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The state program that helps people acquire required health insurance policies is preparing for many new enrollees as enhanced federal funds for Medicaid are scheduled to be cut off in March.
At the start of the pandemic, Congress required that state Medicaid programs keep people continuously enrolled through the end of the month in which the COVID-19 public health emergency ended. The federal emergency is due to come to a close this spring.
Continuous Medicaid enrollment ends on March 31, and the federal government is phasing out pandemic-era enhanced funds this year. As Bay Staters who qualified under COVID-19 provisions lose their MassHealth coverage, the Health Connector Authority, which aims to connect people in need with affordable health plans, is preparing for up to 200,000 new members.
Since the start of the pandemic, MassHealth enrollment has increased by a third, up from 1,750,966 in December 2019 to 2,337,799 members in December 2022. The program is the largest in state government and is jointly funded by the state and the feds.
Meanwhile, the number of Bay Staters using the Connector has declined as more people have qualified for government-funded plans. Starting with 294,584 members in January of 2020, the Health Connector was down to 214,102 members as of January 2023.
The Health Connector is opening a special enrollment period from April through November for those who lost MassHealth coverage to make the transition "as smooth as possible," Director of Policy and Applied Research Marissa Woltmann said at a Health Connector board meeting Thursday morning.
"Helping individuals and families find coverage that's right for them as Medicaid protections end is our top priority this year," Woltmann said. "And we're really pulling out all the stops to make sure it's successful and we get everyone across the finish line."
Health insurance is required in Massachusetts and to prevent people from falling out of coverage, the Connector is planning an information campaign that will include sending mail, emails and text messages, and using social media, TV and radio visibility, robocalls and even door knocking to let people know they may lose their insurance and can enroll in Health Connector coverage.
People cut off from MassHealth will be messaged once a week for two months, and then three times a month after that, communications director Jason Lefferts said at the board meeting.
The authority is working with MassHealth to create an "integrated eligibility system," so someone who is notified of a MassHealth termination online can immediately begin the process of using the Health Connector to find a new plan, Lefferts said.
After notice of termination, individuals will have until the end of the following month on MassHealth, meaning, if someone were alerted in February that they would lose their insurance, they would need to find a new plan by March 31 for uninterrupted coverage.
The Health Connector is also planning to bolster its staff for the coming wave of new members.
They've retained part-time staff the authority hired in the fall for their annual open enrollment session, and are increasing the number of full-time employees to take incoming calls and chat requests by an additional 135 to 170 people. The authority is also adding supervisory staff and are evaluating options for extended hours of operations during the period when people are transitioning insurance coverage.
"We know that people will have very different experiences with this," Woltmann said. "They may not send their form back, or lose it under their pile of to-do's, and when they go to the doctor four months later they'll realize they're without coverage. So we want to make sure we're accounting for that level of confusion or disruption." | https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2023-02-10/massachusetts-health-connector-expects-influx-of-new-enrollees | 2023-02-10 22:24:56 | 0 | https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2023-02-10/massachusetts-health-connector-expects-influx-of-new-enrollees |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Gwen Moore wins reelection to U.S. House in Wisconsin's 4th Congressional District.
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- Walmart Black Friday: The $188 smart TV sold out in minutes | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Alert-Democrat-Gwen-Moore-wins-reelection-to-17569871.php | 2022-11-09 05:12:09 | 0 | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Alert-Democrat-Gwen-Moore-wins-reelection-to-17569871.php |
Regal Cinemas is shuttering 39 more locations
Published: Jan. 20, 2023 at 11:37 AM CST|Updated: 57 minutes ago
(CNN) - Your favorite movie theater could be shutting down.
Regal Cinemas, the second-largest U.S. theater chain behind AMC, has announced it’s closing 39 theaters across the U.S.
Its parent company, Cineworld, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy four months ago.
Regal shuttered 12 other cinemas last year.
Cineworld said in a filing this week that closing the additional theaters will save the company $2 million a year.
The filing said the closures will begin Feb. 15.
About 500 Regal cinemas will remain open.
A list of the theaters closing can be found on CNN’s website.
Copyright 2023 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.kswo.com/2023/01/20/regal-cinemas-is-shuttering-39-more-locations/ | 2023-01-20 18:35:38 | 1 | https://www.kswo.com/2023/01/20/regal-cinemas-is-shuttering-39-more-locations/ |
KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Russian shelling cut off power in much of the recently liberated Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday, just days after it was restored amid Moscow’s ongoing drive to destroy key civilian infrastructure as freezing weather sets in.
In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned the capital’s millions of residents that they should stock up on water and preserved food to see them through a winter that could prove miserable if more energy infrastructure is damaged.
He also urged people to consider leaving the city to stay with friends or family elsewhere, if possible.
“Trying months lie ahead. The enemy still possesses substantial resources,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said. He added, however, that “signs are accumulating that (Russia) needs a pause at all costs.”
Ukraine has faced a blistering onslaught of Russian artillery fire and drone attacks since early October. The shelling has been especially intense in Kherson since Russian forces withdrew and Ukraine’s army reclaimed the southern city almost three weeks ago.
Ukraine’s presidential office said Thursday that at least two civilians were killed and six others wounded nationwide by the latest Russian shelling. In Kherson, a 70-year-old woman was killed in her apartment and a 64-year-old man was wounded on the street. A 15-year-old boy died when a hospital in the northeastern Sumy region town of Bilopillia was hit, the presidential office said.
Local authorities said about two-thirds of Kherson had electricity as of Thursday night. Some residents congregated at the train station or at government-supported tents that provided heating, food, drinks and electricity to charge cellphones.
Walking gingerly toward an evacuation train, 79-year-old Liudmyla Biloshysta said she decided to leave and join her children in Kyiv because she feared conditions in Kherson would worsen.
“The strike was so massive our house even began to shake,” Biloshysta said of the latest barrage. “These bombardments make me so scared.”
Alluding to her birth during World War II, she said “I was a child of war and now I’m a granny in wartime.”
In the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian forces fired “from evening till morning” at Ukrainian-held towns facing the Russian occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant across the Dnieper River, the regional governor said Thursday.
“Eight shelling attacks per night. The Russians from evening till morning struck the Nikopol area with (multiple rocket launchers) and heavy artillery. Two districts — Marhanets and Chervonohryhorivka — came under enemy fire,” governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram.
Elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, Russian forces continued their attempts to encircle the Donetsk region city of Bakhmut, focusing on several villages around it and trying to cut a key highway.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said Russia released 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war and Ukraine turned over the same number Thursday as the fighting continued.
In Berlin, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg praised the “heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people” against Russia’s attacks, saying that with the help of allies “Ukraine has made significant gains” on the battlefield.
“But we should not underestimate Russia,” Stoltenberg warned in a speech at the Berlin Security Conference. “Russian missiles and drones continue to rain down on Ukrainian cities, civilians and critical infrastructure, causing enormous human suffering as winter sets in.”
The NATO chief said Russian President Vladimir Putin had made “two big strategic mistakes” when he invaded Ukraine in February: underestimating Ukraine and underestimating the support NATO and its allies were willing to provide so the country could defense itself.
In a related development, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday strongly condemned a European Union proposal, issued the previous day, to set up a U.N.-backed court to investigate possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
“As for attempts to establish some kind of tribunals, they will not have any legitimacy and will not be accepted by us. They will be condemned by us,” Peskov said during a media briefing.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a video message Wednesday that the EU would work with international partners to get “the broadest international support possible” for the proposed war crimes court while continuing to support the International Criminal Court.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are among the ICC’s 123 member states.
—-=
Jamey Keaten in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, and Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed reporting.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-russian-shelling-cuts-off-power-again-in-liberated-kherson/ | 2022-12-02 16:54:11 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-russian-shelling-cuts-off-power-again-in-liberated-kherson/ |
PARIS (AP) — For quite some time, Novak Djokovic has made his long-term goal clear: He wanted to focus on accumulating Grand Slam titles in order to surpass the totals of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
With the French Open set to start Sunday without either Nadal (who is injured) or Federer (who is retired) for the first time since 1998, Djokovic finally gets the chance to lead the career standings alone with a men's-record 23. If he winds up with the championship two weeks from now, Djokovic would break a tie with Nadal and have three more trophies than Federer finished with.
“It's no secret that one of the main reasons I play today and compete in professional tennis is to try to break more records and make more history in tennis,” Djokovic said Saturday. “That’s extremely motivating and inspiring for me.”
His current collection of 22 majors — two at Roland Garros, in 2016 and 2021; three at the U.S. Open; seven at Wimbledon and 10 at the Australian Open, including this January — means he owns 16 more than the other 127 men in the bracket in Paris combined. Stan Wawrinka won three, while Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Dominic Thiem have one apiece.
“Grand Slams are a different tournament, a different sport, in a way, because you’re playing best-of-five (sets), you are playing in the most important tournaments in the world,” said Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, “and the experience is on my side.”
It's why when other players are asked who enters as the favorite in Nadal's absence, they often mention two names: Alcaraz, who is ranked No. 1 and is 20-2 with a tour-high three titles on red clay in 2023, and Djokovic, who is just 5-3 this season on the surface used at the French Open.
Why point to Djokovic?
“Because Novak has won so many times,” said Casper Ruud, the runner-up to Nadal at Roland Garros and to Alcaraz at the U.S. Open last year. “This year’s clay season has been maybe not what he expected, but I’m sure he has good confidence in myself.”
Djokovic, for his part, pronounced the 20-year-old Alcaraz as “the biggest favorite," citing “the last few months, and the kind of shape and the form that he’s having — and that I’m having.”
Djokovic is ranked No. 3 and could meet Alcaraz only in the semifinals.
The player with a chance to become the only man in tennis history with at least three titles from each major also mentioned several other contenders, including Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner.
Djokovic was in something of a contemplative mood on the eve of the event, explaining how much harder things are on his body at this age and that he views each Slam tournament he competes in nowadays "like a present" (leaving aside any discussion of majors he missed because he didn't get vaccinated against COVID-19).
His most heartfelt comments came when he was asked about Nadal, the 14-time champion in Paris who has been sidelined since January with a hip injury.
After beginning with a joke that made reference to Nadal's 8-2 edge head-to-head at Roland Garros — "Honestly, I don't miss him being in the draw, you know" — Djokovic turned more serious.
He reflected on their intertwined paths and said he got emotional when hearing Nadal say 2024 probably will be his final year on tour.
“He’s my biggest rival. When he announced that he’s going to have his last season of his career, I felt part of me is leaving with him, too, if you know what I mean,” Djokovic said.
“I feel that he was one of the most, I would say, impactful people that I have ever had in my career, the growth of my career, and me as a player. Definitely a great motivational factor for me to keep playing and keep competing and keep pushing each other,” Djokovic continued. “Who's going to achieve more? Who's going to do better? It made me wonder. It made me think about my career and how long I’m going to play.”
And then he paused and smiled before delivering this line, perhaps for clarity's sake, perhaps for the laughs he knew it would bring: “I’m not going to make any announcement today."
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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Credit: AP | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/djokovic-enters-french-open-with-chance-to-top-absent-nadal-with-record-23rd-slam-title/4KYLBMVEJVH4FC6WKGF4YGLEDU/ | 2023-05-27 17:54:35 | 0 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/djokovic-enters-french-open-with-chance-to-top-absent-nadal-with-record-23rd-slam-title/4KYLBMVEJVH4FC6WKGF4YGLEDU/ |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man who destroyed evidence during the investigation of the deadly shooting of a federal officer in California by an extremist militia member was sentenced Monday to 10 1/2 years in federal prison, authorities said.
Robert Blancas, 35, was sentenced in San Francisco federal court for obstructing justice and also for enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.
In a plea agreement, the Castro Valley man acknowledged that he was a member of the “Grizzly Scouts” militia group connected to the “boogaloo” movement, prosecutors said.
The movement is embraced by a loose network of gun enthusiasts and extremists. Experts say the group started in alt-right culture on the internet with the belief that there is an impending U.S. civil war.
Blancas and three other people acknowledged destroying evidence after a federal security officer was killed and another wounded while guarding the Oakland federal building during a racial justice protest in May 2020.
A former Air Force sergeant, Steven Carrillo, 33, is serving 41 years in prison for the attack. He also pleaded guilty last month to killing a Santa Cruz County sheriff's sergeant a week after the attack on the federal building.
In their plea agreements, Blancas and the others said that after they learned Carrillo was involved in the killing of the federal officer, they destroyed communications between Grizzly Scouts members “and admitted that they intended to impair the integrity and availability of the records for use in official proceedings," the Department of Justice statement said.
Carrillo had written in a group chat: “Dudes I offed a fed.” Blancas acknowledged destroying online group communications, wiping records from his cellphone and deleting records in a Dropbox account about the Grizzly Scouts organization.
Last year, Blancas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice by destroying records in an official proceeding and to destroying such records.
The other three men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to destroy evidence and were sentenced to six-month federal prison terms in May.
On Monday, a different judge Monday sentenced Blancas to a six-month term for conspiracy but added an additional 10 years in a sex case that was filed before the conspiracy indictment.
In that case, Blancas pleaded guilty to enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. In his plea agreement, Blancas said that from about April through September 2020 he got a 15-year-old girl he met via social media to repeatedly send him pornographic photos and videos of herself.
“Blancas also admitted that he knew she was a minor when he did so," the Department of Justice statement said. | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Man-sentenced-in-extremist-killing-of-federal-17390868.php | 2022-08-23 01:30:30 | 1 | https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Man-sentenced-in-extremist-killing-of-federal-17390868.php |
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military shot and killed two Palestinians who allegedly opened fire at troops from their car in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, authorities said, the latest incident in a wave of deadly violence gripping the occupied territory.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the two men killed in the West Bank village of Deir al Hatab as Saud Abdullah Saud and Mohammed Abu Dira, without saying their ages.
The Israeli military said the men shot at an Israeli outpost near the settlement of Elon Moreh, south of the Palestinian city of Nablus. Israeli soldiers on patrol opened fire, killing the two alleged gunmen.
Palestinian media reported that a third gunman was in the car during the drive-by shooting and fled the area. Israeli security forces said they were searching for other suspected assailants and found a pair of M-16 rifles and a pistol at the scene.
The local armed group of the Balata refugee camp, a militant stronghold near Nablus, identified the two men as militants, sharing photos of them brandishing M-16s in the camp. Saud had previously spent 15 years in Israeli prison, the group said.
“We fought as soldiers and we promise we will always be soldiers,” Saud said in a video after being freed from prison last spring.
Tuesday’s deaths followed a week of unusually heightened violence in Israel and the West Bank, touched off by an Israeli police raid on Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, the compound home to the Al-Aqsa mosque. Last week, the Israeli military struck sites linked to the Palestinian group Hamas in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip after militants in the two territories fired salvos of rockets at Israel. The mosque sits on a contested hilltop revered as the third-holiest site in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism.
Underscoring the ever-combustible situation in the West Bank, two British-Israeli sisters and their mother were killed when their car came under fire near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank last Friday. The mother, Lucy Dee, succumbed to her wounds on Monday and was laid to rest in the settlement of Kfar Etzion south of Jerusalem on Tuesday. Hundreds of mourners packed the funeral, singing and swaying as Lucy’s husband, Leo, and his remaining children wept at the podium — their family of seven reduced to four.
“Lucy, I have a choice: I could lament over the next 25 years of marriage that I’ve lost, but I actually feel blessed to have had 25 years of a beautiful marriage with you,” Leo said, his voice cracking in anguish.
He added: “If we support the good and reject the evil, then we can all play our part in building a better world.”
Last week, in a separate incident, an Italian tourist was killed and five others were wounded when a Palestinian’s car careened onto a bike path near the beach in Tel Aviv in what authorities described as a suspected terrorist attack. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he offered condolences to his Italian counterpart during a phone call Tuesday.
So far this year, 94 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank, according to a tally by The Associated Press, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups. During that time, 19 people were killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
With the country battling threats on multiple fronts, Netanyahu on Monday reversed his decision to fire his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who expressed opposition to the government’s divisive plans to weaken the judiciary last month. Gallant praised the Israeli military’s killing of the Palestinian gunmen on Tuesday.
In a step toward deescalating the situation, Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday that authorities would bar Jewish visits to Al-Aqsa, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, for the remainder of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. That’s standard for the final 10 days of the holiday, when Muslims often pray at the site overnight.
Jews are permitted to visit the compound, but not pray there, under longstanding agreements. But such visits, which have grown in numbers in recent years, have stoked anger, particularly because some Jews are often seen quietly praying.
The rare convergence of the Jewish Passover festival and Ramadan brought scores of religious Jews to the site last week and fueled tensions that spiraled into unrest in Jerusalem — and a regional confrontation. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/israeli-army-kills-2-alleged-palestinian-gunmen-in-west-bank/ | 2023-04-12 10:51:43 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/israeli-army-kills-2-alleged-palestinian-gunmen-in-west-bank/ |
A new Blueboard study reveals employees who feel appreciated are more than four times more likely than their less-appreciated counterparts to report a fully engaged workplace
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading up to Employee Appreciation Day on March 3, Blueboard, an innovator in the employee recognition and rewards space, is announcing a new U.S. study conducted online by Wakefield Research on the state of employee appreciation. The study reveals that despite the proven positive impact of appreciation at work, the clear majority see themselves as undervalued, especially those with historically marginalized identities. In fact, two in three (67%) employed Americans say they don't always feel appreciated for their contributions at work.
"There's a clear opportunity for organizations to engage employees and make them feel secure in their roles by showing that their work is valued," said Kevin Yip, president and co-founder of Blueboard. "Prioritizing a culture of appreciation will not only make employees happier, but also translates to a more productive workforce, benefiting a company's bottom line. And with Employee Appreciation Day right around the corner, now is the time for organizations to double down on appreciation and recognition and get serious about baking it into company culture."
Appreciation and Engagement
The study found that nearly half of employed Americans (49%) say employees are less than fully engaged in their work at their company. The sentiment is echoed by nearly three in five employed people of color (56%) and LGBTQIA+ (58%) Americans. Additionally, half of employed people of color (50%) and more than half of employed LGBTQIA+ (53%) say their company lacks the strong culture of appreciation that's essential for their success, compared to 42% of employed workers overall.
To address lack of engagement, the study found that employees who feel appreciated are more than four times more likely than those who are not often appreciated to say employees at their company are fully engaged. On a company culture level, workers who feel their company has a strong culture of appreciation are 1.43 times more likely than those at companies without that strong culture to say their colleagues are fully engaged in their work.
Appreciation and Job Security
Appreciation has a major correlation with feelings of job security. The study found that employees who feel appreciated are more than seven times more likely than those who are not often appreciated to feel completely secure in their jobs. Notably, employees who felt completely secure in their job (94%) were significantly more likely to say they felt appreciated than workers who felt less secure (49%). "In a time when layoffs are rampant throughout the workforce, employers need to understand the role that appreciation plays in ensuring their people feel a sense of belonging at their workplace," Yip continued.
Feeling underappreciated may lead to workers questioning their future at a company. Nearly three in five employed Americans (57%) say they feel less than 100% secure in their current job, including 64% of those who feel their company lacked a strong culture of appreciation. For employees with marginalized identities, nearly two in three employed people of color (64%) and LGBTQIA+ (64%) say they feel less than 100% secure in their job.
Other key findings of the study include:
- Non-executives (57%) are significantly more likely to report a less than fully engaged workforce than executives (36%).
- Employed Millennials are 1.5 times more likely to agree their company lacks a strong culture of appreciation than their Gen X counterparts.
- Employed Americans at companies of more than 100 employees (41%) are more likely to note this lack of appreciation than those at companies with 1-100 employees (22%).
To learn more about what this study revealed, check out the full report here.
Methodology
The survey was conducted by Wakefield Research among 400 general population U.S. employed adults, between January 18th and January 24th, 2023, using an email invitation and an online survey. Oversampling was conducted to reach 100 total non-white/persons of color in the US who are employed and 100 LGBTQ+ Americans who are employed. Data has been weighted. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For the interviews conducted in this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 4.9 percentage points in the main sample, and 9.8 percentage points in each oversample, from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.
About Blueboard
Blueboard is the experiential rewards platform of choice for the world's most loved employers. We make it easy for companies to give experiential employee rewards, incentives, and gifts—from one-of-a-kind to once-in-a-lifetime experiences (think skydiving, dining at Michelin star restaurants, learning to blow glass, or chasing the Northern Lights). We support enterprise workforces across 70 countries and partner with hundreds of Best Places to Work including Abbott's Diabetes Care, Mixpanel, Segment, Glassdoor, Shake Shack, GoPro, and Ubisoft to help them celebrate their people in a more meaningful way. Learn more at Blueboard.com.
Contact:
BAM for Blueboard
blueboard@bamtheagency.com
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SOURCE Blueboard Inc | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/02/16/two-thirds-67-employed-americans-feel-appreciation-work-is-short-supply-according-new-blueboard-report/ | 2023-02-16 15:07:45 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/02/16/two-thirds-67-employed-americans-feel-appreciation-work-is-short-supply-according-new-blueboard-report/ |
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Cailin Bracken arrived at Vanderbilt to play lacrosse already well aware of the importance of athlete mental health. She knew of at least two female college athletes, including one from near where she grew up, who had taken their own lives.
Bracken was overwhelmed by college life, especially when she had to isolate upon testing positive for COVID-19 after just a few days on campus. She decided to leave the team.
“I was so self-aware. I was just so trusting of my intuition in a way, and it sounds cliche, but the idea that I’m like, I need to go home even if it doesn’t feel like the right decision to make in terms of my career path or my reputation or whatever else,” she said. “... I felt when I got to college, like my nervous system was deregulated. I couldn’t process anything. I constantly felt overwhelmed. I never felt safe.”
Then came the first death of at least five college athletes — Stanford soccer goalkeeper Katie Meyer — all of whom took their own lives this spring. It sparked concerns that colleges were not doing enough for some of their higher-profile students.
Bracken wrote an open letter to college sports, calling on coaches and administrators to become more cognizant of the challenges athletes face in navigating not only their competitive side, but also their social and academic responsibilities.
It isn’t clear whether U.S. college athletes are taking their lives at a higher rate than others in their age range; the NCAA declined to share with The Associated Press whether it tracks athlete suicides. But universities are starting to pay closer attention to the mental health of their athletes — in varying degrees — and it's partly because athletes are advocating for themselves and their teammates.
“Mental health support has to be treated just like academic support and injury prevention and injuries,” said Michael Mominey, the athletic director at Nova Southeastern.
For many schools, the focus began before the pandemic. That includes James Madison, where sophomore softball player Lauren Bernett took her life on April 25.
“What we have seen is over the last decade ... (is a) significant increase in mental health concerns, lots more students coming to college with mental health concerns,” said Tim Miller, vice president of student affairs at James Madison, which canceled the rest of the softball season after Bernett’s death. “And what we saw really in the last two and a half, three years of the pandemic is exponential increase. So if you imagine it as a graph, it has gone uphill very quickly.”
Suicides in the U.S. among ages 15-24 rose from 4,600 in 2010 to 6,062 in 2020, according to federal data. An analysis published in the journal Sports Health in 2015 found 35 NCAA athletes took their own lives over a nine-year period (2003-04 to 2011-12), and there were several other similar deaths of college athletes reported in the years following.
This year, Meyer, whose two saves in a shootout helped the Cardinal win the 2019 national championship, took her life March 1. A month later, it was Robert Martin, a graduate student goalie on the Binghamton lacrosse team. A day later, Northern Michigan track athlete Jayden Hill died. Sarah Shulze, a junior who ran cross country and track at Wisconsin, died April 13. Then there was Bernett, followed by Southern University freshman cheerleader Ariana Miller on May 4.
Only half of the 9,808 NCAA athletes who took a survey in late 2021 said they believe mental health is a priority to their athletics department. The survey, which included athletes in all three divisions, showed 63% believed their teammates took mental health concerns seriously, and 56% know how to help a teammate experiencing a mental health issue.
Athletes have less faith in their coaches taking mental health concerns seriously, with 53% believing that’s the case.
Division II Nova Southeastern has a program within its athletics department that integrates mental health alongside other important pieces of athletes’ lives. Mominey, who has been at the school for two decades and also coached baseball there, pointed to 2016 as a turning point.
He said there were instances of athletes who were trying to hurt themselves and “acting out in a way that they were looking for help” — things that needed more than just “mental skills training.” As part of the rollout of the Academic, Injury and Mental Health Program, Mominey and his leadership team had candid talks with coaches, getting both immediate buy-in and immediate pushback.
“We think we’re with them all the time, 20-plus hours a week. We’re always in touch. We recruit," Mominey said. "But you really don’t know them until you know them. You don’t know what’s going on with mom or dad.”
Nova Southeastern didn’t increase its budget when it made mental health a priority, he said, and doesn’t believe the NCAA is doing enough to help member schools with mental health programs, suggesting even grant money would be helpful.
“We find ways to get it done,” he said of DII schools. “It’s a priority, we’ll make it work, whether it’s funding or not funding ... and I would hope to think that the NCAA does make it a priority.”
Brian Hainline has been the NCAA chief medical officer since 2013. He said athletes immediately told him mental health was their top priority.
“I had hardly been on the job, and the student-athletes were clearly not just concerned, but that they were speaking in earnest, saying that they saw this as important as anything else,” he said. “I think in that regard, they were in some ways ahead of others because that certainly was not always the sentiment in sports medicine."
Hainline oversees the NCAA’s Sport Science Institute, which offers resources like mental health best practices, workshop templates and planning tools. He said SSI also talks to the people in athletic departments who ensure recommendations are being followed and that everyone knows who the mental health providers are and what the protocols are for mental health access.
“For every campus to (follow recommendations exactly), we would be way ahead of the game,” Hainline said. “But it's sometimes challenging, and I think mental health is not in the same vocabulary as ankle sprains and knee/ACL injuries and things like that.”
Erik Price, the Pac-12 associate commissioner for compliance and governance, worked with athletes, the conference’s mental health task force and Hainline on a 2019 proposal to codify mental health as part of the NCAA’s medical expenses bylaws. While mental health services already fell under medical expenses, Price said he thinks the “declarative statement” destigmatized mental health for athletes and “large intercollegiate athletic departments.”
In early May, the AP requested from the 10 Pac-12 Conference public universities itemized budgets for mental health resources or the athletic departments’ mental health programs. Utah and Oregon both said they don’t have such budgets; private schools Southern California and Stanford declined to provide the information to the AP.
At Colorado, the Psychological Health and Performance office within the athletic department increased its budget by about $128,000 between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, and roughly $16,000 more for the school year that just ended. A CU spokesman said the extra money went toward costs for a new 24/7 crisis hotline and software in 2019, as well as hiring new staffers.
The other seven public Pac-12 universities had not provided budgetary information as of June 2.
Price said the current generation of college students deserve a lot of credit for bringing mental health to the forefront.
“I do believe it's a generational shift going on in college athletics, which, like any generational shift, has caused the older generation some angst,” he said, adding later that Gen Z is “not shy about talking to each other about their emotions — and they’re wondering how and when their coaches and the adults in the room will join them, and join them more.”
Bracken’s coach, Beth Hewitt, supported her decision to leave the team and assured her she would still have a place if she returns. Hewitt believes it’s a “really big mistake” if athletic departments aren’t thinking about the pressures athletes deal with.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had so many athletes take their own life in the last few years ... if that’s not your wake-up call, then you really are in the wrong profession because unfortunately, we can’t just worry about the wins and forget about the person,” she said. | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/College-athletes-push-mental-health-to-the-17219608.php | 2022-06-04 19:15:30 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/College-athletes-push-mental-health-to-the-17219608.php |
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Wednesday he was committed to paying out compensation swiftly to thousands of people affected by the country’s infected blood scandal, which saw more than 2,000 patients die after contracting HIV or hepatitis from transfusions of tainted blood in the 1970s and 1980s.
But Sunak, who was testifying before an independent inquiry into the public healthcare scandal, was heckled by survivors and affected families when he did not give a clear answer on when full payments will be paid out.
The Infected Blood Inquiry was established in 2017 to examine how thousands of patients in the UK were infected with HIV or Hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.
An estimated 2,400 to 2,900 people died in what is widely described as the worst treatment disaster in the history of Britain’s state-funded National Health Service.
The contaminated blood was linked to supplies of a clotting agent called Factor VIII, which British health services bought from the U.S. Some of the plasma used to make the blood products was traced to high-risk donors, including prison inmates, who were paid to give blood samples.
Hundreds of survivors and affected families — some of whom have worked for decades to lobby for government compensation — packed into a London hotel conference room Wednesday as Sunak gave evidence to the inquiry.
Sunak acknowledged that victims of what he called an “appalling scandal” had been let down by successive governments over the years. His government was “making progress in resolving the years of injustice,” he stressed.
“This is an appalling scandal that has gone on for decades,” Sunak told the inquiry. “This is not just about historic wrongs. People are suffering and being impacted today.”
“Over a succession of not just years, but decades, justice has been denied to people. They haven’t received the recognition that they need and deserve,” he added.
The inquiry’s chairman, retired judge Brian Langstaff, told Sunak that affected families needed real action from his government.
“They recognize the evidence they’ve heard this week of work being done but there aren’t any details. There is no timeline. There is no structure yet in place,” Langstaff said.
The government said last year that survivors and bereaved partners of those who died will receive 100,000 pounds ($129,000) as interim payment.
Langstaff recommended in April that compensation should be expanded to include more people whose lives were blighted by the scandal, such as parents who lost their children.
But Sunak reiterated that authorities will wait for the inquiry’s full report to be concluded before considering whether to extend the compensation plan for victims. The final report is expected later this year.
Clive Smith, chairman of the Haemophilia Society, said delays in the compensation have “only compounded the suffering of those who have been waiting for this for so long”.
“People who have waited 40 years expect to see a significant demonstration of political will and a commitment to get this done as soon as is practical,” Smith said. | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/ap-international/ap-uk-prime-minister-urged-to-speed-up-compensation-for-infected-blood-scandal-victims/ | 2023-07-27 13:41:36 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/ap-international/ap-uk-prime-minister-urged-to-speed-up-compensation-for-infected-blood-scandal-victims/ |
Frank S. Krawiec, 81, of Pittston, died Monday at Regional Hospital of Scranton.
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Forms a strategic transatlantic technology and solutions partnership for the advanced design, engineering, and manufacturing sectors
RICHMOND, Va., June 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TriMech has acquired Solid Solutions Group, bringing together hundreds of technical specialists from across four countries, and expanding support for design engineers and manufacturers in North America, the UK, and Ireland.
Marcel Matte, President and CEO of TriMech, said this move continues TriMech's effort to broaden the technology and business solutions it can deliver to its clients, who work in industries as diverse as automotive to aerospace, and mining to medical devices.
"For more than two decades, each company's clients have trusted the advice and support we offer across every stage of the product development process. As we grow, we improve our ability to develop sophisticated, custom solutions that address even more of their challenges. This is one critical way we match up well with Solid Solutions. We both value the partnerships we have with clients who are navigating digital and business transformations."
Shaping the industry
The combined company, which has people working in nine time zones, is the most comprehensive provider of software and services for the SOLIDWORKS and Dassault Systèmes portfolio across their combined geographies. Both TriMech and Solid Solutions have a long history of delivering exceptional training, consulting, and support services, with a focus on expanding their capabilities to help take their clients' businesses to the next level – in design, simulation and analysis, process and workflow, documentation, product data and lifecycle management, as well as offerings for the production floor.
