the city comprehensive plan and countywide standards.
The mayor said there are still a few more steps for this proposal, and it would need to go through the county and state for the green light.
“There are some areas where density is increased, but you’re still restricted by heights. You’re still restricted by the setbacks that you can build to,” said Hendricks.
“It’s because the county updated their codes,” said Hubbard. “If the city doesn’t change their code to match the county ordinances, if, say, a Hurricane Ian-type event happened here, we wouldn’t be able to rebuild Madeira Beach."
Hubbard weighed in on the plan.
“I’m just hoping and praying we can get this passed, and we can preserve and protect all of Madeira Beach,” said Hubbard.
The annual Seafood Festival runs through Sunday. | https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/seafood-festival-kicks-off-as-city-leaders-look-at-johns-pass-future | 2023-01-13 22:47:33 | 1 | https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/seafood-festival-kicks-off-as-city-leaders-look-at-johns-pass-future |
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Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. | https://pantagraph.com/trixie/article_6575e8c0-ee22-5ac8-af91-19106598a4d8.html | 2022-06-17 10:21:44 | 0 | https://pantagraph.com/trixie/article_6575e8c0-ee22-5ac8-af91-19106598a4d8.html |
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is moving fast to pardon a U.S. Army sergeant convicted in the 2020 killing of an armed protester. So fast, the judge hasn’t even handed down a sentence.
Sgt. Daniel Perry faces up to life in prison after being convicted of murder last week in the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, who had been legally carrying an AK-47 during a protest through Austin’s downtown while marching with demonstrators over police accountability and racial injustice. The case will next go to sentencing.
But over the weekend, Abbott made clear he believes Perry shouldn’t be punished. The three-term Republican governor, who hasn’t ruled out a 2024 presidential run, tweeted that he has already asked Texas’ parole board to expedite a review of Perry’s conviction and will “look forward” to signing a pardon.
The rush to act in the case of an off-duty soldier shooting a protester came amid immediate outrage among conservatives over Friday’s verdict, including by Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Abbott presented the dangled pardon as a defense of Texan’s right to defend themselves. Legal experts, however, said that looks like a pretense.
“It’s pretty unusual for a governor to step in and preempt a jury verdict,” said Mark Osler, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. “The politics are right there at the surface.”
___
THE SHOOTING
Perry was working for a ride-sharing company in July 2020 when he turned onto a street and into one of the demonstrations that swept the country after Minneapolis police killed of George Floyd.
In video that was streamed live on Facebook, a car can be heard honking amid the crowd in downtown Austin. Then, several shots ring out, and protesters begin screaming and scattering.
Perry drove off, later calling police to report the shooting, and officers arrived to find Foster shot.
What led up to the gunfire was a core question in the trial that resulted in Perry’s conviction.
Witnesses testified that Foster never raised his rifle at Perry, and prosecutors said the sergeant could have driven off rather than opening fire with a handgun. Perry didn’t testify. But his defense attorneys have said Foster pointed his gun at the driver and that the shooting was self-defense.
Perry was stationed at Texas’ Fort Hood at the time of the shooting and most recently assigned to Fort Wainwright in Alaska. Defense lawyer Clint Broden said the conviction will end Perry’s Army service.
Broden told The Associated Press in a text message on Monday that his team has “not been in touch with the Governor nor his staff regarding a pardon.”
THE REACTION
In the hours after the conviction, however, prominent conservatives did pressure Abbott to intervene.
Matt Rinaldi, chairman of the Texas Republican Party, said the case never should have been prosecuted, tagging Abbott’s account in a tweet calling for a pardon.
In primetime on Fox News, Carlson called Perry’s conviction a “legal atrocity” and said Abbott had declined to discuss a potential pardon. “So that is Greg Abbott’s position,” Carlson said. “There is no right of self-defense in Texas.”
Less than 24 hours after the verdict, Abbott tweeted that he had directed the state parole board to investigate the case and said he looked forward to signing a pardon “as soon as it hits my desk.” He suggested the jury “nullified” Texas’ so-called “Stand Your Ground” law, which, like similar laws in other states, removes the duty to retreat before using deadly force in the face of danger.
Travis County District Attorney José Garza, whose office prosecuted the case, called Abbott’s intervention “deeply troubling.” He said the jurors deliberated for more than 15 hours to find Perry “guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt,” and the case can be reviewed through the normal appeals process.
On Monday, the Democrat has sent a fundraising email off Abbott’s actions, telling supporters the Republican is “threatening to take over our criminal justice system.”
___ ABBOTT AND PARDONS
A former Texas judge and attorney general, Abbott has not publicly explained on how he reached his conclusion about Perry’s case, and his office Monday referred questions to his statement on Twitter.
But publicly calling for a pardon is a clear departure for Abbott, who in more than eight years as governor typically only issues a handful of year around Christmas. Most are given to Texans who were convicted of relatively minor offenses committed decades earlier.
“It is something we usually see many years after conviction,” said Sandra Guerra Thompson, professor at the University of Houston Law Center. She said a governor intervening before sentencing is a “dramatic departure” from the normal process.
In 2021, Abbott faced an unusually high-profile pardon decision surrounding George Floyd, who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer and whose death was at the center of the protest in Austin. At the time, the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles had unanimously supported a posthumous pardon for Floyd over a 2004 drug arrest.
Floyd was arrested by a Houston officer who was later accused of falsifying evidence for years and eventually charged with murder. But two days before Christmas, Abbott’s office announced the board had unusually backpedaled on its decision after finding unspecified “procedural errors” with Floyd’s case.
Floyd’s case was sent back to the board for reconsideration. Nine months later, the board denied issuing a pardon.
____
Bleiberg reported from Dallas. Associated Press reporter Acacia Coronado contributed to this report. | https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/national-news/abbotts-fast-track-to-pardon-in-protest-killing-unusual/ | 2023-04-11 21:11:18 | 0 | https://www.myarklamiss.com/news/national-news/abbotts-fast-track-to-pardon-in-protest-killing-unusual/ |
Which 4K gaming laptop is best?
PC gaming hardware has finally reached a point where 4K Ultra HD gaming is available to regular people without investing a fortune. The influx of high-powered components from manufacturers including Intel and Nvidia is responsible, as is the advent of novel technologies such as supersampling and variable refresh rates. Not only is it more likely than ever that your new computer will be able to run games in 4K, but high-speed monitors and advanced HDMI connectivity mean you can play at impressive frame rates.
If you want to get the absolute best visual fidelity possible on a notebook PC, consider a 4K gaming laptop. They’re not cheap, and they’re not for everybody, but they’re fast and fun, and there are more to choose from than ever before.
What to know before you buy a 4K gaming laptop
They’re relatively new to the market
The ability to play modern AAA titles on portable hardware is a relatively new development. Only the most prominent laptop manufacturers offer Ultra HD models meant for gaming. That means you can trust that all of today’s 4K gaming laptops are well-engineered pieces of equipment that should last for years with proper upkeep.
They’re not inexpensive
Unfortunately, for dedicated gamers, another offshoot of 4K gaming laptops’ meager availability is that they’re remarkably expensive. There’s a handful of Ultra HD laptops that offer great performance and don’t break the bank, but they aren’t all meant specifically for gaming, and some lack important gaming features.
They’re not incredibly portable
Gaming hardware tends to be large and generate a lot of heat. As such, gaming laptops take up a lot of space to accommodate the hardware and cooling system. Don’t be surprised when your new high-end gaming laptop weighs several pounds.
What to look for in a quality 4K gaming laptop
17-inch screen
It’s unwise to spend significant amounts of money and your battery life on a 4K gaming laptop with a screen smaller than 17 inches. There are debatable reasons why a smaller 4K laptop can help with non-gaming tasks. For example, some creative software suites scale better at 4K than 1440p resolutions. When it comes to gaming, though, you won’t see any benefit from an Ultra HD resolution on a 15.6-inch screen.
Powerful gaming components
You’ll need some of the latest gaming technology to take advantage of such a high resolution. At the very least, you’ll need an 11th-generation Intel or Ryzen 7 5000-series CPU or better. In both cases, look for a central processor with an H-class designation, which denotes a high-powered mobile CPU.
The graphics processing unit is the other keystone of gaming performance. An Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 is the minimum recommended GPU for 4K gaming. Anything slower, and you’ll quickly find performance lacking in the most advanced games.
System memory is another feature that’s important to consider but doesn’t have as many options. All high-end gaming laptops have at least 16 gigabytes of RAM. Today, many offer an optional 32 GB for the ultimate in future-proofing.
A high refresh rate
Sixty hertz has been the go-to refresh rate for standard laptops and gaming consoles for many years. Frame rates above 60 frames per second only recently became mainstream, and once you exceed 60 hertz, it’s tough to go back. A refresh rate of 120 hertz or higher allows for smooth motion with little to no stuttering.
Best 4K gaming laptops
Top 4K gaming laptop
What you need to know: Its extensive range of configuration options gives you the best choice of the most premium components.
What you’ll love: It’s offered with essentially the absolute fastest hardware you can find in a laptop at the moment, which isn’t a surprise given Alienware’s reputation. That includes an incredibly powerful 12th-generation Intel Core i9 CPU, which even supports overclocking. You can also select up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card. If you insist on peak performance, this is the one for you.
What you should consider: It’s one of the most expensive gaming laptops globally, exceeded only by novel and extremely niche models.
Where to buy: Sold by Dell
Top 4K gaming laptop for the money
What you need to know: Marketed as a content creator’s workstation, it delivers great performance at a surprisingly reasonable price.
What you’ll love: The standout feature here is the display itself, which boasts X-Rite Pantone color calibration that ensures high-volume and high-accuracy color output. It can produce 100% of the Adobe RGB color space that some professional photographers use, further highlighting its wide color gamut. It also offers impressive connectivity options, including a Thunderbolt 4 port and a high-speed UHS-II SD Card reader.
What you should consider: Since it wasn’t originally intended as a gaming laptop, it’s limited to just a 60-hertz refresh rate.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
What you need to know: Asus went out of its way to provide a convenient and effective Ultra HD gaming experience with this high-powered laptop.
What you’ll love: In particular, the keyboard is an interesting component that makes it clear a lot of thought when into the Zephyrus S17. It boasts per-key RGB lighting, premium optical-mechanical switches and a supporting hinge that lets it rest at angle for comfortable ergonomics. The relatively high power configuration and boost clock of the GeForce RTX 3080 are more evidence of the machine’s impressive capabilities.
What you should consider: Its 11th-generation Intel CPU isn’t quite as fast or efficient as its newer counterpart.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Best 4K gaming laptop alternatives
You don’t necessarily have to shell out an incredible amount of money for a smooth, high-resolution gaming experience. Quite a few dependable laptops will offer a great gaming experience for years, even if you like to play modern AAA titles.
Best high-performance 4K gaming laptop alternative
What you need to know: It can display twice as many frames as the fastest 4K models at a nearly indistinguishable resolution.
What you’ll love: While it’s limited to a 1440p resolution, its 240-hertz refresh rate blows Ultra HD laptops out of the water. As is standard with high-end Asus models, it’s packed with the finest components available.
What you should consider: Other than the slightly lower resolution, it’s hard to find any faults with the ROG Strix 17 aside from its price.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Best midrange alternative to a 4K gaming laptop
What you need to know: This no-nonsense gaming laptop sports impressive specs and doesn’t cost a fortune.
What you’ll love: Its GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU is one of the most recently released models and delivers great performance. It even offers a whopping two gigabytes of high-speed solid-state storage.
What you should consider: At 165 hertz, its refresh rate isn’t quite as high as some other options.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Best 4K gaming laptop alternative on a budget
What you need to know: No matter what your preferred hardware configuration, this option represents one of the best values in high-end laptop gaming.
What you’ll love: The 1440p of this 17-inch laptop comes close to the pixel density of a 4K model. Aside from that, it has a great blend of components that don’t create any meaningful bottlenecks, and it’s reasonably priced.
What you should consider: Its Ryzen CPU isn’t quite up to par with Intel’s latest 12th-generation processors.
Where to buy: Sold by Lenovo and Amazon
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Chris Thomas writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.fox16.com/reviews/br/electronics-br/laptop-computers-br/the-best-4k-gaming-laptop/ | 2022-05-18 19:46:42 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/reviews/br/electronics-br/laptop-computers-br/the-best-4k-gaming-laptop/ |
Census rejecting some big-city complaints of 2020 undercounts
Posted/updated on: May 13, 2023 at 8:20 amAUSTIN (AP) – Some of America’s largest cities that challenged their 2020 census numbers are hearing back from the U.S. Census Bureau. They’re not all getting what they hoped for. In Memphis, the bureau actually subtracted three people from the official headcount in an initial appeal. The biggest winner among big cities so far is Boston, where the bureau conceded that thousands of college students were missed amid the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Census Bureau has received more than 100 submissions from cities, towns and villages of all sizes. They’re trying to get a bigger piece of federal funding based on population numbers. | https://ktbb.com/post/?p=1226054 | 2023-05-13 14:48:07 | 1 | https://ktbb.com/post/?p=1226054 |
WASHINGTON — When a player of Elena Delle Donne’s stature returns after a long absence, the entire sport can feel the impact.
The last time Delle Donne played a full season was 2019, when she won her second MVP award and led the Mystics to a WNBA championship. Back problems and coronavirus concerns then limited her to only three games over the past two years. Washington is hoping a healthy Delle Donne will help the team rejoin the league’s elite, and she’s showing at age 32 that she can still make a big impact after all that time away.
In three games this season, the 6-foot-5 Delle Donne has given the Mystics consistent production, scoring between 19 and 21 points each time out, while playing between 29 and 32 minutes. Those stats are similar to what she did in 2019.
“I was pretty confident that I’d be back,” Delle Donne said. “From past experiences, you never know what tomorrow brings. So I always try to just live in each day, and treat each day with the same importance. I feel like that’s kind of been how I’ve gotten through all of this.”
Delle Donne called this an “exploratory” season for her, which suggests she doesn’t want to put too much pressure on herself, especially this early. While her health seems good now, there’s an adjustment process as she returns to the day-to-day grind of playing game after game — and her body responds in ways that may be a bit surprising.
“I have put many, many hours, especially into these legs, so there’s times where it’s almost like I jump and get higher than I’m used to off the floor, and it messes up my timing,” she said.
When the Mystics opened with three games in five days, Delle Donne sat out the middle one.
“Even before the season started, we sat down and looked at the schedule and looked at weeks that might be too much of a load and too many games,” she said. “It’s something we’re all on the same page, and even my teammates know, so they’re aware.”
It’s been an encouraging start for the Mystics, who also have veteran Alysha Clark back after she missed all of last season with foot issues. Washington won its first three games before fading in the second half against Dallas. The Mystics play the second half of a home-and-home with the Wings on Tuesday night.
“I think every teammate knows that they have a star player out there, who is starting to get it back,” Washington coach Mike Thibault said prior to Friday’s game. “She feels like she doesn’t completely have her total shooting rhythm yet, which is scary for other teams.”
Although the Mystics lost to Dallas, Delle Donne scored 20 points — and she went 4 of 6 from 3-point range after going 2 of 10 through her first two games.
For a Washington team that’s trying to contend for a championship again after going basically two years without its biggest star, there are plenty of positive signs.
“She’s the best player in the entire world. I’m going to say that until I’m blue in the face, until I’m in my casket,” guard Natasha Cloud said. “She’s going to continue to get better, but it’s an amazing thing to see how far she’s come.”
And for a league that can always benefit from the presence of someone like Delle Donne, her improved health is a welcome development.
“I have been getting a lot of support, which certainly means a lot, to feel like you’ve been missed — even by opponents,” Delle Donne said. “It’s always touching when they reach out and say they’re happy to have me back.”
___
Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister
___
More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wnba/former-mvp-delle-donnes-return-gives-mystics-wnba-a-boost/2022/05/16/83e1ae16-d53f-11ec-be17-286164974c54_story.html | 2022-05-16 18:56:39 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wnba/former-mvp-delle-donnes-return-gives-mystics-wnba-a-boost/2022/05/16/83e1ae16-d53f-11ec-be17-286164974c54_story.html |
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump said he has never read any part of a book in which the columnist E. Jean Carroll accused him of raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, according to court records unsealed Wednesday.
Trump was questioned under oath in October by lawyers for Carroll, who is suing the Republican. During his 5 1/2-hour deposition, Trump said he hasn’t read Carroll’s book, “What Do We Need Men For?” and didn’t see excerpts of it in a New York magazine article when the book was released in 2019.
Portions of the transcript of Trump’s deposition were ordered unsealed in court records by a judge who would preside over a trial.
Carroll, a former longtime Elle magazine advice columnist, accused Trump in the book of attacking her in an upscale Manhattan department store in late 1995 or early 1996 after they ran into each other by chance and exchanged lighthearted banter about who should try on a piece of lingerie.
After the book was published, Trump said the encounter never happened and claimed Carroll was making it up to fuel book sales. He also said he had never met Carroll and dismissed her as “not my type.”
He said a photograph showing him with Carroll and both of their spouses at an event in 1987 was apparently an unmemorable encounter on a receiving line.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, asked Trump if he read the book or any portion of it.
“No, never have. I’ve never seen the book actually,” he responded.
Kaplan also asked Trump about the black and white photograph that shows him with Carroll, her husband, and Trump’s then-wife, Ivana Trump, who died last July at age 73.
Trump pointed at Carroll in the picture and said: “It’s Marla.”
“You’re saying Marla is in this photo?” Kaplan asked.
“That’s Marla, yeah. That’s my wife,” Trump answered, according to the transcript, apparently referring to Marla Maples, who he married several years after the picture was taken.
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, interjected to say: “No, that’s Carroll.”
“Oh, I see,” Trump then said.
The transcript excerpts in four dozen pages released Wednesday came a week after several dozen other pages were unsealed by the court.
Habba did not immediately comment Wednesday. Kaplan declined comment.
The deposition was recorded on video, but the recording was not put in the public record for two lawsuits seeking unspecified damages that Carroll has brought against Trump.
Carroll first sued him for defamation, saying his statements damaged her reputation. In November, she brought a separate lawsuit specifying that she is owed damages for rape, a legal road made possible when New York state enacted a temporary law allowing adult rape victims to sue their abusers, even if the attacks occurred decades ago.
In the pages unsealed Wednesday, Kaplan asked Trump if he was talking about Carroll’s physical appearance in pictures when he said she was not his type.
“Physically she’s not my type, and now that I’ve gotten indirectly to hear things about her, she wouldn’t be my type in any way, shape, or form,” he said, calling her accusation “ridiculous.”
Late in the deposition after Trump characterized Carroll as a “sick woman,” Kaplan confronted him with accusations that two dozen women have made against him, asking: “They’re all sick, too, right?”
Trump answered: “I don’t know about any of these people or very many of them. I mean, every once in a while, you get — I think a lot of famous people have charges thrown at them, and many of them are false and some of them are true. But in my case —”
“None of it is true?” Kaplan interrupted.
“I would say. I mean, I don’t see any. I mean, you haven’t shown me anything,” Trump responded, according to the transcript. | https://fox59.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-donald-trump-says-he-never-read-book-accusing-him-of-rape/ | 2023-01-19 12:38:34 | 0 | https://fox59.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-donald-trump-says-he-never-read-book-accusing-him-of-rape/ |
Order Backlog Expected to Empower Future Growth with Increasing Long-term Competitive Advantages
Financial Highlights for the 6 months ended June 30, 2022:
- Revenue amounted to RMB1,108.7 million, representing a year-on-year ("YoY") increase of 8.0%
- Gross profit amounted to RMB345.0 million, representing a YoY increase of 9.1%
HONG KONG, Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 29, 2022, Viva Biotech Holdings (1873.HK) announced that during the period ended June 30, 2022 (the "Reporting Period"), the revenue of the Group increased to RMB1,108.7 million from RMB1,026.5 million for the corresponding period last year, representing a YoY increase of approximately 8.0%. The gross profit increased from RMB316.3 million for the corresponding period last year to RMB345.0 million, representing a YoY increase of approximately 9.1%. The Group's adjusted net profit reached RMB89.0 million. This was mainly due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in mainland China, limiting the delivery of the Group's products and services to customers; and market fluctuation, resulting in loss from fair value changes in the Group's portfolio companies.
CRO Business Poised for Positive Prospect in the Long Run Despite COVID-19-induced Short-term Fluctuations
As of June 30, 2022, the Company's revenue from CRO business increased by approximately 26.5% from RMB321.0 million for the corresponding period of last year to RMB406.0 million. Given that the persistent rage of COVID-19 in mainland China in the first half of 2022 had a certain impact on productivity in laboratories and product delivery progress, the growth rate of CRO business in the first half of 2022 slightly lagged compared with the corresponding period of last year.
From the long-term perspective, the Company's order backlog amounted to approximately RMB1,150.0 million, representing an increase of approximately 35.6% from RMB848.0 million for the corresponding period of last year, which provides a sufficient impetus for future growth. The Company's core competitiveness in the CRO drug discovery field was not undermined but is poised for a positive prospect in the long run.
The Company had delivered more than 39,643 protein structures to clients, approximately 5,252 of which were newly delivered in the first half of the year, and conducted R&D on over 1,857 independent drug targets, 47 of which were newly delivered in the first half of the year. The cumulative number of clients served had increased to 1,111, with a geographical diversified base. The revenue from overseas contributed approximately 83.6% of total revenue, representing a YoY increase of approximately 26.0%, and the revenue from mainland China contributed approximately 16.4% of total revenue, representing a YoY increase of approximately 28.9%.
During the Reporting Period, the utilization of synchrotron radiation source reached 962 hours. The Company established long-term cooperation with 12 synchrotron radiation source centers around the world, thus guaranteeing uninterrupted data collection all year round.
Facilitating CDMO Capacity Expansion and Strengthening CMC Capacity Building
During the Reporting Period, the Group made great efforts to strengthen the strategic integration with Langhua Pharmaceutical. On the one hand, the Group intensified the construction of chemistry, manufacturing and control ("CMC") R&D centers and continued to facilitate the layout and materialization of new production capacity; on the other hand, the Group strengthened client outreach and business development activities for business growth.
Langhua Pharmaceutical's revenue for the first half of 2022 amounted to RMB702.7 million, representing a YoY decrease of approximately 0.4%, which was mainly because certain revenue will be recognized in the third quarter as customers voluntarily requested a delay in product delivery as affected by COVID-19 during the Reporting Period, resulting in pressure on the growth rate of revenue in the first half of 2022. Langhua Pharmaceutical's CDMO backlog orders of approximately RMB700.0 million will lay a solid foundation for business performance in the second half of the year. As of June 30, 2022, Langhua Pharmaceutical had served a total of 836 clients, with the top ten clients accounting for 52.7% of its total revenue, suggesting constant improvement in customer revenue structure. The retention rate of the top ten clients was 100%.
In respect of CDMO capacity building, the upgrade and renovation of the T10 plant was completed by the end of the third quarter last year, and has been officially put into operation. At present, Langhua Pharmaceutical's total available capacity reached 860 cubic meters, of which, however, T02 plant was still in the preparation stage for trial production as the installation of new capacity in T02 plant was delayed due to the impact of COVID-19. Both T02 plant and T10 plant are Langhua Pharmaceutical's GMP-level plants located in its Taizhou factory. It is expected that the official operation of T02 plant in future will contribute to a further revenue increase for the Company.
Established External Investment Funds for EFS Investment & Incubation Business
During the Reporting Period, the Company reviewed a total of over 363 projects globally, added 3 start-ups to the portfolio companies, made new investments in two funds and made additional investments in 4 existing portfolio companies. As of June 30, 2022, the Company had invested in a total of 90 portfolio companies. The portfolio companies are mainly from the United States, Canada, Europe and China. 64.0% of the portfolio companies are from North America and 23.0% are from China.
In the first half of 2022, 10 of the portfolio companies completed or almost completed a new financing round, raising approximately US$133.0 million in total. The R&D efforts of the portfolio companies were progressing smoothly, with the total number of pipeline projects increasing to almost 199, of which nearly 40.0% had entered PCC/IND and the clinical stage. At present, the Group has successfully realized the 8 investment exits or partial exits and has 11 potential exits with the portfolio companies in the next one to three years.
In addition, the Company is proactively applying for a fund manager license and proposes to conduct incubation business through the establishment of external investment funds in the future.
Technological Highlights and R&D Breakthroughs
During the Reporting Period, the Group's R&D spending was RMB40.9 million, representing a YoY increase of 9.1% from RMB37.5 million for the corresponding period of last year. For CRO business, the Group built several core technological platforms, including AI technology assisted drug research and development, antibody and macromolecule discovery, photochemical reaction platform and Cryo-EM (Micro-ED).
Besides, the Company also provides services relevant to PROTAC drug R&D, and revenue generated in this regard accounted for almost 7.4% of total revenue from CRO business. The services primarily include studies on protein preparation and crystal structure, high-throughput screening of PROTAC molecules, kinetics, drug metabolism, pharmaceutical chemistry, Bioassay, CADD, etc. As of June 30, 2022, the Company had conducted research into over 30 E3 ligase structures and delivered nearly 80 target protein-PROTAC-E3 ligase ternary compound structures. It is expected that PROTAC business will add fresh impetus to the sustainable growth of CRO business in the future.
For CDMO business, the Group enhanced automation renovation efforts to further improve the production automation level. In terms of process, the Group continued to build up the continuous reaction technology, catalyst screening platform, oral preparation production line platform, injection research and development platform, non-fixed dispersion technology platform, etc.
Continued to Expand the Scale of Staff and Facilities
As of June 30, 2022, the Group had a total of 2,309 employees, of whom CRO R&D personnel reached 1,354, representing a YoY increase of approximately 37.9%. The Company has been accelerating the construction of office and laboratory facilities in line with its workforce expansion plans and expanding production capacity to meet the fast-growing business needs.
- The Incubation Center located in Faladi Road, Shanghai covering 7,576 square meters has been put into full operation in the first quarter of 2021, including 5,552 square meters of laboratory area.
- The Group's new headquarters in Zhoupu, Shanghai with a total area of approximately 40,000 square meters was partially put into use in December 2021.
- The park with a total GFA of 64,564 square meters in Chengdu has been completed, of which 12,000 square meters of properties have been partially put into use in December 2021, including 10,590 square meters of laboratory area.
- The novel drug incubation center with a GFA of approximately 77,500 square meters in Qiantang New District, Hangzhou has commenced construction in July 2021.
- The park with a GFA of approximately 7,169 square meters in Suzhou, including 3,250 square meters of laboratory area.
- In November 2021, the Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Jiaxing Municipal Government to set up the Viva Biotech AI Novel Drug Incubation Center in Xiuzhou District, Jiaxing.
Dr. Cheney Mao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Viva Biotech Holdings, said, "With unique advantages in structure-based drug discovery (SBDD), the Company will continue to strengthen the construction of a one-stop drug R&D and manufacturing service platform, deepen the synergy between CRO and CDMO business, improve the capacity building for front-end projects to increase the funnel effect, accelerate back-end direction of customer traffic, and actively build an open cooperation platform and win-win ecosystem for biomedical innovators around the world."
About Viva Biotech Holdings
Established in 2008, Viva Biotech (01873.HK) provides one-stop services ranging from early-stage Structure-Based Drug R&D to commercial drug delivery to global biopharmaceutical innovators. We offer leading early-stage to late-phase drug discovery expertise by integrating our dedicated team of experts, cutting-edge technology platforms, and state-of-the-art equipment in X-ray crystallization, Cryo-EM, ASMS, SPR, HDX, CADD, and much more. Our business covers all aspects of therapeutic strategies and drug modalities, including small molecules and biologics across the pharma and biotech spectrum. With our subsidiary, Langhua Pharma, we offer our worldwide pharmaceutical and biotech partners one-stop integrated CMC (Chemical, Manufacturing, and Control) service from preclinical to commercial manufacturing. Additionally, Viva embedded an equity for service (EFS) model to high potential startups to address unmet medical needs.
As of June 30, 2022, Viva Biotech has provided drug R&D and production services to 1,947 biotech and pharmaceutical clients around the world. We have invested and incubated 90 biotech start-ups in total. In the future, the Company will continue to strengthen its technical barriers, improve R&D and production level, and the service capacity, so as to provide high-quality and diversified services for more drug discovery start-ups, as well as the medium and large pharmaceutical enterprises around the world. We hope to benefit more patients through Viva's platform.
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SOURCE Viva Biotech Holdings | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/08/29/viva-biotech-announced-2022-interim-results/ | 2022-08-29 16:48:03 | 0 | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/08/29/viva-biotech-announced-2022-interim-results/ |
The New York Rangers and coach Gerard Gallant are parting ways after losing in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
The Rangers announced the change, which they called mutual, on Saturday — less than a week after a seven-game series loss to the rival New Jersey Devils.
“I have a ton of respect for Gerard as both a coach and person and truly appreciate everything he did for us on and off the ice these last two seasons,” general manager Chris Drury said in a statement. “After my evaluation of the season and discussions with Gerard, we mutually came to the conclusion that a change would be beneficial for both parties. I wish he and his family all the best in the future. Our search for a new head coach will begin right away.”
Gallant led New York to the Eastern Conference final in 2022 in his first season with the team and was a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year. He has not lasted three full seasons in any of his five head jobs around the league.
In a statement sent through the team, Gallant thanked owner James Dolan and Drury for the opportunity.
“The experience of coaching an Original Six franchise with such rich history and an incredibly passionate fanbase is something I will never forget,” Gallant said. “After conversations with my family and Chris, it became clear that this was the right decision for both myself and the Rangers at this time.”
Gallant’s departure was not particularly surprising, but it came after the 59-year-old defended his job status during exit interviews earlier in the week, calling the line of questioning “disappointing.”
“I can’t believe I have to answer some of these questions about me getting let go or getting fired, brought up by the media,” Gallant said Wednesday. “If I can’t stand by my record and what I’ve done, I think there’s something wrong.”
The Rangers now begin another coaching search in hopes of finding the person who will get them their first Stanley Cup title since 1994. Three-time championship-winning coach Joel Quenneville’s name has already been connected to the franchise, though he would need to be reinstated by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman after his role in a sexual assault scandal with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2010 that caused him to resign from his job with the Florida Panthers in October 2021.
Two years ago, Drury thought Gallant was the right person to lead the Rangers. After assuming control when President of Hockey operations John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton were fired by Dolan, Drury shifted into win-now mode, hiring Gallant a year and a half after the veteran coach was let go by Vegas.
Gallant and the Rangers finished second in the Metropolitan Division in his first year behind the bench and made an improbable run to the East final before losing to Tampa Bay.
With that playoff success raising expectations, the Rangers had an up-and-down regular season and scuffled in the days leading up to the trade deadline. They acquired previous Cup champions Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane in a pair of deals and finished third in the division to set up a showdown with the Devils.
The Rangers won the first two games of the series on the road before losing three in a row, a stretch that included a tirade from Gallant about his team being “not good enough — not even close to good.”
“We didn’t show up, we didn’t play hard enough, we didn’t compete hard enough,” Gallant said after Game 4. “A lot of bad things.”
New York staved off elimination at home to force a Game 7. Despite some lineup adjustments by Gallant, the Rangers lost 4-0 to get knocked out.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.fox16.com/sports/rangers-coach-gerard-gallant-part-ways-after-1st-round-exit/ | 2023-05-07 13:39:32 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/sports/rangers-coach-gerard-gallant-part-ways-after-1st-round-exit/ |
President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 into law Tuesday, which allocates $53 billion dollars in federal funding to manufacture semiconductor chips domestically.
