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GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A suspect in a violent kidnapping in Oregon died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday night after being taken into custody following a standoff with law enforcement, a police spokesman said.
Grants Pass Police Department Lt. Jeff Hattersley told KTVL-TV that Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, died at a hospital hours after he was taken into custody in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Foster barricaded himself under a house as officers from four agencies concentrated in the area, set up a command post and assembled a SWAT team while attempting to secure his surrender beginning Tuesday afternoon.
Just before 8 p.m., Hattersley said the situation had been resolved but did not immediately confirm whether Foster had been arrested. Police later confirmed Foster was in custody, but a little more than an hour later said he had succumbed to his injuries.
Hattersley said authorities received "credible information" that Foster had entered the home where a woman was found unconscious, bound and near death on Jan. 24, The Daily Courier reported. She was hospitalized in critical condition.
As police gathered at the home where Foster was located, some area residents received a notification to shelter in place, the Daily Courier reported.
Foster was spotted Tuesday morning walking a dog in the Grants Pass area, according to a Grants Pass Police Department Facebook post.
Last Thursday, law enforcement raided a property in the unincorporated community of Wolf Creek, but Foster, who had been staying on family property there, slipped away. Forested mountains surround the community, but investigators believe that instead of disappearing solo into the wilderness, Foster had help getting out of the area.
Grants Pass is a town of some 40,000 in southwest Oregon next to Interstate 5.
In 2019, before moving to Oregon, Foster held his then-girlfriend captive inside her Las Vegas apartment for two weeks. He initially was charged with five felonies, including assault and battery, and faced decades in prison upon conviction.
Foster reached a deal with Clark County prosecutors in August 2021 that allowed him to plead guilty to one felony count of battery and a misdemeanor count of battery constituting domestic violence.
A judge sentenced him to up to 2 1/2 years in a Nevada prison. But after the 729 days he had spent in jail awaiting trial were factored into his punishment, Foster was left to serve less than 200 additional days in state custody.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kbia.org/2023-02-01/oregon-kidnapping-suspect-dies-of-self-inflicted-gunshot-police-say | 2023-02-01 11:56:22 | 1 | https://www.kbia.org/2023-02-01/oregon-kidnapping-suspect-dies-of-self-inflicted-gunshot-police-say |
Amber Alert: Police say 2 girls abducted in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) – An Amber Alert has been issued for two missing children in Kansas City.
Police are trying to find Marlaya Owsley, 7, and Cassiah Owsley, 4.
Authorities have identified Jordan Owsley, 27, as the suspect in their abduction.
Owsley, the girls’ biological father, left the scene of a homicide in the 1300 block of 89th Street in a white KIA Optima with Missouri license plate VF2E2B, according to the Amber Alert.
Marlaya and Cassiah were in the vehicle, according to the alert.
The alert says the suspect “allegedly shot and killed a person associated to the mother, and forcibly abducted the children.”
Authorities said Jordan Owsley is armed with a gun.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Kansas City Police Department at 816-234-5043 or dial 911.
Copyright 2022 KCTV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wsaz.com/2022/08/22/amber-alert-police-say-2-girls-abducted-kansas-city/ | 2022-08-22 00:47:47 | 1 | https://www.wsaz.com/2022/08/22/amber-alert-police-say-2-girls-abducted-kansas-city/ |
China’s leader Xi in Moscow for meeting with Putin
MOSCOW (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday on a three-day visit that offers a strong political boost for Russian President Vladimir Putin as fighting in Ukraine grinds on.
China and Russia have described Xi’s trip as part of efforts to further deepen their “no-limits friendship.”
The Kremlin has welcomed China’s peace plan for Ukraine and said it would be discussed talks between Putin and Xi that will begin over dinner on Monday.
Beijing has called for a cease-fire, but Washington strongly rejected the idea as the effective ratification of the Kremlin’s battlefield gains.
Xi’s trip to Russia comes after the International Criminal Court on Friday issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest on war crimes charges. The Kremlin, which doesn’t recognize the authority of the ICC, has rejected its move as “legally null and void.”
China’s foreign ministry on Monday called on the ICC to “respect the jurisdictional immunity” of a head of state and “avoid politicization and double standards.”
China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy and as a partner in opposing what both see as American domination of global affairs.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kxii.com/2023/03/20/chinas-leader-xi-moscow-meeting-with-putin/ | 2023-03-20 10:36:29 | 0 | https://www.kxii.com/2023/03/20/chinas-leader-xi-moscow-meeting-with-putin/ |
Following a proclamation by the mayor and after five decades of journalistic excellence,
Sunday was officially declared “Janet Wu Day” in Boston, to coincide with the trailblazing news reporter’s retirement announcement.
“Oh my goodness, really? Really?” Wu said before Mayor Michelle Wu, no relation, proclaimed November 6, 2022 a day in honor of WCVB’s long-time political journalist.
“I don’t cry very often but I am getting pretty teary,” a normally stoic Janet Wu said, emotion plain in her voice and visage.
Janet Wu announced Friday she will retire at the end of the year, according to a release by WCVB. The Emmy award winning television journalist was the first woman and first Asian American to serve as a Massachusetts State House TV reporter, and “a trailblazer in Boston for women, and women of color, in media and broadcast journalism,” according to the release.
“For nearly five decades, I’ve had the privilege of reporting on the most significant news stories and political events in Massachusetts and hopefully I have gained the trust of viewers and respect of politicians while covering the political stories that personally impact their lives,” Wu says in the release. “I’ve covered 12 gubernatorial administrations and countless other statewide and congressional races. It is simply time to move on.”
Wu has been the co-host of the Sunday Politics show On the Record since 2009, serving on their investigative team before that, the station said.
Before joining Channel 5 she worked in print journalism for United Press International and WBGH-TV.
Wu is an inductee to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame and was awarded the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism, and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting.
“Janet is an incredibly talented and highly-regarded journalist who has made countless contributions to WCVB and to the community over the course of her legendary career and as a longtime member of NewsCenter 5,” WCVB Channel 5 President and General Manager Kyle Grimes said. “With nearly forty years at Channel 5, Janet helped to lay the foundation for the journalistic excellence and commitment to community that the station is dedicated to providing, and she will truly be missed by her entire Channel 5 family.”
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With the clock ticking on the current stopgap bill that funds the federal government through Feb. 8, Congress is steeling itself to consider another must-pass budget bill.
Once again, health care could be caught in the crosshairs.
During previous debates over government funding, it was the high-profile Children's Health Insurance Program that went months without reauthorization and became a bargaining chip. A deal in January extended it for six years.
But the future of a host of other health care programs remains unsettled. Among them: funding for the nation's 1,400 community health centers and a delay on capping Medicare coverage of physical therapy and outpatient therapy, after they technically expired last year.
Advocates for the programs are pressing lawmakers to keep them going by including language in the broader spending bill that must pass next week to prevent another government shutdown.
Some of the items in this eclectic legislative mix are often left to the last minute, to catch a ride on another bill — known as an "extender" by Washington insiders, because it extends funding that is set to expire or delays cuts that would otherwise take effect.
On the surface, these efforts may sound like wonky, inside-the-Beltway machinations. But program backers say they have real-life implications for many of the nation's neediest people. For them, the congressional delay is causing concern.
The provisions are important and wide-ranging
Renewing federal funding for community health centers is the biggest ticket item — the clinics cost $3.6 billion per year, and provide basic health care for about 27 million people with low incomes. Also at stake is the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, through which trained home visitors teach healthy parenting strategies to new mothers who are deemed at-risk and have low incomes.
Another provision forestalls planned reductions put in place by the Affordable Care Act — in federal funds given to particularly vulnerable facilities known as Disproportionate Share Hospitals because they serve a particularly high percentage of low-income patients.
And yet another provision would prevent limits that were put in place by earlier budget bills from being applied to Medicare's coverage of physical therapy, outpatient therapy and speech-language pathology treatment. Without action, coverage would be cut off after $2,010 of occupational therapy is provided and another $2,010 for the combination of physical therapy and speech-language pathology. Each limit would translate to Medicare reimbursement for fewer than 20 visits.
Congress has previously funded these programs in bigger bills
These are generally smaller programs that, in the past, were authorized or extended via provisions attached to larger, must-pass bills. One of the favorite vehicles was the "doc fix," which regularly moved through Congress to make adjustments in how Medicare paid doctors. That is, until a landmark 2015 law — the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, or MACRA — permanently addressed physician payment.
CHIP finally got funding in the Jan. 22 federal spending deal this year, but the other items were left on the table. One issue, many said: They're simply not as sexy, and the impact is harder to spot immediately.
"The problem is too much of the focus was on just one egg in the basket, and that egg got done. Now the rest of the eggs are saying, 'What about me?' " says Rodney Whitlock, a health policy consultant and former Republican Senate staffer. "The real-world impact of not addressing those is slowly becoming problematic."
Most of the programs aren't controversial politically
These programs usually pass with bipartisan support. For advocates, lobbyists and analysts on both sides of the aisle, that makes the funding lapse especially disorienting.
"Even things that should be easy and bipartisan are taking much, much longer and encountering much more difficulty than I think any of us would have expected," says Eliot Fishman, senior director of health policy at the liberal advocacy group Families USA and a former member of the Obama administration. "It's clearly a matter of political gamesmanship."
There is some room to debate how to pay for these initiatives. But even that is limited, suggests Thomas Miller, a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
"If it's your economic interest at stake ... this is an end-all and be-all. But these are not gigantic items," Miller says. "The consequences for the larger fiscal picture are not immense."
Take the caps on funding for the various sorts of therapy. They were first put in place as part of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act, as part of an effort to curb Medicare outpatient spending.
But in 1999, right when the caps were scheduled to kick in, pushback from physicians and patient advocates led Congress to delay their effective date. Since then, Congress, has — except for a brief lapse — staved off the caps.
Delay in funding has consequences for patients
Stephanie Weyrauch, a Minnesota-based physical therapist concerned about the therapy caps, says she and her colleagues are already starting to ration care.
She describes, for instance, a 69-year-old man who is recovering from a stroke and about halfway through his allotted therapy. He will require several more sessions later this year just for that condition, which would bring him up to the cap. If his other ailments — shoulder problems and poor blood flow – worsen, Medicare wouldn't cover treatment.
"We have to make sure we're doing what's best for our patients," she says. "Sometimes that means we stop therapy early to prepare for a potential next episode."
A fix from Congress could come next week
Federal legislators have already provided some short-term funding for community health centers, which is "keeping the lights on," Fishman says. But it lasts only until the end of March.
And the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program is operating on previously allocated dollars.
In the meantime, Fishman notes, the affected programs are struggling to plan for the future. They are trying to come up with budgets and make staffing decisions without a sense of what their income will actually be.
But some people expressed optimism about what will be included in the funding bill likely to take shape in Congress next week.
"I continue to believe that when a spending deal gets worked out this train will ride along," Whitlock says.
It is an election year, he notes: "No matter what, this is one of those where it's got to get worked out."
Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit health newsroom whose stories appear in news outlets nationwide, is an editorially independent part of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Copyright 2023 Kaiser Health News. To see more, visit Kaiser Health News. | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2018-02-02/budget-delays-bring-uncertainty-to-health-programs-for-the-needy | 2023-05-27 23:21:12 | 0 | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2018-02-02/budget-delays-bring-uncertainty-to-health-programs-for-the-needy |
PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts bounded off Washington’s field and waved his arms while the Eagles fans who turned the stadium into a South Philly pep rally chanted “MVP! MVP!”
OK, that’s a bit of a stretch for late September — and with the Phillies still in a pennant race.
But Hurts and the Eagles have barely scratched the surface of what a healthy team can achieve. Hurts was 22 of 35 for 340 yards and three touchdown passes, one each to DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert in Sunday’s 24-8 win over the Washington Commanders.
“I think we have yet to play our best ball,” Hurts said.
The Eagles and their fans are overjoyed they have Hurts and not his predecessor, Carson Wentz — the quarterback Hurts replaced as the starter went down more often than the price of his still-for-sale authentic Eagles jersey. Wentz was sacked nine times, lost a fumble that set up one Philadelphia touchdown and all but 24 of Wentz’s passing yards came in the second half, long after the outcome had been determined.
The game went Philadelphia’s way. So did the franchise’s decision to scrap Wentz for Hurts.
“The work we put in, in the offseason is supposed to show in times like this,” Hurts said. “The trust we have in one another, being on the same page to see it pan out now is great. We know there’s more to it and it’s just the beginning.”
WHAT’S WORKING
The offense. The defense. The Eagles are 3-0 for the 10th time in franchise history and won their first two road games for the first time since 2010.
“We see 3-0 teams, 5-0 teams, start hot all the time, but it’s just about going back to work because this game will humble you very quickly if you get too high on it,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said
WHAT NEEDS HELP
Not much. Hurts and the Eagles are rolling and it’s hard not to watch them play and think the NFC East is a mere formality. But have you noticed? The Eagles scored all 24 points in the first half against Minnesota and all 24 in the first half against Washington. The second-half shutouts might not be a big deal in a romp but can certainly come back to bite them when the games get tight.
STOCK UP
Smith was held without a catch in the season opener and had seven receptions for 80 yards against Minnesota. He went wild against Washington and had career highs with eight receptions, 169 yards, and he scored his first touchdown. Smith’s 156 yards receiving in the first half were the most by an Eagle since Kevin Curtis had 205 in September 2007. Nicknamed the Slim Reaper because of his 6-foot, 170-pound frame, he tied a career-high in receptions in the first half alone with seven.
“You may have a game like that where you don’t get the ball or you don’t get your opportunities but when they come, you’ve got to make the most of them,” Smith said.
STOCK DOWN
Wentz. Oh, wait. He’s not Philadelphia’s problem anymore. Hard to nitpick a team playing with the poise and precession of a Super Bowl contender. The Eagles did have only 72 yards rushing and haven’t had a 100-yard rusher yet.
INJURED
The Eagles suffered minor injuries — cornerback Darius Slay briefly left with cramps and Goedert shook off a shin injury to catch three passes and a touchdown — but nothing that should hamper them against Jacksonville.
KEY NUMBER
9. One small knock on the Eagles over the first two games was a pass rush that had only three sacks. But the Eagles had six sacks in the first half alone. Among the nine for the game, Brandon Graham led Philadelphia with 2½, while Fletcher Cox, Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat each had a sack and a half. Cox and Graham lead Philadelphia with three sacks this season and are tied for the fourth-most sacks (61) in franchise history.
NEXT STEPS
The reunion tour continues. The Eagles head home to play the Jacksonville Jaguars, led by coach Doug Pederson. Pederson, of course, was the first Eagles coach to ever win the Super Bowl, knocking off the New England Patriots after the 2017 season. Pederson was 42-37-1 in five seasons. He guided the Eagles to two division championships and three playoff appearances before going 4-11-1 in 2020. Pederson was fired with two years remaining on his contract. Pederson was a starting quarterback in Philadelphia in 1999 and later served as an assistant coach under Andy Reid with the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. The Eagles hired him in January 2016 after abruptly firing Chip Kelly a month earlier.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/hurts-undefeated-eagles-looking-dominant-three-games-in/2022/09/26/5f2d07d2-3da4-11ed-8c6e-9386bd7cd826_story.html | 2022-09-26 15:04:58 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/hurts-undefeated-eagles-looking-dominant-three-games-in/2022/09/26/5f2d07d2-3da4-11ed-8c6e-9386bd7cd826_story.html |
BEIJING (AP) — China will drop a COVID-19 quarantine requirement for passengers arriving from abroad starting Jan. 8, the National Health Commission announced Monday in the latest easing of the country’s once-strict virus-control measures.
Currently, arriving passengers must quarantine for five days at a hotel, followed by three days at home. That is down from as much as three weeks in the past.
People coming to China will still need a negative virus test 48 hours before departure and passengers will be required to wear protective masks on board, an online post from the health commission said.
China abruptly dropped many of its pandemic restrictions earlier this month, sparking widespread outbreaks that have swamped hospital emergency rooms and funeral homes.
The move followed rare public protests against the restrictions, which have slowed the economy, putting people out of work and driving restaurants and shops out of business. | https://www.mrt.com/business/article/China-to-scrap-COVID-19-quarantine-for-incoming-17678067.php | 2022-12-26 18:08:50 | 1 | https://www.mrt.com/business/article/China-to-scrap-COVID-19-quarantine-for-incoming-17678067.php |
WFO PORTLAND Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, January 18, 2023
_____
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Portland OR
147 PM PST Wed Jan 18 2023
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS
EVENING...
* WHAT...Snow. Additional snow accumulations up to 3 inches,
heaviest above 3500 feet.
* WHERE...South Washington Cascades.
* WHEN...Until 10 PM PST this evening.
* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snow levels will lower from around 3000
feet to 1500 to 2000 feet this evening.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Slow down and use caution while traveling.
For the latest road conditions call 5 1 1, or visit
for Oregon: https://www.tripcheck.com
and for Washington: https://wsdot.com/travel/real-time/map
_____
Copyright 2023 AccuWeather | https://www.mrt.com/weather/article/WA-WFO-PORTLAND-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17726367.php | 2023-01-18 23:09:34 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/weather/article/WA-WFO-PORTLAND-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17726367.php |
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Pittsburgh Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi is raising the bar for the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions.
After saying his team “is not happy with where we were last year,” Narduzzi established the team's goals for the 2022 season on Thursday at ACC Media Days.
“We would like to win a national championship," Narduzzi said. “We want to be in the playoffs. We were one game last year away from being in that talk. ... If you go to a 12-team playoff, we’re in it. That’s where we want to be.”
Pittsburgh finished 11-3 last season, becoming the first team from the Coastal Division to win the ACC title since Virginia Tech in 2010. This year the Panthers will have a target on their back, which is fine with Narduzzi.
“I would rather have that challenge (of defending a title) than be sitting at the bottom trying to get my way up the ladder,” Narduzzi said.
But a repeat won’t be easy, especially after losing quarterback Kenny Pickett, the ACC’s player of the year, to the NFL. Pickett was selected in the first round by the hometown Steelers.
Narduzzi said it won't be easy replacing Pickett’s production — he threw for 4,319 yards and 42 touchdowns — and leadership. He expects Southern Cal senior transfer Kedon Slovis and redshirt senior Nick Patti to compete for the starting job.
“It’s going to come down to who wants it more,” redshirt senior offensive tackle Carter Warren said. “Who is going to give it all they’ve got?”
GOODBYE TURNOVER CHAIN
Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke said he's happy the Hurricanes have decided to retire the “turnover chain."
'Canes defensive players have been celebrating forced turnovers since 2017 by donning an oversized 36-inch, 10-karat gold chain around their neck while on the sideline.
“I was never a big fan of it because we'd be (losing) and people would get a pick and throw it on — and we're still down and losing the game," Van Dyke said. “Sometimes it just made no sense. Other times when it was a big turnover, yeah, it was hype and cool and all that. But right now we're really about winning.”
First-year coach Mario Cristobal downplayed the decision to end the tradition by saying, “I think probably the media has put more thought into this than I have.”
Cristobal, who won two national championships with Miami as a player, said he doesn't believe a celebratory chain translates to winning football games.
“It's not a shot or form of disrespect to anybody or anyone,” Cristobal said. “Certainly history is history, whether it’s positive, whether it’s inconsequential. ... We’re just moving in a direction that right now doesn’t involve it."
Miami defensive end Jahfari Harvey said it was a “great feeling” getting to chance to wear the chain last year after intercepting a pass and returning it for a touchdown. But he said he's not upset with the change, adding “we're just focused on working hard.”
CRIMINALLY OVERRATED
The North Carolina Tar Heels expect the addition of coordinator Gene Chizek will bolster a defense that struggled mightily in 2021. Chizek previously worked under head coach Mack Brown at Texas as defensive coordinator when the Longhorns won a national championship and later captured another title as head coach at Auburn.
“We’re doing a better job with fundamentals," Brown said. "We’re doing a better job with tracking and playing with low pads, pursuit angles. I really am excited about what I’ve seen out of our defense this spring and our team is more competitive.”
Still, Brown did his best to downplay expectations.
When a reporter suggested the Tar Heels appear to be criminally underrated this season, he responded, “I love it because we were criminally overrated last year.”
The Tar Heels were the overwhelming pick by the media to win the Coastal last year, receiving 109 of 147 first-place votes, only to stumble to a fifth-place finish in the division with a 3-5 record.
REPLACING GIBBS
The Division I Council on Wednesday endorsed a concept that would eliminate the blanket NCAA rule prohibiting transferring more than once.
And that's fine by Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins — even after the Yellow Jackers lost running back Jahmyr Gibbs to Alabama this offseason after he ran for 746 yards and caught 35 passes for 465 yards last season.
“As long as the decisions are being made to benefit the student-athlete, that’s what we support in this program,” Collins said. “... Whatever is in the best interest of the student-athlete, that’s where my opinion lies.”
The Council also endorsed the implementation of transfer windows — something that gives athletes certain time periods to inform their school of their intention to transfer in order to maintain eligibility for the following year.
Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry said he'd be in favor of the transfer windows.
“We just need some end caps, right?” Pry said. “We need some defining — some calendar dates — that make sense so that it gives us a chance to keep the roster in good condition."
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25 | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Narduzzi-raises-bar-for-defending-ACC-champion-17320498.php | 2022-07-21 20:57:17 | 0 | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Narduzzi-raises-bar-for-defending-ACC-champion-17320498.php |
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, said the director general of Ukraine’s and Europe’s largest power plant, Ihor Murashov, has been released from Russian custody after his detention last week.
“I welcome the release,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi tweeted. “I have received confirmation that Mr. Murashov has returned to his family safely.”
Murashov was blindfolded and detained after leaving the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Friday.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS:
— Ukrainian troops continue offensive, claim new gains
— AP Investigation: Russia smuggling Ukrainian grain to help pay for Putin’s war
— Europe faces ‘unprecedented risk’ of gas shortage, IEA says
— Fleeing Russians follow path of 1917 refugees to Istanbul
— 10 torture sites in 1 town: Russia sowed pain, fear in Izium
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
MOSCOW — The Russian military on Monday acknowledged that Kyiv’s forces have broken through Moscow’s defenses in the Kherson region.
Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in his daily briefing that “With numerically superior tank units in the direction of Zolota Balka and Oleksandrivka, the enemy managed to forge deep into our defenses.”
Konashenkov added that “Russian troops have occupied a pre-prepared defensive line and continue to inflict massive fire damage” on Kyiv’s forces.
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MOSCOW — The lower house of the Russian parliament voted Monday to endorse the treaties for four regions of Ukraine to join Russia.
The unanimous vote by the State Duma followed the signing of the treaties by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the four regions on Friday after the Kremlin-orchestrated referendums that were rejected by Ukraine and the West as having no legal validity.
The vote was unanimous on each of the four treaties, but the number of yes votes ranged from 409 to 413, apparently because some lawmakers were slow to push the voting buttons.
___
WASHINGTON — White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says Ukraine has made gains in the northeast of the country where they are pushing up against the Luhansk region, and he said they are making gains in the south, too.
“They’re absolutely on the move here,” Kirby said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program. “And like you’ve heard President Biden saying, we’re going to continue to make sure we can give them the weapons and capabilities so they can continue that sign of progress.”
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KYIV, Ukraine — Russian shelling of eight Ukrainian regions over the past 24 hours has killed two civilians and injured 14 more, Ukraine’s presidential office reported Monday.
A missile strike was carried out on the city of Zaporizhzhia, capital of the Zaporizhzhia region, parts of which are under Russian control and which has been illegally annexed by Moscow.
Russian forces fired some 10 S-300 anti-aircraft missiles at the city and two nearby villages, according to the presidential office. The strike destroyed a rehabilitation center for children with special needs; one person was injured.
Cities across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were also shelled. In Nikopol, a frequent target of Russian shelling, power lines were damaged, as were a dozen residential buildings and private houses.
___
MOSCOW — The Kremlin says no final decision has been made on the territory of two of the four regions it plans to incorporate into Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Donetsk and Luhansk regions would join Russia as defined by administrative borders that existed before a conflict erupted there in 2014. He noted that the issue of the borders of the two other regions – Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – remains open.
“We will continue to discuss that with residents of those regions,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties on Friday to make the four regions part of Russia in a move rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies. The lower house of Kremlin-controlled parliament is set to ratify the treaties Monday and the upper house will follow Tuesday.
Russia controls virtually all of the Luhansk region and about 60% of the Donetsk region that together makes Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas. In the south, Russia controls most of the Kherson region and a significant part of the Zaporizhzhia region.
___
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador on Monday to protest to protest Russia’s illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions last week. The Polish Foreign Ministry said it’s a coordinated action across Europe Union countries.
Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev defended Russia’s annexation of the territories. Speaking to reporters after the meeting Andreev said the four former territories of Ukraine “will forever remain Russian territories. This is by no means a breach of international law, it is an act of self-determination.”
He was also asked about the large numbers of Russian men fleeing the country. He replied: “Yes, there are people who are fleeing, but this is how our society cleanses itself of those who are not part of our nation.”
___ LONDON — The Joint Expeditionary Force group of northern European nations will meet Monday to discuss the safety of undersea pipelines and cables after blasts ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.
Wallace said the virtual meeting has been called by the U.K. and the Netherlands. The force brings together troops from 10 countries, including the Baltic and Nordic nations, and has seen its importance increase since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Wallace also said Britain will acquire two specialist ships to protect undersea cables and pipes, with the first “multi-role survey ship for seabed warfare” operational by the end of next year.
___
BELGOROD, Russia — Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia’s Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine, reported Monday that Ukrainian shelling of a village near the border killed a 48-year-old woman.
The shells, Gladkov said in a statement posted on Telegram, hit the center of the village of Golovchino, damaging several buildings. It wasn’t immediately clear if there were other casualties, according to the statement. ___
MOSCOW — Russia’s top diplomat Monday compared Western military support for Ukraine to the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II.
Addressing the lower house of the Russian parliament before it voted to ratify the treaties for four regions of Ukraine to join Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the United States of rallying allies to counter Russia in Ukraine just as Nazi Germany relied on European resources when it invaded the Soviet Union.
“The U.S. has mobilized practically all of the collective West to turn Ukraine into an instrument of war against Russia, just as Hitler mobilized military resources of most European nations to attack the Soviet Union,” Lavrov said.
Presenting the treaties with the four regions to lawmakers before the vote, Lavrov said they marked “the logical continuation of the process of reunification of Russian lands.”
___ MOSCOW — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says criticism of Russia’s military leadership by Chechnya’s regional leader was driven by emotions.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, scathingly criticized the Russian military command over the weekend, saying that the Russian retreat from the city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine was a result of incompetence and nepotism.
Kadyrov also called for the use of low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine to reverse the tide of the conflict in Russia’s favor.
Asked about Kadyrov’s statements, Peskov said they were driven by emotions.
“Even in difficult moments, emotions must be excluded while making assessments,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters Monday. “We prefer to stick to well-balanced, objective assessments.”
Responding to Kadyrov’s comments on nuclear weapons, Peskov said conditions for their use are outlined in Russia’s security doctrine, adding that “there could be no other reasons” for their deployment.
___ Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.wfla.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-live-updates-russia-ukraine-war-4/ | 2022-10-03 22:02:38 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/news/international/ap-international/ap-live-updates-russia-ukraine-war-4/ |
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former “Dances With Wolves” actor accused of sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls in the U.S. and Canada for two decades has asked a judge in Nevada to toss out a sweeping indictment against him in state court.
Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, claims the sexual encounters with two women identified as victims in the Nevada case were consensual. One of them was younger than 16 — the age of consent in Nevada — when she says the sexual abuse began.
Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny said Wednesday that she would issue her decision before the end of the week. She could deny Chasing Horse’s request or dismiss some or all of the charges, although she didn’t offer any indication as to how she might rule during her questioning of state prosecutors and Chasing Horse’s public defender.
A Clark County jury indicted Chasing Horse, 46, in February on charges of sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping, child abuse, lewdness and drug trafficking. He has been in custody at a county jail since Jan. 31, when he was arrested by SWAT officers near the home he shared with his five wives in North Las Vegas.
He also faces sexual abuse charges in Canada and the U.S. District Court in Nevada, as well as on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana.
Prosecutors and police say Chasing Horse, who is known for his portrayal of Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s Oscar-winning film, marketed himself to tribes nationwide as a self-proclaimed medicine man who possessed healing powers and could communicate with higher beings. They accuse of him using his position to lead a cult known as The Circle, gain access to vulnerable girls and women and take underage wives.
The alleged crimes, according to court documents, date to the early 2000s and occurred in Canada and multiple U.S. states, including Nevada, Montana and South Dakota.
Clark County prosecutor Stacey Kollins told the judge Wednesday that Chasing Horse’s claims were offensive, pointing to the age that one of the victims says the abuse began.
“She’s taken at 14 because her mom is ill, and she’s told that her virginity is the only pure part of her left and she has to sacrifice this to maintain her mom’s health,” Kollins said. “And to gloss over that by calling it transactional and saying there’s no proof of non-consent, that’s taking a lot of license to meet with the facts.”
As Kollins spoke, the mother of one of the victims cried in the courtroom gallery, which was packed with Chasing Horse’s supporters.
Public defender Kristy Holston argued the 19-count indictment was an overreach by the Clark County district attorney’s office and that some evidence presented to the grand jury — including a definition of grooming — had tainted the state’s case.
“It’s not the same as a lack of consent,” she said, adding that “a sex worker, for instance, doesn’t desire sex with the client. But their motive for doing it is for something other than desire.”
Outside the courtroom, Holston declined to further comment, while Kollins did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking additional comment.
Chasing Horse is currently scheduled to stand trial May 1 in the state case. He has pleaded not guilty and invoked his right to a trial within 60 days of his indictment.
He is due back in state court Monday morning for a hearing on another motion asking the judge to grant him three trials. Chasing Horse and his attorneys have argued that the sexual assault allegations and the drug trafficking charge contained in the state’s indictment are unrelated. | https://who13.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/judge-weighs-request-to-toss-chasing-horses-sex-abuse-case/ | 2023-04-06 17:25:54 | 1 | https://who13.com/entertainment-news/ap-entertainment/judge-weighs-request-to-toss-chasing-horses-sex-abuse-case/ |
WFO SPOKANE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Monday, December 19, 2022
_____
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1223 PM PST Sun Dec 18 2022
...SNOW AT TIMES THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING...
.Light snow expected across southeast Washington and much of the
Idaho Panhandle through Tuesday morning. A wetter storm system will
follow late Tuesday night with heavy snow over the Cascades,
northeast Blue Mountains, and Central Panhandle Mountains into
Wednesday morning.
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST
MONDAY...
* WHAT...Snow. Additional snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches.
* WHERE...Uniontown, Pullman, Airway Heights, Oakesdale, Downtown
Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Plummer, Fairfield, Rockford, Schweitzer
Mountain Road, Moscow, La Crosse, Sandpoint, Priest River,
Potlatch, Cheney, Colfax, Worley, Rosalia, Tekoa, Eastport,
Bonners Ferry, Davenport, Hayden, Genesee, Spokane Valley, Post
Falls, and Athol.
* WHEN...Until 10 AM PST Monday.
* IMPACTS...Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will
likely become slick and hazardous. Plan on slippery road
conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the Monday
morning commute.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Winter travel conditions are expected to develop and could impact
the Monday morning commute.
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST MONDAY...
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH
WEDNESDAY MORNING...
* WHAT...For the Winter Weather Advisory, snow. Additional snow
accumulations between 2 and 4 inches. Winds gusting as high as 40
mph. For the Winter Storm Watch, heavy snow possible. Total snow
accumulations between 6 and 10 inches possible.
* WHERE...Peola, Mountain Road, Cloverland Road, and Anatone.
* WHEN...For the Winter Weather Advisory, until 10 AM PST Monday.
For the Winter Storm Watch, from late Monday night through
Wednesday morning.
* IMPACTS...Plan on winter travel conditions at times. The hazardous
conditions could impact the Monday morning and evening commutes.
Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.
Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road
conditions for the state you are calling from can be obtained by
calling 5 1 1.
* WHAT...Snow. Snow accumulations between 2 and 4 inches.
* WHERE...Winchester, Soldiers Meadow Road, Pomeroy, Peck, Culdesac,
Alpowa Summit, and Gifford.
* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous
conditions could impact the Monday morning commute.
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH LATE
TUESDAY NIGHT...
* WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations between 8 and
16 inches possible.
* WHERE...Holden Village, Stehekin, and Stevens Pass.
* WHEN...From late Monday night through late Tuesday night.
* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.mrt.com/weather/article/WA-WFO-SPOKANE-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17662697.php | 2022-12-18 21:00:51 | 1 | https://www.mrt.com/weather/article/WA-WFO-SPOKANE-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17662697.php |
Memorial Day weekend is upon us, kicking off the busy summer vacation season, and airlines are forecasting that this could be their busiest summer ever. Industry projections indicate that despite relatively high airfares, U.S. airlines could carry a record number of passengers this summer, even though they're still operating fewer flights than before the pandemic.
The coming months are likely to be a "stress test" for a national aviation system plagued by recent staffing shortages, antiquated technology, air traffic control problems, scheduling issues and labor disputes.
After widespread flight delays and cancellations last year, consumer advocates and some within the travel industry worry air travelers could face similar disruptions that will mess up their summer travel plans again.
If you're among those hoping to jet off to somewhere fun this summer, here's what you can expect.
Long lines and packed planes starting this weekend
"This summer's travel demand will be as strong as we've seen since before the pandemic and potentially the strongest ever," says Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, which represents airlines, hotels and other travel-related businesses.
The crush of travelers starts Memorial Day weekend, with AAA forecasting that about 3.4 million Americans will be flying this Thursday through Monday.
Including the numbers of commercial airline flights and those on smaller general aviation aircraft, there will be more than 313,000 flights over the seven-day holiday period from May 24 to May 30, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. While that is just below pre-pandemic 2019 levels, the airlines may actually be flying more people by using bigger planes than they normally would on many routes.
The FAA projects that this Thursday will be the busiest day of the Memorial Day weekend, with more than 51,000 flights forecast.