Matte said both TriMech and Solid Solutions believe strongly in the value of serving as a one-stop technology solutions partner to clients of all sizes, including multinational corporations operating in North America, the UK, and other parts of Europe.
"Our leadership teams have embraced a unique vision that maintains a strong focus on enhancing our core products and services while continually increasing our ability to deliver more for those who need it. Custom, process-specific solutions – both within the engineering department and beyond – are becoming increasingly important."
Growing together with clients
Solid Solutions is led by CEO Alan Sampson, who will become President of TriMech's UK and European business. The Solid Solutions management team will remain in place, and the combined company will continue to execute a strategy to expand its portfolio of solutions and services, both organically and through acquisitions.
"We continue to evolve and grow in ways that benefit our clients," Sampson explained. "No matter how large, diverse, or complex they become, we want to have the offerings and experts to deliver the results they need for the next chapter in their development. That is why joining TriMech is also exciting for our team, who recognize all the opportunities they'll have to serve our clients in new ways."
Solid Solutions' UK and European clients will eventually gain access to TriMech's services, including the ability to outsource engineering and advanced manufacturing projects to TriMech, and to use its dedicated and uniquely qualified recruitment team to quickly fill technical positions on their design and engineering teams where SOLIDWORKS and Dassault Systèmes product expertise are critical.
TriMech is a portfolio company of Sentinel Capital Partners, a U.S. private equity firm that invests in promising lower midmarket companies with EBITDA of up to $80 million. Solid Solutions joins TriMech following a two-year successful partnership with LDC, a leading UK mid-market private equity firm, during which the business grew organically and through acquisitions to increase its revenues by more than 35%.
To support continued growth of the combined company, both TriMech and Solid Solutions are actively recruiting for a range of positions in the US and UK/Ireland.
For more information, visit https://trimech.com/expansion-into-uk-with-solid-solutions-acquisition. Find TriMech online at TriMech.com, Solid Solutions at SolidSolutions.co.uk and Sentinel Capital Partners at SentinelPartners.com.
About TriMech
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Richmond, VA, TriMech is a leading technology and business solutions partner for designers, engineers, and manufacturers. It works with top software and hardware partners, including Dassault Systèmes, CNC Software, Stratasys, and Artec, and its experts provide computer-aided design and engineering software, additive and subtractive manufacturing solutions, and associated training, consulting, implementation, and staff augmentation services for clients across a variety of industries. Its tools support 3D modeling, simulation, virtual replication, and collaboration, as well as data management, configure-price-quote automation, product lifecycle management, and enterprise resource planning. With its acquisition of Solid Solutions, TriMech has grown to have more than 50 locations across four countries – the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland – serving more than 30,000 clients with over 650 employees, including approximately 270 application engineers. For more information, please visit TriMech.com.
About Solid Solutions
Founded in 1998, Solid Solutions is the leading SOLIDWORKS provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It operates 23 offices, with headquarters in Leamington Spa in central England. With a core mission to support client excellence throughout the design, engineering, and manufacturing industries, its team offers software solutions and related training and consulting and has one of the world's most highly certified SOLIDWORKS support teams. For more information, please visit SolidSolutions.co.uk.
Contact: Angie Droz
865.934.5304
Angie.Droz@TriMech.com
TriMech
4991 Lake Brook Drive, Suite 300
Glen Allen, VA 23060
877.553.9001 - www.TriMech.com
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NEW YORK, Aug. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- InvestorsObserver issues critical PriceWatch Alerts for F, EVFM, RBLX, AMC, and SSNT.
To see how InvestorsObserver's proprietary scoring system rates these stocks, view the InvestorsObserver's PriceWatch Alert by selecting the corresponding link.
- F: https://www.investorsobserver.com/lp/pr-stocks-lp-2/?symbol=F&prnumber=081020225
- EVFM: https://www.investorsobserver.com/lp/pr-stocks-lp-2/?symbol=EVFM&prnumber=081020225
- RBLX: https://www.investorsobserver.com/lp/pr-stocks-lp-2/?symbol=RBLX&prnumber=081020225
- AMC: https://www.investorsobserver.com/lp/pr-stocks-lp-2/?symbol=AMC&prnumber=081020225
- SSNT: https://www.investorsobserver.com/lp/pr-stocks-lp-2/?symbol=SSNT&prnumber=081020225
(Note: You may have to copy this link into your browser then press the [ENTER] key.)
InvestorsObserver's PriceWatch Alerts are based on our proprietary scoring methodology. Each stock is evaluated based on short-term technical, long-term technical and fundamental factors. Each of those scores is then combined into an overall score that determines a stock's overall suitability for investment.
InvestorsObserver provides patented technology to some of the biggest names on Wall Street and creates world-class investing tools for the self-directed investor on Main Street. We have a wide range of tools to help investors make smarter decisions when investing in stocks or options.
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SOURCE InvestorsObserver | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2022/08/10/thinking-about-buying-stock-ford-evofem-biosciences-roblox-amc-entertainment-or-silversun-technologies/ | 2022-08-10 16:14:08 | 1 | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2022/08/10/thinking-about-buying-stock-ford-evofem-biosciences-roblox-amc-entertainment-or-silversun-technologies/ |
Local Schools, Nonprofits, Community Partners to Empower Students to Succeed
GEORGETOWN, Ky., July 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota USA Foundation announced grants of up to $5.7 million to prepare students in Scott County, Fayette County and Ignite Institute in Northern Kentucky for future science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. Driving Possibilities focuses on PreK-12 education to ensure all students have access to rewarding careers, including opportunities in the auto industry.
"Our goal is to increase awareness of future STEM careers while helping build sustainable programs in the communities where our Toyota team members live and work," said Tellis Bethel, group vice president of social innovation, Toyota. "With $1.2 million in its first year and more to come in the years ahead, we are excited to expand Driving Possibilities here in Kentucky, home to our largest manufacturing plant in the world."
The long-term initiative's phased approach, which offers programming in specific schools based on input from district leaders, aims to close educational gaps through innovative, hands-on STEM programming while addressing the essential needs of students and families.
"Toyota understands the future of our economy is in our classrooms," said Jacqueline Coleman, Kentucky Lt. Governor. "This investment will eliminate barriers to success, increase opportunities for students, and help us achieve our goal of a quality education for every Kentuckian."
Driving Possibilities in Kentucky centers on three key areas designed to expand literacy and language resources, build education and industry partnerships, and address transportation barriers.
"The Driving Possibilities framework provides a holistic approach to ensure all children have equal access to opportunities and a pathway to high-growth careers," said Kerry Creech, president of Toyota Kentucky. "In collaboration with community partners and businesses, we are focusing resources inside and outside the classroom to help students overcome barriers."
In 2022, the Toyota USA Foundation announced Driving Possibilities, a $110 million national, career readiness and community engagement initiative, launched to prepare youth for the careers of tomorrow. It is a unique approach that brings together educators, local and national nonprofits, and communities to create limitless possibilities for all. With efforts across the PreK-12 education continuum, the program is the largest and most comprehensive in Toyota's history. The initiative is funded by Toyota USA Foundation, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), and Toyota Financial Services (TFS).
Kentucky is the second site to launch programming based on more than 60 years of active support in communities across the U.S. and builds off the successful model in West Dallas.
About Toyota USA Foundation
The Toyota USA Foundation is a charitable endowment created to support education programs serving PreK through 12th-grade students and their teachers in the United States, with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). For more information about the Toyota USA Foundation, visit www.toyotaeffect.com/impact.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota's 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 24 electrified options.
About Toyota Financial Services
Toyota Financial Services (TFS) is the brand for finance and related products for Toyota in the United States, offering retail auto financing and leasing through Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) and Toyota Lease Trust. TFS also offers vehicle and payment protection products through Toyota Motor Insurance Services (TMIS). The company services Lexus dealers and customers using the Lexus Financial Services brand.
As of March 31, 2022, TFS employed approximately 3,700 team members nationwide, and had assets totaling over $135 billion. It is part of a worldwide network of comprehensive financial services offered by Toyota Financial Services Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation.
Media Contacts:
Amanda Roark
amanda.roark@toyota.com
Kim Ogle
Kim.ogle@toyota.com
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SOURCE Toyota Motor North America | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/24/advancing-stem-education-toyota-invests-up-57-million-kentucky-schools/ | 2023-07-24 16:36:49 | 1 | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/24/advancing-stem-education-toyota-invests-up-57-million-kentucky-schools/ |
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Forest Service announced Friday it's taking emergency action to save giant sequoias by speeding up projects that could start within weeks to clear underbrush to protect the world's largest trees from the increasing threat of wildfires.
The move to bypass some environmental review could cut years off the normal approval process required to cut smaller trees in national forests and use intentionally lit low-intensity fires to reduce dense brush that has helped fuel raging wildfires that have killed up to 20% of all large sequoias over the past two years.
"Without urgent action, wildfires could eliminate countless more iconic giant sequoias," Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said in a statement. "This emergency action to reduce fuels before a wildfire occurs will protect unburned giant sequoia groves from the risks of high-severity wildfires."
The trees, the world's largest by volume, are under threat like never before. More than a century of aggressive fire suppression has left forests choked with dense vegetation, downed logs and millions of dead trees killed by bark beetles that have fanned raging infernos intensified by drought and exacerbated by climate change.
The forest service's announcement is among a wide range of efforts underway to save the species found only on the western slope of Sierra Nevada range in central California. Most of about 70 groves are clustered around Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and some extend into and north of Yosemite National Park.
Sequoia National Park, which is run by the Interior Department and not subject to the emergency action, is considering a novel and controversial plan to plant sequoia seedlings where large trees have been wiped out by fire.
The Save Our Sequoias (SOS) Act, which also includes a provision to speed up environmental reviews like the forest service plan, was recently introduced by a bipartisan group of congressmen including House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, whose district includes sequoias.
The group applauded Moore's announcement Friday but said in a statement that more needs to be done to make it easier to thin forests.
"The Forest Service's action today is an important step forward for Giant Sequoias, but without addressing other barriers to protecting these groves, this emergency will only continue," the group said. "It's time to codify this action by establishing a true comprehensive solution to fireproof every grove in California through the SOS Act and save our sequoias."
Work planned to begin as soon as this summer in 12 groves spread across the Sequoia National Forest and Sierra National Forest in would cost $21 million to remove so-called ladder fuels made up of brush, dead wood and smaller trees that allow fires to spread upward and torch the canopies of the sequoias that can exceed 300 feet (90 meters) in height.
The plan calls for cutting smaller trees and vegetation and using prescribed fires — intentionally lit and monitored by firefighters during damp conditions — to remove the decaying needles, sticks and logs that pile up on the forest floor.
Some environmental groups have criticized forest thinning as an excuse for commercial logging.
Ara Marderosian, executive director of the Sequoia ForestKeeper group, called the announcement a "well-orchestrated PR campaign."
He said it fails to consider how logging can exacerbate wildfires and could increase carbon emissions that will worsen the climate crisis.
"Fast-tracking thinning fails to consider that roadways and logged areas ... allows wind-driven fires because of greater airflow caused by the opening in the canopy, which increases wildfire speed and intensity," he said.
Rob York, a professor and cooperative extension specialist at forests operated by the University of California, Berkeley, said the forest service's plan could be helpful but would require extensive followup.
"To me it represents a triage approach to deal with the urgent threat to giant sequoias," York said in an email. "The treatments will need to be followed up with frequent prescribed fires in order to truly restore and protect the groves long-term."
Giant sequoias were once considered nearly inflammable
The mighty sequoia, protected by thick bark and with its foliage typically high above the flames, was once considered nearly inflammable.
The trees even thrive with occasional low intensity blazes — like ones Native Americans historically lit or allowed to burn — that clear out trees competing for sunlight and water. The heat from flames opens cones and allows seeds to spread.
But fires in recent years have shown that although the trees can live beyond 3,000 years, they are not immortal and greater action may be needed to protect them.
During a fire last year in Sequoia National Park, firefighters wrapped the most famous trees in protective foil and used flame retardant in the trees' canopies.
Earlier this month, when fire threatened the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park, firefighters set up sprinklers.
Flames burned into the grove — the first wildfire to do so in more than a century — but there was no major damage. A park forest ecologist credited the controlled burns with protecting the 500 large trees.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/2022-07-23/the-u-s-forest-service-is-taking-emergency-action-to-save-sequoias-from-wildfires | 2022-07-23 06:27:17 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/2022-07-23/the-u-s-forest-service-is-taking-emergency-action-to-save-sequoias-from-wildfires |
The leading candidates for U.S. Senate from Georgia were born just 115 miles and seven years apart, both the children of poor Black families who had lived in the state for generations.
As Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican football star Herschel Walker compete in one of the most closely-watched Senate contests in the country, each carry their own experiences as Black men growing up in south Georgia during the twilight of the civil rights movement. That history has informed both their lives – and their opposing views on race and racism echoing on the campaign trail now and likely, when they face off on the debate stage in Savannah Friday night.
"23andMe has screwed us all up," Walker said at a recent rally outside Atlanta, referring to the brand of home genetic tests often used to determine a person's country or region of origin. "It don't matter about your color. A house divided cannot stand, so I want us to come together."
Walker has recently come under scrutiny for allegations of domestic abuse and violence as well as reports that he paid for an ex-girlfriend's abortion even though, as a candidate he supports a total ban on the procedure with no exceptions.
Walker is no stranger to controversy in this election and he has also made headlines for how he talks about race, saying Democrats like his opponent use it to divide.
As a senator, candidate and senior pastor at Dr. Martin Luther King's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Warnock has spoken often about dismantling systemic racism. During his first floor speech in the Senate, Warnock slammed new restrictive voting laws around the country.
"This is Jim Crow in new clothes," he said.
Conflicting approaches to grappling with race have come into sharp relief in the first Senate race in Georgia history to nominate two Black men. Walker and Warnock's worldview began to diverge decades ago – as Walker shined on the field and Warnock rose to the pulpit.
"These are two of the most important institutions for questions of democracy and equality," explained Leah Wright Rigueur, a political historian at Johns Hopkins University.
"The institution of the church is, for many Black communities, a lifeline. It's an organizing and mobilizing space. Certainly sports becomes a site of resistance, in terms of African Americans desegregating teams, African Americans using sports to grasp some measure of social mobility."
When Walker played football and track at Johnson County High School, it had only been integrated a few years.
"I was just coming out to be a great athlete," he told rapper Killer Mike in an interview on WABE. "And I think my high school was probably 50-50 white-Black."
In Walker's memoir, he wrote about being overcome with fear of the Ku Klux Klan. He recalled their members stalking Black kids as they walked home from school, yanking them into the woods for mock lynchings.
"There is a broad misconception about what life is like in the 1980s in the South," Riguer says. "There still remains a very segregated economically unequal society for African Americans."
For Warnock, that society was Savannah, Georgia and the public housing complex where he grew up. As a teen, Warnock spent hours at a nearby library listening to archival recordings from the civil rights movement – especially speeches by King.
"There are men who stand up in the pulpit and preach every Sunday, and yet they can look at racial injustice and never open their mouths against it," King bellowed in a particularly influential sermon for Warnock – "A Knock at Midnight."
"He preached a different kind of gospel from what I typically heard in most churches," Warnock wrote in his memoir. "He used the lens of the scriptures to examine and speak out against racial injustice and oppression."
Warnock continued to be influenced by King as he selected his university: Morehouse College, the historically Black school in Atlanta attended by King four decades earlier. Warnock signed up to serve as an assistant at the King Memorial Chapel on campus. The dean, Lawrence Carter, became Warnock's mentor.
"Supremely confident, mature beyond his years," Carter remembered Warnock in an interview. "He seemed to be in a zone all by himself. He frequently would come into the chapel library, no one else there, and study and write."
It was at the chapel where Warnock's ideas about racial justice and faith coalesced.
"When our chapel is packed and our 6,000 pipe organ is sounding in their ears, surrounded by people doing bold things, that pours iron into your spine," Carter says. "And when you see injustice, you want to do something about it."
At around the same age, Herschel Walker would soon be called on to raise his own voice in Wrightsville.
Walker had just led Johnson County High School to the 1980 state football championship. It was national news when Walker accepted a full-ride to play for the University of Georgia. Days later, Wrightsville attracted the country's attention again.
Protests against racial injustice had broken out, directed at the county's white sheriff. As marchers gathered, they were met with violence. The Klan mobilized and the governor called in state troopers, while schools and factories closed. Local residents and out-of-town civil rights leaders pleaded for Wrightsville's most famous resident to speak out.
"It was like, 'Oh Herschel, you've got to do this, you've got to do that," Walker said.
"White people called him the N word and he had Black people calling him Uncle Tom," Tom Jordan, Walker's track coach and an early mentor, said in an interview. "And he was just searching for his spot."
Walker faced pressure as he weighed his own decision about whether to do something about racial injustices in Wrightsville.
"I called a team meeting," remembered track coach Tom Jordan. "I said, 'Look, guys, you can't get in shape for a track meet marching. You've got to run. Practice is at three and you know I don't tolerate missing."
More than a dozen of Walker's teammates quit the track team. Walker did not.
"My parents taught me to do what's right," Walker said later. "There's no color in right and wrong."
He did not say anything publicly about the protests.
"What would have happened if I had went the other way?" Walker told Killer Mike. "Where would I be today? Because now I have an opportunity, where I can get a seat at the table."
That seat at the table may be in the U.S. Senate.
"His political viewpoints and rejection of race as a consideration does not represent African American audiences," explained historian Leah Wright Rigeuer. "It is, however, the perspective of the majority of working class white voters in the state of Georgia."
Rigueur, who wrote a book titled The Loneliness of the Black Republican, says these views are not an anomaly – citing for example, Georgia-born Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative members on the bench. Rigueur says these perspectives should not be ignored or treated as a fringe viewpoint, particularly when coming from people with immense influence to shape American life.
"We should want to understand that because of what it tells us about the very nature of Black politics, but also questions of American democracy," Rigueur says.
During this campaign the two men have laid out conflicting descriptions of the country's current divisions, as they compete in an election most polls show is a tossup and could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.
"We're not a racist country," Walker said at a recent rally. "The United States is the greatest country in the world today and it's time we get leaders that know that."
"Within 24 hours, we elected Georgia's first African American and Jewish senators," Warnock said last year on the Senate floor. "Hours later, the Capitol was assaulted. We see in just a few precious hours the tension very much alive in the soul of America. And the question before all of us at every moment is what will we do to push us in the right direction?"
Warnock and Walker's lives took them in two different directions, and Georgia voters will choose which candidate they want to follow.
Copyright 2022 90.1 WABE | https://www.kvpr.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-10-13/with-two-black-men-running-for-senate-in-georgia-race-takes-center-stage | 2022-10-21 08:54:38 | 0 | https://www.kvpr.org/npr-news/npr-news/2022-10-13/with-two-black-men-running-for-senate-in-georgia-race-takes-center-stage |
MOSCOW (AP) — Since Brittney Griner last appeared in her trial for cannabis possession, the question of her fate has expanded from a tiny, cramped courtroom on Moscow’s outskirts to the highest level of Russia-U.S. diplomacy.
The WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist returns to court on Tuesday, a month after the beginning of the trial in which she could face 10 years in prison if convicted. As the trial has progressed, the Biden administration has faced rising calls for action to win her release.
In an extraordinary move, Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.
Although details of the offer remain shrouded, Blinken’s public announcement of a proposal was at odds with the convention of keeping prisoner-release negotiations tightly under wraps. When American Trevor Reed, serving time for assaulting a police officer, was freed in April in exchange for a Russian drug trafficker, no clues of an imminent swap had emerged.
The Lavrov-Blinken call also was the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago. The direct outreach risks undermining a core message to U.S. allies that isolating Russia could force the eventual withdrawal of troops from Ukraine.
It also underlines the public pressure that the White House has faced to get Griner released, which has brought some backlash. Former President Donald Trump strongly criticized the proposal that people familiar with it have said envisions trading Griner and Whelan for the notorious arms trader Viktor Bout.
“He’s absolutely one of the worst in the world, and he’s going to be given his freedom because a potentially spoiled person goes into Russia loaded up with drugs,” Trump said.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday that Russia has made a “bad faith” response to the U.S. government’s offer, a counteroffer that American officials don’t regard as serious. She declined to elaborate.
Griner, speaking from the defendant’s cage in a courtroom that barely holds a dozen people, has acknowledged there were vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage when she was arrested at a Moscow airport in February. But she says she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage because she was packing hastily. Griner played for a Russian women’s basketball team in the WNBA off-season.
To bolster her case, her defense lawyers have called character witnesses from her Russian team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, and presented testimony from doctors that she was prescribed cannabis as a treatment for pain. Medical marijuana treatment is not legal in Russia.
Her lawyers say they hope such testimony will bring leniency from the judge, who they say under Russian law has leeway to consider mitigating factors.
Acquittals are rare in Russian criminal prosecutions — less than 1% of cases. Sentences can be suspended.
If a conviction is a foregone conclusion, it would also potentially be a step forward. Russian officials have said no release of Griner could occur until the judicial process is completed.
However, a Washington attorney who formerly was legal adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said there is no formal requirement for a conviction before an exchange.
“If she is in fact being used as a political bargaining chip — and the administration has already designated her as wrongfully detained, presumably because they think she is being used as a political pawn — they may impose a very significant sentence as a way to maximize their leverage in negotiations,” the attorney, Tom Firestone, told The Associated Press.
He also said that, given the Biden administration’s public commitment to securing the release of Whelan and Griner, Russia “may want to let this play out a little bit longer and try to extract more concessions.”
Russian officials have given no public hint of whether Blinken made headway in his call with Lavrov, only issuing a statement urging the Americans to pursue the matter though “quiet diplomacy without releases of speculative information.”
Russia has repeatedly expressed annoyance with American statements on the case, saying they show a disrespect for Russian law.
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Eric Tucker in Washington DC contributed to this story. | https://www.cenlanow.com/news/ap-top-headlines/griners-trail-resumes-amid-intensified-diplomacy/ | 2022-08-01 21:22:31 | 0 | https://www.cenlanow.com/news/ap-top-headlines/griners-trail-resumes-amid-intensified-diplomacy/ |
MIGUEL, TEMS, METRO BOOMIN, ICE SPICE, COI LERAY, LATTO, LIL YACHTY, DOECHII, LOLA BROOKE, COCO JONES, PARIS TEXAS, TIACORINE, EEM TRIPLIN, FLAU'JAE JOHNSON, TANERÉLLE, WESTON ESTATE ALSO PERFORMING ON BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PARKWAY THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND
PLUS A VERY SPECIAL JOINT SET BY MASE AND CAM'RON
NEW YORK, June 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The highly anticipated MADE IN AMERICA festival returns to Benjamin Franklin Parkway, boasting an incredible lineup. Since its inception, the can't miss festival has brought the biggest names in music and up-and-coming superstars to the City of Brotherly Love, serving as a staple for Labor Day weekend.
With community central to the Made In America experience, the event has generated over $180 million in economic impact for the city of Philadelphia since the inaugural two-day concert in 2012. This year Cause Village will be returning, to showcase and support the incredible work of various organizations that focus on an array of causes ranging from education, voter registration, animal welfare, LGBTQIA+ rights, arts & culture, social justice, mental health, and more.
Made In America 2023 partners include D'usse, HUD, United States Virgin Islands, White Claw.
What:
MADE IN AMERICA Festival
Who:
The full lineup includes headliners SZA and Lizzo and performances from Miguel, Tems, Metro Boomin, Ice Spice, Coi Leray, Latto, Lil Yachty, Doechii, Lola Brooke, Coco Jones, Paris Texas, TiaCorine, Eem Triplin, Flau'jae Johnson, Tanerélle, Weston Estate.
A very special joint set by Mase and Cam'ron.
When:
Saturday, September 2, 2023
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Where:
Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, PA
Ticket Purchase:
To purchase tickets from Made In America visit www.madeinamericafest.com. Tickets on sale now.
For the latest on Made In America Festival visit www.madeinamericafest.com.
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SOURCE Made In America | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2023/06/14/sza-amp-lizzo-headline-made-america-2023-philadelphia-september-2nd-amp-3rd/ | 2023-06-14 16:05:16 | 1 | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2023/06/14/sza-amp-lizzo-headline-made-america-2023-philadelphia-september-2nd-amp-3rd/ |
Three buildings in a planned 12-building development in the Slate Belt are under review now by regional planners.
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission considered plans Thursday for the proposed River Pointe Commerce Park in Upper Mount Bethel Township.
The property is bordered by River Road, Potomac Street and Route 611.
The development spans over 800 acres and will eventually total about 5.9 million square feet of commercial and industrial buildings when fully built out.
Thursday’s review was for what are known as lots 1, 2 and 6. The plan for lot 1 is to construct a 610,000-square-foot building on 67 acres.
Lot 2 will have a 700,000 square foot building on 59 acres, and a 600,000-square-foot building is planned to be built on 41 acres on lot 6.
One of the major concerns expressed by commissioners dealt with a Norfolk Southern railway overpass on River Road, which is the only road on which vehicles can access the development.
At full build out, the industrial park will generate 15,000 passenger vehicle trips and 3,000 truck trips per weekday, according to a traffic impact study performed in January 2022.
LVPC staff said the overpass is out of date with current standards and has a relatively low height clearance. Also, the roadway’s width will make it difficult for two tractor trailers to pass each other while going under the overpass.
Current state standards indicate the maximum height of a commercial vehicle is 13 feet 6 inches. The River Road overpass has a listed clearance of 13 feet 8 inches, although River Pointe representative Lisa Pektor said the actual clearance is higher.
However, a LVPC staff review letter notes that the suspension of a truck chassis and possible road paving could affect the clearance. Such a limited clearance poses a “severe safety and mobility concern,” according to LVPC staff.
Commissioner Stephen Melnick said all other issues are moot until the overpass situation is resolved, considering trucks will have a difficult time accessing the development.
“This is tantamount to building a housing project with no doors,” Melnick said.
River Pointe developer Lou Pektor has previously said he is considering options for the overpass, which may include digging the roadway lower to grant more clearance for trucks.
An LVPC staff review letter suggested this is not the best option since the area is already prone to flooding.
LVPC staff commended River Pointe for planning a network of sidewalks throughout the development but the staff also suggested extending the walkways to River Road.
The commissioners voted unanimously to accept the staff review letter and send it to Upper Mount Bethel Township officials.
Staff noted the development has the potential to provide numerous economic benefits to the township and the Lehigh Valley but the development is not suited for the area, citing “the size and scale of the project significantly surpasses any existing development and infrastructure in the surrounding area.”
Commissioners added a note to the review letter that stated the development is not consistent with FutureLV, an LVPC comprehensive regional plan.
Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. | https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/slate-belt/2023/05/river-pointe-told-to-address-severe-safety-issue-with-overpass-before-building-in-slate-belt.html | 2023-05-28 12:35:54 | 0 | https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/slate-belt/2023/05/river-pointe-told-to-address-severe-safety-issue-with-overpass-before-building-in-slate-belt.html |
Annual Forum will bring together policymakers and experts from both sides of the Atlantic to discuss how the EU-US relationship can further strengthen our collective prosperity and security
WASHINGTON, June 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Atlantic Council's Europe Center, in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, hosts the 2022 EU-US Defense & Future Forum on June 22, 2022. The Forum will be held in-person at the Hamilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., and virtually.
The 2022 EU-US Defense & Future Forum will focus on the future of transatlantic strategy and partnership in multiple areas, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its implications for European and US defense and security. The Forum will also convene a series of high-level dialogues on the economy, the digital transition, food security, and defending democracy.
"Russia's continued aggression in Ukraine has created an urgent need for leaders and policymakers from across the Atlantic to come together and deepen the existing security framework to promote a stable and secure Europe," said Frederick Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic Council. "The 2022 EU-US Defense & Future Forum will provide a critically important opportunity to have these crucial conversations."
The 2022 EU-US Defense & Future Forum will include experts and officials from a number of government institutions, such as the US Department of State, the European Commission, the US Department of Commerce, and the National Security Council. It will feature keynote addresses by Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová and Secretary-General of the European External Action Service Stefano Sannino.
"In the months since Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, Americans and Europeans have shown strong unity in confronting challenges to the future of democracy and our shared defense. We are also faced with new and increasing threats to global food and digital security, and solidarity is more crucial than ever," said Ambassador of the European Union to the United States Stavros Lambrinidis. "This Forum is a moment for us to chart the way forward together."
This year's Forum combines two of the EU Delegation's flagship events dedicated to furthering dialogue on the transatlantic relationship: The second iteration of the EU-US Future Forum and the annual EU Defense Washington Forum, now in its 11th year.
To view the agenda of the 2022 EU-US Defense & Future Forum and to register for in-person or virtual attendance, please visit here
The 2022 EU-US Future & Defense Forum will be on the record and open to media. Media wishing to attend should register here to request accreditation.
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SOURCE Delegation of the European Union to the United States | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/06/15/2022-eu-us-defense-amp-future-forum-june-22-2022/ | 2022-06-15 22:34:53 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/06/15/2022-eu-us-defense-amp-future-forum-june-22-2022/ |
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A farm in Plymouth County sold for $25,000 an acre on Friday, a price more than twice as high as the average in the county.
A former landlord came forward after police posted a photo of the shirt the man apparently shed before going into the river downtown Friday during the My Waterloo Days Parade.
Jean Miller of Davenport and Rryan Claussen of Eldridge took home $50,000 and $100,000 respectively in lottery prizes this week.
Country music artists and fans from across the country flocked to Heritage Park of North Iowa in Forest City for three days of Country Thunder…
Austin "Melvin" Richardson, 37, was driving north on U.S. 275 south of Sidney when his vehicle collided with a combine driven by James Groff, 64, who was heading south, according to the Sheriff's Office.
They're going the distance. They're going for hometown pride.
There's a new permanent feature in downtown Mason City.
15-year-old Kaden Poppy, of Clear Lake, hauled in an 18.5-pound, 39.5-inch muskie on May 31 in Ventura. Poppy's line broke reeling it in, so h…
For Brian Niesen, the goal of becoming a head coach never wavered.
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. | https://globegazette.com/cleo/article_c4ee7aae-c34e-5e56-91c3-52403a486afe.html | 2022-06-17 10:11:03 | 0 | https://globegazette.com/cleo/article_c4ee7aae-c34e-5e56-91c3-52403a486afe.html |
(The Hill) – Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) was the only senator to vote against a resolution on Wednesday backing Finland’s and Sweden’s entry to NATO.
The Senate approved the resolution in a 95-1 vote. One senator, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), voted present.
The resolution backs Finland and Sweden joining NATO. The House approved a resolution in a bipartisan 394-18 vote last month that formally supported the two Nordic countries joining the military alliance. All opposition in the House came from the Republican Party.
Hawley’s vote against the resolution did not come as a surprise. He had announced his intent to vote against the resolution earlier this week, outlining his opposition in an op-ed published by The National Interest.
He said he does not believe the U.S. should expand its security commitments in Europe, because America’s “greatest foreign adversary” is China.
Hawley argued that growing the country’s security commitments in Europe would make Americans less safe.
“Finland and Sweden want to join the Atlantic Alliance to head off further Russian aggression in Europe. That is entirely understandable given their location and security needs. But America’s greatest foreign adversary doesn’t loom over Europe. It looms in Asia,” Hawley wrote.
“I am talking of course about the People’s Republic of China. And when it comes to Chinese imperialism, the American people should know the truth: the United States is not ready to resist it. Expanding American security commitments in Europe now would only make that problem worse—and America, less safe,” he added.
The Missouri Republican elaborated on his stance in remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, arguing that adding Finland and Sweden to NATO is not in the national security interest of the U.S.