Copyright 2022 NPR
President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 into law Tuesday, which allocates $53 billion dollars in federal funding to manufacture semiconductor chips domestically.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wlrn.org/2022-08-09/the-new-chips-and-science-act-will-bring-semiconductor-chip-manufacturing-to-the-u-s | 2022-08-09 22:12:05 | 0 | https://www.wlrn.org/2022-08-09/the-new-chips-and-science-act-will-bring-semiconductor-chip-manufacturing-to-the-u-s |
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Nevada-based discount airline aha! has stopped flying after its parent, ExpressJet Airlines, filed for bankruptcy protection and said it would sell its assets.
ExpressJet said it faced lower-than-expected revenue because demand for travel weakened with new COVID-19 variants. It also said it was burdened with high costs, particularly for jet fuel.
The Atlanta-area company filed Tuesday for protection in the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware.
Aha! flew to about a dozen cities on the West Coast from its base in Reno, Nevada. A message Tuesday on its website said the airline was unable to help stranded travelers make other travel arrangements, and that customers booked on future flights should contact their credit card company for refunds.
ExpressJet, based in the Atlanta area, was formed in 1986 from several small commuter airlines. For many years, it flew smaller planes as a regional carrier for Continental, JetBlue, American and United. In 2020, United Airlines removed its planes from ExpressJet, wiping out the company's revenue. ExpressJet reinvented itself in 2021 as a charter airline and operator of aha!, which stood for air, hotel and adventure.
In the filing, a company executive said ExpressJet ceased all operations, including charter flights, and laid off most of its employees and will return its planes to leasing companies.
According to the bankruptcy filing, ExpressJet is owned by ManaAir LLC, a joint venture of KAir Enterprises and MNBS Associates.
The largest debt listed in the filing is a $10 million unsecured claim by the U.S. Small Business Administration under the payroll protection program that the government launched to help businesses hurt by the pandemic. It owes another $3.9 million for a pandemic-relief loan made by the Treasury Department.
ExpressJet said it has 1,300 now-furloughed pilots. It plans to try to sell the operating certificate it received from federal regulators. | https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Regional-airline-operator-ExpressJet-files-for-17393467.php | 2022-08-23 23:41:17 | 1 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Regional-airline-operator-ExpressJet-files-for-17393467.php |
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the Washington Lottery's "Match 4" game were:
05-07-08-12
(five, seven, eight, twelve)
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening's drawing of the Washington Lottery's "Match 4" game were:
05-07-08-12
(five, seven, eight, twelve) | https://www.sfchronicle.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Match-4-game-17554441.php | 2022-11-03 05:42:22 | 0 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Match-4-game-17554441.php |
It’s been long established that the death rate is higher for Black mothers and their babies during childbirth than for white families. But now, a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds racial health disparities around motherhood impact Black women regardless of income.
Here & Now‘s Deepa Fernandes speaks to co-author Laura Wherry, an assistant professor of economics and public service at New York University.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kanw.com/2023-02-13/study-finds-wealthy-black-families-fare-worse-on-maternal-infant-health-than-poorest-white-families | 2023-02-13 20:42:11 | 1 | https://www.kanw.com/2023-02-13/study-finds-wealthy-black-families-fare-worse-on-maternal-infant-health-than-poorest-white-families |
As Sourcepass' Chief Operating Officer, Daman Wood will oversee daily business operations, providing strategic direction to deliver an outstanding client experience.
NEW YORK, March 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sourcepass, a leading IT services and cybersecurity firm, has named Daman Wood as its new Chief Operating Officer.
Daman brings 25 years of leadership experience building disruptive and world class brands in software and technology-based solutions. In his new role, he will oversee daily business operations and lead the service, project, and technical teams, providing strategic direction to deliver an outstanding client experience.
"Daman's strategic addition to our team adds fuel to our growth journey while remaining committed to providing an IT services experience that client's love," said Sourcepass CEO, Chuck Canton. "Daman is a proven leader in building advanced technical and service operations over the course of his career."
"Throughout my career, I've been passionate about leading my teams in a way that aligns operational function to maximize client impact," said Wood. "With our mission to provide an IT experience clients love, I am excited at the opportunity to deliver results that can have a resounding impact that elevates our client's businesses."
Prior to joining Sourcepass, Daman was COO of Trax Group, a global leader in Transportation Spend Management (TSM) and COO of MDSL, a global leader in Technology Expense Management software and service, leading the organization through a successful merger in 2017 and delivering a world-class client experience that resulted in company growth exceeding 25% year over year. Daman has also held senior leadership roles at Vonage, Telesphere, Airband, Sparkplug and XO Communications in addition to previously serving as a board member of the Arizona Technology Council.
Daman has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University, W.P. Carey.
Sourcepass puts you in control of your digital universe by providing the right blend of technologies working seamlessly and powerfully, enabling you to transform your business. For more information on how Sourcepass is revolutionizing the IT space through M&A and innovative client service delivery or to discuss receiving an IT experience that client's love, please visit us at www.sourcepass.com.
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SOURCE Sourcepass, Inc. | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2023/03/14/leading-it-services-cybersecurity-firm-sourcepass-continues-invest-their-clients-experience-through-strategic-hire-chief-operating-officer/ | 2023-03-14 14:49:44 | 1 | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2023/03/14/leading-it-services-cybersecurity-firm-sourcepass-continues-invest-their-clients-experience-through-strategic-hire-chief-operating-officer/ |
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno has decided not to sell the team.
Moreno took his franchise off the market Monday after announcing his plan to explore a sale of the team last August. The 76-year-old owner met with prospective buyers during the winter.
“During this process, it became clear that we have unfinished business and feel we can make a positive impact on the future of the team and the fan experience,” Moreno said in a statement. “This offseason, we committed to a franchise record player payroll, and still want to accomplish our goal of bringing a World Series championship back to our fans.”
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he is “very pleased” Moreno is staying in the game.
“Despite strong buyer interest in the Angels, Arte Moreno’s love of the game is most important to him,” Manfred said.
Moreno is an outdoor advertising mogul from Arizona who originally bought the Angels from the Walt Disney Company in 2003, shortly after the franchise won its only championship.
Moreno immediately showed a willingness to spend money to attract big-name free agents to Orange County, and the Angels won five AL West titles during his first seven seasons of ownership. But Moreno also angered many of his team’s fans early in his tenure by dropping Anaheim from the franchise’s name in a bid to improve the franchise’s marketability and television visibility.
The Angels’ fortunes under Moreno have flagged mightily since an appearance in the ALCS in 2009. Despite a hefty payroll and big-market fan support, the Halos have not won a playoff games in the past 13 years, making just one postseason appearance in 2014 and getting swept.
The Angels are currently mired in the majors’ longest streaks of losing seasons (seven) and non-playoff seasons (eight, tied with Detroit) despite the presence of former AL MVPs Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on their roster.
While Moreno’s willingness to write big checks has never waned, his insistence on involving himself in some of the Angels’ biggest deals has drawn heavy criticism and rarely yielded good results. Moreno made the final decision to hand out massive contracts to several players including Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Anthony Rendon in recent years, and nearly every one of his big-money free agent gambles hasn’t paid off richly as as he hoped.
The Angels’ most recent indignity wasn’t entirely Moreno’s fault: He reached a deal with the Anaheim city government to purchase Angel Stadium in October 2020 with plans to redevelop the majors’ fourth-oldest ballpark and the land surrounding it, only for the transaction to fall apart in 2022 amid a political scandal surrounding the sale that led to the resignation of Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu.
Moreno said he met “with a number of highly qualified individuals and groups who expressed strong interest in the club” while exploring a sale.
“However, as discussions advanced and began to crystallize, we realized our hearts remain with the Angels, and we are not ready to part ways with the fans, players, and our employees,” Moreno added.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wjhl.com/sports/us-world-sports/ap-arte-moreno-takes-angels-off-market-will-continue-as-owner/ | 2023-01-24 18:08:20 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/sports/us-world-sports/ap-arte-moreno-takes-angels-off-market-will-continue-as-owner/ |
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — At least five protesters were injured in Kenya Wednesday as police clashed with demonstrators who are calling for the government to lower the cost of living.
The opposition has called for three days of countrywide protests starting Wednesday in a new wave of demonstrations aimed at forcing the president to repeal a finance law imposing new taxes.
President William Ruto had vowed that no protests would take place in the country, saying he would take on opposition leader Raila Odinga “head-on.”
Four protesters were injured in the capital, Nairobi’s Mathare area, according to a police officer who wished to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak to the media. The Associated Press team covered a man who was injured in Kibera slums.
Businesses in Nairobi remained closed on Wednesday as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters.
Demonstrations were reported in several other parts of the country including the western counties of Kisumu, Migori and Kisii where the opposition enjoys huge support. Police on Tuesday said the Wednesday protests were illegal as no permit had been issued.
The right to peaceful protests is enshrined in the Kenyan constitution but the opposition has in the past held violent protests that have resulted in deaths.
Day schools in Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa were ordered to close by the education minister.
Last week’s protests left more than six people dead and many others injured, including 53 children who went into shock after tear gas was thrown inside their school compound.
Religious leaders have been calling for dialogue between the government and the opposition to end the protests.
Catholic bishops led by Anthony Muheria on Wednesday issued a statement reiterating that “no further blood should be shed” and urged the president to repeal the newly passed Finance Act that has agitated Kenyans.
The new finance law has raised the price of fuel to its highest as the government implements a doubling of value added tax on petroleum products to 16%. The new prices have taken effect despite a court order suspending the implementation of the controversial new taxes.
While Kenyan religious leaders and others urge the president to repeal the finance law to ease growing public frustration, the International Monetary Fund this week called its approval a “crucial” step toward reducing Kenya’s debt vulnerabilities.
Western envoys from 13 countries on Tuesday issued a joint statement calling for dialogue and expressed concern over the loss of lives and destruction of property.
Rights’ group, Human Rights Watch, on Tuesday urged political leaders to stop labelling protesters as “terrorists” and respect the right to peaceful protests. The group called out the police for using force and live bullets to confront protesters.
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Credit: AP | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/at-least-4-injured-in-kenya-anti-government-protests-as-schools-remain-closed/LCKVYN3GXZDCVGYG7HDBUHC52I/ | 2023-07-19 11:57:15 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/at-least-4-injured-in-kenya-anti-government-protests-as-schools-remain-closed/LCKVYN3GXZDCVGYG7HDBUHC52I/ |
The second annual Nick Saban Legacy Award show honored two lifers Tuesday night in Birmingham.
Both honorees, Bill Snyder and Vince Dooley, spent their entire college head coaching careers at a single stop. Snyder famously built Kansas State from the worst major college program to a powerhouse while Dooley won the 1980 national title during his 25-year reign at Georgia.
Asked before the presentation about that longevity, Saban on Tuesday spoke about the challenge of staying in the same place for such a long time. Entering his 17th season at Alabama, Saban spoke about the constant expectation while explaining his mindset of making each season a fresh start.
That comes with a new set of challenges, and in the case of the budding 2023 season, finding two new coordinators came first. It took a few weeks before Tommy Rees was reportedly tabbed Friday to replace offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien while the search took even longer before Kevin Steele filled Pete Golding’s spot on the defensive side.
“Yeah,” Saban said in a brief chat with reporters before the show, “it’s challenging. It takes time. You have to interview the right people. You have to make sure it’s the right fit.”
A few names emerged from both parallel searches. O’Brien was named the OC with the Patriots on Jan. 24 while Rees reportedly accepted the job Feb. 3. A few of the names that emerged from that search included Washington’s Nick Grubb and Akron head coach Joe Moorhead. It was a longer between the Jan. 13 departure of Golding and the Feb. 5 news of Steele’s addition.
“It’s new energy,” Saban said. “New ideas can come with new people. We love continuity but at the same time, you have to hopefully bring people in who bring a new energy, new ideas and be able to complement the things we do and help our players develop in a more positive way.”
Rees, 30, comes from Notre Dame where he played quarterback from 2010-13 and was an assistant coach from 2017-22. Steele is back for a third tenure at Alabama under Saban -- his second at defensive coordinator after holding the job in 2007.
Steele, 64, faced Dooley as both a player and coach at Tennessee and Snyder as an assistant at Nebraska in the 1990s and as the Baylor head coach from 1999-2002.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook. | https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2023/02/saban-talks-challenge-of-alabama-coordinator-hires-adding-new-energy.html | 2023-02-08 12:27:00 | 0 | https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2023/02/saban-talks-challenge-of-alabama-coordinator-hires-adding-new-energy.html |
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Republican secretary of state hopeful wants lawmakers to hand the office control over elections, but she won’t say how much authority she wants or whether her duties should include unilaterally certifying presidential winners in the key battleground state.
Amy Loudenbeck, a state representative from south-central Wisconsin, wants to unseat long-time Democratic incumbent Doug La Follette in November. The Legislature has spent the last few decades stripping La Follette of almost all his responsibilities. Loudenbeck wants to restore some of them, including taking over election oversight from a bipartisan commission.
Republicans who control Wisconsin’s Legislature passed bills this year making it more difficult to vote absentee and imposing restrictions on election administration, only to have Democratic Gov. Tony Evers veto them. In an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Loudenbeck repeatedly declined to explain how much control over elections she wants or how she thinks elections should be administered, saying Republicans who control the Legislature would decide what responsibilities to give her.
“This isn’t a power grab,” Loudenbeck said. “The Legislature should explore a wide range of policy options to utilize this constitutional office that is directly accountable to voters and look at what other states are doing and talk about restoring some traditional responsibilities, including election oversight, if appropriate, to the office.”
La Follette, the secretary of state since 1983, said Loudenbeck is “trying to be cleverly vague.”
“I’d call it very politically motivated as to what she’d really do,” he said. “She’s trying to avoid facing her true positions on issues. I’m worried what they really are.”
La Follette does not support giving control over elections to the secretary of state and is campaigning on keeping his office’s responsibilities unchanged. All he does is issue travel documents and serve on a timber board.
The secretary of state is the chief elections official in 38 states, according to the National Association of State Election Directors. Elections oversight in Wisconsin falls to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, a panel of three Democrats and three Republicans created by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2016.
The commission frequently deadlocks and has taken intense criticism from Republicans who want to replace it, including GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels.
Former President Donald Trump has turned his eye toward secretary of state offices as he considers a 2024 presidential run. Trump called Georgia’s GOP secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, in 2020 asking him to “find” enough votes to overturn Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in that state. Raffensperger refused. He withstood a Trump-backed challenger in his primary this year, but Trump-endorsed secretary of state candidates won primaries in the key swing states of Arizona and Michigan.
Trump narrowly lost Wisconsin to Biden by about 21,000 votes in 2020. Trump continues to call for decertifying his loss, falsely claiming that election fraud cost him the state even though multiple reviews and recounts have confirmed Biden’s victory. Republican legislative leaders have refused to attempt to decertify his loss, a move that several attorneys and legal experts have dismissed as unconstitutional and impossible.
Loudenbeck has been vague about whether she believes Biden is the legitimate president, saying only that the U.S. Senate certified the election results and Biden was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2021. She also has been vague about her views on election fraud, telling AP that questions about the election must be answered and that the government has an obligation to ensure the elections system is secure. She conceded that decertifying Biden’s victory “is not an option.”
Democrats fear that if Loudenbeck becomes secretary of state in Wisconsin she would certify that Trump or another Republican candidate has won the state in 2024, regardless of the actual result. She told the AP she would reject a call from Trump or any other Republican candidate asking her to tip the scales in the GOP’s favor.
“If clerks and all the poll workers are following the law, there shouldn’t be any question at the end,” she said. “If people think that individuals were illegally casting ballots, then they should go to their sheriff or their (district attorney) or their clerk and figure that out. You can’t just find more ballots.”
A lot would have to happen before Loudenbeck would find herself in position to affect the outcome of an election.
She would have to defeat La Follette, who crushed his Democratic primary opponent despite spending almost no money on the race and taking an African safari in the middle of the campaign.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos would have to allow GOP lawmakers to shift considerable election duties to Loudenbeck. Vos has said he supports the commission and opposes giving the secretary of state election powers.
And Michels would have to defeat Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, putting himself in position to sign oversight legislation into law. Michels has said he wants to revamp the elections commission with members from the state’s eight congressional districts.
Loudenbeck said she would try to persuade Vos to give the office election responsibilities — even though she wouldn’t say what they should be — by convincing him that the election commission is a “failed experiment” and an elected official accountable to the people should run the polls.
___
Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/political-news/ap-politics/ap-wis-sos-hopeful-wants-election-control-wont-say-how-much/ | 2022-08-31 23:07:18 | 1 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/political-news/ap-politics/ap-wis-sos-hopeful-wants-election-control-wont-say-how-much/ |
By Tarik Khan, Sara Innamorato, Donna Bullock and Roni Green.
It may sound to some like a fair bargain. A prospective employer offers you a job and promises to train you with valuable skills. In return, you agree to stick with the company for a specific time, so another employer doesn’t poach you once your training is complete. This is the premise of the training repayment agreement provisions (TRAPs), or employment contract clauses, that demand company loyalty in exchange for job training.
However, as many employees are experiencing, these increasingly pervasive TRAPs are often more coercive than career-boosting.
As BreAnn Scally found out, the contract she signed with PetSmart to be a pet groomer locked her into two years of retail store work. When BreAnn tried to leave the low-pay job that left her feeling unfulfilled, the company took her to court for the $5,000 they claimed BreAnn owed them for their in-house pet grooming training.
At best, TRAPs have been described as a form of “student loan debt.” At worst, they have been described as “indentured servitude.” TRAPs leave employees stuck, often in multi-year contracts, unable to seek new opportunities outside their current job for fear of financial ruin.
TRAP clauses were once only found in the contracts of high-paying jobs. Sadly, it is becoming more common to see corporations force prospective employees to sign TRAPs for lower-paying positions with high turnover rates in exchange for sometimes little more than internal training programs. Today, nearly one in 10 U.S. workers is enmeshed in a TRAP.
Earlier this year, state Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Allegheny, and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., released a report with the American Economic Liberties Project regarding abusive practices by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Among other recommendations, their findings called for the abolition of TRAPs in the health care network and in other corporate settings.
Health care workers have been particularly susceptible to the sharp claws of TRAPs. For example, hospitals are increasingly targeting TRAPS to nurses who have recently received their licenses, are immigrants, and live in areas where there is a health care monopoly and few other options for employment. Once they sign these burdensome contracts, health care workers often find themselves trapped in environments where they are increasingly understaffed, underpaid and overworked.
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has already launched an investigation into these “employer-driven debt” schemes, and states like New Jersey, California and Colorado have begun to take steps to prevent TRAPs from being laid. It’s time we also act to protect Pennsylvania workers.
We are joining several of our colleagues in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to introduce the “Protect Workers from Training Provision Agreement Provisions (TRAPs) Act” that would recognize all workers deserve a fair and safe environment without fear of financial retribution.
This legislation would prevent the use of TRAPs and investigate employers that use debt or the threat of debt as part of employment contracts. This bill would play a critical role in ensuring that companies retain employers because they offer a quality workplace, not because their workers cannot afford to escape.
Join us in this effort to prevent employers from springing TRAPs onto workers. Contact your state representative and let them know that you support legislation to prohibit the use of employer TRAPs in Pennsylvania.
Tarik Khan, Sara Innamorato, Donna Bullock and Roni Green are all Democratic Pennsylvania state representatives. | https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2023/03/we-must-stop-corporations-from-making-pa-workers-sign-coercive-training-agreements-opinion.html | 2023-03-21 16:36:45 | 1 | https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2023/03/we-must-stop-corporations-from-making-pa-workers-sign-coercive-training-agreements-opinion.html |
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities Saturday as Kremlin-orchestrated votes took place in four occupied regions to create a pretext for their annexation by Moscow.
In cities across Russia, police arrested hundreds of people who tried to protest a mobilization order aimed at beefing up the country’s troops in Ukraine. Other Russians reported for duty, while the foreign minister told the U.N. General Assembly his country had “no choice” but to take military action against its neighbor.
Ukraine’s presidential office said the latest Russian shelling killed at least three people and wounded 19. Oleksandr Starukh, the Ukrainian governor of Zaporizhzhia, one of the regions where Moscow-installed officials organized referendums on joining Russia, said a Russian missile hit an apartment building in the regional capital, killing one person and injuring seven others.
Ukraine and its Western allies say the referendums underway in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south and the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions have no legal force. They alleged the votes were an illegitimate attempt by Moscow to seize Ukrainian territory stretching from the Russian border to the Crimean Peninsula.
Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said the voting “looked more like an opinion survey under the gun barrels,” adding that Moscow-backed local authorities sent armed escorts to accompany election officials and to take down the names of individuals who voted against joining Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians in occupied regions to undermine the referendums and to share information about the people conducting “this farce.” He also called on Russian recruits to sabotage and desert the military if they are called up under the partial troop mobilization President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday.
“If you get into the Russian army, sabotage any activity of the enemy, hinder any Russian operations, provide us with any important information about the occupiers – their bases, headquarters, warehouses with ammunition,” Zelenskyy said.
Putin on Saturday signed a hastily approved bill that toughens the punishment for soldiers who disobey officers’ orders, desert or surrender to the enemy.
To carry out the referendums that started Friday, election officials accompanied by police officers carried ballots to homes and set up mobile polling stations, citing safety reasons. The votes are set to wrap up Tuesday.
“Half of the population fled the Donetsk region because of Russian terror and constant shelling, voting against Russia with their feet, and the second half has been cheated and scared,” Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
In the Ukrainian capital, about 100 people from the Russia-occupied city of Mariupol, which is part of the Donetsk region, gathered to protest the referendum, covering themselves in Ukrainian flags and carrying posters “Mariupol is Ukraine.”
“They ruined the city, killed thousands of people, and now they are doing some kind of profanation over there,” said Vladyslav Kildishov who helped organize the rally.
Elina Sytkova, 21, a demonstrator who has many relatives left in Mariupol even though the city spent months under bombardment, said the vote was “an illusion of choice when there isn’t any.”
It’s “like a joke, because it’s the same as it was in Crimea, meaning it’s fake and not real,” she said, referring to a 2014 referendum that took place in Crimea before Moscow annexed the peninsula in a move that most of the world considered illegal.
The mobilization ordered by Putin marked a sharp shift from his effort to cast the seven-month war as a “special military operation” that doesn’t interfere with the lives of most Russians.
Russian police moved quickly to break up demonstrations against the mobilization that were held in several cities across Russia on Saturday, arresting over 700 people. More than 1,300 protesters were arrested during a previous wave of protests on Wednesday, and many of them immediately received call-up summons.
The Russian leader and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the order applied to reservists who had recently served or had special skills, but almost every man is considered a reservist until age 65 and Putin’s decree kept the door open for a broader call-up.
The Russian Ministry said that the partial mobilization initially aimed to add about 300,000 troops to beef up its outnumbered volunteer forces in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government stopped allowing most men ages 18-60 to leave the country immediately after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion under a general mobilization order intended to build a 1 million-strong military.
Across Russia’s 11 time zones, men hugged their weeping family members before being rounded up for service amid fears that a wider call-up might follow. Some media reports claimed Russian authorities planned to mobilize more than 1 million recruits, which the Kremlin denied.
Moving to assuage public fears over the call-up that could erode Putin’s grip on power, authorities announced that many Russians working in high tech, communications or finance would be exempt.
After some of the pilots of the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot and other airlines reportedly received call-up notices, pilots and traffic controllers unions moved quickly to secure a government promise that they, too, would be excluded from the mobilization.
Many Russian men bought up scarce and exorbitantly priced airline tickets out of the country as as rumors swirled about a pending border closure. Thousands others fled by car, creating lines of traffic hours or even days long at some borders. The massive exodus underlined the unpopularity of the war and fueled public outrage.
In a sign the Kremlin was starting to worry about a backlash, the head of a top state-controlled TV station harshly criticized military authorities for hastily sweeping up random people to meet mobilization targets instead of calling up people with specific skills and recent military service, as Putin promised.
RT chief Margarita Simonyan lashed out at military conscription offices for “driving people mad” by rounding up those who weren’t supposed to be drafted. “It’s as if they were tasked by Kyiv to do that,” she said.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed regional leader of Chechnya who sent his forces to fight in Ukraine and repeatedly called for tougher action, suggested that Moscow should more broadly engage personnel from law-enforcement agencies in the fighting.
He denounced those fleeing the mobilization as cowards and argued that police and various paramilitary agencies that number a total of 5 million personnel together with the military would make a much better-trained and motivated fighting force.
“If we leave 50 percent of the personnel to fulfil their duties, 2.5 million others will blow any Western army away and we won’t need any reservists,” Kadyrov said.
Putin’s mobilization order followed a swift Ukrainian counteroffensive that forced Moscow’s retreat from broad swaths of the northeastern Kharkiv region, a humiliating defeat that highlighted blunders in Moscow’s military planning.
The Defense Ministry on Saturday announced the dismissal of Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov from the post of deputy defense minister in charge of logistics. It didn’t mention the cause for his ouster, but the move was widely seen as a punishment for the flaws in supporting operations in Ukraine.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/ap-international/ap-russians-strike-ukraine-as-kremlin-staged-votes-continue/ | 2022-09-25 03:15:03 | 0 | https://fox59.com/news/national-world/ap-international/ap-russians-strike-ukraine-as-kremlin-staged-votes-continue/ |
New York City becomes first government to distribute free abortion pills, officials say
A city sexual health clinic in the Bronx began to offer free chemical abortion pills Wednesday
New York City launched a plan Wednesday to become the first city in the nation to distribute free abortion drugs at its health clinics.
A sexual health clinic in the Bronx began to offer free chemical abortion pills Wednesday and three other clinics will do so by the end of the year — a plan that Democratic Mayor Eric Adams declared "no other city in the nation or in the world" has launched. The efforts are part of a $1.2 million city fund for sexual health services.
"For too long, health and health care has been centered around men," Adams said in a Tuesday press conference on women’s health. "If men had periods, pap smears and menopause, they would get a paid vacation. And if men could get pregnant, we wouldn't see Congress trying to pass laws restricting abortion."
BIDEN ADMIN SUED OVER FAILURE TO RELEASE ABORTION PILL RECORDS
City officials said the boost to sexual health clinics in the city is an attempt to counter restrictions on abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade last year. Abortion pills are available in the city’s 11 public hospitals, but the new plan extends this to four public health clinics, where they will be provided free of charge.
Ashwin Vasan, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said that the free abortion pills will be "open to anyone."
"This is city dollars going to this specific purpose, and we’re the first in the nation to do that," Vasan said.
CATHOLIC BISHOPS CELEBRATE BORN ALIVE ACT, CONDEMN 210 DEMOCRATS WHO VOTED AGAINST
Abortion pills are taken to terminate a fetus through the first 10 weeks of a pregnancy. Medical studies and data show abortion pills have four times the complication rate of surgical abortions due to concerns over intense hemorrhages and bleeding.
The rate of emergency room visits after the use of abortion pills increased more than 500% between 2002 and 2015, according to government data collected by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. The pills are often taken without medical supervision.
210 DEMOCRATS VOTE AGAINST BILL REQUIRING MEDICAL CARE FOR BABIES BORN ALIVE AFTER ABORTION ATTEMPT
The Food and Drug Administration has made a series of moves to deregulate abortion pills amid the Biden administration. The agency in January announced that it will allow retail pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens to distribute abortion drugs as women are prescribed the pills from certified health care providers.
Just over one year prior, the agency made permanent its pandemic-era decision to allow doctors to prescribe abortion pills through remote appointments and to mail them to women through certified providers.
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The popularity of abortion pills has increased steadily since they were approved in the U.S. in 2000. The pills accounted for more than half of U.S. abortions for the first time in 2020, which is likely to increase after the Roe overturn and FDA deregulation efforts. This does not include the use of black market abortion pills, which have grown in popularity since the overturn of Roe. | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-city-first-government-distribute-free-abortion-pills-officials-say | 2023-01-21 18:19:57 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-city-first-government-distribute-free-abortion-pills-officials-say |
Vinton-Shellsburg stomped on Springville 11-6 in an Iowa high school softball matchup.
In recent action on May 27, Vinton-Shellsburg faced off against Jesup and Springville took on Denver on May 27 at Denver High School.
You're reading a news brief powered by ScoreStream, a world leader in fan-driven sports results and conversation. Help us collect and deliver more game results from your favorite teams and players by downloading the ScoreStream app. Nearly a million users nationwide share team scores and player performance stats with this convenient free app. | https://wcfcourier.com/sports/high-school/softball/girls/zoom-vinton-shellsburg-leaves-springville-in-its-wake-11-6/article_d9b2cc7c-ac29-5d7b-a888-50976ea9e512.html | 2023-06-04 04:18:18 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/sports/high-school/softball/girls/zoom-vinton-shellsburg-leaves-springville-in-its-wake-11-6/article_d9b2cc7c-ac29-5d7b-a888-50976ea9e512.html |
HOUSTON, Sept. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CITGO Holding, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Company"), today announced that the Company has repaid in full the approximately $267 million aggregate principal amount of indebtedness that remained outstanding under the Company's Senior Secured Term Loan B due 2023. Today's repayment follows the $216 million repayment made on August 24, 2022 in connection with the excess cash flow provisions of the term loan and was funded through dividends received from CITGO Petroleum Corporation.
CITGO Holding, Inc. ("CITGO Holding" or the "Company") is the direct parent of CITGO Petroleum Corporation ("CITGO"). CITGO Holding is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PDV Holding, Inc. ("PDV Holding"), a Delaware corporation and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. ("PDVSA" or "ultimate parent"), which is a Venezuelan corporation 100% owned and controlled by the Government of Venezuela.
CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a recognized leader in the refining industry and operates under the well-known CITGO brand. CITGO owns and operates three refineries located in Lake Charles, La.; Lemont, Ill.; and Corpus Christi, Texas, and wholly and/or jointly owns 43 active terminals (which includes five CITGO Holding terminals), six pipelines and three lubricants blending and packaging plants. With approximately 3,300 employees and a combined crude capacity of approximately 769,000 barrels-per-day (bpd), CITGO ranks as the fifth-largest and is one of the most complex independent refiners in the United States. CITGO transports and markets transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products, and supplies a network of approximately 4,300 locally owned and independently operated branded retail outlets, all located east of the Rocky Mountains. CITGO Petroleum Corporation is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc.
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SOURCE CITGO Corporation | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/09/22/citgo-holding-inc-announces-full-repayment-term-loan/ | 2022-09-23 00:54:27 | 0 | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/09/22/citgo-holding-inc-announces-full-repayment-term-loan/ |
ST. LOUIS — In the top of the sixth, in the ballpark he once called home, against the team that traded him to the Washington Nationals about 13 months ago, Lane Thomas found the rally in his hands. And after battling reliever Andre Pallante for 10 pitches — fouling off two sliders and a 98-mph fastball, among other survival tactics — Thomas worked a bases-loaded walk, his contribution to a four-run inning in the Nationals’ 6-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I think I hit well with two strikes,” Thomas said, fully acknowledging that he wanted to excel against his old team. “I don’t know if it’s just like the approach aspect to it. I know I’m quick enough to get to a lot of fastballs. So it kind of gives you a little bit of relief to know that you can anticipate some of the sliders and curveballs and stuff, knowing that you can still hit a fastball the other way.”
Before Thomas faced Pallante, César Hernández, Josh Palacios and CJ Abrams singled, with Abrams logging his second hit on a tapper down the third base line. After Thomas walked, Luis García scored Palacios with a high chopper, Joey Meneses scored Abrams with a single to left, then Luke Voit, another former Cardinal, scored Thomas with a sac fly. Earlier in the afternoon, Thomas brought in Abrams when his double bounced in the right field corner and to a flower bed by the foul pole at Busch Stadium.