Among the commercial airlines, United is predicting this Memorial Day weekend will be its busiest in more than a decade. Delta expects a whopping 17% increase in passengers from last year.
"The airports are packed," says Steve Solomon, chief commercial officer of the Airlines Reporting Corp., which processes and tracks airline ticket sales. "So travelers should prepare to get to the airport early, allow adequate time to get through security screening, through the TSA, and expect to see a lot of people on really full planes."
Solomon says Europe is especially popular this summer, with huge increases in the number of airline tickets purchased for the top ten destinations across the Atlantic, even though prices are up significantly.
"Summer 2022 was pretty rocky"
If last summer is any indication, air travelers might be in for some turbulence before they get off the ground this summer.
"Things were very bad for air travelers last year. They were as bad as they've been in 25 years or more," says Andre Delattre, national program director for PIRG, the Public Interest Research Group. The consumer advocacy group analyzed airline passenger complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
"There were five times more complaints in 2022 compared to 2019 before the pandemic, even though fewer people were flying," he says.
Airlines delayed and canceled a staggering number of flights last year — more than 210,000 were canceled, according to the flight tracking firm FlightAware. "Other than the early months of the pandemic, that's more canceled flights than any year since 2001, when, of course, 9/11 disrupted air travel," Delattre says.
A recent Government Accountability Office investigation found that the sharp increase in airline flight disruptions in recent years was largely caused by factors within the airlines' control, including maintenance issues, technology glitches and staffing problems.
Even though taxpayers shelled out $50 billion to keep airlines in business and pilots, flight attendants and other employees on the payrolls during the pandemic, airlines offered early retirements and other incentives for workers, including experienced flight crews and ground crews, to leave.
Then air travel demand returned much more quickly than airlines expected. Many tried to cash in with aggressive scheduling, but the staff was stretched too thin to meet that demand, especially during severe weather, which led flight crews to time out without fresh crew members to replace them. With planes and flight crews out of place and too few replacements available, it would take some airlines a week or more to get caught up from one series of thunderstorms.
Add to that a new pilot training backlog, and shortages of mechanics, maintenance workers, gate agents and customer service staff, along with technology glitches and outdated scheduling software at some airlines, and it all cascaded into several periods over the last year in which hundreds of thousands of would be travelers were stranded, the worst of which was over the Christmas holiday, when Southwest alone had to cancel 17,000 flights.
Airlines say they're better prepared now
American and its rival airlines all say they're much better prepared for this summer than last. They've all gone on a hiring spree, with passenger airlines adding nearly 4,500 employees just in March alone.
The industry now employs more than 486,000 workers in the U.S., nearly 10% more than they had before the pandemic.
Most airlines handled the recent surge in spring break travelers relatively well, and the cancellation rate so far this year is down significantly from last year. According to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics, airlines canceled 1.7% of flights over the first three months of this year, far lower than the 2.7% flight cancellation rate for all of last year, and 4.1% for the first quarter of 2022.
"We are as prepared as we can possibly be," says Nick Calio, president and CEO of Airlines for America, the lobbying group representing the nation's biggest air carriers. "We've got a lot more employees. We have reduced our schedules and adjusted how we're flying," in an effort to minimize flight disruptions.
But many industry experts warn travelers to be prepared for significant flight delays and cancellations anyway, caused by things outside of the airlines' control.
The FAA's air traffic control issues
While the Biden administration is turning up the heat on the airlines to fulfill their obligations to passengers, the airlines are growing frustrated with the federal government's own aviation shortcomings.
The FAA warns that a significant shortage of air traffic controllers overseeing the very congested New York area airspace could increase flight delays into and out of Newark, LaGuardia and JFK airports by 45% this summer.
In addition, the chronically underfunded FAA is also struggling to replace outdated technology. The failure of a pilot notification system in January led the FAA to briefly halt all flight departures nationwide, causing thousands of flight delays and cancellations that day.
Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection staffing shortages in many airports has led to hourslong waits for international travelers returning to the U.S. to get through customs.
Geoff Freeman of U.S. Travel puts the blame for many of these problems not on the airlines, but on Congress and the federal government.
"These problems have come out of years and years of underinvestment," Freeman says. "If the government doesn't act now, the headaches won't just happen during peak travel season and holidays, it will become our daily reality."
Summer air travel tips
Airline passengers who run into problems from flight disruptions to lost luggage this summer can find out more about their rights and the airlines' responsibilities at the Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection. The site also links to a dashboard listing which airlines are willing to pay for meals, ground transportation, hotels and other expenses incurred because of significant delays and cancellations that are the airline's fault. It also link to a site where consumers can file complaints.
Experts recommend booking flights earlier in the day as storms tend to develop later in the afternoon and evening. It's also a good idea to check the weather forecast for your destination and any cities where you have a layover. The FAA has a site showing where severe weather may cause problems for air travelers each day.
Use the airline's app to track not just whether your flight is on time, but where the plane is coming from and if there are delays there. Book nonstop flights, if possible, so you don't get stranded on a layover.
Travelers who are checking luggage should also be sure to pack an extra change of clothes or two and medications and other necessities in their carry-on bag, in case there's a significant delay or cancellation after you've checked in.
The bottom line for those of us flying this summer is to plan ahead, prepare for the worst — and hope for the best.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2023-05-24/a-record-number-of-americans-may-fly-this-summer-heres-everything-you-need-to-know | 2023-05-24 14:55:41 | 0 | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2023-05-24/a-record-number-of-americans-may-fly-this-summer-heres-everything-you-need-to-know |
COURCHEVEL, France (AP) — AJ Ginnis’ long journey to skiing glory began on the relatively obscure slopes of Mount Parnassus north of Athens, took him briefly to the Austrian Alps as a teenager, then over to Vermont and eventually a spot on the U.S. ski team.
Six knee surgeries later — three ACLs, one MCL plus operations to repair “a bunch of meniscus and cartilage damage” — Ginnis is now a member of the Greek team and his second-place finish in slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships on Sunday earned Greece its first major medal in a Winter Olympic sport.
“You put Greece on the map,” Johan Eliasch, president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, told Ginnis before placing the silver medal around the skier’s neck at the awards ceremony to conclude the final event at worlds.
When the U.S. ski team disbanded its men’s slalom team in 2018 as Ginnis struggled with his injuries, the skier was inspired by Greek tennis players Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari to start competing for his birth nation.
“They opened a door into a new sport,” Ginnis said. “So whether it’s skiing or the next sport that starts taking off in Greece, I just hope (my medal) acts as an inspiration.”
Ginnis stood second after the opening run and held his position through deep ruts that constantly threatened to knock him off course to finish 0.20 seconds behind Norwegian winner Henrik Kristoffersen.
Ginnis already became the first skier from Greece on a World Cup podium when he finished second in the last slalom before worlds.
“It’s just a dream, the last two weeks. History for Greece, best moment in my career,” Ginnis said. “I can’t believe it. I don’t know what happened. During the (second) run I thought it was not enough and I just gave everything in the last gates.”
After the first run, Ginnis said he had no pressure.
“I ski for Greece, so I ski free,” he said, adding with a laugh that he prayed to “all 12” Greek gods before the race.
Kristoffersen posted the fastest-second run time and improved from 16th position after the opening run. Alex Vinatzer finished 0.38 behind to take bronze and earn the Italian men their first medal at these worlds.
First-run leader Manuel Feller of Austria dropped to seventh.
Ginnis was born in Greece and learned to ski at Mount Parnassus, a 2 ½-hour drive from Athens. At 12 he moved to Austria with his father, a ski instructor who ran a ski shop near the Parnassos Ski Center, then on to the United States and competed for the U.S. at the 2017 worlds.
He’s now coached by two friends, Sandy Vietz and Gaby Coulet, who roomed together at the University of Vermont.
“He went to chase his dream for Greece after so many injuries and he never let go,” Coulet said. “He’s a role model of perseverance and also sportsmanship.”
Ginnis doesn’t blame the U.S. team for letting him go.
“All credit to them. They did develop me. I think for me it was like a will of wanting to ski for my home country because I did grow up there and then for them, I was a really injured athlete,” said Ginnis, who now competes with braces on both knees under his racing suit.
“So I don’t blame them at all for cutting the team when they did. It sure made things harder for me. But, hey, I’m here … so I’m not complaining.”
American skier Luke Winters, one of Ginnis’ former teammates, was impressed.
“He’s always had the speed. It’s good to see him consistently put it in there,” Winters said. “It’s just how the sport goes. All of a sudden, you figure it out and some people can go right to the top.”
Kristoffersen earned his econd world title after winning gold in giant slalom four years ago. He became the 10th man to win both world titles in the tech disciplines.
“That’s a prestigious list to be on,” Kristoffersen said.
Kristoffersen switched his equipment supplier in the offseason, joining the ski brand founded by his former rival and record-eight time overall champion Marcel Hirscher, who retired in 2019.
With Feller losing his first-run lead, Austria was left without a gold medal for the first time in 36 years at worlds — since Crans Montana in 1987 — ahead of hosting the next worlds in Saalbach-Hinterglemm in 2025.
Lucas Braathen shared second position with Ginnis after the opening run but dropped to seventh in a tie with Feller.
Braathen, who leads the season-long World Cup slalom standings, competed less than three weeks after he underwent surgery for appendicitis.
Olympic champion Clement Noel missed the podium by three-hundredths in fourth place, and defending champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag of Norway finished 19th.
Switzerland led the final medals table with three golds and seven medals in total, ahead of Norway with two golds and nine medals overall.
The U.S. team also had two gold medals, from the team event and from Mikaela Shiffrin’s giant slalom victory.
___
Willemsen reported from Vienna.
___
More AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/skiing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://cbs4indy.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-austrian-skier-feller-leads-1st-run-of-slalom-at-worlds/ | 2023-02-19 19:45:08 | 1 | https://cbs4indy.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-austrian-skier-feller-leads-1st-run-of-slalom-at-worlds/ |
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Recipients will assist people and communities who may be disproportionately impacted by climate change and/or the transition to a low-carbon economy
CHERRY HILL, N.J., Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TD Bank Group today named winners of its 2022 TD Ready Challenge, an annual North American initiative that seeks to support non-profit and charitable organizations developing innovative, impactful, and measurable solutions for a changing world. This year's recipients include four U.S. non-profit organizations that work to develop or implement community-based solutions that are addressing the challenges of climate change and the transition to a low-carbon economy.
As both the private and public sectors take steps to help mitigate the effects of climate change and transition toward a low-carbon economy, communities may be impacted in different and inequitable ways. This year's challenge focused on organizations supporting those who may be disproportionately affected by climate change - including people of color and indigenous communities, seniors and youth, low-income communities, and people with disabilities – by working to design solutions to help prepare for, adapt to and mitigate the potential impacts of climate change, and/or initiatives that support the transition to a low-carbon economy.
"Climate change is a global issue that continues to have a growing impact on communities, on businesses and on the economy – but specifically on the economies of communities that are already struggling," said Shelley Sylva, Head of US Corporate Citizenship, TD Bank. "A healthy environment is foundational to feeling confident about our economic future and the world we are leaving to the next generation. Supporting innovative programs and scalable solutions for our communities is a meaningful way we can support progress."
This year's recipients will focus on making an impact in communities across TD's footprint through initiatives that include large-scale green infrastructure projects, the development of renewable energy solutions, and workforce development/retraining opportunities.
"Opening doors for a more inclusive and sustainable future is core to our purpose as an organization," said Leo Salom, President and CEO, TD Bank. "Through this year's TD Ready Challenge, we're standing behind organizations with promising new ideas that support communities across our footprint and address the challenges of transitioning to a low-carbon economy."
Each year, the TD Ready Challenge invites eligible organizations to submit applications that offer solutions for a problem statement that is connected to the TD Ready Commitment and its four drivers of change: Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. Always themed around timely issues, in previous years, the TD Ready Challenge has focused on driving more equitable health outcomes, promoting income stability, and addressing pandemic-related learning loss.
The four $1 million U.S. 2022 TD Ready Challenge recipients describe their winning submissions in their own words:
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC): Bridges to Green Jobs – US, Southern New England
"Bridges to Green Jobs provides a pathway to quality jobs in green energy and climate resiliency for communities that have been disproportionately affected by climate change and historically excluded from and underrepresented in the green jobs sector and adjacent industries (e.g. construction and related trades). We will expand in Boston and scale to Newark and Detroit over a 2-year period."
Maine Farmland Trust: Climate Resilience for Maine Farms: supporting farm viability from the soil up – Northern New England, U.S.
"Maine Farmland Trust is building upon our farmland conservation efforts by fostering greater resilience to climate change on farms in our 500-Farm Network. MFT will expand its Soil Health Network initiative by addressing the need for funding and technical assistance to support farms transitioning to climate-smart practices on their agricultural land and field edges, and in farm landscape planning."
New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation: Addressing the Financial and Workforce Barriers for an Equitable Clean Energy Transition in NYC Affordable Housing and Low to Moderate Income (LMI) Communities – Metro New York, U.S.
"An equitable clean energy transition requires large-scale green capital deployment, a qualified workforce to implement projects, and community participants that are engaged in an authentic way. This program addresses barriers to capital deployment through green finance while building a more inclusive technical workforce and increasing community engagement through training and education."
Rowan University Foundation: Green Jobs Academy of Rowan University: Educating the Workforce of Tomorrow and Building a Robust, Sustainable Economy for Southern New Jersey – PA, NJ, U.S
"Rowan University, Rowan College of South Jersey, and the SJ Workforce Development Boards, seek to establish a Green Jobs Academy to build pathways to required industry credentials in offshore wind and solar power to meet the state's growing need to respond to the climate crisis, by developing a home-grown, green energy workforce, supporting those affected by carbon-based industry closures."
The TD Ready Challenge is part of TD's longstanding commitment to creating a more inclusive and sustainable future. The bank has invested over $1 billion in clean technology and renewable energy projects and has set a target to become carbon neutral by 2050.
To learn more about the 2022 grant recipients and the TD Ready Challenge, visit www.td.com/readychallenge.
About the TD Ready Commitment
TD has a long-standing commitment to enriching the lives of its customers, colleagues and communities. As part of its corporate citizenship platform, the TD Ready Commitment, TD is targeting CDN $1 billion (U.S. $775 million) in total by 2030 towards community giving in four areas critical to help open doors for a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow – Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. Through the TD Ready Commitment, TD aspires to link its business, philanthropy and human capital to help people feel more confident - not just about their finances, but also in their ability to achieve their personal goals in a changing world. For further information, visit td.com/tdreadycommitment.
About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank"). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by assets and serves over 27 million customers in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centers around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Auto Finance Canada; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth (U.S.), and an investment in The Charles Schwab Corporation; Wealth Management and Insurance, including TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD Insurance; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities. TD also ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms, with more than 15 million active online and mobile customers. TD had $1.9 trillion in assets on October 31, 2022. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
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SOURCE TD Bank | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/02/28/td-ready-challenge-awards-4-million-us-organizations-addressing-challenges-climate-change-transition-low-carbon-economy/ | 2023-02-28 14:56:53 | 0 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/02/28/td-ready-challenge-awards-4-million-us-organizations-addressing-challenges-climate-change-transition-low-carbon-economy/ |
It seems like an absurdity — like one of those TV crime series that takes a real-life situation and extrapolates it to an extreme degree for shock value.
But it really happened. A 6-year-old elementary school student in Newport News, Va., took a gun to school and shot his first-grade teacher.
The incident occurred Friday afternoon as Richneck Elementary School teacher Abby Zwerner discovered the gun and tried to take it from the student. He shot her in the abdomen.
As we write, she’s reported to be in stable condition in a Virginia hospital.
Following the incident, parents rushed to the 550-student school to take their children home, where we’re sure many tears were shed and many hugs given and received. The school will be closed all this week, the school said in a statement, to give its students and families “time to heal.”
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Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew told reporters last week that the attack followed an “altercation” in the classroom and did not appear to be “accidental.”
That leaves us with many questions, perhaps the most urgent being: How the hell did a 6-year-old get a gun?
Beyond that, we can’t help wondering: When will it be our turn again?
As it was on Sept. 1, 2021, when 15-year-old student William Miller Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem was fatally shot by another sophomore.
As it could have been last month, when the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office confiscated a firearm from a Clemmons Middle School student.
There were 46 school shootings in the U.S. last year, resulting in 36 deaths and 95 injuries, according to Education Week. It’s just a matter of time.
Yes, here we go again. Some readers moan when we point to the ease of access that Americans — children and adults — have to firearms. But we keep writing about it because such incidents keep occurring. We write about it because we cannot become innured to gun violence and accept it as normal — especially where our children are concerned. This is sick – and Second Amendment rights are no excuse for allowing it to happen.
These incidents are just one symptom of a sickness we’ve allowed to infect our society and affect our children. It’s beyond the canary in the coal mine.
Public schools in Guilford County have taken measures to help. Last fall, the school system installed touch-free body scanners at the entrances to its traditional high schools. In November a scanner at Dudley High alerted staff to a student who had a gun.
Police charged the student with felony possession of a weapon on school grounds and carrying a concealed weapon.
Also, clear-carry bags are required for large school events.
That should be comforting to students and parents.
But Richneck Elementary School has metal detectors, as well as random inspections for firearms.
It was not enough.
We need to put aside the politics, put aside the pride, and fix this.
We don’t have all the answers. But we know that they don’t include continuing to starve schools of resources. They don’t include eliminating programs that teach children empathy and emotional competence under the guise of fighting “wokeness.” And they don’t include creating an all-the-time armed populace where we can trade volleys with each other while our children get caught in the crossfire.
They certainly don’t include glorifying gun possession in preparation to fight the supposed “dictatorship” that is the result of free and fair elections.
They do include giving children access to counseling. They include tightening safety measures for guns kept in homes — and harsh punishments for parents who fail. They include reasonable red-flag laws that can temporarily remove guns from risky hands.
They include a concerted effort to stop glorifying violence in American entertainment — and politics.
They’re children and they’re killing and dying.
America needs to step up for them. | https://greensboro.com/opinion/editorial/our-opinion-kids-packing-heat/article_aaccab04-9045-11ed-a6d2-ef7c75debbcc.html | 2023-01-09 19:46:28 | 1 | https://greensboro.com/opinion/editorial/our-opinion-kids-packing-heat/article_aaccab04-9045-11ed-a6d2-ef7c75debbcc.html |
Rob Manfred’s term as baseball commissioner extended until 2029 by MLB owners
NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred’s term was extended until 2029 on Wednesday by major league owners.
The decision to give Manfred a third term in charge of the sport was made during a vote at an in-person meeting in Washington, D.C. The extension keeps Manfred in place until Jan. 25, 2029.
Manfred, 64, succeeded Bud Selig in January 2015 and was given a five-year term. Owners voted in November 2018 to offer Manfred a new deal through the 2024 season.
Manfred has overseen a period of on-field change for the sport, including instituting a pitch clock and limits on defensive shifts this season. Game times have dropped by about a half-hour and offense by left-handed batters has increased.
He presided over the deal with players that led to pandemic-shortened 60-game schedule in 2020, the institution of automatic runners at second base in extra-inning games that began that year and a 99-day lockout last year that ended with a five-year labor contract that runs through the 2026 season.
The collective bargaining agreement also expanded use of the designated hitter to the National League.
“It is an honor to serve the best game in the world and to continue the pursuit of strengthening our sport on and off the field,” Manfred said in a statement. “This season our players are displaying the most vibrant version of our game, and sports fans are responding in a manner that is great for Major League Baseball’s future. Together, all of us in the game will work toward presenting our sport at its finest and broadening its reach and impact for our loyal fans.”
Manfred has been criticized by some for granting players immunity in the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal — the team and management were penalized — and for allowing the Oakland Athletics to pursue a move to Las Vegas. His relationship with players has frequently been icy, and he said after last year’s lockout that he wanted to do better in that regard.
“At a critical moment in the history of our game, Commissioner Manfred has listened to our fans and worked closely with our players to improve America’s pastime,” Seattle Mariners chairman John Stanton said in a statement. “Under his leadership, we have been responsive to the fans’ desire for more action and better pace, continued the game’s spirit of innovation, expanded MLB’s role in youth baseball and softball, and beyond. The significant momentum that MLB has built reflects his ongoing initiatives that are advancing the game.”
A graduate of the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Harvard Law School, Manfred became involved in baseball in 1987, when he was an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and the firm was retained as MLB labor counsel.
He became MLB’s executive vice president for labor relations and human resources in 1998, received an expanded role of EVP of economics and league affairs in 2012 and a year later was promoted to chief operating officer.
Manfred defeated Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner in August 2014 in the first contested vote for a new commissioner in 46 years. A third candidate, MLB Executive Vice President of Business Tim Brosnan, withdrew just before balloting.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/26/rob-manfreds-term-baseball-commissioner-extended-until-2029-by-mlb-owners/ | 2023-07-26 21:39:06 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/26/rob-manfreds-term-baseball-commissioner-extended-until-2029-by-mlb-owners/ |
Child carrying milk home killed in shooting in New York
Published: Jan. 17, 2023 at 7:07 AM CST|Updated: 52 minutes ago
(WSTM) - An 11-year-old girl was killed in a drive-by shooting as she was walking home carrying milk from the grocery store in New York on Monday, authorities said.
According to the Syracuse police chief, the driver pulled up to an intersection and began shooting.
A 19-year-old was also injured in the shooting. The condition of that person is unknown.
The shooting is still under investigation.
Copyright 2023 WSTM via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.kbtx.com/2023/01/17/child-carrying-milk-home-killed-shooting-new-york/ | 2023-01-17 14:02:10 | 0 | https://www.kbtx.com/2023/01/17/child-carrying-milk-home-killed-shooting-new-york/ |
Gov. Ned Lamont's office announced Tuesday his administration has reached an agreement with Treasurer Erick Russell on how to finance the state's slow-to-start "baby bonds" program.
The move comes roughly one year after an unexpected vote in the state legislature delayed the program, which was hailed by supporters as a way to help close the state's wealth gap.
Originally rolled out nearly three years ago, baby bonds were supposed to invest up to $3,200 on behalf of babies covered by HUSKY, the state’s Medicaid program.
The program was pushed by former State Treasurer Shawn Wooden, but unexpectedly delayed last year just weeks after Wooden announced he was not seeking re-election.
Wooden said the initial investment was expected to grow to $11,000 when the child reached age of 18 years old. After completing a financial education course, the person could then use the money for qualified expenses like education, starting a business, retirement or a down payment on a house.
The Lamont administration said previously it wanted money to be invested in "children right now" and that those investments took priority over the more long-term gains expected to come from the baby bonds program. The position was criticized by the legislature's Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, whose members called the move "political" and a disappointment.
More details on the agreement are expected when Lamont, Russell and members of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus speak at the state Capitol in Hartford Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
This story will be updated. | https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2023-05-16/ct-officials-reach-agreement-on-financing-baby-bonds-program-governors-office-says | 2023-05-16 17:10:40 | 1 | https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2023-05-16/ct-officials-reach-agreement-on-financing-baby-bonds-program-governors-office-says |
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Back-to-back wins haven't stopped William Byron from believing he and his Hendrick Motorsports team have a lot to prove in today's NASCAR stop in Atlanta.
In fact, Byron said Saturday, there's even more on the line. Drivers of the Hendrick Chevrolets want to show the strong start to the season is not the result of illegally manipulating NASCAR's rules.
NASCAR slammed Hendrick Motorsports on Wednesday with the largest combined fine on one team in series history for allegedly modifying louvers, which direct air through the hoods of cars. The penalty included a combined $400,000 in fines -- $100,000 to each of its four crew chiefs -- plus four-race suspensions for the crew chiefs -- Byron's, Kyle Larson's and Alex Bowman's included.
Those suspensions begin with today's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hendrick is appealing the penalties, which also affected the drivers by losing 100 regular-season points and 10 playoffs points.
Asked if the penalties provide more motivation for the team this week, Byron said: "Absolutely. I really get excited about coming to the race track right now.
"If anything it just shows that we're not there yet and we have more to prove and we have more to accomplish. That's a dangerous thing, right?"
Byron qualified 11th on Saturday, while Ford drivers, led by Joey Logano, took the top eight spots. Larson qualified ninth and Bowman was 15th.
Byron won last year's spring race in Atlanta while Hendrick teammate and home-state favorite Chase Elliott was the winner in July. Josh Berry, 21st in qualifying on Saturday, is the fill-in driver while Elliott recovers from a broken tibia suffered while snowboarding in Colorado last month.
Byron took advantage of a restart to beat Larson at Phoenix Raceway last week, following his win one week earlier at Las Vegas.
FREE TO BE DENNY
NASCAR also penalized Denny Hamlin 25 points and a $50,000 fine for intentionally wrecking Ross Chastain on last week's final lap at Phoenix. Hamlin posted on his Twitter account that he plans to appeal the penalties, which came after he acknowledged on his podcast his intent to wreck Chastain.
Hamlin tweeted the contact with Chastain was "common, hard racing."
Hamlin said Saturday he'll continue to tell the truth despite many believing it was his admission, not his action, that brought on the penalties.
"I'm always going to continue to be me," Hamlin said, adding he likes the idea of inviting Chastain to join him on the podcast.
"It'd be good to have an open, honest conversation," he said, adding the two have talked. Hamlin said he believes the dispute with Chastain has been settled and won't continue on the track.
When asked why he believes the feud is over, Hamlin said "just taking each other's word." | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/mar/19/byron-aims-to-validate-hendricks-solid-start/ | 2023-03-19 08:24:43 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/mar/19/byron-aims-to-validate-hendricks-solid-start/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Fresh off one of her biggest album launches of her career, Taylor Swift announced a new U.S. stadium tour starting in 2023, with international dates to follow.
The 27-date Eras Tour will kick off on March 18 in Glendale, Arizona, and wrap up with two nights in Los Angeles on Aug. 4-5 at SoFi Stadium. Tour openers will include Paramore, beabadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, girl in red, MUNA, HAIM, Gayle, Gracie Abrams and OWENN.
“I can’t WAIT to see your gorgeous faces out there. It’s been a long time coming,” Swift said on Instagram, describing the tour as “a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!).”
Fans who receive a special code after registering will have exclusive access to buy tickets on Nov. 15. The rest of the public can get tickets starting Nov. 18.
The tour will hit AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Soldier Field in Chicago; Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts; and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, among others.
Word of the tour came a day after Swift became the first artist in history to claim the top 10 slots of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with tracks from her new record “Midnights.” | https://www.wishtv.com/news/entertainment-news/taylor-swift-announces-27-date-us-stadium-tour-in-2023/ | 2022-11-02 14:17:02 | 0 | https://www.wishtv.com/news/entertainment-news/taylor-swift-announces-27-date-us-stadium-tour-in-2023/ |
Christopher Joseph Mickelsen, 41, of Ashton, died June 6, 2023, at Cascadia of Boise from complications of muscular dystrophy. He was born December 23, 1981, in Rexburg, Idaho. His parents are Brian and Ruth Kidder.
Chris was raised in Ashton and attended school through the seventh grade. As his illness progressed he was no longer able to attend school and was taught at home by his mother.
He loved his computer and would laugh at Youtube videos until tears would run down his cheeks. He had a large Atlas and enjoyed "traveling" around the world with the Atlas.
He was a member of the Ashton Christian Fellowship.
In his younger years he enjoyed fishing with his Dad and brothers. He was a tease and liked to tease his brothers and Dad.
Chris was a die-hard San Francisco Forty-Niners fan. He also enjoyed WWE wrestling.
He loved his cat, Tinder, and his dog, Harlee.
He loved his Aunt Joellyn and her lipstick kisses on his cheek!
He is survived by his parents, Brian and Ruth Kidder of Ashton, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
He is preceded in death by his grandparents; brothers, Jared, Jess, and Mike; and his uncle Johnny.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 14, at the Ashton Christian Fellowship, 784 Baker Road. The family will receive friends that morning from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m. at the church prior to services. Chris requested that everyone dress casual for the funeral.
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The Boston Red Sox needed a winning streak like this.
Their slow start was exacerbated by the fact that the first-place Yankees were threatening to pull away in the AL East, but the Red Sox have now won five in a row after sweeping Seattle. Trevor Story has five homers in the last four games, including a grand slam over the Green Monster on Friday that was caught by former Boston outfielder Jonny Gomes, who was at the game.
The Red Sox are still three games under .500 and 10 games behind division-leading New York, but Boston is only three games out of a wild card, and the team's run differential is in positive territory.
Story's surge is a welcome sight for the Red Sox. Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez are all hitting well over .300, but Boston hasn't gotten many contributions from the rest of its lineup. The pitching staff has its share of question marks as well, although Nick Pivetta started this winning streak by throwing a two-hitter against Houston.
The Red Sox still have a lot of work to do, with the Yankees, Rays and Blue Jays ahead of them in the division. New York was swept in a doubleheader by the White Sox on Sunday, but the Yankees had won 22 of 26 prior to that.
Like Boston, the White Sox were scuffling earlier this season, but they went on a six-game winning streak earlier this month. Chicago is now within four games of Minnesota in the AL Central.
The Red Sox and White Sox play a three-game series in Chicago starting Tuesday night.
VETERANS
The St. Louis Cardinals enjoyed an easy 18-4 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday. With the score 18-0, catcher Yadier Molina took the mound and pitched the final inning for the Cardinals. Albert Pujols hit two home runs to bring his career total to 683.
The 42-year-old Pujols has an OPS of .779 this year. He hasn't finished better than that in a season since 2016. Expectations were pretty low when he went back to play for St. Louis again, but he has shown he still has some power left — and he provided some comic relief with his own pitching appearance in a win over San Francisco earlier this month.
The Cardinals are three games out of first place in the NL Central, and they're one of only six National League teams with a winning record.
TRIVIA TIME
Story is one of five players in the majors with at least seven homers, five steals, 20 runs and 25 RBIs. Who are the other four?
LINE OF THE WEEK
Story began his recent home run binge with three of them in Boston's 12-6 victory over Seattle on Thursday night. He had four hits and seven RBIs in that game.
COMEBACK OF THE WEEK
The Twins were down 6-0 to Kansas City before storming back into the game with a five-run eighth inning. Then in the top of the ninth, a walk by Jorge Polanco, a double by Max Kepler and a sacrifice fly by Gary Sanchez enabled them to tie it. Gio Urshela's single broke the tie, and Minnesota went on to a 7-6 win.
Acccording to Baseball Savant, the Royals' win probability peaked at 99.5% in the seventh.
TRIVIA ANSWER
Shohei Ohtani, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper and Jazz Chisholm.
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Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Red-Sox-climbing-out-of-early-hole-with-17191477.php | 2022-05-23 07:25:07 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Red-Sox-climbing-out-of-early-hole-with-17191477.php |
WFO SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, February 14, 2023
_____
BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT
Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service San Francisco CA
225 PM PST Mon Feb 13 2023
...BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...
* WHAT...Risk of rip currents and sneaker waves. Breaking waves
of 10 to 16 feet expected.
* WHERE...Northern Monterey Bay - beaches along Santa Cruz County
shoreline.
* WHEN...Through late tonight.
* IMPACTS...Dangerous swimming and surfing conditions and
localized beach erosion. Large waves can sweep across the
beach without warning, pulling people into the sea from rocks,
jetties, and beaches.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Large shore pound, further than normal
wave runup, and strong currents likely.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Remain out of the water to avoid hazardous swimming conditions.
Never turn your back to the ocean. Keep safe distance between you
and the shoreline. Stay off coastal rocks and jetties.
...HIGH SURF ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 AM PST TUESDAY...
* WHAT...Large breaking waves of 18-22 feet from Sonoma coastline
southward towards Half Moon Bay. Breaking waves of 20-25 feet
from Half Moon Bay southward through the Big Sur coastline.
* WHERE...San Francisco, Coastal North Bay Including Point Reyes
National Seashore, San Francisco Peninsula Coast and Southern
Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast.
* WHEN...Until 3 AM PST Tuesday.
jetties, and beaches. These waves can also move large objects
such as logs, crushing anyone caught underneath.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Northwest facing beaches are most at risk
for large shore break, farther than normal wave runup, and
strong currents.
Inexperienced swimmers should remain out of the water due to
dangerous surf conditions. Never turn your back to the ocean.
Keep safe distance between you and the shoreline. Stay off coastal
rocks and jetties.
_____
Copyright 2023 AccuWeather | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/ca-wfo-san-francisco-bay-area-warnings-watches-17782185.php | 2023-02-13 23:34:27 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/ca-wfo-san-francisco-bay-area-warnings-watches-17782185.php |
Democrats show surprising strength; control of Congress unclear
WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of Congress hung in the balance Wednesday as Democrats showed surprising strength, defeating Republicans in a series of competitive races and defying expectations that high inflation and President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings would drag the party down.
In the most heartening news for Democrats, John Fetterman flipped Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate seat that’s key to the party’s hopes of maintaining control of the chamber. It was too early to call critical Senate seats in Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona that could determine the majority. In the House, Democrats kept seats in districts from Virginia to Kansas to Rhode Island, while many districts in states like New York and California had not been called.
Democrats also were successful in governors’ races, winning in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — battlegrounds critical to Biden’s 2020 win over Donald Trump. But Republicans held on to governors’ mansions in Florida, Texas and Georgia, another battleground state Biden narrowly won two years ago.
With votes still being counted across the country, Republicans maintained an opportunity to win control of Congress. But the results were uplifting for Democrats who had braced for sweeping losses — and raised questions about the size of Republicans’ governing majority if they win the House.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican poised to be House speaker if the GOP takes control of the chamber, was optimistic, telling supporters, “When you wake up tomorrow, we will be in the majority.” Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi countered that her party would hold the chamber: “While many races remain too close to call, it is clear that House Democratic Members and candidates are strongly outperforming expectations across the country.”
The outcome of races for House and Senate will determine the future of Biden’s agenda and serve as a referendum on his administration as the nation reels from record-high inflation and concerns over the direction of the country. Republican control of the House would likely trigger a spate of investigations into Biden and his family, while a GOP Senate takeover would hobble the president’s ability to make judicial appointments.