“Finland and Sweden want to expand NATO because it is in their national security interest to do so, and fair enough. The question that should properly be before us, however, is, is it in the United States’s interests to do so? Because that’s what American foreign policy is supposed to be about, I thought,” Hawley said.
“Expanding NATO will require more United States forces in Europe, more manpower, more firepower, more resources, more spending. And not just now but over the long haul. But our greatest foreign adversary is not in Europe. Our greatest foreign adversary is in Asia. And when it comes to countering that adversary, we are behind the game. I’m talking, of course, about China. The communist government of Beijing has adopted a policy of imperialism,” he added.
Paul voted “present” on the resolution shortly after the Senate defeated his amendment to the measure in a 10-87 vote. Nine Republicans joined him in supporting the addition.
The amendment sought to emphasize that Article 5 of the NATO treaty does not supersede Congress’s control over declaring war.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday delivered remarks in support of the resolution and wished those opposed to the measure “good luck” in finding a “defensible excuse” for their “no” votes.
“If any senator is looking for a defensible excuse to vote ‘no,’ I wish them good luck. This is a slam dunk for national security that deserves unanimous bipartisan support,” McConnell said.
“There’s just no question that admitting these robust democratic countries with modern economies and capable interoperable militaries will only strengthen the most successful military alliance in human history,” he added. | https://www.wfla.com/nextstar-news-wire/hawley-is-only-senator-to-vote-against-finland-sweden-nato-membership/ | 2022-08-04 02:04:03 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/nextstar-news-wire/hawley-is-only-senator-to-vote-against-finland-sweden-nato-membership/ |
Jadin Collins brought a game-high 22 points and six rebounds as Rutgers Prep, No. 13 in NJ.com’s Top 20, upended No. 9 Gill St. Bernard’s, 64-43, in Somerset.
Cameron Piggee added 10 points for Rutgers Prep (12-6), which opened with a 22-5 run and led 30-19 at halftime.
John Kelly was key in the paint with 11 rebounds and eight points in the victory.
Nick Losada paced Gill St. Bernard’s (12-4) with 16 points while Mario Castro-Sanchez put in 11.
The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now and be among the first to get all the boys and girls sports you care about, straight to your inbox each weekday. To add your name, click here.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. | https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2023/01/jadin-collins-takes-no-13-rutgers-prep-over-no-9-gill-st-bernards.html | 2023-01-25 04:11:01 | 0 | https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2023/01/jadin-collins-takes-no-13-rutgers-prep-over-no-9-gill-st-bernards.html |
WASHINGTON — Millions of people who enrolled in Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic could start to lose their coverage on April 1 if Congress passes the $1.7 trillion spending package leaders unveiled Tuesday.
The legislation will sunset a requirement of the COVID-19 public health emergency that prohibited states from booting people off Medicaid. The Biden administration has been under mounting pressure to declare the public health emergency over, with 25 Republican governors asking the president to end it in a letter on Monday, which cited growing concerns about bloated Medicaid enrollment.
“This is a positive for states in terms of planning, however, this will come at the cost of some individuals losing their health care,” said Massey Whorley, a principal at health consulting firm Avalere.
Millions are expected to be bumped from the program, which grants health care coverage to nearly 80 million low-income people throughout the country. The federal government will also wind down extra funds given to states for the added enrollees over the next year under the proposal.
Many will be eligible for health insurance coverage through employers, the Affordable Care Act or, in the case of kids, the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Advocates have raised concerns about how states will notify enrollees if they are being kicked off the program and what their options are. The effort will be particularly challenging for some of the country’s poorest people, who may not have stable home address or access to internet or phone services to check their status. If passed, the spending package would allow states to start kicking people off the program as early as April, but require them to notify enrollees first.
People who are on Medicaid should make sure their contact information is up to date on their accounts and that they check the mail frequently to keep an eye on their eligibility status as that April 1 date nears, said Robin Rudowitz, the director of Medicaid at Kaiser Family Foundation.
“There is likely to be people who fall through the cracks,” she said.
The move will free up additional funds, however, to pay for more stable health insurance coverage for children in low-income households by requiring states to keep those children on Medicaid for at least a year once they’ve enrolled. A push require states to extend Medicaid to new mothers for a 12-month period after giving birth, however, failed to make the cut. The District of Columbia and 27 states currently extend coverage for a 12-month period for postpartum mothers.
The spending package also extends the telehealth flexibilities that were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and led health care systems around the country to overhaul their approach to deliver care by smartphone or computer more frequently.
Under the proposal, the restrictions that once tightly governed telehealth care under Medicare will stay loosened through the end of 2024.
That will give Congress more time to study telehealth and how widespread fraud is in this program, said Andrew Hu of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, which has studied the use of telehealth during the pandemic.
“We can get some more time to assess where the benefits are with telehealth,” Hu said.
The Senate is expected to vote on the spending bill first, and Democrats are looking for support from at least 10 Republican senators to pass the measure before sending to the House for consideration. | https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-congress-budget-health-care-20221220-b7dyaugxvneynohsdvj47b4wp4-story.html | 2022-12-21 00:26:06 | 1 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-congress-budget-health-care-20221220-b7dyaugxvneynohsdvj47b4wp4-story.html |
With flavors as unique, bold, and surprising as the Texas landscape, to sip with spirits or solo
AUSTIN, Texas, March 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lady Bird Mixer Co. announces the launch of its lineup of premium cocktail mixers. Bringing a new approach to the mixer category with unexpected flavors and disruptive packaging, Lady Bird is poised to launch at the beginning of 2023 with four core flavors: Van Zandt Club Soda, Classic Tonic Water, Key Lime Ginger Beer, and Ruby Red Grapefruit Soda.
Recognizing the need for something new in the mixer category, co-founders Atlas Cheek and Daniel Barnes looked to their home state of Texas for inspiration. With bold and diverse flavors like key lime, prickly pear, and ruby red grapefruit, the incredible plants and botanicals native to the state provide the direction for each product in the line. Each flavor is then further developed to be delicious on its own or mix perfectly with spirits in a cocktail.
Lady Bird is serious about the quality of their products, which is right in line with what consumers are looking for today. The flavors are low sugar, all-natural, non-GMO, kosher, and vegan, with many locally inspired ingredients from Texas. Created for drinkers and non-drinkers alike, Lady Bird Mixers stand up to mixing with your favorite spirits or simply drinking straight out of the bottle.
It's not just Lady Bird's refreshingly different flavors - the packaging demands attention, too. Texas artist Andrew Cherry painted landscapes for each expression's label and bottle sleeve, capturing the essence of the Texas terroir right on the pack. The images are vibrant and bold, showcasing the Hill Country, big blue skies, and wide-open spaces for which the state is known. Bottles are embossed with the prickly pear cactus, a common native cacti varietal that grows throughout the region.
Co-founders Cheek and Barnes lead the team, bringing their proven beverage industry successes to the company, drawing on their decades of experience in the spirits, non-alcoholic, and consumer packaged goods markets. The two met at Treaty Oak Distilling, founded and owned by Chief Executive Officer Barnes, where Cheek grew the brands as the company's Chief Revenue Officer. Barnes also brings his remarkable ability to develop flavors to Lady Bird; his past flavor development work includes Mighty Swell Cocktails, Waterloo Sparkling Water, Treaty Oak Distilling, Waterloo Gin, and Canteen Vodka Soda. Cheek's leadership in the CPG and spirits industries includes pivotal roles at Constellation Brands and Fever-Tree USA.
Launching March 2023 with four core flavors; Van Zandt Club Soda, Classic Tonic Water, Key Lime Ginger Beer, and Ruby Red Grapefruit Soda. Each pack contains four 8.5-ounce bottles. Innovation will follow in 2024 with Cactus Pear Soda and Hill Country Peach Tonic.
Lady Bird Mixers will be produced locally in Blanco, Texas, outside Austin at Real Ale Brewing. They will be represented in Texas by Republic National Distribution Company. They will debut at select retailers, including Spec's Fine Wine and Spirits, Twin Liquors, and Goody Goody, in April of 2023, with an SRP of $7.99 per 4-pack. For more information, visit https://drinkladybird.com/.
About Lady Bird Mixer Co
Lady Bird Mixer Co was founded in Austin, Texas, in 2022 by industry veterans Atlas Cheek and Daniel Barnes. Their decades in the beverage industry include Republic National Distributing Company, Constellation Brands, Waterloo Sparkling Water, Canteen Vodka Soda, Fever-Tree USA, Treaty Oak Distilling, Prolifik Wine & Spirits, and Waterloo Gin. Lady Bird Mixers launch in select Texas markets in March 2023 with four core Texas-inspired flavors: low sugar, all-natural, non-GMO, kosher, and vegan. Lady Bird Mixers are no-alcohol, all Austin.
Contact
Atlas Cheek
Co-Founder & CEO, Lady Bird Mixer Co.
(806) 224-3959
drinkladybird.com
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SOURCE Lady Bird Mixer Co. | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/03/14/lady-bird-mixer-co-launches-new-premium-mixers-line-austin/ | 2023-03-14 14:19:43 | 1 | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2023/03/14/lady-bird-mixer-co-launches-new-premium-mixers-line-austin/ |
BOA VISTA, Brazil (AP) — Severe malnutrition and disease, particularly malaria, are decimating the Yanomami population in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and on Jan. 20 the federal government declared a public health emergency. While many in Brazil were left wondering how the calamity could materialize seemingly overnight, it didn’t come as a surprise to those familiar with the Yanomami’s circumstances, who have issued warnings for several years.
The AP explains how the Yanomami reached this tragic point.
____
WHO ARE THE YANOMAMI?
An estimated 30,000 Yanomami people live in Brazil’s largest indigenous territory, which covers an area roughly the size of Portugal and stretches across Roraima and Amazonas states in the northwest corner of Brazil’s Amazon. Some also live in southern Venezuela. They provide food for themselves by hunting, gathering, fishing, and growing crops in large gardens cleared from the forest. Every few years, the Yanomami move from one area to another, allowing the soil to regenerate.
____
WHAT IS CAUSING THE CRISIS?
Illegal gold miners were first present in Yanomami territory during the 1980s, but then were largely expelled. They have flooded back in recent years, attracted by high gold prices and urged on by former President Jair Bolsonaro. Their numbers surged to 20,000 during Bolsonaro’s administration, according to estimates from environmental and Indigenous rights groups.
Miners destroy the habitat of animals that the Yanomami hunt, and occupy fertile land that the Yanomami use to farm. The miners also process ore with mercury that poisons the rivers that the Yanomami depend upon for fish. Mining creates pools of stagnant water where mosquitoes that transmit illness breed. And miners relocating to exploit new areas spread sickness to native people who possess low immunity due to limited contact with outsiders.
“The impacts accumulate,” said Estêvão Senra, a geographer and researcher at Instituto Socioambiental, an environmental and Indigenous rights non-profit. “If (the Yanomami) are sick, they miss the right moment to open a new area for farming, compromising their future.”
An AP investigative series last year detailed how the scale of prospecting on Indigenous lands exploded in recent years, illegally mined gold seeps into global supply chains, and mining stokes divisions within Indigenous territories.
____
WAS THIS A SUDDEN DISASTER?
No. It has spiraled over the course of several years. Eight of 10 children aged 5 or under had chronic malnutrition in 2020, according to a study in two Yanomami regions by UNICEF and Brazilian state health research institute Fiocruz. There were 44,069 cases of malaria in two years, meaning the entire population was contaminated, some people more than once, Roraima state’s public prosecutor’s office said in 2021, citing data from Brazil’s country-wide disease notification system.
Curable conditions like flu, pneumonia, anemia and diarrhea become life-threatening. At least 570 Yanomami children died from untreated diseases during Bolsonaro’s term, from 2019 to 2022, according to Health Ministry data obtained by independent local news website Sumauma. That marked a 29% increase from the prior four years.
There was a greater need for medical care, but services for Indigenous peoples deteriorated under Bolsonaro, according to Adriana Athila, an anthropologist who has studied public healthcare for the Yanomami, which is provided by one of the special districts designed for the needs of Indigenous communities. There have also been reports of miners taking control of health facilities and airstrips in Yanomami territory for their own use. Local leaders themselves have been sounding the alarm for years.
“The miners are destroying our rivers, our forest and our children. Our air is no longer pure, our game is disappearing and our people are crying out for clean water,” Júnior Hekurari Yanomami, president of the Yanomami local health council, wrote on Twitter last March. “We want to live, we want our peace back and our territory.”
The recent influx of miners severely exacerbated the disruption of traditional Yanomami life that took place over the prior two decades. That was caused by the introduction of social welfare programs that forced people to make weeks-long trips to collect their benefits in cities, where they often remain for extended periods in squalid conditions, as well as the establishment of non-Indigenous institutions, such as military bases, medical posts, and religious missions, which transformed some temporary villages into permanent settlements, depleting hunting and soil resources.
____
WHAT WAS BOLSONARO’S ROLE?
As a young lawmaker in the 1990s, Bolsonaro fiercely opposed the creation of the Yanomami territory. More recently, he openly championed mining in Indigenous lands and the integration of native peoples into modern society. Environmentalists, activists and the vast majority of Indigenous groups slammed his efforts and warned of devastating impacts. He pressured Congress for an emergency vote on the bill his mining and justice ministries drafted and presented in 2020 to regulate the mining of Indigenous lands, but lawmakers demurred. Even large mining companies repudiated the proposal.
Wildcat gold miners, for their part, were undeterred, “because they knew the government would turn a blind eye,” Senra said.
Hekurari on Saturday also accused Bolsonaro’s administration of ignoring some 50 letters pleading for help. That is in part why some, including President Lula, have accused Bolsonaro of genocide.
Bolsonaro called such claims “another left-wing farce” on his Telegram channel Sunday, and said Indigenous healthcare was one of the government’s priorities, citing implementation of a sanitary protocol for entry into their territories during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that during his administration the health ministry provided more than 53 million basic-care services to Indigenous peoples.
____
HOW HAS LULA RESPONDED?
After defeating Bolsonaro in the October election, Lula took power Jan. 1. The change created an expectation that the burgeoning crisis would finally receive attention, said Senra, given the sharp reversal for Amazon policy Lula had outlined on the campaign trail. Indeed, Lula dispatched a team to Yanomami territory last week and on Saturday traveled to Boa Vista, the nearby capital of Roraima, where many Yanomami people have been medevaced for treatment.
Following Lula’s declaration of a medical emergency, the army began flying food kits into Yanomami territory and set up a field hospital in Boa Vista, while the health ministry put out a nationwide call for medical professionals to volunteer.
Marcos Pelligrini, a former doctor within Yanomami territory and professor of collective health at the Federal University of Roraima in Boa Vista, said that he felt relief upon seeing army helicopters transporting food kits.
“It’s a moment of hope,” he said.
But going forward, the miners still must be removed from the region by the Federal Police and environment regulator Ibama, with help from the defense ministry, Minister for Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara told newspaper Estado de S. Paulo.
___
Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro. AP writer Fabiano Maisonnave contributed. | https://www.kxnet.com/news/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/ap-why-brazils-yanomami-are-being-decimated-by-disease-mining/ | 2023-01-27 05:49:21 | 0 | https://www.kxnet.com/news/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/ap-why-brazils-yanomami-are-being-decimated-by-disease-mining/ |
5 die, including 3 children, in South Carolina shooting
SUMTER, S.C. (WIS/Gray News) - The Sumter Police Department is reporting three kids and two adults have died after a shooting at a Sumter area home.
Chief Russell F. Roark III said the incident happened around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday at a residence and appeared to be a domestic-related shooting.
A source close to the investigation told WIS a father was dropping his kids back off at his ex-wife’s house when he saw her new boyfriend there.
That is when the father shot the kids, the boyfriend and himself according to investigators.
Sumter School District Superintendent Dr. William Wright said in a statement that the district “is grieving the loss of three students. Two siblings attended Millwood Elementary School, and another sibling attended Alice Drive Middle School. Our sincere condolences are extended to the family.”
Copyright 2023 WIS via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kait8.com/2023/03/22/5-die-including-3-children-south-carolina-shooting/ | 2023-03-22 15:38:46 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/2023/03/22/5-die-including-3-children-south-carolina-shooting/ |
Television and movie writers declared late Monday that they will launch a strike for the first time in 15 years, as Hollywood girded for a walkout with potentially widespread ramifications in a fight over fair pay in the streaming era.
The Writers Guild of America said that its 11,500 unionized screenwriters will head to the picket lines on Tuesday. Negotiations between studios and the writers, which began in March, failed to reach a new contract before the writers’ current deal expired just after midnight, at 12:01 a.m. PDT Tuesday. All script writing is to immediately cease, the guild informed its members.
The board of directors for the WGA, which includes both a West and an East branch, voted unanimously to call for a strike, effective at the stroke of midnight. Writers, they said, are facing an “existential crisis.”
“The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing,” the WGA said in a statement. “From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a ‘day rate’ in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association that bargains on behalf of studios and production companies, signaled late Monday that negotiations fell short of an agreement before the current contract expired. The AMPTP said it presented an offer with “generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals.”
In a statement, the AMPTP said that it was prepared to improve its offer “but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon.”
The labor dispute could have a cascading effect on TV and film productions depending on how long the strike persists. But a shutdown has been widely forecast for months due to the scope of the discord. The writers last month voted overwhelming to authorize a strike, with 98% of membership in support.
At issue is how writers are compensated in an industry where streaming has changed the rules of Hollywood economics. Writers say they aren’t being paid enough, TV writer rooms have shrunk too much and the old calculus for how residuals are paid out needs to be redrawn.
“The survival of our profession is at stake,” the guild has said.
Streaming has exploded the number of series and films that are annually made, meaning more jobs for writers. But WGA members say they’re making much less money and working under more strained conditions.
Showrunners on streaming series receive just 46% of the pay that showrunners on broadcast series receive, the WGA claims. Content is booming, but pay is down.
The guild is seeking more compensation on the front-end of deals. Many of the back-end payments writers have historically profited by – like syndication and international licensing – have been largely phased out by the onset of streaming. More writers — roughly half — are being paid minimum rates, an increase of 16% over the last decade. The use of so-called mini-writers rooms has soared.
The AMPTP said Monday that the primary sticking points to a deal revolved around those mini-rooms — the guild is seeking a minimum number of scribes per writer room — and duration of employment restrictions. The guild has said more flexibility for writers is needed when they’re contracted for series that have tended to be more limited and short-lived than the once-standard 20-plus episode broadcast season.
At the same time, studios are under increased pressure from Wall Street to turn a profit with their streaming services. Many studios and production companies are slashing spending. The Walt Disney Co. is eliminating 7,000 jobs. Warner Bros. Discovery is cutting costs to lessen its debt. Netflix has pumped the breaks on spending growth.
When Hollywood writers have gone on strike, it’s often been lengthy. In 1988, a WGA strike lasted 153 days. The last WGA strike went for 100 days, beginning in 2007 and ending in 2008.
The most immediate effect of the strike viewers are likely to notice will be on late-night shows and “Saturday Night Live.” All are expected to immediately go dark. During the 2007 strike, late-night hosts eventually returned to the air and improvised material. Jay Leno wrote his own monologues, a move that angered union leadership.
On Friday’s episode of “Late Night,” Seth Meyers, a WGA member who said he supported the union’s demands, prepared viewers for re-runs while lamenting the hardship a strike entails.
“It doesn’t just affect the writers, it affects all the incredible non-writing staff on these shows,” Meyers said. “And it would really be a miserable thing for people to have to go through, especially considering we’re on the heels of that awful pandemic that affected, not just show business, but all of us.”
Scripted series and films will take longer to be affected. But if a strike persisted through the summer, fall schedules could be upended. And in the meantime, not having writers available for rewrites can have a dramatic effect on quality. The James Bond film “Quantum of Solace” was one of many films rushed into production during the 2007-2008 strike with what Daniel Craig called “the bare bones of a script.”
“Then there was a writers’ strike and there was nothing we could do,” Craig later recounted. “We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, ‘Never again’, but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes — and a writer I am not.”
With a walkout long expected, writers have rushed to get scripts in and studios have sought to prepare their pipelines to keep churning out content for at least the short term.
“We’re assuming the worst from a business perspective,” David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, said last month. “We’ve got ourselves ready. We’ve had a lot of content that’s been produced.”
Overseas series could also fill some of the void. “If there is one, we have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-chief executive, on the company’s earnings call in April.
Yet the WGA strike may only be the beginning. Contracts for both the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, expire in June. Some of the same issues around the business model of streaming will factor into those bargaining sessions. The DGA is set to begin negotiations with AMPTP on May 10.
The cost of the WGA’s last strike cost Southern California $2.1 billion, according to the Milken Institute. How painful this strike is remains to be seen. But as of late Monday evening, laptops were being closed shut all over Hollywood.
“Pencils down,” said “Halt and Catch Fire” showrunner and co-creator Christopher Cantwell on Twitter shortly after the strike announcement. “Don’t even type in the document.”
Please enable JavaScript to view this content. | https://www.ibj.com/articles/hollywood-writers-slamming-gig-economy-to-go-on-strike | 2023-05-02 11:06:48 | 1 | https://www.ibj.com/articles/hollywood-writers-slamming-gig-economy-to-go-on-strike |
LeBron James is back, and the Los Angeles Lakers’ offense is firing better than it has all season, with another test waiting at home Monday night from the Indiana Pacers.
After missing five games because of a groin injury, James returned for a two-game road set against the San Antonio Spurs beginning Friday. The Lakers won both contests, including a 143-point offensive eruption on Saturday.
After a 2-10 start to the season, the Lakers have won five of six.
That the most recent victory came without Anthony Davis made it even more impressive.
James scored a season-best 39 points on Saturday — making seven 3-pointers — and added 11 rebounds.
There was the matter of the Lakers’ defense allowing 138 points in the second victory over the Spurs. That type of effort could spell doom against the Pacers, who have won eight of their past 11 games, even with a 114-100 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
The Spurs delivered a season-high output in points against the Lakers while plummeting toward an eighth consecutive defeat.
Davis, who had been dealing with back tightness this season, was out because of a bruised left calf, although his absence was characterized as precautionary.
“It’s just the smart and right thing to do,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said about sitting one of his stars. “We don’t want to push him this early in the season. And when you’re talking about different muscles and ligaments, it’s something that can easily turn into a yearlong issue.”
The Lakers received another scare during the game when Russell Westbrook came away with a bloody forehead after receiving an elbow from San Antonio’s Zach Collins. Despite a significant amount of bleeding, Westbrook returned to the game. Collins was ejected.
“Yeah, it was fine,” Westbrook said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Doctor looked at it and closed it up and I came back out.”
The Pacers played a Sunday matinee against the Clippers and led by eight points less than nine minutes into the game, were tied just before halftime and watched it slip away from there. Indiana went down by double digits midway through the third quarter and never mustered a late run.
Jalen Smith had 23 points and nine rebounds for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points and 11 assists. But 12 total third-quarter points were a season low as the team went 0 of 12 from 3-point range in the period. The Pacers entered with an average of 30.2 points in the third quarter this season.
The Pacers shot a season-worst 38.3 percent for the game, 21.4 percent (9 of 42) from 3-point range and never seemed to find Clippers big man Ivica Zubac on the court. Zubac delivered 31 points and a career-high 29 rebounds in 36 minutes.
“I think our shot selection was rough,” Haliburton said. “Not getting stops didn’t help. We want to play in transition as much as possible. We didn’t get a ton of stops and didn’t really rebound very well. That didn’t allow us to play in transition.”
–Field Level Media | https://www.krqe.com/sports/nba-basketball/amid-lebron-james-led-surge-lakers-face-pacers/ | 2022-11-28 23:31:14 | 0 | https://www.krqe.com/sports/nba-basketball/amid-lebron-james-led-surge-lakers-face-pacers/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — The homicide rate for older U.S. teenagers rose to its highest point in nearly 25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the suicide rate for adults in their early 20s was the worst in more than 50 years, government researchers said Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report examined the homicide and suicide rates among 10- to 24-year-olds from 2001 to 2021.
The increase is alarming and “reflects a mental health crisis among young people and a need for a number of policy changes,” said Dr. Steven Woolf, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher who studies U.S. death trends and wasn’t involved in the CDC report.
Experts cited several possible reasons for the increases, including higher rates of depression, limited availability of mental health services and the number of guns in U.S. homes.
Guns were used in 54% of suicides and 93% of homicides among the age group in 2021, the most recent year for which statistics were available.
“Picture a teenager sitting in their bedroom feeling desperate and making a decision, impulsively, to take their own life,” Woolf said. If they have access to a gun, “it’s game over.”
Suicide and homicide were the second and third leading causes of death for 10- to 24-year-olds, after a category of accidental deaths that includes motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings and overdoses. Other researchers have grouped the data by the method of death, and concluded that guns are now the biggest killer of U.S. children.
Earlier this year, Woolf and other researchers looking at CDC data noted dramatic increases in child and adolescent death rates overall at the beginning of the pandemic, and found suicide and homicide were important factors.
The report also found:
—Suicide and homicide death rates remained far higher for older teenagers and young adults than they were for 10- to 14-year-olds.
—In 2021, there were about 2,900 suicides in youths ages 10 to 19, and 4,200 in 20- to 24-year-olds. About 3,000 homicide deaths were reported in the younger group, and nearly 3,900 in the adults in their early 20s.
—The homicide death rate jumped from 8.9 deaths per 100,000 teens aged 15 to 19 in 2019 to 12.3 in 2020. It rose to 12.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2021, the highest since 1997, according to CDC data.
—Homicide deaths became more common than suicide deaths among 15- to 19-year-olds, while suicide was more common in the younger and older age groups.
—While large increases were seen in homicide rates for young Black and Hispanic people in the U.S., there were not significant increases for their white counterparts, other CDC data shows.
—Among 20- to 24-year-olds, the homicide death rate jumped 34% from 2019 to 2020 — from 13.4 per 100,000 population to 18 per 100,000. It held stable in 2021, but the suicide rate rose enough in 2021 — to 19.4 per 100,000 — to surpass the homicide rate.
Suicide death rates in children and teens were rising before COVID-19, but they jumped up at the beginning of the pandemic. Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, a psychiatrist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said the reasons may be hard to pinpoint, but that isolation during COVID-19 lockdowns could be a factor.
“There is a misperception that if you talk to young people about depression, they’ll get depressed. A don’t-ask, don’t-tell policy for depression is not effective,” Trivedi said. “The earlier we can identify the ones who need help, the better chance we’ll have at saving lives.”
___
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.wowktv.com/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/suicides-and-homicides-among-young-americans-jumped-early-in-pandemic-study-says/ | 2023-06-15 19:22:27 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/top-stories/ap-top-headlines/suicides-and-homicides-among-young-americans-jumped-early-in-pandemic-study-says/ |
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CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (AP) — Workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Wednesday marked the 37th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster amid an ongoing war and nuclear threats, somberly laying flowers at a monument for victims.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the day to repeat his warnings about the potential threat of a new atomic catastrophe in Ukraine amid the war with Russia, drawing a parallel between the Chernobyl accident in 1986 to Moscow’s brief seizure of that plant and its radiation-contaminated exclusion zone following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Last year, the occupier not only seized the (Chernobyl) nuclear power plant, but also endangered the entire world again,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post in English.
On April 26, 1986, an explosion and fire at the plant caused radioactive fallout to begin spewing into the atmosphere. Dozens of people were killed in the immediate aftermath of the disaster while the long-term death toll from radiation poisoning is unknown.
Thousands of tanks and troops rumbled into the plant's radiation-contaminated exclusion zone in the early hours of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, churning up highly contaminated soil from the site. Russian forces remained stationed at the closed plant between February and March last year, before they withdrew from the Kyiv area and it was recaptured by Ukrainian troops.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv has since then reestablished prewar security measures and scientific activities within the zone. But he cautioned that future moves from Moscow could endanger global nuclear safety.
Russian forces have also been stationed at southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest and one of the 10 biggest in the world, since capturing the site early in the war.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russia of using the plant as a base for firing on nearby Ukrainian-held territory. On Tuesday, Ukrainian officials reported that heavy Russian artillery fire hit cities on the western bank of the Dnieper River just across from the plant.
The plant has six reactors, all of which have been shut down over the past year.
“We must do everything to give no chance to the terrorist state to use nuclear power facilities to blackmail Ukraine and the entire world,” Zelenskyy said in his Telegram post. Zelenskyy’s office published photos of him laying flowers at two Kyiv memorials to Chernobyl victims and observing a minute’s silence.
At the site of the exclusion zone, workers and engineers placed flowers at a memorial Wednesday and received awards from the minister of environment, Ruslan Strilets.
Mykola Pobedin, an engineer, recalled with fear the 25 days he spent under Russian occupation. He had been working at the station for 35 years, but on the day of the invasion, he encountered something he never thought he would.
“Heading to the workplace, I saw a tank that was standing right here and the muzzle was pointed at the station," he said. He recalled sleeping and eating little for the next weeks, with even bread running out.
More than 150 members of the Ukrainian National Guard captured during Russia’s occupation of the Chernobyl exclusion zone remain in Russian custody, Strilets said. The level of radiation at the plant was now normal, he added.
“The day when the exclusion zone was crossed, when the Ukrainian flag flew over the Chernobyl station again, it was a day, it was a sign that Ukraine would definitely win this war," he said.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/politics/article/ukrainians-mark-chernobyl-disaster-amid-nuclear-17920040.php | 2023-04-26 17:51:02 | 0 | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/politics/article/ukrainians-mark-chernobyl-disaster-amid-nuclear-17920040.php |
(The Hill) – The U.S. added 528,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent in July, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department, a stunning gain that defied predictions of a slowdown.
Economists expected the U.S. to have added roughly 250,000 jobs in July and keep the jobless rate at 3.6 percent, according to consensus estimates released before the report.
But the economy added more than double the number of jobs experts predicted, even as consumer confidence plunged and gross domestic product shrank over the first half of the year. The jobless rate also returned last month to its pre-pandemic level of 3.5 percent, which in February 2020 set a 50-year low for unemployment.
The stunning July jobs gain will raise questions about how close the U.S. economy actually is to a recession after months of growing concern over a sharp slowdown. The resilience of the labor market also means the Federal Reserve may have more room — or at least feel more pressure — to rapidly raise interest rates and fight inflation without fears of triggering steep job losses.
“If you thought the economy was in a recession, you were wrong. Demand for workers skyrocketed in July, far exceeding expectations. Paired with falling gas prices, the economic outlook for the third quarter starts looking better,” wrote John Leer, chief economist at Morning Consult, in a Friday analysis.
“Today’s numbers also increase the likelihood of more aggressive rate hikes by the Fed as it tries to tame inflation, and downside risks remain elevated later in the year.”
July’s job gain has now brought the total number of Americans employed back to its level before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which wiped out roughly 21 million jobs in two months. The vast majority of new jobs came in service sector industries that have struggled to meet stimulus-fueled consumer demand.
The leisure and hospitality sector, which is still below its pre-pandemic employment level, led all other industries in job growth with gain of 96,000 jobs. Restaurants and bars added 74,000 jobs alone.
Professional and business services firms added 89,000 jobs in July and employ almost 1 million more workers than they did before the pandemic. Health care employment rose by 70,000 and government employment rose by 57,000 in July, helping those sectors continue to recover jobs lost to COVID-19.
Even sectors of the economy hit hard by higher Fed interest rates and high inflation posted notable job gains.
Construction employment rose by 32,000 in July, retailers added 22,000 jobs, and transportation and warehousing added 21,000 jobs.