As has often been the case in recent games, as the Nationals have played some of their best baseball of the season, Thomas was in the middle of things. Abrams was, too, collecting four hits and his first career triple. So was Keibert Ruiz, who walked twice, singled and crushed a solo homer off James Naile in the eighth. And so was Meneses, who remained on fire with three more singles.
The Nationals (48-87) finished with 14 hits to the Cardinals’ three. They have won three in a row and six of their past eight.
“Look, I love what I’m seeing right now,” Manager Dave Martinez said. “And it’s been a lot fun working with these guys. They’re starting to get it. As you can see, they’re starting to get what we’re trying to do.”
Batting leadoff against righty Jack Flaherty, Thomas reached on that double in the third, then again when Flaherty plunked him in the fifth, once more on the well-earned walk in the sixth and finally on another walk in the seventh. He also used his speed to beat a decent throw from Lars Nootbaar on Voit’s sacrifice fly. Like last September, he should get another extended chance this month and started in favor of Victor Robles again Monday.
With Flaherty, who returned from a shoulder issue that landed him on the 60-day injured list, the Cardinals (79-56) are seeing if they have another reliable arm for the stretch run and postseason. The Nationals, on the other hand, are evaluating on a far different scale, fixing two eyes on a hazy future.
Thomas, 27 and first-time arbitration-eligible this coming winter, could play his way into that. Since the Nationals acquired him for veteran starter Jon Lester in July 2021, he has looked like a fourth outfielder on a contending roster, should Washington eventually yield one. Thomas is the fastest player on the team. Over the weekend, when the Nationals took two of three from the New York Mets, he hit his 15th homer of the season, trailing only Juan Soto for the club lead for 2022.
Recent success aside, Thomas is not having a stellar year, nor is he expected to be a make-or-break piece for Washington in the coming seasons. His on-base-plus-slugging percentage, .724 after Monday’s win, spiked to just average. He still strikes out too much, perhaps a product of being too choosy in early counts. But if the Nationals land even an above-average bench player from the Lester deal — a trade that made General Manager Mike Rizzo seem like a bandit, no matter if the Cardinals were set to cut Thomas loose — that’s a big little victory.
And those count.
A rewind for Sánchez? Well, it wasn’t quite the 7⅔ scoreless — and near no-hitter — Sánchez threw in his last outing at Busch Stadium, a gem that pushed Washington to a 1-0 lead in the National League Championship Series in 2019. But after throwing 16 balls to 11 strikes in a rocky first inning Monday, Sánchez retired 12 straight batters. He even twice retired 42-year-old Albert Pujols, including with the bases juiced in the first, keeping Pujols one swing from tying Alex Rodriguez at 696 on the all-time home run list.
From the second on, he recorded 12 outs on 54 pitches, ultimately blanking the Cardinals for five frames. Sánchez has been rock solid in his past four starts, holding opponents to two runs and eight hits in 21⅓ innings. Behind him in the series opener, Hunter Harvey pitched a clean sixth and Mason Thompson recorded the final nine outs. That accounted for Thompson’s first career save. After he recorded it, Sánchez told reporters he intends to pitch next season.
“I know that I can do games like today,” said Sánchez, who missed three and a half months with a nerve impingement in his neck. “I know that I needed time, especially because I was out last year. But I’m here and I need to work every day and prepare as hard as I can to show that I can still pitch at this level.”
Has Meneses cooled off? Not nearly. With singles in the first, fifth and sixth, Meneses has 40 hits in his first 29 games, the most ever for a Nationals rookie in that number of contests. He has been rewriting that statistic for weeks, repeatedly edging out Anthony Rendon. Meneses now has a .339 batting average and on-base-plus slugging percentage of .939. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/05/nationals-cardinals-lane-thomas/ | 2022-09-06 00:35:29 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/05/nationals-cardinals-lane-thomas/ |
SHERMAN, Texas — A man from Fannin County pleaded guilty on Monday to robbing over half a million dollars from banks throughout East Texas, according to United States Attorney’s Office.
Kevin Long, 30, was accused of robbing $550,000 collectively from multiple East Texas banks between 2020 and 2021, including CapTex Bank in Bonham on Jan. 31, 2020; Financial Bank in Farmersville on Aug. 11, 2020; Bancorp South Bank in Tom Bean on Oct. 16, 2020; Commercial Bank in Farmerville on Aug. 13, 2021; and First United Bank in Leonard on August 20, 2021.
During the robberies he passed threatening notes to bank employees and physically restrained bank employees, according to officials.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bonham Police Department, Farmersville Police Department, Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, Sherman Police Department, Allen Police Department, Leonard Police Department, Bells Police Department, Tom Bean Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Long was indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 10, 2021 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
More Texas headlines: | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/kevin-long-texas-bank-robber/287-2d9e182b-a049-49d5-890f-65b032d69219 | 2022-08-30 21:08:10 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/kevin-long-texas-bank-robber/287-2d9e182b-a049-49d5-890f-65b032d69219 |
Caught on camera: Car thief clings to hood of getaway car
CHICAGO (WLS) – Police are looking for a group of suspected car thieves, including one who narrowly escaped being caught by riding on the hood of a getaway car.
The incident was caught on camera around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday.
Surveillance cameras from a nearby business captured the footage as a crew apparently tried to steal a Jeep parked on a street in the Near North Side neighborhood.
Police pulled up, and some suspects hopped into a gray Buick parked in front and took off.
Another ran down the street, as seen in the video. He turns the corner with police chasing behind him.
That’s when the suspect jumps onto the hood of a white car and demands the driver start going.
Police try to stop it, and the footage shows a Chicago police sergeant was hit in the process. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt.
The white getaway car speeds off down the road with the man still holding onto the hood.
Just 20 minutes later, police say another incident happened involving the same group.
Suspects driving a stolen Infiniti slammed into a cargo van, lost control and hit a lamp post just a few blocks away. They got away.
Chicago police said no one was in custody as of Tuesday night. They say no one was hurt, and they have recovered the white Lincoln.
Copyright 2023 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.kxii.com/2023/01/18/caught-camera-car-thief-clings-hood-getaway-car/ | 2023-01-18 17:27:58 | 1 | https://www.kxii.com/2023/01/18/caught-camera-car-thief-clings-hood-getaway-car/ |
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, about her role as a lead negotiator on the debt ceiling deal and future threats of default.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, about her role as a lead negotiator on the debt ceiling deal and future threats of default.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.knau.org/2023-06-08/breakthrough-moments-of-the-debt-ceiling-negotiations-according-to-a-lead-negotiator | 2023-06-08 20:39:43 | 1 | https://www.knau.org/2023-06-08/breakthrough-moments-of-the-debt-ceiling-negotiations-according-to-a-lead-negotiator |
Reds tenth. Albert Almora Jr. grounds out to second base, Ketel Marte to Pavin Smith. Mike Moustakas to third. TJ Friedl pinch-hitting for Aramis Garcia. TJ Friedl doubles to deep right field. Matt Reynolds scores. Jonathan India strikes out swinging. Brandon Drury grounds out to shortstop, Geraldo Perdomo to Pavin Smith.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 1, Diamondbacks 0.
Diamondbacks tenth. Christian Walker grounds out to shortstop, Kyle Farmer to Joey Votto. Ketel Marte to third. David Peralta doubles to deep right field, advances to 3rd. Ketel Marte scores. Fielding error by Albert Almora Jr.. Pavin Smith flies out to right field to Albert Almora Jr.. Jake McCarthy pinch-hitting for Carson Kelly. Jake McCarthy strikes out swinging.
1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 left on. Reds 1, Diamondbacks 1.
Reds eleventh. Tommy Pham singles to center field. Brandon Drury to third. Joey Votto strikes out swinging. Kyle Farmer singles to left field. Tommy Pham scores. Brandon Drury scores. Nick Senzel flies out to deep center field to Alek Thomas. Matt Reynolds strikes out swinging.
2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 3, Diamondbacks 1.
Diamondbacks eleventh. Alek Thomas singles to shallow infield. Jake McCarthy to third. Jordan Luplow pinch-hitting for Geraldo Perdomo. Jordan Luplow pops out to Joey Votto. Daulton Varsho strikes out swinging. Throwing error by Christopher Okey. Alek Thomas steals second, advances to third. Jake McCarthy scores. Josh Rojas walks. Alek Thomas scores. Ketel Marte grounds out to second base, Jonathan India to Joey Votto.
2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 left on. Reds 3, Diamondbacks 3.
Reds twelfth. Albert Almora Jr. triples. Matt Reynolds scores. Chris Okey grounds out to shallow infield, Pavin Smith to Sean Poppen. Jonathan India singles to left field. Albert Almora Jr. scores. Brandon Drury walks. Jonathan India to second. Tommy Pham lines out to first base to Pavin Smith. Jonathan India doubled off second.
2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 5, Diamondbacks 3. | https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Cincinnati-Arizona-Runs-17242482.php | 2022-06-15 06:18:28 | 1 | https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Cincinnati-Arizona-Runs-17242482.php |
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced appointments to state boards and commissions on Wednesday, including three candidates from Boulder County.
Morris Jay Siegel from Boulder was reappointed as a Second Congressional District representative for the State Board of the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund until April 15, 2027. The board uses some of the Colorado Lottery revenue to fund the preservation and enhancement of open spaces, parks, trails, rivers and wildlife.
Michael Stone from Boulder was appointed to serve as a representative of the blind community for the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind Board of Trustees until July 1, 2027. The board works with the commissioner of education to manage the school.
Democrat Lisa Kaufmann from Lyons was appointed to serve as a non-attorney and member of the Second Congressional District for the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission until Dec. 31, 2028. The commission recommends candidates for the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. | https://www.dailycamera.com/2023/06/29/three-boulder-county-candidates-appointed-to-state-boards-and-commissions/ | 2023-06-29 18:04:50 | 1 | https://www.dailycamera.com/2023/06/29/three-boulder-county-candidates-appointed-to-state-boards-and-commissions/ |
COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of American Electric Power Co. (Nasdaq: AEP) today declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 78 cents a share on the company's common stock.
The dividend is payable Sept. 9, 2022, to shareholders of record as of Aug. 10, 2022, and is the company's 449th consecutive quarterly common stock cash dividend. AEP has paid a cash dividend on its common stock every quarter since July 1910.
American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is powering a cleaner, brighter energy future for its customers and communities. AEP's approximately 16,700 employees operate and maintain the nation's largest electricity transmission system and more than 224,000 miles of distribution lines to safely deliver reliable and affordable power to 5.5 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation's largest electricity producers with approximately 31,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including more than 7,100 megawatts of renewable energy. The company's plans include growing its renewable generation portfolio to approximately 50% of total capacity by 2030. AEP is on track to reach an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2000 levels by 2030 and has committed to achieving net zero by 2050. AEP is recognized consistently for its focus on sustainability, community engagement, and diversity, equity and inclusion. AEP's family of companies includes utilities AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana, east Texas and the Texas Panhandle). AEP also owns AEP Energy, which provides innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide. For more information, visit aep.com.
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SOURCE American Electric Power | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/19/aep-declares-quarterly-dividend-common-stock/ | 2022-07-19 19:21:48 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/19/aep-declares-quarterly-dividend-common-stock/ |
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities said they thwarted a Russian attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region Wednesday as their air defense system destroyed 13 explosive-laden drones, although wreckage damaged five buildings, without causing casualties.
The attempted strikes underlined how vulnerable Ukraine’s capital remains to the regular Russian attacks that have devastated infrastructure and population centers in recent weeks, mostly in the country’s east and south. But they also highlighted Ukraine’s claims of increasing efficiency in intercepting drones and missiles, and the possibility that Patriot missiles from the U.S. may further boost defenses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video the “terrorists” fired 13 Iranian-made drones, and all were intercepted. Such drones have been part of the firepower — along with rockets, missiles, mortars and artillery — that Russia uses to target power stations, water facilities and other public utility equipment.
The snow-covered capital remained largely calm after the foiled attack, which occurred around daybreak. As the working day began, authorities sounded the all-clear.
The head of the Kyiv city administration, Serhii Popko, wrote on Telegram that the attempted strikes came in two waves. Wreckage from the intercepted drones damaged an administrative building and four residential buildings, he said.
A blast left the three-story tax office building in the central Shevchenkyvskyi district with a gaping hole in the roof and blew out windows in parked cars and in a neighboring building.
Clean-up crews were on site quickly to shovel away the rubble and roll out plastic sheeting to cover the blown-out windows in freezing temperatures. One man, unfazed, pushed his son on a swingset at a nearby playground as the crews worked.
Another parent, Anton Rudikov, said his family was sleeping when they heard an explosion and smashing windows. “Thank God the children were not affected” beyond their fright, said Rudkov, whose daughters are 13 and 18 years old. But why Russia would attack his neighborhood left him perplexed.
“I didn’t do anything bad to them, but it struck my house. From where? I don’t understand why,” he said.
Residents told Associated Press reporters they saw fragments from a drone bearing the words “For Ryazan.” The Kremlin claims Ukraine was responsible for a cross-border attack last week on a military base in the Ryazan region of western Russia.
Ukrainian authorities have trumpeted their ability to knock down Russian weapons. But strikes in some areas continue to cause deaths and havoc, particularly close to the front lines in the east and south. In the southern city of Odesa, drone strikes temporarily shut off the power last week. Kyiv has suffered comparatively little damage.
More air defense help was apparently on the way. U.S. officials said Tuesday the United States was poised to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, agreeing to an urgent Ukrainian request. The Patriot would be the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to Ukraine to help repel Russian aerial attacks since Russia invaded Feb. 24.
U.S. officials said last week that Moscow has looked to Iran to resupply its military with drones and surface-to-surface missiles.
The damage from Russian strikes has interrupted electricity, heating and water supplies as winter approaches. Yet the U.N. migration agency said more than 5 million people who were displaced within or outside Ukraine since Russia invaded have returned. The International Organization for Migration said a Nov. 25-Dec. 5 phone survey of 2,002 respondents in Ukraine found that only 7% were considering leaving.
Providing other estimates, Ukraine’s human rights chief said Wednesday that close to one-fifth of the country’s prewar population sought refuge abroad during the war. Dmytro Lubinets said 7.9 million Ukrainian citizens left the country and 4.9 million were internally displaced. Lubinets did not specify how many Ukrainian refugees have returned.
Prisoners of war also were on the move. The head of Zelenskyy’s office, Andriy Yermak, said 64 Ukrainian soldiers and a U.S. national living in Ukraine were released in the latest prisoner swap with Russia. In a Telegram post, he identified the “U.S. citizen who helped our people” as Suedi Murekezi. Yermak did not elaborate.
What — if any — role Murekezi was serving in Ukraine wasn’t immediately clear. A U.S. official speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the Ukraine conflict confirmed Murekezi was released. The official said Murekezi had been living in or near Kherson and that Russian forces had detained him. A group claiming to have helped rescue him, Project Dynamo, said Murekezi was a U.S. air force veteran whom Russian forces detained in June. The Florida-based group Project DYNAMO — an international search, rescue, aid non-profit organization — said he was freed Oct. 28, and then lived in Donetsk.
In other developments Wednesday:
— Ukrainian authorities said they have discovered evidence that children were tortured during Russian occupation. Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights chief, said “torture chambers for children” accused of resisting Russian forces were found in recaptured areas of northeastern and southern Ukraine. Lubinets said he saw two torture sites in Balakliya, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, and spoke with a boy who said he was held for 90 days and cut with a knife, burned, and subjected to mock executions.
— The Ukrainian presidential office said Russian forces struck ten regions in central and southeastern Ukraine, destroying two university buildings in Kramatorsk. It said high-rise apartment blocks, a hospital and a bus station were also damaged. Russian forces also shelled eight towns and villages in the southern Kherson region, the presidential office reported.
— The International Atomic Energy Agency said it would station nuclear safety and security experts at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants to prevent a nuclear accident. The U.N. nuclear watchdog already has deployed a permanent mission to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The plant, Europe’s biggest nuclear power station, has faced repeated shelling. Its six reactors have been shut down for months. Three other nuclear plants are located in Ukrainian-held territory, as is the decommissioned Chernobyl plant.
___
Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, and Colleen Long in Washington contributed.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://phl17.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-kyiv-mayor-reports-explosions-in-center-of-ukrainian-capital/ | 2022-12-14 22:05:38 | 0 | https://phl17.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-kyiv-mayor-reports-explosions-in-center-of-ukrainian-capital/ |
Marcus Smart is sitting on a ledge in a quiet corner of the Auerbach Center as some teammates shoot baskets nearby, and he starts shaking his head before a reporter even finishes the question.
Last year, the Celtics point guard flicked away doubters and accomplished almost everything that could have been asked. He became the first guard to be named Defensive Player of the Year since Gary Payton in 1996. And after playing alongside All-Star point guards such as Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas, and Kemba Walker, Smart was the one to finally lead the Celtics to the Finals.
So do the accolades and respect give him a new level of confidence this year? Maybe some extra swagger?
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He keeps shaking his head.
“It starts over now,” Smart said. “That’s it. It’s a new year, which means all that [expletive] goes out the window and I’ve got to start over. I’ve got to prove myself again, like I’ve been doing for nine years straight. It’s nothing new.”
Smart pointed out that next spring, a new Defensive Player of the Year will be chosen. He’d like to win the award again, but he understands the first one was not charity. He understands the sweat equity that was required.
“This year it’ll be another person winning it, and it might not be me,” Smart said. “So each year you can’t focus on what you did in the past. That’s the past. Last season is over with. If you’re stuck in the past, results will represent that. I’m not trying to focus on what I did. I’m trying to focus on what I’m going to do.”
Said Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens: “All it takes is one person to say one thing, and he’s back hungry. He’s not a guy that’s going to rest on what’s happened last, because he’s just a competitor. Even when he plays a game on the team plane, you can hear him. He’s just a competitive, competitive guy.”
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On a roster that has undergone several makeovers over the past decade, Smart has been the one constant. The sixth overall pick of the 2014 draft is entering his ninth season with the Celtics. Even though he has never made an All-Star team, his blue-collar approach has endeared him to Boston fans for years, and he said cementing his spot in franchise history would be meaningful. He wants to finish his career here, and he wants to be remembered for it.
“That’d be special, especially playing for a franchise that’s known for greatness,” Smart said. “So it’s something I’ve been thinking about and it’ll continue to be something I think about. It’s a great thing to think about.
“You see those banners when you walk into the Garden. You feel the history and the past. You feel the blood, sweat, and tears that the people in front of you left, and you want to be part of that. When you’re done with this game you want your kids and everybody else to look in those rafters and say, ‘Damn, I remember that guy.’ ”
But Smart also knows that in this city, championships are required to truly enter the pantheon, and he does not have any yet. He still thinks about how close Boston came last season, when it surged to a 2-1 lead over the Warriors in the NBA Finals before being shoved into the offseason with three consecutive losses. He sees that the Celtics, despite injuries and the suspension of coach Ime Udoka, remain the favorites to win the title this season. He insists that they are ready.
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“Our goal is the same,” Smart said. “We came so close last year and know it’s tougher than it was last year to make it back. We understand there’s a chance we won’t make it back. But we also understand we have a really good chance if we do things the right way and do it together. So we have to go out there and be one team, be together. Whatever happens, we do it together.”
***
Forward Blake Griffin, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Celtics on Friday, was not at the team’s practice facility Saturday because the deal had not been officially completed. He is expected to join the team soon.
Smart said he is eager to play with the six-time All-Star.
“He’s not above the rim anymore, but he still does great things,” Smart said. “He’s a great professional. Last year he led the league in charges taken. For a guy that doesn’t play as much, that speaks volumes of what he does. He can affect the game not just with his offense, but defensively. So it’ll be a great pickup for us. It’s a great vet for some of these young guys to listen to and what he has to offer.”
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***
Coach Joe Mazzulla said backup center Luke Kornet is day-to-day after suffering an ankle sprain.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/10/01/sports/new-year-marcus-smart-is-hungry-ever/ | 2022-10-01 22:05:13 | 1 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/10/01/sports/new-year-marcus-smart-is-hungry-ever/ |
Justice Department names 9 to aid in review of Uvalde shooting
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has named a team of nine people, including an FBI official and former police chiefs, to aid in a review of the law enforcement response to the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the team during a meeting in his office in Washington on Wednesday. The critical incident review is being led by the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
The review will include an examination of police policies, training and communication, along with the deployment of officers and tactics, the Justice Department said. It will also examine who was in command of the incident and how police prepared for potential active-shooter incidents.
The team gathered for its first meeting Wednesday around a conference table in Garland’s office, with a few of the members appearing virtually on a large television screen.
Garland said the review would be comprehensive, transparent and independent.
“We will be assessing what happened that day,” he said. “We will be doing site visits to the school, we will be conducting interviews of an extremely wide variety of stakeholders, witnesses, families, law enforcement, government officials, school officials, and we will be reviewing the resources that were made available in the aftermath.”
The findings and recommendations will be detailed in a report, which will be made public, he said.
Garland said the team has already begun its work, though the department didn’t provide specific information on whether any members of the team have been to Uvalde, a town of about 15,000 residents.
The Justice Department said it would move as expeditiously as possible in developing the report.
The review was requested by Uvalde’s mayor. Such a review is somewhat rare, and most after-action reports that come after a mass shooting are generally compiled by local law enforcement agencies or outside groups. The Justice Department conducted similar reviews after 14 people were killed in a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in 2015 and after the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ community in U.S. history, which left 49 people dead and 53 people wounded in 2016.
The Justice Department said the nine officials on the team in the Uvalde case had been selected for their expertise in law enforcement, emergency management, active shooter response, school safety and other areas. The team includes the former chief of the Sacramento, California, police department, a deputy chief who worked at Virginia Tech, the sheriff in Orange County, Florida, an FBI unit chief and other officials.
Two weeks ago, the 19 students and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School. Law enforcement and state officials have struggled to present an accurate timeline and details, and they have stopped releasing information about the police response.
The gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, spent roughly 80 minutes inside Robb Elementary, and more than an hour passed from when the first officers followed him into the building to when he was killed, according to an official timeline. In the meantime, parents outside begged police to rush in, and panicked children called 911 from inside.
The review comes as state officials have already been examining the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety has said the school district police chief who served as on-site commander — and who officials have said made the decision not to breach a classroom sooner, believing it had shifted from an active shooting to a hostage situation — had stopped speaking with state investigators.
But the chief, Pete Arredondo, later told CNN that he was speaking regularly with Texas Department of Public Safety investigators. Texas officials have stopped answering questions about the response and haven’t said whether Arredondo is now cooperating with them.
When asked what the Justice Department would do if someone refused to cooperate in the federal review, Garland said Justice officials “expect voluntary cooperation from everybody at every level, and we have been promised that cooperation.”
Uvalde’s mayor, Don McLaughlin, praised Garland for the “swift action” beginning the review and vowed the city would fully cooperate.
“This assessment and the findings are of the utmost importance to the victims and their families, the community of Uvalde, and the Country,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “The city will fully cooperate with the Department of Justice and will assist with coordinating as necessary with other local entities as needed for this review.”
The team includes: Rick Braziel, the former police chief in Sacramento; Gene Deisinger, who was a deputy chief at Virginia Tech; Frank Fernandez, who served as the director of public safety in Coral Gables, Florida; Albert Guarnieri, a unit chief at the FBI; Mark Lomax, who worked as a major with the Pennsylvania State Police; Laura McElroy, the CEO of McElroy Media Group; John Mina, the sheriff in Orange County, Florida; April Naturale, an assistant vice president at Vibrant Emotional Health; and Kristen Ziman, the former police chief in Aurora, Illinois.
___
Associated Press writer Jake Bleiberg in Uvalde, Texas, contributed to this report.
___
More on the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2022/06/08/justice-department-names-9-aid-review-uvalde-shooting/ | 2022-06-08 18:28:13 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2022/06/08/justice-department-names-9-aid-review-uvalde-shooting/ |
Which kids’ portable lap desk is best?
Kids would rather stretch out on the floor than use a table and chair. That’s not much of a problem for watching television, but not a good idea for doing homework, drawing, working with arts and crafts or playing with a tablet or laptop. A portable lap desk lets your kids take those activities to the floor, couch or bed.
Kids’ portable lap desks are made to be mobile, so most are light in weight and compact in size. If you want a flexible, stackable one-piece writing table for classrooms and homeschools, the ECR4Kids Surf Portable Lap Desk is a great choice. The unique design integrates the desk and the seat and can be used virtually anywhere by kids age 6 and older.
What to know before you buy a kids’ portable lap desk
Function
The first step in choosing a portable lap desk for a kid is knowing what they will use it for. For example, if your child uses the desk with a laptop or tablet, you will want to look into lap desks with long legs to elevate the desk above the user’s lap when seated. This keeps pressure off the thighs and makes the lap desk more comfortable to use.
If your child will be doing mostly arts and crafts, having storage space is important. Choose a kids’ portable lap desk with storage space configured for what you want to keep in it. For instance, tall, narrow items such as pencils and pens fit nicely into deep wells or pockets built into the sides. On the other hand, wide, thin items such as paper and file folders call for wide, shallow storage areas like desk drawers.
Size
The work surface of any portable lap desk should be large enough to work on comfortably, with room at the top, bottom and along the sides to avoid feeling cramped or crowded. In addition, bigger lap desks need more storage space unless the legs fold into the desk itself.
What to look for in a quality kids’ portable lap desk
Materials
Whatever material it is made of, your kids’ portable lap desk needs to be sturdy, durable, lightweight and easy to clean. With kids, this almost always means heavy-duty plastic. Make sure the plastic is thick enough that the legs won’t break or buckle.
Storage
Basic portable lap desks have two different types of storage. Side pockets and cubby holes are great for keeping things handy for arts and crafts activities. Under-lid storage is usually made for larger items like notebooks and coloring books. This usually means the desktop will be on a hinge. Make sure the hardware is sturdy and operates smoothly.
Legs
If your choice of kids’ portable lap desks has legs that are permanently fixed, the plastic needs to be heavy gauge to stand up to whatever weight is put on them, including your kid leaning on the desk. If the legs fold up for greater portability and storage in a small space, make sure they are firmly fastened to the desk, stow securely and operate smoothly and easily.
How much you can expect to spend on a kids’ portable lap desk
Inexpensive lap desks with few features cost $10-$20. Better lap desks for kids are $20-$30. From there up to about $50, you will find the best-made lap desks with the most features.
Kids’ portable lap desk FAQ
Does an older kid need a different type of lap desk than a younger one?
A. Older kids are likely to be spending more time on laptops and tablets. Therefore, they need a portable lap desk that has a larger, non-slip work surface.
How do you clean a kids’ portable lap desk?
A. Most kids’ portable lap desks are easily cleaned with water, mild soap and a sponge or damp cloth.
What’s the best kids’ portable lap desk to buy?
Top kids’ portable lap desk
ECR4Kids Surf Portable Lap Desk
What you need to know: The 3-pound surf lap desk is a flexible, stackable one-piece writing table for classrooms and homeschools.
What you’ll love: This unique design integrates the desk and the seat and can be used virtually anywhere by kids age 6 and older. The clever shape uses the child’s body weight to support the desk. It is sturdily made of heavy gauge molded plastic with supportive under-ridges and smooth edges. It is GREENGUARD GOLD Certified and comes in your choice of a dozen colors.
What you should consider: This lap desk is more functional than comfortable, which is why they have a cushion available as a separate item.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top kids’ portable lap desk for the money
What you need to know: Folding legs and a flip-up desktop with a storage area beneath make this a great choice for taking everything along in a portable lap desk.
What you’ll love: This plastic lap desk is light in weight but still sturdy enough to use with a laptop. It fits adults as well as kids and is a good choice for a lap desk, craft table, beach table, writing desk, snack tray or gaming table. The storage tray has plenty of room and is secured with a strong closure that keeps what’s inside where it belongs.
What you should consider: The only color it comes in is black.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
What you need to know: This portable lap desk is great for arts and crafts.
What you’ll love: The deep side pockets keep pencils, pens, crayons, markers, paper, scissors, tape and glue at hand on both sides of a generously sized 12-by-23-inch work surface. This lap desk is all one piece, including the molded legs that are very sturdy but do not fold for storage.
What you should consider: The plastic will not stand up to hard use.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wjhl.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/playroom-furniture-storage-br/best-kids-portable-lap-desk/ | 2022-11-20 21:04:18 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/playroom-furniture-storage-br/best-kids-portable-lap-desk/ |
Woman accused of killing toddler, shooting mother during fight
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A 19-year-old woman from Tennessee is facing multiple charges, including first-degree murder, after a toddler and her mother were shot, allegedly over a disagreement.
Police say 19-year-old Juanita Bruce is charged with first-degree murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder and four counts of employment of a firearm with intent to commit a felony.
Police responded to a shooting before 5 p.m. Friday at New Chicago Park in Memphis. Witnesses say Bruce got into a fight with Kavious Askew, the mother of 1-year-old Karlie Wright. Bruce knew the mother and daughter, according to police.
During the fight, police say Bruce pulled a gun from her purse and started shooting. Three victims were hit, including Askew and her daughter, WMC reports.
Askew, who was shot in the leg, was found on the ground near a 2013 Nissan Altima. Her daughter, who was in the backseat of the car, was hit in the chest and died at the scene, police say.
Another woman was grazed with a bullet on the upper right shoulder.
Askew was hospitalized in critical condition.
“We have to be better about conflict resolution. There is no reason for a baby to be dead tonight because adults couldn’t do right by one another,” said Sgt. Louis Brownlee, Memphis Police public information officer.
Police say Bruce turned herself in hours after the shooting.
According to the affidavit, Bruce allegedly confessed to shooting Askew but said she did not intend to shoot Karlie.
There were two other children in the Altima during the shooting, the affidavit states. They were not harmed.
Copyright 2022 WMC via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/2022/11/06/woman-accused-killing-toddler-shooting-mother-during-fight/ | 2022-11-06 11:20:59 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/2022/11/06/woman-accused-killing-toddler-shooting-mother-during-fight/ |
OTTAWA, Canada (AP) — Canada’s federal industry minister said Tuesday he would not approve a multi-billion-dollar merger between Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications, two of the country’s largest telecommunication companies.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne did leave the door open to a revised agreement.
The US$19.1 billion (Cdn$26 billion) proposed merger would have meant the wholesale transfer of wireless spectrum licenses from Shaw to Rogers, which requires Champagne’s approval.
“Today, I officially denied that request,” Champagne said. “My decision formally closes that chapter of the original proposed transaction.”
Shaw’s ownership of Freedom Mobile has widely been seen as the main obstacle to the deal’s approval. Montreal-based Videotron earlier this year agreed to buy it for US$2.1 billion (Cdn$2.85 billion).
Champagne said he needed two specific concessions before he would approve the Videotron deal.
Videotron would have to agree to keep the Freedom wireless licenses for at least 10 years, he said.
“We don’t want someone to flip these licenses, we want them to be in it for the long term,” he said.
Secondly, Champagne said he would “expect to see″ wireless prices in Ontario and Western Canada lowered by about 20 per cent, putting them in line with Videotron’s current Quebec offerings.
Karl Peladeau, CEO of Quebecor Inc., which owns Videotron, said he intends to accept Champagne’s conditions.
In a statement, Peladeau said Quebecor agrees to incorporate the industry minister’s stipulations in a new version of the transaction, paving the way for Freedom’s sale to go through.