Democrats faced historic headwinds. The party in power almost always suffers losses in the president’s first midterm elections, but Democrats bet that anger from the Supreme Court’s decision to gut abortion rights might energize their voters to buck historical trends.
In Pennsylvania, Fetterman had faced questions about his fitness for office after suffering a stroke just days before the state’s primary. But he nonetheless bested Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz in a major rebuke to Trump, whose endorsement helped Oz win the GOP’s hard-fought primary.
“I’m so humbled,” Fetterman, wearing his signature hoodie, told his supporters early Wednesday morning. “This campaign has always been about fighting for everyone who’s ever been knocked down that ever got back up.”
Democrats also held a crucial Senate seat in New Hampshire, where incumbent Maggie Hassan defeated Republican Don Bolduc, a retired Army general who had initially promoted Trump’s lies about the 2020 election being marred by widespread fraud that did not occur but tried to shift away from some of the more extreme positions he took during the GOP primary.
Also in Pennsylvania, Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro beat Republican Doug Mastriano to keep the governorship of a key presidential battleground state blue. Shapiro’s victory rebuffed an election denier who some feared would not certify a Democratic presidential win in the state in 2024.
Democrats Tony Evers in Wisconsin, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Kathy Hochul of New York, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Janet Mills of Maine also repelled Republican challengers.
Incumbent Republican governors had some success. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp won reelection, defeating Stacey Abrams in a rematch of their 2018 race. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, two future possible Republican presidential contenders, beat back Democratic challengers to win in the nation’s two largest red states.
AP VoteCast, a broad survey of the national electorate, showed that high inflation and concerns about the fragility of democracy were heavily influencing voters. Half of voters said inflation factored significantly, with groceries, gasoline, housing, food and other costs that have shot up in the past year. Slightly fewer — 44% — said the future of democracy was their primary consideration.
Biden didn’t entirely shoulder the blame for inflation, with close to half of voters saying the higher-than-usual prices were more because of factors outside of his control. And despite the president bearing criticism from a pessimistic electorate, some of those voters backed Democratic candidates.
Overall, 7 in 10 voters said the ruling overturning the 1973 decision enshrining abortion rights was an important factor in their midterm decisions. VoteCast also showed the reversal was broadly unpopular. About 6 in 10 say they are angry or dissatisfied by it, while about 4 in 10 were pleased. And roughly 6 in 10 say they favor a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.
There were no widespread problems with ballots or voter intimidation reported around the country, though there were hiccups typical of most Election Days.
In the first national election since the Jan. 6 insurrection, some who participated in or were in the vicinity of the attack on the U.S. Capitol were poised to win elected office. One of those Republican candidates, J.R. Majewski, who was at the U.S. Capitol during the deadly riot and who misrepresented his military service, lost to Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur.
Democratic Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton held off spirited Republican challengers in Virginia districts the GOP had hoped to flip.
The 2022 elections are on track to cost a projected $16.7 billion at the state and federal level, making them the most expensive midterms ever, according to the nonpartisan campaign finance tracking organization OpenSecrets.
Trump lifted Republican Senate candidates to victory in Ohio and North Carolina. JD Vance, the bestselling author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” defeated 10-term congressman Tim Ryan, while Rep. Ted Budd beat Cheri Beasley, the former chief justice of the state Supreme Court.
Trump had endorsed more than 300 candidates across the country, hoping the night would end in a red wave he could ride to the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. After summoning reporters and his most loyal supporters to a watch party at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Tuesday, he ended the night without a triumphant speech.
Nonetheless, the former president insisted on social media that he’d had “A GREAT EVENING.”
Biden, meanwhile, spent the night calling Democrats to congratulate them on their wins.
In governors’ races, the GOP faced unexpected headwinds in flipping the office in conservative Kansas, while Democrats were nervous about their prospects in the race in Oregon, typically a liberal bastion.
Despite their liberal history, states like Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois have elected moderate Republican governors in the past. But the Republican candidates this year appeared to be too conservative in these states, handing Democrats easy victories.
Massachusetts and Maryland also saw historic firsts: Democrat Maura Healey became the first woman elected as Massachusetts governor, as well as the first openly lesbian governor of any state, and Wes Moore became the first Black governor of Maryland.
Healey bested Geoff Diehl in Massachusetts and Moore beat Dan Cox in Maryland, while Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker defeated state Sen. Darren Bailey. Bolduc, Cox and Bailey were among the far-right Republicans that Democrats spent tens of millions of dollars to bolster during the primaries, betting they would be easier to beat in general elections than their more moderate rivals.
___
Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2022 midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections. And learn more about the issues and factors at play in the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wsaz.com/2022/11/09/democrats-show-surprising-strength-control-congress-unclear/ | 2022-11-09 14:05:12 | 0 | https://www.wsaz.com/2022/11/09/democrats-show-surprising-strength-control-congress-unclear/ |
BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — As he listened to his father die, the boy lay still on the asphalt. His elbow burned where a bullet had pierced him. His thumb stung from being grazed.
Another killing was in progress on a lonely street in Bucha, the community on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where bodies of civilians are still being discovered weeks after Russian soldiers withdrew. Many had been shot in the head.
The 14-year-old Yura Nechyporenko was about to become one of them.
Survivors have described soldiers firing guns near their feet or threatening them with grenades, only to be drawn away by a cooler-headed colleague. But there was no one around to restrain the Russian soldier that day in March when Yura and his father, 47-year-old Ruslan, were biking down a tree-lined street.
They were on their way to visit vulnerable neighbors sheltering in basements and homes without electricity or running water. Their bikes were tied with white fabric, in a sign they traveled in peace.
When the soldier stepped from a dirt path to challenge them, Yura and his father immediately stopped and raised their hands.
“What are you doing?” Yura remembers the soldier asking. The soldier didn’t give Yura’s father time to answer.
The boy heard two gunshots. His father fell, mouth open, already bleeding.
A shot hit Yura’s hand, and he fell, too. Another shot struck his elbow. He closed his eyes.
A final shot was fired.
___
This story is part of an ongoing investigation from The Associated Press and Frontline that includes the War Crimes Watch Ukraine interactive experience and an upcoming documentary.
___
Yura’s extraordinary account alleging an attempted killing by Russian soldiers stands out as international justice experts descend on Bucha, a center of the horrors and possible war crimes in Ukraine. More than 1,000 bodies have been found so far in Bucha and other communities around Kyiv. In Bucha alone, 31 children under the age of 18 were killed and 19 wounded, according to local authorities.
“All children were killed or injured deliberately, since the Russian soldiers deliberately shot at evacuating cars that had the signs ‘CHILDREN’ and white fabric tied to them, and they deliberately shot at the homes of civilians,” the chief prosecutor of the Bucha region, Ruslan Kravchenko, told the AP.
The U.N. human rights office says at least 202 children across Ukraine have been killed in Russia’s invasion, and believes the real number to be considerably higher. The Ukrainian government’s count is 217 children killed and over 390 wounded.
The AP and Frontline, drawing from a variety of sources, have independently documented 21 attacks where children were killed that likely meet the definition of a war crime, ranging from the discovery of a child in a shallow grave in Borodyanka to the bombing of a theater in Mariupol. The total number of child victims in the attacks is unknown, and the accounting represents just a fraction of potential war crimes.
Yura is a teenager growing into himself, spindly and spotted, with dark circles pressed under his eyes. Adulthood has been rushed upon him. As he lies on the floor of his family’s home to demonstrate what happened, he shows the healing holes in his elbow.
His mother, Alla, takes deep breaths to calm herself. Yura, sitting up, wraps an arm around her, then puts his head on her shoulder.
On that awful day, Yura survived the attempted killing by the awkward grace of that teenage constant, his gray hoodie. It was shot instead of him, and he felt it move.
Yura lay on the street for minutes afterward, waiting for the soldier to walk away.
Then Yura ran. He reached the kindergarten where his mother worked, and where some residents used the basement as a shelter. They were shocked to see the boy and gave him first aid.
He realized he needed to go home. He returned to the streets, not knowing where the next soldier might be.
When he arrived home, his family called the police. The police said they could do nothing because they didn’t control the area, according to the family. The ambulance service said the same.
The police told the family that officers didn’t know what to do with the case, according to the boy’s uncle, Andriy. A prosecutor’s report describes the killing and attempted killing in a few bare sentences, including the loss of a cellphone belonging to Yura’s father. He would have been of help now — he’d been a lawyer.
Kravchenko told the AP that they continue to work on Yura’s case, and expressed confidence that crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can be successfully investigated. Among other things, footage from dozens of surveillance cameras in Bucha is being analyzed, and an identification album of Russian soldiers’ faces is being assembled.
In March, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that investigations into crimes against children in particular will benefit from a new trust fund. Children account for half or more of those affected by conflict, but are often labeled as too vulnerable to testify or as having inaccurate memories, according to Veronique Aubert, the special adviser on crimes involving children to the prosecutor of the ICC.
Yura’s case is unusual.
“Prosecutors may want to take up this case because the victim is still alive and can potentially testify,” said Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University and former special counsel for the U.S. Defense Department. “It may be difficult if not impossible for a defendant to claim they were somehow justified in trying to kill a child.”
___
It was left to Yura’s family to retrieve his father’s body.
They did it the following day. Yura’s grandmother, who is in her 70s, pleaded with Russian soldiers to let her approach the body.
With their guns cocked, they let her walk ahead of them. Another soldier in the distance shouted, “Don’t come here or we’ll kill you.” But he didn’t fire.
They brought Yura’s father home in a wheelbarrow. He was rolled in a carpet and placed on an old wooden door. Amid the sounds of shelling and gunfire, they buried him in the yard behind the woodshed, in one of many makeshift graves hurriedly dug during the monthlong Russian occupation.
Yura and his family left Bucha the next day along a rare evacuation corridor. The wounded boy walked first through the streets, holding a stick tied with a white towel, with a white sling around his arm. The family had to pass the scene of the shooting.
As they walked closer to the evacuation point, Russian soldiers asked where they were going. They asked what had happened to Yura.
“I was shot by a Russian soldier,” the boy replied.
At that, his mother was terrified. “I felt everything collapse inside me,” she recalled. “I thought they would shoot us all.”
She asked the soldiers to let them pass, saying it was getting late. They did.
The family left town that day.
___
The gray hoodie, bloodied at the elbow, is now the centerpiece of the family’s search for justice. The top seam of the loose fabric has been sliced. Yura’s mother insists that it’s evidence and can’t be thrown away.
The family returned to Bucha in mid-April, after the Russians withdrew. They dug up Yura’s father and buried him again in a local cemetery.
The boy’s family continues to play detective, scouring the area of the shooting for further evidence and theorizing on the trajectory of bullets. They question neighbors and analyze holes in a metal fence.
As the family shows the AP the scene, Yura wanders in the grass beside the street, head down, looking for bullet casings. He is confident he could identify the Russian soldier, even though the soldier wore a balaclava over part of his face.
Yura will finish ninth grade this year, once electricity returns and he can resume online classes. Until then, he is volunteering like his father did, visiting older residents.
His mother is thinking of sending him overseas for the sake of his mental health. She needs some distance, too.
“I’m never alone physically, but it’s possible to be alone mentally,” she said, near tears. “I try to avoid this.”
Her son’s case is still a faint source of hope. There are courts and these courts will work, she believes. No one should go through what her son did.
Yura fears they already have.
“It’s not only me who wants justice,” he said. “People in Ukraine are still possibly being tortured and killed even now.”
Yura turned 15 on April 12. It was a quiet birthday. His father, a good cook, usually grilled to celebrate it.
On April 25, a day after Orthodox Easter, the family again gathered at the grave to mark 40 days after Ruslan’s death, by local custom. Food blessed by a priest in Bucha for Easter — dyed eggs, bread — was laid out along with homemade pickles, chocolate and wine. A plastic bag of food was hung on the wooden cross.
Yura stood apart, quietly lighting a candle and placing it on the grave. Then he pulled a hoodie, a black one, over his head to block the chill.
The boy’s uncle, Andriy, watches him closely these days. Yura has always been a good kid, but he’s become edgy and restless, moving from one task to another. Andriy fears the trauma of surviving death will catch up with Yura and mourns his nephew’s damaged childhood.
“This tears my soul apart,” said Andriy, in tears. “What we see is suffering after suffering … (Russian President Vladimir) Putin just decides to make us suffer, and we do.”
___
Frontline producer Tom Jennings contributed to this story.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/international/this-tears-my-soul-apart-a-ukrainian-boy-and-a-killing/ | 2022-05-12 19:20:20 | 1 | https://www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/international/this-tears-my-soul-apart-a-ukrainian-boy-and-a-killing/ |
Kerry Hays, known as "Peebs" on Twitch, has archived copies of every Super Nintendo game manual in the English language, and made the collection available to the public.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Kerry Hays, known as "Peebs" on Twitch, has archived copies of every Super Nintendo game manual in the English language, and made the collection available to the public.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-07-13/every-english-super-nintendo-manual-is-publicly-available-thanks-to-this-streamer | 2022-07-13 22:04:29 | 0 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2022-07-13/every-english-super-nintendo-manual-is-publicly-available-thanks-to-this-streamer |
LANSING, Mich., June 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Jay Rosen, founder, president, and co-chairman of Health Management Associates (HMA), announced the firm's acquisition of Medical Audit Resource Services, Inc. (MARSI).
Founded in 1991, MARSI specializes in medical coding support, physician education and healthcare revenue cycle management. MARSI's experts provide coding and auditing services for hospitals and physicians using inpatient, outpatient and risk adjusted reimbursement methodologies. Other clients include commercial fee-for-service plans as well as risk-adjusted plans.
"MARSI is recognized nationally for the expertise of its team and the results they deliver for clients. They will add enormous value to our healthcare delivery system, actuarial and revenue cycle work," Rosen said. "I am excited to welcome such talented professionals to HMA as we continue to expand the ways in which we can meet our clients' current and emerging needs."
MARSI has been a pioneer in several areas that are now standard operating procedure among healthcare providers and their contracted service providers, including over-code identification, physician queries, pre-bill auditing, coder and physician training, and clinical documentation improvement.
"We are excited to join an organization that shares our commitment to integrity and excellence," said Dr. Todd M. Husty, MARSI owner, founder, and chief medical officer. "HMA is home to an unmatched breadth and depth of experience and expertise. We look forward to the new opportunities we will have to serve our clients and extend our reach."
MARSI will continue to operate as Medical Audit Resource Services, an HMA Company, under the leadership of Dr. Husty. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1985, HMA is an independent, national research and consulting firm specializing in publicly funded healthcare and human services policy, programs, financing, and evaluation. Clients include government, public and private providers, health systems, health plans, community-based organizations, institutional investors, foundations, and associations. With offices in more than 20 locations across the country and over 500 multidisciplinary consultants coast to coast, HMA's expertise, services, and team are always within client reach.
HMA: https://www.healthmanagement.com/
MARSI: https://himexperts.com/
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SOURCE Health Management Associates | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/06/02/health-management-associates-acquires-medical-audit-resource-services-inc/ | 2022-06-02 19:06:23 | 1 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2022/06/02/health-management-associates-acquires-medical-audit-resource-services-inc/ |
A man wanted for murder in Milwaukee has been arrested in Phoenix, Arizona by U.S. Marshals. Brandon Gladney, 34, was wanted by the Milwaukee Police Department for first-degree intentional homicide related to a May 2020 incident.
Gladney is accused of killing his cousin outside a convenience store after an argument. An altercation between Gladney and his cousin was captured on video, in which Gladney was seen pointing a gun at his cousin and firing multiple rounds. He later died at a hospital of two gunshot wounds.
Gladney had been on the run for over two years, according to the Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force.
The investigation got a break when U.S. Marshals in Milwaukee received a tip that Gladney was staying at a Phoenix home. They then requested help from U.S. Marshals in Arizona.
Task Force members established surveillance at the home on January 24 and were able to identify Gladney entering and leaving the home, which was then surrounded. Gladney exited the home after multiple commands and was taken into custody without incident.
Gladney is being held at the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix awaiting extradition to Milwaukee County.
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EXCLUSIVE: Dwyane Wade reflects on Final Four, Marquette legacy & Hall of Fame candidacy on WTMJ | https://wtmj.com/news/2023/01/25/us-marshals-arrest-milwaukee-murder-suspect-in-arizona/ | 2023-01-26 03:05:39 | 1 | https://wtmj.com/news/2023/01/25/us-marshals-arrest-milwaukee-murder-suspect-in-arizona/ |
NEW ORLEANS — The oxygen-depleted “dead zone” that forms each year in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana and Texas is forecast to cover about 4,155 square miles (10,761 square kilometers) this year.
This year’s forecast would be about 1,000 square miles (2,589 square kilometers) larger than what was actually measured last year.
Scientists from Louisiana State University, the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, NOAA and other universities will travel along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas during the last week of July and first week of August to see if the estimate holds up.
But LSU marine biologist Nancy Rabalais, who has overseen the dead zone mapping cruises since they began in 1985, said there’s a good chance the estimate could be high for a second straight year. The reason: Less rainfall in the Midwest is expected to again keep the flow of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers’ freshwater below normal levels well into the summer, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
And while less river water means less nutrients that cause the dead zone, the low river flows are also likely to disrupt the process that causes the low-oxygen conditions.
The Gulf dead zone is largely created by urban and agricultural runoff and discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Mississippi River, which drains 41% of the continental United States. In the Gulf, the nutrients feed an overgrowth of algae, which die and sink to the bottom, using up oxygen from the ocean floor as they decompose. Fish, shrimp and crabs can swim away. Animals that are slower or fixed to the bottom cannot.
But Rabalais said the smaller flow of freshwater this year means there’s a good chance more oxygen will mix from the atmosphere through the thinner freshwater layer into the lower, saltier water, meaning less hypoxia.
This is the sixth year NOAA has produced its own dead zone forecast, using models jointly developed by the agency and by researchers at LSU, University of Michigan, the College of William and Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, North Carolina State University and Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada.
If this year’s estimate is accurate, the dead zone would still be more than two times bigger than a goal set by a task force of federal agencies and states along the river to reduce its size to a five-year average of no more than 1,900 square miles (4.920 square kilometers) by 2035.
In 2001, the task force called for that goal to be met by 2015. But by 2016, it was clear that efforts to get Midwest farmers to reduce their fertilizer use was not working, and the task force pushed the goal date back to 2035. It also added a new goal to reduce the amount of phosphorus and nitrates in the river by 20% by 2025.
“The action plan to reduce the size of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone has been in place for over two decades, but each year the size of the dead zone varies around the long-term average (of 5,364 square miles). That average is almost three times the goal set in 2001,” said Don Scavia, a University of Michigan professor of environment and sustainability who leads one of several research teams partnering with the federal government on the annual forecast.
But Scavia said reductions in nutrients identified by United States Geological Survey in May also don’t represent long-term reductions in total nutrients carried by the river year-round, as called for in the task force goals. And critics of the present voluntary system of projects aimed at reducing fertilizer use argue that only a move to set federal limits on nutrients in runoff from farmland will result in long-term reductions in the Mississippi River.
Still, federal officials remain hopeful that present efforts to install nutrient-reduction projects in the Midwest and elsewhere along the river will succeed, especially with recent funding made available by Congress. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2023/06/06/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-noaa-hypoxia/69d3201e-049f-11ee-b74a-5bdd335d4fa2_story.html | 2023-06-06 20:32:27 | 1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2023/06/06/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-noaa-hypoxia/69d3201e-049f-11ee-b74a-5bdd335d4fa2_story.html |
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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/greater-saint-john/102046212 | 2023-01-15 17:57:12 | 1 | https://tj.news/greater-saint-john/102046212 |
(NEXSTAR) — If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “Oh no! These live Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches I ordered from Amazon aren’t what I meant to buy,” it’s good to know return policies before you hit Buy Now.
So how do you know if you can return an item to Amazon? The company explains you’ll know if an item is returnable if you see a message saying so when you select Return or Replace Item in the Your Orders section. You won’t see a message if it’s not returnable.
But for products you purchased directly from Amazon, here are a few no-gos listed on Amazon’s Return Policy page:
- Gift cards
- Pharmacy items, including prescriptions
- Fresh flowers
- Pet food
- Groceries
- Some electronics (you’ll have to refer to the specific item’s page)
- Wine
- Products without UPC codes
- Hazardous materials
- Live plants
- Live insects
It’s worth noting that Amazon may offer refunds for some of these and damaged or defective items can often be replaced, Amazon says. Items sold by third-party sellers won’t be accepted back by Amazon. Instead, the company says you’ll have to reach out to the seller for their policy on returns.
And if you’re wondering if you read the last item on the list correctly, yes, Amazon does sell live insects, including caterpillars, butterflies, roaches, ladybugs, worms and ants.
Let’s say your item is returnable – have you ever wondered what happens to your Amazon returns? Aside from being inspected for resale via Amazon, many products eventually find homes with people who have no idea what they might be getting.
It turns out, a bounty of mystery items are routinely up for grabs from Amazon through auctioning of returned items by the pallet. The thrill of the reveal has even inspired a sub-genre of unboxing YouTube content. | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/you-cant-return-these-products-to-amazon/ | 2022-05-15 20:37:37 | 1 | https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/you-cant-return-these-products-to-amazon/ |
CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — Fire crews were battling a large fire Monday at a suburban Chicago warehouse that produced a towering smoke plume visible for miles, a city spokesman said.
Chicago Heights spokesman David Ormsby said the Morgan Li warehouse was fully engulfed in flames, and nearby roads were closed as multiple fire departments responded.
No injuries had been reported, Ormsby said.
Aerial television footage showed the fire burning in several spots, producing a pillar of heavy smoke that rose high above the south Chicago suburb as firefighters trained water on the flames.
Ormsby said fire crews were still working Monday morning to bring the fire under control at the warehouse, which he said had furniture and fabrics stored inside.
WGN-TV reported that the fire began about 6:30 a.m. The station said Morgan Li announced in January 2022 that it had acquired the Chicago Heights property.
At the time, Morgan Li said the space added “230,000 square feet of domestic production, assembly and warehousing space on 13 acres for rapidly growing custom wood and metal manufacturer.” | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/crews-battling-large-fire-at-suburban-chicago-warehouse/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2023-02-06 18:56:33 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/crews-battling-large-fire-at-suburban-chicago-warehouse/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
LONDON (AP) — Prince Andrew will be the subject of a satirical TV musical in the latest season of shows from U.K. broadcaster Channel 4.
Queen Elizabeth II's second son stood down from royal duties after a disastrous interview in November 2019 discussing his ties with the late child sex offender Jeffry Epstein in a special BBC Newsnight program.
Channel 4 said the interview, widely regarded as a public relations catastrophe for the Duke of York, will be “reimagined” as part of the musical. Critics tore into the prince for appearing to show no empathy for the abused victims of Epstein, who killed himself in prison in August 2019.
Comedian Kieran Hodgson is to lead a cast of comics in “Prince Andrew: The Musical,” a 60-minute program described as a “satirical send-up of the life and times” of the duke set to a musical score.
The show is part of a 40-year anniversary season of shows called “Truth or Dare” for Britain’s fourth TV broadcaster, which launched in 1982. It has not yet been announced exactly when it will air.
Andrew has been in U.K. headlines for years due to his marriage and divorce with Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson.
But he has tried to stay out of the public spotlight after reaching a multimillion-pound settlement last year with a woman who filed a U.S. lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault when she was 17. Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles in January and told he can no longer use the title “his royal highness.”
___
Follow all AP stories on British royalty at https://apnews.com/hub/ queen-elizabeth-ii. | https://www.mrt.com/entertainment/article/U-K-broadcaster-to-air-satirical-musical-on-17388465.php | 2022-08-22 00:26:18 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/entertainment/article/U-K-broadcaster-to-air-satirical-musical-on-17388465.php |
- Company culture cultivates passioned innovation and purpose in employees to empower those impacted by epilepsy and other rare disorders
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Neurelis, Inc., is pleased to announce it has been named one of the Best Places to Work in SoCal 2022 by Best Companies Group (BCG), a BridgeTower Media Company. This distinction is based on responses from a detailed and comprehensive survey of its employees.
"Being named to this list is an incredible honor for all of us," said Neurelis Chief Executive Officer Craig Chambliss. "We are purposeful in our dedication to each other and those we serve. Many of our team members have a personal connection to epilepsy, which amplifies our responsibility to achieve our number one goal – improving the lives of those impacted by epilepsy."
BCG's annual award program identifies and honors the best places to work in Southern California. The ranking is based on anonymous employee surveys and an analysis of their responses about corporate culture, training and development, salary and benefits, and overall employee satisfaction.
"Neurelis is proud to have launched multiple initiatives that support and inspire our employees," said Shaun Winn, Senior Director, Human Resources, Neurelis. "These include mentorship opportunities, special committees like 'Women at Neurelis and their allies', The Culture Crew, Flex Time Off, company bought lunches, a Wellness Room, and embracing many Epilepsy events across the country, including events like EpiCon, a three-day convention aimed at empowering the epilepsy community."
The 136-member Neurelis team is committed to innovating life-changing treatments that empower people with epilepsy to take greater control over their day-to-day lives. The Company is committed to developing therapeutics for the treatment of epilepsy and other CNS disorders. The company's groundbreaking product, VALTOCO® (diazepam nasal spray) CIV, is an FDA-approved nasal spray for the treatment of frequent seizures in adult and pediatric patients ages 6 years and older.
"Southern California is known for innovation, and the companies that made our Best Places to Work SoCal list take a forward-looking approach to create workplaces of excellence," said Jaime Raul Zepeda, Executive Vice President of Best Companies Group. "Our research proves that Neurelis is committed to developing a highly engaged and valued workforce."
BCG will host a virtual awards ceremony honoring and celebrating the winners on Sept. 29. For a complete list of the Great Employers to Work for in SoCal 2022, please visit the Best Companies Group website at https://bestcompaniesgroup.com/best-places-to-work-southern-california/
Neurelis, Inc., is a commercial-stage neuroscience company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of epilepsy and orphan neurologic disorders characterized by high unmet medical need. In 2020, the FDA approved Neurelis' VALTOCO® (diazepam nasal spray) as an acute treatment of intermittent, stereotypic episodes of frequent seizure activity (i.e., seizure clusters, acute repetitive seizures) that are distinct from an individual's usual seizure pattern in adult and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older. VALTOCO is a proprietary formulation of diazepam incorporating the science of INTRAVAIL®. Intravail's transmucosal absorption enhancement technology enables the noninvasive delivery of a broad range of protein, peptide and small-molecule drugs. In its approval of VALTOCO, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also granted Neurelis Orphan Drug Exclusivity and recognized VALTOCO's intranasal route of administration as a clinically superior contribution to patient care over the previously approved standard-of-care treatment (a rectal gel formulation of diazepam). For more information on VALTOCO, please visit http://www.valtoco.com/. In addition to VALTOCO, Neurelis is developing NRL-2 for intermittent use to control acute panic attacks, NRL-3 as a noninvasive acute therapy to stop seizures that have progressed to status epilepticus, and NRL-4 as a noninvasive rescue therapy to address the escalation of acute agitation symptoms associated with schizophrenia and bipolar 1 mania in adults. In addition, Neurelis is developing NRL-1049 (previously known as BA-1049), an investigational, pre-clinical stage small molecule Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibitor, for the treatment of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMS), a rare disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). For more information on Neurelis, please visit http://www.neurelis.com/. For the latest scientific information on VALTOCO, please visit http://www.neurelismedicalaffairs.com/.
VALTOCO® (diazepam nasal spray) is indicated for the acute treatment of intermittent, stereotypic episodes of frequent seizure activity (i.e., seizure clusters, acute repetitive seizures) that are distinct from a patient's usual seizure pattern in patients with epilepsy 6 years of age and older.
- Concomitant use of benzodiazepines and opioids may result in profound sedation, respiratory depression, coma, and death. Reserve concomitant prescribing of these drugs for patients for whom alternative treatment options are inadequate. Limit dosages and durations to the minimum required. Follow patients for signs and symptoms of respiratory depression and sedation.
- The use of benzodiazepines, including VALTOCO, exposes users to risks of abuse, misuse, and addiction, which can lead to overdose or death. Abuse and misuse of benzodiazepines commonly involve concomitant use of other medications, alcohol, and/or illicit substances, which is associated with an increased frequency of serious adverse outcomes. Before prescribing VALTOCO and throughout treatment, assess each patient's risk for abuse, misuse, and addiction.
- The continued use of benzodiazepines may lead to clinically significant physical dependence. The risks of dependence and withdrawal increase with longer treatment duration and higher daily dose. Although VALTOCO is indicated only for intermittent use, if used more frequently than recommended, abrupt discontinuation or rapid dosage reduction of VALTOCO may precipitate acute withdrawal reactions, which can be life-threatening. For patients using VALTOCO more frequently than recommended, to reduce the risk of withdrawal reactions, use a gradual taper to discontinue VALTOCO.
- Hypersensitivity to diazepam
- Acute narrow-angle glaucoma
Benzodiazepines, including VALTOCO, may produce CNS depression. Caution patients against engaging in hazardous activities requiring mental alertness, such as operating machinery, driving a motor vehicle, or riding a bicycle, until the effects of the drug, such as drowsiness, have subsided, and as their medical condition permits.
The potential for a synergistic CNS-depressant effect when VALTOCO is used with alcohol or other CNS depressants must be considered, and appropriate recommendations made to the patient and/or care partner.
Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), including VALTOCO, increase the risk of suicidal ideation and behavior. Patients treated with any AED for any indication should be monitored for the emergence or worsening of depression, suicidal thoughts or behavior, and/or unusual changes in mood or behavior.
Benzodiazepines, including VALTOCO, can increase intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma. VALTOCO may only be used in patients with open-angle glaucoma only if they are receiving appropriate therapy. VALTOCO is contraindicated in patients with narrow-angle glaucoma.
VALTOCO is not approved for use in neonates or infants. Serious and fatal adverse reactions, including "gasping syndrome," can occur in neonates and low-birth-weight infants treated with benzyl alcohol-preserved drugs, including VALTOCO. The "gasping syndrome" is characterized by central nervous system depression, metabolic acidosis, and gasping respirations. The minimum amount of benzyl alcohol at which serious adverse reactions may occur is not known.
The most common adverse reactions (at least 4%) were somnolence, headache, and nasal discomfort.
To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Neurelis, Inc. at 1-866-696-3873 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 (www.fda.gov/medwatch).
Please read full Prescribing Information, including Boxed Warning, for additional important safety information.
Contacts:
Neurelis:
Brittany Bradrick, Chief Financial Officer, +1 858 251 2135
Media:
Erich Sandoval, Finn Partners, + 1 917 497 2867
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SOURCE Neurelis, Inc. | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/08/18/neurelis-inc-named-list-best-places-work-socal-2022/ | 2022-08-18 20:49:17 | 1 | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/08/18/neurelis-inc-named-list-best-places-work-socal-2022/ |
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MILWAUKEE (AP) — On break in the hallway between St. Marcus Lutheran Church and its attached school, eighth grader Annii Kinepoway had no hesitation in explaining what she’s learned to love best here — the good Lord and good grades.
“I like knowing there’s somebody you can ask for help if you need it. Somebody is there and looking over you,” she said of her newly found faith, while proudly wearing the tie indicating her academic honors.
Annii’s mother could only afford this educational opportunity because of school choice programs, which 94% of St. Marcus’ 1,160 students in Milwaukee also use.
“It has changed our lives for the better,” said Wishkub Kinepoway, a Native American and African American single mom. “She says, ‘I really love St. Marcus because I don’t have to pretend I’m not smart.’”
School choice is one of many education issues that have become a partisan battleground, bringing parents to the polls this fall. One core question is how widely, if at all, taxpayer money should pay for private school tuition, instead of only financing public schools. Critics say such programs weaken public schools, whose costs remain high even if students transfer, taking some state funding with them.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated tensions. Public schools often were closed longer than private ones, and extended online learning has been linked to major learning losses.
But many low-income parents in neighborhoods like Milwaukee’s predominantly African American north side or Latino south side say voucher programs — introduced here three decades ago — are the only way their children can attend faith-based institutions. They say those schools teach structure and values in ways public ones are often too overwhelmed to do.
“It’s a huge difference because it’s a support in faith and in values,” said Lorena Ramirez, whose four children attend St. Anthony, walking distance from home on Milwaukee's south side. “I was looking for a school that would help me.”
St. Anthony is one of the country’s largest Catholic schools – 1,500 students on five campuses who are 99% Latino and almost entirely covered by public funding, said its president, Rosana Mateo. It was founded by German immigrants 150 years ago, just like St. Marcus.
Until the 1960s, urban parochial schools could count on financing from flourishing parishes and cheap payroll costs, since nuns often taught for free. Without those supports, schools started charging substantial tuition, now up to $8,000-$9,000 per academic year — unaffordable for most working-class families.
“Our neediest students should have the opportunity to go to private schools,” said Mateo, a former deputy superintendent in Milwaukee’s public schools.
The expansion and politicization of voucher programs, however, is “no longer targeting really poor kids” but rather “disproportionately helping middle-class, white students,” said Gary Orfield, an education professor and co-director of the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research found students of color have lower test scores and graduation rates when attending low-quality private schools, because most vouchers programs don’t allow for transportation to higher-performing ones.
While urban, faith-based schools don’t necessarily outperform all public ones on test scores, their students enjoy better civic outcomes, from college graduation rates to lower drug use, said Patrick Wolf, a professor of education at the University of Arkansas.
“They contribute more to the community than just educating the kids,” Wolf said.
In Omaha, Nebraska — a state Wolf called a “school choice desert” — three Catholic schools in danger of closing formed a foundation.
They’ve raised millions of dollars to serve nearly 600 children, 93% of them students of color and all in need of financial assistance, said the Rev. Dave Korth, foundation president and pastor at one of the related parishes.
Reliable public funds would keep the schools sustainable for parents who choose them “not because of political hot-button things. They simply want their kids in faith-based environments because they believe they’ll be better citizens,” Korth said.
Arizona is at the other end of the school choice spectrum — against strong opposition, its governor signed one of the country’s broadest voucher system expansions, allowing every parent to use public funds for private tuition or other education costs.