“Strong employer demand is continuing to support the solid, and increasing jobs gains. With continuing fear and debate over a recession, the labor market does not look like it is teetering on the edge of a recession,” wrote Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor, in a Friday analysis.
“The labor market remains a pillar of strength, holding up the economy even as the economy slows around it,” he wrote.
The stunning July jobs gain could give President Biden and Democrats a useful boost with just three months until the November midterm elections. While election forecasters expect Democrats to lose their majority in the House, stronger confidence in the economy could help Biden’s party limit its losses in the lower chamber and preserve—or even expand—its Senate majority.
The Labor Department also revised the May and June jobs gains up by a combined 28,000 jobs, meaning the U.S. has added a total of 1.3 million jobs over the past three months.
“More people are working than at any point in American history. That’s millions of families with the dignity and peace of mind that a paycheck provides. And, it’s the result of my economic plan to build the economy from the bottom up and middle out,” Biden said in a Friday statement.
“I ran for president to rebuild the middle class – there’s more work to do, but today’s jobs report shows we are making significant progress for working families,” he said.
While the July jobs report is welcome break from recession fears for Biden, there are still serious risks looming over the economy that could flip the picture before the midterm elections.
Labor force participation stayed almost stagnant in July, which is little relief for businesses competing to fill jobs from a workforce still 1.3 percent smaller than it was in February 2020. Wages also grew by 5.2 percent over the past year, a rapid clip that some economists fear will fuel higher inflation.
The Fed has been hiking interest rates since March with the goal of slowing job growth to a pace that won’t drive inflation higher or force businesses to rapidly raise wages. A slower economy would also force businesses to avoid raising prices as consumer have less financial room to chase inflation.
The lack of an expected July job growth slowdown may push the Fed into even faster rate hikes, which risks shocking the economy into a recession.West Virginia man gets 3-year sentence for threats to Fauci, other officialsChina halts climate, military cooperation with US over Pelosi visit
“The Fed won’t take any solace in the strong job numbers. Policymakers’ priority is cooling wage and price pressures, so they want to see unemployment edge higher,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, in a Friday tweet.
“That would take monthly job gains of well below 100k for a while. The Fed will get what it wants in coming months,” he said. | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/economy-adds-whopping-528000-jobs-in-july-shatters-expectations/ | 2022-08-05 14:24:59 | 0 | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/economy-adds-whopping-528000-jobs-in-july-shatters-expectations/ |
U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) has won his second term in the U.S. Senate.
Young beat Democrat Tom McDermott and Libertarian James Sceniak.
Young came into the race with several advantages – the boost of incumbency, being a Republican in Indiana and with millions of dollars in his campaign coffers. And he only built that financial lead through the course of the campaign.
The race was widely expected to favor Young, though polls in recent weeks had shown his lead narrowing significantly. But the senior Indiana U.S. senator will head back to Washington for another six years.
He first won his seat in 2016, after serving three terms in the U.S. House.
This story will be updated.
Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5. | https://www.wbaa.org/2022-11-08/republican-u-s-sen-todd-young-wins-re-election-bid | 2022-11-09 01:43:18 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2022-11-08/republican-u-s-sen-todd-young-wins-re-election-bid |
CINCINNATI (AP) — Joe knows best. That’s a mantra the Bengals have fully embraced.
Cincinnati’s success has turned on Joe Burrow’s ability to process and act, complete passes in tight windows, work around the team’s deficiencies and turn broken plays into first downs.
Meanwhile, the Bengals’ run game has become something of a side dish to the main course.
The Bengals were 29th out of 32 NFL teams in rushing during the regular season, averaging 92.9 yards per game — fewer than all but two playoff teams and the fewest of any team advancing to the divisional round. Cincinnati finished with 100 or more rushing yards in just three games. The last time was in a win over the Browns in Week 14.
In the last two games against Baltimore –- wins in the regular-season finale and wild-card playoff round — Cincinnati combined for just 106 yards on the ground. The Bengals have averaged just 58 yards in the last four games.
Offensive coordinator Brian Callahan acknowledged that “we’re not a volume carry team,” but he said de-emphasizing the run game wasn’t a deliberate trend but the way the games have worked out in the last month or so.
“First thing, we played really good defenses. We played … some teams that are pretty hell bent on stopping the run, and they are good at it,” Callahan said. “The other part is I think we have leaned into throwing the ball a little bit more the last couple weeks as well, partly because of that.”
The Bengals overhauled an underperforming offensive line before the season. That’s helped slow down pass rushers who made Burrow the NFL’s most-sacked quarterback in 2021 and left him battered after the Super Bowl loss to the Rams.
His 68.3% completion rate in the 2022 regular season was second in the NFL only to Seattle’s Geno Smith. His 297.7 passing yards per game was second to Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. Burrow threw a career-high 35 touchdown passes, tying him for second with Buffalo’s Josh Allen.
A rash of injuries in recent weeks will force the Bengals to start three backups on the offensive line when they play at Buffalo on Sunday in the divisional round. Working around that is bound to put even more pressure on Burrow.
Fortunately for the Bengals, not much bothers the 26-year-old star.
“I think you have to have that mindset as a quarterback in this league if you want to be really successful — you can’t go out there scared in the moment,” he said. “You have to be a little arrogant to go out there in that moment and make plays you need to make, and so that’s really something I’ve thought a lot about and something that I try to do.”
Callahan said the Bengals will still hand the ball off against the Bills, the fourth-best team in the league against the run this season.
“We still need to be able to run the ball better,” he said. “It’s always going to help that (offensive line) group, especially with new players, if we can run the ball with some efficiency and feel good about it. I will say at this time of year, when it comes down to it, we’ll probably try to put the ball in Burrow’s hands as much as possible, because that’s just what is going to win us games.”
After rushing for a career-high 1,205 yards in 2021, featured back Joe Mixon hasn’t found much room this year. He logged just one 100-yard game, picking up 153 yards and scoring four touchdowns in a Week 9 win over Carolina. He suffered a concussion in the first half of a Week 12 win over Pittsburgh and missed the next two games.
With his carries reduced, Mixon has remained a consistent cog in the passing game, making 60 catches for 441 yards — both career highs for the six-year pro.
“Everybody in this locker room is going to matter,” Mixon said this week. “We have physical, hungry teammates willing to do whatever to get the job done.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.koin.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-bengals-want-ball-in-burrows-hands-with-ground-game-stalled/ | 2023-01-21 11:39:48 | 1 | https://www.koin.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-bengals-want-ball-in-burrows-hands-with-ground-game-stalled/ |
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Decision time arriving for Le’Veon Bell
August 30, 2018 09:16 AM
Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell is expected to sign his franchise tender within the next few days, but he hasn't confirmed when that will be.
Up Next
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Unpacking reported Jones Netflix docuseries
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Mike Florio takes a deep dive into the teams being floated around to star in the new season of "Hard Knocks" and Florio also analyzes the reported $50 million deal Jerry Jones is completing with Netflix for a docuseries.
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Close Ad | https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/nfl/profootballtalk/decision-time-arriving-for-leveon-bell | 2023-07-05 11:26:06 | 1 | https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/nfl/profootballtalk/decision-time-arriving-for-leveon-bell |
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The legendary galleon is thought to be carrying 200 tons of gold, silver and precious stones. Now, there are new pictures of the deep-sea treasure.
The contents of the historic San Jose galleon, which sank more than 300 years ago, still make the hearts of treasure hunters all over the world beat faster.
According to experts, at least 200 tons of gold, silver and gems are said to have been in the ship, which sank off the coast of the Colombian port city of Cartagena in 1708. Its value: several billions of US dollars.
When the shipwreck was discovered in 2015, then Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos presented it as "the most valuable treasure ever found in the history of mankind."
After the recent elaborate diving expedition at a depth of 950 meters (3,117 feet), the Colombian army has now published new pictures of the legendary ship and its treasures.
They show cast-iron cannons, porcelain dishes, pottery, glass bottles, but also apparently golden coins. They also display a part of the ship's bow covered with seaweed and shells, as well as remains of the hull framework.
These are the most accurate images of the ship ever taken, according to acting Colombian President Ivan Duque.
The teams have dived down in four missions with high-tech equipment, including a remote-controlled diving robot. In the process, they were able to determine that the wreck had remained unscathed by human intervention.
In addition to the spectacular images of the famous shipwreck, however, the descent into the depths has revealed something else. A few hundred meters away, the camera has come across two other wrecks: a galleon from the colonial period and a schooner from the post-colonial period.
Thirteen other sites, where other shipwrecks from the same eras are suspected, are still to be investigated.
The treasures aboard the galleon San Jose were on their way from the Spanish colonies in Latin America to the court of the Spanish King Philip V in 1708, but they never arrived there: On the night of June 7, the ship and its treasures were sunk by the British fleet in the Caribbean Sea.
Only a few of the 600 or so crew members survived.
Colombia plans to salvage the wreck one day — at a cost equivalent to around €61 million ($65 million) — and then exhibit it in a museum in Cartagena. The country already calls the wreck and its riches a "national art treasure."
This article was originally written in German. | https://www.dw.com/en/treasures-gold-and-silver-new-images-from-famous-san-jose-shipwreck/a-62065002 | 2022-06-08 18:24:52 | 0 | https://www.dw.com/en/treasures-gold-and-silver-new-images-from-famous-san-jose-shipwreck/a-62065002 |
SACRAMENTO (AP) _ The winning numbers in Sunday evening's drawing of the California Lottery's "Daily 3 Evening" game were:
4-3-2
(four, three, two)
¶ Ticket-holders with all three winning numbers in the order given win the top prize. Lesser amounts are also awarded to ticket-holders with other varying combinations of the winning numbers. | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Daily-3-Evening-game-17158303.php | 2022-05-09 02:13:24 | 1 | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Daily-3-Evening-game-17158303.php |
(NEXSTAR) — As COVID-19 sub-variants continued sweeping across the U.S., new research suggests your body might not be the only place hosting the coronavirus. Yikes!
Researchers studied two animal coronoviruses’ ability to survive on various meats, including salmon, pork, chicken and beef during both refrigeration and freezing for one month, according to the data published by the American Society for Microbiology’s journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Scientists say the viruses — which were used as surrogates in place of COVID-19, as they are all similar — had greater survival on beef and pork. Chicken and salmon, they write, had greater reductions.
While the main mode of transmission of COVID-19 is widely known to be respiratory, the researchers note previous data shows coronaviruses can survive on even non frozen foods, like produce, and possibly infect someone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says food/food packaging transmission is unlikely, though the researchers write they believe more data is needed.
So how would COVID-19 end up in meat?
Researchers write that living conditions in markets and slaughterhouses, in addition to meat processing plants, that may transfer particles to meat, poultry and seafood during animal slaughter, processing, storage and transport.”
The study’s authors say their data needs more backing but that they hope their findings will emphasize the need for more safety measures in food production and packaging. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/national/is-covid-19-living-in-your-freezer/ | 2022-07-17 18:30:45 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/national/is-covid-19-living-in-your-freezer/ |
Man convicted of killing missing California college student Kristin Smart
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The last man seen with Kristin Smart was convicted Tuesday of killing the college freshman, who vanished from a California campus 26 years ago.
Jurors unanimously found Paul Flores guilty of first-degree murder, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. A jury in a separate trial found his father, Ruben Flores, not guilty of charges of being accessory to murder after the fact for allegedly helping to conceal the crime.
The conflicting verdicts were read moments apart in the same courtroom.
Smart disappeared from California Polytechnic State University over Memorial Day weekend in 1996. Her remains were never found.
Prosecutors maintain the younger Flores, now 45, killed the 19-year-old during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at Cal Poly, where both were first-year students. He was the last person seen with Smart as he walked her home from an off-campus party where she became intoxicated.
His father, now 81, allegedly helped bury the slain student behind his home in the nearby community of Arroyo Grande and later dug up the remains and moved them.
Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe thanked the jurors for their service after the guilty verdict in the murder case was announced.
“I wish to express to you the appreciation and that of the parties for your service in this case,” she said. “It is a great personal sacrifice to serve as a juror. ... You have been very attentive and conscientious throughout this case.”
The son’s defense attorney, Robert Sanger, had tried to pin the killing on someone else — noting that Scott Peterson, who was later convicted at a sensational trial of killing his pregnant wife and the fetus she was carrying — was also a Cal Poly student at the time.
During his closing arguments, Sanger told jurors that no attempted rape occurred and he cast doubt on testimony from witnesses, including a student who was in Smart’s dorm who testified to seeing Flores in Smart’s room.
He also referred to forensic evidence offered by the prosecution as “junk science.”
“This case was not prosecuted for all these years because there’s no evidence,” Sanger said. “It’s sad Kristin Smart disappeared, and she may have gone out on her own, but who knows?”
Paul Flores had long been considered a suspect in the killing. He had a black eye when investigators interviewed him. He told them he got it playing basketball with friends, who denied his account, according to court records. He later changed his story to say he bumped his head while working on his car.
However, the father and son were only arrested in 2021 after the case was revived.
Investigators conducted dozens of fruitless searches for Smart’s body over two decades but in the past two years they turned their attention to Ruben Flores’ home about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Cal Poly in the community of Arroyo Grande.
Behind latticework beneath the deck of his large house on a dead end street, archaeologists working for police in March 2021 found a soil disturbance about the size of a casket and the presence of human blood, prosecutors said. The blood was too degraded to extract a DNA sample.
The trial was held in Salinas, 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of San Luis Obispo, after a judge granted a defense request to move it. The defense argued that it was unlikely the Flores’ could receive a fair trial with so much much notoriety in the city of about 47,000 people.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.azfamily.com/2022/10/18/man-convicted-killing-missing-california-college-student-kristin-smart/ | 2022-10-18 21:51:39 | 0 | https://www.azfamily.com/2022/10/18/man-convicted-killing-missing-california-college-student-kristin-smart/ |
Mercurial billionaire Elon Musk now says he wants to buy Twitter outright, taking it private to restore its commitment to what he terms “free speech.” But his offer, which seemed to fall flat with investors on Thursday, raises as many questions as it answers.
Among them: Is he serious? Can he get the money together? Would a sale make shareholders happy? And what would the social platform look like if he succeeds?
WHY IS MUSK INTERESTED IN TWITTER?
Ostensibly because the service, he says, isn’t living up to its potential as a “platform for free speech.” Musk insists that he’s not interested in making money off Twitter and on Thursday said his motivation sprang from the realization that “having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
Twitter, like other social media platforms, suspends accounts for violating content standards, including on violence, hate speech or harmful misinformation. Its suspension of Donald Trump angered the former president’s followers.
Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” — but he has blocked Twitter users who question or disagree with him. Regulators have also accused his car company, Tesla, of retaliating against Black workers who spoke up about discrimination.
HAS MUSK SAID WHERE HE WILL GET THE FUNDS TO BUY TWITTER?
No. And his regulatory filing says the offer is subject to “completion of anticipated financing.”
During a Thursday on-stage interview at the TED 2022 conference, Musk noted vaguely that he has “sufficient assets” to complete the deal, adding: “I can do it if possible.”
CAN HE JUST BUY TWITTER OUTRIGHT FROM HIS PERSONAL WEALTH?
Musk is the world’s wealthiest man, according to Forbes, with a nearly $265 billion fortune. But much of his money is tied up in Tesla stock — he owns about 17% of the company, according to FactSet, which is valued at more than $1 trillion — and SpaceX, his privately held space company. It’s unclear how much cash Musk has.
“I do think this will be somewhat painful and I’m not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it,” Musk said in his Thursday interview.
Musk could sell Tesla stock to raise money — which could hurt Tesla’s share price — or borrow against his stock holdings. But Forbes notes that he has already used more than half of his Tesla stake as loan collateral.
WOULD TWITTER SHAREHOLDERS BE HAPPY WITH HIS OFFER?
The stock traded lower than the offer price of $54.20 a share Thursday, suggesting investors doubt the deal will go through. The shares have traded above $70 in the past 12 months and peaked at $80.75 in February 2021.
There has been executive turnover since co-founder Jack Dorsey’s departure in November left Twitter with a new CEO, Parag Agrawal, whose initial actions have involved internal reorganizations. There have not been any major changes to Twitter, which, despite its outsized influence due to high-profile celebrity and politician posters, as well as a devoted base of journalists, has fewer users than social media rivals like Facebook and TikTok. Musk himself is a huge user, with more than 81 million followers.
Dorsey, still a major shareholder, has not indicated what he thinks of Musk’s offer.
Twitter said only that it will look at the offer. A spokesperson declined to answer if the board will put in place a defense against a hostile takeover known as a “poison pill.”
HOW MIGHT MUSK REMAKE TWITTER?
It’s hard to know with Musk, and even trying to game out this hypothetical might be taking the man too seriously. By saying Twitter is not living up to its potential to be a “platform for free speech,” he seems to be saying he would scale back content moderation. But he has also called for the company to crack down on spam accounts, which implies more moderation.
He proposed dropping ads from the service — ads are how Twitter makes money — and making its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter. He also seems to approve of a button to edit tweets.
WHAT CONCERNS DOES MUSK AS AN OWNER OF TWITTER RAISE?
Social-media companies struggle to contain misinformation and hate speech. Musk, whose tweets can lead online bullies to swarm his critics online, does not seem keen on content moderation.
“Regulators worldwide will be wincing at the potential free speech implications should Musk’s takeover bid succeed,” said GlobalData analyst Rachel Foster-Jones. “Musk is clearly serious about promoting free speech for the benefit of democracy, but the line between free speech and hate speech or misinformation is becoming increasingly muddied, and attempts to change Twitter could easily lead to these issues spiraling out of control.”
In his talk with Anderson, Musk said that Twitter is “ bound by the laws of the country it operates in, so obviously there are some limitations on free speech in the U.S. and of course Twitter would have to abide by those rules.” But he said it was “quite dangerous” to have “tweets be mysteriously promoted and demoted” and having a “black-box algorithm.”
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Twitter may hire bankers and advisers to help it review the deal, said Third Bridge technology, media and telecom analyst Scott Kessler. And other buyers could emerge. “It seems that if would-be strategic and/or financial buyers are interested in Twitter, they should probably engage now.” | https://www.wric.com/business/us-world-business/explainer-what-is-musk-really-doing-as-he-guns-for-twitter/ | 2022-04-15 19:32:59 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/business/us-world-business/explainer-what-is-musk-really-doing-as-he-guns-for-twitter/ |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) is checking reports of discolored water. Here’s what they know.
They’ve received several reports of discolored water from faucets in the Old Town and Downtown area in Albuquerque. Technicians are investigating, ABCWUA says, but there’s no set timeline for a fix yet.
It’s not yet clear what may be causing discoloration in the water. ABCWUA says naturally occurring iron and manganese particles is a common cause of discoloration, but it’s not yet confirmed that is the cause in this case.
If the discoloration is caused by iron and manganese, ABCWUA says those don’t pose a health threat. This is a breaking news story and will be updated if more information comes available. | https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/water-officials-looking-into-dirty-water-complaints-in-albuquerque/ | 2023-06-14 19:24:54 | 0 | https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/water-officials-looking-into-dirty-water-complaints-in-albuquerque/ |
ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Heading into the fourth quarter of 2022, LSQ, a leading provider of working capital management and finance solutions, is riding a wave of momentum and growth from a record first nine months of the year.
"LSQ has hit some important milestones so far this year," said Vikas Shah, LSQ's Chief Revenue Officer. "We have developed key new partnerships that have driven our diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, saw our first supply chain finance [SCF] program hit $1 billion in early payments to suppliers, doubled our number of SCF clients, originated our largest accounts receivable financing deal, and delivered innovative platform features to continue to grow our network and improve our customer experience."
So far in 2022, LSQ has created formal partnerships with the National Minority Supplier Development Council and affiliates in Michigan and Chicago, and the Diversity Consortium.
"Access to capital continues to be an impediment to growth for our minority business enterprises (MBEs)," said Isaiah Spears, Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships with ChicagoMSDC. "Providing access to capital from corporate buyers that our MBEs are working with is an innovative approach to strengthening business relationships and creating more diverse supply chains and the Council is thrilled to partner with LSQ in this endeavor."
Shah points out that the LSQ team's focus on supporting MBEs is gaining momentum and paying dividends for traditionally underbanked businesses.
"We have been working with a number of enterprise partners to create SCF programs tailored to their minority suppliers and have seen success in alleviating the funding challenges of MBEs especially in today's challenging macroeconomic environment of rising interest rates and tightening credit," said Shah.
In addition to hitting the $1 billion mark in early payments in a single SCF program (in just under 15 months from inception), LSQ created a large accounts receivable finance facility for Continuum Global Solutions, a provider of omnichannel contact center services worldwide via voice and non-voice channels such as chat, email, and social media. The facility is the largest accounts receivable facility in LSQ's 26-year history.
According to LSQ National Sales Director Renee Jackson, LSQ created more than $250 million in new credit facilities for several new customers ranging from small, mid-market to large enterprise organizations
"We are seeing prospects and customers who are more focused on holistic partnerships around accounts receivable management with companies as opposed to just financing," said Jackson. "Our sales team has done a fantastic job of taking the time to learn the needs of our customers and work with our underwriters to create flexibility to meet the rapidly evolving needs for working capital."
As for overall SCF growth, LSQ has seen a 300-percent increase in network growth in terms of corporate clients, suppliers onboarded and addressable spend on the LSQ FastTrack® platform in the first three quarters of 2022.
"With the current economic climate, we are seeing a renewed emphasis on working capital and supply chain health," said Shah. "Beyond that, businesses are focusing on tools that improve efficiency in their procurement and accounts payable and receivable processes. Combining those important factors in one solution is where we are seeing huge wins for customers on the FastTrack platform."
To support customer growth, FastTrack has added several new innovative features to help drive efficiency and open new avenues for working capital optimization and cost savings.
As an industry first, LSQ also expanded its solution to include a Pay Later option that allows businesses to gain immediate and on-demand working capital improvement without extending terms to suppliers.
"Traditionally, enterprises participating in a supply chain finance program gain the working capital lift by extending payment terms and offering early payments through a third-party funder," said Shah. "But in today's economic environment with tighter credit and constrained supply chains, we are seeing less appetite for supplier terms extensions, so companies are having to find new ways to improve near-term cash flow."
With Pay Later, suppliers gain access to affordable early invoice payments like any supply chain finance program without sacrificing speed, transparency and certainty, but, on the back end, buyers can extend repayment to LSQ beyond the originally set terms. Buyers get immediate and on-demand access to working capital while their accounts payable and procurement teams work towards optimizing supplier terms over time.
Another innovation is an advanced automation that allows for the configuration of credit memos to seamlessly apply credits to invoices within FastTrack. The enhancements eliminate the need for manual input to offset invoice credits from a supplier with that supplier's new invoices. This functionality gives LSQ the ability to address myriad enterprise use cases to meet the process requirements of customers.
Customer credit management has long been one of the tenets of LSQ's working capital offerings. Leveraging its 26 years of credit data experience, LSQ began offering an expanded Accounts Receivable Insights solution to both existing accounts receivable finance and new customers. With this new offering, customers have access to reports showing growth trends, customer exposure, and industry benchmarking among a bevy of data showing transaction behavior. These reports can be used to:
- Fully understand customer's performance and risk
- Monitor and manage exposure across the customer base
- Improve payment terms based on customer credit profiles
- Optimize DSO through efficient and effective customer management
"The working capital landscape has changed dramatically in 2022," said Vikas. "With rising interest rates and the tightening of credit, companies are having to be extra diligent to maintain liquidity to ensure financial health. I am proud of the work that LSQ has done to create flexible solutions for our clients to keep them ahead of the changing currents and am looking forward to growing our solutions and the relationships we have built."
LSQ is a market leader and pioneer in working capital finance and payments solutions. For more than 25 years, LSQ has leveraged innovative technology, credit and risk expertise, and proprietary data that empowers thousands of businesses to optimize their working capital, automate and accelerate payments, manage collections, and mitigate risk. Every year, we accelerate billions of dollars in payments to businesses and their suppliers through our LSQ FastTrack platform to help them obtain the funds they need to grow and thrive. LSQ is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Learn more at www.lsq.com.
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SOURCE LSQ Funding | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/10/25/lsq-first-three-quarters-2022-marked-by-new-partnerships-product-innovation/ | 2022-10-25 14:44:44 | 0 | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/10/25/lsq-first-three-quarters-2022-marked-by-new-partnerships-product-innovation/ |
South Carolina vs. South Florida Women's Basketball Predictions & Picks - NCAA Tournament Second Round
Published: Mar. 18, 2023 at 2:40 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
Sunday's game at Colonial Life Arena has the South Carolina Gamecocks (33-0) squaring off against the South Florida Bulls (27-6) at 1:00 PM ET (on March 19). Our computer prediction projects a lopsided 77-54 victory as our model heavily favors South Carolina.
In their last time out, the Gamecocks won on Friday 72-40 against Norfolk State.
South Carolina vs. South Florida Game Info
- When: Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 1:00 PM ET
- Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina
- How to Watch on TV: ABC
Use this link to get a free trial of fuboTV, where you can watch college hoops and other live sports without cable!
South Carolina vs. South Florida Score Prediction
- Prediction: South Carolina 77, South Florida 54
South Carolina Schedule Analysis
- The Gamecocks picked up their signature win of the season on November 20, when they took down the Stanford Cardinal, who rank No. 5 in the AP's Top 25, by a score of 76-71.
- The Gamecocks have 15 wins against Quadrant 1 teams, the most in Division 1.
- South Carolina has seven wins against Quadrant 2 opponents, tied for the 16th-most in Division 1.
- The Gamecocks have seven wins versus Quadrant 3 teams, tied for the 44th-most in the country.
South Carolina 2022-23 Best Wins
- 76-71 on the road over Stanford (No. 5/AP Poll) on November 20
- 81-77 on the road over UConn (No. 6/AP Poll) on February 5
- 88-64 at home over LSU (No. 9/AP Poll) on February 12
- 81-56 on the road over Maryland (No. 7/AP Poll) on November 11
- 74-58 over Tennessee (No. 24/AP Poll) on March 5
South Florida Schedule Analysis
- When the Bulls defeated the Texas Longhorns (No. 15 in the AP's Top 25) on December 2 by a score of 70-65, it was their signature victory of the year thus far.
- When facing Quadrant 1 teams, the Bulls are 5-4 (.556%) -- tied for the 27th-most wins.
- Against Quadrant 2 teams, South Florida is 6-1 (.857%) -- tied for the 21st-most victories.
- The Gamecocks have tied for the 44th-most Quadrant 3 wins in the nation based on the RPI (seven).
South Florida 2022-23 Best Wins
- 70-65 on the road over Texas (No. 15/AP Poll) on December 2
- 67-65 over Marquette (No. 41) on March 17
- 67-59 at home over Alabama (No. 42) on November 16
- 66-65 over Arkansas (No. 47) on December 21
- 58-45 at home over Memphis (No. 62) on January 11
Watch college hoops all season on all your devices without cable with a seven-day free trial on fuboTV!
South Carolina Performance Insights
- The Gamecocks have a +1003 scoring differential, topping opponents by 30.4 points per game. They're putting up 81.2 points per game to rank seventh in college basketball and are giving up 50.8 per outing to rank second in college basketball.
- On offense, South Carolina is averaging 80 points per game this year in conference tilts. To compare, its overall average (81.2 points per game) is 1.2 PPG higher.
- The Gamecocks are scoring 85.3 points per game this year when playing at home, which is 8.1 more points than they're averaging when playing on the road (77.2).
- South Carolina surrenders 47 points per game when playing at home this year, compared to 54.2 on the road.
- The Gamecocks' offense has been less productive over their last 10 games, putting up 78.7 points a contest compared to the 81.2 they've averaged this year.
South Florida Performance Insights
- The Bulls outscore opponents by 11.4 points per game (posting 70.9 points per game, 69th in college basketball, and conceding 59.5 per contest, 57th in college basketball) and have a +377 scoring differential.
- South Florida scores more in conference play (72.7 points per game) than overall (70.9).
- In 2022-23 the Bulls are averaging 5.5 more points per game at home (75.3) than away (69.8).
- South Florida is conceding fewer points at home (56.7 per game) than on the road (58.5).
- The Bulls are putting up 71.4 points per contest in their last 10 games, compared to their season average of 70.9.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/03/19/south-carolina-south-florida-womens-college-basketball-picks-predictions-ncaa-tournament-second-round/ | 2023-03-18 09:04:15 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/03/19/south-carolina-south-florida-womens-college-basketball-picks-predictions-ncaa-tournament-second-round/ |
Fueled by a drop in gas prices, inflation in the Seattle metro area finally slowed down in August. That’s been little relief to consumers, though, as food and shelter costs continued their relentless climb.
In August, prices of goods and services in the Seattle area remained unchanged from two months earlier, when inflation hit a four-decade high, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released this week.
Nationally, the Consumer Price Index, a shorthand measure of the change over time in prices consumers pay, rose 0.1% in August, after reporting no change in July.
In the Seattle metro area, prices increased 9% over the past year and are still higher than the national average increase of 8.3% for the same period.
Compared with other major U.S. cities, the Seattle metro area reported the slowest growth in inflation, federal data shows. That’s a noticeable change from February, when the city recorded one of the highest increases among metros. Seattle’s inflation growth is still higher than metros like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago, which saw greater declines in the price of gas.
Prices monitored in the CPI are those on a sample of everyday items, ranging from groceries to appliances, transportation to housing. These items are often referred to as a “marketbasket” of goods and services and are weighted against a household budget to measure how the increase in prices affects the average person.
Since August 2021, the rising prices of food and energy drove the rise in the cost of living in the Seattle area. Rocketing gas prices and persistent supply chain issues boosted the cost of goods with generally stable prices, like household furnishings and vehicles. Those less-volatile “core prices” rose, leading to a now more stubborn phase of inflation, undoing any wage gains recorded this year.
In the past two months the cost of fuel dropped nearly 12 percentage points in Seattle. Dairy products, medical care and used vehicles also reported minor dips. Those were offset by a rise in the cost of other less-volatile goods, particularly housing, durables — items such as appliances, electronics and jewelry — and vehicles. Even groceries and alcoholic beverages showed increases.
When measuring inflation, the Federal Reserve pays particular attention to these less-volatile items. The recent range of price increases has dashed hopes that core inflation will ease soon.
The latest figures have heightened fears of more aggressive interest rate hikes from the Fed and sent stocks plunging, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 1,200 points earlier this week. They solidified worries that inflation has now spread into all corners of the economy. | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/price-increases-are-slowing-in-seattle-heres-why-you-havent-noticed/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business | 2022-09-17 01:02:48 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/price-increases-are-slowing-in-seattle-heres-why-you-havent-noticed/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared awestruck Thursday to be standing in the Antarctic hut of explorer Ernest Shackleton.
“I think when you’re a kid and you read stories about Shackleton, you’d never imagine you’d have the opportunity to come. So, I feel pretty lucky,” she said from inside the hut that was built more than a century ago. “It’s a cool place.”
Ardern this week is making a rare visit by a world leader to Antarctica, to see firsthand the research taking place on global warming and to mark the 65th anniversary of New Zealand’s Scott Base, which will be demolished in a few years to make way for a rebuild.
Ardern’s visit comes as delegations from 26 nations and the European Union meet in Australia to decide the future of Antarctica’s pristine waters.
Conservationists say new marine protected areas and rules to prevent overfishing in Antarctica are desperately needed, but that Russia could use its veto-like powers to once again block progress.