Champagne did not make clear whether a successful sale of Freedom Mobile would mean the Rogers-Shaw deal might still be approved.
As well as Champagne’s approval, the Rogers-Shaw deal requires a green light from the Competition Commissioner and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
The CRTC offered its conditional approval for the broadcasting portion of the deal in March. | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/canadian-industry-minister-denies-rogers-shaw-telecom-merger/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business | 2022-10-26 04:39:13 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/canadian-industry-minister-denies-rogers-shaw-telecom-merger/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
Police: 1 dead, 5 hurt in Kansas City bar shooting
Published: Jul. 11, 2022 at 6:16 AM CDT|Updated: 9 minutes ago
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) — One person is dead and five others are hurt following a shooting outside of the Westport Ale House.
The five remaining victims are expected to survive the shooting, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol.
The shooting happened at around 11 p.m. Sunday.
Several police cars swarmed the establishment around that time.
Officers said a disturbance inside the building spilled outside, and shots were fired.
Three off-duty officers who were working at the Ale House returned fire. It’s unclear if the officers hit anyone.
Officers remained on the scene investigating the shooting Monday morning.
Copyright 2022 KCTV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kalb.com/2022/07/11/police-1-dead-5-hurt-kansas-city-bar-shooting/ | 2022-07-11 11:27:17 | 0 | https://www.kalb.com/2022/07/11/police-1-dead-5-hurt-kansas-city-bar-shooting/ |
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A property owner in Austin, Texas, said he’s fed up and concerned after he found an ankle monitor on the roof of his business.
“We put up the fence on Tuesday,” said Peter Morales as he walked through his property on South Lamar Boulevard.
Morales noticed someone had recently moved into the alley on his property, leaving the area trashed.
“Laptops and a bunch of bags, and needles and drugs,” said Morales as he showed video of the camp. “I actually had to hire someone to do the removal”
He also found an ankle monitor on the roof of his business, with bedding and an area he said looked like someone was living at.
Morales said he called police who stopped by to escort someone off his property.
Morales said an ankle monitor was picked up by a detective, but so far he has not heard who the person was or why they were required to wear the monitoring device.
“Is there a predator or violent criminal sleeping on top of my building?” Morales said.
He said whoever was living on his roof also damaged his property and that’s why he’s hoping to get more information.
“The insurance company is going to want to know, obviously, what caused the damage, who caused the damage,” Morales said.
KXAN News reached out to the Austin Police Department to find out more information. APD said it is still working on getting information.
“It is costing all of us peace of mind, it is costing us money,” Morales said.
“If you are a defense attorney, you would get an email from pre-trial services if the clients monitor dies or if they cut it off,” said Ben Gergen, a criminal defense attorney with Gergen, Hale & Campbell Law Firm.
Gergen, who is not associated with this case, said he has represented many clients wearing these devices.
He said someone’s bond will usually be revoked for cutting off a monitor and they could face a higher bond to get back out of custody when they are rearrested.
“That judge may increase that bond $50,000, and if you ever get back out of jail — now at $100,000 bond — you will have to deal with the same monitor,” Gergen said.
Morales said he’s hoping to get answers soon on who the person is. He’s also hoping he doesn’t have to deal with more camps popping up on his property.
“Right now, this area of Austin seems to be deteriorating more and more,” Morales said. | https://www.wane.com/news/texas-property-owner-finds-ankle-monitor-on-his-roof/ | 2023-05-12 22:23:54 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/texas-property-owner-finds-ankle-monitor-on-his-roof/ |
(numbers are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated)
VANCOUVER, BC, July 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP ("AHIP") (TSX: HOT.UN, HOT.U, and HOT.DB.V) announces a U.S. dollar cash distribution of $0.015 per limited partnership unit ("Unit") for July 2022, which is equivalent to U.S. dollar $0.18 per Unit on an annualized basis. The distribution will be paid on August 15, 2022 to unitholders of record at the close of business on July 29, 2022.
AHIP intends to pay cash distributions on or about the 15th day of each month to the unitholders of record on the last business day of the preceding month.
American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP (TSX: HOT.UN, TSX: HOT.U, TSX: HOT.DB.V), or AHIP, is a limited partnership formed to invest in hotel real estate properties across the United States. AHIP's premium branded, select-service hotels are located in secondary metropolitan markets that benefit from diverse and typically stable demand. AHIP's hotels operate under brands affiliated with Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Choice Hotels through license agreements. The Company's long-term objectives are to build on its proven track record of successful investment, deliver monthly U.S. dollar denominated distributions to unitholders, and generate value through the continued growth of its diversified hotel portfolio. More information is available at www.ahipreit.com.
Certain statements in this news release may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (also known as forward-looking statements). Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and it may cause actual results, performance or achievements or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements or industry results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information generally can be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate", "expect", "feel", "intend", "may", "plan", "predict", "project", "subject to", "will", "would", and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. Some of the specific forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the payment of the current distribution; AHIP's intention to pay future cash distributions on or about the 15th day of each month to the unitholders of record on the last trading day of the preceding month; and AHIP's stated long-term objectives.
Forward-looking information is based on a number of key expectations and assumptions made by AHIP, which management believe to be reasonable, including, without limitation: AHIP's distribution policy will be sustainable; AHIP will not be prevented from paying distributions under the terms of its senior credit facility or investor rights agreement or any other agreement; AHIP's business will perform consistent with AHIP's expectations; and AHIP will achieve its long term objectives.
Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties and should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results as actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, among other things, monthly cash distributions are not guaranteed and remain subject to the approval of Board of Directors and may be reduced, deferred or suspended at any time at the discretion of the Board; the payment of distributions by AHIP to its unitholders is subject to the satisfaction of certain financial covenants under AHIP's senior credit facility and AHIP's investor rights agreement limits the payment of distributions by AHIP in certain circumstances. Additional information about risks and uncertainties is contained in AHIP's MD&A dated March 8, 2022 and annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2021, copies of which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are based upon reasonable assumptions and information currently available; however, management can give no assurance that actual results will be consistent with the forward-looking information contained herein. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release and AHIP assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable law.
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SOURCE American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/07/14/american-hotel-income-properties-reit-lp-announces-july-2022-us-dollar-cash-distribution/ | 2022-07-14 13:48:38 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/07/14/american-hotel-income-properties-reit-lp-announces-july-2022-us-dollar-cash-distribution/ |
By JOHN CARUCCI
NEW YORK (AP) — Jesse Williams vowed not to be discouraged after leaked video and images of his onstage nude scene in the Broadway play “Take Me Out” were posted online.
“I’m not down about it. Our job is to go out there every night, no matter what,” Williams told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The leaked video and images prompted an outcry from the show’s producers and the union that represents actors and stage managers.
“I’m not really worrying about it. I can’t sweat that. We do need to keep advocating for ourselves. And it’s wonderful to see a community push back and make clear what we do stand for, what we don’t,” Williams said. “Consent is important, I thought. So, let’s keep that in mind universally.”
Williams is starring in a revival of Richard Greenberg’s exploration of what happens when a Major League Baseball superstar comes out as gay, tracing the way it unsettles the team and unleashes toxic prejudices. Williams earned a Tony Award nomination Monday for playing the superstar and the revival is up for a Tony as well.
While Broadway shows have a strict policy against recording anything onstage, Second Stage Theater, which is producing the revival, has added Yondr pouches to protect the actors, many of whom are naked in shower scenes. Audience members arriving at the theater are asked to put their phones into a locked pouch that is only opened at the end of the show. Producers said they would beef up security in the wake of the violation.
“Theater is a sacred space, and everybody doesn’t understand that. Everybody doesn’t necessarily respect or regard that in a way that maybe they should, or we’d like,” Williams said.
The leaked video is the latest incident in which the privacy or well-being of a performer was put in jeopardy, following Will Smith’s Oscar slap of Chris Rock and when Dave Chapelle was attacked by a man at the Hollywood Bowl.
One of Williams’ co-stars, Michael Oberholtzer, who also earned a Tony nomination on Monday, called the incident “very disappointing.”
“People feel like that they can say and do things because they pay for admission or because they are a subscription member or whatever the case may be, that certain behavior is permissible. But it’s not. It’s a violation of people’s consent,” Oberholtzer said.
Williams says he was approached to do the revival of the play while starring on the long-running medical drama, “Grey’s Anatomy,” but it wasn’t until after he read the script that he realized it included nudity.
“If somebody had just said it’s play with nudity, it would have been framed differently. But the nudity is honest. It makes sense. It’s not salacious. It serves the story. It puts the audience in an interesting position to relate to empathize with the characters,” Williams said. | https://www.twincities.com/2022/05/15/jesse-williams-addresses-leak-of-broadway-nude-scene/ | 2022-05-16 06:06:56 | 0 | https://www.twincities.com/2022/05/15/jesse-williams-addresses-leak-of-broadway-nude-scene/ |
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — North Macedonia’s state broadcaster MRT announced Friday that the country will not participate in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in the English port city of Liverpool to save money on electricity bills.
“The decision is in the best interest of the public, given the increased costs due to the energy crisis, which take up a large part of the budget for public services,” the broadcaster said in a message posted on its website.
It said the savings would come from not paying the registration fee which was expected to be higher than the 39,143 euros ($38,100) charged last year.
It was the first time North Macedonia will not take part in the televised event since its independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. The European Broadcasting Union, an association of public broadcasters in Europe, oversees the annual competition. | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/ap-north-macedonia-skips-song-contest-due-to-high-energy-bills/ | 2022-10-15 14:24:22 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/entertainment-news/ap-north-macedonia-skips-song-contest-due-to-high-energy-bills/ |
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I crouched onto the damp grass and picked at the weeds sprouting around my dad’s headstone. I struggled for the words — and the courage — to tell him what I couldn’t in his living years. I had flown thousands of miles to Sacramento to visit my dead father and reveal the secret I have held close for most of my 57 years.
In life, my father wasn’t the type of man who had heart-to-heart talks with his children. And I’m not the type to confide his deepest-held emotions with family, not even with my closest siblings. I held my deepest torments tight inside me.
I stammered as I spoke to his grave. It took a half hour before I could utter a complete sentence as I continued pulling weeds and rearranging the flowers I brought him. “Daddy, I gotta tell you something. I wanted to tell you this for a long time.”
In a halting and hushed voice, in case the breeze carried my secret to eavesdropping ears, I broke the news to my father, dead 24 years:
“Dad, I’m gay.”
___
I am the eighth of nine children, the bookish one who did well in grade school without trying. We were from a working-class, maybe even impoverished family. My dad milked cows at a corporate dairy on the other side of the Ko’olau Mountains from Diamond Head. Our house was among about a dozen in an enclave of mostly immigrant families adjacent to cow pastures. My mother worked at hotels in Waikiki.
I didn’t have many friends outside my dairy farm community. I liked spending time alone, sometimes building tree houses at the foot of the nearby mountain. I often roamed the pastures or hiked alone among the trees, or walked along a creek to scoop out guppies and crayfish.
There are certainly out gay people in my culture. But the visible ones are often jesters to be laughed at. The words I grew up with to describe gay people — “bakla” in Pilipino and “mahu” in Hawaiian — were synonymous to “faggot,” derisive terms that I would never want to be called.
In Asian culture, we have been taught not to shame the family. Being gay, I thought, would have brought embarrassment and ridicule.
I knew I was attracted to other guys when I hit puberty. I tried fooling myself and others into thinking I was attracted to the opposite sex.
I remember fretting about having to get naked with other boys at my school’s communal shower after P.E., worried that somehow I’d be found out. So I would get under the spray of water quickly and towel off as fast as I could. At gatherings, I tried to be the flirtatious life of the party. But whenever a girl showed the slightest interest, I would recoil.
As a young adult, my resume was fragmented, leading some to wonder if I could hold a job. The truth was that I quit jobs I enjoyed because I was running from my sexuality. I once had a crush on another guy — a straight guy — and I quit when it became unbearable. I perpetuated my own big lie.
Coming out seemed so easy for other people, especially today's young. I sometimes wondered how different things would have been had I came out sooner. Perhaps I would have planted roots in a community instead of jumping from job to job, hopscotching from one city to the next.
How orderly my life could have been.
___
As a journalist, my job is to report the truth. Yet I had been lying all these years, purposely hiding the truth to protect myself. It was an ethical lapse that tortured me.
My journey out of the closet has taken decades. I am still sharing my truth about my sexuality — something that, before my confession to my father, I had shared with only a handful of friends.
The first friend I told took me to a gay bar across the Potomac from Washington, to help ease my coming out. I was still full of shame and awkwardness. I kept myself from making eye contact with other men. While my friend was outside having a smoke, a hand slid across my back.
“Congratulations,” the stranger told me.
“Huh? For what,” I asked.
“For having the courage to come out,” he replied.
I felt violated. How dare my friend out me to a stranger! I had lost control over my secret, even if I knew my friend was trying to be helpful. We failed to realize then that coming out would be far more complicated and onerous.
Four years passed before I told another soul.
___
Holding in my secret was excruciating. It nearly took my life.
During one of my melancholy days, I took a drive through Glacier National Park in Montana to help lift my mood. I stared down sheer cliffs as my Subaru lurched up the cliff-hugging Going-to-the-Sun Road. I could feel my car drifting closer to the edge. I felt no inclination to steer back on course.
Regret filled my mind. I thought about how much simpler it would be if I started over in the afterlife.
A siren’s wail jarred me back into reality. An ambulance was speeding up the road. I would later learn that a hiker had fallen to his death. The piercing sound might have saved me from a similar fate.
After wandering the country that summer, I resolved to begin stepping out of the closet again.
One of my best friends and his wife were visiting New York City from Paris for the new year in 2018. It was time to tell Kevin, I told myself. But when the first chance came, I couldn’t go through with it.
The next day, I met a couple of buddies for drinks and dinner at a restaurant in Manhattan’s Koreatown. I hesitated to tell them, but thought I’d use the experience as practice for when I would tell Kevin.
My heart pumped. My nerves jittered to my fingertips. My knees bounced with nervousness. Looks of concern came over my friends’ faces as I tried to tell them. I could not use the word gay, and they wondered why I was in such distress.
"It's about my sexuality.”
“That’s a relief,” one friend said. “I thought you were going tell us you had cancer.”
The next morning, I sat down with Kevin, my best friend, and told him I had something important to say.
“Remember when you asked me to be your best man?” I said. “I really wanted to tell you then, so you could change your mind.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
Again, I couldn’t use the word gay. Again, my knees bounced. I was sweating. My eyes turned glassy.
I saw worry in his wife's eyes. “What’s wrong?” Kevin asked. He started guessing.
I gave him a clue.
“You’re gay?” he finally asked.
I nodded. He chuckled in relief.
“I’m sorry. It’s not funny — but is that all?”
He told me: He would have asked me to be his best man anyway.
___
Most of my life, I had suffered from migraines. With my truth finally coming out, that pain has mostly disappeared.
But I still couldn’t share my secret with my siblings.
During a visit to California, I had taken a nephew aside. All these years, I had wanted to tell his mother that I was gay. But I hadn’t mustered the courage. Just days before, I nearly suffered a nervous breakdown in her car trying to tell her; I dismissed my fraying nerves to stress at work.
Upon hearing what I had to share, he asked why I hadn’t told anyone sooner. “Uncle Bobby, you could have been so much happier.”
Many months later, I would tell a younger nephew. I recalled how after a football game — he was the star quarterback — he quizzed me about my love life, or the lack thereof. He noted he never saw me introduce any women to the family, that he didn’t know me to have been dating. He wanted to know why.
So did a sister, who would later confide: “I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want to embarrass you.”
When I told her my secret just months ago, she shrugged. “I kind of figured,” she said.
I was more apprehensive about telling my two oldest sisters, twins, who were devout Roman Catholics.
I didn’t know what to expect when I started to share my secret with one of them. I was practiced and calm. I spoke to her about my depression and the medication that had helped lift me. As a nurse, she quizzed me about how I was feeling.
Then I told her the source of my many years of depression. I recounted how, not too many years before, I nearly drifted off the road to my death.
“Oh, my God,” she said. “Don’t worry about those things. God still loves you.”
Then she recommended that I hold back in telling more of my siblings. They had too many worries of their own, she said, to handle such news.
___
I’ve been told I look a lot like my father. When I’m feeling sociable, I take on his personality — a backslapper, a schmoozer, a happy-go-lucky guy.
In truth, I’m more like my mother — someone who can be comfortable around others but who couldn’t always get along with them. Moody. Sometimes gruff.
I was closer to my mom than I was to my dad. Both were fiercely proud of me, even if I hadn’t achieved the dream they had for me — a family, fancy cars and wealth. I never aspired to have any of those. But they found prestige in my college education and, eventually, the profession I pursued.
My father loved reading the newspaper, watching the evening news and following politics. How proud he would have been to know that I stood just feet from a U.S. president or that I covered Congress.
Weeks before I would depart to cover the war in Iraq, we gathered in our hometown in the Philippines to fete my mother for her 80th birthday. Neither she nor any of my siblings knew I was heading into a war zone. I thought about telling her my secret — should something go awry during my assignment.
As I bid her goodbye in the Philippines, little did I know: That chance would never come again.
My mother died on Thanksgiving 2007, barely two months after her birthday, just as I was preparing to join troops in Iraq for wartime holiday celebrations.
___
When I told my father at his grave about my secret, I made a request: Don’t tell my mother. I wanted to retain ownership of my secret until I chose to share it with her.
My mother and I had a turbulent relationship. She thought I was too free and wayward. Little did she know that I had built a cage around me — one that grew more constricting as I aged. So there I was at her grave, hoping to break through.
I waited until the final day of my trip, even as it gnawed at me. Surely she must have known; there must be such a thing as mother’s intuition. Maybe my father had already shared my secret. No matter. I needed to go through the exercise of telling her, as if she were still alive.
At her grave, I lingered. I peeled away hardened pools of candle wax. As I sweltered under a fierce sun, I hoped to let the truth uncage itself. I hoped to marshal the same courage I had mustered months earlier while standing before my dead father.
But I found no words to break my uncomfortable silence. I simply could not say what I wanted to — not here, not now.
I turned back and returned home full of regret. My journey was — is — not yet over.
___
Bobby Caina Calvan is a reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BobbyCalvan | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/A-personal-reckoning-and-the-truth-comes-out-of-17498312.php | 2022-10-10 04:20:19 | 1 | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/A-personal-reckoning-and-the-truth-comes-out-of-17498312.php |
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Julie Ann Rocco lost her partner to suicide back in 2009. After that tragic loss, she went into a very dark place, even trying to take her own life, but survived.
"I know the pain. I know the suffering; I know the guilt that an individual endures because I carried it. That chatter just said, 'Alleviating your pain is alleviating their pain," explained Julie when speaking to ABC Action News anchor Wendy Ryan.
The statistics on suicides are alarming. According to 2020 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 46,000 people died by suicide. That same year, every 11 minutes, someone kills themselves, and for every suicide death, there were 27 attempts and 275 people who just considered taking their life. After suffering in silence with her own mental health and surviving a suicide attempt, Julie realized she wanted to help others.
"As a suicide attempt survivor, I started researching; wait a minute, most individuals survive a suicide attempt. The power of connection is the power of saving lives," said Julie.
That's when she created "What I Would Have Missed." A non-profit organization that shares stories on the website of her blessings she now does not want to miss.
"I have two sons, grown men. Zach turns 30. And he invited me to go on his trip, too, so it's just Zach and me to Mexico City; I would have missed that. My son Nick got married. I have five great-nieces and nephews. I would have never met," explained Julie.
And although not every moment can be happy, Julie tells Wendy she doesn't want to miss even the sad memories she looks back on today.
"My father passed away last March. I would have missed telling him goodbye," said Julie.
Now strangers are sharing their own suicide survival stories with her. Many share positive things that they are grateful they did not miss. At the same time, others use humor to cope.
“I had a Facebook post, and a woman said, as silly as it sounds, I don't to miss Avatar three, four, and five. And if it takes as long to come out with three, four, or five as it did 1 and 2, I'll be an old lady,” explained Julie.
Julie believes connecting with others can help "have your soul," and her mission reflects that. So she says to communicate with someone because it could just save a life.
"The mission of what I would have missed? I'll just state it. It's to build an international movement, to prevent suicide, and promote mental wellness by cultivating connections, community collaborations, and courageous conversations. If I believe someone will miss me, if I believe I have a life that connects me to tomorrow, I create a reason to stay," said Julie.
If you're interested in learning more about Julie, you can clickclick here.
If you or someone you know is considering hurting themselves, please call 211 for the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. You can also dial 988, which is the suicide prevention hotline. | https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-hillsborough/local-non-profit-hopes-to-help-others-get-out-of-a-dark-place-and-heal | 2023-05-09 19:24:41 | 1 | https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-hillsborough/local-non-profit-hopes-to-help-others-get-out-of-a-dark-place-and-heal |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — After getting nowhere with officials, a viewer reached out to CBS 42 hoping for answers.
Bill Dixon contacted the “Your Voice Your Station” hotline asking us to look into every off ramp on the Red Mountain Expressway between University Blvd. and the I-20/59 interchange.
Dixon said the abrupt curves and lack of signs warning drivers to slow down is dangerous and causes a lot of damage. He drove it every day to and from work for over 20 years and said he has seen the worst of what can happen on this busy stretch of interstate.
“It’s very dangerous. I’ve driven up on accidents there,” Dixon said.
Dixon said the off ramps in particular are dangerous. He acknowledged locals are likely familiar with the short ramps with the tight curves but worried about others.
“If you’re not from this area and you’re coming through there and everyone’s doing 70 mph in a 55 and you’re getting off there, you may be going to the hospital,” he said.
Dixon pointed to evidence like guardrails constantly knocked to the ground. He said even the temporary barriers don’t stand a chance against an out of control car.
“There’s one exit there that vehicles have gone through the barriers and down into businesses,” he said.
Businesses like Eagle Plumbing on 3rd Ave South where an employee told CBS 42 they call the area behind their building “the landing pad” because of the number of cars that have come crashing through the guardrail on the exit ramp that backs up to their property.
Passerby’s can see barriers and fences on the ground. Evidence from past crashes litter the area, and you don’t have to go far to find more damage.
Around the corner at Sahani Kitchen, owner David Kimani said he worries about the safety of his employees as they prepare food in his restaurant feet away from one of the exit ramps.
“We just noticed either cars coming down the guardrail or people actually coming down the hill. One time an 18 wheeler came down. Luckily, it missed the building,” Kimani said.
Kimani hasn’t always been that lucky.
“One day my dad was just here on a normal day closing, cleaning up and out of nowhere he hears a loud boom,” explained Kimani.
That boom was a car that smacked into the restaurant. No one was hurt but since then the landlord has installed a fence and barrier posts in hopes of preventing it from happening again.
They’ve even called ALDOT asking if they plan to fix the guardrail that Kimani said has been knocked down for months.
“So we reached out to them they said they’d come back check everything out never got an answer,” Kimani said.
Dixon hasn’t had much luck either.
“I notified ALDOT 6 to 8 months ago. I got no response,” he said.
Dixon believes signs need to be added to all the exits warning drivers of the tight curves and to reduce their speed.
When CBS 42 drove the exits, we noticed there were no signs, so we contacted ALDOT asking when the guardrails will be fixed and if they’re considering installing signs.
Steve Walker with ALDOT said that improvements to the exit ramps are included in the on-going project on the Red Mountain Expressway. He also said that ramp advisory speed signs will be added as well as signs for lane drops and pavement markings for drivers.
As for the damaged guardrails, Walker said ALDOT plans to replace existing rails and build new ones. He said the work is expected to be finished this fall.
CBS 42 will continue to follow up on the story. | https://www.cbs42.com/your-voice-your-station/dangerous-ramp-conditions-on-red-mountain-cause-concern/ | 2022-09-14 14:35:23 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/your-voice-your-station/dangerous-ramp-conditions-on-red-mountain-cause-concern/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Nurses who went on strike at two major New York City hospitals this month have ratified the contracts that were hammered out to end the walkout, their union said Tuesday.
The New York State Nurses Association said 98% of nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center voted in favor of the contracts. They include raises totaling 19% over three years, commitments to hire more nurses, and new provisions to enforce promised staffing levels — including potential fines that would be paid to the nurses if the hospitals fall short, according to the union.
“Although it will take time for nurses and patients to fully implement this victory on the hospital floors, change begins now,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a statement Tuesday.
Montefiore said it was pleased at the ratification and believes “the historic 19% wage increase, greatly enhanced benefits and unprecedented staffing commitments” reflect the hospital’s respect for its nurses. A message seeking comment also was sent to Mount Sinai Medical Center.
Together, the hospitals employ over 7,000 union nurses.
Staffing became a major sticking point during the negotiations, with the union saying that constant shortages at the two hospitals harmed patients and nurses alike. The hospitals said they were contending with a national dearth of nurses, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Jan. 9-12 strike followed strikes in various U.S. locales last year by six nursing unions, with a total of 32,000 members, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/nurses-ratify-contracts-after-strike-at-two-nyc-hospitals/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business | 2023-01-24 16:39:22 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/nurses-ratify-contracts-after-strike-at-two-nyc-hospitals/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
Summary:
- 505 new cases
- No new deaths recorded, 8 added to state system
- 16,422 total deaths;
- 292 hospitalized patients, 46 in ICU
Source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported an additional 505 new COVID-19 cases. The state has averaged 431 new cases per day in the last week.
Previous years on this date:
2022: 395 cases, average of 326 cases per day
2021: 449 cases, average of 475 cases per day
2020: 46 cases, average of 55 cases per day
Source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
No new deaths were recorded, but eight were added to the state system, putting the total Wisconsin death toll at 16,422 overall. A lag in death reporting statewide has affected these numbers.
In Milwaukee County, there were 102 new confirmed cases reported and have been 342,846 total cases in the county since the pandemic began. The 7-day average in the county is 90 cases per day. One new death was attributed to Milwaukee County, putting the county death toll at 2,502 since the beginning of the pandemic.
If you are looking for COVID-19 testing or vaccination, consult the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website. | https://shepherdexpress.com/news/covid-updates/daily-wisconsin-covid-19-update-505-new-cases-no-deaths/ | 2023-03-23 01:46:55 | 1 | https://shepherdexpress.com/news/covid-updates/daily-wisconsin-covid-19-update-505-new-cases-no-deaths/ |
HostGPO will use the $6M to rapidly expand its market leadership position serving over 250,000 units and key industry supply relationships
In addition to Navitas and OMNIA Partners, notable investors in the round include Spencer Rascoff (75&Sunny), Brian Lee, and PAR Capital Ventures.
LOS ANGELES, May 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HostGPO, Inc., a group purchasing organization and marketplace for vacation rental hosts to efficiently and cost effectively procure furniture, supplies, and other services to run their properties, has closed a $6M round, its first outside capital to date. Navitas Capital, a leading Los Angeles based venture investor focused on early-stage, built-world technology startups, led the round alongside OMNIA Partners, the largest group purchasing organization in public and private sector procurement. Together, Navitas and OMNIA will help HostGPO accelerate its market leading position by bringing expertise across technology development, real estate marketplaces, procurement know-how, and supply relationships. Also investing in the round is 75&Sunny, the venture firm founded by Spencer Rascoff (Founder, 75 & Sunny Ventures, and co-founder of Zillow and Pacaso), Brian Lee (Co-Founder of LegalZoom & The Honest Company), and PAR Capital Ventures.
"Our mission has always been to support folks in growing their vacation rental businesses while elevating the quality of homes that they are able to offer" said Jeff Iloulian, Chief Executive Officer of HostGPO. "As a previous vacation rental operator, buying furniture and supplies was extremely challenging for me. With our investment partners behind us, we feel that HostGPO can continue creating an unbeatable platform that will make operating a rental easier and continue to unify a fragmented industry."
Lead investor Navitas Capital believes that HostGPO will become an entrenched technology layer in the real estate and hospitality industries.
"In the rapidly growing vacation home and short term rental markets, HostGPO provides a critical piece of missing digital infrastructure.," said Travis Putnam, Managing Partner at Navitas Capital. "Jeff has done a tremendous job building HostGPO into the early market leader, bringing the greatest breadth of supply partners and digital purchasing tools to its more than 250,000 customer homes. As HostGPO continues to scale, Jeff will offer even more value to his rapidly growing customer base, making HostGPO an entrenched technology layer in the real estate industry."
HostGPO will also greatly benefit from the vast industry knowledge and relationships possessed by incumbent group purchasing organization, OMNIA Partners. With second to none industry relationships and decades of experience negotiating contacts with suppliers on behalf of a fragmented industry of buyers, OMNIA sees HostGPO as the clear market leader in an exciting new category.
"We've been extremely impressed with HostGPO's growth to date and strong execution. As a large emerging category that can benefit from a GPO business model, and a clear market leading position, the future is bright for Jeff and his team", said Todd Abner, Co-Founder and CEO, OMNIA Partners.
Bringing Spencer Rascoff and Brian Lee into the round, two LA native entrepreneurs with deep technology roots, emphasizes the magnitude of HostGPO Founder Jeff Iloulian's vision to build the industry's next big marketplace.
"I'm very excited to be an investor in HostGPO. While the vacation rental industry has seen exponential growth since Airbnb revolutionized the market 15 years ago, B2B solutions have not kept pace. HostGPO has emerged as a leader in the space, building the rails to streamline the procurement of goods and services for short-term rental property owners and operators across the industry." said Spencer Rascoff, Founder of 75 & Sunny Ventures, and co-founder of Pacaso and Zillow.
About HostGPO
HostGPO is a members-only marketplace and group purchasing organization (GPO) for the vacation rental, short term rental, and hospitality industries. HostGPO provides operators a digital platform to procure goods and services at significant discounts, as well as digital tools to streamline the procurement and design process. HostGPO works closely with a curated group of suppliers (i.e. furniture, appliances, home goods companies, etc.) to aggregate demand and bring them customers within its target segments.
About Navitas Capital
Navitas is a venture capital firm focused on transformative real estate technology and innovation. Established in 2009, Navitas provides foundational venture capital, industry expertise and market access to its portfolio companies. Real estate owners, operators and developers themselves, the Navitas team evaluates and deploys technology solutions across their own cross-sector portfolio as well as Navitas' network of limited partners, which include publicly traded REITs, real estate private equity firms and investment managers, Fortune 500 companies, homebuilders, endowments, and family offices. Please visit us at www.navitascap.com or follow us on LinkedIn for more information.
About OMNIA Partners, Inc.
OMNIA Partners is the largest and most experienced organization in procurement and supply chain management. Covering private sector, public sector, nonprofit and multifamily housing, OMNIA Partners unites industry-leading buying power and world-class suppliers to offer an extensive portfolio of sourcing solutions and partnerships. Through economies of scale, OMNIA Partners is able to deliver more contracts, in more verticals, with transparent, value-driven pricing.
Jeff Iloulian
HostGPO, Inc.
310-266-1775
jeff@hostgpo.com
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SOURCE HostGPO | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/05/25/hostgpo-leading-procurement-marketplace-vacation-rental-hosts-raises-6m-round-led-by-navitas-capital-omnia-partners/ | 2023-05-25 15:33:55 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/05/25/hostgpo-leading-procurement-marketplace-vacation-rental-hosts-raises-6m-round-led-by-navitas-capital-omnia-partners/ |
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing’s vast territorial claims in the South China Sea and warned that Washington is obligated to defend treaty ally Philippines if its forces, vessels or aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters.
Blinken’s statement, issued by the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Tuesday, was released on the sixth anniversary of the 2016 decision by an arbitration tribunal set up in The Hague under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea after the Philippine government complained in 2013 about China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.