One such parent is Jill Voss, who’s using tuition assistance to send her three children to Phoenix Christian School PreK-8, where she’s the athletic director and physical education teacher. She’s an alumna, as are her parents and grandparents, who were among the first students when the school opened in 1959.
“A lot of the reason we chose Phoenix Christian was because of our family and just knowing my kids were getting a good Christian foundation to their schooling,” Voss said. “Church and having a church family is important to us.”
Diamond Figueroa, a sixth grader who attends Phoenix Christian thanks to financial assistance just like 98% of her schoolmates, said she wasn’t always comfortable in public school, even though more students there were also Hispanic.
“Everyone here is so much nicer and welcoming," she said. “I am not afraid to ask questions.”
It is broad spiritual values rather than specific denominational practices that parents and educators find helpful in preventing the fights and other aggressive behavior that have recently plagued schools.
“Say there’s a dispute between two kids ready to go to blows,” said Ernie DiDomizio, the principal of St. Catherine School, citing an example from that morning when students were fighting over sneakers. The Catholic school in Milwaukee has 130 students, most African American and all enrolled through choice programs. “At that moment, we prayed for grace and acceptance. In public schools, you can’t do that.”
For recent immigrants, especially from Latin America, where Catholic traditions are more visible in public life, faith-based schools help maintain cultural ties.
Learning Mexican folkloric dances at St. Anthony, for instance, helps her children feel more at home with their family's culture, Ramirez said. The public schools where she first sent her oldest “don’t teach much about cultures. Here there are all kinds, and nobody is discriminated.”
One of her daughter’s fifth-grade classmates, Evelyn Ramirez, likes St. Anthony’s lesson that God “made the world with good people and not just mean people.”
Catholic schools historically played a major role in integrating Hispanic immigrants in American culture, especially when public schools were segregated, said Felipe Hinojosa, a professor of Latino politics and religion at Texas A&M University.
Continued racial divisions of many urban neighborhoods affect school performance. St. Marcus is the only school — out of 14 in the area that are 80% low-income and 80% African American — where more than 20% of students are proficient in reading, said St. Marcus superintendent Henry Tyson.
“Parents send their kids to St. Marcus because they're frustrated with schools where their kids are failing,” Tyson said. "We want kids to know they’re redeemed children of God. It’s transformative for their sense of self.”
When she enrolled at St. Marcus last year, Annii was unfamiliar with the prayers and school uniform.
“On the first day ... I stood there looking around, feeling awkward and out of place. ... Now I can do my own thing in my relationship with God,” she said, before rushing back to math class.
___
Mumphrey reported from Phoenix.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Private-school-vouchers-open-faith-options-for-17560719.php | 2022-11-05 14:54:43 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Private-school-vouchers-open-faith-options-for-17560719.php |
MIAMI — A group of House Democrats is urging the Biden administration to suspend all U.S. security assistance to Peru over a “pattern of repression” of antigovernment protests that has resulted in more than 50 civilian deaths.
Peru’s foreign minister is in Washington this week seeking international support for President Dina Boluarte’s increasingly besieged government. Pressure has been mounting on Boluarte, the vice president under President Pedro Castillo, to resign the post she inherited last month when Castillo was impeached and arrested for his ill-fated attempt to close Peru’s Congress.
“Security forces have indiscriminately responded with almost no regard for protestors’ human rights,” according to the letter, which was signed by 20 mostly progressive House Democrats. “Rather than working to deescalate tensions, the Boluarte government has substantially increased tensions — including classifying protesters as ‘terrorists’ and limiting citizens’ right of movement.”
The U.S. provides more than $40 million annually to Peru in security assistance, according to the Washington Office on Latin America. The vast majority is aimed at helping Peru counter drug trafficking.
While initially protesters were demanding Castillo’s release from jail, the unrest has spread across the country, galvanizing the support of many poor, indigenous Peruvians who have benefitted little from Peru’s mining-driven economic boom.
Protesters demand that both Boluarte and Congress stand down and that new elections be held this year. Lawmakers rejected that Friday, but after another protester died and Boluarte urged them to reconsider, Congress narrowly agreed Monday to debate a proposal to hold elections in October.
Meanwhile, as the protests stretch into their second month, beleaguered security forces have become more forceful.
Among the incidents cited in the letter organized by Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania was the national police raid on student dormitories at San Marcos University in Lima, which included the mass arrest of nearly 200 people. That shocked many Peruvians because campuses have long been off limits to security forces except when crimes are being committed.
The campus invasion drew sharp condemnation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which said it collected testimony from civil society groups who said law enforcement officers invaded the bedrooms of student leaders, slung racist remarks at indigenous activists and forced women to strip naked and do squats.
Officials from the United Nations and European Union have strongly condemned what they consider the disproportionate use of force. The Biden administration has been more measured, calling for impartial investigations into abuses while also expressing support for Boluarte’s efforts to restore calm and seek a political solution.
Amid the unrest, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Lisa Kenna announced an additional $8 million in U.S. support for coca eradication efforts in the remote Upper Huallaga valley. She has also met with the defense minister and other Cabinet members.
Such actions send an “ambiguous message,” according to the letter, which was also signed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, a longtime voice for human rights in Latin America.
“The U.S. government can and must do more,” they wrote. “We believe our proposed actions would send a powerful signal in support of fundamental rights and help promote effective engagement for a political resolution.”
A copy of the letter was also sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
___
Joshua Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/dems-urge-biden-to-halt-aid-to-peru-over-protest-crackdown/2023/01/30/2f0dc994-a0ee-11ed-8b47-9863fda8e494_story.html | 2023-01-30 23:36:15 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/dems-urge-biden-to-halt-aid-to-peru-over-protest-crackdown/2023/01/30/2f0dc994-a0ee-11ed-8b47-9863fda8e494_story.html |
-- Revenue expected to increase in the fourth quarter of 2022 driven by increasing order volume from Servotronics' Advanced Technology Group --
ELMA, N.Y., Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Servotronics, Inc. (NYSE American – SVT) a designer and manufacturer of servo-control components and other advanced technology products today reported financial results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2022.
The Company reported third quarter 2022 net loss of $(316,000), or $(0.13) per diluted share as compared to third quarter 2021 net income of $3.2 million, or $1.34 per diluted share. In the third quarter of 2021, the Company's net income included non-recurring other income related to two COVID-19 government assistance programs as well as non-recurring expenses related to legal settlement awards. See the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations below and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for additional information regarding these non-recurring items.
Consolidated revenues were $11.0 million in the third quarter of 2022 compared to $10.9 million for the same period last year. The modest revenue growth in the third quarter of 2022 benefited from the recovery of business within the commercial aircraft market for the Advanced Technology Group (ATG) as well as a shift in product mix toward higher-priced products in that segment. That growth was partially offset by reduced volumes and lower-priced products sold by the Consumer Products Group (CPG). For the quarter, ATG revenue grew to $8.8 million in 2022, increasing 4.4% from $8.4 million last year, and CPG revenue was $2.2 million in 2022, decreasing 12.1% from $2.5 million in 2021.
Revenues increased $3.4 million, or 11.3% in the first nine months of 2022 compared to the first nine months of 2021. Net loss for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022 was $(801,000), or $(0.33) per diluted share as compared to net income of $5.0 million, or $2.06 per diluted share for the same period last year.
"Our third quarter continued the improvements in performance in 2022" said Chief Executive Officer William F Farrell, Jr. "We believe our recently-announced, updated strategy will allow us to capitalize on increased customer demand and the strength of the commercial aircraft market as well allow us to enter potential new markets. As we grow and retain our group of dedicated team members, we anticipate temporary pressure on margins, however, we believe these investments are necessary now to support the growth we anticipate as we head into 2023 and beyond. I am very optimistic that Servotronics is well positioned for future success."
Growth in consolidated revenue is expected to continue in the fourth quarter of 2022 and into 2023 as compared to the same periods in prior years. This will be driven primarily by anticipated increases in ATG revenue and units shipped under long-term prime contracts and subcontracts.
Third quarter consolidated gross profit was $1.5 million in 2022 compared with $1.8 million in 2021. Gross profit as a percentage of revenue was 13.9% in 2022, declining from 16.2% in last year's quarter. The primary contributors to the gross profit reduction were the discontinuation of the Company's participation in the New York State Shared Work Program which began in the first quarter of 2021 and ended in the third quarter of 2021 as well as increased compensation expense in third quarter 2022 to prepare for the ramp-up of production at the ATG.
A reduction in third quarter 2022 selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) was driven by lower legal fees at the ATG and the elimination of non-recurring legal settlements in 2021 for both segments. Third quarter SG&A was $1.9 million in 2022, compared to $4.6 million last year which included $1.9 million of legal settlements. Third quarter SG&A as a percentage of revenue improved to 17.7% in 2022 from 42.2% last year.
Servotronics third quarter operating loss was $(420,000) for 2022, an improvement of $2.4 million from an operating loss of $(2.8) million last year, as current year non-recurring expenses and the discontinuation of last year's non-recurring benefits were fully offset by an increase in sales and a decrease in SG&A.
ABOUT SERVOTRONICS
The Company is composed of two groups – the Advanced Technology Group (ATG) and the Consumer Products Group (CPG). The ATG primarily designs, develops and manufactures servo controls and other components for various commercial and government applications (i.e., aircraft, jet engines, missiles, manufacturing equipment, etc.). The CPG designs and manufactures cutlery, bayonets, pocket knives, machetes and combat knives, survival, sporting, agricultural knives and other edged products for both commercial and government applications.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this release, the words "project," "believe," "plan," "anticipate," "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There are a number of factors that will influence the Company's future operations, including: uncertainties in today's global economy, including political risks, adverse changes in legal and regulatory environments, and difficulty in predicting defense appropriations, the introduction of new technologies and the impact of competitive products, the vitality of the commercial aviation industry and its ability to purchase new aircraft, the willingness and ability of the Company's customers to fund long-term purchase programs, and market demand and acceptance both for the Company's products and its customers' products which incorporate Company-made components, the Company's ability to accurately align capacity with demand, the availability of financing and changes in interest rates, the outcome of pending and potential litigation, the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts of the pandemic and of businesses' and governments' responses to the pandemic on our operations and personnel, and on commercial activity and demand across our and our customers' businesses, and on global supply chains, the ability of the Company to obtain and retain key executives and employees and the additional risks discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect management's analysis only as of the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SERVOTRONICS, INC. (SVT) IS LISTED ON NYSE America
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SOURCE Servotronics, Inc. | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/11/14/servotronics-announces-financial-results-third-quarter-2022/ | 2022-11-14 23:08:58 | 1 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/11/14/servotronics-announces-financial-results-third-quarter-2022/ |
US ends probe into Ford SUV exhaust issues without a recall
Detroit – The U.S. government’s road safety agency has closed a more than six-year investigation into exhaust odors in Ford Explorer passenger cabins, determining that the SUVs don’t have high levels of carbon monoxide and don’t need to be recalled.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it reviewed more than 6,500 consumer complaints, tested SUVs in the field and called in automotive, medical, environmental health and occupational safety experts before making the determination.
The probe covered nearly 1.5 million Explorers from the 2011 to 2017 model years and involved complaints of sickness and crashes that involved three deaths and alleged there were 657 injuries. Many complaints came from police departments that used Explorer Police Interceptors as patrol vehicles.
But the agency said in documents released Monday that it used rigorous test methods to send exhaust gas into vehicles. No Explorers with bodies that were sealed under a 2017 Ford field service campaign had carbon monoxide levels that were higher than Environmental Protection Agency limits.
The agency determined that sealing issues due to installation of sirens, lights, cages and other items were responsible for the highest measured carbon monoxide levels in vehicles it tested. The highest carbon monoxide levels in consumer vehicles were usually traced to sealing issues caused by repairs after rear crash damage, NHTSA said.
Even without Ford’s sealing repairs, no vehicles without crash damage or equipment installed had carbon monoxide levels that exceeded acceptable levels, the agency wrote. “There fore the agency has not identified a defect that represents an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety,” the agency wrote.
The agency said it got thousands of reports alleging odors that triggered a variety of responses, largely nausea, headaches and lightheadedness. NHTSA said it focused its investigation on accurately measuring vehicle carbon monoxide levels and carboxyhemoglobin levels from “properly administered blood tests.”
At first Ford offered the sealing repairs only for emergency vehicles, but later it expanded the repairs to civilian versions after thousands of complaints about fumes leaking into passenger cabins. Mechanics at dealers were to check for leaks in the rear lift gate gaskets and drain valves. If any leaks were found they were sealed to prevent fumes from entering. The heating and ventilation systems were also reprogrammed to let more fresh air in.
Even after the repairs were made, NHTSA continued to get complaints about exhaust odors inside the Explorers.
At one point in 2017, the Austin, Texas, police department took 400 Explorer Police vehicles out of service over concerns of carbon monoxide in the cabins. But the department put them back on patrol after Ford made repairs to exhaust tips and lift gates and fixed other issues.
NHTSA also said it investigated cracked exhaust manifolds and tested the service campaign repairs to make sure they didn’t affect cabin fume levels.
The nonprofit Center for Auto Safety in Washington in 2018 had called on Ford to recall all of the Explorers due to the high number of complaints. On Monday, Executive Director Michael Brooks said it appears that Ford’s service campaign took care of the problem, but he questioned why it took NHTSA so long to examine the issue and make a decision.
He also said that NHTSA should seek recalls of all Explorers with crash damage to make sure the bodies are sealed. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2023/01/23/us-ends-probe-into-ford-suv-exhaust-issues-without-a-recall/69831737007/ | 2023-01-23 16:16:20 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2023/01/23/us-ends-probe-into-ford-suv-exhaust-issues-without-a-recall/69831737007/ |
A teenage boy found dead early Wednesday died of injuries caused by a firework, according to a news release from Jacksonville police.
Christian Molden, 14, was already dead when officers responded at around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, the release states. Officers with the Jacksonville Police Department had responded to the area of Meadowlark Street on the south side of Jacksonville, less than a mile directly east of the interchange between U.S. 67/167 and Arkansas 440.
The release states that on Thursday, an autopsy determined that Molden had died of multiple injuries caused by a firework. The release did not give any further details about the incident. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/06/jacksonville-teen-found-dead-firework-blamed/ | 2023-07-07 00:04:25 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/06/jacksonville-teen-found-dead-firework-blamed/ |
Which Barbie car is best?
Barbie is an iconic children’s toy line by Mattel. There are countless Barbie dolls and playsets, but a car set is one of the most popular. Barbie car playsets let children take their imaginations to another level and head out on a fun road adventure with Barbie and friends.
The best ones have a durable build and offer a versatile way for children to play with Barbie. For example, the Barbie Dream Camper Vehicle Playset comes with over 60 accessories and multiple play areas, including a pool and a kitchen.
What to know before you buy a Barbie car
Your child’s age
Barbie toys are generally geared toward a specific age range of children. Children under 3 years old shouldn’t play with Barbies since there may be smaller parts they could swallow. However, children over 7 years old may find them uninteresting. Barbie cars are best suited for children between ages 3 and 8. That said, it’s still best to steer clear of playsets with small accessories for children on the younger side.
Vehicle type
Barbie playset vehicle types vary, so consider what kind your child would appreciate the most. Popular cars include beach cruisers and sports convertibles, but there are also sets that come with motorcycles, RV trailers and vans.
Collectible cars
As with most toys, some Barbie cars are considered collectible items. Collectible toys can cost well over $100, depending on how rare they are. However, they’re not commonly found at traditional toy retailers, and if you’re looking to buy a Barbie car for your child, it’s best to avoid collectibles since they’re not meant to be played with.
But if you’re looking to start a toy collection, keep in mind you can preserve a toy’s value by keeping it in its original packaging.
What to look for in a quality Barbie car
Style
Most Barbie cars come in hot pink with black or white accents. For example, the most popular Barbie beach cruisers have a pink exterior body, white seats, gray wheels and black accents. However, if you or your child prefer a different color, you can find Barbie cars in black, white, purple or red.
Accessories
Accessories make Barbie playsets even more intriguing for children, as they allow for more play options. For example, a Barbie beach cruiser playset can include several beach accessories, such as flip-flops, swimsuits, sunglasses, beach balls and surfboards. However, not all Barbie car playsets come with accessories; some only include the vehicle.
Remote control cars
Remote control cars are excellent for ramping up play. They usually require a handful of replaceable batteries to power the car’s motor and the remote control. Remote control Barbie cars go relatively fast for their size, and many models have a long life span. Also, since they can be slightly more hazardous than traditional Barbie cars, remote-control ones are best suited for children between 4 and 8 years old.
How much you can expect to spend on a Barbie car
Pricing depends on the car’s size and features. You can get one for as low as $10-$30. However, the more accessories it has and the larger the vehicle, the more expensive it is. For more comprehensive sets, expect to spend anywhere between $30-$80.
Barbie car FAQ
Can I wash a Barbie car?
A. You shouldn’t submerge a Barbie car in the water, but since they’re made of plastic, you can run water over them and scrub them with a cloth to clean them. Note any stickers, which may not be waterproof.
Do I need to purchase Barbie dolls separately?
A. Some playsets only come with a vehicle, but most come with at least one Barbie. Other sets come with two dolls.
What’s the best Barbie car to buy?
Top Barbie car
Barbie Dream Camper Vehicle Playset
What you need to know: The Dream Camper Playset has everything for the ultimate Barbie camping experience.
What you’ll love: The camper has rolling wheels, a two-seater cab and seven play areas, including a kitchen, pool, dining area and more. It has an epic waterpark-style slide and over 60 accessories, including a sheet of bumper stickers for customization, two puppies, furniture and more.
What you should consider: It doesn’t come with any Barbie dolls, so you’ll have to purchase them separately. Also, some reports that the slide is challenging to set up.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top Barbie car for the money
Barbie Brunette Doll and Convertible Sports Car Playset
What you need to know: This playset is perfect for imagining adventures on the road with Barbie and is suitable for children ages 3 to 7.
What you’ll love: The two-seater car has a personalized license plate, a silhouette hood emblem, rolling wheels and meticulous detailing, such as silvery accents and a matte black grille. Barbie stands 11.5 inches tall and has a fashionable dress with a star-pattern print and trendy pink shoes.
What you should consider: The vehicle is slightly smaller than other Barbie sports cars sold at comparable prices.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Worth checking out
Barbie Beach Cruiser Barbie and Ken Doll Playset
What you need to know: A child can hit the road with Barbie and Ken and head to the beach in this stylish cruiser.
What you’ll love: It has a signature pink paint job, black accents and modern white seats. The silver wheels add a stylish touch, and both dolls are clad in beach gear, including a tank top and flip-flops for Ken and a sundress and pink shoes for Barbie.
What you should consider: Many users report that Ken’s flip-flops fall off too easily, and getting the dolls out of the seatbelts is challenging for younger children.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wivb.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/dolls-dollhouses-br/best-barbie-car/ | 2023-03-15 11:21:06 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/dolls-dollhouses-br/best-barbie-car/ |
ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) — A wealthy attorney who made a name for himself in the nation’s capital before returning home to Maine to run for governor vowed to seek redemption Thursday as a judge accepted his plea agreement for possession of thousands of images of child sexual abuse.
Eliot Cutler, who came close to being elected governor in 2010, said he apologized for his actions and to victims. The 76-year-old said he would devote his remaining years to redemption. Cutler added he had opportunities to reach out for help but neglected to do so and was “embarrassed, ashamed, and deeply, deeply sorry” for his actions.
“My behavior helped to support an industry built upon their abuse, and I hope with all my heart that they can find healing and dignity,” Cutler said.
The agreement calls for Cutler to serve nine months in jail after pleading guilty to four counts of possessing sexually explicit material of a child under 12.
It marked a remarkable fall for a man who once served as an aid to the late Sen. Edmund Muskie, as the top energy and environmental adviser to then-President Jimmy Carter, and launched a powerful environmental law firm in Washington, D.C.
His attorney said he hoped Cutler’s achievements wouldn’t be nullified by his addiction to pornography, while Cutler said he accepted responsibility for his actions.
Law enforcement officials said they found more than 80,000 images of children under 12 on Cutler’s electronic devices, and his lawyer said Cutler acknowledged downloading hundreds of images at a time of children being sexually assaulted.
After his arrest, Cutler spent some time in a residential treatment center for sex offenders, and his attorney said Cutler never engaged in inappropriate conduct with children.
But advocates for child sexual abuse victims were having none of it.
“No matter how you cut it, Cutler helped fund, and thus support, ongoing sexual violence against children by peering at the naked images of children forced to perform sexual acts,” said Paul Kendrick, of Freeport. “The otherwise healthy lives of victims of child pornography are wrecked forever.”
Cutler was freed after his arrest last year at his waterfront home in Brooklin, a coastal community 130 miles (210 kilometers) from Portland.
He reports to jail on June 1.
Judge Robert Murray said he is hopeful that something good could still come from the shame of Cutler’s fall from grace.
“The good which comes from this shame depends entirely upon you and how you respond. You’ve alluded to that in your remarks. I can’t measure your sincerity in that regard. That will only be proven with the passage of time.”
The terms of the plea agreement state that Cutler would be prohibited from possessing sexually explicit materials, would have his online activities monitored and would have limited ability to be around children. He would also have to register as a sexual offender for life
Cutler returned to Maine after helping to fond Cutler & Stanfield LLP, which later merged with an international law firm.
He used his personal wealth to bankroll two campaigns for governor as an independent. He narrowly lost — by less than 2 percentage points — to Republican Paul LePage in 2010 and lost again by a much larger margin in 2014.
In 2021, Cutler sold his oceanfront mansion in Cape Elizabeth for $7.55 million to a nephew of former President George H.W. Bush. After his arrest, he sold another home that he owned in Portland, Maine’s largest city.
___
Follow David Sharp on Twitter @David_Sharp_AP | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/ex-governor-candidate-pleads-guilty-to-child-porn-charges/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2023-05-04 21:08:54 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/ex-governor-candidate-pleads-guilty-to-child-porn-charges/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Recognition of Juneteenth, the effective end of slavery in the U.S., gained traction after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. But after an initial burst of action, the movement to have it recognized as an official holiday in the states has largely stalled.
Although almost every state recognizes Juneteenth in some fashion, many have been slow to do more than issue a proclamation or resolution, even as some continue to commemorate the Confederacy.
Lawmakers in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and other states failed to advance proposals this year that would have closed state offices and given most of their public employees paid time off for the June 19 holiday.
That trend infuriates Black leaders and community organizers who view making Juneteenth a paid holiday the bare minimum state officials can do to help honor an often overlooked and ignored piece of American history.
“Juneteenth marks the date of major significance in American history. It represents the ways in which freedom for Black people have been delayed,” said Democratic Rep. Anthony Nolan, who is Black, while arguing in favor of making Juneteenth a paid holiday in Connecticut on the House floor. “And if we delay this, it’s a smack in the face to Black folks.”
Juneteenth commemorates when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, in 1865, two months after the Confederacy had surrendered in the Civil War and about 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in Southern states.
Last year, Congress and President Joe Biden moved swiftly to make Juneteenth a national holiday. It was the first time the federal government had designated a new national holiday since approving Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Yet the move didn’t result in an automatic adoption from most states.
In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey issued another proclamation marking Juneteenth a state holiday earlier this week after state lawmakers refused to take action on a bill during their legislative session even after she voiced strong support for making it a permanent holiday back in 2021. The state closes down for Confederate Memorial Days in April.
Similarly, Wyoming’s Republican Gov. Mark Gordon issued a statement last June saying he would work with lawmakers to make it a state holiday but no legislation was filed during the 2022 session.
In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Lee quietly tucked enough funding — roughly $700,000 — to make Juneteenth a state paid holiday in his initial spending plan for the upcoming year.
Despite the bill gaining traction in the state Senate, GOP legislative leaders maintained there wasn’t enough support for the idea even as Tennessee law currently designates special observances for Robert E. Lee Day, Confederate Decoration Day and Nathan Bedford Forrest Day.
“I asked many people in my district over the last few days, well over 100 people, if they knew what Juneteenth was and only two of them knew,” said Republican Sen. Joey Hensley, who is white and voted against the proposal. “I just think we’re putting the cart before the horse making a holiday that people don’t know about.”
In South Carolina, instead of working to approve Juneteenth as a holiday, Senate lawmakers unanimously advanced a bill that would allow state employees to choose any day they want to take off instead of the Confederate Memorial Day currently enshrined as a paid holiday in state law. However, the House sent the bill to a committee where it died without a hearing when the Legislature adjourned for the session.
At the same time, many of these Republican-led areas have advanced bills limiting what can be taught about systematic racism in classrooms, while also spiking proposals aimed at expanding voting rights and police reform.
This year, nearly 20 states are expected to close state offices and give most of their public employees time off. At least six states officially adopted the holiday over the past few months, including Connecticut, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, South Dakota, Utah and Washington. A bill introduced in California passed the Assembly and moved to the Senate this month, and individual cities such as Los Angeles have already signed proclamations making Juneteenth official.
“Becoming a state holiday will not merely give employees a day off, it will also give residents a day to think about the future that we want, while remembering the inequities of the past,” said Democratic Del. Andrea Harrison, who sponsored the Juneteenth legislation in Maryland this year. “It will help us to reflect how far we’ve come as a nation, how much more we need to do as humankind.”
Attempts to give Juneteenth the same deference as Memorial Day or July Fourth didn’t begin to gain traction until 2020, when protests sparked a nationwide push to address race after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the deaths of other Black people by police officers.
“George Floyd protests against police brutality brought awareness to Juneteenth because there were people of all races learning about its significance for the first time following a public push to self-educate and learn more about Black history, culture and injustices,” said Tremaine Jasper, a resident and business owner in Phoenix who has attended Juneteenth celebrations across Arizona with his family.
Some cities in Arizona, including Phoenix, have declared Juneteenth an official holiday, paying city employees and closing municipal buildings. However, lawmakers are not currently considering statewide recognition.
“There are so many other important issues that we need to tackle — education, political issues, reparations — before we prioritize making Juneteenth a statewide holiday,” Jasper said, noting that those looking to celebrate know where to go.
Jasper, who was born and raised in Arizona, said it is going to be an “uphill battle” to get the state to recognize Juneteenth because there is not a large enough Black population outside of its largest cities to make the push.
Arizona was also slow in recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day, not doing so until 1992. It was one of the last states to officially recognize the civil rights leader.
___
Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report. Mumphrey reported from Phoenix and is a member of The Associated Press’ Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her at https://twitter.com/cheymumph. | https://www.wane.com/news/despite-push-states-slow-to-make-juneteenth-a-paid-holiday/ | 2022-06-16 11:56:16 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/despite-push-states-slow-to-make-juneteenth-a-paid-holiday/ |
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece said Tuesday it would welcome expanded cooperation with Turkey after both countries hold elections next month ‒ including on energy issues that have been at the heart of decades-old disputes.
“Greece is always looking for ways to have honest and sincere cooperation with Turkey,” Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said after talks in Athens with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.
Greek and Turkish officials have held a series of high-level meetings in recent weeks, in the wake of devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey in February. They promised to shelve disputes that have caused repeated rounds of tension and even the risk of war over decades.
Dendias said Athens would welcome new members of an association of nations in the eastern Mediterranean who cooperate on natural gas development. Turkey is not currently a member.
“I want to make clear that we would welcome the participation of other countries in this forum, but on one obvious condition: Respect for international law, and respect for the international law of the sea,” he said.
The current members of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum are Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
Greece and Egypt are also planning to build a 3.5 billion euro ($3.8 billion) undersea grid connector across the Mediterranean over the next decade, a project led by a Greek energy firm, the Copelouzos Group.
Turkey has disputed areas of potential gas reserves claimed by Greece in parts of the eastern Mediterranean. In 2020, the two countries held competing naval exercises in the area as tensions spiked.
Egypt signed a military cooperation pact with Greece and Cyprus in 2021 and a bilateral agreement with Athens the year before that on sea exploration boundaries that are at odds with rival plans by Turkey.
But in recent weeks, Ankara has launched initiatives to improve ties with both Greece and Egypt, and Shoukry is due to travel on to Ankara after his stop in Athens.
Turkey will hold elections on May 14 and Greece a week later. Shoukry also met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis Tuesday. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/greece-thaw-with-turkey-should-continue-after-elections/ | 2023-04-12 00:04:50 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/greece-thaw-with-turkey-should-continue-after-elections/ |
Rep. Gallagher presents ‘long overdue’ medals to local WWII veteran
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - A Green Bay man who served in World War II is receiving long overdue recognition for his service.
Representative Mike Gallagher this week presented Green Bay native Joe Mertens with medals he earned for his service in the Pacific theater during the Second World War.
A statement from Congressman Gallagher explains how Mertens joined the U.S. Navy just months before his 18th birthday in 1943 and went on to be stationed at Naval bases Gamadodo and at Gili Gili, where he played a role in helping U.S. forces liberate the Philippines and retake other key sites in the Indo-Pacific.
The medals presented to Mertens were the:
- Asiatic Pacific Combat Medal,
- World War 2 Victory Medal,
- Honorable Discharge Button, and the
- Honorable Service Lapel Pin (The Ruptured Duck).
“I’ve been honored to work with Joe’s family to get these medals he earned for his selfless service during World War Two,” Rep. Gallagher said in a statement. “As a member of the Greatest Generation, it is fitting that we honor him in this way. Through Joe’s service he not only defended our country but spurred on an incredible family tradition of service. Inspiring his son, Tom, to serve in Vietnam and his grandson, Greg, to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
Copyright 2023 WBAY. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbay.com/2023/05/04/rep-gallagher-presents-long-overdue-medals-local-wwii-veteran/ | 2023-05-04 20:16:07 | 0 | https://www.wbay.com/2023/05/04/rep-gallagher-presents-long-overdue-medals-local-wwii-veteran/ |
Bullying video shows middle schooler pouring milk on another student, punching her repeatedly
WENTZVILLE, Mo. (KMOV/Gray News) – A bullying incident at a Missouri middle school was caught on camera, and the video has sparked parents to push school leaders to do something about it.
The 36-second video taken Tuesday during lunch hour at Wentzville Middle School shows one student approach another student named Byata and pour chocolate milk on her head. The video shows 21 seconds go by without any staff members intervening. Then, the student comes back and punches Byata in the head several times.
Byata’s parents claim the school district has swept bullying under the rug for years and said they are “embarrassed” and “infuriated” with school leaders.
“For a school district to allow something like that to happen and not intervene right away or be aware that a situation like that is occurring, it’s mind-baffling to me,” Byata’s mother Melissa Alan said.
Alan and Byata’s father Paul Tripp said this isn’t the first instance of bullying involving their daughter. Tripp said just two weeks ago, Byata accidentally stepped on another student’s shoe, and the girl punched Byata in the head “over and over again.”
Alan and Tripp said they’ve been to Wentzville Middle School and talked with school leaders several times about ongoing bullying involving their daughter. The video from Tuesday, which has been posted on social media, caused a stir among other Wentzville parents. Many said the school hasn’t taken bullying seriously for years.
Another parent, Patrick Vining, said he wasn’t surprised to see the video from Tuesday surface. His son is a junior at Wentzville High School and was the victim of a bullying incident in 2019 when he was in eighth grade. Vining said his son was punched in the head several times.
“As a parent, no one wants to see their child go through that,” Vining said.
Vining said he got an attorney involved because the school wasn’t taking the incident seriously. Now, he, Alan, Tripp and other parents are begging school leaders to act and make changes.
“We need to bring this to light. We need more people to come out and share their stories,” Vining said.
Alan and Tripp echoed that sentiment, saying they plan to go to the next school board meeting to have these issues addressed.
KMOV asked school leaders to address Tuesday’s incident and others during an on-camera interview. They declined, but sent this statement:
“We had staff supervising the incident that occurred yesterday at lunch. We do not tolerate this type of behavior in our schools. Our team has completed its investigation and appropriate discipline has been given. The Wentzville School District works hard to create a space that is safe for learning, and we will continue to prioritize students’ well-being as we head into summer.”
Tripp and Alan told KMOV they are pressing charges against the student who poured milk on and repeatedly punched their daughter.
Copyright 2022 KMOV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wkyt.com/2022/06/02/bullying-video-shows-middle-schooler-pouring-milk-another-student-punching-her-repeatedly/ | 2022-06-02 17:46:52 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/2022/06/02/bullying-video-shows-middle-schooler-pouring-milk-another-student-punching-her-repeatedly/ |
Ex-network investigative journalist pleads guilty to child pornography charges
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A former investigative journalist for ABC News pleaded guilty Friday to federal child pornography charges.
James Gordon Meek, 53, of Arlington, Virginia, admitted in U.S. District Court in Alexandria that he illegally possessed and transported child pornography. He covered national security issues for the network until he resigned last year.
Court papers indicate the investigation began when the FBI received a tip from Dropbox about videos showing the sexual abuse of children in an account associated with Meek.
As part of a plea agreement, Meek admitted he used an iPhone to exchange child pornography, including a video showing the sexual abuse of an infant, during a chat session with two other individuals.
An FBI affidavit indicates that agents founds dozens of child pornography images and videos when they searched Meek’s home last year, going back to at least 2014.
The affidavit says evidence was also seized showing Meek used Snapchat and other apps to pressure minors into sending him sexually explicit images, and that Meek sometimes portrayed himself as a girl in some of those communications. Those allegations are not explicitly referenced in his plea deal.
Meek’s lawyer had unsuccessfully argued that the evidence was obtained illegally and should have been tossed out. The plea deal preserves Meek’s right to pursue an appeal to have the evidence dismissed.
Failing a successful appeal on the search-and-seizure issue, Meek will be sentenced in September and faces up to 40 years in prison, though a maximum sentence is unlikely. One of the charges carries a five-year mandatory minimum.
Meek joined ABC News’ Washington bureau as an investigative producer in 2013. He previously worked for the New York Daily News and also served as senior counterterrorism adviser and investigator for the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security.