Russia last year rejected the toothfish catch limits proposed by the commission’s scientists, and the U.S. says this year that Russia and China have been blocking progress on creating new marine protected areas, although the U.S. aims to work toward a resolution with China. The motivation for Russia, which did not respond to requests for comment this week, remains unclear.
Ardern’s trip has highlighted some of the challenges of visiting the icy continent. Her first flight in a military cargo plane was turned around after about two hours on Tuesday due to strong winds and deteriorating weather, making her part of what’s informally known as the “boomerang club.”
She made it to Antarctica the next day, accompanied by a single pool journalist whose photos and videos can take many hours to transmit overnight due to the tenuous internet capacity. She is due to return home Saturday.
Ardern said the scientists and crew on Antarctica have noticed the effects of global warming over the past five years, including observing sea ice cracking and moving, and glaciers and icebergs changing.
She said it was important for New Zealand to maintain a leadership role on the continent.
“We’re in a period where internationally you see that parts of the world are becoming increasingly contested, and Antarctica is part of that, too,” Ardern said.
Standing in the hut, Ardern said that Irish-born Shackleton and his British expedition had tried to reach the South Pole, but that he was remembered more for his extraordinary leadership and saving the lives of his men. She said she didn’t exactly draw parallels with her own leadership.
“I don’t think I can quite compare government with the hardship and endurance of Antarctic exploration,” she said, adding with a laugh: “But some days.” | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/new-zealand-leader-ardern-makes-rare-trip-to-antarctica/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2022-10-28 06:20:33 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/new-zealand-leader-ardern-makes-rare-trip-to-antarctica/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
HOD-HASHARON, Israel (AP) — HOD-HASHARON, Israel (AP) — Allot Communications Ltd. (ALLT) on Tuesday reported a loss of $11.4 million in its first quarter.
On a per-share basis, the Hod-Hasharon, Israel-based company said it had a loss of 30 cents. Losses, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 21 cents per share.
The internet protocol services company posted revenue of $21.1 million in the period.
Allot Communications expects full-year revenue in the range of $110 million to $120 million.
The company's shares closed at $2.80. A year ago, they were trading at $5.27.
_____
This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ALLT at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ALLT | https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/allot-communications-q1-earnings-snapshot-18101570.php | 2023-05-16 09:27:46 | 0 | https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/allot-communications-q1-earnings-snapshot-18101570.php |
Sept. 25, 1931 - July 3, 2022
VALPARAISO - Lola Christine Rains (Chris), 90, passed away on July 3, 2022 in Mishawaka, Indiana.
Chris was born on September 25, 1931 in Celina, Tennessee to the late Otis and Eulah Pitcock. Chris is preceded in death by her spouse, Charles Rains (divorced); and daughter, Colleen Rains.
Chris is survived by children: Joseph Rains, Teresa D'Aloisio, Victoria Smith, Charles Rains (Mick), Lola Rees, Ronald Rains; 25 grandchildren; 38 great-grandchildren; and 10 great-great-grandchildren; siblings: Grace Brown, Creola Halsell, Janice Dilldine, and Darvis Pitcock.
Chris worked at Porter Memorial Hospital before retiring and was a Life Member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary #2852738. She loved her family and her pet dog, Buddy. Her favorite hobby was crocheting blankets for her grandchildren. She also enjoyed caring for her perennials and having a variety of indoor plants, which she loved sharing with others.
Graveside Services and burial will be at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, July 8, 2022 at Calvary Cemetery, 2701 Willowdale Road, Portage, Indiana 46268. Rev. Craig Forwalter officiating.
Arrangements by Dykes Funeral Home, Inc., Valparaiso, IN (219) 462-3125. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/lola-christine-rains/article_7c4b5a49-d179-5c1d-bc9b-fc3404146fad.html | 2022-07-06 05:32:05 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/obituaries/lola-christine-rains/article_7c4b5a49-d179-5c1d-bc9b-fc3404146fad.html |
NEW YORK (PIX11) — It’s an institution in New York, Cafe Fiorello.
Located across the street from Lincoln Center, some claim it has the best pizza in the city. But it’s not only the food that’s packing people into this place. It’s the owner, Shelly Fireman, who makes everyone feel like they’re at home.
It’s a G Thing. | https://pix11.com/news/its-a-g-thing/iconic-new-york-restaurant-cafe-fiorello-makes-you-feel-at-home/ | 2022-10-28 23:16:21 | 0 | https://pix11.com/news/its-a-g-thing/iconic-new-york-restaurant-cafe-fiorello-makes-you-feel-at-home/ |
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has begun visit to Saudi Arabia, where Arab leaders are holding a summit.
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MILAN (AP) — Milan Fashion Week closed four days of mostly menswear previews for next fall and winter on a note of tranquility.
Italian fashion world stalwart Giorgio Armani took his admirers inside Milan’s hidden courtyards, islands of calm concealed from general view within the walls of the city’s austere neoclassical architecture.
Indian designer Dhruv Kapoor, a relative Milan newcomer, hopes to promote an interior journey with a new collection in which he seeks to reconcile alter-egos – be they romantic, aggressive or pensive – as a way of healing.
While creating similar moods, the presented designs couldn’t have been more aesthetically opposite: one a study in tailoring and muted hues, the other an explosion of color on silhouettes that mix the oversized with the petite.
Highlights from Monday’s shows:
DHRUV KAPOOR PROMOTES HEALING
Kapoor has a message of radical self-acceptance in his collection, which combined floral prints promoting stillness, cartoon images of Godzilla representing aggression and lace details for romanticism.
The designer, through his unisex collection dubbed “The Embracer,’’ advocates embracing all of our parts, even those viewed negatively. Not that he thinks the solution lies in wardrobing.
“It’s a very simple process. Look in the mirror and tell yourself, ‘I love you.’ And see how the magic starts to shift. You just need to admire yourself just the way you are,’’ Kapoor said backstage, adding that he has felt a dramatic shift since adopting the practice. “I don’t know how it comes. I never dwell on the how.”
The collection includes a fitted, ripped denim dress over loose jeans. Broad-shoulder suit jackets were combined with tight trousers that flare into a bell bottom. Oversized sweatshirts were layered with cotton tunics and a sheer lace pant. Godzilla raged on the front of a button-down shirt or tight-fitting dress, while a silver pillow jacket had reptilian spikes down the back.
“Godzilla also has a very negative, monstrous thing attached to it,’’ Kapoor said. But that should not impede acceptance, he insisted.
Crystals on knitwear, suits and jackets hold energy that Kapoor said can be activated to have a positive impact on the wearer’s life. Instructions are included with the garments.
Models traversed the Tiepolo room in the 18th century Clerici Palace beneath images that included demons, walking to the beat of modems connecting mixed with classical music and hip hop. The mashup gives “us a whiff of the past and the future,’’ Kapoor said. “And we are birthing a new present.”
Kapoor also promotes healing for the environment. Nearly two-thirds of his collection is either upcycled, employing leftover textiles that otherwise would be discarded, or recycled. For this season, all of his suit fabrics are made from recycled plastics.
___
ARMANI’S HIDDEN MILAN
Hidden from view in Italy’s frenetic fashion and finance capital are quiet gardens ensconced in Milan’s courtyards.
Giorgio Armani suggests these are places to pause and take stock before emerging for business or play, this season on soft footwear with rubber soles.
Models walked slowly to a soundtrack of Italian pianist-composer Ludovico Einaudi soundtrack while wearing suits and separates that were deeply textured, projecting self-assuredness in the 88-year-old designer’s trademark soft-silhouette.
The color palette consisted of soft earthy tones set off by olive and forest green with a surge of crimson in sportswear and a final smattering of weekend dandy looks. Flannel cargo pants were paired with soft sweaters. Disciplined double-breasted suits befitted a negotiating table. Big gake furs, including one in tiger print, lightened the quiet mood.
The show closed with couples dressed in shimmering black evening dresses and formal suits with silk or velvet details chattering down the runway, as if they were leaving a party.
Armani conceded that flashes of skin on other runways this season had a sensuality. But he stuck by his conviction: “You can wear anything you want, but when you are at an important table, you need to wear an important suit,” he said.
His one transgression: ties that arch under the knot, as if pulled loose, and worn tucked into vests, “to give space to relax.”
‘’Stiff is not good,’’ the designer added. | https://www.koin.com/entertainment-news/ap-armani-kapoor-bring-tranquil-close-to-milan-fashion-week/ | 2023-01-16 16:43:34 | 0 | https://www.koin.com/entertainment-news/ap-armani-kapoor-bring-tranquil-close-to-milan-fashion-week/ |
Federal wildlife officials have released a female Mexican gray wolf back into the wild after she was captured in northern New Mexico in January. The endangered animal had ventured hundreds of miles from the species’ designated area.
Last year, wolf 2754 left her pack in eastern Arizona and eventually crossed Interstate 40, the northern boundary of the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area.
She traveled more than 500 miles toward Colorado before being captured near Taos, New Mexico. The wolf was taken to a wildlife facility in hopes she would breed with a captive male, but it wasn’t successful and she was released into the Apache National Forest where she’ll be monitored with a radio collar.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the decision to capture 2754 was made according to agency policy.
Advocacy groups call the wolf Asha and say her travels show that Mexican wolves are able to thrive outside of what they call an “arbitrary” boundary in Arizona and New Mexico.
Defenders of Wildlife, the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project and others have called for the expansion of the animal’s territory. They say the area around the Grand Canyon and the southern Rocky Mountains would provide ideal habitat to ensure a lasting recovery.
The groups are currently challenging the boundary in court.
At last count there were at least 241 Mexican gray wolves in the wild, the highest number ever recorded since the program began in 1998. | https://www.knau.org/knau-and-arizona-news/2023-06-14/captured-mexican-gray-wolf-released-back-into-wild-in-arizona | 2023-06-14 23:49:09 | 1 | https://www.knau.org/knau-and-arizona-news/2023-06-14/captured-mexican-gray-wolf-released-back-into-wild-in-arizona |
Powerball winner waits until wife’s birthday to tell her about jackpot: ‘I wanted to surprise her’
RALEIGH, N.C. (Gray News) - A man in North Carolina won a Powerball jackpot but waited until his wife’s birthday to share the news of the winnings.
Officials with the North Carolina Education Lottery said Jone Buadromo won the $100,000 prize while playing Powerball, but he delayed collecting for almost two months because he wanted to tell his wife on her birthday.
“I waited until the end of May because I wanted to surprise her on her birthday with the win,” Buadromo said.
The Pamlico County man said his wife didn’t initially believe him when he told her about the jackpot.
“She thought I was making a joke or something,” Buadromo said. “I told her, ‘No, we really won!’”
Lottery officials said Buadromo’s $3 Power Play ticket matched numbers on four white balls and the Powerball in the April 11 drawing to win $50,000. His prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2x multiplier hit.
“I didn’t believe it at first either,” he said. “I just tried to keep calm as much as possible.”
Buadromo purchased his ticket from a Handy Mart in Alliance and claimed his prize Thursday at lottery headquarters. He was able to take home $71,011 after taxes, according to lottery officials.
The Powerball winner said he is considering using his winnings to buy some land at the beach and possibly build a rental home.
Powerball is one of several lottery games offered in North Carolina.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.kold.com/2022/06/04/powerball-winner-waits-until-wifes-birthday-tell-her-about-jackpot-i-wanted-surprise-her/ | 2022-06-04 01:01:06 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/2022/06/04/powerball-winner-waits-until-wifes-birthday-tell-her-about-jackpot-i-wanted-surprise-her/ |
Windy with snow showers this morning. Winds will diminish some this afternoon. Morning high of 22F with temps falling to the single digits. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..
Tonight
Considerable cloudiness. Low 3F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.
IRONTON — An Ironton man charged with the murder of his grandfather pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.
Kace Pleasant, 22, of the 1200 block of South 9th Street, Ironton, earlier entered a plea of not guilty to charges of the murder and aggravated murder of his grandfather earlier this year. He also has pleaded not guilty to other charges of tampering with evidence, fleeing and eluding, abuse of a corpse, robbery and kidnapping.
Pleasant pleaded not guilty to those charges through his lawyer, Roger Smith of Huntington. Pleasant was indicted on charges of the murder of Harold Pleasant, 73, of Ironton, on Oct. 25. He also was charged with robbery and kidnapping of a woman in Scioto County.
The not guilty by reason of insanity was made during a hearing Wednesday. Once a written motion is filed, Pleasant will have an evaluation to determine his ability to stand trial. He will be evaluated at Court Clinic in Cincinnati.
In an unrelated case, Andrew R. Taylor, 29, of Township Road 1186, South Point rejected a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for six to nine years in prison. He has been indicted on a charge of rape that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
In other cases:
Chaz L. McCoy, 32, of Township Road 135, South Point, pleaded guilty in a drug case. He was placed on community control sanctions for 30 months. He was ordered to complete a four to six month program at the STAR Community Justice Center in Scioto County. He also was ordered to continue treatment at Mended Reeds and do 200 hours of community service.
Marc Oden, 28, of the 300 block of 9th Street West, Huntington, pleaded guilty to domestic violence. He was ordered to take anger management counseling and do 200 hours of community service.
Koty J. Meade, 26, of County Road 1, South Point, admitted to violating an intervention in lieu of conviction program. He was ordered to continue on probation and be drug- and alcohol-free for a year.
Chad W. Reynolds, 38, of Private Drive 2151 South Point, pleaded guilty to breaking and entering. He was ordered to pay $627.84. Final sentencing was set for Jan. 25. The case had been set for trial Jan. 10. The charge could be reduced to a misdemeanor providing he pays the restitution.
Dennis R. King, 69, of Lucasville, Ohio, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while impaired. He received a suspended 180-day jail sentence. He was placed on probation for two years. He was fined $373 and had his driver’s license suspended for a year.
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accounts, the history behind an article. | https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/ironton-man-charged-in-grandfathers-death-pleads-not-guilty/article_177101f6-f3b9-51cc-8988-378c047dc581.html | 2022-12-23 08:53:12 | 1 | https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/ironton-man-charged-in-grandfathers-death-pleads-not-guilty/article_177101f6-f3b9-51cc-8988-378c047dc581.html |
Happy birthday, America! Now, get out there and celebrate:
In Downtown Kenosha, “Celebrate America” activities along the harbor are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. today. Live music, the Dock Dogs Diving contest and vendors are north of 54th Street between Sixth Avenue and Second Avenue, with more music and vendors in Veterans Memorial Park, 625 52nd St. Admission is free and open to the public. Food and beverages are available for purchase.
The Dock Dogs Diving contest is in a large pool set up next to the harbor, on 54th Street, east of Sixth Avenue. On-site registration and practice begins at 11 a.m. today, with performances beginning an hour later. Big Air Finals start at 7 p.m.
The Somers Parade steps off at 2 p.m. today on Highway E — with an ice cream social in the Town Hall after the parade.
The Kenosha Pops Concert Band plays its annual pre-fireworks concert of patriotic favorites on the band shell in Pennoyer Park, starting at 4 p.m. Live music at the Pennoyer Park band shell continues at 7 p.m. with Yesterday’s Children, leading up to the fireworks show.
People are also reading…
The City of Kenosha’s fireworks are launched east of Celebration Place near the museum campus Downtown. The fireworks start about 9:30 p.m. | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/todays-events-for-monday-july-4/article_b10f3cea-f999-11ec-ba26-675f94114e87.html | 2022-07-04 12:52:22 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/todays-events-for-monday-july-4/article_b10f3cea-f999-11ec-ba26-675f94114e87.html |
Arizona Early Music opens what promises to be the biggest season in its 41 years when the critically acclaimed ACRONYM ensemble makes its Tucson debut on Sunday, Nov. 13.
AEM Executive Director Dominic Giardino attributed part of that to rescheduling a pair of 2021-22 concerts and the launch of the group’s Tucson Baroque Music Festival to this season after they were postponed when COVID cases started to rise early this year.
“This season actually is our biggest season yet in part due to the remounting of the festival,” Giardino said. “We have five season concerts in addition to the festival. We are just excited to be bringing these people to Tucson.”
People are also reading…
The season opens with the dynamic young string ensemble ACRONYM making its Tucson debut with “Dreams of the Wounded Musketeer.” The performance, featuring music by Baroque composers Valentini, Bertali, Schmelzer, Rosenmüller, and others, will feel more like a musical narrative than a concert, Giardino said.
The storyline follows an imperial military trumpeter who has been shot and lies dying while his life in music flashes before him, from the wild mood swings music took in his childhood to the enormous transformation music underwent in his teens and adulthood.
The 11-member ACRONYM, formed in 2012, was one of the two groups whose 2020 AEM concerts were canceled at the height of the pandemic.
Their concert on Sunday begins at 3 p.m. at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St. Tickets are $30.90 through azearlymusic.org or by calling 520-314-1874.
The season also includes the dynamic duo Twelfth Night on Dec. 11; Ars Lyrica Houston’s “Crossing Borders: Music of 17th- and 18th-century Latin America,” on Jan. 22 as part of the 2023 Tucson Desert Song Festival; the inaugural Tucson Baroque Music Festival Feb. 10-12; the avant garde quartet Les Délices on March 26; and the French-Canadian Ensemble Caprice on April 23.
“It’s really a heavy-hitter season,” Giardino said.
For tickets and details, visit azearlymusic.org. | https://tucson.com/entertainment/music/az-early-music-hosts-biggest-season-of-41-year-tucson-run/article_0ff3cf12-5ba8-11ed-9c53-17e333b7da26.html | 2022-11-08 18:44:37 | 0 | https://tucson.com/entertainment/music/az-early-music-hosts-biggest-season-of-41-year-tucson-run/article_0ff3cf12-5ba8-11ed-9c53-17e333b7da26.html |
Los Angeles Ritz-Carlton hotel skyscraper climber arrested
A banner that read 'Support women, not abortion; was seen on a window but it was unclear if it was connected to the climber
A man scaled one of Los Angeles' tallest buildings Tuesday before he was taken into police custody
Video taken from Fox Los Angeles showed the man climbing the side of The Ritz-Carlton hotel in downtown Los Angeles around 9:30 a.m.
CALIFORNIA FAMILY MURDERED BY VIRGINIA MAN WHO 'CATFISHED' TEEN GIRL: POLICE
A banner that read "Support women, not abortion" was seen hanging from one of the windows, the news outlet said.
It was unclear if he was connected to the banner.
The Los Angeles Police Department told Fox News Digital that it didn't have any other information other than the man was arrested once he got to the top of the building.
Authorities put up a large safety air cushion on the ground as a precaution. | https://www.foxnews.com/us/los-angeles-ritz-carlton-hotel-climber-arrested | 2022-11-29 21:53:55 | 0 | https://www.foxnews.com/us/los-angeles-ritz-carlton-hotel-climber-arrested |
MOORMAN, Louis E.
Age 78, of West Carrollton, passed away Saturday, December 10th, 2022. Services will be held privately. Newcomer Funeral Home, Centerville, OH.
MOORMAN, Louis E.
Age 78, of West Carrollton, passed away Saturday, December 10th, 2022. Services will be held privately. Newcomer Funeral Home, Centerville, OH. | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/obituaries/moorman-louis/LRRV47YXHBEMXGNZRM5THL3D5Y/ | 2022-12-16 06:34:58 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/obituaries/moorman-louis/LRRV47YXHBEMXGNZRM5THL3D5Y/ |
Russell Westbrook NBA Playoffs Player Prop Bets: Clippers vs. Suns - April 18
The Los Angeles Clippers, Russell Westbrook included, will play at 10:00 PM on Tuesday versus the Phoenix Suns in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
In this piece we'll examine Westbrook's stats and trends, helping you with your prop bets.
Russell Westbrook Prop Bets vs. the Suns
Looking to bet on one or more of Russell Westbrook's player prop bets? Sign up at DraftKings with our link to get a first deposit bonus today!
Russell Westbrook Insights vs. the Suns
- Westbrook's opponents, the Suns, have a neutral offensive tempo, averaging 101.4 possessions per game, while his Clippers average 101.0 per game, which ranks 22nd among NBA teams.
- The Suns concede 111.6 points per contest, sixth-ranked in the league.
- On the boards, the Suns have given up 42.9 rebounds per game, which puts them 11th in the league.
- The Suns give up 23.4 assists per contest, third-ranked in the league.
- The Suns allow 11.4 made 3-pointers per game, third-ranked in the league.
Russell Westbrook vs. the Suns
Want another way to try to win cash prizes? Add Westbrook or any of his Clippers teammates to your lineup in FanDuel Daily Fantasy NBA contests. Use our link to sign up and get a great offer for new users. (See website for offer details, not available in all areas.)
Not all offers available in all states. Please gamble responsibly. If you or someone you know has developed a gambling problem or addiction, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/sports/betting/2023/04/18/russell-westbrook-nba-playoffs-player-prop-bets-clippers-vs-suns/ | 2023-04-18 21:29:52 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/sports/betting/2023/04/18/russell-westbrook-nba-playoffs-player-prop-bets-clippers-vs-suns/ |
NEW YORK, Oct. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jakubowitz Law announces that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has commenced on behalf of shareholders of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD).
To receive updates on the lawsuit, fill out the form:
https://claimyourloss.com/securities/rite-aid-corporation-loss-submission-form/?id=33092&from=4
The lawsuit seeks to recover losses for shareholders who purchased Rite Aid between April 14, 2022 and September 28, 2022.
Shareholders interested in acting as a lead plaintiff representing the class of wronged shareholders have until December 19, 2022 to petition the court. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.
According to a filed complaint, Rite Aid Corporation issued materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) despite representations to the contrary, the number of new members that the Elixir pharmacy benefit management services business was adding during the selling season ending on January 1, 2023 was in material decline; (ii) Rite Aid was likely to recognize a significant charge for the impairment of goodwill related to Elixir due to a decrease in "lives" covered by Elixir's pharmacy benefit management services business; and (iii) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
Jakubowitz Law is vigorous in pursuit of justice for shareholders who have been the victim of securities fraud. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
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SOURCE Jakubowitz Law | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/10/28/rad-shareholder-alert-jakubowitz-law-reminds-rite-aid-shareholders-lead-plaintiff-deadline-december-19-2022/ | 2022-10-28 10:17:49 | 1 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/10/28/rad-shareholder-alert-jakubowitz-law-reminds-rite-aid-shareholders-lead-plaintiff-deadline-december-19-2022/ |
William Electric Black is a name familiar to audiences at the small experimental theaters of Manhattan's East Village and it's also becoming known by educators and people in law enforcement who are trying to reach children in New York about gun violence.
A former writer for Sesame Street, Electric, as everyone calls him, is passionate about the role education can play in reducing gun violence. He sums up this educational philosophy as "go in and go early."
"You need to start when they're 3 and 4 because by the time they're in middle school, they're thinking about a gun or 'I gotta get a gun to protect myself from the other kids that have guns,'" said Electric. "This is the time to get them to see there's another way."
Chauncey Parker, NYPD's Deputy Commissioner for Community Partnerships, and Kristy De La Cruz, superintendent of Community School District 4, have been working with Electric to create a small pilot program on gun violence at an elementary school in East Harlem. The hope is for it to begin sometime in the 2022 - 2023 school year. Electric's time on Sesame Street and the subsequent work he's done creating educational videos on health issues make him an attractive partner in such a venture, said De La Cruz.
"Mr. William Electric Black has a proven track record with his advocacy for public health and wellness," she said. "He's someone who is deeply committed to serving the community. And it's not just like he's coming in with [his own] ideas. He wants to co-create lessons in collaboration with the community."
After watching President Biden's televised address on mass shootings, Electric told NPR, "The president said, 'Do something.' That's me. I'm devastated by what's happening but you can't let that choke you and do nothing."
He felt a need to create socially-conscious plays for children
Born Ian Ellis James, he created the stage name William Electric Black while attending Southern Illinois University in Carbondale for graduate school. William in homage to Shakespeare, Electric because of his goal of electrifying audiences and Black as a nod to his African-American heritage. He was offered a teaching job at the university but he couldn't shake the sight of the Confederate flags hanging in some Carbondale bars.
So, he returned to New York and started writing and directing quirky musicals in the East Village. One was titled Doo Wop Dracula. Another, Betty and the Belrays was about a white all-girl group. His 2005 musical Cellphones lampooned soccer moms, Michael Jackson and then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In addition to the off-beat musicals, Electric has directed serious life and death dramas, including The Lonely Soldier Monologues about the sexual harassment of female soldiers in Iraq.
In 2013, with the seemingly endless reports of inner-city shootings gnawing at him, Electric vowed to write a series of plays about gun violence. He wrote five of them, which he refers to as his "Gunplays."
The first play, Welcome Home, Sonny T, told the story of an Afghan vet who gets killed en route to his welcome home party. When Black Boys Die told the tragic tale of a promising high school athlete who died by gunfire. His mother ordered her surviving daughter to keep a list of subsequent homicide victims at their housing project.
But it's The Faculty Room that critics have called thought-provoking and relevant. Members of James Baldwin High School find themselves on lockdown after one of two feuding members of the girls' basketball team brought a gun to school. There's a scene where a girl reads aloud her essay imagining a world without guns. She refers to the mass shootings at Sandy Hook and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the police killing of an unarmed man named Sean Bell on his wedding day, and the deaths of five cops in Dallas.
In 2016 a New York Times reviewer caught a performance of The Death of a Black Man (a Walk By), the last of the five Gunplays staged at The Theater for the New City. The reviewer wondered whether theater has the power to stop gun violence. William Electric Black believes that it does.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-06-07/how-the-arts-can-help-children-think-about-gun-violence | 2022-06-07 21:35:59 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-06-07/how-the-arts-can-help-children-think-about-gun-violence |
Investing RM 600 Million in Infrastructure
Expansion of facilities to drive development in the local economy and across the region
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- J&T Express ("J&T"), an international express logistics company, announced today it has completed the acquisition of a 30-acre parcel of land in Bandar Rimbayu, Selangor, Malaysia. The land will be used to build an integrated logistics center for express distribution, logistics and transportation and warehousing to meet J&T's growing business needs in Malaysia.
Charles Hou, Group Vice President of J&T Express, said, "As a global integrated logistics service provider, J&T Express is committed to providing customers with more efficient and convenient services. It remains our emphasis to strengthen our leadership position in Southeast Asia through expanding our presence in existing markets. The new facility will be fitted with our advanced technology, which enables us to better tap on our existing networks to meet the growing demands of the burgeoning e-commerce industry in Southeast Asia.".
"Rimbayu is the golden triangle of Selangor, we believe in the future development potential of this area." CEO of J&T Express Malaysia, Roy Zeng said, "This year marks the fifth year since J&T Express commenced operations in Malaysia. With diversified expansion and the strong momentum thanks to the continuous growth of the regional market, we have decided to invest RM 600 million to purchase a parcel of land and build a logistics centre in Malaysia. In doing this, we hope to drive the development of the local economy, provide jobs for the community, and play an active role in the development of the local logistics industry and the long-term development of the community."
Founded in 2015, J&T Express' localized express network now spans twelve countries including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Mexico, and Brazil, serving over 2 billion people.
- End -
About J&T Express
J&T Express is a global logistics service provider with leading express delivery businesses in Southeast Asia and China, the largest and fastest-growing market in the world. Founded in 2015, J&T Express' network spans twelve countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Mexico and Brazil. Adhering to its "customer-oriented and efficiency-based" mission, J&T Express is committed to providing customers with integrated logistics solutions through intelligent infrastructure and digital logistics network, as part of its global strategy to connect the world with greater efficiency and bring logistical benefits to all.
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SOURCE J&T Express | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2022/06/07/jampt-express-acquires-land-malaysia/ | 2022-06-07 01:48:09 | 0 | https://www.kalb.com/prnewswire/2022/06/07/jampt-express-acquires-land-malaysia/ |
SLOVIANSK, Ukraine — On the fourth floor of an apartment building, Larisa lives alone. The 76-year-old uses a walker to move around, and she can't go up or down stairs. She hasn't ventured outside since before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Only three people remain in her building, a reflection of how this front-line city in the east has fared. The hallways in the building are still littered with broken glass, the windows shattered from a recent missile strike that hit the building across the street.
It's a lonely existence for Larisa, whose brother and sister both live elsewhere in Ukraine. But she says it would be even harder if Svitlana Domoratska, a city social worker, didn't visit multiple times a week.
"I rely on her,'" says Larisa, who asked NPR not to use her last name since she lives close to the fighting. "I try to do a lot of things myself, but it's very hard."
Many of those living along the front lines of the war in Ukraine are older people. Because of their advanced age or poor health, they stay behind — and struggle with difficult access to food, water, heat and medicine.
They're also living with nightly shelling and missile attacks. About 15 miles from the front line, Sloviansk has been experiencing these attacks for more than six months. Just 20% of its more than 100,000 prewar residents are still here, according to the mayor. Many of them are over 60.
It's Domoratska's job, as one of 10 social workers who remain in Sloviansk, to visit older residents multiple times a week and make sure they're doing OK. Before the war, there were 40 social workers in the city.
"The people I visit, they don't want to leave," she says. "They're all alone, but they're also in their familiar environment. This is what they know. And in some cases, this is all they have."
At Larisa's apartment, Domoratska, 43, helps with cooking and cleaning. She brings food and medicine and keeps Larisa company. Together, they often watch a travel show on TV — "a distraction," says Larisa, from the nearly constant air raid sirens and explosions.
Even as the sirens wail, Larisa's biggest worry is not the war. It's winter. The city's natural gas supply has been disrupted by shelling, and it won't be restored in time for the heating season. Because of that, there's an evacuation order for Slovyansk.
Larisa's apartment does have electricity, and she points to an electric heater that's already turned on, even though it's only September.
"When it gets colder, I'll wear all my sweaters," she says. "I'll wear my fur coat."
Domoratska says she's worried about winter, too. Even in the spring and summer, seniors who lived alone in Sloviansk were dying in their apartments. They didn't have food — and in some cases, the city or their families didn't know.
The city intensified evacuation assistance, according to Svitlana Viunychenko, the mayor's assistant. But with so many unable or unwilling to leave, she says, they turned to social workers to check in.
When the war first started, Domoratska stayed home with her husband, young child and pets. She has elderly parents herself, so she didn't want to leave Sloviansk. But over time, she realized she had to get back to work: there were people who needed her.
Her husband, who is out of work because of the war, often drives her to her visits, so she doesn't have to walk. Most days, she visits four to six people, and she works six days a week. She has a dozen clients in total.
This week, a missile hit a building where two of her clients — a married couple in their 90s — live. When she arrived to visit them, she found their apartment filled with soil, tree roots and pieces of glass. She helped clean it up. "It was a miracle that they survived," she says.
A few blocks from Larisa's apartment, Domoratska climbs the stairs to visit another woman. There are several loud booms — nearby explosions.
"It's normal now," she says. "Even if there are sirens, even if there are explosions, I still visit. They expect me. They prepare for me to come."
She pounds on a door two floors up.
"It's Svitlana," she yells through the door.
A few minutes later, a woman with a cane opens the door. She's dressed in layers and a thick sheepskin and wool vest.
Anna, 86, has impaired hearing and is partially blind. Like Larisa, she is afraid of using her surname during the war and asked NPR to use her first name.
Domoratska has brought her a loaf of bread, and the timing is perfect: Anna only has two slices left.
"I call her 'Firefly,'" Anna says, sitting on her bed. "She brings light in a dark time." Tacked to the walls behind her, there are pictures of the Virgin Mary with Jesus. Flies swarm around food remnants on a side table.
"I was born in Sloviansk," Anna says. "In the past, life was much better. I was a teacher."