China did not participate in the arbitration, rejected its ruling as a sham and continues to defy it, bringing it into territorial spats with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian claimant states in recent years.
“We call again on the PRC to abide by its obligations under international law and cease its provocative behavior,” Blinken said, using the acronym for China’s formal name, the People’s Republic of China.
“We also reaffirm that an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments” under the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, Blinken said.
There was no immediate reaction from Beijing. But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference in Malaysia’s administrative capital of Putrajaya that China is speeding up talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines and three other claimant states, to come up with a nonaggression pact called a “code of conduct” to turn the South China Sea “into a sea of peace and cooperation.”
“We will oppose bloc confrontation and Cold War mentality,” Wang told journalists after meeting his counterpart in Malaysia, the last stop in his five-nation swing through Southeast Asia. He did not take any questions.
In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have had overlapping claims in the busy waterway, where an estimated $5 trillion in goods passes each year and which is believed to be rich in undersea gas and oil deposits.
The potential flashpoint has become a key front of U.S.-China rivalry.
Washington lays no claim to the disputed waters but has deployed Navy ships and Air Force jets to patrol the waterway for decades and says freedom of navigation and overflight is in the U.S. national interest. That has provoked angry reactions from China, which has accused the U.S. of meddling in a purely Asian dispute and warned it to stay away.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said Tuesday that the arbitration ruling will be a pillar of his new government’s policy and actions in the disputed region and rejected attempts to undermine the “indisputable” decision.
“These findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal and are conclusive as they are indisputable. The award is final,” Manalo said in a statement.
“We firmly reject attempts to undermine it … even erase it from law, history and our collective memories,” said Manalo, who did not directly name China.
New Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office June 30 after a landslide electoral victory.
Marcos Jr.’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, put the arbitration ruling on the backburner for years after taking office in 2016 and nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping while criticizing U.S. security policies.
In 2019, Duterte said he finally asked Xi to comply with the ruling but was flatly told, “We will not budge.”
Marcos Jr. has upheld the arbitration ruling and said he would not allow even one “square millimeter” of Philippine waters to be trampled upon.
But he said in January before winning the presidency that since China has refused to recognize the ruling, Duterte’s policy of diplomatic engagement is “really our only option.”
Dozens of left-wing activists and workers protested in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manila’s Makati financial district on Tuesday, asking Beijing to respect the arbitration ruling and for Marcos Jr. to defend the country’s territory and sovereign rights in the South China Sea.
___
Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report. | https://cw33.com/news/international/ap-international/us-warns-it-will-defend-ally-if-china-breaks-sea-ruling/ | 2022-07-12 21:11:06 | 1 | https://cw33.com/news/international/ap-international/us-warns-it-will-defend-ally-if-china-breaks-sea-ruling/ |
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria’s rebel-held northwest from neighboring Turkey is virtually certain to get a green light to continue from the U.N. Security Council on Monday — but the big question is for how long.
The council’s current authorization for aid deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing is set to expire Monday, but the council has two rival extension resolutions before it to vote on.
A Russian resolution would continue aid deliveries for six months and a Brazil-Switzerland resolution backed by most council members and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would authorize a 12-month extension.
The delivery of aid to the area has increased significantly following the devastation caused by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that ravaged southern Turkey and northwestern Syria on Feb. 8.
Syrian President Bashar Assad opened two additional crossing points from Turkey to increase the flow of assistance to quake victims, and he extended their operation for three months in May until mid-August. But those crossings are not mentioned in either resolution.
Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom have been forced from their homes during the 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly a half million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. Hundreds of thousands of people in Idlib live in tent settlements and rely on aid that comes through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
The earthquake caused more than 4,500 deaths in northwest Syria and about 855,000 people had their homes damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.
U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on June 29 that the conflict in Syria has pushed 90% of its people into poverty and that millions face cuts in food aid in July because of a funding shortfall.
He said the $5.4 billion U.N. humanitarian appeal for Syria — the world’s largest — is only 12% funded, meaning that emergency food aid for millions of Syrians could be cut by 40% this month. On Friday, he said the U.N. World Food Program needs $200 million to avoid the food cuts.
The Security Council initially authorized aid deliveries in 2014 from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan through four crossing points into opposition-held areas in Syria. But over the years, Syria’s close ally Russia, backed by China, has reduced the authorized crossings to just Bab al-Hawa from Turkey — and the mandate from a year to six months.
Russia has pushed for more aid to be delivered across front lines within Syria, which would give the Syrian government control over the shipments. It has also pushed for early recovery projects to provide jobs and help the country’s economy.
The Russian draft resolution “underscores the imperative of maintaining unimpeded and sustainable cross-line access from Damascus to all parts of Syria.” It urges stepped up efforts to broaden humanitarian activities to include providing water, sanitation, health, education, electricity, demining and shelter. It also calls for “non-interference of unilateral sanctions in the humanitarian operations in Syria.”
The Brazil-Switzerland draft makes no mention of sanctions. It calls for expanding humanitarian activities but would limit electricity provision to places “essential to restore access to basic services.” On the issue of aid shipments within Syria, it calls on parties to enable deliveries to all parts of the country, “including by providing timely security guarantees to ensure the safe passage of cross-line convoys and humanitarian personnel.” | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/ap-aid-to-syrias-rebel-held-northwest-from-turkey-certain-to-continue-but-for-6-or-12-months/ | 2023-07-10 15:01:57 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/ap-aid-to-syrias-rebel-held-northwest-from-turkey-certain-to-continue-but-for-6-or-12-months/ |
SKOKIE, Ill., Dec. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cook County North Suburban Affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness ("NAMI CCNS") has announced a new Executive Director and a new Program Director to lead the organization in its mission to assist individuals and families coping with mental illness.
Jeffrey Rabin was appointed as Executive Director of NAMI CCNS on December 5, 2022. Since 1988, Mr. Rabin has been the principal attorney of Jeffrey A. Rabin & Associates, Ltd., a Park Ridge IL law firm that focuses on the representation of individuals who are disabled and seeking benefits from the Social Security Administration. A noted speaker on disability law, Mr. Rabin has previously served as President of the Board of Directors of NAMI DuPage, and as Chairperson of the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County. Mr. Rabin will continue his law firm duties while guiding NAMI CCNS.
"There are too many families in the Chicago North Suburbs trying to cope with a family member facing mental illness issues without any help or guidance," Mr. Rabin explained. "At NAMI CCNS we have the programs, the staff and the passion for reaching out to these families and providing education, counseling and support. All our programs are free to anyone who needs this help. I look forward to guiding and expanding NAMI CCNS's impact in our community."
Brianna Hoekstra has been appointed as Program Director for NAMI CCNS and will work alongside the new Executive Director and their team to support and expand the wide array of programs NAMI offers to area families. Mrs. Hoekstra explained, "Not only does NAMI offer support for adults with mental illness, but we are expanding our programming to include more grammar schools, high school and even university students who are coping with mental illness issues." Mrs. Hoekstra joined NAMI in August 2022 to help expand programming to grammar schools. She has a Masters Degree in Education from DePaul University and worked for 5 years as a special education instructor for the Chicago Public Schools.
NAMI's mission is to provide advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives. NAMI CCNS has provided services to families in Cook County's north suburbs and beyond since 1990.
For more information, please contact Alyx Kesselring at 847-616-9395 or at alyx.kesselring@namiccns.org.
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SOURCE National Alliance on Mental Illness - Cook County North Suburban | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/12/15/national-alliance-mental-illness-cook-county-north-suburban-announces-new-leadership-team/ | 2022-12-15 14:23:41 | 0 | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/12/15/national-alliance-mental-illness-cook-county-north-suburban-announces-new-leadership-team/ |
RÍO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Luego del conteo del 90,7% de los votos, Lula lleva 50,5% y Bolsonaro 49,5%.
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- By Megan Cassidy, Demian Bulwa, Danielle Echeverria and Rachel Swan | https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Luego-del-conteo-del-90-7-de-los-votos-Lula-17545523.php | 2022-10-30 23:41:06 | 0 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Luego-del-conteo-del-90-7-de-los-votos-Lula-17545523.php |
- The evening paid tribute to the Partagás brand with the launch of its Línea Maestra with three new vitolas: Origen, Rito and Maestro
- The new Line is the first in the history of Habanos, S.A. to be made with 100% tobacco from San Luis*
- Proceeds from the traditional Humidor Auction totaled €11,220,000, which will be entirely donated to the Cuban Public Healthcare system
HAVANA , March 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- After a week of unforgettable activities, the 23rd Habano Festival culminated last night with the Gala Dinner held at the Pabexpo Fairgrounds. Around 1,200 attendees enjoyed this magical night complemented by national and international music, dance, and even indoor fireworks that illuminated the presentation of the new Habanos, S.A. launch. The Gala was also honored by the presence of the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz Canel, who attended the event along with other government authorities.
The evening paid tribute to the Partagás brand with the launch of the Línea Maestra, the brand's most premium line, made up of three new vitolas: Origen (46 ring gauge x 154 mm length), Rito (52 ring gauge x 168 mm length) and Maestro (56 ring gauge x 132 mm length). Each of these vitolas will reach the market in a special case containing 20 units.
For the first time in the history of the brand and the Habanos, S.A. portfolio, the vitolas of this new Partagás line will be made with 100% tobacco grown in San Luis*, in the Vuelta Abajo* plantations located in the Pinar del Río* region, which gives them a special aromatic complexity without losing the brand's unique character.
The Partagás' vitolario is characterized by a wide variety of formats, with more than 30 in its portfolio, which is constantly growing and innovating. Línea Maestra pays tribute to the unique "Origen" of what is considered the best tobacco in the world, the learning and tradition that turn enjoying an Habano into a "Rito" and to the "Maestros" who make it possible to create a "Master" work for Habano lovers.
Maritza Carrillo González and Luis Sánchez-Harguindey Pardo de Vera, co-presidents of Habanos, S.A., explained that "During these days we have celebrated and paid tribute to Montecristo, Bolívar and Partagás, three brands that are undoubtedly very dear and special to Habano aficionados. We have visited the Pinar del Río plantations and the Partagás and La Corona factories where some of our emblematic Habanos are made, all of them "Totally Handmade with long filler", and we have resumed our traditional Trade Fair and Seminar with products and experts from all over the world. We also attended the presentation of the new products that Habanos, S.A. has in store for 2023. We are firmly convinced that these new vitolas will maintain and, even further ignite, the passion for Habanos shared by all aficionados".
The Gala Night also featured a Hall of Fame that illustrated the great work of all those "masters" who have made of the Habano what it is today. In addition, participants were able to put themselves in the hands of portrait artists, who made illustrations in real time thus providing them with a very special memento of the occasion.
The evening, presented by Ray Cruz and Clarita García, featured two orchestras conducted by Maestro Manolito Simonet, as well as an audiovisual, dance and circus show. Among the artists who provided the entertainment for the evening were Zule Guerra, Lily Dayli, Vocal Leo, Bárbara Llanes, Leo Vera, Tammy López, Cristian Alejandro and Rodrigo Sosa. In addition, the dance companies Lizt Alfonso, Fumescu and Habana Compass Dance surprised guests with their performances. The closing concert was offered by the pioneering musical formation of disco-dance music in Europe, Boney M. with a practically new lineup but that under the legacy of Bobby Farrell continues to offer a unique show.
One of the highlights of the gala was the auction of the exclusive humidors dedicated to the six global Habanos brands: Cohiba, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, Partagás, Hoyo de Monterrey and H. Upmann. The proceeds reached a total of €11,220,000 and, as usual, they will be entirely donated to the Cuban Public Healthcare system.
In particular, the Cohiba Humidor broke once again its own record raising €4,200,000. This exclusive piece is made of wood, metals and semiprecious stones and its sumptuousness reaffirms the brand's cosmopolitan and elegant positioning. It holds 500 Habanos, all carefully selected from the prestigious lines of the Cohiba brand. On this occasion, the humidor was auctioned together with a unique Audemars Piguet timepiece that was donated by an anonymous individual for the auction.
In addition, during the evening the winning couple of the Habanos World Challenge contest, formed by Mr. Antonios Pasparakis and Mr. Efthymios Karacristianoidis, was announced and the Habanos 2022 Awards were presented, rewarding those personalities whose work and passion make of Habanos a unique product in the world. Here are the winners:
Habano Award in Communication: Jasim Ahmed
Habano Award in Production: Yoandi Rodríguez Porra
Habano Award in Business: Blanca Alsogaray
* Protected Appellations of Origin
Click here to download high resolution images of the event.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2013764/Habanos.jpg
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SOURCE Habanos, S.A. | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/03/04/habanos-sa-closes-23rd-habano-festival-with-launch-partags-lnea-maestra/ | 2023-03-04 15:46:28 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/03/04/habanos-sa-closes-23rd-habano-festival-with-launch-partags-lnea-maestra/ |
Gainesville City Commissioners try to finalize the utilities 2024 fiscal year budget
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Gainesville City Commissioners may hand off some costs to Gainesville Regional Utilities.
This was during a workshop this afternoon as they try to finalize the utility’s fiscal year 2024 budget.
The fuel budget, fuel levelization process, water and wastewater connection charges, plus streetlight rates were among the topics discussed.
Some of the suggestions were not met with enthusiasm.
“But I’m not going to tell staff three months out from finalizing a budget to go figure out a new form of luck. Because that’s not fair to you. It’s not fair to general government. It’s not fair to people who want to know what’s going on with their jobs and their taxes,” said City Commissioner Reina Saco.
The next city commission budget workshop is this May 25th at one p.m.
TRENDING: ‘They need to get it fixed’: Sinkhole prevents shoppers from entering Ocala business
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Copyright 2023 WCJB. All rights reserved. | https://www.wcjb.com/2023/05/23/gainesville-city-commissioners-try-finalize-utilities-2024-fiscal-year-budget/ | 2023-05-23 05:50:14 | 0 | https://www.wcjb.com/2023/05/23/gainesville-city-commissioners-try-finalize-utilities-2024-fiscal-year-budget/ |
Blind Tennis Player from the Valley to Represent U.S. at IBSA World Games in England
MISSION, TEXAS -- Dante Alejandro knew he wanted to be an athlete from an early age. There was just one thing that made that more difficult to achieve-- his vision. Born with retinopathy of prematurity-- a disease that can happen in babies who are born early-- Alejandro was still eager to play tennis.
At eight years old, he gave conventional tennis a try. "I would always get a bunch of looks and comments like 'oh, he can't do this. He can't do that,") Alejandro said.
Then, he found a place he could fit in. The Mission Boys and Girls Club created an avenue for the blind and vision impaired by implementing a blind tennis program. Now, ten years later, Alejandro is preparing to head to Birmingham, England for the IBSA World Games in August. He will be the sole player representing not just the Valley-- but the entire U.S.
Watch video above for more: | https://www.krgv.com/news/blind-tennis-player-from-the-valley-to-represent-u-s-at-ibsa-world-games-in-england | 2023-06-30 00:04:57 | 0 | https://www.krgv.com/news/blind-tennis-player-from-the-valley-to-represent-u-s-at-ibsa-world-games-in-england |
A roundup of the week's most newsworthy entertainment industry press releases from PR Newswire, including the "Oppenheimer" debut on IMAX and Jerry Seinfeld's return to Las Vegas.
NEW YORK, July 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the entertainment and media industries stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.
The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.
- Record-Shattering $35 Million Debut for "Oppenheimer" Lifts IMAX to Top-Five Weekend All Time at Global Box Office
The stunning figure represented IMAX's biggest share ever of a film's global opening weekend box office with 20% of total receipts. Shot with IMAX Film Cameras, Universal Pictures' "Oppenheimer" set several IMAX records at launch. - Fender Announces the Long-Awaited Return of the Tom DeLonge Stratocaster®, Celebrating the Blink-182 Guitarist and Singer's Iconic Career and Sound
Rushed into production due to overwhelming fan demand, the Limited Edition Tom DeLonge Stratocaster® emulates the band's signature sound, and serves as a standout, must-have addition to any collection. - Legendary and Beloved Entertainer Tony Bennett has Passed Away at the Age of 96
Bennett's unparalleled career history began when he signed with Columbia Records in 1950 and has spanned over 70 years. His last public concert performances were held at Radio City Music Hall on August 3rd and 5th, in celebration of his 95th birthday. - Jerry Seinfeld, the Longest Running Headliner in Caesars Palace History, Returns for Six Performances in 2024 at The Colosseum
Tickets will go on sale to the public Friday, July 28 at 10 a.m. PT. There are also limited tickets still available for Seinfeld's final performances in 2023 on Friday, July 28 and Saturday, July 29. - OceanGate A.I. Filmmaker Hooroo Jackson Unveils the First A.I.-Generated Feature Film, "Window Seat"
At 61 minutes in length, this is the first feature film entirely generated with Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). "Window Seat" tells the gripping story of a man who discovers his high school bully aboard the same plane, leading to a psychological battle 30,000 feet in the sky. - Space for Humanity and Legion M Announce Partnership to Develop Music Video for William Shatner's "So Fragile, So Blue"
The song, performed only once at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with the National Symphony Orchestra during the "DECLASSIFIED®: Ben Folds Presents With William Shatner" event, received an astounding 4.5-minute standing ovation, leaving an indelible mark on all who witnessed it. - Wheel of Fortune LIVE! Announces 50+ Date 2023 Tour and Hosts
One of the greatest game shows of all time has been adapted into a stage show to give more fans access and more chances to win at "Wheel of Fortune LIVE!" The live stage show is the only way you can have the chance to spin a full-sized replica of the iconic Wheel. - Wall Street Journal, ABC News and PBS NewsHour Win National Press Club Awards
"The National Press Club Journalism Awards celebrate the very best in journalism," said National Press Club President, Eileen O'Reilly. "It was inspiring to read and listen to exceptional reporting. These journalists are clearly fulfilling their obligations to serve the public." - Monster Energy Up & Up College Festival Series Announce Dr. Fresch as Fall 2023 Headliner As always, this tour has no pre-determined dates or route — it is the fans who decide. More than 100 college student ambassador teams from across the U.S. will now rally their schools, through guerilla marketing and influencer campaigns, to try becoming one of five stops on the Doctor's itinerary — and get the chance to co-produce to a killer college gig.
- SWAIA Announces Get Indigenous Film Festival
"Film and television can reach a diverse audience who may have not been exposed to the rich beauty of Indigenous cultures. Our mission is to promote Native arts from every culture, this includes the culture of the silver screen," said Executive Director Jamie Schulze (Northern Cheyenne / Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate). - Cineverse Unveils MatchpointAI: A Revolutionary AI Marketplace for Video Streaming Optimization
MatchpointAI leverages Cineverse's proprietary enterprise-grade content processing platform, Dispatch™, to provide content owners and streaming services access to industry-leading capabilities that can eliminate expensive, time consuming manual work preparing film and television assets for global distribution.
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Can't-Miss Earnings
In addition to these popular releases, several must-read earnings reports crossed the wire this week, including the quarterly results for IMAX and Universal Music Group.
Catch up on all the latest earnings reports here.
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SOURCE PR Newswire | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/this-week-entertainment-news-11-stories-you-need-see/ | 2023-07-28 11:47:56 | 1 | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2023/07/28/this-week-entertainment-news-11-stories-you-need-see/ |
(WFLA) — Edgewell Personal Care Company issued a recall Friday for three batches of Banana Boat Hair & Scalp sunscreen sprays after an internal review of product samples found traces of benzene.
Benzene is a human carcinogen that can lead to leukemia, blood cancer in bone marrow, and other blood disorders. People typically are exposed to the chemical in their environment through skin contact, inhalation, or ingestion.
The chemical is not an ingredient in the sunscreen spray, but the FDA said that “unexpected levels of benzene” came out of the spray bottles’ propellant.
As of this report, Edgewater said it has not learned of any illnesses related to the presence of benzene in their products nor does the FDA believe exposure to the benzene in the sprays could be particularly dangerous.
“Daily exposure to benzene in the recalled products would not be expected to cause adverse health consequences according to an independent health assessment using established exposure modeling guidelines,” the FDA advisory said.
However, the FDA said that if you have the affected product, stop using it and throw it out.
The benzene is only linked to the three batches mentioned in the advisory. The FDA provided the following information on the batches affected by the recall:
The FDA said Edgewater has told retailers to remove any of the remaining products with the lot codes above from their shelves. If you own a Banana Boat sunscreen spray, you can find the lot code on the bottom of the can.
Those who purchased the affected products can be eligible for reimbursement from Banana Boat, according to the advisory.
If you have had an adverse reaction to the spray, you can report your situation to the FDA MedWatch.
If you have questions related to the recall, you can call Edgewell Personal Care at (888) 686-3988 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT or visit www.bananaboat.com. | https://www.kxnet.com/news/national-news/3-batches-of-banana-boat-sunscreen-sprays-recalled-due-to-traces-of-cancer-causing-chemical/ | 2022-07-30 22:05:59 | 1 | https://www.kxnet.com/news/national-news/3-batches-of-banana-boat-sunscreen-sprays-recalled-due-to-traces-of-cancer-causing-chemical/ |
Woman dies after grizzly bear encounter near Yellowstone National Park
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Montana (AP) - A woman was found dead in Montana on Saturday after coming into contact with a grizzly bear on a trail west of Yellowstone National Park.
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said in a statement on Sunday that the woman was found deceased on a trail near West Yellowstone, a Montana town nestled in the Custer Gallatin National Forest just west of Yellowstone National Park.
They said the woman was found deceased "following an apparent bear encounter" based on what investigators determined were grizzly bear tracks at the scene. The department said the investigation into the grizzly attack was ongoing.
RELATED: Kansas woman dies after falling in creek in Glacier National Park
Rangers issued an emergency closure of the area where the woman was found, which is popular with hikers.
Though the department’s statement said the death appeared to have followed the woman’s interaction with the bear, it did not confirm her cause of death.
The attack comes amid a rise in Montana’s grizzly bear population and an increase in sightings.
The department put out a news release last week warning visitors that staff had confirmed grizzly bear sightings throughout the state, "particularly in areas between the Northern Continental Divide and the Great Yellowstone ecosystems."
They implored those camping and visiting parks to carry bear spray, store their food while outside and tend to their garbage. | https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/woman-dies-after-grizzly-bear-encounter-near-yellowstone-national-park | 2023-07-24 02:18:59 | 0 | https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/woman-dies-after-grizzly-bear-encounter-near-yellowstone-national-park |
SGB board member resigns ahead of fall semester
August 12, 2022
Student Government Board member Celeste Lintz announced her resignation from the board in a Tuesday Instagram post.
“It is with a heavy heart that I chose to resign due to increased commitments, but I feel this is the best decision for the Board at the time,” Lintz said. “This year’s SGB is poised for a substantial impact on our Pitt Student Body, and I wish them much success with the initiatives planned for the following year.”
Lintz, a rising senior bioengineering major, said when running for office that she wanted to create legislation within SGB that built on the board’s newly-added diversity statement. She emphasized her experience as vice president of DEI in her sorority, Phi Sigma Rho, and membership in diversity groups. She received the third-most votes during the election.
President Danielle Floyd said although she’s sad to see Lintz leave, she wishes her well in the future.
“We appreciate her contributions to our Pitt community, and it is now time to turn our attention towards filling this new vacancy,” Floyd said.
SGB’s Instagram post said current board members will vote on a new board member soon. Candidates must be full-time students in good academic standing with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5, and not under judicial hold.
The post said Floyd would outline the procedure in the following weeks, and that they are committed to filling the vacancy in a “transparent and open manner.” | https://pittnews.com/article/174193/news/sgb-board-member-resigns-ahead-of-fall-semester/ | 2022-08-13 07:22:30 | 0 | https://pittnews.com/article/174193/news/sgb-board-member-resigns-ahead-of-fall-semester/ |
If the Miami Dolphins want to win a Super Bowl while wide receiver Tyreek Hill is on the roster, they now have a timetable for how much longer they have left.
NBC Sports' ProFootballTalk reports the 29-year-old Hill, who has been in the NFL for the last seven seasons, says he intends to retire after his current contract expires.
“I’m going for 10, man,” Hill said during a podcast in Kansas City, where he played his first six seasons with the Chiefs. “I’m going to finish out this contract with the Dolphins, man, and then I’m going to call it quits. I want to go into the business side. I want to do so many things in my life, bro.”
Hill earned his fourth All-Pro honor last season while also having career highs in catches (119) and receiving yards (1,710). He says he would like to coach for a little while before moving into the world of gaming.
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“So, I really want to get into like the gaming space,” Hill said. “I really want to get huge in that and that’s kind of what I’m doing right now. I’m using my platform, creating a gaming team [Soul Runner Gaming], which isn’t launched yet. It should launch by the end of this month. I’m going to just sign like different content creators, different athletes. I’ve just been working that, talking to different sponsors.”
Hill is due $1.165 million in base salary this season and a $19.55 million base salary in 2024. He has four years left on his current contract, but only two have guaranteed money. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/im-going-to-call-it-quits-miami-dolphins-wr-tyreek-hill-says-he-will-retire-after-current-contract-expires/4218209/ | 2023-04-06 16:39:13 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/im-going-to-call-it-quits-miami-dolphins-wr-tyreek-hill-says-he-will-retire-after-current-contract-expires/4218209/ |
NEW YORK, July 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pastors and church leaders joined for a July 4th seminar revealing the secrets of the Bible and Revelation. The event was hosted by New Heaven New Earth Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and was broadcast worldwide through the church's YouTube channel. Participants included pastors and leaders from across North and South America.
The seminar titled, "Testifying to the 66 Books of the Bible's Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven and the New Covenant, the Revelation," comes after the conclusion of online seminars that began being released in October 2021. These seminars presented content from the introductory, intermediate and advanced curriculum of the Zion Christian Mission Center, the theology school of Shincheonji Church that explains the Bible plainly, free of charge.
The seminars were successfully completed with 21 million YouTube views. Shincheonji Church also announced that it will produce 100,000 graduates from the Zion Christian Mission Center in 2022.
The main speaker, Shincheonji Church Chairman Lee Man-hee, testified that Jesus received the book of Revelation from God and fulfilled it today.
"If the testimony on the entire book of Revelation and the Testimony on the Revelation of the Old and New Testaments by Chapter revealed by Shincheonji is correct, then shouldn't you believe?" Chairman Lee asked.
Chairman Lee also called for unity within Christianity.
"It is the word of God, for all people," Chairman Lee said. "Therefore, we must fix the things that are incorrect and within God and Jesus, we must be one together is what I believe."
"Testifying to the 66 Books of the Bible's Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven and the New Covenant, the Revelation" is available on YouTube. For more information, visit www.scjamericas.org.
MEDIA CONTACT: Gina Del Gigante, 16466287365, revelation@scjamericas.org
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SOURCE Shincheonji Church of Jesus | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/07/07/pastors-church-leaders-across-america-attend-bible-seminar/ | 2022-07-07 05:55:58 | 0 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/07/07/pastors-church-leaders-across-america-attend-bible-seminar/ |
The space observatory can see the universe in infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye, making the telescope uniquely poised to look through the dust that obscures some galactic features when less powerful telescopes are used.
Researchers participating in the PHANGS collaboration, or Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby Galaxies, are using Webb's infrared capabilities to study 19 spiral galaxies.
So far, the telescope has observed five of them in detail, including galaxies M74, NGC 7496, IC 5332, NGC 1365 and NGC 1433.
In visible light, the galaxies appeared dark and dim. But Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument was able to see the ways that stars and star clusters can shape galactic structure. The never-before-seen details captured in the Webb images show how these intricate networks within galaxies are influenced over time as stars form and evolve.
"We are directly seeing how the energy from the formation of young stars affects the gas around them, and it's just remarkable," said Erik Rosolowsky, a PHANGS team member and an associate professor of physics at the University of Alberta in Canada, in a statement.
Stars releasing energy created giant bubbles of gas and dust, or luminescent cavities, that gather around the spiral arms of the galaxies, and sometimes these bubblelike features overlap to form shells and a structure similar to a spiderweb.
"The PHANGS team has spent years observing these galaxies at optical, radio, and ultraviolent wavelengths using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and the Very Large Telescope's Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer," said Adam Leroy, a PHANGS team member and professor of astronomy at Ohio State University, in a statement.
"But, the earliest stages of a star's lifecycle have remained out of view because the process is enshrouded within gas and dust clouds."
The observation program will continue to focus on different galaxies, conduct a census of star formation, and unlock more insights about the life cycle of stars and how these stellar objects influence the galaxies they call home. | https://www.albanyherald.com/news/young-stars-create-celestial-spiderwebs-in-new-webb-telescope-images/article_d832c020-08e3-574f-be5f-c9d119ab3c71.html | 2023-02-17 21:42:14 | 0 | https://www.albanyherald.com/news/young-stars-create-celestial-spiderwebs-in-new-webb-telescope-images/article_d832c020-08e3-574f-be5f-c9d119ab3c71.html |
NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. Mandy Cohen, a former North Carolina official, will be the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the White House announced Friday.
Unlike the last two people to serve as head of the nation’s top federal public health agency, Cohen has prior experience running a government agency: She was secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services from 2017 until last year. Before that, she held health-related jobs at two federal agencies.
“Dr. Cohen is one of the nation’s top physicians and health leaders with experience leading large and complex organizations, and a proven track-record protecting Americans’ health and safety,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
She succeeds Dr. Rochelle Walensky, 54, who last month announced she was leaving at the end of June. Cohen’s starting date has not been announced. Her appointment does not require Senate confirmation.
Walensky, a former infectious disease expert at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, took over at the CDC in 2021 — about a year after the pandemic began.
Cohen, 44, will take over after some rough years at the CDC, whose 12,000-plus employees are charged with protecting Americans from disease outbreaks and other public health threats.
The Atlanta-based federal agency had long been seen as a global leader on disease control and a reliable source of health information. But polls showed the public trust eroded, partly as a result of the CDC’s missteps in dealing with COVID-19 and partly due to political attacks and misinformation campaigns.
Walensky started a reorganization effort that is designed to make the agency more nimble and to improve its communications.
Cohen was raised on Long Island, New York. Her mom was a nurse practitioner. Cohen has a medical degree from Yale and a master’s in public health from Harvard.
She also has been an advocate. She was a founding member and former executive director of Doctors for America, which pushes to expand health insurance coverage and address racial and ethnic disparities. Another founder was Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general. The group formed in the midst of an effort to organize doctors into political action and support Barack Obama’s candidacy for president.
Cohen started working for the federal government in 2008 at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where she served as deputy director for women’s health services. She later held a series of federal jobs, many of them with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, rising to chief operating officer.
In 2017, she took the health and human services job in North Carolina. A top adviser to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, Cohen was the face of her state’s response to the coronavirus, explaining risks and precautions while wearing a gold chain adorned with a charm of the Hebrew word for “life.”
Some residents dubbed her the “3 W’s lady” for her constant reminders to wear a mask, wash hands frequently, and watch the distance from other people. One man even wrote a country-rock ballad praising her with the refrain: “Hang on Mandy, Mandy hang on.”
In 2020, Cohen refused to support President Donald Trump’s demands for a full-capacity Republican convention in Charlotte with no mask wearing. Her office later said it would accommodate the GOP by relaxing the state’s 10-person indoor gathering limit, but it remained adamant about masks and social distancing. Trump ultimately moved the main events from Charlotte.
Cohen resigned the state post in late 2021, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family and pursue new opportunities. She then took a leadership post at Aledade Inc., a Maryland-based consulting company.