Meek’s abrupt resignation and the FBI search of his home prompted erroneous speculation last year that he had been targeted for his work as a journalist.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/ex-network-investigative-journalist-pleads-guilty-to-child-pornography-charges/ | 2023-07-21 16:44:27 | 0 | https://www.kob.com/news/us-and-world-news/ex-network-investigative-journalist-pleads-guilty-to-child-pornography-charges/ |
3 wounded in shooting at amusement park in Pennsylvania
West Mifflin, Pa. (AP) — Three people, including two teenagers, were wounded by gunfire late Saturday at an amusement park southeast of Pittsburgh, which was kicking off a Halloween-themed festival.
Allegheny County police said a 39-year-old man and two 15-year-old boys sustained leg wounds in the gunfire shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin.
The man was treated and released and the two youths are listed as stable.
Authorities say an argument between two groups of teenagers prompted the shooting by a suspect described as a male wearing a mask and black hoodie.
Kennywood was celebrating the first night of its Phantom Fall Fest, scheduled to run through Oct. 16.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wymt.com/2022/09/25/3-wounded-shooting-amusement-park-pennsylvania/ | 2022-09-25 15:31:01 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/2022/09/25/3-wounded-shooting-amusement-park-pennsylvania/ |
ABERDEEN – During April 5’s board of aldermen meeting, lengthy time was devoted to concerns regarding the Aberdeen Planning and Zoning Commission, with one alderman stopping short of following through with his motion to suspend its members for six months.
“The members of the zoning board are not on the same page, and I don’t think the clarification has been made to what authority the board has versus what authority the city inspector has. Separation of power, I think, is what needs to take place,” said Ward 3 Alderman Edward Haynes.
City attorney Bob Faulks offered clarity on the city’s ordinance.
“The Aberdeen zoning ordinance is really easy to read language. There’s really not any common debate about who does what and what their authority is,” he said. “Suspending the entire board is like taking a sledgehammer. There are a lot of other things that can be done to rectify the situation. You’re going to bring a whole lot of extra work on you and the rest of the board if you suspend the entire zoning commission.”
During their individual inputs, Haynes and Ward 2 Alderwoman Lady B. Garth both said they have received phone calls on matters such as opposition to an adult daycare opened alongside Maple Street, denial of rezoning for a bar and lounge alongside the Highway 45 bypass and a fence around part of Aberdeen High School’s softball field, which is expected to be torn down since it was installed on city right of way.
Mayor Charles Scott, who appeared on a recent WCBI interview about a concern regarding the adult daycare, said the city follows rulings from the city attorney.
Aberdeen Planning and Zoning Commission secretary Jim Edwards said he was asked by the reporter to comment on the situation, which he agreed to on the condition he would speak as an individual rather than as a member of the zoning board.
“I told him the only reason I was coming forward is because it’s a safety issue and we can’t have meetings anymore. Our March meeting was canceled. Our April meeting was last night, and something else was scheduled in here,” Edwards said later during the meeting.
He the International Building Code has standards such as exits and fire suppression for the building, which are his concerns regarding the adult daycare.
As far as the fence at the high school, Jeffery Riddle spoke on behalf of AHS softball parents, saying other coaches felt welcomed during the Monroe County Tournament in late March.
“Those girls are proud of that field and that fence. What has happened, this decision that has been made is going to take a shot at some of their morale,” he said.
He asked for the city’s consideration in not having the fence torn down, but Haynes said it’s a matter to be addressed with the Aberdeen School Board, rather than the zoning board.
For a similar matter, Garth recapped a March public hearing when several residents voiced their opposition of rezoning land near the Treas Lake and Meadowlane subdivisions to allow for Torrey Boykin to open a bar and lounge exclusive to 30 year olds and older. The board voted 3-2 against rezoning the property, with Garth and Haynes favoring the rezoning.
“If there’s a problem that can be fixed, I want to fix it. If I need to go another route, I can, but I didn’t get any closure as to why,” Boykins said last week.
Ward 1 Alderman Robert Devaull said he voted against rezoning after hearing the opposition, adding no citizens who supported rezoning the property for the lounge spoke.
“It never should’ve gotten to this board in the first place. That’s why you have the other board [planning and zoning] to make decisions instead of passing the buck and getting fingers pointed to everybody at this table,” he said.
After discussion, city officials decided to talk to the planning and zoning commission during its April 11 meeting about their concerns.
Construction matters
During his input, engineer Dustin Dabbs discussed potential street improvements throughout the city, particular for major thoroughfares. He asked for board members’ input for street improvements.
“If we don’t do something to Highway 8, Meridian and Matubba, they’re going to degrade to the point that it’s going to be much more costly. That’s with any street,” he said. “You have to decide, as our leaders, the benefit ratio, so to speak. Sometimes we spend so much money fixing the worst streets that by the time we fix them, the middle of the road streets have become equivalent to what these worst streets become.”
Aberdeen Public Works Director Richard Boone asked to also have input on what streets are selected.
City officials are considering a taxpayer-free option to provide for street improvements funded by Aberdeen’s proceeds from internet sales tax.
Aldermen approved for professional services dealing with needs for the future home of the Aberdeen Electric Department, including any architecture and engineering needs.
The board also approved the lone bid of $79,500 from Hanna Contracting for a fire loop underneath Highway 8 for The Pointe shopping center.
In the matter of accepting bids, aldermen approved a contract dealing with an electronic bidding company, Plan House Enterprises, which won’t cost the city anything. It charges contractors to access details regarding projects and purchases.
“These people will create a website for the City of Aberdeen, and they would market these situations to prospective vendors,” Faulks said, adding Biloxi, Oxford and Tupelo use the same service.
In other business
County election commissioner Earnestine Metcalf asked the board for an update on a pay request from her and city election commissioners Jennifer Rollison and Lee Turnage regarding payment of extra work last year, which includes the Ward 1 election contest in Monroe County Circuit Court and work to prepare for special elections.
“We haven’t been paid, and I’m here to ask why?” she said. “We’re not trying to take anything from you. We just want to be paid for what we did. It has been since July of last year and we haven’t been paid. I think it’s a disgrace. If I work, I want my pay.”
Faulks said he was assured all three election commissioners were paid for election day duties, but the city has had interesting circumstances in which they requested payment for actions outside of elections. He it’s a debatable legal issue if the city has authority to issue payment.
“I personally think they should be paid but I didn’t draw up the statutes. We are being scrutinized by people in Jackson. If we make a payment that’s not lawful, they’re going to come after us,” Faulks said, apologizing for not asking for an advisory opinion yet.
Scott said the matter will be settled.
Haynes and Garth also both asked during their input for the board to grant employees pay raises.
“I’m not saying how much and I’m not saying when, but it is criminal to expect grown men to work like dogs when you call and give orders and you do not compensate them. You wouldn’t work for anybody who didn’t compensate you. I wouldn’t. I’d rather go out there and grow a garden and pick up cans to maintain my dignity and my integrity,” Garth said.
Haynes shared an upcoming event during his input for Joe Lee Howard Day, which is planned for June 4 from 4 until 7 p.m. at Newberger Park.
“We’re hoping to invite the community out for food, fun, music, and all of it is free. We want to shower Joe Lee Howard, one of our own citizens, and he has a heart of gold,” he said.
In speaking about parks, Devaull asked for parents to refrain from letting their children play on new equipment at General Young Park since it’s still being installed and could pose safety issues.
Mario Reddick, an attorney representing city employee Barry McMillian, asked during open session if he would be recognized to discuss a pay discrepancy for his client. He added a lawsuit will be filed on behalf of McMillian in a defamation case against the city.
“Your client notified the ethics commission about your request to talk to the board in executive session. They’ve already made one ruling, and your client appealed that, which is pending with the ethics commission,” Faulks said.
Robert and Sara Brown spoke during citizen input about their willingness to open the Northeast Mississippi Motorsports Playground of Power alongside Highway 8 West on a regular basis to give people a place to legally drag race. He asked for the public’s help in spreading the word.
Scott said during his input Mississippi Municipal League scholarships are now more inclusive throughout the state this year, rather than only being offered to relatives of elected officials. He said applications are available on the city’s Facebook page and also at www.mmlonline.com.
He also received board approval for the city to work with Mississippi State University for a workforce development program. Haynes made the motion contingent on the student being a resident of Aberdeen.
“They will bring a student in school who will work with one of our selected offices based on selection and they’ll actually pay their salary while they’re working with us. That gives a young student the opportunity to work with the city in different capacities based on their capability and we provide the service and training,” Scott said.
Ward 4 Alderwoman Carolyn Odom’s request giving Walter and Joann Lann permission to landscape city-owned islands behind Lann Hardware was approved.
She also made a motion, which was approved, for the Lanns and Amy Bales to clean up the former maintenance building at Oddfellows Cemetery at no cost to the city. | https://www.djournal.com/monroe/news/aberdeen-aldermen-members-share-their-zoning-board-concerns/article_038f5241-1a30-5970-bbc9-3ade8fa6cbc4.html | 2022-04-15 13:43:20 | 1 | https://www.djournal.com/monroe/news/aberdeen-aldermen-members-share-their-zoning-board-concerns/article_038f5241-1a30-5970-bbc9-3ade8fa6cbc4.html |
Streator's river of points eventually washed away Lisle in a 59-29 cavalcade for an Illinois boys basketball victory on December 2.
You're reading a news brief powered by ScoreStream, a world leader in fan-driven sports results and conversation. Help us collect and deliver more game results from your favorite teams and players by downloading the ScoreStream app. Nearly a million users nationwide share team scores and player performance stats with this convenient free app. | https://pantagraph.com/sports/high-school/basketball/boys/streator-delivers-smashing-punch-to-stump-lisle-59-29/article_01b5015f-76c3-500b-aaa9-e57b70bcf3be.html | 2022-12-03 05:21:18 | 0 | https://pantagraph.com/sports/high-school/basketball/boys/streator-delivers-smashing-punch-to-stump-lisle-59-29/article_01b5015f-76c3-500b-aaa9-e57b70bcf3be.html |
HOUSTON, June 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the inception of Tachyus, our goal has been to revolutionize and disrupt the Oil and Gas industry. And that is exactly what we do everyday.
As we look to grow and expand globally it has been vital to align and partner with businesses and companies that share our values and to continuously thrive to create value for our customers.
We are honored and pleased to announce that ONGC has selected Tachyus technology to optimize some of the larger waterflood fields in India.
Working together with our partner SK Oilfield, Tachyus and ONGC will be using Aqueon and Subsurface Back allocation modules in an on-premise deployment.
Tachyus CEO Fernando Gutierrez and CRO Matt Elbert were invited to the contract signature ceremony and are seen here with ONGC authorities.
As we look to the future of Tachyus as a whole, we look forward to continued partnerships with industry leaders in the industry to accelerate the path to Net Zero emissions by optimizing energy production from existing oil and gas fields.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Tachyus | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/06/02/ongc-selects-tachyus-technology-optimize-mature-fields-india/ | 2022-06-02 17:35:08 | 1 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2022/06/02/ongc-selects-tachyus-technology-optimize-mature-fields-india/ |
(NEXSTAR) – Infections of brain-eating amoeba are on the rise — and the warming climate may only exacerbate the problem, according to one of the world’s preeminent experts on the subject.
“Yes, we are experiencing warmer temperatures, and these amoeba are thermal-tolerant … so the numbers of amoeba will be higher,” explains Dr. Dennis Kyle, the head of the cellular biology department at the University of Georgia and the scholar chair of antiparasitic drug discovery with the Georgia Research Alliance.
“Warmer climates means, yes, more exposure and more cases,” he added.
Kyle, speaking with Nexstar, confirmed that reported cases of Naegleria fowleri infection — more commonly known as an infection of brain-eating amoeba — have “significantly increased” over the past four to five years. But he warned that increased cases cannot be linked solely to warmer waters, but rather more awareness and fewer misdiagnoses than in previous years.
“There’s more recognition that these amoeba are possibly causing disease, when before, virologists were misclassifying these cases as bacterial meningitis or [other diseases],” he said.
Naegleria fowleri, the microscopic organism responsible for the infection, is primarily found in warm freshwater and soil, but also hot springs, improperly chlorinated pool water, improperly treated tap water, and, in lower concentrations, even cooler freshwaters. Infection of N. fowleri usually occurs after water is forced into the nose, allowing the organism to enter the nasal cavity and cross the epithelial lining into the brain, where it begins destroying the tissue of the frontal lobe.
This brain infection, known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), can lead to symptoms including fever, headaches, stiff neck, seizures and hallucinations within two weeks of exposure. It is almost always fatal, with death occurring within another one to 18 days of the first symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most infections tend to occur between June and September, but cases outside of these months are not entirely unheard of, Kyle said.
N. fowleri is also found in higher concentrations in warmer, smaller bodies of freshwater, but the organism can be found in pretty much any freshwater lake, including cooler, clearer waters, Kyle said. There was even a case in 2016 in which a teenager contracted a fatal infection of N. fowleri after going whitewater rafting — an activity generally undertaken in less-risky colder waters.
The highest concentrations, though, are generally found in freshwater with surface temperature readings of 75 degrees F or higher, especially for extended periods of time.
And climate change, as scientists have observed, is already having an impact on the temperature of the world’s freshwater lakes. The quality and color of the water can also change due to warming temperatures, recent studies have suggested.
“There’s a constant risk in warmer climates,” Kyle remarked.
The amoeba itself can’t be specifically targeted with current treatments either, leading to a fatality rate of 97%. In fact, Kyle only knows of four known cases in the U.S. where patients survived, and “maybe” seven globally.
“I’m not convinced that were any further along in getting better treatment,” Kyle told Nexstar of the current antifungal and antibiotic cocktails that are currently used. “But If people can get diagnosed earlier, even with the suboptimal treatments that we have, they have a better chance of survival.”
To that end, Kyle, and the families of some of the victims, are hoping to spread awareness of the disease. He and his colleagues have also worked to identify what they believe is a biomarker that can help doctors diagnose infection earlier than previously possible, but their test is not yet FDA-approved.
“Most tests use cerebral spinal fluid, but we don’t have to have that,” he told Nexstar. “We can use blood or even urine. In our analyst studies, we can detect it three or four days before symptoms develop. I’m pretty excited.”
Preventing infection in the first place is currently the best course of action, he added.
“Raising awareness helps. But I think any warm freshwater facility, or hot spring … and at splashpads, you have to look at it carefully,” he said. “It’s incumbent on people running these facilities to minimize risk and minimize exposure.”
People can also take precautions by avoiding bodies of warm freshwater, and especially refraining from jumping or diving into such waters, which increases the risk of having contaminated water forced into the nose. He also recommends using nose plugs, keeping your head above the surface, and properly cleaning and chlorinating wading pools, swimming pools and spas (or opting for salt-water pools or spa facilities).
Parents should also know that children are at the highest risk of infection, but likely for no other reason than that they’re more prone to be more active in the water.
“It’s difficult to define the risk,” Kyle said. “But think of it like a lightning storm. Everybody knows not to walk outside in a lightning storm with a golf club in their hands. But many parents don’t know the risk that their kids might be open to.” | https://www.wfla.com/nextstar-news-wire/brain-eating-amoeba-will-the-warming-climate-bring-more-cases/ | 2023-07-30 18:03:24 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/nextstar-news-wire/brain-eating-amoeba-will-the-warming-climate-bring-more-cases/ |
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A recent editorial in The Times-Picayune | The Advocate said that the "Supreme Court majority is eager to use its power."
And it is about time!
But to call it "power" is derogatory to the court. We have a majority of court members who realize their power is the Constitution, which they are using as their guide.
We finally have a Supreme Court that is making decisions based upon what the Constitution says. How awesome is that!
How weird is that to most liberals and most Democrats. The court is saying what should have always been the case: "We don't make laws. Laws are for Congress and for states to make."
This court is simply fixing the wrongs of previous Supreme Court decisions, which in effect made law. Amen to fixing past wrongs of the court.
God bless the Supreme Court and God bless America!
PAUL HOGAN
civil engineer
Des Allemands | https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_4c8710a0-fe2f-11ec-880d-cb3ac2022243.html | 2022-07-12 22:52:56 | 0 | https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_4c8710a0-fe2f-11ec-880d-cb3ac2022243.html |
Yet, 63% Percent of Workers Want More "In the Moment" Feedback
Fully Remote and Hybrid Employees Say Getting Feedback is Challenging
ARLINGTON, Va., July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- New research finds a disconnect between employees' need for performance feedback and how much feedback they receive. About half of workers (48 percent) report they only receive feedback on annual or semi-annual basis while eight percent say they never receive feedback on their work, according to new research from Eagle Hill Consulting.
Yet, 63 percent of workers want more immediate "in the moment" feedback on their work performance. This sentiment is higher for younger workers (74% for those aged 18 to 34) as compared to midcareer and older workers (57 percent).
When it comes to remote work, those employees working in fully remote and hybrid environments are more likely to say getting constructive feedback is a challenge. More than a third (38%) of hybrid workers said getting feedback was a challenge, while 21 percent of fully remote and 19 percent of in-person workers reported feedback as a challenge.
"Two years ago, employers were thrust into remote work environments, and everyone was making the best of it. Now, many employers recognize that hybrid and remote work are viable options with benefits for both employees and employers. But it's challenging, especially when it comes to providing employees with the feedback they need to accomplish their goals and advance in their career," says Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting.
"It's problematic that about half of employees are receiving feedback only once or twice a year. Employees need more ongoing and constructive feedback to be successful, and this research indicates they want more, especially younger workers. The key to better feedback for employers is to set up more frequent formal mechanisms for feedback and to foster a culture that embraces and promotes more "in the moment" conversations about performance," Jezior explained.
This nationwide poll of U.S. workers also finds:
- 82% of workers say they feel valued when someone takes time to provide feedback
- 79% of workers say feedback is important to their professional development
- 67% of workers say they receive the same level of feedback during the past two years despite proliferation of hybrid/remote work
- Most workers (64%) agree their organization creates a supportive, comfortable environment for delivering, soliciting, and receiving feedback in the workplace
- When asked what they need to succeed in their work environment, 31 percent of hybrid workers said it's more forums to gather feedback from team leads. Twenty-two percent of fully remote workers held this sentiment, as did 16 percent of in-person employees
- During discussions with managers, employees say it is helpful to align on realistic goals/priorities (46 percent); review performance as it relates to promotion (21 percent); set goals (19 percent); and discuss career development (14 percent)
The findings are based upon The Eagle Hill Performance Management and Feedback Survey 2022, conducted by Ipsos from May 10-12, 2022. The nationally representative survey included 1,001 adults in the U.S. aged 18 and older who are employed full-time or part-time. The survey polled respondents on aspects of performance management and feedback.
Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides unconventional management consulting services in the areas of Strategy & Performance, Talent, and Change. The company's expertise in delivering innovative solutions to unique challenges spans across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, from financial services to healthcare to media & entertainment. Eagle Hill has offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Boston, MA and Seattle, WA. More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com.
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SOURCE Eagle Hill Consulting | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/07/26/nearly-half-workers-only-receive-feedback-an-annual-or-semi-annual-basis-new-eagle-hill-research-finds/ | 2022-07-26 18:19:51 | 1 | https://www.kxii.com/prnewswire/2022/07/26/nearly-half-workers-only-receive-feedback-an-annual-or-semi-annual-basis-new-eagle-hill-research-finds/ |
BEIJING – China’s government on Monday criticized U.S. controls on technology exports as a trade violation, after Japan and the Netherlands agreed to join Washington in limiting Beijing’s access to materials to make advanced processor chips they say can be used in weapons.
The Foreign Ministry didn’t mention the latest development but accused Washington of abusing export controls and organizing other governments to “maintain its hegemony” and contain China.
The United States is trying to block China from acquiring the most powerful processor chips and technology that would help its fledgling industry develop the ability to make them. Washington says they can be used to make weapons and to facilitate the ruling Communist Party’s surveillance and human rights abuses.
“This seriously violates market principles and international trade order,” said a ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning. She said it “undermines the stability of global industrial and supply chains.”
A person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press on Sunday that Japan and the Netherlands, important suppliers of technology and raw materials to make chips, agreed to join in U.S. controls.
Mao gave no indication how Beijing might respond to tighter export controls.
The Communist Party has invested billions of dollars to develop its own chip industry, but its vendors still need foreign manufacturing equipment, raw materials and other technology.
Industry experts say Chinese producers are improving but cannot make chips required for the most advanced smartphones and other products. | https://www.wsls.com/business/2023/01/30/china-accuses-washington-of-abusing-export-controls/ | 2023-01-31 02:23:04 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/business/2023/01/30/china-accuses-washington-of-abusing-export-controls/ |
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX1) — After more than seven hours of hearing input from the public and education officials, a city board decided to proceed with a controversial plan to move one of the country’s premier public high schools for at-risk students out of the Upper West Side location it has occupied for decades.
By a vote of 12 in favor, nine against, one abstention, and one absence, the city’s Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) decided around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday to approve the New York City Department of Education’s proposal for a school building swap. It will move the Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School to a building on the east side of Manhattan, in East Harlem.
The DOE plan will place West Side High in a building currently occupied by The Young Women’s Leadership School (TYWLS), a public school that’s part of a network of schools founded and funded in part by billionaire benefactors Ann and Andrew Tisch. TYWLS will be relocated to the building occupied by West Side High on the Upper West Side.
The building on 102nd Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, was custom-built in the 1980s to meet the needs of West Side High. The school serves a student population that’s at a greater risk of not completing high school, including teen mothers, former dropouts, and people with undiagnosed emotional and mental issues, among other students.
Over the years, it has hosted tours for former first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, and other supporters of schools for at-risk students. The facility has a child care center, a health clinic, a state-of-the-art gym, a student-run catering program and more student-focused facilities all located on site.
The building to which West Side High must now move does not have any of those facilities within it.
The school has been at its Upper West Side location for most of the last 51 years, first in a formerly abandoned school building that was revitalized. That building was razed to make way for the brand new, custom-built facility that West Side High now occupies.
The vote came at the end of an online PEP meeting, during which more than 100 people — both for and against the school location swap — spoke, followed by comments from each of the PEP members expressing their feelings about the proposed change. A large majority of speakers urged the panel to vote against the school swap.
The meeting, which began at 6 p.m., lasted more than seven hours.
Annalize Vega, a current student at the school, was among the speakers at the PEP meeting. She also spoke with PIX11 News before the meeting began, and said that West Side High has created a culture and way of life that have enabled people to overcome significant educational obstacles by making education accessible.
Vega had become a student at the school after dropping out of the public education system for a year. To get from her home in the Bronx to West Side High, she said she only has to take one subway train.
“Having to travel from my house to the East Side, I would have to take four [different] trains,” she said.
Alyssa Cartagena is set to graduate from West Side next month. She’s a 19-year-old mother of a 16-month-old boy, and said that the school’s facilities and programs are what made it possible for her to get her diploma, despite life challenges.
“It is going to be a lot harder for a lot of moms to come to school and to graduate,” she said.
The location to which West Side High is now on course to move is located on East 106th Street, on the northeast corner of Park Avenue. The space currently occupied by The Young Women’s Leadership School is inside an office building.
The student population at TYWLS has steadily increased in recent years, while the number of students at West Side High has declined. This calendar year, however, West Side has reported an increase of 15% in its student population.
Current student Angel Vrdejo spoke with PIX11 News about the reasons for recent growth.
“This school gave me hope that I am going to graduate,” he said, adding that at his previous schools, he’d only attended one or two days a week, and nobody had seemed to care.
The kind of hope he’d described was supported by a spectrum of elected officials who’d submitted letters of support for keeping the school in the building that had been designed for its mission. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, and a variety of state legislators and city councilmembers all submitted letters to the DOE calling for the school swap to not go forward.
PIX11 News reached out to the DOE and to TYWLS for comment before the PEP hearing and vote. Both declined.
As for West Side High, there was plenty of commentary, before and during the meeting, from students as well as faculty and administrators. Sarah Frank is a special education teacher at the school as well as its coordinator of students.
“Our students need more support, not less, and in this proposal they get so much less,” she said. “Find [TYWLS] another building, and let us stay here.”
She was among many supporters of West Side High who pointed out that a charter school building in Central Harlem is expected to be empty in time for the next school year. They called on the DOE to relocate TYWLS to that facility, or somewhere else other than the current West Side High building.
They said that they support The Young Women’s Leadership School, and its mission, just not at the expense of their own school. | https://pix11.com/news/local-news/nyc-orders-school-for-at-risk-students-to-relocate/ | 2023-05-02 14:39:34 | 1 | https://pix11.com/news/local-news/nyc-orders-school-for-at-risk-students-to-relocate/ |
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Kurt Kitayama is starting to feel more comfortable each time he gets in contention on the PGA Tour, and the Californian can only hope that’s the case going into the weekend at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Kitayama opened with 10 straight pars before getting on track and finished birdie-par on two of the tougher holes at Pebble Beach for a 2-under 70 that gave him a one-shot lead Friday.
Kitayama was at 9-under 134 and led by one over Keith Mitchell, Brandon Wu, Joseph Bramlett and Hank Lebioda.
The way the forecast looks, getting comfortable on the Monterey Peninsula takes on a different meaning.
Katayama’s last shot at his first PGA Tour win was in the fall in the CJ Cup of South Carolina at Congaree. He was tied for the lead going into the weekend with Jon Rahm, and he was in the final group and one shot behind Rory McIlroy going to the final round.
He also finished runner-up to Rahm in Mexico last year, and to Xander Schauffele in the Scottish Open.
“I think the more you put yourself in that position the more you can get comfortable feeling uncomfortable,” Kitayama said. “It’s definitely good experiences to fall back on and use coming Sunday, hopefully.”
The contenders at Pebble don’t have that kind of star power. Of the leading 10 players, only four have won on the PGA Tour and Scott Stallings is the only multiple winner.
Far more daunting is the fickle weather at this tournament.
Starting times for Saturday were moved up one hour because of strong wind, and it doesn’t take much in these parts for it to be a problem.
Lebioda felt it coming down the stretch Friday at Pebble Beach. He was leading most of the day until a double bogey on the par-3 fifth hole when he went well left of the green, dumped the next shot in a bunker and took three to get down.
He finished with a bogey and had to settle for a 72.
“It was definitely more difficult,” Lebioda said. “I thought there was a little bit more wind during my round than I had yesterday out at Monterey. Course is probably a little bit more difficult, as well. So a combination of those two things made it a challenging round.”
Lebioda moves over to Spyglass Hill and become a unique footnote in history. Saturday will be his 11th consecutive PGA Tour round on his 11th different course. That’s partially a produce of missing his last five cuts on tour.
He played Port Royal in the Bermuda Championship. He played the Plantation and Seaside courses at Sea Island in the RSM Classic. He started this year playing three courses in The American Express. From there he was off to Torrey Pines on the North and South Course. And this week he’s been at Monterey Peninsula, Pebble and Spyglass Hill.
“We do our best to try to approach each round as its own event,” he said.
Mitchell (68), Wu (66) and Bramlett (67) all played at Monterey Peninsula.
Seamus Power of Ireland delivered the low round of a day that began with rain before giving way to steady wind and occasionally chilly weather when the shifting clouds kept the sun away. He had a 64 at Monterey Peninsula to get within two of the lead.
“The first five, six holes kind of rainy and the ball just wasn’t going anywhere. Not much wind,” Power said. “Then we got to the turn and then for like an hour, hour-and-a-half, it really blew like pretty strongly there for awhile. The last few holes was very pleasant.
“It was one of those days kind of like back home in Ireland where you get a lot of seasons in one day.”
Viktor Hovland, who won a U.S. Amateur and was low amateur in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, is playing this tournament for the first time. He shot 67 at Monterey Peninsula and was three shots to par behind.
Jordan Spieth had a 68 at Monterey Peninsula and was five behind.
They next face Pebble Beach, the toughest of the three courses in the wind because so many holes are exposed along the ocean.
Spieth was hoping for a little better Friday, but he was mildly pleased that the lead didn’t get too far away from him.
“Still in it,” he said. “But we got what looks like a tough couple days coming up.”
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wowktv.com/sports/ap-kitayama-leads-pebble-beach-as-the-worst-of-the-wind-looms/ | 2023-02-04 11:45:20 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/sports/ap-kitayama-leads-pebble-beach-as-the-worst-of-the-wind-looms/ |
Tigers first. Zach McKinstry singles to shallow center field. Javier Baez singles to shallow infield. Zach McKinstry to third. Riley Greene grounds out to second base, Tyler Freeman to Josh Bell. Javier Baez to second. Zach McKinstry scores. Spencer Torkelson grounds out to shortstop, Amed Rosario to Josh Bell. Andy Ibanez doubles to right center field. Javier Baez scores. Akil Baddoo grounds out to shallow infield, Peyton Battenfield to Josh Bell.
2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Tigers 2, Guardians 0.
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Tigers third. Zach McKinstry flies out to left field to Steven Kwan. Javier Baez doubles to deep center field. Riley Greene grounds out to shallow infield, Josh Bell to Peyton Battenfield. Javier Baez to third. Spencer Torkelson singles to left field. Javier Baez scores. Andy Ibanez singles to right center field. Spencer Torkelson to second. Akil Baddoo doubles to right field, advances to 3rd. Andy Ibanez scores. Spencer Torkelson scores. Throwing error by Gabriel Arias. Miguel Cabrera grounds out to shallow infield, Peyton Battenfield to Josh Bell.
3 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 1 left on. Tigers 5, Guardians 0. | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/detroit-cleveland-runs-18091593.php | 2023-05-10 20:44:17 | 1 | https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/detroit-cleveland-runs-18091593.php |
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Detectives on Long Island are hunting for fresh clues about an architect arrested in connection with a string of slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings. They’re combing through storage units linked to Rex Heuermann and using DNA evidence to see if he’s connected to other cold cases.
The ongoing work Monday marks an important new phase in a multi-agency investigation that — after years of dead ends and frustrations — led prosecutors to charge Heuermann with murder last Friday in the deaths of three of the 11 women whose remains were found buried along a remote beach highway in 2010 and 2011.
Heuermann, who has lived for decades across a bay from where the remains were found, is also considered the prime suspect in the killing of a fourth victim. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer said Heuermann denied committing the crimes.
Investigators have said it’s unlikely just one person killed all of the victims, and they insist the probe is far from over after the watershed moment of Heuermann’s arrest.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, who spearheaded the creation of an interagency task force last year to solve the Gilgo Beach killings, has vowed that authorities will “work tirelessly until we bring justice to all the families involved.”
“We’re just in the infancy of the work that needs to be done going forward,” Deputy Commissioner Anthony Carter told The Associated Press on Monday.
Detectives executed a search warrant at Omega Self Storage in Amityville on Sunday and searched another nearby storage facility on Monday. Both are less than a 10-minute drive from Heuermann’s home
This followed a multi-day search at Heuermann’s house in Massapequa Park, about a 25-minute drive across a causeway spanning South Oyster Bay to the sandy stretch known as Gilgo Beach where the women’s remains were found.
Investigators were also checking to see if Heuermann’s DNA — obtained from pizza crust he disposed and linked to genetic material found on a Gilgo Beach victim’s remains — connected him to other unsolved cases.
Heuermann, 59, is charged with killing Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello. Authorities are continuing to work toward charging him in the death of a fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.
Most of the victims were young women who had been sex workers. Their deaths long stumped investigators, and the mystery fueled immense public attention and led to a 2020 Netflix film, “Lost Girls.”
Harrison, the NYPD’s former chief of detectives and chief of department, made solving the Gilgo Beach killings one of his top priority when he was appointed police commissioner in January 2022.
Harrison soon formed the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force, convincing the FBI, state police and local departments to commit their top investigators full time to the effort. Harrison assigned longtime Gilgo Beach investigator Detective Lt. Kevin Beyrer to lead the probe.
“His goal was not to move the case forward, his goal was to solve the case,” said Carter, who moved to the Suffolk County department with Harrison from the NYPD.
Task force investigators started working out of a dedicated space at a Suffolk County police facility, an open space with no offices so they could share ideas and information.
Within six weeks of their first meeting, task force investigators identified Heuermann as a suspect — using a vehicle registration database to connect him to a Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared.
Some of the victims were believed to have disappeared from Massapequa Park, and their cell phones were found to have pinged towers in the area.
The truck discovery unlocked other investigative tools.
A grand jury authorized more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants, allowing the task force to dig into Heuermann’s life. They collected billing records for burner phones he allegedly used to arrange meetings with the victims, retested DNA found with the bodies, and combed Heuermann’s internet search history, which showed intense interest in the Gilgo Beach killings and the renewed investigation.
In January, a task force surveillance team tailing Heuermann in Manhattan watched as he threw the remnants of his lunch — a box of partially eaten pizza crusts — into a sidewalk garbage can. Investigators rushed in, grabbed the box, and sent it to the crime lab, which matched the DNA from Heuermann’s afternoon nosh to a male hair found on burlap used to restrain one of the victims.
The results of that testing came back on Tuesday, two days before Heuermann’s arrest.
“There were some questions about the task force — that the mission of the task force is now complete because we’ve affected an arrest,” Carter said. “Everything is in its infancy still. This is just part of it. There’s so much more work that needs to be done in terms of additional investigation, additional interviews, analyzing evidence, and on and on.”
“There are still a lot of victims, and we need to continue to try to bring justice for all of them,” he added. “That’s super important to all of us, and super important to the Suffolk County Police Department.”
___
Associated Press reporter Karen Matthews contributed to this report.
___
Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak and send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/ | https://www.cbs42.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-police-investigating-the-gilgo-beach-killings-have-searched-a-long-island-storage-facility/ | 2023-07-17 22:54:46 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-police-investigating-the-gilgo-beach-killings-have-searched-a-long-island-storage-facility/ |
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Like a lot of great projects, the idea for Grammy-nominated album “The Urban Hymnal” was first sketched out on a paper restaurant napkin.
Gospel songwriter and producer Sir the Baptist had come to Nashville in October 2021 to hear Tennessee State University's Aristocrat of Bands perform during homecoming at the invitation of assistant band director Larry Jenkins.
Baptist “fell in love with the band" at the historically Black university. Later that night, over tacos and pollo enquesado, the two preachers' kids bonded as they discussed a collaboration.
“I was fighting for gospel, and he was fighting for marching band. Right?" Baptist recalled in an interview. “And what all HBCUs have in common is this connection to their roots, which is gospel, right?