She takes out photos of her students. Before the war, they used to visit. But lately, she says, it's been really lonely. "Loneliness is the worst thing that a person can ever experience," she says. Her niece, who is in her 60s, calls to check in when there are air raid sirens, and visits when she can. Anna's other family members have either moved away or died.
Living alone in wartime has taken its toll.
"I am afraid. I don't sleep at night," she says, sobbing. "If I do fall asleep, I don't know if I'll ever wake up."
As she speaks, there are multiple explosions. The windows, covered by lace curtains, rattle after each boom. She sighs deeply and kisses the cross necklace she wears and wipes her eyes.
She says a prayer — she asks for safety from the explosions.
"Every Babushka would all do the same," she says, using the Ukrainian word for grandmother. "We all just want peace."
Hanna Palamorenko contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/national-world-news/2022-09-16/for-older-ukrainians-in-front-line-cities-visits-from-social-workers-bring-comfort | 2022-09-16 11:36:51 | 1 | https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/national-world-news/2022-09-16/for-older-ukrainians-in-front-line-cities-visits-from-social-workers-bring-comfort |
SHANGHAI, March 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG) ("Cango" or the "Company"), a leading automotive transaction service platform in China, today announced that it plans to release its fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results after the market closes on Thursday, March 9, 2023. The earnings release will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.cangoonline.com/.
Cango's management will hold a conference call on Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time or Friday, March 10, 2023 at 9:00 A.M. Beijing Time to discuss the financial results. Listeners may access the call by dialing the following numbers:
The replay will be accessible through March 16, 2023, by dialing the following numbers:
A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available at the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.cangoonline.com/.
About Cango Inc.
Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG) is a leading automotive transaction service platform in China connecting car buyers, dealers, financial institutions, and other industry participants. Founded in 2010 by a group of pioneers in China's automotive finance industry, the Company is headquartered in Shanghai and has a nationwide network. Leveraging its competitive advantages in technological innovation and big data, Cango has established an automotive supply chain ecosystem, and developed a matrix of products centering on customer needs for auto transactions, auto financing and after-market services. By working with platform participants, Cango endeavors to make car purchases simple and enjoyable, and make itself customers' car purchase service platform of choice. For more information, please visit: www.cangoonline.com.
Investor Relations Contact
Yihe Liu
Cango Inc.
Tel: +86 21 3183 5088 ext.5581
Email: ir@cangoonline.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cango_Group
Emilie Wu
The Piacente Group, Inc.
Tel: +86 21 6039 8363
Email: ir@cangoonline.com
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SOURCE Cango Inc. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/03/06/cango-inc-report-fourth-quarter-full-year-2022-financial-results-march-9-2023-eastern-time/ | 2023-03-06 13:11:33 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/03/06/cango-inc-report-fourth-quarter-full-year-2022-financial-results-march-9-2023-eastern-time/ |
James Whetlor, author of The DIY BBQ Cookbook, explains how to reject BBQ maximalism and build your own tandoori oven out of flowerpots, and grill on the holes of cinderblocks.
Copyright 2023 NPR
James Whetlor, author of The DIY BBQ Cookbook, explains how to reject BBQ maximalism and build your own tandoori oven out of flowerpots, and grill on the holes of cinderblocks.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvasfm.org/arts/arts/2023-06-16/you-dont-need-a-grill-to-grill-advises-award-winning-cookbook-author | 2023-06-16 21:35:10 | 0 | https://www.wvasfm.org/arts/arts/2023-06-16/you-dont-need-a-grill-to-grill-advises-award-winning-cookbook-author |
(The Hill) – Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) has been accused of orchestrating a credit card skimming operation in which he schemed to steal information from ATM and credit cards, according to a sworn statement from a former roommate of his obtained by Politico.
The declaration from Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha, who said he met Santos when he rented a room in a Florida apartment from the now-congressman, states he was accused of a federal crime of credit card fraud in 2017 and pleaded guilty. Trelha, who is from Brazil, served seven months in prison and was then deported.
His attorney, Mark Demetropoulos, sent the letter to the FBI, U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York and Secret Service office in New York on Wednesday.
Trelha said Santos was known to him as Anthony Devolder, another name that others with ties to Santos have said they knew him by.
He added that he learned from Santos how to clone ATM and credit cards after he started renting the room from him.
“Santos taught me how to skim card information and how to clone cards. He gave me all the material and taught me how to put skimming devices and cameras on ATM machines,” Trelha said.
He said Santos had a warehouse in Orlando, Fla., that housed materials such as printers and blank ATM and credit cards that could be painted and engraved with stolen account and personal information.
Trelha said he went to Seattle and began to steal credit card information from ATM terminals, with the deal being that the profits would be split evenly between the two of them. He decried that Santos threatened his friends after he was arrested to not tell authorities that Santos was the one in charge.
Trelha claimed Santos also stole the money that he collected for his bail. He said he has other witnesses who can back up his statements, according to Politico’s reporting.
The sworn statement is the latest development in potential legal trouble that Santos is facing. He received criticism from members of both parties after reports revealed he made many false statements about his educational, professional and personal background.
Local, state and Brazilian prosecutors have initiated probes into Santos following the disclosures of his false statements. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York has been specifically looking into Santos’ finances, including funds used during his campaign.
The House Ethics Committee formally launched an investigation into Santos last week.
Audio from Trelha’s 2017 bail hearing also showed Santos falsely told the judge that he worked for Goldman Sachs, one of the many false statements he made about himself during his campaign. | https://cw33.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/santos-accused-of-orchestrating-credit-card-skimming-operation/ | 2023-03-10 12:22:00 | 1 | https://cw33.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/santos-accused-of-orchestrating-credit-card-skimming-operation/ |
El Taco H, a new downtown restaurant inspired by Mexico City flavors, is now open at 213 E Hickory St. The 7,000-square-foot eatery, complete with patio, offers dishes dreamed up after the owners’ trips to Mexico including $3 tacos, signature cocktails and aguas frescas. El Taco H is open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
If you’ve got a craving for tamales, food truck Las Tamaleras opened earlier this month. The bright pink truck offers traditional handmade tamales and authentic Mexican food and is accepting pre-orders for Thanksgiving through Friday. To find where the truck will be each week, visit their Facebook page.
Also in foodie news, Chicago-style hot dog and sandwich eatery Portillo’s is planning to bring a location to Rayzor Ranch as part of its North Texas expansion, the Cross Timbers Gazette reported. The restaurant has proposed a 7,700-square-foot restaurant between Cheddars and In-N-Out, though no approval or construction timelines have been released, according to the Gazette.
Cheese & Salsa food truck is now open and offering up chef-crafted dishes. Yucatán delicacies marquesitas, fabiolita beans and signature salsa top the menu. The truck is at Steve's Wine Bar every Saturday. To find out its planned stops, visit Cheese & Salsa's Facebook.
In closures, Denton Skate Supply announced this week they would close after nearly 10 years in business. The family-owned shop, which opened at 301 N. Locust St. in 2013, will close Dec. 23 following the building owner's decision not to renew their lease.
Also shuttering this year is Red's Yard. Ownership announced the outdoor entertainment venue and eatery at 410 N. Bell Ave. will only remain open on weekends until its lease ends this year, when the owners plan to retire.
Headed to the salon scene is Curl Love Studio, a curl-focused salon at 813 North Locust St., Suite 101. The salon will service all curl patterns and offer “clean” beauty products. An opening date has not been set yet, according to the studio’s Instagram.
In the market for new wheels? Enterprise Car Sales opened a new dealership at 5150 South Interstate 35 in Corinth last month. Customers can shop inventory, schedule a test drive, apply for financing and more on the dealership’s website.
If you’re feeling under the weather, Texas Health has brought its Breeze Urgent Care model to a new Denton location at 4600 Teasley Lane. The clinic is one of 19 opened in Texas since 2020 and prioritizes 30-minute-or-less visits and offers on-site prescription pickup. Breeze locations are open 365 days of the year from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and patients can walk in or reserve a time online.
AMBER GAUDET can be reached at 940-566-6889 and via Twitter at @amb_balam. | https://dentonrc.com/business/what-s-open-what-s-closed-new-mexican-eats-food-trucks-and-retail-openings-in/article_ea804813-16c1-59cb-87b9-d0efb46dc28f.html | 2022-11-15 21:20:12 | 1 | https://dentonrc.com/business/what-s-open-what-s-closed-new-mexican-eats-food-trucks-and-retail-openings-in/article_ea804813-16c1-59cb-87b9-d0efb46dc28f.html |
California attorney general demands Albertsons delay $4-billion dividend ahead of possible Kroger merger
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and his peers in several other states demanded that Albertsons Cos. delay paying a $4-billion dividend to investors until after the company’s merger with rival supermarket chain Kroger Co. is reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission in a letter released by the attorney general’s office Wednesday.
This month, Kroger disclosed its $20-billion bid to buy Albertsons — a deal that would combine several chains with a presence in Southern California, among them Ralphs, Pavilions and Vons. As part of the Oct. 14 announcement, Cincinnati-based Kroger said that Albertsons would pay a special cash dividend of up to $4 billion to shareholders of record Oct. 24. It is scheduled to be payable Nov. 7.
The potential combination of the two chains comes as food costs have soared amid rising inflation. The merger has drawn intense criticism, including from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 in Los Angeles, which represents 20,000-plus members. On Saturday, Local 770 issued a statement opposing the dividend and calling on elected officials and regulators to halt Albertsons’ payment, which it said would result in the “devaluation of the company at a time when consumers are facing crushing inflation.”
On Wednesday, Bonta and the attorneys general of Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Washington and the District of Columbia wrote in their letter to the companies’ chief executives that they were dedicated to ensuring that the planned merger “does not result in higher prices for consumers, suppressed wages for workers or other anticompetitive effects.”
Noting that Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons is legally required to continue competing with Kroger while the merger is subject to state and federal review, the attorneys general wrote that “paying a dividend of this size will hamper its ability to meaningfully” do so.
Albertsons and Kroger say their merger would benefit consumers. The history of mergers, in the grocery business and elsewhere, offers cause for skepticism.
Asked about the letter, a spokesperson for Albertsons, which has 2,273 stores, said in a statement that the company would “continue to be well capitalized with a low debt profile and strong free cash flow” after the dividend payment.
“Our planned combination with Kroger will provide significant benefits to consumers, associates and communities and offers a compelling alternative to larger and nonunion competitors,” said the statement from Albertsons, which owns several grocery store brands, including Vons and Pavilions stores in California.
Kroger, which operates 2,800 stores representing more that two dozen brands — including Ralphs — did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Southern California, the country’s biggest market for groceries, would probably feel the effects of a merger between Kroger and its smaller competitor in a significant way. With an eye toward overcoming expected political and regulatory issues, the grocery chains have said they would divest some stores. Up to 375 Albertsons locations would be spun off into a separate, publicly traded company, Kroger said Oct. 14.
Two of the nation’s largest grocers with chains including Ralphs, Vons and Pavilions agree to merge to better compete with Walmart and Amazon.
Bonta and his peers gave Albertsons an Oct. 28 deadline for informing the attorneys general about whether it intends to cancel the dividend and postpone making any such payment until after regulatory review is complete and the deal closes.
If approved, the transaction is expected to close in early 2024, Kroger previously said.
Shares of both companies, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange, had quiet days on Wall Street. Kroger’s stock closed at $45.44, up about 1.5% on the day, while shares of Albertsons fell 1.3% to $20.43.
The view from Sacramento
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. | https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-10-26/albertsons-kroger-merger-dividend-bonta-attorneys-general | 2022-10-26 21:55:19 | 1 | https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-10-26/albertsons-kroger-merger-dividend-bonta-attorneys-general |
Percentages: FG .524, FT .760.
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3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Martindale 2-3, Outlaw 2-4, Avdalovic 1-2, Williams 1-3, Blake 0-1, Ivy-Curry 0-1, Beard 0-3).
Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 4 (Freeman 3, Richards).
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Turnovers: 8 (Beard 2, Denson 2, Freeman 2, Avdalovic, Ivy-Curry).
Steals: 12 (Beard 6, Williams 3, Ivy-Curry, Outlaw, Richards).
Technical Fouls: None.
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Percentages: FG .466, FT .800.
3-Point Goals: 12-24, .500 (Hastreiter 7-7, Miller 2-5, Wheeler-Thomas 1-1, Skunberg 1-2, Nelson 1-5, White 0-1, Yoder 0-1, Waddles 0-2).
Team Rebounds: 1. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 5 (Nelson 4, Yoder).
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Turnovers: 19 (Skunberg 3, Waddles 3, Wheeler-Thomas 3, Yoder 3, Morgan 2, Nelson 2, Hastreiter, Miller, White).
Steals: 3 (Hastreiter, Morgan, Waddles).
Technical Fouls: None.
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A_1,073 (5,700). | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/PACIFIC-91-NORTH-DAKOTA-STATE-86-17581874.php | 2022-11-14 00:01:49 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/PACIFIC-91-NORTH-DAKOTA-STATE-86-17581874.php |
LODI, Calif. — Lodi Police are investigating a report of a missing fetus from a funeral home.
According to a news release, police were called to the Cherokee Memorial Funeral Home around 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Police say they reviewed footage and found an employee from a contracted transport service threw away a box containing the fetus two weeks before the report was filed.
In that two-week period, all waste bins were emptied and taken by the waste collection company. Names are not being released at this time.
This story will be updated as we learn more. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/lodi-police-investigating-missing-fetus/103-d8ff0ec2-7d4c-4d6e-8067-fb676f22e899 | 2022-07-18 19:24:34 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/lodi-police-investigating-missing-fetus/103-d8ff0ec2-7d4c-4d6e-8067-fb676f22e899 |
The U.S. Department of Justice is challenging an Alabama law making it a felony for doctors to treat transgender people under age 19 with puberty blockers and hormones to affirm their gender identity.
The Justice Department on Friday filed a motion seeking to intervene in an ongoing lawsuit challenging the law and seeking to block it from taking effect on May 8. The Justice Department said the law discriminates against minors by denying them access to medically necessary care.
Alabama Republicans who support the law say it's needed to protect children. A spokeswoman for Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said her office is prepared to defend the legislation.
“The law discriminates against transgender minors by unjustifiably denying them access to certain forms of medically necessary care,” the complaint states. “As a result of S.B. 184, medical professionals, parents, and minors old enough to make their own medical decisions are forced to choose between forgoing medically necessary procedures and treatments or facing criminal prosecution." | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/justice-dept-files-a-challenge-to-alabama-transgender-law | 2022-04-30 02:14:30 | 1 | https://www.wmar2news.com/news/national/justice-dept-files-a-challenge-to-alabama-transgender-law |
SLATER, Iowa, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Gross-Wen Technologies (GWT), a leading algae-based wastewater treatment company based in rural Slater, Iowa, is pleased to announce that through a collaboration with Xylem Water Solutions Singapore Pte Ltd., a local entity of Xylem Inc., a leading global water technology company, their joint project was selected as one of the finalist winners of PUB's, Singapore's National Water Agency, Carbon Zero Grand Challenge 2022.
The wastewater industry contributes 5% of the total world greenhouse gas emissions. To address this problem, PUB launched the $4.8 million (U.S.) Carbon Zero Grand Challenge in October 2021 to incentivize innovative solutions that can assist the PUB achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century and scale to water facilities around the world. As part of this challenge, PUB sought carbon capture, utilization, removal and other solutions that could be integrated with its operations and reach commercial scale within a decade or sooner.
As a Grand Challenge finalist, the GWT/Xylem project will be awarded up to $2.5 million to demonstrate a large-scale version of their solution at a PUB facility in Singapore. The GWT/Xylem project will feature GWT's algae-based, revolving algal biofilm (RABTM) treatment technology on anaerobic digestion (AD) effluent for carbon footprint reduction and nutrient recovery. This carbon reduction includes atmospheric CO2 captured by algae, low energy nitrogen and phosphorus recovery, and reduced nitrous oxide emissions from the concentrated AD effluent. The algae produced during the process will be harvested and used to make slow-release organic fertilizer, bioplastics or biofuels.
According to GWT President and Co-Founder, Dr. Martin Gross, "Our company is honored to be selected as a finalist in the PUB's Grand Carbon Challenge. Our partnership with Xylem at PUB Singapore will serve as a showcase for how algae treatment can be leveraged to decarbonize the wastewater treatment industry."
GWT is a wastewater treatment technology company which uses algae instead of bacteria or chemicals to recover nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. Algae is considered the most sustainable way to treat wastewater. This is because during the treatment process algae is consuming CO2 from the atmosphere, then the CO2 containing algae is used as a slow-release fertilizer. What makes GWT unique is their algae-based treatment solution, called the revolving algal biofilm system (RAB), which is considered by many experts as the top algae treatment system in the world (10 issued patents). The company was founded by Dr. Martin Gross and Dr. Zhiyou Wen and is based on a technology they developed at Iowa State University.
For more information: algae.com
Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to solving critical water and infrastructure challenges with innovation. Our 17,000 diverse employees delivered revenue of $5.2 billion in 2021. We are creating a more sustainable world by enabling our customers to optimize water and resource management and helping communities in more than 150 countries become water secure.
Join us at www.xylem.com
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SOURCE Gross-Wen Technologies | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/08/11/gwt-xylem-announced-finalist-winner-singapore-pubs-carbon-zero-grand-challenge-2022/ | 2022-08-11 14:56:47 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/08/11/gwt-xylem-announced-finalist-winner-singapore-pubs-carbon-zero-grand-challenge-2022/ |
BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Malawi’s cholera outbreak has claimed more than 1,000 lives, according to the country’s health minister, who warned that some cultural beliefs and hostility toward health workers were slowing efforts to curb infections.
Cholera had killed 1,002 people as of Tuesday, while 1,115 people were hospitalized from the outbreak that started in March 2022, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said. It’s the country’s worst outbreak of the waterborne illness in two decades.
The country of 20 million people recorded 12 deaths from 626 new cases in 24 hours, she said.
Frustration and suspicion over the rising cases resulted in weekend violence. Angry villagers beat up health workers and damaged a facility at the Nandumbo Health Centre in the Southern Region’s Balaka district.
Residents accused health workers of denying them an opportunity to conduct dignified burials. They forced some health workers to vacate the facility, stoned a cholera isolation ward and forced the discharge of 22 cholera patients.
Esnath Suwedi, vice-chairperson of the Nandumbo area’s development committee, a traditional local authority, said people thought the health workers were acting “mysteriously.”
Suwedi said residents alleged the workers were using contaminated syringes to inject people. The Balaka district is one of the worst affected areas, recording 46 deaths from 1,450 cases in the outbreak.
Cultural burial rites are also becoming a source of contention, Chiponda, the health minister, said during a daily briefing Tuesday.
“For example, people who are dying of or who have died from cholera may be washed by family members, who then prepare funeral feasts for family and friends held very soon after death. Outbreaks of cholera commonly follow these feasts,” the minister said. | https://www.wane.com/health-2/ap-health/ap-malawi-cholera-outbreak-death-toll-rises-above-1000/ | 2023-01-26 13:22:46 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/health-2/ap-health/ap-malawi-cholera-outbreak-death-toll-rises-above-1000/ |
- Q1'22 total revenue of $342 million, up 14% y/y and representing a two-year CAGR of 27%
- Q1'22 total bookings of $393 million, up 12% y/y and representing a two-year CAGR of 26%
- Continued execution of long term strategy illustrated by increased revenue generated through partners1 in Q1'22 of $82 million, up 41% y/y and transaction revenue2 of $36.6 million, an increase of 24% y/y
- Adopted board-approved financial plan to reach 20% FCF margins by 2025
NEW YORK, May 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wix.com Ltd. (Nasdaq: WIX) today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022. In addition, the Company provided its initial outlook for the second quarter as well as expectations for full year 2022. Please visit the Wix Investor Relations website at https://investors.wix.com/ to view the Q1'22 Shareholder Update and other materials.
"Wix has remained focused on executing on our long-term opportunities, our product and marketing roadmaps, and concentrating on what we can control despite the recent months of instability and volatility," said Avishai Abrahami, Wix co-founder and CEO. "Investments over the last several years have driven a significant expansion of our addressable market through the growth of our product platform, product innovation and development and go-to-market activities. We'll continue to push these efforts forward to build the best platform so any type of user and any business can build a powerful and successful digital presence."
Lior Shemesh, CFO at Wix, added, "Volatility and uncertainty remain elevated creating headwinds to overall revenue growth. We are focused on prudent cost management and driving operational efficiencies, from which we are already beginning to see results, and are instating a plan to achieve 20% FCF margins by 2025 . Our Partners initiative continues to grow at high rates, generating 41% y/y revenue growth in Q1. In addition, we were happy to announce our new B2B partnership with LegalZoom, further validating our product platform and brand as a premier technology platform to serve small businesses."
Wix's management team and business leaders will host an Investor & Analyst Day and will share a detailed overview of the company's key growth initiatives, a three-year financial plan, and long-term financial framework on Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 8:30 am ET. The RSVP form can be found here.
Q1 2022 Financial Results
- Total revenue in the first quarter of 2022 was $341.6 million, up 14% y/y and representing a two-year CAGR of 27%
- Total bookings in the first quarter of 2022 were $393.2 million, up 12% y/y and representing a two-year CAGR of 22%
- Total gross margin on a GAAP basis in the first quarter of 2022 was 61%
- Total non-GAAP gross margin in the first quarter of 2022 was 62%
- GAAP net loss in the first quarter of 2022 was $(227.3) million, or $(3.95) per share
- Non-GAAP net loss in the first quarter of 2022 was $(41.4) million, or $(0.72) per share
- Net cash used in operating activities for the first quarter of 2022 was $13.7 million, while capital expenditures totaled $19.9 million, leading to free cash flow of $(33.6) million
Financial Outlook
We continue to experience a high level of volatility in demand for online services -- as many companies do today -- due to the combination of macroeconomic headwinds and global uncertainty.
While it remains challenging to confidently forecast our business with this ongoing volatility and uncertainty, we are confident in the fundamental strength of our business and our ability to execute on what we can control. Since last summer, conversion of users to subscriptions and retention remain stable, indicating that our business is in a steady state of growth, not a deteriorating one, giving us confidence that once macroeconomic conditions improve, we will return to higher levels of growth.
As of today, we expect total revenue in Q2'22 to be $342 - $346 million, representing 8 - 10% y/y growth. This range takes into account the negative impact of approximately $0.6 million due to the closure of our activities in Russia and certain regions of Ukraine and headwinds of approximately $4 million due to y/y changes in FX rates. Excluding these, we would have expected Q2'22 revenue to grow 10 - 11% y/y.
If we do not see further deterioration in the macro environment, for the full year 2022 we believe revenue growth will be 10 - 13% y/y. This range includes the negative impact from suspending activities in Russia and certain regions in Ukraine, which we estimate accounts for approximately $3 million in revenue in 2022, and approximately $20 million in headwinds due to y/y changes in FX rates. Excluding these, our expectation for revenue growth for the full year would be 12 - 15% y/y, assuming no further deterioration in the macro environment.
Further, despite macroeconomic headwinds, we remain committed to driving profitable growth and have already undertaken actions this year to improve gross margins and reduce operating expenses.
During our upcoming Investor and Analyst Day, we will provide more details on our multi-year plans to increase incremental margins and share our recently adopted, board-approved financial plan to achieve 20% FCF margin by 2025.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Wix will host a conference call to discuss the results at 8:30 a.m. ET on Monday, May 16, 2022. To participate on the live call, analysts and investors should dial +1-877-667-0467 (US/ Canada), +1-346- 354-0953 (International) or 1-809-315-362 (Israel) and reference Conference ID 7607579. A telephonic replay of the call will be available through May 23, 2022 at 11:30 a.m. ET by dialing +1-855-859-2056 and providing Conference ID 7607579.
Wix will also offer a live and archived webcast of the conference call, accessible from the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website at https://investors.wix.com/.
About Wix.com Ltd.
Wix is a leading platform to create, manage and grow a digital presence. What began as a website builder in 2006 is now a complete platform providing users with enterprise-grade performance, security and a reliable infrastructure. Offering a wide range of commerce and business solutions, advanced SEO and marketing tools, Wix enables users to take full ownership of their brand, their data and their relationships with their customers. With a focus on continuous innovation and delivery of new features and products, anyone can build a powerful digital presence to fulfill their dreams on Wix.
For more about Wix, please visit our Press Room
Investor Relations:
ir@wix.com
Media Relations:
pr@wix.com
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Key Operating Metrics
To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, Wix uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: bookings, cumulative cohort bookings, bookings on a constant currency basis, revenue on a constant currency basis, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) per share, free cash flow, free cash flow, as adjusted, free cash flow margins, non-GAAP R&D expenses, non-GAAP S&M expenses, non-GAAP G&A expenses, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP cost of revenue expense, non-GAAP financial expense, non-GAAP tax expense (collectively the "Non-GAAP financial measures"). Measures presented on a constant currency or FX neutral basis have been adjusted to exclude the effect of y/y changes in foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Bookings is a non-GAAP financial measure calculated by adding the change in deferred revenues and the change in unbilled contractual obligations for a particular period to revenues for the same period. Bookings include cash receipts for premium subscriptions purchased by users as well as cash we collect from business solutions, as well as payments due to us under the terms of contractual agreements for which we may have not yet received payment. Cash receipts for premium subscriptions are deferred and recognized as revenues over the terms of the subscriptions. Cash receipts for payments and the majority of the additional products and services (other than Google Workspace) are recognised as revenues upon receipt. Committed payments are recognised as revenue as we fulfill our obligation under the terms of the contractual agreement. Non-GAAP gross margin represents gross profit calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization, divided by revenue. Non-GAAP operating income (loss) represents operating income (loss) calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, amortization, acquisition-related expenses and sales tax expense accrual and other G&A expenses (income). Non-GAAP net income (loss) represents net loss calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, amortization, sales tax expense accrual and other G&A expenses (income), amortization of debt discount and debt issuance costs and acquisition-related expenses and non-operating foreign exchange expenses (income). Non-GAAP net income (loss) per share represents non-GAAP net income (loss) divided by the weighted average number of shares used in computing GAAP loss per share. Free cash flow represents net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less capital expenditures. Free cash flow, as adjusted, represents free cash flow further adjusted to exclude capital expenditures associated with our new headquarters. Free cash flow margins represent free cash flow divided by revenue. Non-GAAP cost of revenue represents cost of revenue calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP R&D expenses represent R&D expenses calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP S&M expenses represent S&M expenses calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP G&A expenses represent G&A expenses calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP operating expenses represent operating expenses calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP financial expense represents financial expense calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for unrealized gains of equity investments, amortization of debt discount and debt issuance costs and non-operating foreign exchange expenses. Non-GAAP tax expense represents tax expense calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for provisions for income tax effects related to non-GAAP adjustments.
The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. The Company believes that these measures provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.
For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures, please see the reconciliation tables provided below. The accompanying tables have more details on the GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations between these financial measures. The Company is unable to provide reconciliations of free cash flow, free cash flow, as adjusted, cumulative cohort bookings, non-GAAP gross margin, and non-GAAP tax expense to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort because items that impact those GAAP financial measures are out of the Company's control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. Such information may have a significant, and potentially unpredictable, impact on our future financial results.
Wix also uses Creative Subscriptions Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR) as a key operating metric. Creative Subscriptions ARR is calculated as Creative Subscriptions Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) multiplied by 12. Creative Subscriptions MRR is calculated as the total of (i) all active Creative Subscriptions in effect on the last day of the period, multiplied by the monthly revenue of such Creative Subscriptions, other than domain registrations in effect on the last day of the period; (ii) the average revenue per month from domain registrations; (iii) monthly revenue from other partnership agreements.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements may include projections regarding our future performance, including, but not limited to revenue, bookings and free cash flow, and may be identified by words like "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "aim," "forecast," "indication," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "outlook," "future," "will," "seek" and similar terms or phrases. The forward-looking statements contained in this document, including the quarterly and annual guidance, are based on management's current expectations, which are subject to uncertainty, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, our expectation that we will be able to attract and retain registered users and generate new premium subscriptions; our expectation that we will be able to increase the revenue we derive from the sale of premium subscriptions and business solutions, through our partners; our expectation that new products and developments, as well as third-party products we will offer in the future within our platform, will receive customer acceptance and satisfaction, including the growth in market adoption of our online commerce solutions; our assumption that historical user behavior can be extrapolated to predict future user behavior; our prediction of the future revenues generated by our user cohorts and our ability to maintain and increase such revenue growth; our expectation to maintain and enhance our brand and reputation; our expectation that we will effectively execute our initiatives to scale and improve our user support function through our Customer Care team, and thereby increase user retention, user engagement and sales; our expectation that our products created for markets outside of North America will continue to generate growth in those markets; our plans to successfully localize our products, including by making our product, support and communication channels available in additional languages and to expand our payment infrastructure to transact in additional local currencies and accept additional payment methods; our expectations regarding the extent of the impact on our business and operations of the COVID-19 pandemic, including uncertainty relating to expected consumer dynamics after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the effectiveness of government policies, vaccine administration rates and other factors; our expectation regarding the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on our business; our expectations relating to the repurchase of our ordinary shares and/or Convertible Notes pursuant to our expected repurchase program; our expectation that we will effectively manage the growth of our infrastructure; changes we expect may occur to technologies used in our solutions; our expectations regarding the outcome of any regulatory investigation or litigation, including class actions; our expectations regarding future changes in our cost of revenues and our operating expenses on an absolute basis and as a percentage of our revenues, as well as our ability to achieve profitability; our expectations regarding changes in the global, national, regional or local economic, business, competitive, market, and regulatory landscape, including as a result of COVID-19 and as a result of the military invasion of Ukraine by Russia; our planned level of capital expenditures and our belief that our existing cash and cash from operations will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months and for the foreseeable future; our expectations with respect to the integration and performance of acquisitions; our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and key personnel; our expectations about entering into new markets and attracting new customer demographics, including our ability to successfully attract new partners and grow our partner activities as anticipated and other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 1, 2022. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release speaks only as of the date hereof. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
1 We define partners revenue as revenue generated through agencies and freelancers that build sites or applications for other users as well as revenue generated through B2B partnerships, such as Vistaprint or NTT. We identify agencies and freelancers building sites or applications for others using multiple criteria including but not limited to the number of sites built, participation in the Wix Partner Program and/or the Wix Marketplace or Wix products used, among other criteria. Partners revenue includes revenue from both the Creative Subscriptions and Business Solutions segments.
2 Transaction revenue is a portion of Business Solutions revenue, and we define transaction revenue as all revenue generated through transaction facilitation, primarily from Wix Payments as well as Wix POS, shipping solutions and multi-channel commerce and gift card solutions.
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SOURCE Wix.com Ltd. | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/05/16/wix-reports-first-quarter-2022-results/ | 2022-05-16 09:41:31 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2022/05/16/wix-reports-first-quarter-2022-results/ |
EAGLE PASS, Texas — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is visiting the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass on Monday afternoon.
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales is accompanying Haley on her trip to his congressional district. Haley and Gonzales have been critical of the Biden administration's border policies.
Both are expected to speak at about 2 p.m. Monday afternoon. Their remarks will be live-streamed on this page.
Haley is the former governor of South Carolina and also was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration.
She announced her run for the Republican nomination in February. She faces a formidable field of candidates, including Trump, her former boss.
Haley has avoided criticizing Trump by name, including in a speech last month at a conservative gathering, and instead has noted how the GOP had lost so many national elections in recent years.