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Former AP writers Bryan Anderson and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.localsyr.com/news/your-local-election-hq/former-north-carolina-health-official-is-picked-to-be-new-cdc-director/ | 2023-06-17 02:36:17 | 1 | https://www.localsyr.com/news/your-local-election-hq/former-north-carolina-health-official-is-picked-to-be-new-cdc-director/ |
DETROIT — A Northern Michigan man with a history of threatening Democratic politicians pleaded guilty Monday to threatening to kill President Joe Biden by bombing the White House.
Timothy Heath Findlay, 49, of Prescott, a small village east of West Branch, is accused of leveling the threat April 28, the day Biden asked Congress for $33 billion to support Ukraine. At the time, Findlay was being held at the Arenac County Jail in an unrelated case when he mailed a letter threatening Biden, his wife, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and others.
Findlay wrote that when he leaves custody, he and others “are going to bomb the White House and kill everyone with cyanide,” according to his plea agreement. “Rape your wife(,) kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer(,) tie her up and leave her on Lake Michigan. Then kill everyone with cyanide.”
The letter was filed amid a rise in political extremism nationwide and coincided with the criminal case against two men accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer who were part of a broader group that discussed stranding her in Lake Michigan. Accused ringleaders Adam Fox and Barry Croft were sentenced to 16 years, and almost 20 years, respectively.
In Findlay’s case, he put the letter in an envelope, addressed it to the White House and deposited it in a location where inmates are allowed to leave letters they want to mail through the U.S. Post Office.
He faces up to five years in federal prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington, who was nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush.
Findlay was indicted in June, eight years after he was convicted of threatening to kill former President Barack Obama with a bomb.
In that case, Findlay was being held in the Ogemaw County Jail on an unrelated bomb threat in September 2013 when he wrote two notes found by jail staff, according to court records.
The first note contained a threat to kill a judge “and the president with a bomb.” The second note read: “I want to bomb the White House.”
Staff also found obscene graffiti threatning Obama on the walls of Findlay’s jail cell.
Findlay told a U.S. Secret Service agent “that if he were drunk, he would definitely try and kill the president,” according to a transcript of his plea hearing. “Defendant admitted he wanted to kill Barack Obama. Further, defendant stated that once he got out of prison, he would get a rifle, borrow a car, drive to Washington, D.C., and kill the president.”
Findlay was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. Ludington recommended Findlay serve the sentence at a prison with a comprehensive drug treatment program.
After being freed, Findlay ran into trouble for violating conditions of his supervised release and was sent back to prison for four months. He was freed in May 2019.
Findlay talked about the Obama threat matter-of-factly while pleading guilty in 2014.
“I’m guilty because I’m the one who wrote it on — on the walls and said that I was going to kill the president, so, yeah, I am guilty of this,” Findlay told the judge. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/michigan-man-convicted-of-threatening-to-kill-biden/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2023-02-13 23:49:25 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/michigan-man-convicted-of-threatening-to-kill-biden/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed for the fourth consecutive month as climbing mortgage rates and record high prices discouraged house hunters.
Existing home sales fell 3.4% last month from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.41 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.
That annual sales pace was higher than what economists had expected, according to FactSet. Sales fell 8.6% from May last year.
After climbing to a 6.49 million annual rate in January, sales have fallen to the slowest pace since June 2020, near the start of the pandemic, when they were running at an annualized rate of 4.77 million homes.
Even as home sales slowed, home prices kept climbing in May. The national median home price jumped 14.8% in May from a year earlier to $407,600. That’s an all-time high according to data going back to 1999, NAR said.
The housing market, a crucial part of the economy, is slowing as homebuyers facing sharply higher home financing costs than a year ago following a rapid rise in mortgage rates.
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates had their biggest one-week jump in 35 years with the Federal Reserve last week raising its key rate by three-quarters of a point in a bid to combat the worst inflation in 40 years.
The average rate on a 30-year home loan climbed to 5.78% last week, the highest its been since November of 2008 during the housing crisis, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.
The rise in mortgage rates follows a sharp move up in 10-year Treasury yields, reflecting expectations of higher interest rates overall. The Fed has signaled its intention to to keep hiking its short-term rate as it tries to cool off the U.S. economy without causing a recession.
The weekly average on the 30-year rate hovered slightly above 5% for much of May, so the more recent increases in rates have yet to be reflected in the home sales data.
“Today’s mortgage rates are knocking on the door of 6%,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Given those conditions, I do anticipate further declines in home sales.”
Some real estate trends favored buyers last month. As is typical this time of year, the number of homes on the market increased in May from the previous month. Some 1.16 million properties were available for sale by the end of May, up 12.6% from April, but down 4.1% from April last year.
Even so, at the current sales pace, the level of for-sale properties amounts to a 2.6-month supply, the NAR said. That’s up from 2.2 months in April, and 2.5 months a year ago. That’s still short of the 4-month supply that reflects a more balanced market between buyers and sellers.
Yun expects the inventory of homes for sale will be running above year-ago levels by autumn.
This year’s pullback in home sales has led some economists to adjust their housing market outlook for 2022. Realtor.com is now expecting U.S. home sales will decline 6.7% from last year. That would still make 2022 the second-best year for home sales since 2007 behind 2021, according to Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist.
Yet even with higher mortgage rates straining affordability, homes that sold didn’t stay on the market for long. On average, homes sold in just 16 days of hitting the market last month, the fastest sales pace tracked by the NAR. It was 17 days in April.
With inflation at a four-decade high, rising mortgage rates, elevated home prices and tight supply of homes for sale, homeownership has become less attainable, especially for first-time buyers.
First-time buyers accounted for 27% of transactions, down from 28% the previous month and 31% in May last year, the NAR said.
Real estate investors and other buyers able to buy a home with just cash, sidestepping the need to rely on financing, accounted for 25% of all sales last month, down from 26% in April, NAR said. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/home-sales-slow-again-as-mortgage-rates-climb/ | 2022-06-22 09:50:39 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/business/home-sales-slow-again-as-mortgage-rates-climb/ |
Fox News on Tuesday briefly cut away from live continuous coverage of former President Trump’s speech announcing his candidacy for president in 2024, while MSNBC gave the speech no live screen time.
The network, which has shied away from covering Trump rallies and other events featuring him live since he left the White House, carried Trump’s remarks for longer than any of the three major cable channels before it broke away.
After Fox cut away, host Sean Hannity, a noted pro-Trump commentator and close personal friend of the former president, took analysis from a number of conservative pundits, including Mike Huckabee, Pete Hegseth and Leo Terrell.
After several minutes of analysis and pro-Trump commentary, the network eventually rejoined his speech from Mar-a-Lago as he concluded his remarks.
CNN also carried Trump’s remarks live but cut away after about 20 minutes to offer analysis from a political panel and fact-checks of the various claims Trump made during his speech on issues ranging from energy to the results of the midterm elections.
MSNBC did not carry Trump’s remarks live at all, instead opting to host a number of leading journalists to talk about the former president’s expected announcement.
Fox’s live coverage of Trump’s speech is notable, given signs of a shift away from the former president at the network for months and the criticism he has faced from a number of other conservative media entities owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Murdoch’s outlets have also heaped praise on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the wake of last week’s midterm elections, which have raised questions about who Fox News and other conservative media heavyweights might support in 2024.
—Updated at 10:35 p.m. | https://www.ksn.com/hill-politics/fox-news-cuts-away-from-trump-2024-presidential-announcement-speech/ | 2022-11-16 04:19:23 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/hill-politics/fox-news-cuts-away-from-trump-2024-presidential-announcement-speech/ |
SAN DIEGO (AP)The Colorado Rockies placed outfielder Kris Bryant on the 10-day injured list on Monday with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
It’s the third trip to the IL for Bryant, who signed a $182 million, seven-year contract with the Rockies in March. He missed 18 games from April 26-May 20 with back soreness and 32 games from May 23-June 26 with a lower back strain.
Bryant, 30, who starred with the Chicago Cubs from 2015 until being traded to San Francisco on July 30, 2021, is hitting .306 in 42 games, with five homers and 14 RBIs.
He slashed .330/.398/.567 in the 25 games after coming off his second IL stint, with five homers, eight doubles and 10 RBIs.
To take his spot on the roster, the Rockies recalled infielder Alan Trejo from Triple-A Albuquerque.
—
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports | https://www.krqe.com/sports/mlb-baseball/rockies-place-kris-bryant-on-il-with-plantar-fasciitis/ | 2022-08-02 17:14:37 | 0 | https://www.krqe.com/sports/mlb-baseball/rockies-place-kris-bryant-on-il-with-plantar-fasciitis/ |
Baldwin faces involuntary manslaughter charge in set death
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors linked Alec Baldwin to an expansive list of alleged failures in firearms safety as they filed a felony involuntary manslaughter charge Tuesday against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a New Mexico movie set.
Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.
Baldwin and film-set weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed face charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Hutchins on the set of the Western movie “Rust.”
A manslaughter charge can be brought for a killing that occurs while a defendant is doing something lawful but dangerous and is acting negligently or without caution.
Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed maintain their innocence and have vowed to fight the charges.
In newly filed court documents, prosecutors say reckless safety failures accompanied the film production from the outset. They cite Baldwin’s failure as an actor to appear for mandatory firearms training prior to filming and his decision as a producer to work with Gutierrez-Reed, who was an uncertified and inexperienced armorer.
A probable cause statement from investigators traces safety failures across a 10-day period from misfires on set and a camera crew walkout to the moments before Hutchins’ death as a revolver was loaded with ammunition and Baldwin’s finger came to rest on the pistol’s trigger.
“Baldwin’s deviation from known standards, practices and protocol directly caused the fatal death of Hutchins,” Robert Shilling, a special investigator for the Santa Fe district attorney’s office, said in the probable cause statement.
Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas declined to comment Tuesday and referred to a previous statement in which he called the charges a “terrible miscarriage of justice” that he and his client would fight and win.
“Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set,” the statement said. “He relied on the professionals with whom he worked.”
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney said they would release a statement later.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told The Associated Press in a Jan. 19 interview that the set was “really being run pretty fast and loose” and Baldwin should have known there were previous misfires on the set and multiple people had brought up safety concerns. She also highlighted Baldwin as the person “that held the gun, that pointed the gun and that pulled the trigger.”
With charges filed on Tuesday, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be issued a summons to appear in court, possibly by remote webcast. Prosecutors will forgo a grand jury and rely on a judge to determine if there is sufficient evidence to move toward trial. A decision could take up to 60 days.
The manslaughter charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed include two alternative standards and sanctions.
One version would require proof of negligence, which is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine under New Mexico law.
The second alternative is reckless disregard of safety “without due caution and circumspection.” It carries a higher threshold of wrongdoing and includes a “firearm enhancement” that could result in a mandatory five years in prison because the offense was committed with a gun.
A jury may decide which definition of manslaughter to pursue, prosecutors said.
Defense litigator Kate Mangels, whose work includes the entertainment sector, said prosecutors submitted a robust analysis of Baldwin’s safety responsibilities as actor and producer on “Rust.”
“The fact that they separated out Alec Baldwin the actor versus Alec Baldwin the producer shows to me that they’re potentially foreseeing a challenge to his culpability as to either of those roles,” said Mangles, who is based in Santa Monica, California. “So they want to differentiate ... and provide a robust analysis of both of those separately.”
Investigators said reckless safety failures culminated when Baldwin drew a revolver from a holster, pointed it at Hutchins and fired the weapon when a plastic or replica gun should have been used by industry standards.
Photos and videos of the rehearsal, including moments before the deadly shooting, showed Baldwin with his finger inside the trigger guard and on the trigger while “manipulating” the pistol’s hammer, investigators said, noting that an FBI analysis shows the pistol could not be fired without pressing the trigger.
Baldwin, who has described the killing as a tragic accident, said he was told the .45-caliber revolver was safe. The 64-year-old actor has sought to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun.
Baldwin said in his lawsuit that, while working on camera angles with Hutchins, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the weapon, which discharged.
Defense attorney Jason Bowles, who represents Gutierrez-Reed, said the charges are the result of a “flawed investigation” and an “inaccurate understanding of the full facts.”
The decision to charge Baldwin marks a stunning turn of events for an A-list actor whose 40-year career included the early blockbuster “The Hunt for Red October” and a starring role in the sitcom “30 Rock,” as well as iconic appearances in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” and a film adaptation of David Mamet’s “Glengary Glen Ross.” In recent years, Baldwin was known for his impression of former President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”
Prosecutors said a proposed plea agreement signed by assistant director David Halls, who oversaw safety on set, has not yet been approved by a judge and cannot be published.
Halls had agreed to plead guilty in the negligent use of a deadly weapon, explaining that he may have handled the gun improperly before it was given to Baldwin, prosecutors said.
___
AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2023/02/01/baldwin-faces-involuntary-manslaughter-charge-set-death/ | 2023-02-01 12:42:49 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2023/02/01/baldwin-faces-involuntary-manslaughter-charge-set-death/ |
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GRAPHIC: County commissioner in Oklahoma accused of discussing killings, lynching resigns from office
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A county commissioner in far southeast Oklahoma who was apparently caught on tape discussing killing reporters and lynching Black people has resigned from office, Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office confirmed Wednesday.
Stitt spokesperson Carly Atchison said the office received a handwritten resignation letter from McCurtain County Commissioner Mark Jennings. In it, Jennings says he is resigning immediately and that he plans to release a formal statement “in the near future regarding the recent events in our county.”
The threatening comments by Jennings and officials with the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office were obtained following a March 6 meeting and reported by McCurtain Gazette-News earlier this week in their weekend edition. They have sparked outrage and protests in the city of Idabel, the county seat.
In a post on the sheriff’s office Facebook page on Tuesday, officials did not address the recorded discussion but claimed the recording was illegally obtained.
Also on Wednesday, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed it has launched an investigation into the matter at the request of the governor.
During the conversation that included Sheriff Kevin Clardy, sheriff’s Capt. Alicia Manning, Jennings and Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix, Clardy, Manning and Jennings appear to discuss Bruce Willingham — the longtime publisher of the Gazette-News — and his son Chris Willingham, a reporter.
GRAPHIC WARNING: The video below includes content some may find disturbing and offensive.
Jennings tells Clardy and Manning “I know where two deep holes are dug if you ever need them,” and the sheriff responds, “I’ve got an excavator.”
Jennings also says he’s known “two or three hit men” in Louisiana, adding “they’re very quiet guys.”
In the recording, Jennings also appears to complain about not being able to hang Black people, saying: “They got more rights than we got.”
The Associated Press could not immediately verify the authenticity of the recording. None of the four returned telephone calls or emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Bruce Willingham told the AP the recording was made when he left a voice-activated recorder inside the room after a county commissioner’s meeting because he suspected the group was continuing to conduct county business after the meeting had ended, in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Act.
Willingham said he twice spoke with his attorneys to be sure he was doing nothing illegal.
Joey Senat, a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University, said under Oklahoma law, the recording would be legal if it were obtained in a place where the officials being recorded did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Bruce Willingham said he believes the local officials were upset about “stories we’ve run that cast the sheriff’s office in an unfavorable light,” including the death of Bobby Barrick — a Broken Bow, Oklahoma, man who died at a hospital in March 2022 after McCurtain County deputies shot him with a stun gun. The newspaper has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office seeking body camera footage and other records connected to Barrick’s death.
Separately, Chris Willingham has filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff’s office, Clardy, Manning and the Board of County Commissioners alleging Manning slandered him after he wrote an eight-part series of articles detailing problems inside the sheriff’s office. The lawsuit claims after the first few articles were published, Clardy and Manning began investigating which office employees were speaking to the newspaper and were attempting to get a search warrant for Willingham’s phone.
The lawsuit, which was filed on the same day the recording was made, alleges that after the series was published, Manning told a third party during a teleconference that Chris Willingham exchanged marijuana for sexually explicit images of children from a man who had been arrested on child sex abuse image charges.
“Manning made these (and other) false statements about Willingham in retaliation for articles he wrote about the (sheriff’s office) as a reporter for the McCurtain Gazette and to destroy his credibility as a reporter and journalist,” the lawsuit states.
More than 100 people gathered outside the McCurtain County Courthouse in Idabel earlier this week, with many of them calling for the sheriff and other county officials to resign.
On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Sheriff’s Association, a voluntary membership organization and not a regulatory agency, held an emergency meeting of its board. It voted unanimously to suspend Clardy, Manning and Hendrix from the association.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wistv.com/2023/04/19/county-commissioner-oklahoma-accused-discussing-killings-lynching-resigns-office/ | 2023-04-19 17:42:56 | 0 | https://www.wistv.com/2023/04/19/county-commissioner-oklahoma-accused-discussing-killings-lynching-resigns-office/ |
Report: Justice Clarence Thomas sold real estate to donor, didn’t report deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative mega-donor Harlan Crow purchased three properties belonging to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his family, in a transaction worth more than $100,000 that Thomas never reported, according to the non-profit investigative journalism organization ProPublica.
The 2014 real estate deal shines a new light on Thomas’s decades old relationship with Crow, a real estate magnate and longtime financier for conservative causes. That relationship and the material benefits received by Thomas have fueled calls for an official ethics investigation.
ProPublica previously revealed that Thomas and his wife Ginni were gifted with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of annual vacations and trips by Crow for decades — including international cruises on his mega-yacht, private jet flights and stays at Crow’s invitation-only resort in the Adirondacks. But the 2014 real estate deal is the first public evidence of a direct financial transaction between the pair.
Citing state tax documents and property deeds, ProPublica reported that one of Crow’s companies paid $133,363 for the home in Savannah, Georgia where Thomas’ mother was living, along with two nearby vacant lots that belonged to Thomas’ family members. Thomas mother remained living in the home, which soon underwent tens of thousands of dollars in renovations.
Federal officials, including Supreme Court justices, are required to disclose the details of most real estate transactions with a value of over $1,000. Thomas would not be required to report the purchase if the property was his or his spouse’s primary personal residence, but this stipulation does not apply to this purchase, which Thomas did not report.
Both Thomas and Crow have released statements downplaying the significance of the gifts, with Thomas maintaining that he was not required to disclose the trips. Crow responded to the latest disclosure with a statement to ProPublica saying that he approached Thomas about the purchase with an eye on honoring his legacy.
“My intention is to one day create a public museum at the Thomas home dedicated to telling the story of our nation’s second black Supreme Court Justice,” the statement said. “Justice Thomas’s story represents the best of America.”
Thomas’ office did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.
___
Associated Press reporter Mark Sherman contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wymt.com/2023/04/14/report-justice-clarence-thomas-sold-real-estate-donor-didnt-report-deal/ | 2023-04-14 01:33:00 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/2023/04/14/report-justice-clarence-thomas-sold-real-estate-donor-didnt-report-deal/ |
The biggest hero of the 1966 World Cup never so much as kicked a soccer ball -- but he did find the stolen World Cup trophy.
The heroics of Pickles the dog are receiving renewed attention on social media as the 2022 World Cup draws to a close.
"A true hero has four paws," one user commented on We Rate Dog's Instagram post.
In 1966, England was slated to host the World Cup and in celebration arranged for the Jules Rimet Trophy to be on display in London at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster a few months before the tournament began.
But before the exhibit could open to the public, the trophy was stolen from its case, sending London police on a wild chase. Officers dusted for fingerprints, fielded phone calls and even received a ransom note with the lining of the trophy attached.
A week into the search David Corbett was walking his dog Pickles in their South London neighborhood when the pup started poking around in some bushes. When Corbett investigated he found a pile of old newspapers and wrapped inside was the Jules Rimet trophy.
The trophy was returned and Pickles was regarded as a hero. England went on to win the World Cup that year and Pickles was invited to celebrate with the team. His owner was awarded 5,000 pounds and Pickles received a silver medal from the National Canine Defence League.
In 2018, a plaque was placed near the spot where Pickles sniffed out the trophy to honor the good deed done by a very good boy.
The Jules Rimet Cup was used until 1970 when it was permanently awarded to Brazil. The FIFA World Cup trophy was created in 1974 and is the prize teams are vying for this year.
ALSO READ | Morocco fans gather in New Jersey for World Cup watch party
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Genaro García Luna has been in custody in a federal lockup without bail since his arrest in 2019Image: Marco Ugarte/AP/picture alliance
PoliticsMexico
Trial of Mexico's top cop accused of helping El Chapo begins
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Genaro García Luna, who was once the top security official in Mexico, has been accused of protecting drug smuggling operations and taking bribes worth millions from Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
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The trial of Mexico's former security chief, Genaro García Luna, who is facing charges of bribery and colluding with drug traffickers, began in the United States on Monday.
Garcia Luna was arrested in 2019 in the Texas city of Dallas.
What do we know about Genaro Garcia Luna?
During his first day of trial in New York, prosecutors accused Garcia Luna of protecting a drug mafia's operations while they smuggled tons of cocaine into the United States. He moved to Miami after leaving his office.
Assistant US Attorney Philip Pilmar told the jury, "The person who is supposed to be in charge of fighting the Sinaloa cartel was actually its most valued asset."
Pilnar added, "With his help, the cartel made millions."
Mexican drug cartels eye Colombian farms
The defense cited a lack of evidence against Garcia Luna in opening remarks.
His attorney said there was, "'No money, no photos, no video, no texts, no emails, no recordings, no documents no credible, believable evidence that Genaro Garcia Luna helped the cartel.''
The jurors heard from officer-turned-cartel insider Sergio Villarreal Barragan, who said that Garcia Luna was viewed as ''the best investment they had.''
What lies ahead for Genaro Garcia Luna
Garcia Luna has been in custody in a federal lockup without bail since his arrest in 2019.
The former top cop has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.
Garcia Luna's trial is underway at the same courthouse where Guzman was convicted of drug smuggling internationally.
Just like during Guzman's trial, jurors' identities have been kept secret. | https://www.dw.com/en/trial-of-mexicos-top-cop-accused-of-helping-el-chapo-begins/a-64494501 | 2023-01-24 05:14:50 | 0 | https://www.dw.com/en/trial-of-mexicos-top-cop-accused-of-helping-el-chapo-begins/a-64494501 |
Federal prosecutors rested their case on Thursday against five alleged leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, ending the initial phase of the first seditious conspiracy trial in over a decade.
Over four weeks, government witnesses -- including several FBI agents, US Capitol Police officers, current and former members of the Oath Keepers and a representative from Facebook who testified about social media messages celebrating the violence -- testified to back up the Justice Department's case that the five defendants plotted to stop the electoral college count on January 6, 2021.
According to prosecutors, defendants Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell planned for an armed rebellion long before the US Capitol riot.
Members of the group attended several other rallies in DC as "dry runs," prosecutors say, and took action when the moment finally presented itself on January 6, going with the crowd to storm the Capitol.
All five alleged members of the Oath Keepers have pleaded not guilty and will present evidence in their defense in the coming weeks. Some of the defendants have suggested they will testify in their own defense, including Rhodes, a Yale Law School graduate who founded the far-right extremist group.
In presenting their case, prosecutors largely relied on the group's own alleged chat messages on encrypted apps and their planning in the lead-up to January 6 -- which their leader Rhodes allegedly saw as a hard constitutional deadline to stop Joe Biden from becoming president.
Prosecutors have also presented several covertly recorded discussions in which Rhodes and other defendants allegedly discussed the election and warned of "combat here on US soil."
Defense attorneys have hammered on the idea that the group never had a specific plan on January 6 and Rhodes never instructed them to enter the Capitol.
Though one government cooperator, former Oath Keeper Graydon Young, called the plan "implicit," no one has testified the group had an organized, coordinated plan for what happened that day.
The second argument the defense has depended on is twofold: Members of the Oath Keepers were not violent during the riot and never called in a so-called "Quick Reaction Force" they had set up in a Virginia hotel with an alleged arsenal of firearms. The defendants did little more than other people charged only with misdemeanors, defense attorneys say. The only difference is their "rhetoric and bombast." | https://www.phillytrib.com/news/justice-department-rests-in-its-historic-seditious-conspiracy-case-against-oath-keepers/article_7542f488-8170-559a-93ec-5ba3b21e8e4e.html | 2022-11-03 19:06:57 | 0 | https://www.phillytrib.com/news/justice-department-rests-in-its-historic-seditious-conspiracy-case-against-oath-keepers/article_7542f488-8170-559a-93ec-5ba3b21e8e4e.html |
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned Tuesday that Beijing and Washington are headed for “conflict and confrontation” if the U.S. doesn’t change course, striking a combative tone at a moment when relations between the rivals are at a historic low.
In his first news conference since taking office late last year, Qin’s harsh language appeared to defy predictions that China might abandon its aggressive “wolf warrior” diplomacy in favor of more moderate rhetoric as the two countries face off over trade and technology, Taiwan, human rights and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Washington’s China policy has “entirely deviated from the rational and sound track,” Qin told journalists on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp legislature, when leaders lay out their economic and political priorities for the coming year.
“If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there surely will be conflict and confrontation,” said Qin, whose new position is junior to the Communist Party’s senior foreign policy official, Wang Yi. “Such competition is a reckless gamble, with the stakes being the fundamental interests of the two peoples and even the future of humanity.”
Qin’s comments echoed remarks made by leader Xi Jinping in a speech Monday to legislators.
“Western countries led by the United States have implemented all-round containment, blockade and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented grave challenges to our nation’s development,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
In the face of that, China must “remain calm, maintain concentration, strive for progress while maintaining stability, take active actions, unite as one, and dare to fight,” he said.
U.S. officials have grown increasingly worried about China’s expansive political and economic goals and the possibility of war over Taiwan — and many officials in Washington have called for the U.S. to make a bigger effort to counter Chinese influence abroad.
In recent weeks, concerns about Chinese spying on the U.S. and Beijing’s influence campaigns there have drawn particular concern, and officials from the two countries have frequently traded accusations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned visit to Beijing after Washington shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over American territory. The massive balloon and its payload, including electronics and optics, have been recovered from the ocean floor and are being analyzed by the FBI.
Then last week, China responded with indignation when U.S. officials raised the issue again of whether the COVID-19 pandemic began with a lab leak. The Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of “politicizing the issue” in an attempt to discredit China.
And the two countries have traded angry words over Taiwan as China has stepped up its diplomatic isolation and military harassment of the self-governing island democracy that it claims as its own territory.
Qin — who briefly served as ambassador to Washington and gained a reputation for his cutting condemnations of China’s critics when he was Foreign Ministry spokesman — touched on all these topics on Tuesday.
He criticized Washington for shooting down the balloon, repeating claims that its appearance in U.S. skies was an accident.
“In this case the United States’ perception and views of China are seriously distorted. It regards China as its primary rival and the most consequential geopolitical challenge,” Qin said. “This is like the first button in a shirt being put wrong and the result is that the U.S.-China policy has entirely deviated from the rational and sound track.”
On Taiwan, Qin called the issue the first red line that must not be crossed. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. While the U.S. does not advocate for either unification or Taiwan’s formal independence, Washington is obligated by federal law to see that the island has the means to defend itself if attacked.
“The U.S. has unshakable responsibility for causing the Taiwan question,” he said, accusing the U.S. of “disrespecting China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” by offering the island political backing and furnishing it with defensive weapons in response to Beijing’s threat to use force to bring it under Chinese control.
“Why does the U.S. ask China not to provide weapons to Russia, while it keeps selling arms to Taiwan?” Qin asked.
In Taipei, Taiwan’s Defense Minister said the armed forces weren’t seeking outright conflict with China’s military, but nor would they back away in the event of Chinese aircraft or ships entering Taiwanese coastal seas or airspace.
“It is the nation’s armed forces’ duty to mount an appropriate response,” Chiu Kuo-cheng told legislators.
Beijing has also accused the West of “fanning the flames” by providing Ukraine with weaponry to fend off the Russian invasion. China says it has a neutral stance in the war, but has also said it has a “no-limits friendship” with Russia and has refused to criticize Moscow’s invasion — or even refer to it as an invasion.
A Chinese call for a cease-fire in Ukraine that has drawn praise from Russia but dismissals from the West has done nothing to lessen tensions as U.S. officials have repeatedly accused China of considering providing weapons to Moscow for use in the war.
“Efforts for peace talks have been repeatedly undermined. There seems to be an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict and using the Ukraine crisis to serve a certain geopolitical agenda,” Qin said.
Qin’s news conference came two days after the opening of the yearly meeting of the National People’s Congress, a mostly ceremonial body assembled to approve government reports and, this year, a new slate of top-level appointments. That is expected to include a norm-breaking third five-year term as president for Xi, who has eliminated all term limits to allow him to rule indefinitely. | https://www.fox16.com/news/world-news/ap-international/in-1st-news-conference-china-minister-lashes-out-at-us/ | 2023-03-07 15:32:29 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/news/world-news/ap-international/in-1st-news-conference-china-minister-lashes-out-at-us/ |
Jail time, pending verdicts: The case statuses of alleged Jan. 6 rioters from New England
Two years after angry supporters of then-President Donald Trump scaled the walls of the U.S. Capitol and stormed Senate chambers, the cases of New England residents who allegedly participated and broke the law are still moving through federal court.
Some have already been sentenced to jail time, and new arrests are still being made. Last month, individuals in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were charged for their alleged roles in the riots that occurred two years ago.
The two-year anniversary of the Capitol riots comes on the heels of the House Committee on the Jan. 6 attack recommending criminal charges against former President Trump. The committee released its final 800-page report last month.
Recap of findings:Jan. 6 report says Trump floated plan for 10,000 troops to protect him
According to federal prosecutors, among the rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, were more than 20 New Englanders who have since been arrested and/or charged by the FBI with crimes connected to the Capitol insurgence that left five people dead and shook the nation to its core.
Among them are:
- A Lebanon, Maine, man accused of assaulting police officers;
- A Canterbury, Connecticut, mother/daughter duo;
- A North Kingstown, Rhode Island, man who worked as a nuclear facilities engineer for the state's Atomic Energy Commission;
- An Ashland, Massachusetts, doctor
More:House Jan. 6 panel recommends DOJ prosecute Trump on several charges. Which ones and why?
Nationally, more than 920 people in 48 states have been charged in what prosecutors have said is collectively "likely the most complex investigation ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice."
Here are the case statuses for New Englanders charged in the U.S. Capitol riots, in alphabetical order, according to the latest case information from the DOJ.
Jan. 6 attack:See who else has been charged around the country
Chase Kevin Allen
From: Seekonk, Massachusetts; now lives in Nevada
Charges: Destruction or injury to buildings or property in Special Maritime and Territorial jurisdiction; act of physical violence on grounds
Case status: Pleaded guilty on Nov. 22, 2022, to act of physical violence on grounds.
Noah Bacon
From: Somerville, Massachusetts
Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; enter or remain in the gallery of either House of Congress; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; obstruction of justice/Congress.
Case status: Arrested June 30, 2021. Indicted July 23, 2021. Trial scheduled for Feb. 27, 2023.
Jeremy Baouche
From: New London, Connecticut
Charges: Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case status: Arrested Nov. 10, 2021. Pleaded guilty Aug. 25, 2022, to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building
Stefanie Chiguer
From: Dracut, Massachusetts
Charges: Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case status: Arrested Jan. 18, 2022. Pleaded guilty on April 7, 2022, to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Joshua Colgan
From: Jefferson, Maine
Charges: Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.
Case status: Arrested May 2, 2022.
William Cotton
From: Hopkinton, Rhode Island
Charges: Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case status: Arrested Dec. 7, 2022.
FBI says:Images, phone records, license plate readers link RI man to Jan. 6 Capitol riot
Richard Crosby
From: Harwinton, Connecticut
Charges: Obstruction of justice/Congress; knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; entering and remaining on the floor of Congress; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case status: Arraigned July 20, 2021, where he pleaded not guilty to all counts. Case pending.