“We said, ‘OK. You know what? This is an essential for our culture. Let’s do it.’”
The record's nomination for best roots gospel album marks the first time a college marching band has been nominated in that category. It is especially significant that the honor goes to an HBCU — a historically Black college or university — where marching bands are often an essential part of the schools' identities and culture.
Tammy Kernodle, a distinguished professor of music at Miami University who specializes in African American music, understands the importance of marching bands at HBCUs from personal experience.
At Virginia State University, an HBCU where she earned her undergraduate degree, the marching band was “the epicenter of student life, especially during football season,” she said. “You went to the game not so much to see the football team as to see the band,” and the halftime show was “the moment where everything stopped.”
Even when there weren’t games, the drumline or horn sections practicing in the evenings formed the soundscape of university life, Kernodle said.
In the culture at large, often HBCU bands are thought of primarily for “the pageantry, the high-stepping style, the dance style,” Kernodle said. But this album “reminds us that a major part of that aesthetic, and what helps define the essence and the uniqueness of that aesthetic, is what these bands play — the musicianship, the range of repertory that they mine, and how they bring a full scope of Black music history to those performances.”
While the instrumental musicians on the album are from TSU, the vocalists include an all-star ensemble of chart-topping gospel singers like Donald Lawrence and Fred Hammond. Together, they perform a range of songs and styles — from a simple instrumental version of “Jesus Loves Me,” to the R&B-inflected “Blessings on Blessings,” to the inspirational pop ballad “Going Going,” with soaring vocals by Kierra Sheard and accompanying melodic rap from TSU alum Dubba-AA.
Some songs are new arrangements of classic hymns. Others were written especially for the album, like “Dance Revival,” which features a foot-stomping, hand-clapping backbeat behind the electrifying voice of Jekalyn Carr. But even that new song finishes with a segue into the old spiritual “Wade in the Water.”
The offerings are so diverse that Baptist, who is himself a voting Grammy member, was concerned the album wouldn't be accepted in the roots gospel category. Asked how they chose the songs, Baptist and Jenkins said they wanted the album to tell a story about Black history.
"These hymnals brought us from slavery to the White House," Baptist said, noting that many Black leaders have also been preachers, like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Even to go from a band perspective," Jenkins added, “in all of our HBCU bands, I promise you, you can go to any game, every HBCU band has a version of ‘I’m So Glad’” — a Christian hymn with the lyrics, “I'm so glad Jesus lifted me.”
“At TSU, we take it a step further. ‘I’m So Glad’ is literally the fight song," Jenkins said (The lyrics are tweaked to “I'm so glad I go to TSU”). "So many of these things are infused into the culture."
Appropriately, it's the song that leads off the album.
The duo also wanted “The Urban Hymnal” to speak to the young students, some of whom are not Christian or were not raised in the gospel tradition.
“I think it’s amazing that we were able to bring rapping to the roots of gospel,” Baptist said. “Because in order to make this more urban, we had to connect it to the students. And if we couldn’t connect it to the students, I don’t think the story would have aligned as perfectly."
One of those students is 21-year-old senior Logyn Rylander, who said she almost cried when she first heard the album. She loves the way it blends old and new while staying true to the spirit and culture of TSU, where she is a music business major and saxophonist in the Aristocrat of Bands.
“Staying original, staying true to yourself: If I’m being fully honest, that’s what being an Aristocrat is about," Rylander said. "We don’t ever switch up what we’re doing because we see another school doing it. We always stay true to who we are. And that’s something the album has allowed us to represent on a global scale.”
Rylander hopes for a Grammy win when the awards are announced on Feb. 5 but said she was “ecstatic” just to be nominated along with her fellow musicians.
“Even if we don’t win that Grammy, we know people saw what we can do," she said. “I look forward to seeing what opportunities come knocking at our door. ... Grammy or not, we’re still going to be the Aristocrats at the end of the day.”
___
For more coverage of the upcoming Grammy Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards. | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/historically-black-tsu-hopes-for-grammy-with-17743794.php | 2023-01-26 19:57:01 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/historically-black-tsu-hopes-for-grammy-with-17743794.php |
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DOVER, Del. (AP) — Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch acknowledged that some Fox News commentators endorsed the false allegations by former President Donald Trump and his allies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that he didn't step in to stop them from promoting the claims, according to excerpts of a deposition unsealed Monday.
The claims and the company's handling of them are at the heart of a defamation lawsuit against the cable news giant by Dominion Voting Systems.
The recently unsealed documents include excerpts from a deposition in which Murdoch was asked about whether he was aware that some of the network’s commentators — Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity — at times endorsed the false election claims. Murdoch replied, “Yes. They endorsed."
The Murdoch deposition is the latest filing in the defamation case to reveal concerns at the top-rated network over how it was handling Trump’s claims as its ratings plummeted after the network called Arizona for Joe Biden, angering Trump and his supporters.
An earlier filing showed a gulf between the stolen election narrative the network was airing in primetime and doubts about the claims raised by its stars behind the scenes. In one text, from Nov. 16, 2020, Fox News host Tucker Carlson said "Sidney Powell is lying” about having evidence for election fraud, referring to one of Trump's lawyers.
The Dominion case is the latest example showing that those who were spreading false information about the 2020 election knew there was no evidence to support it. The now-disbanded House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol disclosed that many of Trump’s top advisers repeatedly warned him that the allegations he was making about fraud were false — and yet the president continued making the claims.
Murdoch urged in September 2020, weeks before the election, that Dobbs be fired because he was “an extremist,” according to Dominion's court filing. Murdoch also said he thought it was “really bad” for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to be advising Trump because Giuliani’s “judgment was bad” and he was “an extreme partisan,” according to a deposition excerpt.
Murdoch was asked whether he could have requested that Powell and Giuliani not be put on the air: “ I could have. But I didn't,” he replied.
Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, which sells electronic voting hardware and software, is suing both Fox News Network and parent company Fox Corp. for defamation. Dominion contends that some Fox News employees deliberately amplified false claims by supporters of Trump that Dominion machines had changed votes in the 2020 election, and that Fox provided a platform for guests to make false and defamatory statements about the company.
Dominion attorneys contend that executives in the “chain of command” at both Fox News and Fox Corp. knew the network was broadcasting “known lies, had the power to stop it, but chose to let it continue. That was wrong, and for that, FC and FNN are both liable.”
Attorneys for Fox Corp. note in their filing that Murdoch also testified that he never discussed Dominion or voter fraud with any of the accused Fox News hosts. They say Dominion has produced “zero evidentiary support” for the claim that high-level executives at Fox Corp. had any role in creating or publishing the statements at issue.
Dominion’s contention that the company should be held liable because Murdoch might have had the power to step in and prevent the challenged statements from being aired, they said, “has no basis in defamation law, would obliterate the distinction between corporate parents and subsidiaries, and finds no support in the evidence.”
The “handful of selective quotes” cited by Dominion have nothing to do with the statements that Dominion has challenged as defamatory, according to Fox Corp. attorneys. “Dominion repeatedly asked Fox News executives, hosts, and staff whether Fox Corporation employees played a role in the publication of the statements it challenges,” they wrote. “The answer — every single time, for every single witness — was no.”
Meanwhile, Fox News attorneys note that when voting-technology companies denied the allegations being made by Trump and his surrogates, Fox News aired those denials, while some Fox News hosts offered protected opinion commentary about Trump’s allegations. | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/murdoch-says-some-fox-hosts-endorsed-false-17809562.php | 2023-02-28 03:49:48 | 1 | https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/murdoch-says-some-fox-hosts-endorsed-false-17809562.php |
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Tennis star Nick Kyrgios did not appear in an Australian court on Tuesday when a charge of common assault was listed for the first time.
The 27-year-old Kyrgios, who was not required to attend the Australian Capital Territory Magistrates Court, was represented by his lawyer Michael Kukulies-Smith. He was not required to enter a plea or apply for bail.
Magistrate Louise Taylor adjourned the case to Oct. 4.
Kyrgios remains in the United States preparing for in the U.S. Open, which starts next week.
The charge relates to an incident in January of last year in Canberra that was reported to Australian Capital Territory Police in December. It reportedly involves his former girlfriend, Chiara Passari.
Kukulies-Smith told the court Kyrgios “spends very little time" in Canberra, where he grew up.
Kukulies-Smith foreshadowed making an application at a future court date “capable of finalizing the matter,” but did not provide details.
Police charged Kyrgios by summons in July, when he making a career-best run at Wimbledon. The charge carries a potential maximum of two years in prison.
Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon before losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic. He said at the time he'd been advised by his lawyers not to make any comment on the legal case.
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/Tennis-star-Nick-Kyrgios-has-court-case-adjourned-17390906.php | 2022-08-23 02:47:02 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/Tennis-star-Nick-Kyrgios-has-court-case-adjourned-17390906.php |
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A high school student who killed three women in northwestern New Mexico with an indiscriminate spray of gunfire left a cryptic note presaging “the end of the chapter” and wore a bulletproof vest that he discarded before being shot to death by police, authorities said Wednesday.
Police added new details to the profile of the lone gunman and the weaponry he used as he walked through his residential neighborhood before being confronted by officers and fatally shot outside a church. The shooter discharged more than 190 rounds during the rampage, according to authorities, most of them from the home he shared with his father.
Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said in a news conference that 18-year-old Beau Wilson was wearing what appeared to be a modified vest with steel plates and that the note was found in his pocket. Handwritten in green lettering, the message said in part, “if your reading this im the end of the chapter.”
Wilson began shooting with an AR-15 rifle just outside his home, from the front porch area, but quickly dropped that into some bushes even though it still held more live ammunition, police said.
The gunman continued firing with two pistols, discarding a .22-caliber gun and then depleting rounds from a 9-mm handgun in the final shootout with police, during which he let off at least 18 rounds.
Slain by the shooter were longtime Farmington residents Gwendolyn Schofield, 97, her 73-year-old daughter, Melody Ivie, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita, police said.
The women were well known in the community, in part through participation in faith-based groups. Ivie ran a preschool for four decades that was attended by several generations of residents.
Those wounded in the attack include Farmington police Sgt. Rachel Discenza and New Mexico State Police Officer Andreas Stamatiadas. The officers were treated at a local hospital and released.
Police are probing Wilson’s access to weapons and concerns about his prior mental health, and efforts are underway to subpoena medical and school records that might shed light on any issues.
“We have been talking with family members and trying to do more investigation into his mental health that appears to — early on — to be a factor,” Hebbe said.
At the same time, Hebbe said, “there did not appear to be significant indications that … something was going to happen that day.”
In November, after he turned 18, Wilson legally purchased the assault-style weapon used Monday, according to police. They believe two of the three weapons he carried were owned by relatives.
Two days before the attack, Wilson purchased additional ammunition magazines, police said.
Authorities said it appears he shot indiscriminately at vehicles, and bullets struck 11 of them along with seven homes.
Additional weapons and ammunition were found at the home Wilson shared with his father, but Hebbe said he did not appear to have organized those before he left the house. The suspect had access to over 1,400 rounds of ammunition and 10 other weapons at the time of the attack.
“He planned to use the three weapons he had,” Hebbe said, “and he went outside and he did just that.”
Police say evidence shows that at least 176 rounds were fired by Wilson from an assault rifle near his house at the outset of the rampage.
Wilson was a senior at Farmington High School and had been scheduled to graduate the next day.
At the school’s commencement ceremony Tuesday, speakers talked of resilience and hope.
A chair was left empty with a bouquet of white roses “in memory of those we lost throughout the years,” school district spokesperson Roberto Taboada said.
___
Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Lee reported from Santa Fe. | https://www.ksn.com/news/national-world/ap-us-news/ap-new-mexico-gunman-who-killed-3-wore-bulletproof-vest-left-note/ | 2023-05-17 23:25:18 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/news/national-world/ap-us-news/ap-new-mexico-gunman-who-killed-3-wore-bulletproof-vest-left-note/ |
HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. — A Hamilton County teen is celebrating his birthday month by raising money for a good cause.
Fourteen-year-old Robbie Blackwell helps give back to the Pets Healing Vets program.
The program pairs veterans with PTSD and other illnesses with emotional support dogs that may otherwise be euthanized.
Last year for his 13th birthday, Robbie raised more than $30,000. This year the goal is $40,000.
When we asked Robbie why he decided to do it again for his birthday this year, he says it’s personal.
“You have one day a year where everyone is focusing on you and that is an amazing opportunity and an amazing tool to use that attention which is on you to put attention on something else,” Blackwell said.
The director of development for the Hamilton County Humane Society says Blackwell’s fundraisers have had a big impact.
“He’s helped save so many lives on both ends on the leash, offer a form of therapeutic healing for Hoosier veterans,” said Jennifer Hatcher.
“His impact stretches so much further than Hamilton County or central Indiana, but really impacts the state and our nation’s heroes that are looking for other forms of healing for their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, traumatic brain injuries, anxiety, depression.”
Recently Robbie received a $5,000 contribution towards his fundraising campaign putting him at just under $23,000.
Pets Healing Vets is fully funded by the Humane Society but you can help donate towards the cause with this link. | https://cbs4indy.com/hoosiers-finding-hope/hamilton-county-teen-uses-birthday-to-fundraise-for-pets-healing-vets-organization/ | 2022-09-19 12:47:13 | 1 | https://cbs4indy.com/hoosiers-finding-hope/hamilton-county-teen-uses-birthday-to-fundraise-for-pets-healing-vets-organization/ |
Buyers and collectors will own the world's first Classical Ancient Art DOT
SINGAPORE, Jan. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Metaverse blockchain company Coinllectibles™️, a fully owned subsidiary of Cosmos Group Holdings Inc. (OTC: COSG), is pleased to announce its collaboration with Apollo Arts Auctions in presenting 5 specially chosen fine ancient art pieces together with digital ownership tokens (DOTs). The live bidding for the 5 lots along will begin on Jan 29, 2023 at 12 PM GMT and can be accessed via https://www.coinllectibles.art/en/auction.
About Apollo Art Auctions
Founded by Dr. Ivan Bonchev in 2010, Apollo Art Auctions offers a wide range of art and collectibles for sale including Ancient, Asian and Islamic art, as well as Ancient and Medieval coins.
The auction house based in central London (WC1) regularly offers new catalogues to a large international audience of collectors. Every piece from the auction house undergoes vetting from a panel of consultants and experts and is professionally photographed and catalogued.
With a strong database of 20,000 clients from over 70 countries, Apollo Art Auctions is recognised as a leader in the field of antiquities and pre 16th century art.
"We are pleased to be working with Apollo on these special pieces and believe that the DOT that is attached to each individual piece will support title of ownership and enjoyment for the new owner," says Nancy Wong, Chief Asset Officer at Coinllectibles.
Commenting on its first collaboration with Coinllectibles, Dr Ivan Bonchev at Apollo noted, "We are a dynamic company proud of the innovations we can bring to the traditional Ancient Art market. This is one of the first catalogues in the world to offer NFTs/DOTs of Ancient Art. Apollo Art Auctions and Coinllectibles, are world leaders in digital art markets, came together to work on this collaboration to bring Ancient Art together with world class digital content. Lots 1 to Lot 5 in this catalogue have been specially chosen due to their beauty and fantastic provenance to be partnered with DOTs. The buyer of each lot will receive both the physical and digital assets, which gives ownership over the DOT providing access on both traditional and virtual marketplaces."
For more information on Coinllectibles and the auction, please visit www.coinllectibles.art.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are often indicated by terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "look forward to," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future business activities including the expansion into the decentralized financing space. These forward-looking statements are not promises or guarantees and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described or projected herein include uncertainties associated with operating a business in Singapore and Hong Kong, risk of interference by the PRC government, ability to compete, that financial resources do not last for as long as anticipated, and that COSG is a holding company that may not realize the expected benefits of DOT's offered by Coinllectibles™️. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other risks can be found in COSG's regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including in its annual report on Form 10-K filed on April 15, 2022. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. COSG undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise.
For media queries, please contact:
About Cosmos Group Holdings Inc
Cosmos is a business group that operates in two business segments:
- Arts and Collectibles
- Financing
Through Coinllectibles™, the group provides authentication, valuation and certification (AVC) service, sale and purchase, hire purchase, financing, custody, security and exhibition (CSE) services to art buyers through traditional channels, as well as through leveraging blockchain technology through the creation of digital ownership tokens (DOTs). With subsidiaries licensed under Hong Kong's Money Lenders Ordinance, the group currently primarily provides unsecured personal loan to private individuals, with a small portfolio of mortgage loans. The group is integrating the two business segments by offering secured financing services to prospective art and collectibles purchasers to provide a one-stop arts and collectibles purchasing and financing experience.
About the Company – Coinllectibles™️
Coinllectibles™️ is a technology company supporting the collectibles industry with a focus on rare memorabilia and artworks that exist and have intrinsic value in the real world, whether tangible or intangible in nature.
Coinllectibles™️ applies blockchain, marketplace, metaverse and DOT technologies as tools to disrupt and enhance the real world collectibles industry. The technology underpinning DOTs (digital ownership tokens) has multiple functional use cases that Coinllectibles™️ is applying to areas including art, sports, watches, numismatics, limited edition toys, limited edition fashion wear and sneakers. DOTs have the power to transform our societies and some areas may be subject to regulations. Coinllectibles™️ uses DOT technology solely to provide a legally-binding digital ownership token (DOT) to a tangible or intangible collectible.
Website: www.coinllectibles.art
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Coinllectibles
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coinllectibles
Twitter: https://twitter.com/coinllectibles
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coinllectibles
Telegram: https://t.me/Coinllectibles
View original content:
SOURCE Cosmos Group Holdings Inc. | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/01/19/coinllectibles-collaborates-with-apollo-art-auctions-dots-marrying-ancient-art-with-digital-content/ | 2023-01-19 14:25:04 | 1 | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/01/19/coinllectibles-collaborates-with-apollo-art-auctions-dots-marrying-ancient-art-with-digital-content/ |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — The mayor of Indiana’s second-largest city had a blood alcohol reading nearly twice the state's limit for driving when he was arrested over the weekend for drunken driving, court records show.
Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry's blood alcohol level was 0.152% after he was arrested Saturday night following a crash, according to the records. Indiana’s legal limit to drive is 0.08%.
Henry told arresting officers he had “too many glasses of wine at a fundraiser" held at a downtown Fort Wayne theater, the records state. The mayor was swaying, had watery, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, and was argumentative, according to an arrest report.
Police said Henry was driving and his wife and mother-in-law were passengers when he drove left of center Saturday night and struck another car. The woman driving the other car was not injured.
Henry was charged Monday with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.15% or more, both misdemeanors. He was scheduled for an initial court hearing Monday afternoon.
After his release Sunday from the Allen County jail, Henry, 70, read a statement to reporters apologizing “for the poor decision I made to get behind the wheel” after drinking at the event.
“Like every other resident of the city of Fort Wayne, I will be held accountable for those actions in future legal proceedings,” he said. “I respect the legal process. I will adhere to the legal process. And I will accept the consequences.”
Henry, a Democrat who was first elected in 2007, has said he plans to run again in 2023. Fort Wayne, population 265,000, is 120 miles (190 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis. | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Records-Indiana-mayor-s-blood-alcohol-was-twice-17499678.php | 2022-10-10 19:48:05 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Records-Indiana-mayor-s-blood-alcohol-was-twice-17499678.php |
BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday criticized a German government call for reducing dependency on Chinese products and decreasing other potentially unstable factors in bilateral relations, calling it a form of protectionism.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that a long-awaited German government strategy for relations with China that pointed to a “systemic rivalry” went “against the trend of the times, and will only aggravate divisions in the world.”
Wang said the two countries were “partners rather than rivals,” a typical ruling Chinese Communist Party formulation for dismissing criticism.
“We believe that to engage in competition and protectionism in the name of de-risking and reducing dependency, and to overstretch the concept of security and politicize normal cooperation will only be counterproductive and create artificial risks,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.
Germany has Europe’s biggest economy and its strategy seeks to balance robust trade ties with China, its biggest single trading partner in recent years, against wariness over Beijing’s growing assertiveness and refusal to criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 64-page document approved by Chancellor OIaf Scholz ’s Cabinet builds on Germany’s first national security strategy, issued a month ago. Scholz’s three-party coalition had pledged when it took office in late 2021 to draw up a “comprehensive China strategy.”
In introducing the strategy, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that “for Germany, China remains a partner, competitor and systemic rival, but the aspect of systemic rivalry has in recent years increasingly come to the fore.”
“Anyone who listens to China knows with what self-confidence it will decisively influence the development of our world — more repressive at home and more offensive abroad,” Baerbock said. “China has changed and so our China policy must change too.”
In its strategy, the government said it is committed to ensuring that economic cooperation with China “becomes fairer, more sustainable and more reciprocal.” It noted that “whereas China’s dependencies on Europe are constantly declining, Germany’s dependencies on China have taken on greater significance in recent years.”
The strategy also made clear that Germany wouldn’t be deterred from doing business with self-governed Taiwan, which Beijing considers its own territory to be diplomatically isolated and annexed by force if necessary.
“The status quo of the Taiwan Strait may only be changed by peaceful means and mutual consent,” it said. “Military escalation would also affect German and European interests.”
The document also called for cooperation across issues of global concern, particularly the climate crisis.
The strategy was released a few weeks after Scholz and about half of his Cabinet hosted a delegation led by new Chinese Premier Li Qiang, whose visit to Berlin was his first foreign trip since becoming China’s No. 2 official in March.
Both Scholz and Baerbock, making a solo visit earlier this year, have pushed China to use its close relations with Russia to advocate for an end to the war in Ukraine. That has elicited a public Chinese commitment not to help arm Russia, but appears to have had no effect on Beijing’s warm ties with Moscow. | https://www.kron4.com/news/world/ap-international/ap-china-criticizes-german-call-for-reducing-dependency-on-chinese-products-as-protectionism/ | 2023-07-14 19:02:59 | 0 | https://www.kron4.com/news/world/ap-international/ap-china-criticizes-german-call-for-reducing-dependency-on-chinese-products-as-protectionism/ |
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been the target of many false claims in recent weeks in connection with funding it will receive from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
A tweet about the IRS recently went viral claiming Congress voted to make its members exempt from tax audits.
“In order to safeguard democracy, Congress has voted to exempt itself and its members from upcoming IRS audits,” the tweet from @ThatmattersNews said. As of Aug. 22, it had more than 18,000 likes and nearly 11,000 retweets.
VERIFY viewer Ron emailed us to ask if it was true.
THE QUESTION
Has Congress voted to make its members exempt from IRS audits?
THE SOURCES
- Internal Revenue Service
- Congress.gov
- @ThatmattersNews, a satirical Twitter account
THE ANSWER
No, Congress has not voted to make its members exempt from IRS audits. The tweet was satire.
WHAT WE FOUND
The viral tweet came from an account called News That Matters that is known for posting satirical content. After the post about congressional audits went viral, a different tweet was pinned to the top of the profile acknowledging the account is satire (satirical examples from the account here, here and here).
“REPORT A new study shows that a shocking number of American adults have trouble spelling the word ‘satire,’ let alone recognizing it,” the tweet said.
In a search of recent legislation, VERIFY could find no evidence to suggest Congress has passed a bill or is slated to vote on a bill that would make its members exempt from IRS audits.
An IRS spokesperson confirmed to VERIFY that the viral tweet is untrue, and “there is no such special exemption. All tax filers are treated equally under the tax law.”
Audits are determined ultimately on what is – or isn’t – included on the tax return. The IRS uses a number of processes to determine when to conduct an audit, including what information is on a person’s tax forms.
“The IRS has strong safeguards in place to ensure that audits are conducted only based on what is on the tax return – and not other factors,” the IRS spokesperson told VERIFY.
Any person or company that files a tax return is eligible to be audited by the IRS. So, we can VERIFY that members of Congress aren’t exempt from tax audits. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/verify/government-verify/congress-not-exempt-from-irs-audits-fact-check/536-1586c78c-445a-491a-b0db-2a44345f7995 | 2022-08-22 23:12:16 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/verify/government-verify/congress-not-exempt-from-irs-audits-fact-check/536-1586c78c-445a-491a-b0db-2a44345f7995 |
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Montreal is finally getting its long-promised women’s pro hockey franchise, though the Premier Hockey Federation put the brakes on adding a second expansion team entering its eighth season, the league announced Tuesday.
In unveiling the U.S.-based, privately backed league’s seventh franchise and second in Canada, PHF Commissioner Reagan Carey said it was in the sport’s best interest to take a slower approach toward growth to ensure long-term stability.
“Sometimes, there’s a little energy and enthusiasm and urgency to add teams. But at the same time, you have to do it in a really thoughtful way and make sure that we’re doing everything at the right time with the right people moving forward,” Carey told The Associated Press.
“There’s been a lot of evaluating, assessing and a lot conversations in just trying to get a better understanding of what the league needs at the immediate moment, and what we need long term for a sustainable future,” she added. “And Montreal has been at the top of that since Day 1.”
The yet-to-be-named Montreal franchise has been in the works for some 18 months, with its launch already delayed a year by the COVID-19 pandemic. PHF officials in January had also committed to expanding into a U.S. location, without disclosing where.
Hired in April, Carey said she needed to better familiarize herself with the PHF before adding a second expansion team this year. As for the possibility of expanding next year, the former USA Hockey executive said: “I have no reservations about committing to expansion in Season 9.”
Women’s hockey returns to Montreal for the first time since Les Canadiennes spent 12 years playing in the nation’s second-largest city before the Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded after the 2019 season.
The team will be based in Montreal’s borough of Verdun, and play home games at Centre 21.02, which has a 2,500-seat capacity. The two-rink facility is a high performance center established and run by former Canadian national women’s team coach Daniele Sauvageau.
The Montreal franchise will be the league’s third owned by BTM Partners, and have a local influence among its executive. French cable TV broadcaster Kevin Raphael will serve as team president with Emmanuel Anderson named vice president. Raphael and Anderson have worked on many projects together, including hosting a hockey fundraiser to support children’s cancer foundations.
BTM also owns the Boston Pride and New Jersey-based Metropolitan Riveters. BTM also owned the Toronto Six before selling the franchise to a group which includes former NHL coach Ted Nolan and former Canadian women’s hockey star Angela James.
Montreal already has some catching up to do in establishing a roster some two months after the PHF’s free agency period opened.
Carey said that shouldn’t be a concern in citing the large pool of talent the team can draw from in Quebec. Montreal will also take advantage of the PHF’s decision to increase its salary cap to $750,000 per team this season — more than double the $300,000 cap last year.
Montreal marks the league’s third expansion team after adding the pre-existing Minnesota Whitecaps in 2016, and establishing a new team in Toronto two years ago.
The PHF, previously called the National Women’s Hockey League, was founded in 2015 and became North America’s first women’s hockey league to pay players a salary. The league also has teams in Buffalo, New York, and Danbury, Connecticut.
The PHF’s continued push into Canada coincides with the rival Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association in discussions to launch its own league within the next year. The PWHPA’s membership features a majority of U.S. and Canadian national team players who have balked at playing for the PHF.
Though rivals, Carey supports the PWHPA because it’s working toward the same objective as the PHF in seeking to grow the women’s game.
“Moving into Canada and being able to provide opportunities for players there as well as the U.S. is important for us. So it’s a North American league for sure,” Carey said. “But at the same time, we’re not resting and settling. Our intent is to continue to grow and provide more resources for players as we move forward.”
___
This story has been corrected to reflect Montreal as being Canada’s second largest city and not Quebec’s capital.
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.kxnet.com/sports/womens-professional-hockey-league-expands-into-montreal/ | 2022-07-12 14:46:35 | 0 | https://www.kxnet.com/sports/womens-professional-hockey-league-expands-into-montreal/ |
Unless you eat everything out of the microwave, chances are you spend a good amount of time most days in your kitchen making meals. All that time standing around on those hard floors can be murder on your body, and nowhere worse than your feet, knees and lower back. That’s why kitchen floor mats exist, helping reduce or downright eliminate the strain on your body.
In this article: Amazon Basics Kitchen Mat, iDesign Kitchen Mat and Kmat Kitchen Mats.
Benefits
There are two major benefits to using a kitchen mat.
- Decreased stress: Your body experiences less stress when you stand on cushioning rather than barefoot on hard surfaces. You can get much the same result from shoes with thick, comfortable padding, if you don’t mind wearing shoes inside.
- Aesthetics: Kitchen mats come in a large range of designs. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding one that meshes with the rest of your kitchen or purposefully stands out.
Thickness and firmness
In order to get the most comfort out of your mat, it needs to have the right thickness and firmness for you.
- Thickness: Most mats are between three-eighths of an inch and 1 inch thick, though some are thicker. Yours should be thick enough to feel like you’re on a cushion but not so thick that it adds too much to your height. A mat that is too high would make you bend over slightly, aggravating your back.
- Firmness: There are three major waypoints: soft, firm and hard. Soft mats you can practically sink into, though some find this uncomfortably similar to quicksand. Hard mats offer the minimum cushion necessary to get the health benefits, though some find this essentially equal to no mat at all. Firm is nebulously in the middle. The only way to be sure which you like is to try mats until you find one that’s just right.
Responsiveness
The final consideration when ordering a mat to help with foot, knee and back pain is responsiveness, meaning how it responds to your weight and how long it takes to return to form after you spend time on it.
Responsiveness is not about preference. It’s about stability. A mat with poor responsiveness either holds the impression of your foot for too long or doesn’t bend to your weight at all. In both cases, you aren’t going to get the maximum health benefit. Instead, your mat should bend easily but return to a “like new” form quickly.
Size and shape
Kitchen mats typically are rectangular so they can cover the parts of the floor you regularly stand on. For example, one mat might cover the floor in front of your sink and a stretch of the counter beside it.
Most are 20 to 30 inches wide, but lengths can stretch anywhere from 32 to 100-plus inches.
Bonus features
Some kitchen mats have extras that help put them above the rest. Examples include nonslip grips on the underside to keep them stable, non-curling edges to prevent tripping and textured surfaces to help with traction.
Cost
Basic and small kitchen mats typically cost $5-$20, and better and bigger mats cost up to $50. The best and biggest mats, large enough for practically the entire kitchen, can cost $200 or more.
Best kitchen mats
This mat measures 20 by 36 inches, comes in black or brown and is sold individually or in a pack of five. It has a nonslip base and a non-curling edge, and it is easy to clean with soap and water.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
This mat comes in four sizes (measured in inches): 20 by 32, 20 by 48, 20 by 72 and 30 by 108. It comes in 26 designs and is three-quarters of an inch thick.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
This kitchen mat is more for decoration than function since its bamboo material doesn’t offer the same cushy protection of standard kitchen mats. It comes in five sizes and a set of one or two.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
This mat comes in six sizes, the three smallest of which have two thicknesses to choose from. It comes in 10 colors and is waterproof for easy cleaning.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
This set of two mats is perfect for covering more of your floor for less money. There are two collections: The smaller includes a 17.3-by-28-inch mat and a 17.3-by-47-inch mat, and the larger includes a 20-by-32-inch mat and a 20-by-59-inch mat.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
This polyvinyl chloride and polyester mat has a nonslip backing and is half an inch thick. It comes in an 18-by-30-inch size and a 20-by-42-inch size, and it is available in five colors.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Home Depot
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wowktv.com/reviews/br/tools-br/can-a-kitchen-mat-help-with-back-pain/ | 2023-03-28 20:29:31 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/reviews/br/tools-br/can-a-kitchen-mat-help-with-back-pain/ |
MEXICO CITY (AP) — With Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán serving a life sentence, his sons steered the family business into fentanyl, establishing a network of labs churning out massive quantities of the cheap, deadly drug that they smuggled into the U.S., prosecutors revealed in a recent indictment.
Although Guzmán’s trial revolved around cocaine shipments, the case against his sons exposes the inner workings of a cartel undergoing a generational shift as it worked “to manufacture the most potent fentanyl and to sell it in the United States at the lowest price,” according to the indictment unsealed April 14 in Manhattan.
Synthetic opioids — mostly fentanyl — now kill more Americans every year than died in the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined, feeding an argument among some politicians that the cartels should be branded terrorist organizations and prompting once-unthinkable calls for U.S. military intervention across the border.
“The problem with fentanyl, as some people at the State Department told me, has to be repositioned. It’s not a drug problem; it’s a poisoning problem,” said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst in Mexico, who died Friday. “Very few people go out deliberately looking for fentanyl.”
The groundwork for the U.S. fentanyl epidemic was laid more than 20 years ago, with aggressive over-prescribing of the synthetic opioid oxycodone. As U.S. authorities clamped down on its prescription, users moved to heroin, which the Sinaloa cartel happily supplied.
But making its own fentanyl — far more potent and versatile than heroin — in small, easily concealed labs was a game changer. The cartel went from its first makeshift fentanyl lab to a network of labs concentrated in the northern state of Sinaloa in less than a decade.
“These are not super labs, because they give people the illusion that they’re like pharmaceutical labs, you know, very sophisticated,” said Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “These are nothing more than metal tubs and they use wooden paddles — even shovels — to mix the chemicals.”
A single cartel “cook” can press fentanyl into 100,000 counterfeit pills every day to fool Americans into thinking they’re taking Xanax, Percocet or oxycodone. The pills are smuggled over the border to supply what son Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar said are “streets of junkies,” the indictment said.
Fentanyl is so cheap to make that the cartel reaps massive profits even wholesaling the drug at 50 cents per pill, prosecutors said.
The drug’s potency makes it particularly dangerous. The narcotic dose of fentanyl is so close to the lethal dose that a pill meant to ensure a high for a habituated user can easily kill a less experienced person taking something they didn’t know was fentanyl.
Between August 2021 and August of last year, more than 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, most from synthetic opioids. Last year, the DEA seized more than 57 million fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription pills, according to the New York indictment.
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To protect and expand that business, the “Chapitos,” as the sons are known, have turned to grotesque violence, prosecutors said.