Haley told the crowd last month: “If you’re tired of losing, then put your trust in a new generation,” a remark seen as a jab at the 76-year-old Trump. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/texas/presidential-candidate-nikki-haley-border-eagle-pass/273-7d13576d-7df4-4b97-8646-b35809ba47c5 | 2023-04-03 19:03:17 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/texas/presidential-candidate-nikki-haley-border-eagle-pass/273-7d13576d-7df4-4b97-8646-b35809ba47c5 |
NEW YORK (AP) — Two former college roommates who created a successful clothing line under the “Rhode” trademark sued model Hailey Bieber on Tuesday, saying she’s creating market confusion by marketing a skin care line under the Rhode name.
The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court asked a judge to cite trademark infringement and block Bieber from selling or marketing any products with the Rhode name. It also sought unspecified damages.
The lawsuit said court intervention was necessary because Hailey Bieber is a celebrity with over 45 million Instagram followers who launched her skin care line last week and has filed trademark applications to sell clothing.
Hailey Bieber is married to singer Justin Bieber, and the lawsuit said her husband has promoted her business to his 243 million Instagram followers, generating 1.5 million likes with one posting. Her lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Purna Khatau and Phoebe Vickers are seeking to protect the business they began in 2014 when they quit their day jobs to create a high-end clothing and accessories line, targeting “feminine, confident and well-traveled women.”
Since then, it said, their products have been featured in Vogue, carried in stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus worldwide and worn by celebrities including Beyonce, Mindy Kaling and Rihanna. Sales are projected to hit $14.5 million this year, the lawsuit said.
On the day her product was launched, Hailey Bieber said in a Forbes story that she’s had a “really hard time” with “a world of media that likes to perpetuate women against women,” the lawsuit said.
“But the reality is that the “world of media” Ms. Bieber describes is at her disposal. And she has chosen to use it to squash a woman and minority co-founded brand that simply cannot compete with her immense fame and following,” the lawsuit said.
When her product line was launched June 15, Hailey Bieber appeared on “Good Morning America” on ABC and “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon on NBC, the lawsuit noted.
The lawsuit said confusion and harm to the brand started by Khatau and Vickers is already widespread and it has only taken days for some consumers to believe that the 8-year-old company is trading off the name of the new competitor instead of the reverse. | https://www.kark.com/entertainment-news/fashion-creators-sue-hailey-bieber-over-her-new-brands-name/ | 2022-06-22 15:50:54 | 0 | https://www.kark.com/entertainment-news/fashion-creators-sue-hailey-bieber-over-her-new-brands-name/ |
MEMPHIS, Tenn., July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has named Kate Dowd senior vice president and chief legal officer. In this role she will direct the Memphis-based integrated healthcare system's legal department and risk management goals.
"After a comprehensive nationwide search, it became clear the right candidate was already within our organization," said Monica Wharton, MLH executive vice president and chief administrative officer. "Kate's experience navigating complex healthcare-related legal matters gives me great confidence she will successfully lead our multifaceted legal affairs efforts and serve as a trusted member of our system leadership team."
Dowd has a decade of experience specializing in health and regulatory law, most recently serving as MLH's regulatory counsel. Prior to joining MLH in 2019, she served as an attorney in the Healthcare Regulatory and Transactions Practice Group at Butler Snow LLP.
"Our policies, best practices and unshakeable commitment to our patients enable us to deliver outstanding care," added Wharton. "Kate's core values align perfectly with our mission to improve the health and wellbeing of our community."
Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Dowd has called Memphis home for 17 years. She received her undergraduate degree from Rhodes College and graduated cum laude from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis. She is a member of the American Health Law Association, the Tennessee Bar Association and the Memphis Bar Association, and recently served as chair and president emeritus of the local Memphis Bar Association's health law section.
Photo 1 attached: Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has named Kate Dowd senior vice president and chief legal officer.
Based in Memphis, Tennessee, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has been caring for patients and families regardless of ability to pay for more than 100 years. Guided by roots in the United Methodist Church and founded in 1918 to help meet the growing need for quality healthcare in the greater Memphis area, MLH has grown from one hospital into a comprehensive healthcare system with 13,000 Associates supporting six hospitals, including nationally ranked Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient facilities, hospice residence and physician practices serving communities across the Mid-South.
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The Red Sox didn’t get off to the start they were hoping for in Kansas City, dropping Thursday night’s opener to the Royals, 7-3. First baseman Eric Hosmer went 0-for-3 with a walk in his Red Sox debut.
The four-game series resumes Friday, with Josh Winckowski taking the mound for the Sox.
Here is a preview.
Lineups
RED SOX (53-54): TBA
Pitching: RHP Josh Winckowski (4-5, 5.00 ERA)
ROYALS (42-64): TBA
Pitching: RHP Zack Greinke (3-6, 4.41 ERA)
Time: 8:10 p.m.
TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Red Sox vs. Greinke: Christian Arroyo 0-2, Xander Bogaerts 1-2, Bobby Dalbec 1-1, Rafael Devers 1-2, Eric Hosmer 8-32, J.D. Martinez 5-18, Reese McGuire 1-3, Tommy Pham 3-16, Kevin Plawecki 2-6, Yolmer Sánchez 0-7, Alex Verdugo 1-8
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Royals vs. Winckowski: Has not faced any Kansas City batters
Stat of the day: Red Sox have been outscored 13-4 since the trade deadline.
Notes: Winckowski is facing the Royals for the first time in his career. The 24-year-old rookie won his latest start, when he gave up two runs in five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. … Greinke, who owns a 2-5 record and a 5.09 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) against the Red Sox, has won his last three decisions at home. In his past four starts in Kansas City, Greinke has allowed just two runs in 22 innings.
Follow Andrew Mahoney on Twitter @GlobeMahoney. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/08/05/sports/game-108-red-sox-royals-lineups-notes/ | 2022-08-05 15:18:35 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/08/05/sports/game-108-red-sox-royals-lineups-notes/ |
Traveling exhibition showcases stunning biodiversity from ocean's surface to its greatest depths
DENVER, Nov. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Denver Museum of Nature & Science welcomes "Unseen Oceans," which launches you into a journey from the oceans' sunlit surfaces to their inky depths as they discover the latest ocean science and encounter the researchers and technologies that are revealing our blue planet as never before. This special exhibition opens on Nov. 18 and will be on display through April 9, 2023.
"We are losing biodiversity. Much of life on Earth lies in its oceans. It is good for people to be aware of the incredible biodiversity that exists in this underexplored region," said Museum Senior Curator of Invertebrate Zoology Paula Cushing. "New species of marine organisms are being described every year thanks to the work of some of the scientists whose work forms the basis of this amazing exhibition."
In "Unseen Oceans," you will explore a series of media-rich galleries showcasing a range of marine environments and introducing the scientists who are using cutting-edge research tools and developing new methods to explore the oceans. How do blue whales spend their day? High-tech, removable tags on their backs provide the answer. What's going on in the deep waters surrounding Hawai`i? Hint: Advanced sonar reveals a new island is set to emerge—in more than 100,000 years. How can we identify the best locations for marine protected areas? Fleets of small autonomous robots may offer important clues. "Unseen Oceans" offers answers to these exciting questions and highlights other lines of inquiry that ocean researchers have only recently uncovered.
"Unseen Oceans" is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org), and is curated by John Sparks, curator in the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Ichthyology in the Division of Vertebrate Zoology.
Media Preview
Reporters on assignment are invited to schedule preview tours Nov. 14-17 by contacting jamie@winterpublicrelations.com. For more information, photos and videos, visit the online press kit.
Complimentary Passes for the Media and their Families
Available opening weekend, Nov. 18-20 by contacting jamie@winterpublicrelations.com.
About the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is the Rocky Mountain Region's leading resource for informal science education. Connect with the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
CONTACT
Jamie Winter
720.425.2580 • jamie@winterpublicrelations.com
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SOURCE Denver Museum of Nature & Science | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2022/11/04/unseen-oceans-opens-nov-18-denver-museum-nature-amp-science/ | 2022-11-04 19:48:14 | 1 | https://www.wbtv.com/prnewswire/2022/11/04/unseen-oceans-opens-nov-18-denver-museum-nature-amp-science/ |
NEW YORK, June 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Gross Law Firm issues the following notice to shareholders of Okta, Inc..
Shareholders who purchased shares of OKTA during the class period listed are encouraged to contact the firm regarding possible lead plaintiff appointment. Appointment as lead plaintiff is not required to partake in any recovery.
CONTACT US HERE:
https://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/okta-inc-loss-submission-form/?id=28544&from=4
CLASS PERIOD: March 5, 2021 to March 22, 2022
ALLEGATIONS: The complaint alleges that during the class period, Defendants issued materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Okta had inadequate cybersecurity controls; (ii) as a result, Okta's systems were vulnerable to data breaches; (iii) Okta ultimately did experience a data breach caused by a hacking group, which potentially affected hundreds of Okta customers; (iv) Okta initially did not disclose and subsequently downplayed the severity of the data breach; (v) all the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to have a material negative impact on Okta's business, financial condition, and reputation; and (vi) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
DEADLINE: July 19, 2022 Shareholders should not delay in registering for this class action. Register your information here: https://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/okta-inc-loss-submission-form/?id=28544&from=4
NEXT STEPS FOR SHAREHOLDERS: Once you register as a shareholder who purchased shares of OKTA during the timeframe listed above, you will be enrolled in a portfolio monitoring software to provide you with status updates throughout the lifecycle of the case. The deadline to seek to be a lead plaintiff is July 19, 2022. There is no cost or obligation to you to participate in this case.
WHY GROSS LAW FIRM? The Gross Law Firm is nationally recognized class action law firm, and our mission is to protect the rights of all investors who have suffered as a result of deceit, fraud, and illegal business practices. The Gross Law Firm is committed to ensuring that companies adhere to responsible business practices and engage in good corporate citizenship. The firm seeks recovery on behalf of investors who incurred losses when false and/or misleading statements or the omission of material information by a company lead to artificial inflation of the company's stock. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
The Gross Law Firm
15 West 38th Street, 12th floor
New York, NY, 10018
Email: dg@securitiesclasslaw.com
Phone: (646) 453-8903
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SOURCE The Gross Law Firm | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/06/15/shareholder-alert-gross-law-firm-notifies-shareholders-okta-inc-class-action-lawsuit-lead-plaintiff-deadline-july-19-2022-nasdaq-okta/ | 2022-06-15 10:27:04 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2022/06/15/shareholder-alert-gross-law-firm-notifies-shareholders-okta-inc-class-action-lawsuit-lead-plaintiff-deadline-july-19-2022-nasdaq-okta/ |
KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Exclusive drone footage of the collapsed Ukrainian dam and surrounding villages under Russian occupation showed the ruined structure falling into the flooded river, hundreds of submerged homes, greenhouses, even a church — and no evidence of an attack from above, as Russia alleges.
An Associated Press team flew a drone over the devastation on Wednesday, a day after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River.
The bulk of the dam itself is submerged, but the parts of buildings still visible above the rushing waters had no scorch marks or shrapnel scars typical of a bombardment that Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out.
Ukraine in turn has alleged that Russian forces, who controlled the dam, blew it up from within. The AP images offered a limited snapshot, making it difficult to categorically rule out any scenario. The dam had been weakened by months of Russian neglect and water had been washing over it for weeks.
On Wednesday, the rooftops and streets in the area were devoid of people, but AP journalists could hear the howls of dogs trapped by the flooding.
The collapse of the dam in an area that Russia has controlled for over a year and the emptying of its reservoir has irrevocably changed the landscape downstream, and shifted the dynamic of the 15-month-old war.
In the images captured by the AP, most of the dam was submerged by the rushing water. Two nearby villages under occupation, Dnipryany and Korsunka, were also underwater up to the rooftops of homes and a bright blue church. The rounded shape of dozens of greenhouses was visible over the waterline.
The nearby town of Nova Kakhovka, also under occupation, was less touched by the flooding but equally devoid of people and animals. Its Ferris wheel was stopped and water lapped up a main street.
Ukraine has warned since last October that the hydroelectric dam was mined by Russian forces, and accused them of touching off an explosion that has turned the downstream areas into a waterlogged wasteland. Russia said Ukraine hit the dam with a missile. Experts have said the structure was in disrepair, which could also have led to its collapse.
There were no signs typical of a missile attack in the few remaining buildings.
The Dnieper River forms part of the front line in the war, and many people had already fled the area because of the fighting. Ukraine holds the western bank, while Russia controls the low-lying eastern side, which is more vulnerable to flooding.
Anna Lodygina, a Nova Kakhovka resident who fled last autumn, said the flooding has paralyzed the occupied town, with markets closed, and limited electricity and mobile reception. The Russian soldiers occupying her family home, just 500 meters (yards) from the river, fled after the dam collapsed and neighbors have told her water now reaches the upper floor of the two-story building.
Friends and neighbors told her the Russians pulled out themselves, but extended no help to residents, so people took matters into their own hands, finding shelter in a neighborhood farther from the river.
According to Lodygina, the historic part of the city is submerged. “Its state now is unknown,” she said.
On the Ukrainian-controlled side, a Red Cross worker fielded calls from people begging for rescue from the other bank but could do little for them.
“Our telephone is burning up from calls and our phone number is not well known. Just yesterday we got at least 30 calls from occupied territories,” said Mykola Tarenenko, chief of the Kherson Red Cross quick response team. “People are asking us to evacuate them because no evacuation was organized.” | https://www.fox16.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-exclusive-drone-images-of-collapsed-dam-show-ruined-structure-devastation-and-no-signs-of-life/ | 2023-06-08 20:48:01 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-exclusive-drone-images-of-collapsed-dam-show-ruined-structure-devastation-and-no-signs-of-life/ |
WFO SAN DIEGO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, November 16, 2022
_____
HIGH WIND WATCH
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service San Diego CA
322 AM PST Mon Nov 14 2022
...HIGH WIND WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH
WEDNESDAY EVENING...
* WHAT...Northeast winds 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 60 mph
possible. Isolated gusts to 70 mph.
* WHERE...San Bernardino and Riverside County Valleys-The Inland
Empire, San Bernardino County Mountains, Riverside County
Mountains, Santa Ana Mountains and Foothills, San Diego County
Mountains, San Gorgonio Pass Near Banning and Orange County
Inland Areas.
* WHEN...From Tuesday evening through Wednesday evening.
* IMPACTS...Damaging winds could blow down trees and power
lines. Widespread power outages are possible. Travel could be
difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The strongest winds are expected on
Wednesday.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Monitor the latest forecasts and warnings for updates on this
situation. Fasten loose objects or shelter objects in a safe
location prior to the onset of winds.
...HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH
possible.
* WHERE...San Diego County Valleys.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The strongest winds are expected for inland
areas near the foothills of the mountains.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.seattlepi.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-SAN-DIEGO-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17582680.php | 2022-11-14 12:12:41 | 0 | https://www.seattlepi.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-SAN-DIEGO-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17582680.php |
New Menu Publishing Solution Adds Wine & Spirits Menu Capabilities Powered by Wine-Searcher
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Glass, a leading global provider of software and services to the beverage alcohol industry, today announced, in partnership with Wine-Searcher, the launch of Untappd for Business Premium, an enhanced version of the Untappd for Business menu publishing and promotional platform. The Premium product enables customers to leverage Wine-Searcher's leading wine and spirits catalog to streamline the publication of wine and spirit items to menus, saving customers valuable time in the menu creation and updating process. The standard version of the Untappd for Business is used by nearly 20,000 bars, restaurants, brewery taprooms, and other alcohol retailers in 75 countries worldwide to publish their web, QR code, print, and digital signage menus as well as to promote their offerings to the largest online audience of beer enthusiasts on the Untappd mobile app.
Since its inception in 2016, Untappd for Business has leveraged the world's most accurate and robust database of over 3 million beers, sourced from the Untappd mobile application, to enable rapid publishing of beers, ciders, and other malted beverages. Now, through its partnership and integration with Wine-Searcher, the leading global wine and spirits search engine and content partner, Untappd for Business Premium customers can leverage a robust database of several million wine and spirits items to quickly create and edit menus using accurate, updated information such as label images, vintage, ratings and more.
"Since 2016, our team has proudly offered the most feature-rich and fastest beer menu publication platform on the market, which has saved our retail partners valuable time in keeping menus up-to-date for their customers," said Trace Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Next Glass. He continued, "Through our partnership with Wine-Searcher, we have now created the most robust food and drinks menu publishing tool available. In combining Untappd's beer database with Wine-Searcher's wine and spirits catalog, we now offer a platform that will allow bars, restaurants, taprooms, and other retailers to manage their entire drinks and food menus faster than with any other solution available on the market."
Jules Perry, CEO of Wine-Searcher added, "This partnership clearly demonstrates the benefit of leveraging the market leading breadth, depth and accuracy of our global wine and spirits data, and product content. We are excited by the market potential and the embrace the opportunity to work with and support this new initiative by Next Glass."
In addition to the ability to publish database-backed wine and spirits items to their drinks and food menus, Untappd for Business Premium also provides customers with other enhancements, including access to the powerful Untappd for Business API.
To celebrate the launch of Untappd for Business Premium, Next Glass is offering a free 7-day trial to all bars, restaurants, and other retail establishments at this link.
About Next Glass
Founded in 2013, Next Glass provides software and services that connect enthusiasts, retailers, and producers in the beverage alcohol industry. It offers a variety of leading software and content platforms to consumers, retailers, and brewers, including:
Consumers: Untappd, BeerAdvocate, Hop Culture
Retailers: Untappd for Business
Brewers: Ollie (brewery management platform)
For more information, please visit: www.NextGlass.co.
About Wine-Searcher
Enabling huge, market leading volumes of high-quality data transactions and content over 20 years has established Wine-Searcher as the pre-eminent global source of data for 'online, off-trade' wine & spirits pricing and availability. Everyday Wine-Searcher collects and aggregates online product lists from a global range of wine & spirits retailers, producers, and auction houses. The innovative combination of technology with expert in-house personnel is fundamental to Wine-Searcher's reputation for the long-term accuracy, reliability, and quality of its data.
For more information, please visit: www.wine-searcher.com
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SOURCE Next Glass | https://www.valleynewslive.com/prnewswire/2023/05/09/next-glass-announces-launch-premium-version-untappd-business/ | 2023-05-09 15:47:07 | 0 | https://www.valleynewslive.com/prnewswire/2023/05/09/next-glass-announces-launch-premium-version-untappd-business/ |
Wide-ranging 2-year partnership encompasses technology, training, competitions, and fan experience
MIAMI, Feb. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Cycling League, the first of its kind professional sports league built around values of diverse ownership, gender equality, technology, and sustainability, today announced a 2-year strategic partnership with leading endurance athlete fitness technology company Wahoo Fitness. The NCL's two co-ed professional cycling teams – the Denver Disruptors and Miami Nights – will train and compete exclusively with Wahoo products and software. Additionally, Wahoo will be the presenting sponsor for their training camps in Phoenix, Arizona, from February 21 – March 2, 2023.
"We are proud to align with Wahoo Fitness, a leader in sports technology innovation, to create a top-to-bottom integration with the NCL," said NCL Co-Founder and CEO, Paris Wallace. "With Wahoo's groundbreaking device ecosystem and Wahoo X software's ability to track and monitor athlete performance, our Head Coaches can optimize training and racing strategies across individual athlete and team performances. Wahoo is the perfect partner to optimize our athletes and provide valuable insights for fans."
The Wahoo RGT interactive cycling platform will also enable an immersive fan experience, powering NCL's vision of integrating athlete performance data with an unparalleled interactive content that bridges the gap between reality and the metaverse.
Mike Saturnia, Wahoo Fitness CEO, commented, "Wahoo has been driving innovation in connected cycling technology since 2009 and we are excited to see the National Cycling League take an innovative approach to professional cycling in the United States. In this partnership, Wahoo technology will help athletes perform at their highest level and will also play a key role supporting the NCL as they bring a fresh perspective to the professional cycling fan experience."
TEAM CAMP, PRESENTED BY WAHOO
Modeled after pre-season training camps from league sports like the NFL and MLB, the Denver Disruptors and Miami Nights will train independently in Phoenix, Arizona from February 21 – March 2, 2023, and compete in scheduled scrimmages. In addition to coming together as a team, the camp provides opportunities for physiological testing and learning to use Wahoo devices and software to optimize training and performance. Camp experiences will be documented for 'Wahoo Behind the Scenes' content. The camp will also incorporate rides with members of the military and their families on Luke Air Force Base, west of Phoenix, Arizona.
TEAM PADDOCK and RACE GEAR
Throughout the season, riders will train and race exclusively using Wahoo ELEMNT Roam GPS computers, TICKR X heart rate monitors, and POWRLINK Zero Dual power meter pedals. In the paddocks before and after each of the four NCL Cup Invitationals, Denver Disruptors' and Miami Nights' riders will use KICKR ROLLR smart bike roller trainers to warm up and cool down.
NCL CUP QUALIFIERS
The night before the inaugural NCL Miami Beach Invitational, athletes from all 10 men's and women's teams will compete in a series of single-elimination sprints on a Wahoo KICKR smart trainer. Modeled after the qualifiers in auto racing, sprint results determine the start order for Saturday's professional men's and women's races. Each team will enter their best sprinter to compete in this high-energy, spectator-friendly series of short sprints; the fastest rider in each race moves on to the next round.
Leveraging interactive indoor cycling technologies, NCL fans will have the opportunity to see how they stack up against the sport's top athletes. "Our goal has been to bring the NCL's exciting race format to the masses, our partnership with Wahoo will allow us to involve our fans in actual racing, an experience that even the NFL can't deliver," said NCL's VP of Partnerships, Kelly Staley. "Wahoo's global community will help us spread our values of diversity, equity and inclusion, while fans race virtually against the stars of our sport."
2023 NCL Invitational Race Calendar
NOTE: Due to a schedule conflict in the City of Washington D.C., the NCL Washington D.C. Invitational will now take place on September 17, 2023.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL CYCLING LEAGUE
The National Cycling League, Inc. is revolutionizing professional cycling in the United States by building the professional sports league of the future – a league with foundational values of diverse ownership, gender equality and inclusion, technology, and sustainability. Featuring a new cycling league format, racing on iconic circuits, in the most iconic cities. Men and women will compete on the same team, on the same course, in a way that respects their differences yet weighs their performances and values their contributions equally.
The NCL will launch in 2023 with 10 teams (invite-only) of professional cyclists competing for a record-setting $1 Million prize purse across a series of criterium-style races in four major markets: Miami Beach, Fla. – April 8th; Atlanta, Ga. – May 14th; Denver, Colo. – August 13th; and Washington D.C. – September 17th. In 2024, the National Cycling League will expand to a planned eight (8) cities across the U.S.
www.nclracing.com, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
ABOUT WAHOO FITNESS
Located in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), Wahoo Fitness' vision is to be a global leader in smart fitness and training - by creating a full ecosystem of sensors and devices for runners, cyclists, and general fitness enthusiasts. Wahoo's award-winning line of products include the KICKR family of smart indoor riding equipment and accessories, the ELEMNT family of GPS devices and sport watches, the TICKR family of heart rate monitors, as well as the POWRLINK ZERO Power Pedals and SPEEDPLAY dual-sided road pedals. The connected fitness products are complemented by Wahoo Sports Science and delivered through the most comprehensive cycling training apps with a subscription to Wahoo X. Learn more about Wahoo's full line of products and apps at WahooFitness.com.
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SOURCE National Cycling League, Inc. | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2023/02/23/national-cycling-league-announces-strategic-partnership-with-wahoo-fitness/ | 2023-02-23 13:34:49 | 1 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2023/02/23/national-cycling-league-announces-strategic-partnership-with-wahoo-fitness/ |
Marks five years of Digital Innovation Partnership with tech experiences for a more sustainable, immersive, and accessible Grand Slam
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys (NSE: INFY) (BSE: INFY) (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, is bridging technology and purpose at the Australian Open (AO) 2023, with empowering technologies for fans, players, coaches, media and the surrounding ecosystem.
Now in the fifth year of its partnership with Tennis Australia (TA), Infosys is using its bespoke 'tennis platform' to evolve experiences for the 2023 tournament while shaping AO's future vision. New experiences in 2023 include:
Engage: A digital carbon management platform
Infosys collaborated with TA to define, design and develop Engage, a prototype digital platform that will support TA in its ambition to achieve a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2040, in accordance with the UN Sports for Climate Change Action Framework. The platform will enable TA to track and visualise its emissions reduction performance and will facilitate integration of vendor and supplier emissions data. The platform will enable better transparency for each AO event from 2023 onwards, across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
Infosys is also driving sustainable change in its presence at the tournament. The Infosys Fan Zone at Melbourne Park is certified as climate active, with its entire carbon footprint offset and the structure recycled.
AI Video Insights: Powering on-court strategy and media reporting
An enhanced Player's Portal with new AI-generated videos will provide players and coaches with game and competitor insights for post-match reviews and pre-game analysis. Additional features added for AO 2023 include Get into the Zone, which plays video montages of the player's previous exceptional performances to put them in the winning mindset before the match. An opponent tendency feature will also allow players to view and analyse the statistical playing tendencies of their opponents.
Beyond players and coaches, AI Shot of the Day has been enhanced to enable Tennis Australia's media team to quickly analyse and post social media ready clips from the best shots of each day.
Match Centre 2.0: Enabling predictive insights to increase fan-engagement
A refreshed Match Center 2.0 will live on the AO website and mobile app for all matches throughout the tournament providing fans with immersive insights such as Matchbeats, Stroke Summary, Rally Analysis, Courtvision and AI Commentary. A new win predictor makes every match more engaging to follow with a real-time prediction as the game progresses. To improve accessibility and engage a larger fanbase, Infosys MatchBeats has been enhanced to present simplified game data and visualisations with the use of contrasting colour combinations meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA.
Infosys Springboard: Nurturing future leaders
Infosys and TA are also collaborating to nurture future leaders in the region, with year 10 and 11 students from metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria getting access to digital learning enabled by Infosys Springboard. Through a customised version of the platform, program beneficiaries have the opportunity to learn transferrable skills in areas such as inclusion, leadership, technology, and design thinking.
Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia and Australian Open Tournament Director, said, "Working with Infosys over the past five years has enabled us to set new benchmarks in fan engagement using digital technologies. This partnership has enabled us to deliver new innovative digital experiences year after year for everyone associated with the tournament. We are also going deeper and wider in our journey this year with truly meaningful use of technology for climate action. We remain committed to making the Australian Open a global standard for a digitally-enabled sport that is inspiring, engaging, inclusive and sustainable."
Andrew Groth, Executive Vice President Infosys and Region Head, Infosys Australia and New Zealand, said, "Through detailed journey mapping of how fans, players, coaches and partners engage in the AO, our teams continually identify opportunities to innovate across digital and physical touchpoints with a focus on entertainment, sustainability and accessibility. Our journey continues in 2023, through engaging fans in new digital experiences, engaging players through digital coaching and better preparing young leaders through digital learning tools. This year, Infosys is particularly proud to contribute to the long-term sustainability goals of Tennis Australia, with the development of the Engage carbon tracking platform, which will be transformative for the sport and the AO as it moves towards a net-zero future."
About Infosys
Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. Over 300,000 of our people work to amplify human potential and create the next opportunity for people, businesses and communities. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer clients, in more than 50 countries, as they navigate their digital transformation powered by the cloud. We enable them with an AI-powered core, empower the business with agile digital at scale and drive continuous improvement with always-on learning through the transfer of digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. We are deeply committed to being a well-governed, environmentally sustainable organization where diverse talent thrives in an inclusive workplace.
Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE: INFY) (BSE: INFY) (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.
Safe Harbor
Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India and the US, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg
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SOURCE Infosys | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/01/25/infosys-serves-up-purpose-driven-digital-innovations-with-sustainability-off-court-ai-on-court-australian-open-2023/ | 2023-01-25 10:16:32 | 0 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/01/25/infosys-serves-up-purpose-driven-digital-innovations-with-sustainability-off-court-ai-on-court-australian-open-2023/ |
Additional $6.2 Million in Cash Significantly Bolsters Balance Sheet
FORT LEE, N.J., Dec. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pioneer Power Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPSI) ("Pioneer", "Pioneer Power" or the "Company"), a leader in the design, manufacture, service and integration of electrical power systems, distributed energy resources, power generation equipment and mobile electric vehicle ("EV") charging solutions, today announced that it received $6.2 million in cash pursuant to the notes receivable from the sale of its transformer business units in 2019.
In connection with the sale of Pioneer's transformer business units to Mill Point Capital in August 2019, in addition to mostly cash considerations, Pioneer received two subordinated promissory notes, which accrued interest at a rate of 4.0% per annum, with a final payment of all unpaid principal and interest becoming fully due and payable at December 31, 2022. On December 15, 2022, Pioneer received in excess of $6.2 million, paying the notes in full. As a result, the Company now has approximately $11.0 million in cash on hand.
Nathan Mazurek, Pioneer's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "With this transaction complete, Pioneer doubled its cash position and strengthened its debt-free balance sheet. We have built an experienced team and developed a comprehensive suite of solutions to effectively target the growing demand for advanced and flexible EV charging infrastructure. We believe this transaction provides sufficient capital with which to continue to invest in developing and commercializing our revolutionary EV charging and distributed generation solutions through the end of 2023."
Pioneer Power Solutions, Inc. is a leader in the design, manufacture, integration, refurbishment, service and distribution of electric power systems, distributed energy resources, power generation equipment and mobile EV charging solutions for applications in the utility, industrial and commercial markets. To learn more about Pioneer, please visit its website at www.pioneerpowersolutions.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such statements may be preceded by the words "intends," "may," "will," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "predicts," "estimates," "aims," "believes," "hopes," "potential" or similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, and cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) the Company's ability to successfully increase its revenue and profit in the future, (ii) general economic conditions and their effect on demand for electrical equipment, (iii) the effects of fluctuations in the Company's operating results, (iv) the fact that many of the Company's competitors are better established and have significantly greater resources than the Company, (v) the Company's dependence on three customers for a large portion of its business, (vi) the potential loss or departure of key personnel, (vii) unanticipated increases in raw material prices or disruptions in supply, (viii) the Company's ability to realize revenue reported in the Company's backlog, (ix) future labor disputes, (x) changes in government regulations, (xi) the liquidity and trading volume of the Company's common stock and (xii) an outbreak of disease, epidemic or pandemic, such as the global coronavirus pandemic, or fear of such an event.
More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, respectively. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact:
Brett Maas, Managing Partner
Hayden IR
(646) 536-7331
brett@haydenir.com
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SOURCE Pioneer Power Solutions, Inc. | https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2022/12/28/pioneer-power-confirms-payment-full-notes-related-2019-sale-transformer-business/ | 2022-12-28 13:38:32 | 1 | https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2022/12/28/pioneer-power-confirms-payment-full-notes-related-2019-sale-transformer-business/ |
Jackson’s influential women honored at City Hall
JACKSON, Tenn. — On Wednesday, 31 one women were recognized at Jackson City Hall.
The 2023 Influential Women of Jackson were honored at a presentation.
Trunetta Atwater, a previous honoree, spoke at the event about how important it is to honor the women in our community for how they provide a great impact to others.
The honorees were announced and were given a certificate from Mayor Scott Conger, along with a gift bag.
“For the past couple of years we have recognized women of our city who continue to lead a path of success in Jackson,” Conger said. “This year is no different. As we celebrate International Women’s Day today, I am honored to recognize 31 additional influential women.”