Timothy Desjardins
From: Providence, Rhode Island
Charges: Assaulting, resisting or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting body injury; civil disorder; entering restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted buildings or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and demonstrating in a Capitol building.
Case status: Charged on Nov. 30, 2021.
From RI:Providence man involved in Federal Hill standoff now charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot
Kyle Fitzsimons
From: Lebanon, Maine
Charges: Civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; inflicting bodily injury on certain officers; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
Case status: Found guilty on Sept. 27, 2022, following bench trial the previous month of 11 total charges, including seven felony charges. Sentencing scheduled for Feb. 17, 2023.
Thomas Gallagher
From: Bridgewater, New Hampshire
Charges: Entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case status: As part of a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to one charge of "parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building" on July 15, 2021. Sentenced to 24 months probation in October 2021.
Vincent Gillespie
From: Athol, Massachusetts
Charges: Assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case status: Found guilty on Dec. 23, 2022, of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers; civil disorder; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings. Sentencing scheduled for March 17, 2023.
More:Athol, MA man convicted in Jan. 6 attack on US Capitol
Nicholas Hendrix
From: Gorham, Maine
Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in any of the Capitol buildings.
Case status: Pleaded guilty on June 27, 2022, to parading, demonstrating or picketing in any of the Capitol buildings. Sentenced in December 2022 to 30 days in federal prison and three months probation.
Suzanne Ianni
From: Natick, Massachusetts
Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
Case status: Pleaded guilty on Sept. 14, 2022. Sentenced on Dec. 2, 2022, to 15 days of incarceration, 30 months of probation, 60 hours of community service, $500 restitution.
Sentenced:Ianni given 15 days in prison for role in Capitol riots
Carla Krzywicki
From: Canterbury, Connecticut
Charges: Misdemeanor trespass and disorderly conduct
Case status: Sentenced April 22, 2022, to 36 months of probation, including 90 days of home detention, $500 restitution.
Connecticut:Canterbury mother, daughter charged with entering Capitol during Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot
Jean Lavin
From: Canterbury, Connecticut
Charges: Misdemeanor trespass and disorderly conduct
Case status: Pleaded guilty on Jan. 11, 2022. Sentenced on April 22, 2022, to 36 months of probation, including 10 days of intermittent incarceration, 60 days of home detention, $2,500 fine, $500 restitution.
Patrick Edward McCaughey
From: Ridgefield, Connecticut
Charges: Assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, and aiding and abetting; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; obstruction of an official proceeding, and aiding and abetting; civil disorder; disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly conduct in the Capitol building; and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or building.
Case status: Found guilty on Sept. 13, 2022, of nine offenses, including seven felony charges. Sentencing scheduled for Jan. 26, 2023.
Brian McCreary
From: North Adams, Massachusetts
Charges: Obstruction of an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case status: Pleaded guilty in October 2021. Sentenced on April 1, 2022 to 36 months of probation, including 42 days of intermittent incarceration and two months of home detention, $2,500 fine, $500 restitution.
Kirstyn Niemela
From: Hudson, New Hampshire
Charges: Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case status: Arrested Jan. 18, 2022
Jason Riddle
From: Keene, New Hampshire
Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, theft of government property, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case Status: Plea agreement entered Nov. 18, 2021. Pleaded guilty to theft of government property and "parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building." Sentenced April 4, 2022, to 90 days in jail, followed by three years of probation, including 60 hours of community service, restitution of $754.
Mark Sahady
From: Malden, Massachusetts
Charges: Entering or remaining in restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
Case status: Pleaded not guilty to all counts. Scheduled for trial on April 17, 2023.
Troy Sargent
From: Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Charges: Forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding federal officers; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; knowingly engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in restricted building or grounds; knowingly engaging in physical violence in restricted building or grounds; willfully and knowingly engaging in physical violence in Capitol grounds or buildings.
Case status: Pleaded guilty to six charges. Sentenced to 14 months in prison on Dec. 12, 2022.
Bernard Joseph Sirr
From: North Kingstown, Rhode Island
Charges: Obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
Case status: Arrested June 29, 2022.
More:North Kingstown, RI man accused in Jan. 6 riot makes remote appearance in D.C. court
Jacquelyn Starer
From: Ashland, Massachusetts
Charges: Civil disobedience; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; entering and remaining in a restricted building; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.
Case status: Arrested on Dec. 20, 2022.
More:Ashland woman arrested, charged for taking part in Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots
Todd Tilley
From: South Paris, Maine
Charges: Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Case status:Arrested June 21, 2022.
The FBI is still seeking information on individuals involved with the Capitol riots. Call 1-800-CALL-FBI to verbally report tips and information, or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. The FBI also maintains a "most wanted list." | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2023/01/05/capital-riot-two-year-anniversary-cases-status-update-new-englanders-charged-attack-trump/69773677007/ | 2023-01-05 14:07:13 | 1 | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2023/01/05/capital-riot-two-year-anniversary-cases-status-update-new-englanders-charged-attack-trump/69773677007/ |
Flurry of activity signals deal is near on Brexit trade feud
By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — A flurry of political and diplomatic activity on Friday signaled a potential breakthrough on a rancorous post-Brexit trade dispute between Britain and the European Union. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak flew to Belfast for talks with political leaders, and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly met EU chief negotiator Maroš Šefčovič in Brussels. The U.K, the EU and Northern Ireland’s fractious political parties all say progress is being made on resolving the spat, which has brought economic headaches and political turmoil to Northern Ireland. The Democratic Unionist Party, which has collapsed Northern Ireland’s government out of opposition to the trade rules, said “there has been real progress.” | https://localnews8.com/news/2023/02/17/flurry-of-activity-signals-deal-is-near-on-brexit-trade-feud-2/ | 2023-02-17 17:54:51 | 0 | https://localnews8.com/news/2023/02/17/flurry-of-activity-signals-deal-is-near-on-brexit-trade-feud-2/ |
Buildkite launches Test Analytics, an industry-first tool for identifying and eliminating problematic tests — saving developers and companies time, money and effort
MELBOURNE, Australia, June 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A game-changing new tool by Buildkite, an industry-leading CI/CD platform used by the likes of Shopify, Venmo, Wayfair and Pinterest, launches today, promising to fix one of the biggest and most expensive problems in software development — flaky tests.
Buildkite's new product Test Analytics speeds up delivery pipelines for DevOps engineers by eliminating waste in the development process. The tool works seamlessly with Buildkite's CI/CD platform and integrates with any CI system, including CircleCI, GitHub Actions and Jenkins, providing continuous performance monitoring and real-time insights for test suites. These insights help software development teams identify, optimize, and resolve flaky and unreliable tests faster than ever before, freeing up teams to focus on fixing bugs and rolling out new features.
According to a recent study, 59% of developers deal with flaky tests on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. On Buildkite's platform alone, over 800 million seconds (25 years) of flaky tests are manually re-run by developers each month. Buildkite's CI/CD platform helps developers run software quickly and reliably, with testing and deployment tools that work for all software projects, whether for building mobile apps, backend applications, or custom hardware.
Tim Lucas, co-founder and co-CEO of Buildkite, said: "Flaky and unreliable tests are a nightmare for the developer world. There are three traditional ways of dealing with the issue. The first is to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy identifying the root cause of a flaky test. The second is to run your test repeatedly until it passes, wasting compute capacity and increasing costs. And the third is to ignore the failure altogether, which makes for unhappy developers and erodes trust in your entire testing and delivery process.
"With Test Analytics, developers can performance-tune their test suites to identify problems more quickly off the back of clear insight and analysis. Development teams not only have access to creating highly performant and stable build infrastructure, they now have the tools for making their own test suites faster and less flaky."
A clear dashboard within Test Analytics shows the slowest and least reliable tests, prioritizing the most critical fixes. Historical views and trend graphs provide further insight into diagnosing recurring problems. User-defined thresholds provide granularity in defining slow or unreliable tests and creating custom alerts. Integrations with commonly-used testing frameworks allow for deep inspection of where tests are spending time, from long-running database queries to API calls timing out.
For more information on Test Analytics, visit the company blog post here.
For visual assets surrounding Test Analytics, visit here.
Buildkite is the fastest and most secure way to test and deploy software at any scale. The company's continuous integration and continuous development (CI/CD) platform allows teams of all sizes to run fast, secure and scalable pipelines on their own infrastructure. Founded in 2013 by former developers Tim Lucas and Keith Pitt, the company was the first to introduce a self-hosted agent model and now supports over 1,000 customers across the world, including Canva, Intercom, Shopify, Venmo, Webflow, and more.
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SOURCE Buildkite | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/06/02/buildkite-eradicates-nightmare-flaky-coding-tests-developers-with-revolutionary-new-tool/ | 2022-06-02 22:52:18 | 1 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/06/02/buildkite-eradicates-nightmare-flaky-coding-tests-developers-with-revolutionary-new-tool/ |
NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Anchin, a premier New York-based accounting and advisory firm, is pleased to announce two strategic additions to the firm. Elizabeth Zabludoff has joined as a Principal in the Private Client Group and the Leader of Family Office Services. Anthony Carrella has joined as a Partner and the Leader of Client Accounting Advisory Services.
This announcement kicks off another exciting year of growth for Anchin.
In 2022, the firm opened an office in Boca Raton, Florida; added seven partners and principals; was again named a Best Place to Work in New York City, New York State, and nationally; and promoted a record group to Director and Senior Manager. All these actions have laid the foundation for a new year that will be focused on both internal and external expansion. "I am excited to welcome Liz and Anthony to the team. Their addition will further align our services with those that support our clients' continued success," says Russell B. Shinsky, Anchin's Managing Partner.
Elizabeth Zabludoff, JD, is a Principal in Anchin's Private Client Group and the Family Office Services Leader. She has more than 20 years of professional experience focusing on the needs of high-net-worth clients. Elizabeth has significant experience working with wealthy individuals and families (including several Forbes 400 families) and has earned her reputation as a thought leader and trusted advisor in the high-net-worth community. Her primary areas of focus include transgenerational wealth creation and family entrepreneurship.
Anthony Carrella, CPA, CGMA, is a Partner and the Leader of Anchin's Client Accounting Advisory Services Group with more than 15 years of financial experience. Anthony specializes in helping companies maximize cash flow, implement budgets, maximize cost savings, and manage their accounting and reporting accurately, timely and efficiently. He advises established and start-up clients in a wide range of industries including real estate, financial services, consumer products, technology and professional services.
Anchin is a leading accounting, tax and advisory firm, specializing in the needs of privately held companies, investment funds and high-net-worth individuals and families. Its highly-focused industry specialization helps clients overcome challenges and achieve their financial objectives with exceptional confidence. Consistently recognized in respected "best of" lists for service, firm management, and employee satisfaction, Anchin prioritizes partner-level engagement, and commitment to employee happiness. The full-service firm, with a staff of 450, including more than 60 partners, provides a wide range of assurance, financial reporting, tax and advisory services, including tax strategies and compliance; tax credits and incentives; state and local and international tax strategies, family office strategies management and succession advisory; growth, transition and exit strategies; transaction advisory; client accounting advisory services; cybersecurity and digital risk solutions; and litigation support, forensic accounting and valuation services. Anchin has offices in New York City, Uniondale, New York, and in Boca Raton, Florida, and is an independent member of BKR International, a network of more than 160 firms with over 500 offices in over 80 countries around the world. Discover what's possible by visiting us online at www.anchin.com.
For further information:
Lisa Tomlinson
212.840.3456
lisa.tomlinson@anchin.com
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SOURCE Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2023/01/12/anchin-continues-expansion-by-adding-leaders-its-private-client-client-accounting-advisory-services-groups/ | 2023-01-12 12:51:55 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2023/01/12/anchin-continues-expansion-by-adding-leaders-its-private-client-client-accounting-advisory-services-groups/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — The mass shooting Wednesday at a Walmart in Virginia was only the latest example of a workplace shooting perpetrated by an employee.
But, while many companies provide active shooter training, experts say there is much less focus on how to prevent workplace violence, particularly how to identify and address worrisome behavior among employees.
Workers far too often don't know how to recognize warning signs, and even more crucially don't know how to report suspicious behavior or feel empowered to do so, according to workplace safety and human resources experts.
"We have built an industry around how to lock bad guys out. We have heavily invested in physical security measure like metal detectors, cameras and armed security guards," said James Densley, professor of criminal justice at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and co-founder of the nonprofit and nonpartisan research group The Violence Project. But too often in workplace shootings, he said, "this is someone who already has access to the building."
The Walmart shooting in particular raised questions of whether employees feel empowered to speak up because it was a team leader who carried out the shooting.
Identified by Walmart as 31-year-old Andre Bing, he opened fire on fellow employees in the break room of the Chesapeake store, killing six people and leaving six others wounded. Police said he then apparently killed himself.
Employee Briana Tyler, who survived the shooting, said Bing appeared not to be aiming at anyone in particular. Tyler, who started at Walmart two months ago, said she never had a negative encounter with Bing, but others told her that he was "the manager to look out for." She said Bing had a history of writing people up for no reason.
Walmart launched a computer-based active shooter training in 2015, which focused on three pillars: avoid the danger, keep your distance and lastly, defend. Then, in 2019 after a mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas, store in which an outside gunman killed 22 people, Walmart addressed the threat to the public by discontinuing sales of certain kinds of ammunition and asked that customers no longer openly carry firearms in its stores. It now sells only hunting rifles and related ammunition.
Walmart didn't specifically respond on Wednesday to questions seeking more detail about its training and protocols to protect its own employees. The company only said that it routinely reviews its training policies and will continue to do so.
Densley said that employers need to create open channels for workers to voice concerns about employees' behavior, including confidential hotlines. He noted that too often attention is focused on the "red flags" and workers should be looking for the "yellow flags" — subtle changes in behavior, like increased anger or not showing up for work. Densley said managers need to work with those individuals to get them counseling and do regular check-ins.
In fact, the Department of Homeland Security's active shooting manual states that human resources officials have a responsibility to "create a system for reporting signs of potential violence behavior." It also encourages employees to report concerning behavior such as increased absenteeism and repeated violation of company policies.
But many employers may not have such prevention policies in place, said Liz Petersen, Quality Manager at the Society for Human Resource Management, an organization of more than 300,000 human resources professionals.
She noted that in a 2019 SHRM survey of its members, 55% of HR professionals said they didn't know if their organizations had policies to prevent workplace violence, and another 9% said they lacked such programs. That was in contrast to the 57% of HR managers who said they did have training on how to respond to violence.
A recent federal government report examining workplace violence over three decades found that workplace homicides have risen in recent years, although they remain sharply down from a peak in the mid-1990s.
Between 2014 and 2019, workplace homicides nationwide increased by 11% from 409 to 454. That was still down 58% from a peak of 1,080 in 1994, according to the report, which was released in July by the Departments of Labor, Justice and Health and Human Services. The report found that workplace homicide trends largely mirrored homicide trends nationwide.
But the country's spike in mass public shootings is raising awareness among employers of the need to address mental health in the workplace and prevent violence — and of the liabilities employers can face if they ignore warning signs, Petersen said.
In one high-profile example, the family of a victim filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this year against the Northern California Transportation agency, alleging it failed to address the history of threatening behavior of an employee who shot and killed nine co-workers at a light railyard in San Jose in 2021.
The transportation agency released more than 200 pages of emails and other documents showing the shooter, Samuel James Cassidy, had been the subject of four investigations into workplace conduct, and one worker had worried that Cassidy could "go postal." That expression stems from one of the deadliest workplace shooting in U.S. history, when a postal worker shot and killed 14 workers in Edmond, Oklahoma, in 1986.
"Workplace violence is a situation that you never think is going to happen to your organization until it does, and unfortunately, it's important to prepare for them because they are becoming more commonplace," Petersen said.
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This story has been updated to correct the location of Metropolitan State University. It's in St. Paul, not DePaul, Minnesota.
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This story was first published on November 24, 2022. It was updated on November 28, 2022 to correct the spelling of Liz Petersen, quality manager at the Society for Human Resource Management. | https://www.ksby.com/news/national/walmart-shooting-raises-need-for-violence-prevention-at-work | 2022-11-28 23:06:32 | 0 | https://www.ksby.com/news/national/walmart-shooting-raises-need-for-violence-prevention-at-work |
STATESVILLE, N.C., June 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (NASDAQ: KEQU) today announced results for its fourth quarter and its fiscal year ended April 30, 2023.
Fiscal Year 2023 Fourth Quarter Results:
Sales during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 were $53,986,000, an increase of 8.6% compared to sales of $49,715,000 from the prior year's fourth quarter. The increase was a result of higher international segment sales when compared to the prior period due to the continued delivery of several large projects awarded over the course of the past eighteen months.
Pre-tax earnings for the quarter were $2,322,000 compared to $2,345,000 for the prior year period. Net earnings for the quarter were $1,005,000 compared to a net loss of $362,000 for the prior year. EBITDA1 for the quarter was $3,307,000 compared to $2,969,000 for the prior year period. Diluted earnings per share were $0.34, as compared to a diluted loss per share of $0.13 in the prior year's fourth quarter.
Domestic Segment - Domestic sales for the quarter were $35,123,000, a decrease of 6.9% from sales of $37,720,000 in the prior year period. Net earnings for the domestic segment were $2,402,000 compared to $2,380,000 in the prior year period. Domestic segment EBITDA was $2,991,000 compared to $2,957,000 for the prior year period. During the fourth quarter, the Company fulfilled most of the outstanding performance obligations for the remaining direct orders in its order backlog, the majority of which were priced and executed prior to the broad-based inflation experienced during the previous fiscal year.
International Segment - International sales for the quarter were $18,863,000, an increase of 57.3% from sales of $11,995,000 in the prior year period. This increase in sales was due to the continued delivery of several large projects awarded over the course of the past eighteen months. Net income for the international segment was $1,106,000 compared to $1,020,000 in the prior year period. International segment EBITDA was $1,546,000 compared to $1,456,000 for the prior year period. EBITDA for the quarter was reduced by $293,000, when compared to the previous year period due to a change in the Corporate cost allocation methodology after completing a revised transfer pricing study.
Corporate Segment – Corporate segment net loss was $2,503,000 for the quarter, as compared to $3,762,000 in the prior year period. Corporate segment EBITDA loss for the quarter was $1,230,000, a favorable improvement of 14.8% from corporate segment EBITDA loss of $1,444,000 for the prior year period. The improved EBITDA was driven by the Corporate cost allocation methodology change discussed above, partially offset by higher pension-related expenses.
The Company's order backlog was $147.9 million on April 30, 2023, decreasing from $153.2 million on January 31, 2023 and $173.9 million on April 30, 2022. This change in backlog is principally driven by the substantial completion of the previously announced Dangote Oil project in Lagos, Nigeria during the fiscal year and a reduction in market demand within the ASEAN marketplace. The Company's order backlog for the United States and Indian markets finished the year similar to prior year levels as order rates in these markets remain strong.
"Kewaunee delivered one of the best quarters in the Company's history as our Associates finished fiscal year 2023 on a high note," said Thomas D. Hull III, Kewaunee's President, and Chief Executive Officer. "Profitability improved throughout the year as our teams continued to operate the business with excellence."
"Our domestic team remained focused on supporting our dealer and distribution partners, concluding a year of significant transition. We have materially completed our remaining performance obligations for the previously discussed direct projects, which were priced and awarded prior to the broad-based inflation experienced during the prior fiscal year. We continue to encourage and support our dealer and distribution partners' investment in their organizations so they can better serve their respective territories and we can grow our businesses together. We ended the year well positioned with a strong go-to-market strategy, a healthy order backlog, and a robust opportunity pipeline."
"Our international team has been awarded several large, high-profile projects over the past two years. The fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 was very strong. This resulted in a significant increase in sales when compared to the prior year quarter. The international team wrapped up what was a record year for both sales and earnings for the segment during the fourth quarter. I could not be prouder of how the team performed during the year."
Fiscal Year 2023 Full Year Results:
Sales during fiscal year 2023 were $219,494,000, an increase of 30.0% compared to sales of $168,872,000 from the prior year. Pre-tax earnings for the fiscal year were $4,498,000 compared to a pre-tax loss of $2,485,000 for the prior year. Net earnings for the fiscal year were $738,000, compared to a net loss of $6,126,000 for the prior year. EBITDA for the fiscal year was $7,517,000 compared to $394,000 for the prior fiscal year. Diluted earnings per share was $0.25, as compared to a loss per share of $2.20 in the prior fiscal year.
Domestic Segment - Domestic sales for the fiscal year were $146,716,000, an increase of 15.7% from sales of $126,848,000 in the prior year. This increase was primarily driven by the pricing of new orders in response to higher raw material input costs. Domestic segment net earnings were $3,408,000 compared to a net loss of $229,000 in the prior fiscal year. Domestic segment EBITDA was $5,802,000 compared to $2,223,000 for the prior year. Domestic segment profitability was negatively impacted during the year by the completion of direct contracts which were priced and awarded prior to the broad-based inflation experienced in the prior fiscal year. Many of these direct contracts were delivered at a loss for the Company.
International Segment - International sales for the fiscal year were $72,778,000, an increase of 73.2% from sales of $42,024,000 in the prior year. The increase in sales was driven by the delivery of several large projects throughout the fiscal year in India, Asia, and Africa. International segment net earnings were $4,511,000 compared to $2,333,000 in the prior fiscal year. International segment EBITDA was $6,650,000 compared to $3,571,000 for the prior year.
Corporate Segment – Corporate segment net loss was $7,181,000 for the fiscal year, as compared to $8,230,000 in the prior fiscal year. Corporate segment EBITDA loss for the fiscal year was $4,935,000, a favorable improvement of 8.6% from corporate segment EBITDA loss of $5,400,000 for the prior year. The favorable change in EBITDA was primarily driven by increased Corporate allocations of $1,172,000 when compared to the prior year due to the change in transfer pricing methodology discussed above, partially offset by higher pension-related expenses and higher operating expenses.
Total cash on hand on April 30, 2023 was $13,815,000, compared to $6,894,000 on April 30, 2022. Working capital was $47,867,000, compared to $49,272,000 on April 30, 2022. Short-term debt was $3,587,000 on April 30, 2023, compared to $1,588,000 on April 30, 2022, and long-term debt was $29,007,000 on April 30, 2023 compared to $29,704,000 on April 30, 2022. The Company's debt-to-equity ratio on April 30, 2023 was 1.08-to-1, compared to 1.07-to-1 on April 30, 2022.
"Our vision for Kewaunee is to be the global supplier of choice with customers in the laboratory furniture and infrastructure markets," said Thomas D. Hull III, Kewaunee's President, and Chief Executive Officer. "In pursuing this vision, we continue to follow the principles that guide our actions:
- We will be easy to do business with;
- We will get closer to our customers;
- We will do everything with the highest quality; and
- We will lead and not follow (we are innovators)."
"Fiscal year 2023 was a transition year for Kewaunee as we emerged from an extremely disruptive period over the past three years dealing with a global pandemic, rapid broad-based inflation, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions. A testament to the character and drive of Kewaunee's leadership team and Associates is that, while managing through these challenges, we continued to invest in and evolve our business. The benefits of these decisions began to appear as we moved through the year and our financial performance steadily improved. Kewaunee ends fiscal year 2023 with a strong global management team, a healthy backlog, improved manufacturing capabilities, and end-use markets which continue to prioritize investment in projects that require the products Kewaunee designs and manufactures."
"Moving forward, Kewaunee will continue to invest in developing world class manufacturing capabilities to support our dealer and distribution partners in growing our businesses together. This investment in our capabilities better positions Kewaunee to be the brand of choice. Kewaunee's future is bright, and I am excited to continue building on our momentum in fiscal 2024."
EBITDA and Segment EBITDA Reconciliation
About Non-GAAP Measures
EBITDA and Segment EBITDA are calculated as net earnings (loss), less interest expense and interest income, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization. We believe EBITDA and Segment EBITDA allow management and investors to compare our performance to other companies on a consistent basis without regard to depreciation and amortization, which can vary significantly between companies depending upon many factors. EBITDA and Segment EBITDA are not calculations based upon generally accepted accounting principles, and the method for calculating EBITDA and Segment EBITDA can vary among companies. The amounts included in the EBITDA and Segment EBITDA calculations, however, are derived from amounts included in the historical statements of operations. EBITDA and Segment EBITDA should not be considered as alternatives to net earnings (loss) or operating earnings (loss) as an indicator of the Company's operating performance, or as an alternative to operating cash flows as a measure of liquidity.
About Kewaunee Scientific
Founded in 1906, Kewaunee Scientific Corporation is a recognized global leader in the design, manufacture, and installation of laboratory, healthcare, and technical furniture products. The Company's products include steel and wood casework, fume hoods, adaptable modular systems, moveable workstations, stand-alone benches, biological safety cabinets, and epoxy resin work surfaces and sinks.
The Company's corporate headquarters are located in Statesville, North Carolina. Sales offices are located in the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. Three manufacturing facilities are located in Statesville serving the domestic and international markets, and one manufacturing facility is located in Bangalore, India serving the local, Asian, and African markets. Kewaunee Scientific's website is located at http://www.kewaunee.com.
This press release contains statements that the Company believes to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release, including statements regarding the Company's future financial condition, results of operations, business operations and business prospects, are forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "predict," "believe" and similar words, expressions and variations of these words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors that could significantly impact results or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to: competitive and general economic conditions, including disruptions from government mandates, both domestically and internationally, as well as supplier constraints and other supply disruptions; changes in customer demands; technological changes in our operations or in our industry; dependence on customers' required delivery schedules; risks related to fluctuations in the Company's operating results from quarter to quarter; risks related to international operations, including foreign currency fluctuations; changes in the legal and regulatory environment; changes in raw materials and commodity costs; acts of terrorism, war, governmental action, natural disasters and other Force Majeure events. The cautionary statements made pursuant to the Reform Act herein and elsewhere by us should not be construed as exhaustive. We cannot always predict what factors would cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. Over time, our actual results, performance, or achievements will likely differ from the anticipated results, performance or achievements that are expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements, and such difference might be significant and harmful to our stockholders' interest. Many important factors that could cause such a difference are described under the caption "Risk Factors," in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year ended April 30, which you should review carefully, and in our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. These reports are available on our investor relations website at www.kewaunee.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. The Company assumes no obligation, and expressly disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact:
Donald T. Gardner III
704/871-3274
1 EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See the table below for a reconciliation of EBITDA and segment EBITDA to net earnings (loss), the most directly comparable GAAP measure.
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SOURCE Kewaunee Scientific Corporation | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2023/06/28/kewaunee-scientific-reports-results-fiscal-year-fourth-quarter/ | 2023-06-28 21:57:06 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2023/06/28/kewaunee-scientific-reports-results-fiscal-year-fourth-quarter/ |
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People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.abqjournal.com/news/7th-annual-ffnm-awards-ceremony-is-april-25/article_fbcd1d43-4669-59e4-94b6-d86256328913.html | 2023-07-16 23:54:11 | 1 | https://www.abqjournal.com/news/7th-annual-ffnm-awards-ceremony-is-april-25/article_fbcd1d43-4669-59e4-94b6-d86256328913.html |
Address: 5933 NE Glisan St.
Year built: 1927
Square footage: 8,910
Market value: $1,004,080
Owners: Angelo and Leonor Markantonatos
Property tax owed: $25,136.41
How long it’s been delinquent: Since 2020
What those taxes could buy: 14,818 Rawlings official league baseballs for Portland Public Schools teams
Why it’s delinquent: Unclear. The pub on the site is still operating.
If we had to guess, we’d say that the A&L Sports Pub was named for the owners, Angelo and Leonor Markantonatos. Angelo and Leonor. A and L.
The couple bought the property at the northwest corner of 60th and Glisan in 2002 for $160,000, according to Multnomah County property records. A&L made it through the pandemic and is back to being a hard-driving sports bar. Whoever runs the Facebook page keeps busy promoting soccer matches and football games and profiling long-term employees, of which there are many.
For the Super Bowl, A&L offered all-you-can-eat spaghetti and meat sauce with French bread and salad for $15.
But the Markantonatoses owe more than $25,000 in property taxes. In a brief phone conversation, Angelo, 91, said he gave the bar to his son, also named Angelo, 57. Angelo the elder says he’s dying, so we didn’t push him for details.
We’d love to talk to Angelo the younger about the tax issue, but he didn’t call us back. Nor did they respond to a message on their hyperactive Facebook page. The bar employee said her boss was “scarce” and “hard to pin down.”
Two signs of compliance: The Markantonatos family made a property tax payment of $10,000 on Nov. 15, and another for $4,500 on Feb. 8. | https://www.wweek.com/news/chasing-ghosts/2023/02/15/beloved-north-tabor-watering-hole-al-sports-pub-is-paying-off-its-back-taxes/ | 2023-02-15 16:50:43 | 1 | https://www.wweek.com/news/chasing-ghosts/2023/02/15/beloved-north-tabor-watering-hole-al-sports-pub-is-paying-off-its-back-taxes/ |
Marcus Semien Player Prop Bets: Rangers vs. Orioles - April 5
Published: Apr. 5, 2023 at 9:27 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
Marcus Semien -- 0-for-4 in his last game -- will be in action for the Texas Rangers versus the Baltimore Orioles, with Grayson Rodriguez on the hill, on April 5 at 2:05 PM ET.
In his previous game he had a hitless performance (0-for-4) against the Orioles.
Marcus Semien Game Info & Props vs. the Orioles
- Game Day: Wednesday, April 5, 2023
- Game Time: 2:05 PM ET
- Stadium: Globe Life Field
- Live Stream: Watch this game on fuboTV!
- Orioles Starter: Grayson Rodriguez
- TV Channel: BSSW
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -250)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +375)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +165)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: -105)
Looking to place a prop bet on Marcus Semien? Check out what's available at BetMGM and sign up with this link!
Marcus Semien At The Plate (2022)
- Semien hit .248 with 31 doubles, five triples, 26 home runs and 53 walks.
- Semien had a hit 104 times last year in 161 games (64.6%), including 45 multi-hit games (28.0%).
- He hit a home run in 24 games a year ago (out of 161 opportunities, 14.9%), going deep in 3.6% of his plate appearances.
- In 54 of 161 games last season (33.5%), Semien drove in a run, and 15 of those games (9.3%) included two or more RBIs. He had three or more RBIs in nine contests.
- He came around to score in 73 of his 161 games a year ago (45.3%), with two or more runs scored 26 times (16.1%).
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Marcus Semien Home/Away Batting Splits (2022)
Orioles Pitching Rankings (2022)
- The pitching staff for the Orioles had a collective 7.6 K/9 last season, which ranked 25th in the league.
- The Orioles had the 17th-ranked team ERA among all league pitching staffs (3.97).
- The Orioles surrendered 171 total home runs last season (1.1 per game) to rank 14th in baseball.
- Rodriguez will make his first start of the season for the Orioles.
- The righty is making his MLB debut at 23 years old.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/04/05/marcus-semien-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-04-05 15:44:36 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/04/05/marcus-semien-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
For New York City mayor, his war on rats becomes personal
By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Every New York City mayor has battled rats. But for the current mayor, Eric Adams, the war on vermin has taken a peculiar turn. Adams went before a hearing officer Thursday to contest tickets he got from his own health department for allegedly allowing broods of rodents to take residence at his Brooklyn townhouse. Adams contested the findings of an inspector who found rat burrows and droppings outside the building. The mayor said his own inspections of the property did not produce signs of any rodents. The hearing officer has 30 days to decide if the mayor has to pay a fine. | https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national/2023/02/09/for-new-york-city-mayor-his-war-on-rats-becomes-personal/ | 2023-02-09 21:02:05 | 0 | https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national/2023/02/09/for-new-york-city-mayor-his-war-on-rats-becomes-personal/ |
As President Trump talked tax overhaul on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Arkansas patient advocate Andrea Taylor was also meeting with lawmakers and asking them to save a corporate tax credit for companies that develop drugs for rare diseases.