Enforcers Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzmán Salazar are the lead defendants among 23 associates charged in the New York indictment. Ovidio Guzmán López, alias “the Mouse,” who allegedly pushed the cartel into fentanyl, is charged in another indictment in the same district. Mexico arrested him in January and the U.S. government has requested extradition. Joaquín Guzmán López is charged in the Northern District of Illinois
According to the Guzmán Salazar indictment, the cartel does some lab testing on its product but conducts more grisly human testing on kidnapped rivals or addicts who are injected until they overdose.
The purity of the cartel’s fentanyl “varies greatly depending on the method and skill of the particular manufacturer,” prosecutors noted. After a user overdosed on one batch, it was still shipped to the U.S.
When the elder Guzmán and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada led the Sinaloa cartel, it operated with a certain degree of restraint. But with Guzmán serving a life sentence and Zambada believed to be suffering from health issues, the Chapitos moved aggressively to avoid a power vacuum that could fragment the cartel.
“What was really a unique advantage of the Sinaloa cartel and El Chapo was the ability to calibrate violence,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at the Brookings Institute.
The wide-ranging New York indictment against the Guzmán Salazar brothers details their penchant for feeding enemies to their pet tigers and describes how they tortured two Mexican federal agents, ripping through one’s muscles with a corkscrew then stuffing the holes with chile peppers before shooting him.
The indictment also provides context to some recent violence in Mexico.
In August 2022, gunmen shot up Ciudad Juarez across from El Paso, Texas. Two prison inmates and nine civilians in the city were killed. U.S. prosecutors say the Chapitos’ security arm ordered their local gang associates to commit the violence, targeting a rival cartel’s businesses.
“This is not their father’s Sinaloa cartel,” Felbab-Brown said. “These guys just operate in very different mindsets than their father.”
The Guzmán Salazar indictment makes an initial attempt at disrupting the cartel’s supply chain, naming four people tied to a China-based chemical company and a broker in Guatemala who allegedly helped the cartel get the chemicals and even instructed them on the best recipes for fentanyl.
“When they talk about labs and you’re trying to focus in on labs, that’s not going to have an impact unless you get the finished product or the precursor chemicals,” Vigil said.
Mexico’s government has stumbled through the mixed messaging of its security forces playing up their decommissioning of labs even while President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has asserted that fentanyl is not being produced in Mexico.
In congressional testimony Thursday, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram was pressed about whether Mexico and China are doing enough to cooperate with U.S.
“We want the Mexicans to work with us and we want them to do more,” Milgram said, adding that the DEA wouldn’t hesitate to go after public officials in Mexico or elsewhere should it find evidence of ties to the cartels.
Experts say López Obrador is one obstacle to slowing the cartels’ fentanyl production. After U.S. prosecutors announced the concerted effort against the Sinaloa cartel, López Obrador reacted angrily. The president accused the U.S. government of “spying” and “interference,” suggesting that the case had been built on information gathered by U.S. agents in Mexico.
The president had already severely reduced Mexico’s cooperation with the DEA, experts said.
Hope, the security analyst, said a fundamental problem is that López Obrador doesn’t appear to understand fentanyl’s threat. The president rails against a deterioration of family values in the United States and paints addiction as a moral failing.
“He’s trapped in a moral universe from 50 years ago,” Hope said. | https://www.krqe.com/news/world/case-details-sinaloa-cartels-fentanyl-fueled-evolution/ | 2023-05-01 18:23:25 | 1 | https://www.krqe.com/news/world/case-details-sinaloa-cartels-fentanyl-fueled-evolution/ |
NY Marine Warnings and Forecast for Saturday, June 11, 2022
_____
MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT
Marine Weather Statement
National Weather Service New York NY
156 PM EDT Sat Jun 11 2022
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING THE WATERS...
The areas affected include...
Sandy Hook NJ to Fire Island Inlet NY out 40 NM...
At 155 PM EDT, Doppler radar indicated strong thunderstorms, capable
of producing winds to around 30 knots. These thunderstorms were
located along a line extending from near Entrance to New York Harbor
to near Sea Girt Reef to near Lavallette, moving east at 10 knots.
strong thunderstorms will be near...
Entrance to New York Harbor around 200 PM EDT.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Mariners can expect gusty winds to around 30 knots, locally higher
waves, and lightning strikes. Boaters should seek safe harbor
immediately until these storms pass.
LAT...LON 4025 7364 4034 7381 4042 7375 4040 7324
4035 7323 4003 7345
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.ourmidland.com/weather/article/NY-Marine-Warning-and-Forecast-17235401.php | 2022-06-11 18:59:47 | 0 | https://www.ourmidland.com/weather/article/NY-Marine-Warning-and-Forecast-17235401.php |
Which snake toy is best?
Playing with toys is an important part of a child’s growth. Imagining creative play scenarios and manipulating objects can help little ones develop both their cognitive and motor skills. It’s even better if the toy intrigues the child or is something that fascinates them.
A simple toy snake checks all of these boxes. The best one will be realistic enough to make playtime a thrilling adventure. Melissa & Doug’s Giant Boa Constrictor, however, is a 14-foot-long plush toy that can become your child’s best companion — and encourage affection for serpents instead of fear.
What to know before you buy a snake toy
Snake toys aren’t just for kids
Animal toys are always an exciting option for kids. They stimulate a child’s imagination and help them learn creative play. However, snake toys aren’t just for children. If you purchase realistic-looking toys, they can be used to decorate the house for Halloween or to play practical jokes on friends that, if videoed, may end up going viral. Also, toy snakes can be used as pest deterrents if you have animals such as birds and squirrels that are causing trouble on your property.
There are different types of snake toys
When most of us think of a snake toy, we picture a rubber toy. While this is arguably the most popular version of a snake toy, there are a few different kinds out there.
Plush: These snake toys are usually large and designed for comfort and cuddling.
Realistic: Such snake toys are ideal for decoration or for a prank, and there are numerous plastic or rubber models available with accurate detail. These toys look great, but they typically don’t move.
Wooden: An old-fashioned wooden snake toy might not look as real as a molded plastic or rubber toy, but it’s fluid motions are mesmerizing.
Electronic: Whether it is a Fingerling or a robotic toy, an electric toy snake typically offers the greatest amount of interaction for children. This type of model may stick out its tongue, move its eyes or even slither across the floor.
What to look for in a quality snake toy
Size
If you are looking for a more realistic item, a smaller snake toy might be what you want. However, for younger kids, something that is larger and easier to hold and handle might be the best way to go.
Material
Some snake toys are hard plastic items that sink in water, making them great dive toys for a pool. Others are soft, making them best for snuggling.
Quantity
If your child really loves serpents, consider purchasing a set that depicts several different types of snakes.
How much you can expect to spend on a snake toy
When it comes to small plastic or rubber toy snakes, you can purchase them for as low as a few dollars. Larger toy snakes or robotic snakes, however, may cost as much as $40 or more.
Snake toy FAQ
Will a snake toy be too scary for my child?
A. This depends on your child. For most kids, having a harmless toy snake is exciting because it is scary but also safe. In fact, a snake toy may even help your child overcome any fears they might have because it can desensitize them. That said, if a toy snake increases a child’s anxiety or stress levels every time they see it, it might not be a good choice for them.
At what age is it safe for my child to play with a snake toy?
A. Recommended ages vary from toy to toy. If a snake toy has small pieces, for instance, it will not be suited for a very young child. The best answer is to check the manufacturer’s age recommendations before purchasing. However, as noted above, even if your child is old enough to play with the toy, if it causes them stress or anxiety, you might want to wait until the child is a little older — especially if the snake toy is particularly realistic-looking.
What’s the best snake toy to buy?
Top snake toy
Melissa & Doug’s Giant Boa Constrictor
What you need to know: If your child loves snakes, this 14-foot boa constrictor will be a welcome addition to their toy collection.
What you’ll love: This lifesize snake has a soft, plush exterior that makes it suitable for hugging. It has realistic markings, but is not too scary for little ones, and it is a vibrant green color. The outer surface is washable for ease of care.
What you should consider: While the majority of users have a great experience with this snake, some buyers report the toy was not as durable as expected or split at the seam after minimal use.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Top snake toy for the money
What you need to know: This is a fun, wooden snake that can be positioned in a variety of shapes for imaginative play.
What you’ll love: You can use this eco-friendly wooden snake as a toy or a Halloween decoration. It is a little over 2 feet long and is crafted so its body moves gracefully back and forth like the real animal. It is smooth and nontoxic, so it is safe for kids of all ages.
What you should consider: The buyer does not get to choose the color of this item and must be happy with whichever design arrives.
Where to buy: Amazon
Worth checking out
What you need to know: If you are looking for a realistic toy snake that will make others jump, this offering is designed to do just that.
What you’ll love: This is an ideal snake for individuals who love to play practical jokes. It has a highly realistic look, and it is small enough to be placed nearly anywhere for decoration or to serve as a pest deterrent. It features a soft touch and does not have an offensive odor.
What you should consider: This snake is small and manufactured from harder PVC, so it cannot be bent, shaped or repositioned.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon and Wayfair
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Allen Foster writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.cenlanow.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/theme-toys-br/best-snake-toy/ | 2022-06-29 21:53:29 | 1 | https://www.cenlanow.com/reviews/br/toys-games-br/theme-toys-br/best-snake-toy/ |
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — More information is surfacing about what led to the arrest of three high school seniors suspected of a rock-throwing crime spree that killed a 20-year-old woman.
Arrest documents obtained by KDVR on Thursday outlined what led to the arrest of Joseph Koenig, Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak.
Timeline of investigation
According to the documents from the Jefferson County court, investigators located a camera near one of the incidents that showed three vehicles, one of which was driven by a victim and another driven by a witness. The only other vehicle on the road was tracked between multiple cameras and moving at a high speed, the affidavit showed.
Investigators said they sent photos of the taillights to a Chevrolet employee. The vehicle was identified as a 2014-2016 Chevy Silverado pickup.
On Tuesday, a person called police to explain that he and a coworker were talking about the rock-throwing incident. The coworker said that on April 19, he was with three people who were loading rocks into their vehicle at a Walmart parking lot.
The coworker then said he asked to be taken home because he didn’t want to have anything to do with what they were up to, documents showed.
Where did the rocks come from?
According to investigative documents, police interviewed the coworker as a witness and he told them that he watched people named Joe, Mitch and Zach take landscaping rocks from the edge of the Walmart parking lot on April 19.
He also said they put the rocks in the back seat of a Chevy Silverado 1500 pickup truck, possibly around a 2019-2020 model, court documents showed.
When investigators asked how many rocks they took, the witness said, “As much as they could carry.”
The witness told investigators he “knew something bad was going to happen,” so he insisted they take him home, which they did, the court documents showed.
When they left, Joe was driving, Mitch was in the front passenger’s seat, and Zach was behind Mitch, according to the witness.
Other rock-throwing incidents
When Mitch, identified as Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik, was arrested Tuesday, he agreed to speak with investigators.
According to police documents, Karol-Chik told investigators that all three were involved in throwing rocks at moving cars and that he and Zachary Kwak collected the rocks.
Karol-Chik also allegedly told investigators that he and Joe Koenig were involved in throwing objects, including a statue and other rocks, at vehicles since at least February and at least on 10 separate days.
Karol-Chik also alleged that Koenig threw the rock that hit Alexa Bartell‘s vehicle, resulting in her death.
Investigators said when Koenig was arrested, he declined to be interviewed.
When Kwak was arrested, he did, however, agree to be interviewed. According to court documents, he told investigators he was with Koenig and Karol-Chik and they went to a Walmart near Denver and then went driving around.
Kwak allegedly said he remembered stopping to collect rocks and then throwing them at passing cars. He said he believed Koenig was driving.
He also explained that Koenig threw the final rock, which was the one that hit Bartell’s car. Kwak said he saw the car leave the road and shortly after, Koenig turned around and went back to where it happened. When they got there, Kwak said he took a picture of the vehicle because he thought Koenig or Karol-Chik would want it as a memento, documents showed.
Kwak allegedly told investigators, they left after that, and Koenig took him home. During the drive to Kwak’s house, he allegedly said Koenig and Karol-Chik were talking about them now being “blood brothers” and they could never speak of the incident.
According to investigators, Kwak said Koenig met with him the next day to get their stories straight about what happened and tried to deny involvement.
What charges are they facing?
All three suspects are facing charges of first-degree murder with extreme indifference. Additional charges are expected to be filed at a later date.
They are being held without bond. | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/rock-throwing-suspect-said-he-and-2-others-now-blood-brothers-documents-show/ | 2023-04-27 19:41:04 | 0 | https://www.wfla.com/news/national/rock-throwing-suspect-said-he-and-2-others-now-blood-brothers-documents-show/ |
ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Draghi’s decision to resign Thursday, barely 12 hours after his “unity” coalition broke apart dramatically in Parliament, was the latest step in a political limbo that will likely last for months before a new government is solidly in place to lead the European Union’s third-largest economy.
By Thursday afternoon, about the only certainty was Italians are going to the ballot box on Sept. 25, some six months early.
Even before the date was set, Italy’s perennially bickering parties were already off and running, some of them losing longtime stalwarts in their leadership over the decision by three key coalition partners — populist, right-wing and conservative — to desert Draghi. In 17 months at the helm of government, Draghi was viewed as a pillar of stability on a continent wracked by high inflation and fearful of energy shortages as the war in Ukraine drags on.
Rallies, petitions and pleas by citizens, mayors and lobbyists to save his imperiled government ultimately went unheeded. Political partisan priorities triumphed over solidarity in a nation that, like most of Europe, faces an approaching cold winter as it deals with the consequences of its dependency on gas from Russia.
How the failure to heed citizens’ pleas might shape voters’ decisions won’t be known until the votes are counted and parties in backroom talks forge a new government.
IF DRAGHI HAD SO MANY FANS, WHAT WENT WRONG?
Much finger-pointing was aimed at the 5-Star Movement, which became Parliament’s largest political force in the 2018 election. Its leader, Giuseppe Conte, drafted by the 5-Stars to be premier in back-to-back governments, had joined his successor’s “national unity coalition.” But he always seemed to be chafing at losing his post to Draghi, who was tapped by President Sergio Mattarella to guide Italy’s economic revival in the pandemic. Last week, 5-Star senators boycotted a confidence vote on an energy costs relief bill.
But Draghi suffered no shortages of run-ins with other coalition partners. To cite only one: right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini railed against a government decree requiring vaccination against COVID-19, a negative test or recent recovery from infection to access venues including restaurants, gyms and workplaces.
Both Conte and Salvini, known for pro-Russia stances, eventually reluctantly approved Italy’s shipments of arms to Ukraine. Former premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose conservative Forza Italia party also deserted the coalition, lavished attention on Russian leader Vladimir Putin, treating him like a close friend at his Sardinian seaside villa.
A small, centrist party leader, Carlo Calenda tweeted with irony: “It will be a coincidence, but the most serious and pro-Atlantic government of recent history gets sent packing by those who have supported pro-Putin positions.”
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Mattarella, the Italian president, told the nation Thursday evening that while early elections are always a “last choice,” he saw no chance for a fourth government in the five-year term of Parliament. So he signed a decree dissolving Parliament.
The fatal blow for Draghi’s government struck when senators from Conte’s, Salvini’s and Berlusconi’s parties refused to renew their backing for Draghi in a confidence vote the premier sought in a 11th-hour bid to revive his coalition.
Italy’s constitution mandates that elections must be held within 70 days of the decree ending Parliament, whose five-year term would have expired in March 2023.
WHO WINS?
Opinion polls in last months indicated that the far-right Brothers of Italy party, the only sizeable force in Parliament to refuse to join Draghi’s coalition could garner just over 20% if an election. That’s roughly the same percentage the polls give the center-left Democratic Party. But former Premier Enrico Letta, whose Democratic Party gave Draghi its confidence votes, had been banking on an eventual electoral alliance with the 5-Star Movement — a prospect decidedly dicey after the populists deserted Draghi. Giorgia Meloni, the Brothers of Italy leader, has been allied for years with Salvini’s and Berlusconi’s parties, but while her popularity rose, their party’s have seen slumping fortunes in local elections. But with Salvini itching for years to become premier, Meloni might face a Salvini-Berlusconi deal to make the League leader the next premier.
WHO LOSES?
The dramatic and rapid unraveling of Draghi’s ‘’unity” coalition is likely to leave its mark on Italy’s political landscape. As former Premier Matteo Renzi, a master of political maneuvering, who helped bring down Conte’s second premiership, put it even before the votes were counted Wednesday night: “Nothing will be the same as political parties go.”
By Thursday evening, two prominent stalwarts n Berlusconi’s Forza Italia who are ministers in Draghi’s Cabinet announced they were leaving the party. They accused the media mogul of betraying the party’s staunch pro-Europe, pro-NATO leanings by siding with Euro-skeptic Salvini and deserting Draghi. As for the populists, the 5-Star Movement has been bleeding lawmakers for months. The most prominent to defect is Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who recently formed a pro-NATO party.
HOW LONG WILL DRAGHI STAY IN OFFICE
Draghi stays until a new government is formed and sworn in. After the 2018 elections, which saw the 5-Stars confound pundits and opinion polls with a stunningly big win, it took 90 days to get a new government in place, anchored by Conte’s and Salvini’s forces. So conceivably, Draghi in his caretaker role, might occupy the premier’s office through most of this year. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/explainer-who-gains-or-loses-whats-next-in-italy-crisis/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2022-07-21 18:27:12 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/explainer-who-gains-or-loses-whats-next-in-italy-crisis/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Marcus Semien Player Prop Bets: Rangers vs. Astros - April 14
Published: Apr. 14, 2023 at 1:24 PM CDT|Updated: 2 hours ago
The Texas Rangers and Marcus Semien, who went 0-for-4 last time out, battle Luis Garcia and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, Friday at 8:10 PM ET.
In his last game he had a hitless showing (0-for-4) against the Royals.
Marcus Semien Game Info & Props vs. the Astros
- Game Day: Friday, April 14, 2023
- Game Time: 8:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Minute Maid Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Astros Starter: Luis Garcia
- TV Channel: MLB Network
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -200)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +425)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +220)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +120)
Looking to place a prop bet on Marcus Semien? Check out what's available at BetMGM and sign up with this link!
Marcus Semien At The Plate
- Semien has three doubles, a home run and a walk while hitting .212.
- Semien has had a hit in seven of 12 games this year (58.3%), including multiple hits four times (33.3%).
- He has gone deep in one game this season.
- In four games this season (33.3%), Semien has picked up an RBI, including two games with multiple runs batted in.
- He has scored in six of 12 games (50.0%), including multiple runs twice.
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Marcus Semien Home/Away Batting Splits
Astros Pitching Rankings
- The 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings put together by the Astros pitching staff ranks 11th in MLB.
- The Astros have the sixth-ranked team ERA across all MLB pitching staffs (3.76).
- The Astros rank 13th in baseball in home runs given up (14 total, 1.1 per game).
- Garcia (0-1) starts for the Astros, his third this season.
- In his last time out on Saturday, the righty threw four innings against the Minnesota Twins, giving up four earned runs while surrendering six hits.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/04/14/marcus-semien-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-04-14 20:06:11 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/04/14/marcus-semien-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
WFO PHOENIX Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 18, 2022
_____
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
The National Weather Service in Phoenix has issued a
* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...
Northwestern La Paz County in west central Arizona...
Riverside County in southern California...
* Until 830 PM MST/830 PM PDT/.
* At 742 PM MST/742 PM PDT/, a severe thunderstorm was located 12
miles southwest of Big River, or 15 miles southwest of Parker,
moving south at 10 mph.
HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
* Locations impacted include...
Midland and Poston.
This includes CA Route 95 between mile markers 16 and 36.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a
building.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-PHOENIX-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17383489.php | 2022-08-19 04:26:21 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/CA-WFO-PHOENIX-Warnings-Watches-and-Advisories-17383489.php |
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Marlee Matlin, Jeremy O. Harris and Eliza Hittman exited the premiere of a film playing in competition at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday night after the closed captioning device failed to work.
Matlin, who is deaf, is serving on the jury alongside Harris and Hittman for films debuting in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the festival in Park City, Utah, this week. The jurors walked out collectively when they realized the situation, which happened during the premiere of “Magazine Dreams.” Variety first reported the news.
Joana Vicente, the CEO of the Sundance Institute, said in a statement to The Associated Press on Saturday that the closed captioning device, which relies on Wi-Fi, had been checked before the screening and was working, but malfunctioned nonetheless.
“Our team immediately worked with the devices in that venue to test them again for the next screening and the device worked without any malfunction,” Vicente said. “Our goal is to make all experiences (in person and online) as accessible as possible for all participants. Our accessibility efforts are, admittedly, always evolving and feedback helps drive it forward for the community as a whole.”
Accessibility at film festivals has been a major topic for years, and the incident once again spotlighted how organizers are trying to make changes to accommodate all fans. Vicente said her team has been working hard in that area, but acknowledged there is more to be learned.
“We are committed to improving experiences & belonging for all festival attendees,” the statement read. “We consider accessibility as one of the primary drivers of institutional excellence and this work is done in partnership with film teams.”
Matlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Vicente said she and her fellow jurors would see “Magazine Dreams” in the coming days.
The Sundance Film Festival runs through Jan. 29.
___
The spelling of ‘Hittman’ has been corrected in this version. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/ap-health/ap-jurors-leave-sundance-premiere-over-closed-captioning-glitch/ | 2023-01-22 21:54:26 | 0 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/ap-health/ap-jurors-leave-sundance-premiere-over-closed-captioning-glitch/ |
Russian men continue to escape conscription in large numbers to Turkey By Fatma Tanis Published October 3, 2022 at 4:05 PM EDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Russians who have gone to Turkey to avoid conscription are at a loss to figure out their new future. Meanwhile, thousands of men keep arriving. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wlrn.org/2022-10-03/russian-men-continue-to-escape-conscription-in-large-numbers-to-turkey | 2022-10-03 20:32:16 | 0 | https://www.wlrn.org/2022-10-03/russian-men-continue-to-escape-conscription-in-large-numbers-to-turkey |
NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Committee for Economic Development, the public policy center of The Conference Board (CED), issued a new Solutions Brief, Pandemic Regulatory Changes: Should They Stay or Should They Go? The report—the latest in CED's Sustaining Capitalism series—examines the regulatory impact on health care policy during the depths of COVID-19, providing insights and recommendations through the lens of a smart regulatory approach, for public and private sector leaders to prioritize as the US emerges from the pandemic
CED has promoted "smart regulation"—the idea that regulation should achieve the purpose for which it was imposed at the lowest possible cost and with the maximum possible benefits. Specifically, the Solutions Brief assesses three areas, each of which shows the powerful impact of regulation and provides insights into broader guidelines for regulatory policy. Two pertain to waivers that remove regulation or apply regulatory flexibility: pandemic waivers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and efforts by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The third pertains to an added regulation: the Department of Labor's (DOL) and the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) regulations on employee vaccinations.
"The pandemic showed that well-planned regulatory waivers, considered by Congress in advance, mitigated the fallout from COVID-19—most importantly, saving lives. They also offered US businesses a lifeline to expand beyond the limits of normal operations, both in research and development and in the provision of care," said Lori Esposito Murray, President of CED. "Now, the US government should take these lessons and work with business leaders to plan for the next public health emergency, and, more broadly, consider other areas in which more regulatory flexibility would help to achieve the maximum possible benefits at the lowest possible cost."
As the Solutions Brief details, the CMS and FDA initiatives were successful, while the actions from the DOL and HHS tested—and exceeded—the limits of regulation. Highlights from the report's case studies include:
The CMS provided reimbursement for an expanded set of health care services, opening pathways to provide services such as telehealth:
- At the pandemic's onset, the CMS issued waivers that allowed the agency to reimburse hospitals, physicians, and other providers for services that it would ordinarily not cover.
- Due to CMS waivers, telehealth grew rapidly and has proven both popular and durable. In the pandemic's first year, over 28 million of all Medicare beneficiaries—43 percent—used a telehealth service of some kind, marking an 88-fold increase over 2019.
FDA's use of regulatory flexibility accelerated vaccine development:
- Because of the public health emergency, in coordination with the FDA, drug companies were permitted to work on different stages of clinical trials for vaccine development in parallel rather than sequentially.
- Taking this approach expedited the timeline for vaccine development and saved lives. Phase 1 and 2 trials were combined, human clinical trials were successful, and Emergency Use Authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines were approved starting on December 11, 2020.
A cautionary tale on vaccine mandate regulations:
- Citing the risks of COVID-19 to workers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) in November 2021. The ETS mandated that employers with more than 100 employees require either vaccination of their workers, with certain exemptions, or the alternative of wearing a face mask to work and agreeing to weekly testing for COVID-19.
- Reaction from some employers and segments of the public, in addition to legal actions, was swift. While the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit initially permitted the rule to take effect, litigation continued. This culminated in an appeal to the Supreme Court, which agreed that OSHA had exceeded its powers, resulting in the ETS being overturned.
Key Recommendations from the Solutions Brief:
CED calls on policy and business leaders to seize this opportunity by conducting a comprehensive review of overall regulatory policy during the pandemic, as well as applying this approach more broadly to regulatory policy. Doing so will help in determining the scope of regulatory policy going forward. Recommendations featured in the Solutions Brief include:
- Close cooperation between the federal government, state governments, and the private sector for regulation is essential.
- Regulators should take account of the experience of those who would be subject to the regulations. This will promote innovation in regulation and spur US research and development.
- States should move toward reciprocal licensing of physicians and other health care professionals. As an interim step, however, states that are not part of interstate medical licensure compacts should move to join them, to provide greater uniformity to the licensing system for physicians and as a step toward reciprocal licensing.
- The federal government should conduct a study of the use of telehealth and other waivers during the pandemic. Regulations should be considered for possible permanent modification (or not) based on an examination of how they were used during the pandemic and a study of the balancing of benefits and costs.
- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in conjunction with the private sector, should undertake a comprehensive review of the Food and Drug Administration's exercise of regulatory flexibility during the pandemic to determine how effective it was and whether it can or should be applied more broadly without compromising safety and efficacy, potentially leading to faster approval of new therapies.
- Congress should speak in clear language—as clear as possible—in stating the powers it chooses to delegate and not to delegate to agencies.
- Agencies should ground their regulatory activities firmly and only within those delegations.
- Safe harbors in regulation are appropriate in a number of circumstances, but particularly in areas of great uncertainty and in instances when conditions change rapidly.
- Business leadership should participate actively and robustly in the regulatory process, particularly at the comment stage of notice-and-comment rulemaking.
The new Solutions Brief, Pandemic Regulatory Changes: Should They Stay or Should They Go?, can be accessed here.
About CED
The Committee for Economic Development (CED) is the public policy center of The Conference Board. The nonprofit, nonpartisan, business-led organization delivers well-researched analysis and reasoned solutions in the nation's interest. CED Trustees are chief executive officers and key executives of leading US companies who bring their unique experience to address today's pressing policy issues. Collectively they represent 30+ industries, over a trillion dollars in revenue, and over 4 million employees. www.ced.org
About The Conference Board
The Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what's ahead. Founded in 1916, we are a non-partisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. www.conference-board.org
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SOURCE Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board (CED) | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2022/09/13/ced-report-regulatory-changes-during-pandemic-reveal-critical-lessons-and-valuable-opportunities-for-future-regulatory-policy/ | 2022-09-13 14:24:32 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2022/09/13/ced-report-regulatory-changes-during-pandemic-reveal-critical-lessons-and-valuable-opportunities-for-future-regulatory-policy/ |
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "I thought there could be an improved system to clean HVAC coils and ventilation screens to increase efficiency and the life span of HVAC units," said an inventor, from Humble, Texas, "so I invented The AC Sprayer. My convenient design would eliminate the need for anyone to clean the system."
The invention provides a systematic and automated, self-cleaning mechanism for condenser and evaporator coils as well as the ventilation screens. It works with any HVAC unit and in doing so, it helps keep the HVAC system clean on a continuous basis and increases efficiency. The invention features a functional and adaptable design that is easy to use so it is ideal for homeowners and commercial use. Additionally, it is producible in various sizes.
The original design was submitted to the Houston sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-HOF-253, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.
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SOURCE InventHelp | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2022/11/18/inventhelp-inventor-develops-new-hvac-cleaning-system-hof-253/ | 2022-11-18 19:15:07 | 1 | https://www.wistv.com/prnewswire/2022/11/18/inventhelp-inventor-develops-new-hvac-cleaning-system-hof-253/ |
Rihanna is pregnant again, rep says after Super Bowl show
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Rihanna was pregnant with her second child as she performed her Super Bowl halftime show Sunday.
The singer’s representative confirmed the pregnancy shortly after she ended her 13-minute set at Super Bowl 57. She hovered high at times as she performed a number of hits including “We Found Love,” “Diamonds” and “Work” during a halftime break between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
The baby bump that was visible in the tight clothes she wore under her baggy red jumpsuit set off a wave of social media speculation that she might be pregnant again.
Rihanna, 34, has a 9-month-old son with rapper A$AP Rocky.
During her media preview Thursday, Rihanna said she was initially unsure about taking on the challenge of performing during a time when she was three months postpartum and wondered “should I be making major decisions like this right now? I might regret this.”
“But when you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you can take on the world, you can do anything,” Rihanna said. “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages of the world. As scary as that was, because I hadn’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all.”
Rihanna said had to figure out how to fit some of her biggest songs into her 13-minute set.
“The setlist was the biggest challenge,” she said. “That was the hardest, hardest part. Deciding how to maximize 13 minutes but also celebrate — that’s what this show is going to be. It’s going to be a celebration of my catalog in the best way that we could have put it together.’
A nine-time Grammy Award-winner, Rihanna has 14 No. 1 Billboard
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kmvt.com/2023/02/13/rihanna-is-pregnant-again-rep-says-after-super-bowl-show/ | 2023-02-13 03:20:59 | 0 | https://www.kmvt.com/2023/02/13/rihanna-is-pregnant-again-rep-says-after-super-bowl-show/ |
Commanders owner Dan Snyder to testify before Congress
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Washington Commanders Dan Snyder is set to testify Thursday morning before a congressional committee investigating the NFL team’s history of workplace misconduct.
A spokesperson for the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform says Snyder will give a deposition virtually and in private.
The spokesperson said in a statement on behalf of the committee: “Snyder has committed to providing full and complete testimony, and to answer the Committee’s questions about his knowledge of and contributions to the Commanders’ toxic work environment, as well as his efforts to interfere with the NFL’s internal investigation, without hiding behind non-disclosure or other confidentiality agreements.”
Snyder, who is out of the country, will testify voluntarily after committee members came to an agreement with his legal team on those terms. The committee had previously agreed to have Snyder testify under the terms of a subpoena it had initially issued.
The committee has the discretion to decide what, if any, information it releases from Snyder’s deposition.
Snyder is testifying a month after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appeared before the committee via Zoom to discuss Washington’s workplace culture and the league’s investigation into it. Snyder was invited to testify at the same hearing and, through a lawyer, declined.
The committee launched this investigation last year after the league fined Washington $10 million following its review of workplace misconduct but did not release a written report of attorney Beth Wilkinson’s findings.
___
More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2022/07/28/commanders-owner-dan-snyder-testify-before-congress/ | 2022-07-28 12:36:34 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/2022/07/28/commanders-owner-dan-snyder-testify-before-congress/ |
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Ten days after four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their rooms, police said Wednesday they still have not identified a suspect or found a murder weapon, and they continued asking for tips and surveillance video.
Moscow Police Capt. Roger Lanier told a news conference his department is putting all of its resources into solving the case and that investigators are prepared to work through the Thanksgiving holiday.
Authorities gave no indication that they’re any closer to making an arrest, but they did stress that they continue processing forensic evidence gathered from the home where the students were killed. Additional surveillance video could be just as helpful for what it doesn’t show as what it does, said Police Chief James Fry.
“We continue moving forward to understand why this occurred in our community,” Fry said.
The killings stunned bucolic Moscow, a college town and agricultural center that got its first Target store last year. The city, population of 26,000, is surrounded by rolling wheat and bean fields and had not seen a homicide since 2015.
The victims were housemates Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington.
Police said Tuesday they had pursued tips that Goncalves had a stalker, but they hadn’t been able to identify one. They also have knocked down rumors about other incidents — including a car break-in and a dog’s slaying — being potentially related to the case, as well as a rumor that the victims had been tied up or gagged.
According to investigators, Mogen and Goncalves had been out at a bar and a food truck before returning home at about 1:45 a.m. that Sunday. Kernodle and Chapin had been at a fraternity house and returned home about the same time. Two other housemates, whose names haven’t been released, got back about 45 minutes earlier.
Just before noon, a 911 call from the house reported an unconscious person; it had been placed from the phone of one of the housemates. Officers found the four students dead, two on the second story and two on the third. At least some appeared to have been attacked in their sleep, and some had defensive wounds, police said. There were no signs of sexual assault.
Police initially called the killings “targeted” and said there was no general threat to the public, but they later walked that back, conceding they could not say there wasn’t a threat. Many of the university’s 11,000 students fled the campus in advance of the Thanksgiving break.
Faculty have been asked to prepare remote learning options for those students who don’t want to return to in-person classes after the break, University of Idaho President Scott Green said. The school has boosted security in dorms and students can request security escorts around campus.
Dozens of agents, investigators and patrol officers from the FBI and Idaho State Patrol have been supporting the Moscow Police Department’s efforts.
“Even with these extra resources, it is unclear how long this investigation will take,” Green said in a video message Wednesday. “That is deeply frustrating for all of us.”
A candlelight vigil to honor the victims is set for Nov. 30 on campus. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-10-days-in-no-suspect-no-weapon-in-idaho-student-slayings/ | 2022-11-24 02:11:37 | 1 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/u-s-world/ap-10-days-in-no-suspect-no-weapon-in-idaho-student-slayings/ |
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League released a report which shows that hazardous air quality during the Weaver Fertilizer Plant fire was downplayed.
The report Winston-Salem Weaver Fertilizer Plant Fire - Analysis of Publicly Disseminated Air Quality Information During Facility Fire Incident highlights instances when local officials told the public that the air quality was okay and pollutants were just "irritants" when, in fact, levels of Particulate Matter 2.5 were in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's hazardous and very unhealthy categories.