Women honored included:
- Olivia Abernathy
- Tausha Alexander
- Judy Arrington
- Leigh Anne Bentley
- Karley Bond
- Vicki Burch
- Collene Commage
- Julie Cooke
- Amy Crenshaw
- Lizzie Emmons
- Anna Esquivel
- Beth Haltom
- Dr. Melinda Harris
- Trista Havner
- Kimberly Jones
- Wendy Trice Martin
- Keli McAlister
- Lendon Noe
- Susie Oliver
- Rhonda Pettigrew
- Susan Price
- Regina Richmond
- Mary Ross
- Lauren Saliba
- Janet Silver
- Terica Smith
- Mary Taylor
- Linda Truex
- Jackie Utley
- Ella Watkins
- Georgia Anne Wright
“Being a woman inspired me. You know, I just really wanted to open up about what we deal with on a day to day basis, and not necessarily the great work we are doing at our work or in the foundations that we are involved in. But I really wanted the people to know what it’s like to be a woman,” Atwater said.
This was the third Influential Women of Jackson program.
You can find more on International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month here.
For more news in the Jackson area, click here. | https://www.wbbjtv.com/2023/03/08/jacksons-influential-women-honored-at-city-hall/ | 2023-03-09 07:45:57 | 1 | https://www.wbbjtv.com/2023/03/08/jacksons-influential-women-honored-at-city-hall/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has extended the deadline for former President Donald Trump to turn over documents as part of a subpoena issued last month, while reiterating its request for a sit-down interview.
The panel — comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans — issued a statement late Friday saying it is in communication with Trump’s attorneys. Friday had been the committee’s deadline for Trump to produce an extensive number of documents and communications with lawmakers.
“We have informed the former President’s counsel that he must begin producing records no later than next week and he remains under subpoena for deposition testimony starting on November 14th,” Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney wrote in the statement.
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With other subpoenas, the committee’s deadlines for document or depositions requests have generally been subject to negotiation, but only when there is a direct line of communication with the witness and their attorney.
The committee's decision to subpoena Trump in late October was a major escalation in the investigation, a step lawmakers said was necessary because the former president was the “central player” in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The subpoena set the stage for a potential legal battle with Trump at a time when he is considering launching another run for the White House.
“I think that he has a legal obligation to testify but that doesn’t always carry weight with Donald Trump,” Rep. Cheney, R-Wyo., said during an event Tuesday.
In addition to demanding that Trump testify, either at the Capitol or by videoconference, by mid-November, the committee also made 19 requests for documents and communication — including for any messages Trump sent on the encrypted messaging app Signal “or any other means” to members of Congress and others about the stunning events of the Capitol attack.
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The scope of the committee’s request is expansive — pursuing documents from Sept. 1, 2020, two months before the election, to the present on the president’s communications with the groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys — as the panel looks to compile a historical record of the run-up to the Capitol attack, the event itself and the aftermath.
It remains unclear what action, if any, the committee will take in response to Trump missing the document deadline. In previous situations, when met with defiance, lawmakers have voted to hold Trump's allies in contempt of Congress, sending referrals to the Justice Department for potential prosecution.
In the Oct. 21 subpoena letter, the committee wrote about the “overwhelming evidence” it has assembled, showing Trump “personally orchestrated” an effort to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, including by spreading false allegations of widespread voter fraud, “attempting to corrupt” the Justice Department and pressuring state officials, members of Congress and his own vice president to change the results.
Lawmakers have said Trump's testimony about what he was doing and saying as the violence ensued on Jan. 6 is crucial to filling in the gaps of their investigation.
The subpoena had detailed a specific interest to hear from Trump about his dealings with several former aides and associates who have asserted their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination to the committee, including Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark and Kelli Ward.
Advertisement | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/04/nation/jan-6-panel-extends-deadline-trump-produce-documents/ | 2022-11-05 01:37:10 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/04/nation/jan-6-panel-extends-deadline-trump-produce-documents/ |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Quick Draw Evening" game were:
01-03-05-06-15-20-22-23-27-31-44-50-52-53-55-57-58-63-64-76, BE: 1
(one, three, five, six, fifteen, twenty, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-seven, thirty-one, forty-four, fifty, fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-five, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, sixty-three, sixty-four, seventy-six; BE: one) | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Quick-Draw-Evening-game-17204826.php | 2022-05-28 04:04:51 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/lottery/article/Winning-numbers-drawn-in-Quick-Draw-Evening-game-17204826.php |
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We've placed cookies on your device to improve your browsing experience. They're safe and don't contain sensitive information. | https://tj.news/telegraph-journal/102074498 | 2023-03-04 20:27:19 | 1 | https://tj.news/telegraph-journal/102074498 |
Biden reevaluating US-Saudi relationship amid Democrat anger
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is reevaluating America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia as the Riyadh-led OPEC+ alliance moves to cut oil production and Democratic lawmakers call for a freeze on cooperation with the Saudis.
John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council at the White House, said Tuesday that Biden believes “it’s time to take another look at this relationship and make sure that it’s serving our national security interests.”
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Ro Khanna of California on Tuesday introduced legislation that would immediately pause all U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia for one year. This pause would also halt sales of spare and repair parts, support services and logistical support.
But it remains to be seen how far Biden is willing to go in showing his displeasure with the Saudis, a vital but complicated ally in the Middle East. Biden came into office vowing to recalibrate the U.S. relationship because of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record but then paid a visit to the kingdom earlier this year.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday the White House has no timeline for its review nor has the president appointed an adviser to serve as point person.
Meanwhile, officials underscore the central role that Saudi Arabia plays in addressing broader national security concerns in the Middle East.
Blumenthal and Khanna unveiled their legislation one day after Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said it was unacceptable that OPEC+ had moved to cut oil production and effectively bolster Russian coffers as Moscow prosecutes its war on Ukraine. Menendez promised to use his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to block any future arms sales to the Saudis.
At the White House, Kirby said, “We’re going to take a look at this relationship seriously as well as taking seriously the concerns of members of Congress.”
Menendez did not warn the White House before announcing his intention to block future Saudi arms sales, Kirby said.
OPEC+, which includes Russia as well as Saudi Arabia, announced last week it would cut production by 2 million barrels a day, which will help prop up oil prices that are allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep paying for his eight-month invasion of Ukraine. The production cut also hurts U.S.-led efforts to make the war financially unsustainable for Russia, threatens a global economy already destabilized by the Ukraine conflict and risks saddling Biden and Democrats with newly rising gasoline prices just ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
Biden and European leaders have urged more oil production to ease gasoline prices and punish Moscow for its aggression in Ukraine. Putin has been accused of using energy as a weapon against countries opposing Russia’s invasion.
“They are certainly aligning themselves with Russia,” Jean-Pierre said. “This is not a time to be aligning with Russia”
As for the Saudis, Sen. Blumenthal said, “We cannot continue selling highly sensitive arms technology to a nation aligned with an abhorrent terrorist adversary.”
However, the White House takes note that its weapon sales to Riyadh serve, in part, as an important counterweight in the region to Iran, which is quickly moving toward becoming a nuclear power.
“There’s 70,000 Americans living in Saudi Arabia right now, not to mention all the other troops we have throughout the region,” Kirby said. “So, it’s not only in our interest that missile defense in the region become more integrated and cooperative. It’s in the interest of our allies and partners in that part of the world as well.”
Still, the pressure is mounting for Biden. As a candidate for the White House, he vowed that Saudi rulers would “pay the price” under his watch for the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the kingdom’s leadership. Biden said that he’d look to make the oil-rich country a “pariah.”
But in July, amid rising prices at the pump around the globe, Biden decided to pay a visit to Saudi Arabia. During the visit, he met with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who he once shunned as a killer for the death of Khashoggi. The U.S. intelligence community determined that the crown prince, often referred to by his initials MBS, likely approved the killing of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. MBS denies he was involved.
The Saudis have also drawn international criticism for airstrikes killing civilians in the years-long war between the kingdom and Houthi rebels in Yemen — as well as for embargoes that exacerbated hunger and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
“Saudi Arabia’s disastrous decision to slash oil production by two million barrels a day makes it clear that Riyadh is seeking to harm the U.S. and reaffirms the need to reassess the U.S.-Saudi relationship,” Rep. Khanna said. “There is no reason for the U.S. to kowtow to a regime that has massacred countless civilians in Yemen, hacked to death a Washington-based journalist and is now extorting Americans at the pump.”
___
Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed reporting.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/2022/10/11/biden-reevaluating-us-saudi-relationship-amid-democrat-anger/ | 2022-10-11 21:47:26 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/2022/10/11/biden-reevaluating-us-saudi-relationship-amid-democrat-anger/ |
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — The Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group battled for control of the chaos-stricken nation for a second day Sunday, signaling they were unwilling to end hostilities despite mounting diplomatic pressure to cease fire.
Heavy fighting involving armored vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns and war planes raged Sunday in the capital of Khartoum, the adjoining city of Omdurman and in flashpoints across the country. The rival forces are believed to have tens of thousands of fighters each in the capital alone.
A doctors’ group said that at least 56 civilians were killed and that it believed there were dozens of additional deaths among the rival forces. The Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate said close to 600 people were wounded, including civilians and fighters.
The clashes capped months of heightened tensions between the military and its partner-turned-rival, the Rapid Support Forces. Those tensions had delayed a deal with political parties to get the country back to its short-lived transition to democracy, which was derailed by an October 2021 military coup.
In Khartoum and Omdurman, fighting was reported around the military headquarters, Khartoum International Airport and state television headquarters. A senior military official said RSF fighters clashed with troops at military headquarters early Sunday and that a fire broke out at a facility for ground troops.
“The battles have not stopped,” said prominent rights advocate Tahani Abass who lives near the military headquarters. “They are shooting against each other in the streets. It’s an all-out war in residential areas.”
Abass said her family spent the night huddling on the ground floor of their home. “No one was able to sleep and the kids were crying and screaming with every explosion,” she said. Sounds of gunfire were heard while she was speaking to The Associated Press.
The military and the RSF both claimed to be in control of strategic locations in Khartoum and elsewhere in the county. Their claims couldn’t be independently verified.
Both sides signaled late Saturday that they were unwilling to negotiate.
The military, headed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, called for dismantling the RSF, which it labeled a “rebellious militia.” The head of the RSF, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, told the satellite news network Al Arabyia that he ruled out negotiations. Dagalo called on Burhan to surrender.
Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure appeared to be mounting.
Top diplomats, including the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.N. secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission urged the sides to stop fighting. Members of the U.N. Security Council, at odds over other crises around the world, called for an immediate end of the hostilities and a return to dialogue.
Arab states with stakes in Sudan — Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — made similar appeals.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he consulted with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “We agreed it was essential for the parties to immediately end hostilities without pre-condition,” he said in a statement early Sunday.
The rival forces were fighting in several locations across Sudan, including the western Darfur region where tens of thousands of people live in camps for displaced people after years of genocidal civil war.
In the province of North Darfur, dozens were killed and wounded since Saturday at a camp for displaced people, said Adam Regal, a spokesman for a Darfur charity.
In Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province, the two sides fought for control of the city’s airport, said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.
The official said fighting also spread to the eastern region, including the provinces of Kassala and al-Qadarif on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea. He said battles centered around RSF and army bases.
The Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate appealed to international humanitarian and medical organizations to support medical facilities in the country. The group also called on the international community to press both sides to ensure safe passage for ambulances and medical personnel.
The recent tensions stem from disagreement over how the RSF, headed by Dagalo, should be integrated into the armed forces and what authority should oversee the process. The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transition agreement with political groups.
Pro-democracy activists have blamed Burhan and Dagalo for abuses against protesters across the county over the past four years, including the deadly break-up of a protest camp outside the military’s headquarters in Khartoum in June 2019 that killed over 120 protesters. Many groups have repeatedly called for holding them accountable. The RSF has long been accused of atrocities linked to the Darfur conflict.
Sudan, a country at the crossroads of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, is known for its history of military coups and civil conflicts since it gained independence in 1950s.
The country has borders with six African nations and a strategic coastline on the Red Sea. A decade-old civil conflict resulted in the secession of South Sudan in 2011.
The clashes will increase hardship in Sudan, where the U.N. says some 16 million people — or one-third of the population — already depend on humanitarian assistance.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/dozens-killed-as-army-rivals-battle-for-control-of-sudan/ | 2023-04-16 11:30:59 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/u-s-world/dozens-killed-as-army-rivals-battle-for-control-of-sudan/ |
WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon following the school shooting in Uvalde that saw at least 18 students and two adults killed.
Before he was a senator, Murphy previously served as the U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 5th Congressional District from January 2007 to January 2013. Newtown, Conn., falls within this district; that's where the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting took place Dec. 14, 2012.
Murphy told his fellow senators they had another Sandy Hook on their hands with the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, where 14 students and one teacher died, along with the shooter himself, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.
In a five-minute speech to the Senate, Murphy repeatedly asked two questions to his fellow Congressmen: "What are we doing?" and "Why are we here?"
The entire impassioned plea can be seen at the top of this article.
"There were more mass shootings than days in the year," Murphy said. "Our kids are living in fear every time they set foot in a classroom because they think they're going to be next."
Murphy asked the Senators why they go through all the hassle of running for Senate and getting this job if their response to these shootings is doing nothing.
"Why are you here if not to solve a problem as existential as this?" Murphy asked. "This isn't inevitable, these kids weren't unlucky. This only happens in this country and nowhere else. Nowhere else do little kids go to school thinking they might be shot that day."
Murphy said that, after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, classrooms there would have a safe-word that kids would say if they started getting thoughts about what they saw the day of the shooting. Throughout the days, Murphy added, kids would stand up and say the word, and teachers would have to pull them out of class to talk about what they saw that day and help them work through it.
"Sandy Hook will never, ever be the same," Murphy said. "This community in Texas will never, ever be the same. Why? Why are we here if not to try to make sure that fewer schools and fewer communities go through what Sandy Hook has gone through, what Uvalde is going through?"
Murphy said he was on the Senate floor to beg his colleagues to find a path forward, and that, while he understood that his Republican colleagues won't agree with everything he supports, there was a common denominator they can find.
"There is a place we can achieve agreement that may not guarantee that American never again sees a mass shooting, that may not overnight cut in half the number of murders that happen," Murphy said. "It will not solve the problem of American violence by itself, but by doing something, we can at least stop sending this quiet message of endorsement to these killers whose brains are breaking, who see the highest levels of government doing nothing shooting after shooting." | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/nation-world/senator-uvalde-elementary-school-shooting-senate-floor/287-12f1e1a8-36e8-4a1d-88ad-bc8af1e4e936 | 2022-05-25 02:37:46 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/nation-world/senator-uvalde-elementary-school-shooting-senate-floor/287-12f1e1a8-36e8-4a1d-88ad-bc8af1e4e936 |
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The second of two self-described members of an anti-government extremist group accused in Minnesota of dealing firearm components to informants acting as members of Hamas is headed to prison.
Benjamin Ryan Teeter, 24, of Hampstead, North Carolina, was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to four years behind bars. He pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Authorities say Teeter and Michael Robert Solomon, 32, of New Brighton, Minnesota, sold silencers to FBI informants during the unrest following George's Floyd's killing, with the goal of raising money for the boogaloo movement. Solomon was sentenced in March to three years in prison.
Teeter and Solomon told an informant in June 2020 about a courthouse in northern Minnesota that they believed was a “suitable target for destruction,” authorities said.
The next month, according to court documents, Teeter and Solomon delivered five silencers to an informant, as well as a 3D printed “auto sear” they believed would be used by Hamas to convert rifles from semi-automatic to fully automatic.
Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck. His death sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the world. | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Boogaloo-member-sentenced-to-4-years-on-17213437.php | 2022-06-01 23:09:53 | 1 | https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Boogaloo-member-sentenced-to-4-years-on-17213437.php |
(NewsNation) — Charles Sobhraj, also known as “The Serpent,” became a free man Dec. 24.
Sobhraj has been accused of killing nearly two dozen tourists around Asia in the 1970s. A recent photo of a woman sitting next to Sobhraj on an airplane headed to France, where he’ll begin his new life, has since gone viral.
Journalist Jairaj Singh shared the photo to Twitter with the caption, “That awkward moment when you realise you’re sitting next to a serial killer who claimed at least 30 lives.” As of Wednesday night, the tweet had been viewed more than 660,000 times.
His French lawyer, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, told The AP that Sobhraj will contest his conviction in Nepal, describing him as an “optimist” and resilient after nearly 20 years behind bars.
French filmmaker Jean-Charles Deniau, who escorted Sobhraj out of the Paris airport and is releasing a film and book about his life, said, “He’s doing well. He has medicines. He will live in Paris, and a little bit everywhere.”
The French government did not respond to requests for comment on whether Sobhraj could face judicial challenges in France. Sobhraj was born in Vietnam during French rule and claims French citizenship.
Sobhraj is believed to have killed at least 20 people in Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Turkey, Nepal, Iran and Hong Kong between 1972 and 1982. He reportedly befriended his victims, gave advice on where to dine, and sometimes let them stay at the apartment in Bangkok he shared with his girlfriend before killing them.
But despite multiple legal cases opened against him, judicial authorities across the region struggled to convict him for the killings — or to keep him behind bars.
He was arrested in New Delhi in 1976 and accused of murdering two tourists and stealing their jewelry. He was convicted of the theft but acquitted of murder. In Thailand, he faced 14 murder charges. He avoided being extradited by staying before the courts in India until the Thai case expired in 1996. In Thailand, he faced the death penalty.
In 1986, he escaped from New Delhi’s maximum-security Tihar prison after luring guards into sharing a drug-laced birthday cake, but was later recaptured.
In 1997, he was deported from India to France, where he lived freely but was investigated for allegedly trying to poison a group of French tourists in India.
He resurfaced in 2003 in a casino in the Nepalese city of Kathmandu, and was questioned about the unsolved murders of an American and a Canadian backpacker whose charred bodies were found on the city’s outskirts. He was convicted the following year and handed a life sentence — which, in Nepal, is only 20 years.
Sobhraj insisted on his innocence in that case, though had in the past spoken of killing other tourists. When he was released from the Indian prison, he said he regretted aspects of his past.
In announcing his release this week, the Nepal Supreme Court said Sobhraj has heart disease. They also said he had already served more than 75% of his sentence, and had behaved well in prison, making him eligible for release.
He was freed Friday and ordered to leave Nepal within 15 days. A friend helped him finance a ticket to France, and the French Embassy prepared travel documents allowing him to leave, attorney Gopal Siwakoti Chitan said.
Coutant-Peyre, his French lawyer, welcomed his release.
“I’m very happy but very shocked that it took 19 years to obtain his normal freedom,” Coutant-Peyre said at the airport. She also said his murder conviction in Nepal was based on a “fabricated case,” and said the French government didn’t do enough to help or defend him.
Coutant-Peyre also said Sobhraj watched the series “The Serpent,” which traces how Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg initiated an international investigation into Sobhraj’s alleged killings. He called it “garbage,” she said, and told her “70% of it is totally false.”
Sobhraj’s “serpent” nickname stems from his reputation as a disguise and escape artist. He was also known as “the bikini killer” because he often targeted young women.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/photo-of-woman-sitting-next-to-serial-killer-on-plane-goes-viral/ | 2022-12-29 16:46:57 | 1 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/u-s-world/photo-of-woman-sitting-next-to-serial-killer-on-plane-goes-viral/ |
WEEK 2 FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Beachside defeats Fernandina Beach for 1st win in school history
Beachside is officially in the win column.
The first-year school scored its first football victory ever, edging Fernandina Beach 17-13 at its temporary home, Bartram Trail.
Will Dudley caught a 30-yard touchdown from Brick Balcita and set up the go-ahead score with a fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter. Balcita fired the eventual winning touchdown pass to Cohen Beebe with less than 3 minutes to play.
"I was really happy for the kids and the school, and to just to be a part of it," Beachside head coach Pete Duffy said. "It was about taking in all of their excitement."
The Barracudas (1-1) will go for two in a row at 7 p.m. Friday against Christ's Church.
Tocoi Creek 47, Matanzas 14
Wendell Dean rushed for three first-half touchdowns as the Toros built a 34-6 halftime lead and coasted to their second straight win.
Ryan Killmer threw a touchdown and ran for another, and Kaiz Ragland punched in a short TD run after setting it up with a 65-yard scamper. Tocoi Creek hosts Bishop Kenny at 7 p.m. next Friday.
Dakwon Evans and Cole Hash combined for two touchdown tosses for Matanzas, which gets its third straight home date next week against Deltona.
Lake Mary 19, Spruce Creek 0
Markel Jones and Caden Harshbarger caught a touchdown apiece, Eli Straker snagged two interceptions and the Rams pitched a shutout against Spruce Creek.
The Hawks (1-1) return home for an intriguing, non-district battle with Flagler Palm Coast.
St. Augustine 48, Gibbs 12
The Yellow Jackets racked up 487 yards of total offense in a blowout win over Gibbs.
Devonte Lyons carried the ball 28 times for 225 yards and two touchdowns, and Sean Harvey added 127 yards and a pair of scores on five attempts. Michael Koliner returned a fumble for a touchdown.
St. Augustine crosses state lines for a 4 p.m. Saturday game against Coffee County (Ga.).
Deltona 45, Mount Dora 7
Jude Santana and Anthony May ran for two touchdowns apiece, and the Wolves rolled to a second straight win by running-clock margin.
Carson Nichols applied pressure on the quarterback all night and had two tackles for loss, while Jamison Holliday recorded six total tackles, two TFLs and a sack.
Father Lopez 39, St. Joseph 0
Jonah Ginocchetti topped the 100-yard receiving mark, caught two touchdowns and scored another on a punt return as the Green Wave blanked the visiting Flashes.
Jackson Oldham and Boston Milligan collected double-digit tackles apiece, with the latter tallying three sacks. Aaron Baroni and Jacob Lohman hauled in interceptions.
Father Lopez (1-1) visits Atlantic next week, while St. Joseph hosts Halifax.
Englewood 14, Menendez 7
Sean Wilks threw both touchdown passes to lead the resurgent Rams past Menendez (1-1).
Kevon Roulhac and Emauri Hampton caught TDs for Englewood (2-0). The Rams' Jalen Scarver intercepted a pass.
Palatka 34, Atlantic 7
Chavaris Dumas scored twice, including an interception return, to lead Palatka to a win and its first 2-0 start in 14 years.
Atlantic (0-2) embarks on back-to-back road trips, starting with a Friday matchup against Father Lopez.
Zephyrhills Christian 20, New Smyrna Beach 16
Three first-half turnovers put the 'Cudas in a hole they were unable to dig out of.
Garrett Marshall and Jvontae Hayward rushed for touchdowns in the second half for New Smyrna Beach (1-1), which hosts CFCA
St. Cloud 47, Pine Ridge 7
Pine Ridge produced its first points of the Eric Poyner era, but the Panthers fell in their home opener.
The Panthers (0-2) face Menendez next week.
Legacy Charter 40, Taylor 0
Taylor never found its footing in a game delayed 1 hour, 20 minutes due to inclement weather.
Head coach Antuarn Williams praised the blocking of freshman linemen Tre Gaines and Anthony Massimiano, but expressed an overall concern for "fundamental mistakes on defense."
Taylor returns home next week to battle Cocoa Beach.
Trinity Christian 22, Leesburg First Academy 18
Trinity Christian (1-1) rebounded after a Week 1 defeat to Halifax and held off a second-half rally to score its first win of the fall.
First Academy scored a touchdown in the third and fourth quarters to pull within a score.
Cedar Creek Christian 44, Halifax 6
Brothers Karl and Kamaley Nelson connected for a touchdown pass, but Halifax struggled to slow down Cedar Creek.
The Knights evened their record to 1-1 ahead of next week's journey to St. Joseph. | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2022/09/03/volusia-flagler-st-johns-week-2-high-school-football-roundup-beachside-fernandina-beach/7957015001/ | 2022-09-03 19:13:51 | 0 | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2022/09/03/volusia-flagler-st-johns-week-2-high-school-football-roundup-beachside-fernandina-beach/7957015001/ |
Through Jan. 30
- 49ers' Brock Purdy gets nearly worst-case news on elbow injury
- Costco's newest California store looks very different
- New York radio chuds call Brock Purdy soft for not playing hurt
- ‘Past 3 years have sucked’: SF pizzeria and bar closing
- San Jose Airport changes name, turns it inside out
- SF theater sells out for roast of legendary actor
- The Tom Brady-49ers rumors are already starting
- Police: 44-year-old man shot, killed in San Francisco on Saturday
- 2 rounds of rain enter the SF Bay Area forecast
- 'A lot of people are leaving': California sees cannabis exodus
- Tech behemoth plans hundreds of layoffs at NorCal campus
- Hawaii firefighter sucked into storm drain, dragged 2,400 feet | https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/nascar-gander-outdoors-truck-laps-in-top-15-17754409.php | 2023-01-31 20:02:11 | 0 | https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/nascar-gander-outdoors-truck-laps-in-top-15-17754409.php |
BENSALEM, Pa., May 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that investors with substantial losses have opportunity to lead the securities fraud class action lawsuit against Bakkt Holdings, Inc. f/k/a VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings ("Bakkt" or the "Company") (NYSE: BKKT).
Class Period: March 31, 2021 – November 19, 2021
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 20, 2022
Investors suffering losses on their Bakkt investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com.
The complaint filed alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) the Company had defective financial controls; (2) as a result, there were errors in the Company's financial statements related to the misclassification of certain shares issued prior to the Business Combination; (3) accordingly, the Company would need to restate certain of its financial statements; (4) the Company downplayed the true scope and severity of these issues; (5) the Company overstated its remediation of its defective financial controls; and (5) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to the pending class action lawsuit, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020, by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Contacts
Law Offices of Howard G. Smith
Howard G. Smith, Esquire
215-638-4847
888-638-4847
howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com
www.howardsmithlaw.com
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SOURCE Law Offices of Howard G. Smith | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2022/05/09/bkkt-investors-have-opportunity-lead-bakkt-holdings-inc-fka-vpc-impact-acquisition-holdings-securities-fraud-lawsuit/ | 2022-05-10 00:35:31 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2022/05/09/bkkt-investors-have-opportunity-lead-bakkt-holdings-inc-fka-vpc-impact-acquisition-holdings-securities-fraud-lawsuit/ |
Third annual list recognizes 241 private companies putting purpose ahead of profit
AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Interplay Learning, the leading provider of online and VR training for the essential skilled trades, has been named to the Inc. 2022 Best in Business list in the Prosperous and Thriving ($5-$50 million in gross revenue) category. Inc.'s Best in Business Awards honor companies that have made an extraordinary impact in their fields and on society.
The list, which can be found in the Winter issue of Inc. magazine (on newsstands Dec. 13), recognizes the most dynamic companies of all sizes and industries that have had an outstanding influence on their communities, their industries, the environment, or society as a whole.
Interplay Learning builds better training, better careers and better lives for its customers and their employees. Its award-winning online and virtual reality training for the essential skilled trades, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, solar, multifamily maintenance and facilities maintenance workforces, is scalable and more effective than traditional training methods. By leveraging immersive learning technology, Interplay's customers are able to train and practice hands-on learning from a desktop, phone, tablet or in virtual reality, resulting in a highly trained employee who is job-ready in weeks, not years.
"Inc. magazine is dedicated to showcasing America's most dynamic businesses and the great things they do," said Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. "The Best in Business awards shine a light on those that have gone above and beyond their original mission to make a social, environmental or economic impact benefiting those around them."
Rather than relying on quantitative criteria tied to sales or funding, Inc.'s editors reviewed the companies' achievements over the past year and noted how they made a positive difference in the world. They then selected honorees in 55 different categories — from advertising to sustainability to retail, and more — and in age-based, revenue-based, size-based, and impact-based categories. The applicant pool was extremely competitive — a huge success for the 241 companies honored in the list's third year. Honorees for gold, silver, bronze, and general excellence across industries and categories are featured online at inc.com/best-in-business.
"Interplay Learning invests in the communities we serve through transformational career training," said Doug Davenport, CEO of Interplay Learning. "We believe in the power of training to not only improve people's lives but to tackle key social issues, such as poverty, inequality, and unemployment. Helping businesses, educational institutes and communities overcome critical workforce challenges also extends direct benefits to technicians and students who gain the confidence they need to thrive in their careers. The positive impact is being felt throughout the industry and beyond as we work to create better lives and better careers for everyone."
For more information, visit www.interplaylearning.com.
Since 2016, Austin-based Interplay Learning has been building better training, better careers and better lives for its customers and their employees. Its award-winning online and VR training for the essential skilled trades, including HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, Solar, Multi-Family Maintenance and Facilities Maintenance workforces, is scalable and more effective than traditional training methods. By leveraging immersive learning technology, Interplay's customers are able to train and practice hands-on learning from a desktop, phone, tablet or in virtual reality. The result is a highly trained employee who is job-ready in weeks, not years. Its digital learning platform, SkillMill, conveniently turns any space into a training lab with its short video courses, 3D simulations, knowledge checks, coaching and connectivity. Recent accolades include recognition by Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Awards in the Education, General Excellence and On the Rise categories. Welcome to the next generation of the skilled labor workforce. Visit www.interplaylearning.com to learn more.
The world's most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community they need to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Ripley
Ripley PR
(865) 977-1973
hripley@ripleypr.com
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SOURCE Interplay Learning | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/12/06/interplay-learning-named-incs-2022-best-business-list/ | 2022-12-06 12:35:14 | 1 | https://www.wsaz.com/prnewswire/2022/12/06/interplay-learning-named-incs-2022-best-business-list/ |
3 men get life for fatal shooting of rapper XXXTentacion
Three men were given life sentences on Thursday for the 2018 killing of star rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot outside a South Florida motorcycle shop while being robbed of $50,000.
Michael Boatwright, 28, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24, were each convicted last month of first-degree murder and armed robbery by a jury following eight days of deliberations.
Prosecutors had not sought the death penalty, so life in prison was the only sentence that Broward County Circuit Judge Michael Usan could impose for the first-degree murder convictions.
During the month-long trial, prosecutors linked Boatwright, Williams and Newsome to the June 18, 2018, shooting outside Riva Motorsports in suburban Fort Lauderdale through extensive surveillance video taken inside and outside the store, plus cellphone videos the men took showing themselves flashing fistfuls of $100 bills hours after the slaying.
Prosecutors also had the testimony of a fourth man, Robert Allen, a former friend of the defendants who said he participated in the robbery. He pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder. He has not been sentenced, pending the conclusion of this trial.
Allen's sentence could be as little as time served — meaning he could soon be released — or as long as life, depending partly on how much weight prosecutors give to his assistance.
Defense attorneys accused Allen of being a liar who was motivated by his desire to avoid a life sentence. They also said prosecutors and detectives did a poor job on the investigation and didn't look at other possible suspects, including the Canadian rap star Drake, who had a fued with XXXTentacion online.
XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, had just left Riva Motorsports with a friend when an SUV swerved in front of him and blocked his BMW.
Surveillance video showed two masked gunmen emerging and confronting the 20-year-old singer at the driver's window, and one shot him repeatedly. They then grabbed a Louis Vuitton bag containing cash that XXXTentacion had just withdrawn from the bank, got back into the SUV and sped away. The rapper's friend was not harmed.
Boatwright was identified as the primary shooter and Newsome was accused of being the other gunman. Williams was accused of driving the SUV and Allen of being inside the vehicle. | https://www.kcra.com/article/3-men-get-life-for-fatal-shooting-of-rapper-xxxtentacion/43534854 | 2023-04-06 23:54:55 | 1 | https://www.kcra.com/article/3-men-get-life-for-fatal-shooting-of-rapper-xxxtentacion/43534854 |
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