Taking the credit away, Taylor said, "eliminates the possibility for my child to have a bright and happy future."
Taylor, whose 9-year-old son, Aiden, has a rare connective tissue disorder, spoke as part of a small rally organized this week by the National Organization for Rare Disorders — the nation's largest advocacy group for patients with rare diseases.
Earlier this month, House Republicans proposed eliminating the orphan drug tax credits, which Congress passed as part of a basket of financial incentives for drugmakers in the 1983 Orphan Drug Act. The law, intended to spur development of medicines for rare diseases, also gives seven years of market exclusivity for drugs that treat a specific condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people.
The Senate Finance Committee, led by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, put the tax credit back into the tax legislation. After some negotiations, the committee settled on reducing the credit to 27.5 percent of the costs of preapproved clinical research, compared with the current 50 percent. The committee also restored a provision that would have eliminated any credits for drugmakers who repurpose a mass-market drug as an orphan.
Today, many orphan medicines treat more than one condition and often come with astronomical prices. Many of the medicines aren't entirely new, either. A Kaiser Health News investigation, which was also aired and published by NPR, found that more than 70 of the roughly 450 individual drugs given orphan status were first approved for mass-market use, including cholesterol blockbuster Crestor, Abilify for psychiatric conditions, cancer drug Herceptin and rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, which for years was the best-selling medicine in the world.
More than 80 other orphans won Food and Drug Administration approval for more than one rare disease and, in some cases, multiple rare diseases, the KHN investigation showed.
"As with any major reform, tough choices have to be made," a Hatch spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement, adding that the senator will continue to work "to make the appropriate policy decisions" to deliver a comprehensive tax overhaul.
Hatch, who is a member of a rare-disease congressional caucus, received $102,600 in campaign contributions from pharmaceutical and related trade group political action committees in the first half of 2017, making him the top recipient of pharmaceutical cash in the Senate.
If the Senate provision remains untouched, reducing the tax credit would save the federal government nearly $30 billion over a decade, according to a markup of the bill released late last week.
Orphan drug development has become big business in recent years and advocates as well as critics of the industry say tax credits have been an important motivation for companies. Orphan drugs accounted for 7.9 percent of total U.S. drug sales in 2016, according to a report released by QuintilesIMS and NORD.
Because patient populations for rare-disease drugs are relatively small, companies often charge premium pricing for the medicines. EvaluatePharma, a company that analyzes the drug industry, estimates that among the top 100 drugs in the U.S. the average annual cost per patient for an orphan drug was $140,443 in 2016. Giant pharmaceutical companies such as Celgene, Roche, Novartis, AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson have led worldwide sales in the orphan market, according to EvaluatePharma's 2017 Orphan Drug Report.
Jonathan Gardner, U.S. news editor for EvaluatePharma, said the orphan drug tax credit is "probably the most important incentive for developing an orphan drug." Cutting the credit will force even the large companies to question development of drugs for rare diseasess, Gardner said.
Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, has been critical of the Orphan Drug Act's incentives and of companies taking advantage of the law's financial incentives for profit. But he warned against rushing to eliminate the tax credit.
"We need to think about ways we can improve the Orphan Drug Act and stop people from gaming the system and exploiting it," Kesselheim said. But there "are a lot of rare diseases that don't have treatments. So, we need to be careful in making changes."
The battle over the tax credit is the latest controversy for the FDA's orphan drug program. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced a "modernization" plan for the agency this summer, closing a pediatric testing loophole and eliminating a backlog of corporate applications for orphan drug status. And, this week, the agency confirmed that Dr. Gayatri Rao, director for the Office of Orphan Products Development, is leaving.
Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office confirmed this month that it recently launched an investigation of the orphan drug program. The GAO's review was sparked by a letter from top Republican Sens. Hatch, Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asking the agency to investigate whether drugmakers "might be taking advantage" of the drug approval process.
The pharmaceutical industry has had a muted response to the tax bill, which includes a corporate tax cut. The powerful industry lobbying group PhRMA said it is pleased Congress is looking at overhauling the tax code but "encourages policymakers to maintain incentives" for rare diseases. BIO, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization that represents biomedical companies, said it was "gratified" the Senate committee chose to partially retain the credit but would prefer to keep the existing incentive.
The group that rallied Tuesday — wearing bright-orange shirts that read "Save the Orphan Drug Tax Credit" — planned to meet with a couple of dozen lawmakers, including Grassley, who is a member of the Senate Finance Committee. NORD, like many patient advocacy groups, receives funding from pharmaceutical companies but the organization's leaders say the industry does not have members on the board and does not dictate how general donations are spent.
On Tuesday, NORD leaders said they are open to discussions about the tax credit, and whether the overall law is working as intended. "We're here to have that conversation; we're ready to have that conversation," said Paul Melmeyer, director of federal policy for NORD. "Sadly, that's not the conversation we are having today."
Abbey Meyers, a founder of NORD and the leading advocate behind passing the initial 1983 law, said she fears the high cost of the drugs will make it impossible to sustain the orphan drug program. Now retired, Meyers said she has followed the law's success over the years and believes the tax credit should not be changed.
"There are other things that have happened since the law was passed where there wasn't any logic to what they did," Meyers said, adding "because somebody went to a senator and they put into the law."
Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
KHN's coverage of prescription drug development, costs and pricing is supported by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Dr. Aaron Kesselheim's work is also supported by the foundation.
Copyright 2023 Kaiser Health News. To see more, visit Kaiser Health News. | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2017-11-29/advocates-for-patients-with-rare-diseases-defend-tax-credits-for-orphan-drugs | 2023-05-27 22:38:25 | 0 | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2017-11-29/advocates-for-patients-with-rare-diseases-defend-tax-credits-for-orphan-drugs |
Updated June 21, 2023 at 1:12 PM ET
Experts from within and outside OceanGate raised concerns about the safety of its Titan submersible as far back as 2018, years before it went missing during a deep-sea dive to the Titanic shipwreck site.
Several of those complaints have resurfaced this week, as the frantic search for the vessel — and its five passengers — continues.
"It hasn't surprised us," said Will Kohnen, the chair of the Marine Technology Society's Submarine Committee (formerly the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee), about the Titan's disappearance. "We've been aware of this project for some time and have had some concerns."
In March 2018, after one of the international industry group's annual conferences, Kohnen drafted a letter to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush — the pilot of the missing vessel — expressing "unanimous concern" on behalf of its members about the development of the Titan and its planned Titanic expeditions.
"Our apprehension is that the current experimental approach adopted by Oceangate could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry," he wrote, according to a copy obtained by the New York Times.
NPR has reached out to OceanGate for comment.
Kohnen told Morning Edition's A Martínez on Wednesday that the group's main concern was a lack of oversight and adherence to industry-accepted safety guidelines.
"Most of the companies in this industry that are building submersibles and deep submersibles follow a fairly well-established framework of certification and verification and oversight, through classification societies," he said. "And that was at the root of OceanGate's project, is that they were going to go solo, going without that type of official oversight, and that brought a lot of concerns."
Kohnen doesn't see Titan's disappearance as a reason to take a step back from deep sea explorations as a whole.
"We have submarines all over the world diving 12,000 to 20,000 feet every day of the year for research," he said. "We know very well how to build and how to design these machines and how to operate them safely."
The same is true for tourism purposes, he adds: "It just gets expensive."
OceanGate's push to innovate worried industry experts
Third-party agencies around the world, like the American Bureau of Shipping and DNV in Europe, are responsible for overseeing structures like ships, oil platforms and submarines to ensure that they're designed to specification, Kohnen explained.
That process involves publishing rules and sending out engineers to review designs and inspectors to witness testing.
Most major marine operators require chartered vessels to be "classed" by one of these independent groups, OceanGate acknowledged in a 2019 blog post. However, it said that process only assesses physical vessels, not a company's operating procedures and decision-making processes, which are more often to blame for accidents.
The company affirmed its commitment to operational safety and risk mitigation, touting its "constant, committed effort and a focused corporate culture." But it also painted the third-party approval process as "anathema to rapid innovation," its founding principle.
"By definition, innovation is outside of an already accepted system," the blog post reads. "However, this does not mean that OceanGate does meet standards where they apply, but it does mean that innovation often falls outside of the existing industry paradigm."
Kohnen said that while his letter was never officially submitted to OceanGate, he did have a conversation with Rush in which the two "agreed to disagree." He points out that the complaint that regulatory bodies are slow to react to new innovations isn't unique to submarines.
"All industries face the same issue," Kohnen added. "And it is a careful dance of how do you push regulations forward in the face of rapid-changing technology."
A former employee says he was fired after raising concerns
OceanGate's own former director of marine operations also flagged potential safety issues with the Titan around the same time — and says he was fired after doing so, as NPR station WBUR reported.
David Lochridge, himself an experienced submarine pilot, alleged in a 2018 lawsuit that he was fired after raising concerns that the company wasn't properly testing the vessel's carbon fiber hull. He had also pushed for the company to utilize a classification agency to inspect and certify it.
Lochridge said he first raised his safety and quality control concerns verbally to executive management, which ignored them. He then sought to address the problems and offer solutions in a report.
The day after it was submitted, the lawsuit says, various engineering and HR executives invited him to a meeting at which he learned that the viewport of the submersible was only built to a certified pressure of 1,300 meters, even though the Titanic shipwreck lies nearly 4,000 meters below sea level.
Lochridge reiterated his concerns, but the lawsuit alleges that rather than take corrective action, OceanGate "did the exact opposite."
"OceanGate gave Lochridge approximately 10 minutes to immediately clear out his desk and exit the premises," it said.
OceanGate said in legal filings that it had relied on acoustic tests "better suited" to detect safety issues, and accused Lochridge of breaching his contract, according to WBUR.
"The company said Lochridge was not an engineer and refused to accept assurances from the lead engineer that testing was sufficient," WBUR's Walter Wuthmann told Morning Edition.
They settled out of court in 2018.
Previous expeditions haven't all gone smoothly
The Titan made its first dive to the Titanic wreck site in 2021 and returned the following year — though those trips haven't been without issue.
OceanGate acknowledged in legal filings that the vessel had encountered a battery issue and some external damage during its maiden voyage.
CBS Sunday Morning correspondent David Pogue said the submersible lost contact with the surface crew for about five hours during his expedition in 2022 and told NPR that a mechanical issue forced the vessel to abort a November trip after making it 37 feet down.
He said he's since learned that such dives "rarely go to plan."
"With each of these expeditions that OceanGate makes, they spend five days over the [Titanic] shipwreck," Pogue said. "And typically of those five days, they managed to get down only once or twice. And this season it's been zero."
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/2023-06-21/experts-raised-safety-concerns-about-oceangate-years-before-its-titanic-sub-vanished | 2023-06-21 17:32:53 | 0 | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/2023-06-21/experts-raised-safety-concerns-about-oceangate-years-before-its-titanic-sub-vanished |
WASHINGTON — More than 1 million people have been dropped from Medicaid in the past couple months as some states moved swiftly to halt health care coverage following the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
Most got dropped for not filling out paperwork.
Though the eligibility review is required by the federal government, President’s Joe Biden’s administration isn’t too pleased at how efficiently some other states are accomplishing the task.
“Pushing through things and rushing it will lead to eligible people — kids and families — losing coverage for some period of time,” Daniel Tsai, a top federal Medicaid official recently told reporters.
Already, about 1.5 million people have been removed from Medicaid in more than two dozen states that started the process in April or May, according to publicly available reports and data obtained by The Associated Press.
Florida has dropped several hundred thousand people, by far the most among states. The drop rate also has been particularly high in other states. For people whose cases were decided in May, around half or more got dropped in Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and West Virginia.
By its own count, Arkansas has dropped more than 140,000 people from Medicaid.
The eligibility redeterminations have created headaches for Jennifer Mojica, 28, who was told in April that she no longer qualified for Medicaid because Arkansas had incorrectly determined her income was above the limit.
She got that resolved, but was then told her 5-year-old son was being dropped from Medicaid because she had requested his cancellation — something that never happened, she said. Her son’s coverage has been restored, but now Mojica says she’s been told her husband no longer qualifies. The uncertainty has been frustrating, she said.
“It was like fixing one thing and then another problem came up, and they fixed it and then something else came up,” Mojica said.
Arkansas officials said they have tried to renew coverage automatically for as many people as possible and placed a special emphasis on reaching families with children. But a 2021 state law requires the post-pandemic eligibility redeterminations to be completed in six months, and the state will continue “to swiftly disenroll individuals who are no longer eligible,” the Department of Human Services said in statement.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has dismissed criticism of the state’s process.
“Those who do not qualify for Medicaid are taking resources from those who need them,” Sanders said on Twitter last month. “But the pandemic is over — and we are leading the way back to normalcy.”
More than 93 million people nationwide were enrolled in Medicaid as of the most recent available data in February — up nearly one-third from the pre-pandemic total in January 2020. The rolls swelled because federal law prohibited states from removing people from Medicaid during the health emergency in exchange for providing states with increased funding.
Now that eligibility reviews have resumed, states have begun plowing through a backlog of cases to determine whether people's income or life circumstances have changed. States have a year to complete the process. But tracking down responses from everyone has proved difficult, because some people have moved, changed contact information or disregarded mailings about the renewal process.
Before dropping people from Medicaid, the Florida Department of Children and Families said it makes between five and 13 contact attempts, including texts, emails and phone calls. Yet the department said 152,600 people have been non-responsive.
Their coverage could be restored retroactively, if people submit information showing their eligibility up to 90 days after their deadline.
Unlike some states, Idaho continued to evaluate people's Medicaid eligibility during the pandemic even though it didn't remove anyone. When the enrollment freeze ended in April, Idaho started processing those cases — dropping nearly 67,000 of the 92,000 people whose cases have been decided so far.
“I think there’s still a lot of confusion among families on what’s happening,” said Hillarie Hagen, a health policy associate at the nonprofit Idaho Voices for Children.
She added, “We’re likely to see people showing up at a doctor’s office in the coming months not knowing they’ve lost Medicaid.”
Advocates fear that many households losing coverage may include children who are actually still eligible, because Medicaid covers children at higher income levels than their parents or guardians. A report last year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services forecast that children would be disproportionately impacted, with more than half of those disenrolled still actually eligible.
That's difficult to confirm, however, because the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services doesn't require states to report a demographic breakdown of those dropped. In fact, CMS has yet to release any state-by-state data. The AP obtained data directly from states and from other groups that have been collecting it.
Medicaid recipients in numerous states have described the eligibility redetermination process as frustrating.
Julie Talamo, of Port Richey, Florida, said she called state officials every day for weeks, spending hours on hold, when she was trying to ensure her 19-year-old special-needs son, Thomas, was going to stay on Medicaid.
She knew her own coverage would end but was shocked to hear Thomas’ coverage would be whittled down to a different program that could force her family to pay $2,000 per month. Eventually, an activist put Talamo in contact with a senior state healthcare official who confirmed her son would stay on Medicaid.
“This system was designed to fail people,” Talamo said of the haphazard process.
Some states haven't been able to complete all the eligibility determinations that are due each month. Pennsylvania reported more than 100,000 incomplete cases in both April and May. Tens of thousands of cases also remained incomplete in April or May in Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico and Ohio.
“If states are already behind in processing renewals, that’s going to snowball over time," said Tricia Brooks, a research professor at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. "Once they get piles of stuff that haven’t been processed, I don’t see how they catch up easily.”
Among those still hanging in the balance is Gary Rush, 67, who said he was notified in April that he would lose Medicaid coverage. The Pittsburgh resident said he was told that his retirement accounts make him ineligible, even though he said he doesn’t draw from them. Rush appealed with the help of an advocacy group and, at a hearing this past week, was told he has until July to get rid of about $60,000 in savings.
Still, Rush said he doesn’t know what he will do if he loses coverage for his diabetes medication, which costs about $700 a month. Rush said he gets $1,100 a month from Social Security.
In Indiana, Samantha Richards, 35, said she has been on Medicaid her whole life and currently works two part-time jobs as a custodian. Richards recalled receiving a letter earlier this year indicating that the pandemic-era Medicaid protection was ending. She said a local advocacy group helped her navigate the renewal process. But she remains uneasy.
“Medicaid can be a little unpredictable,” Richards said. “There is still that concern that just out of nowhere, I will either get a letter saying that we have to reapply because we missed some paperwork, or I missed a deadline, or I’m going to show up at the doctor’s office or the pharmacy and they’re going to say, ‘Your insurance didn’t go through.’”
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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri, and DeMillo from Little Rock, Arkansas. Also contributing were AP reporters Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Arleigh Rodgers in Bloomington, Indiana. Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/nation-world/more-than-1-million-dropped-from-medicaid/507-5be94774-c3a7-4ede-817d-d471cc8bf691 | 2023-06-19 11:55:24 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/nation-world/more-than-1-million-dropped-from-medicaid/507-5be94774-c3a7-4ede-817d-d471cc8bf691 |
CLEVELAND — After the collapse, in a clubhouse that was quiet, but felt like it was simmering under the surface with frustration, Isiah Kiner-Falefa sat at his locker with his head down and waiting. The Yankees starting shortstop sat there for 10 minutes waiting to relive what looked like the toughest game of his career to date.
“Frustration, anger. Shock. Me personally, I’m just disappointed in myself,” Kiner-Falefa said after making three bad plays in the Yankees’ shocking 6-5 loss to the Guardians. “Like I had opportunities to come up with some key plays and I’d help the team win. Wasn’t able to come up with them and feel like you know, those are big runs that cost us the game tonight.”
Kiner-Falefa was just one of the pieces that failed the Yankees Saturday night. Mistakes on the field and in the dugout cost the Yankees their first ever playoff game when going into the ninth inning when leading by multiple runs. Their seemingly fragile bullpen blew a two-run lead in the critical Game 3 of the best-of-five game series and they went into Sunday night facing elimination.
“We’ve been through this all year. I think we’ve had a lot of comeback wins and we’ve just dealt with a lot of adversity,” Kiner-Falefa said. “So I think you know, the next couple of games we’re gonna be really put to the test. So just see what we’re really made of.”
There was plenty of blame to go around after dissecting Saturday night’s gut-wrenching loss.
Oswaldo Cabrera found his offense after starting the series 0-for-8 with a double and a two-run homer on Saturday night. Playing just his 10th big league game in left field, Yankees manager Aaron Boone stuck with him going into the critical ninth inning instead of the veteran outfielder, Aaron Hicks, and his inexperience showed when he overran Myles Straw’s bloop single.
“No, no. He’s shown us a lot. I think that’s just a no-man’s-land ball,” Boone said. “Credit to them, they put it in play in that inning, but just a lot of perfectly placed ones in there too. And then a great two-strike at-bat by Gonzalez to finish it off. But, no, I think that’s just one of those that falls in no-man’s land there. I loved what I’ve seen from Oswaldo out there.”
With Clay Holmes available “just in case of emergency” Saturday night, Luis Severino’s rough first two innings, which cost him 56 pitches, made bullpen management critical. Severino got them into the sixth, but Lou Trivino and Jonathan Loaisiga were used for just three outs combined and then Boone relied heavily on Wandy Peralta. When the lefty, who spent time on the injured list with a tight spine in the last few weeks of the regular season, started to falter with one out in the ninth, the manager was stuck. He chose to protect Holmes, who had missed time with a back issue and ended the season rehabbing a rotator cuff injury, and go to his rookie Clarke Schmidt.
Kiner-Falefa just made mistakes that the Yankees had seen throughout the season. The Yankees’ management made the decision to use Kiner-Falefa as a shortstop until one of their prospects — Anthony Volpe or Oswald Peraza — were ready. Peraza made his big league debut this season and was solid defensively. Still, the Yankees chose to go with Kiner-Falefa on the roster for the ALDS instead of Peraza.
He went after Josh Naylor’s grounder in the first awkwardly, diving to his left and trying to backhand it, letting it trickle into left field. That not only turned into a run-scoring single, but cost Severino an extra 15 pitches that inning on a play a veteran shortstop not only would have made, but probably would have gotten two outs on.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, he made a good play on Andres Gimenez’s grounder, but his throw to first was wide and the speedy Guardians second baseman was safe. That eventually ended up putting a Guardians run on the board when pinch hitter Will Brennan slapped a single.
In the ninth, after Cabrera came in too far on Myles Straw’s bloop to left, Kiner-Falefa recovered the ball, but then casually threw the ball to third, allowing Straw to take second. Straw went on to score there.
“I think he saw Straw halfway, and I was surprised too that Straw turned around, went to first. I think he saw there was no play at 2nd, which there wasn’t had he ran initially,” Boone said. “Obviously, threw it into third and that’s when Straw actually went.
While Boone insists that the Yankees’ internal metrics have Kiner-Falefa as a good defensive shortstop, he’s made some mistakes in really big spots this season. He’s made 15 errors and according to Baseball Savant, he is among the bottom 19th percentile in outs above average.
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PHOENIX (AP) — A dangerous heat wave threatened a wide swath of the Southwest with potentially deadly temperatures in the triple digits on Saturday as some cooling centers extended their hours and emergency rooms prepared to treat more people with heat-related illnesses.
“Near record temperatures are expected this weekend!” the National Weather Service in Phoenix warned in a tweet, advising people to follow its safety tips such as drinking plenty of water and checking on relatives and neighbors.
“Don’t be a statistic!” the weather service in Tucson advised, noting extreme heat can be deadly. “It CAN happen to YOU!”
About 110,000 people, or about a third of Americans, were under extreme heat advisories, watches and warnings Saturday as the blistering heat wave was forecast to get worse this weekend for Nevada, Arizona and California. Temperatures in some desert areas were predicted to soar past 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 degrees Celsius) during the day, and remain in the 90s F (above 32.2 C) overnight.
Around 200 hydration stations distributing bottles of water and cooling centers where potentially thousands of people can rest in air-conditioned spaces opened Saturday in public spaces like libraries, churches and businesses around the Phoenix area.
Charles Sanders spent Friday afternoon with his Chihuahua mix Babygirl at the air-conditioned Justa Center, which offers daytime services to older homeless people in downtown Phoenix. It’s also serving as a hydration station, distributing free bottles of water.
Because of funding and staffing limitations, the center can only stay open until 5:30 p.m., so Sanders, a 59-year-old who uses a wheelchair, has spent the sweltering nights with his pet in a tattered tent behind the building.
“I’ve been here for four summers now and it’s the worst so far,” said Sanders, a former welder originally from Denver.
David Hondula, chief heat officer for the City of Phoenix, said Friday that because of the health risks some centers were extending hours that are sometimes abbreviated because of limited volunteers and money.
“This weekend there will be some of the most serious and hot conditions we’ve ever seen,” said Hondula.
He said just one location, the Brian Garcia Welcome Center for homeless people in downtown Phoenix, planned to be open 24 hours and direct people to shelters and other air-conditioned spaces for the night. During especially hot spells in the past, the Phoenix Convention Center has opened some space as a nighttime cooling center, but Hondula said he had not heard of that possibility this year.
Stacy Champion, an advocate for homeless people in Phoenix, took to Twitter this week to criticize the lack of nighttime cooling spaces for unsheltered individuals, saying they are “out of luck” if they have no place to go.
In Las Vegas, casinos offered respite from the heat for many. Air-conditioned libraries, police station lobbies and other places from Texas to California planned to be open to the public to offer relief for at least part of the day.
Emergency room doctors in Las Vegas have been treating more people for heat illness as the heat wave threatened to break the city’s all-time record high of 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47.2 degrees Celsius) this weekend.
Dr. Ashkan Morim, who works in the ER at Dignity Health Siena Hospital in suburban Henderson, Nevada, spoke Friday of treating tourists this week who spent too long drinking by pools and became severely dehydrated, and a stranded hiker who needed liters of fluids to regain his strength.
In New Mexico’s largest city of Albuquerque, splash pads will be open for extended hours and many public pools were offering free admission. In Boise, Idaho, churches and other nonprofit groups were offering water, sunscreen and shelter.
In Southern California, temperatures soared into the triple digits in inland areas, and a ridge of high pressure was expected to keep its hold on the region for a couple of weeks.
In Lancaster and Palmdale, north of Los Angeles, temperatures hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 degrees Celsius), said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford. In Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, the thermometer cleared triple digits in some areas.
“We are going to be pretty warm for a while,” Wofford said, adding that temperatures would be above normal for about two weeks. “There’s been a lot of triple digits” across the region.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass announced the city was opening cooling centers where residents can escape the heat. “The extreme heat that is forecasted this weekend can pose serious risks,” she warned.
The hot, dry conditions sparked a series of blazes in Southern California, where firefighters on Saturday battled three separate brush fires that started Friday afternoon amid the year’s hottest weather so far. The fires are in mostly rural areas of Riverside County, southeast of Los Angeles.
Phoenix on Saturday saw the city’s 16th consecutive day of 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) or higher temperatures, hitting that mark before noon and putting it on track to beat the longest measured stretch of such heat. The was record 18 days, in 1974.
The heat was expected to continue into next week.
Regional health officials in Las Vegas launched a new database Thursday to report “heat-caused” and “heat-related” deaths in the city and surrounding Clark County from April to October.
The Southern Nevada Health District said seven people have died since April 11, and a total of 152 deaths last year were determined to be heat-related.
Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, reported this week that so far this year there have been 12 confirmed heat-associated deaths going back to April, half of them people who were homeless. Another 55 deaths are under investigation.
There were 425 confirmed heat-associated deaths in Maricopa County last year, with more than half of them occurring in July and 80% of them happening outdoors.
Closer to the Pacific coast, temperatures were less severe, but still have made for sweaty days on picket lines in the Los Angeles area, where actors joined screenwriters in strikes against producers.
In Sacramento, the California State Fair kicked off with organizers canceling planned horseracing events due to concerns for animal safety. Pet owners around the Southwest were urged to keep their animals mostly inside.
_____
Associated Press reporters Michael Blood in Los Angeles, Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, and Susan Montoya in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/health-news/ap-health/ap-us-southwest-swelters-under-dangerous-heat-wave-with-new-records-on-track/ | 2023-07-15 21:47:50 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/health-news/ap-health/ap-us-southwest-swelters-under-dangerous-heat-wave-with-new-records-on-track/ |
U.S. – NASA is planning to send pictures into space, hoping to communicate with other lifeforms out there. One of those images is naked humans.
The hope is to familiarize aliens with the way humans look to make them feel more comfortable with us. Almost like an invitation to interact with humans, but with pictures of naked humans. The male and female are waving in this image, to appear more inviting.
NASA will also send images of math problems, DNA structures, our Solar System, and a few other images.
This study included a map of the Solar System “with the indication of where the Earth is found relative to our host star and the other planets – along with a digitized map of Earth with relative proportions of land to water. This provides the ETI with the necessary information to make contact with us either by sending a follow on transmission to Earth or, if their technology is sufficiently advanced, by sending a physical vehicle to Earth at some point in the future. They will also include an invitation to respond if any aliens find the images in space.”
This effort is part of the “Beacon in the Galaxy” project which aims to send messages to other lifeforms. According to a report, these images will be sent in binary code because it is the “universal language across all intelligence”.
This report adds, “helping drive an open debate of the issue towards a maximally-informed consensus should rationally be a common goal of our civilization and stands among the purposes of this study”
This actually isn’t the first time images of humans were sent to space in hopes of contacting aliens. The Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft launched plaques and discs, sending cultural information including human greetings. | https://fox59.com/news/indynews/nasa-hopes-to-attract-aliens-with-messages-including-naked-images-of-humans/ | 2022-05-04 17:06:05 | 0 | https://fox59.com/news/indynews/nasa-hopes-to-attract-aliens-with-messages-including-naked-images-of-humans/ |
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SÖLDEN, Austria (AP) — Olympic giant slalom champion Marco Odermatt dominated the first run of the season-opening men's World Cup race Sunday.
The Swiss skier had a near-flawless run on the steep glacier in the Austrian Alps to build a lead of more than four-tenths of a second over second-place Lucas Braathen of Norway.
Odermatt won the race last year for the first of his five GS victories on the road to his first overall title.
Norway's Braathen, who triumphed in the traditional season opener in 2020, had .41 seconds to make up in the second run. The rest of the field, led by Zan Kranjec of Slovenia, was at least .69 behind Odermatt.
“Only half of the job is done,” Odermatt said. “I hope the second run goes just as well. I was way more relaxed coming here than in previous seasons.”
Henrik Kristoffersen was the only racer other than Odermatt to win a World Cup giant slalom last season, but the Norwegian had a costly mistake coming onto the flats and finished .95 off the lead.
In a remarkable move, Kristoffersen switched his ski equipment in the offseason, leaving his long-term supplier Rossignol to join the new Van Deer-Red Bull brand founded by his former rival Marcel Hirscher, the record eight-time overall champion who retired three years ago.
River Radamus was the leading contender for the U.S. ski team. A year after getting a career-best sixth at this race, Radamus posted the 11th time in the opening run, trailing Odermatt by 1.37.
The race took place in sunny conditions under blue skies, a day after the women's race was canceled due to rain and wet snow.
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More AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/skiing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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Eric Willemsen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eWilmedia | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Olympic-champ-Odermatt-takes-big-lead-in-skiing-17528248.php | 2022-10-23 10:15:41 | 0 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Olympic-champ-Odermatt-takes-big-lead-in-skiing-17528248.php |
IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- One year after a significant product enhancement featured new front and rear design elements, a new available 10.25-inch widescreen navigation display, and an expanded roster of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), the Forte compact sedan returns mostly unchanged for model year 2023. The Forte is still available in four trim levels – LX (formerly FE), LXS, GT-Line, GT and maintains up to 41 MPG on the highway1.
For 2023, all LX, LXS and GT-Line models with 2.0-liter engines are SULEV30 compliant. Furthermore, the GT Technology Package has been deleted. However, FCA Fusion – a combination of Front Collision Alert -Cyclist (FCA-Cyc), Electronic Parking Brake (EPB), Highway Driver Assist (HDA) and Navigation Based Smart Cruise Control (NSCC) -- which was previously included in the GT Technology Package, has been added to the GT model with DCT.
Headquartered in Irvine, California, Kia America continues to top automotive quality surveys and is recognized as one of the 100 Best Global Brands. Kia serves as the "Official Automotive Partner" of the NBA and offers a range of gasoline, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electrified vehicles sold through a network of over 750 dealers in the U.S., including several cars and SUVs proudly assembled in America.
For media information, including photography, visit www.kiamedia.com. To receive custom email notifications for press releases the moment they are published, subscribe at www.kiamedia.com/us/en/newsalert.
1 Based on EPA estimates. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits and your vehicle's condition.
2 MSRP excludes destination and handling, taxes, title, license fees, options and retailer charges. Actual prices set by retailer and may vary.
3 These systems are not substitutes for proper and safe driving, parking, and/or backing-up procedures. These systems may not detect every object behind or alongside the vehicle or in the vehicle's blind spot or direction of travel. Always drive safely and use caution.
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SOURCE Kia America | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/08/26/kia-announces-2023-forte/ | 2022-08-26 13:46:12 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2022/08/26/kia-announces-2023-forte/ |
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