It has been six months since the Weaver fertilizer plant fire which began on the evening of January 31. BREDL has recently received EPA air quality data through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which show that hazardous air quality conditions were downplayed during this industrial incident. We are still waiting for information from a March 22, 2022 open records request with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
The report compares official statements to the then current air quality data, specifically PM 2.5. This air quality data was available to the fire command center in real time but was not available to the general public.
Once EPA set up temporary air monitors around the perimeter of the fire, 29 hours into the incident, the PM 2.5 readings were well into the hazardous category. These air monitors became operational around midnight on Wednesday, February 2.
Five hours later during a press conference officials stated that "all levels have been in the acceptable range". While, in fact, PM 2.5 concentrations were as high as 9200 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) at the temporary air monitor located at the Wake Forest University police station. EPA community action hazardous conditions start at a concentration of 500 ug/m3.
Mark Barker, author of the BREDL Report, said, "On the afternoon of February 2 a Wake Forest University alert stated that the EPA indicated air quality readings on and near campus posed no threat to individual health and was safe to breathe. However, the on campus EPA air quality data indicated hazardous and very unhealthy PM 2.5 levels."
PM 2.5 has long been associated with significant health effects especially impacting respiratory and heart conditions.
The community within a one-mile radius of the Weaver facility has a high prevalence of asthma and heart disease according to EPA's EJScreen tool.
Barker said, "Our analysis leads us to make several recommendations for local, state and federal officials during industrial incidents: be transparent in reporting air quality and associated health impacts, make air quality data available to the public, include an air quality expert in incident press briefings and statements, utilize EJScreen to identify vulnerable communities, and incorporate temporary air monitors into existing EPA current air quality maps."
The BREDL report is available online at www.bredl.org/reports.htm.
Contact: Mark Barker
(540) 342-5580 (landline)
(540) 525-5241 (mobile)
mbarker@bredl.org
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SOURCE Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League Inc | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/08/04/winston-salem-weaver-fire-air-quality-worse-than-reported-by-agencies/ | 2022-08-04 22:11:03 | 1 | https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/08/04/winston-salem-weaver-fire-air-quality-worse-than-reported-by-agencies/ |
At a health-screening event in Sarasota, Florida, people milled around a parking lot waiting their turn for blood pressure or diabetes checks. The event was held in Sarasota's Newtown neighborhood, a historically Black community.
Local resident Tracy Green, 54, joined the line outside a pink and white bus offering free mammograms.
"It's a blessing, because some people, like me, are not fortunate and so this is what I needed," she said.
Green said she wanted the exam because cancer runs in her family. And there's another health concern: her breasts are large and cause her severe back pain. A doctor once recommended she get reduction surgery, she said, but she's uninsured and can't afford it.
In a recent Gallup poll, 38% of Americans surveyed said they had put off medical treatment last year due to cost, up from 26% in 2021. The new figure is the highest since Gallup started tracking the issue in 2001.
A survey by The Kaiser Family Foundation last summer showed similar results. It found people were most likely to delay dental care, followed by vision services and doctor's office visits. Many didn't take medications as prescribed.
The neighborhood screening event in Newtown — organized by the non-profit Multicultural Health Institute in partnership with a local hospital and other health groups — is part of an effort to fill in the coverage gap for low-income people.
Tracy Green explained that her teeth are in bad shape too, but dental care will also have to wait. She doesn't have health insurance or a stable job. When she can, she finds occasional work as a day laborer through a local temp office.
"I only make like $60 or $70-something a day. You know that ain't making no money," said Green. "And some days you go in and they don't have work."
If she lived in another state, Green might have been able to enroll in Medicaid. But Florida is one of eleven remaining states that haven't expanded the program to cover more working-age adults. With rent and other bills to pay, Green says her health is taking a backseat.
"I don't have money to go to the dentist, nothing, it's so expensive," she said. "Now, to get one extraction, one tooth pulled, it's like $200-300 that you don't have. So I don't know what to do. It's like fighting a losing battle right now."
In the Kaiser poll, 85 percent of uninsured adults said they found it difficult to pay for health care. Nearly half of insured respondents said they struggled with affordability as well.
The U.S. experienced record high inflation rates last year, and parts of Florida, including the nearby Tampa metro area, often fared even worse.
"We see an increasing desperation," said Dr. Lisa Merritt, executive director of the Multicultural Health Institute.
The Institute, which helps people access low-cost care, is based in Newtown. The neighborhood, inland from Sarasota's lavish beach communities, has many residents who live below the poverty line, lack insurance and face other barriers to consistent and affordable care.
"It's very difficult for people to be concerned about abstract things like getting screenings, getting regular health maintenance, when they're contending with the challenges of basic survival: food, shelter, transportation often," Merritt said.
'Horrible' housing costs put squeeze on health needs
Merritt and her team of volunteers work to build trust with community residents who may not be aware that support is available. They help people apply for low-cost insurance coverage, free medication programs and other resources that can reduce treatment costs.
Volunteer Bonnie Hardy said the people she serves have many financial worries, but one thing tops the list.
"Right now? A place to stay," said Hardy. "Housing is horrible."
High housing costs have started to ease in recent months, but data shows rent in Sarasota has gone up nearly 50 percent since the pandemic began in 2020.
Hardy helps people find housing and connects them with programs that cover costs like utilities and security deposits. The goal is to help people stabilize their day-to-day lives, and that in itself can improve health, she said.
"Because they're more comfortable now," she said. "They feel like, hey the rent is paid, I can let my guard down, maybe I can go get the medical attention I need."
Research shows putting off health care can lead to bigger problems.
The Gallup poll found 27% of respondents delayed treatment due to costs even for "very or somewhat serious" conditions.
Another reason people may be holding off on treating medical issues is that they already have health care debt. An investigation from NPR and Kaiser Health News found about 100 million people in America had medical debt. About 1 in 8 owe more than $10,000, according to a KFF poll.
Treating cancers or chronic conditions like diabetes early can not only save lives, it can also be less expensive than treating advanced-stage illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Doctors at the health screening event in Newtown said it's critical to help residents access preventive care.
At the health fair, substitute teacher Crystal Clyburn, 51, got a mammogram on the pink-and-white mobile bus and had her blood pressure checked. Clyburn doesn't have health insurance and she relies on events like this to stay on top of her health.
"I just try to take advantage of whatever that's out there, whatever that's free," she said. "You have to take care of yourself because you can look healthy and not even know you're sick."
After the cuff came off, a doctor told Clyburn her blood pressure was a little high. But then the doctor kept talking, and she smiled.
Although her pressure was high, it wasn't high enough that she needed to take medication. She thanked him and left, relieved to know that was one expense she wouldn't have to worry about. Not yet, anyway.
Copyright 2023 WUSF 89.7 | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/2023-03-10/high-inflation-and-housing-costs-force-americans-to-delay-needed-health-care | 2023-03-10 10:12:47 | 1 | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/2023-03-10/high-inflation-and-housing-costs-force-americans-to-delay-needed-health-care |
Expert: Monkeypox likely spread by sex at 2 raves in Europe
LONDON (AP) — A leading adviser to the World Health Organization described the unprecedented outbreak of the rare disease monkeypox in developed countries as “a random event” that might be explained by risky sexual behavior at two recent mass events in Europe.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed WHO’s emergencies department, said the leading theory to explain the spread of the disease was sexual transmission among gay and bisexual men at two raves held in Spain and Belgium. Monkeypox has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic in animals.
“We know monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with the lesions of someone who is infected, and it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission,” said Heymann.
That marks a significant departure from the disease’s typical pattern of spread in central and western Africa, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents and primates and outbreaks have not spilled across borders.
To date, WHO has recorded more than 90 cases of monkeypox in a dozen countries including Britain, Spain, Israel, France, Switzerland, the U.S. and Australia.
Madrid’s senior health official said on Monday that the Spanish capital has recorded 30 confirmed cases so far. Enrique Ruiz Escudero said authorities are investigating possible links between a recent Gay Pride event in the Canary Islands, which drew some 80,000 people, and cases at a Madrid sauna.
Heymann chaired an urgent meeting of WHO’s advisory group on infectious disease threats on Friday to assess the ongoing epidemic and said there was no evidence to suggest that monkeypox might have mutated into a more infectious form.
Monkeypox typically causes fever, chills, rash, and lesions on the face or genitals. It can be spread through close contact with an infected person or their clothing or bedsheets, but sexual transmission has not yet been documented. Most people recover from the disease within several weeks without requiring hospitalization. Vaccines against smallpox, a related disease, are also effective in preventing monkeypox and some antiviral drugs are being developed.
In recent years, the disease has been fatal in up to 6% of infections, but no deaths have been reported among the current cases. WHO said confirmed cases have so far been the less severe West African group of monkeypox viruses and appeared to be linked to a virus that was first detected in exported cases from Nigeria to Britain, Israel and Singapore in 2018-2019.
The U.N. agency said the outbreak is “a highly unusual event” and said the fact that cases are being seen in so many different countries suggests the disease may have been silently spreading for some time. The agency’s Europe director warned that as summer begins across the continent, mass gatherings, festivals and parties could accelerate the spread of monkeypox.
Other scientists have pointed out that it will be difficult to disentangle whether it is sex itself or the close contact related to sex that has driven the recent spread of monkeypox across Europe.
“By nature, sexual activity involves intimate contact, which one would expect to increase the likelihood of transmission, whatever a person’s sexual orientation and irrespective of the mode of transmission,” said Mike Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London.
On Sunday, the chief medical adviser of Britain’s Health Security Agency, Dr. Susan Hopkins, said she expected more monkeypox cases to be identified in the country “on a daily basis.”
U.K. officials have said “a notable proportion” of the cases in Britain and Europe have been in young men with no history of travel to Africa and who are gay, bisexual or have sex with men. Authorities in Portugal and Spain also said their cases were in men who mostly had sex with other men and whose infections were picked up when they sought help for lesions at sexual health clinics.
Heymann, who is also a professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the monkeypox outbreak was likely a random event that might be traceable to a single infection.
“It’s very possible there was somebody who got infected, developed lesions on the genitals, hands or somewhere else, and then spread it to others when there was sexual or close, physical contact,” Heymann hypothesized. “And then there were these international events that seeded the outbreak around the world, into the U.S. and other European countries.”
He emphasized that the disease was unlikely to trigger widespread transmission.
“This is not COVID,” he said. “We need to slow it down, but it does not spread in the air and we have vaccines to protect against it.” Heymann said studies should be conducted rapidly to determine if monkeypox could be spread by people without symptoms and that populations at risk of the disease should take precautions to protect themselves.
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Barry Hatton in Lisbon contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/2022/05/23/expert-monkeypox-likely-spread-by-sex-2-raves-europe/ | 2022-05-23 11:28:38 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/2022/05/23/expert-monkeypox-likely-spread-by-sex-2-raves-europe/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The peril that National Security Agency staff wanted to discuss with their director didn’t involve terrorists or enemy nations. It was something closer to home: racism and cultural misunderstandings inside America’s largest intelligence service.
The NSA and other intelligence agencies held calls for their staff shortly after the death of George Floyd. As Gen. Paul Nakasone listened, one person described how they would try to speak up in meetings only to have the rest of the group keep talking over them. Another person, a Black man, spoke about how he had been counseled that his voice was too loud and intimidated co-workers. A third said a co-worker addressed them with a racist slur.
The national reckoning over racial inequality sparked by Floyd’s murder two years ago has gone on behind closed doors inside America’s intelligence agencies. But publicly available data, published studies of diversity programs and interviews with retired officers indicate spy agencies have not lived up to years of commitments made by their top leaders, who often say diversity is a national security imperative.
People of color remain underrepresented across the intelligence community and are less likely to be promoted. Retired officers who spoke to The Associated Press described examples of explicit and implicit bias. People who had served on promotion boards noted non-native English speakers applying for new jobs would sometimes be criticized for being hard to understand — what one person called the “accent card.” Some say they believe minorities are funneled into working on countries or regions based on their ethnicity.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, the first woman to serve in her role, has appointed diversity officials who say they need to collect better data to study longstanding questions, from whether the process for obtaining a security clearance disadvantages people of color to the reasons for disparities in advancement. Agencies are also implementing reforms they say will promote diversity.
“It’s going to be incremental,” said Stephanie La Rue, who was appointed this year to lead the intelligence community’s efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion. “We’re not going to see immediate change overnight. It’s going to take us a while to get to where we need to go.”
The NSA call following Floyd’s death was described by a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private discussion. The person credited Nakasone for listening to employees and making public and private commitments to diversity. But the person and other former officials said they sometimes felt that their identities as people of color were discounted or not fully appreciated by their employers.
The NSA said in a statement that the agency “has been steadfast in our commitment to building and sustaining a diverse and expert workforce.”
“Beyond the mission imperative, NSA cultivates diversity and promotes inclusion because we care about our people and know it is the right way to proceed,” the statement said.
A former NSA contractor alleged this year that racist and misogynistic comments often circulate on classified intelligence community chatrooms. The contractor, Dan Gilmore, wrote in a blog post that he was fired for reporting his complaints to higher-ups. A spokeswoman for Director Haines, Nicole de Haay, declined to comment on Gilmore’s allegations but said employees who “engage in inappropriate conduct are subject to a variety of accountability mechanisms, including disciplinary action.”
The U.S. intelligence community has evolved over decades from being almost exclusively run by white men — following a stereotype that Rep. Jim Himes, a Connecticut Democrat, referred to in a hearing on diversity last year as “pale, male, Yale.” Intelligence agencies that once denied security clearances to people suspected of being gay now have active resource groups for people of different races and sexual orientation.
Testifying at the same hearing as Himes, CIA Director William Burns said, “Simply put, we can’t be effective and we’re not being true to our nation’s ideals if everyone looks like me, talks like me, and thinks like me.”
But annual charts published by the Office of Director of National Intelligence show a consistent trend: At rising levels of rank, minority representation goes down.
Latinos make up about 18% of the American population but just 7% of the roughly 100,000-person intelligence community and 3.5% of senior officers. Black officers comprise 12% of the community — the same as the U.S. population — but 6.5% at the most senior level. And while minorities comprise 27% of the total intelligence workforce, just 15% of senior executives are people of color.
A 2015 report commissioned by the CIA said the “underrepresentation of racial/ethnic minority officers and officers with a disability at the senior ranks is not a recent problem and speaks to unresolved cultural, organizational, and unconscious bias issues.” Among the report’s findings: Progress made between 1984 and 2004 in promoting Black officers to senior roles had been lost in the following decade and recruitment efforts at historically Black colleges and universities “have not been effective.”
“Since its founding, the Agency has been unmistakably weak in promoting diverse role models to the executive level,” the report said.
Lenora Peters Gant, a former senior human capital officer for the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, wrote last year that the intelligence community constantly imposes barriers on minorities, women and people with disabilities. Gant, now an adviser at Howard University, called on agencies to release some of their classified data on hiring and retention.
“The bottom line is the decision making leadership levels are void of credible minority participation,” Gant said.
ODNI is starting an investigation of the slowest 10% of security clearance applications, reviewing delays in the cases for any possible examples of bias. It also intends to review whether polygraph examiners need additional race and ethnicity training.
The intelligence community currently doesn’t report delays in getting a security clearance — required for most agency jobs — based on race, ethnicity or gender. The months or years a clearance can take can push away applicants who can’t wait that long.
The office is implementing annual grant monitoring and assigning additional staff to work with universities in the intelligence community’s Centers for Academic Excellence program, intended to recruit college students from underrepresented groups. A 2019 audit said it was impossible to judge the program due to poor planning and a lack of clear goals.
The program also got a new logo after ODNI officials heard that the previous “IC CAE” insignia appeared to spell out “ICE,” an unintended reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Additional quiet changes are taking place across the agencies. Officials say the changes were in process before Floyd’s death, though conversations held with employees brought new urgency to diversity issues.
The NSA stopped requiring applicants for internal promotions to disclose the date they were last promoted to the boards considering their application. Officials familiar with the change say it was intended to benefit applicants who take longer to move up the agency ladder, often including working parents or people from underrepresented communities.
The agency said in a statement that officials “regularly examine the outcomes of our personnel systems to assess their fairness.”
The CIA two years ago formally tied yearly bonuses for its senior executives to their performance on diversity goals, measured next to factors such as leadership and intelligence tradecraft. Last year’s class of new senior executives was the most diverse in the agency’s history, with 47% women and 27% people from minority backgrounds, exceeding the percentages of women and minorities in the agency’s total workforce.
Said CIA spokesperson Tammy Thorp: “We are proud of the agency’s progress in ensuring our hiring, assignment, and promotion processes do not create barriers to advancement.”
La Rue, the chief diversity officer for the intelligence community, has hired several data analysts and plans for her office to issue annual report cards on diversity for each intelligence agency. She acknowledges advocates have to break through enduring skepticism inside and outside government that diversity goals undermine the intelligence mission or require lower standards.
“The narrative that we have to sacrifice excellence for diversity, or that we are somehow compromising national security to achieve our diversity goals, is ridiculous,” she said. | https://www.wane.com/news/spy-agencies-urged-to-fix-open-secret-a-lack-of-diversity/ | 2022-05-19 21:14:55 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/spy-agencies-urged-to-fix-open-secret-a-lack-of-diversity/ |
Kevin Spacey appears in a London court, as the jury is sworn in for the beginning of the the actor's trial over sexual offences — charges the actor denies.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Kevin Spacey appears in a London court, as the jury is sworn in for the beginning of the the actor's trial over sexual offences — charges the actor denies.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-06-28/actor-kevin-spaceys-sexual-offence-trial-begins-in-london | 2023-06-28 20:57:58 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-06-28/actor-kevin-spaceys-sexual-offence-trial-begins-in-london |
NEW YORK (AP) — Roddy Ricch is facing gun charges after being arrested on his way to perform at a concert Saturday night.
According to police, the 23-year-old rapper was arriving at Citi Field on Saturday evening when a private security firm operating a checkpoint noticed a firearm in the vehicle he was riding in. The Los Angeles-based Ricch was scheduled to perform at the Governors Ball Music Festival.
A loaded firearm was recovered from the car along with nine rounds of ammunition and a large capacity magazine, police said.
Police charged Ricch, whose real name is Rodrick Moore, and two other men in the car — 46-year-old Michael Figueroa of Brooklyn and 57-year-old Carlos Collins of Eastchester, New York — with criminal possession of a weapon, possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device and unlawful possession of the device.
Messages seeking comment were left Sunday with Ricch’s booking agency and record company. It wasn’t immediately known if he had retained an attorney who could comment on the charges. | https://www.yourbasin.com/entertainment-news/rapper-roddy-ricch-arrested-on-gun-charges-in-new-york/ | 2022-06-13 19:03:24 | 0 | https://www.yourbasin.com/entertainment-news/rapper-roddy-ricch-arrested-on-gun-charges-in-new-york/ |
New Lightning Bets for NFL continue to scale the sportsbook's market-leading live betting portfolio, with 184% increase in customers using the product week over week
DENVER, Oct. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PointsBet, the home of live betting, today announced it has successfully enabled a homepage feature of NFL Lightning Bets on the PointsBet app, leading to a 108% increase in Lightning Bets handle and 184% increase in unique customers using the product week over week. During week 5 of Sunday Night Football, NFL Lightning Bets were the most popular live markets and third highest in terms of handle. This development comes on the heels of PointsBet announcing its upcoming integration of in-app content, featuring clips from PointsBet-produced shows such as The Straight Line with Ryan Leaf, to further build out its live betting functionality.
Placing an emphasis on live betting has become a key objective for PointsBet in its mission to disrupt the sports betting status quo in the North American market. Since its entrance in the U.S., the sportsbook has focused on carving out space where bettors are showing a hunger for them to show up.
"Live, in-game betting is not only the future of the American sports market, but it's what the sports bettor wants right now. We recognize that, and we've upped our investment in our product. Lightning bets are a continued development in our strategy to own the future of sports betting," said Johnny Aitken, Chief Executive Officer at PointsBet USA. "Just this week at the 2022 World Congress of Sport, NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum predicted that live betting will soon rise to over 70% of all bets placed."
Lightning Bets bring customers closer to the live action, allowing them to bet on the outcome of every play and drive to deliver more ways to win throughout the game. Currently, PointsBet offers Lightning Bets to users for NFL, NBA, and college basketball matchups – with additional markets set to be rolled out in the near future for MLB, as well as soccer, ahead of the World Cup.
Over the course of the 2022 NBA Playoffs, Lightning Bets were the second most popular market for customers to bet on with an average stake size of over $100.
PointsBet's acquisition of Banach Technology in 2021, coupled with its partnership with Nellie Analytics as a result of the recent investment from Susquehanna International Group (SIG), has largely driven technology-related innovations on the sportsbook's platform. Banach, an Ireland-based software company that creates sports betting platforms and algorithms, has been critical in enhancing PointsBet's live betting offerings. As part of the SIG investment, Nellie Analytics has provided access to its quantitative modeling research and helped accelerate PointsBet's product-led strategy.
Earlier this year, PointsBet broke ground in becoming the first U.S. sports betting provider to offer clients live, in-game betting opportunities with zero suspensions across the core markets of spread and moneyline as part of a test run during the NFL Wildcard Playoff game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals.
About PointsBet
PointsBet is a corporate bookmaker listed on the Australian Stock Exchange with operations in Australia, the United States, Canada and Ireland. PointsBet has developed a scalable cloud-based wagering platform through which it offers its clients innovative sports and racing wagering products, advance deposit wagering on racing (ADW) and iGaming.
Media Contact
Patrick Sandusky
Senior Vice President of PR & Communications
patrick.sandusky@pointsbet.com
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SOURCE PointsBet | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/10/12/pointsbet-unveils-new-nfl-live-betting-feature-lightning-bets-leading-record-number-live-bets-during-nfl-week-5/ | 2022-10-12 19:11:16 | 1 | https://www.wibw.com/prnewswire/2022/10/12/pointsbet-unveils-new-nfl-live-betting-feature-lightning-bets-leading-record-number-live-bets-during-nfl-week-5/ |
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is expected to be released from the hospital “in the coming days,” as he recovers well and without complications from abdominal surgery last week, the Vatican said Wednesday.
In his daily medical update, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis again rested well overnight, was at work during the day and had received the Eucharist during a moment of prayer in the chapel of his hospital suite.
The 86-year-old pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on June 7 for surgery to repair a hernia in his abdominal wall and remove intestinal scar tissue that had caused intestinal blockages. Francis in 2021 had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed at Gemelli because of a narrowing of the intestine, and had at least two prior abdominal surgeries in Argentina.
Citing Francis’ doctors, Bruni said the pope’s recovery “is proceeding regularly, without complications, and as such his discharge is planned for the coming days.”
Daily Il Fatto Quotidiano quoted an email from the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Battista Re, to his colleagues saying Francis’ return to the Vatican was expected Thursday or Friday.
Francis already has a full agenda scheduled for next week, including a reported audience with Cuban President Miguel Diaz Cane and one with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. On June 23, he’s due to preside over an audience in the Sistine Chapel with artists to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the contemporary art collection in the Vatican Museums.
The Vatican typically cancels papal audiences during July, a summer break that will give Francis time to recover more fully before his expected Aug. 2-6 trip to Portugal for World Youth Day. Other upcoming travel includes an Aug. 31-Sept. 4 visit to Mongolia, the first-ever by a pope, and a Sept. 23 day trip to Marseille, France. | https://www.wdtn.com/news/ap-top-headlines/pope-expected-to-be-released-soon-from-hospital-after-abdominal-surgery-vatican/ | 2023-06-15 14:31:32 | 0 | https://www.wdtn.com/news/ap-top-headlines/pope-expected-to-be-released-soon-from-hospital-after-abdominal-surgery-vatican/ |
WFO BURLINGTON Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, September 22, 2022
_____
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Burlington VT
213 AM EDT Thu Sep 22 2022
...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR EAST CENTRAL ST. LAWRENCE
COUNTY IS CANCELLED...
The severe thunderstorm which prompted the warning has moved out of
the warned area. Therefore, the warning has been cancelled but other
storms remain upstream and will need to be monitored closely for
strong gusty winds and lightning.
...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 230 AM EDT
FOR SOUTHWESTERN CLINTON...EAST CENTRAL FRANKLIN AND NORTHWESTERN
ESSEX COUNTIES...
At 212 AM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Bloomingdale,
moving east at 60 mph.
HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Expect damage to trees and powerlines.
Locations impacted include...
Saranac Lake, Wilmington, Au Sable Forks, Jay In Essex County,
Harrietstown, Black Brook, Hawkeye, Union Falls, Lake Colby, Rainbow
Lake, Gabriels, Onchiota, Vermontville, Franklin Falls, Alder Brook,
North Jay, Bloomingdale and Ausable Forks.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a
building.
_____
Copyright 2022 AccuWeather | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/NY-WFO-BURLINGTON-Warnings-Watches-and-17458650.php | 2022-09-22 06:57:56 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/weather/article/NY-WFO-BURLINGTON-Warnings-Watches-and-17458650.php |
DENVER — Nikola Jokic wasn’t supposed to be here. Neither was Jimmy Butler, for that matter.
Yet here they are in the NBA Finals.
One of them will become a champion for the first time, with Jokic leading the Denver Nuggets and Butler leading the Miami Heat in a matchup that starts Thursday night in Denver, with the Nuggets heavily favored to win it all.
“This is going to be the hardest game of our life, and we know that,” Jokic said. “We are prepared for that. We are prepared for that. So, I think there is no favorite. Definitely, I think we are not favorites in this series. I think they’re not either. I think it’s just the finals.”
The Nuggets — in the finals for the first time — had by far the easier road to the title round. They climbed atop the Western Conference standings in mid-December and never fell from that perch, then lived up to that No. 1 seed by going 12-3 in the West playoffs.
Miami — a seven-time finalist now, seeking a fourth title — had about the rockiest path to the Rocky Mountains that a team could have. The Heat had to rally in a play-in elimination game just to make the playoffs, knocked out No. 1 overall seed Milwaukee in Round 1, rival New York in Round 2 and then just had to go win a Game 7 in Boston, after nearly wasting a 3-0 lead, to vanquish last season’s loss to the Celtics in the East finals.
“This is a special group,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “This group has been able to overcome a lot of different things, handle a lot of adversity, setbacks, things that have not gone the way we wanted them to go. And instead of having that collapse our spirit, it allowed us to develop some fortitude and grit collectively, and give us something to rally around, which was each other.”
At 44-38 this season, Miami would tie the worst regular-season record ever by an NBA champion. The Washington Bullets had that record and won the 1978 title. There were 10 teams that finished this season with better records than Miami — nine of them are no longer playing — and 589 teams in NBA history that had better regular seasons than the 2022-23 Heat yet still didn’t win a title.
They are improbable finalists. Their leader took an improbable path, too. But after stints with Chicago, Philadelphia and Minnesota didn’t always go as planned, Butler is now in the finals with Miami for a second time in four years.
“I would like to say that I’m never rattled. I’m very calm,” Butler said. “I’m very consistent in everything that I do, whether it’s before the game, after the game, during the game, and I think when my guys look at me like that, they follow suit in every single way. I love that about them because they’re never shook. No matter what.”
It’s not about Jokic vs. Butler; both have big-time players around them as well, namely Jamal Murray for Denver and Bam Adebayo for Miami. Jokic and Butler are the two leading scorers left in these playoffs; Jokic is averaging 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists, while Butler is averaging 28.5 per game — including a playoff-high 56 to help oust the Bucks.
Jokic is a two-time MVP, was in the conversation for a third in a row this year, has seen about every defense imaginable and rarely blinks at any of them. Play off him, he’ll shoot and score. Play tight, he’ll set up someone for an easier shot. He’s as close to fundamental perfection as there might be in the league right now. Not bad for a guy who got drafted while the broadcast was airing a Taco Bell commercial — true story — and never thought he’d make the NBA when he arrived in the U.S.
“With Nikola, it’s never about looking backward. It’s always about looking forward and challenging himself to become the best player that he can be,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Early on, being the best player he could be was not necessarily about a skill set. It was about maturing, growing up, handling adversity, dealing with the referees, getting into the best shape of his life, losing weight. I think once that all happened, that kind of coincided with our rise.”
The team that plays at the highest altitude in the NBA — 5,280 feet above sea level — has risen to its highest level yet. Jokic is four wins from his first ring. Butler is four wins from the ring he has been talking about getting all year, even when Miami’s record didn’t exactly suggest the Heat would be here.
But here they are. The West finals MVP in Jokic. The East finals MVP in Butler. The prize they want most is just four wins away.
“In a lot of ways, what they have done is unprecedented,” Miami forward Kevin Love said. “Obviously, they operate in different ways to get the job done. But still, all things considered, I think they’re two very underappreciated stars and superstars in this league.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/2023/05/31/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets/04bd20ee-fff9-11ed-9eb0-6c94dcb16fcf_story.html | 2023-05-31 22:36:46 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/2023/05/31/nba-finals-2023-heat-nuggets/04bd20ee-fff9-11ed-9eb0-6c94dcb16fcf_story.html |
Several members of the Capital City Kiwanis Club toured the new Food Bank of Lincoln facilities at 1221 Kingbird Road on Aug. 29.
The Capital City Kiwanis Club (CCK) continues its longstanding support of the Food Bank’s efforts to relieve food insecurity issues by identifying “Feeding Lincoln” as its 2022-2023 signature project. Capital City Kiwanis gives yearly financial donations to the Food Bank and other nonprofit organizations in the area that help alleviate food insecurity.
CCK members volunteer at the North Star Food Market, Belmont Food Market, Bryan Emergency Pantry and Lincoln Fresh as well as deliver Meals on Wheels.
Since 2006, CCK has donated $81,253 to the Food Bank of Lincoln. | https://journalstar.com/niche/neighborhood-extra/cck-members-tour-food-bank-continue-longstanding-support/article_ba4e76e9-5731-5e25-8a46-634c19921b32.html | 2022-09-17 05:06:02 | 0 | https://journalstar.com/niche/neighborhood-extra/cck-members-tour-food-bank-continue-longstanding-support/article_ba4e76e9-5731-5e25-8a46-634c19921b32.html |
Chinese businessman arrested in $1 billion fraud conspiracy
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — A self-exiled Chinese businessman has been arrested in New York on charges alleging that he oversaw a $1 billion fraud conspiracy. Guo Wengui and his financier, Kin Ming Je, were charged in an indictment in federal court in Manhattan with various charges, including wire, securities and bank fraud. Federal prosecutors announced the arrest Wednesday. They said the indictment stemmed from a complex scheme in which the defendants lied to hundreds of thousands of online followers before misappropriating hundreds of millions of dollars. Je has not been arrested. | https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national/2023/03/15/chinese-businessman-arrested-in-1-billion-fraud-conspiracy-2/ | 2023-03-15 20:34:12 | 0 | https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national/2023/03/15/chinese-businessman-arrested-in-1-billion-fraud-conspiracy-2/ |
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey of the celiac disease community by Beyond Celiac, the leading catalyst for a celiac disease cure, reveals the ongoing challenges those with the disease are facing on National Celiac Disease Awareness Day, Sept. 13, and the overwhelming desire for new treatments and a cure.
The only current celiac disease treatment, which is only partially effective, is to follow a strict, gluten-free diet. However, the survey of 1,255 Americans who have been diagnosed with celiac disease by a medical provider showed that while 93% of respondents never intentionally eat gluten, nearly 73% still have exposure to gluten each year, resulting in symptoms. 36% report accidentally ingesting gluten as often as 1-5 times a month. Over 66% of respondents have very severe or bad symptoms as a result of gluten exposure, with gastrointestinal (84%), neurological (56%) and psychological (40%) symptoms being the most common.
"Although necessary as the only option for now, following a gluten-free diet is burdensome, not fully effective, and can negatively impact day-to-day living in a world full of gluten," said Alice Bast, Beyond Celiac CEO. "We need real therapies and a cure for celiac disease so that those with the disease can live full lives and eat without fear."
Survey respondents say gluten-free food is expensive (80%) and dining out is difficult due to lack of gluten-free options (91%), causing an even bigger barrier to socializing and living normally. Almost two-thirds (61%) of respondents said there should be therapeutic treatments instead of, or in addition to, the gluten-free diet.
"As we continue our mission to advance research and find a cure, we want the public to have a better understanding of celiac disease as a serious disease and the implications of living with this devastating condition," said Bast.
Often misunderstood and frequently misdiagnosed, celiac disease remains a mystery for many. A nationwide benchmark survey of the general public conducted earlier this year by The Harris Poll on behalf of Beyond Celiac revealed that only half of Americans (50%) know anything about celiac disease and/or gluten sensitivity. The report on The Harris Poll survey, "The Mystery of Celiac Disease: The Need for Greater Awareness and Accelerating the Quest for a Cure" can be found at www.beyondceliac.org/2022celiacreport. The report also presents facts about the disease and outlines how Beyond Celiac is taking steps to accelerate the quest for a cure.
Celiac disease is a serious autoimmune condition. The disease causes damage to the small intestine, resulting in debilitating symptoms, and if left untreated can lead to a number of serious, long-term health problems including brain damage, infertility and some types of cancer. Celiac disease affects one in 133 Americans.1
Founded in 2003, Beyond Celiac is the leading catalyst for a celiac disease cure in the United States, serving as a patient advocacy and research-driven organization working to drive diagnosis and accelerate the discovery of new treatments. By engaging with the top scientists in the field, making the right investments in research and supporting the broad community of those with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, Beyond Celiac envisions a world in which people can live healthy lives and eat without fear – a world Beyond Celiac. www.BeyondCeliac.org.
Media Contact:
Claire Baker, 267.419.2111
cbaker@beyondceliac.org
Angela Miller, 319.331.5090
amiller@kaisermarketinggroup.com
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SOURCE Beyond Celiac | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/09/13/73-celiac-disease-patients-still-exposed-gluten-every-year-highlighting-need-cure-national-celiac-disease-awareness-day/ | 2022-09-13 13:02:55 | 1 | https://www.wcjb.com/prnewswire/2022/09/13/73-celiac-disease-patients-still-exposed-gluten-every-year-highlighting-need-cure-national-celiac-disease-awareness-day/ |
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