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Former health minister Steve Brine cleared of lobbying breach for second time in a year because no VAT was paid
Steve Brine during the First International Congress on Golf and Health at the Houses of Parliament on October 17, 2018 in London, England.
Andrew Redington/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Former minister Steve Brine has been cleared of breaching lobbying rules because no VAT was paid.
Brine told then-health secretary Matt Hancock Remedium Partners was "very worth a call".
He received £1,600 a month, but is not deemed a consultant lobbyist as he is not VAT-registered.
A former health minister has been cleared of breaching lobbying rules for a second time in less than a year, because in both cases no VAT was paid.
Steve Brine, who served in Theresa May's government until March 2019, messaged then-health secretary Matt Hancock about Remedium Partners. He was being paid £1,600 a month, his register of interests shows.
According to The Times, Brine told Hancock the medical recruitment agency was "very worth a call from your team" about staffing of Nightingale hospitals set up during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former ministers are banned from lobbying ministers for two years after their last day in office. The message was sent in March 2020, meaning his approach fell within the restricted period.
However, an investigation by the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, an independent statutory office sponsored by the Cabinet Office, found that Brine had not breached lobbying rules because no VAT was paid.
"Payments to Mr Brine from Remedium Partners were not paid to a VAT registered entity," a summary of the decision said.
"Under the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 ("the Act"), registration under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 is one of three conditions that define consultant lobbying."
This is the second time an investigation into Brine has concluded he was not lobbying. In November 2021, the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists came to the same conclusion about his work for Sigma Pharmaceuticals.
Separately, a source told Insider that Brine was likely to be cleared of breaching the rules by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) on the basis that he did not make use of his former government role. The source was granted anonymity to speak freely.
Letters confirming that decision are due to be published confirming this in the coming days, the source said.
Neither Brine's office nor Remedium responded to requests for comment.
An ACOBA spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics, but said: "We have sought further assurances from Mr Brine following the Times story and will be publishing correspondence shortly."
More: News UK UK Parliament ACOBA Lobbying
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2022-08-08T13:27:43Z
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Former Minister Brine Cleared of Lobbying Breach As No VAT Was Paid
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https://www.businessinsider.com/former-minister-brine-cleared-lobbying-breach-no-vat-paid-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/former-minister-brine-cleared-lobbying-breach-no-vat-paid-2022-8
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Y Combinator's head of admissions is reviewing over 10,000 startups for its next cohort, even in the middle of the downturn. Here's what she's looking for.
Stephanie Simon, the admissions director for Y Combinator.
Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's most storied startup accelerator, is known for its exclusivity.
Only about 1.5 to 2% of over 20,000 startup applicants a year are accepted.
YC's head of admissions, Stephanie Simon, shares her advice for founders applying in a downturn.
For early-stage founders looking to grow their startups in an accelerator, few names spark as much excitement as Y Combinator.
The startup accelerator is well known for its exclusivity, accepting only between 1.5 and 2% of the over 10,000 applications for each summer and winter cohort. Several of Silicon Valley's marquee companies are Y Combinator graduates, including Airbnb, Stripe, and Dropbox.
However, Y Combinator is not immune to the market conditions and economic downturn: The accelerator ended up slashing its summer cohort size by 40%, with only about 250 companies accepted compared with winter's 414, The Information reported.
When asked about The Information's latest story, a spokesperson for Y Combinator confirmed the reduction in batch size, citing economic conditions and the return to partially-in person programming for those startups willing to relocate to Mountain View as the main contributing factors, rather than criticism over class size.
Stephanie Simon, the head of Y Combinator's admissions team, wants founders to know she's still sifting through all those applications. She joined the team in 2016 and became its leader in November 2020. She has read through thousands of applications during her tenure and is offering her best tips to budding startup founders looking to gain acceptance to the accelerator's exclusive program.
A spokesperson for the accelerator confirmed that the deadline for Y Combinator's next winter cohort was September 12.
While the admissions team will still review all applications submitted late until the cohort starts, Simon emphasized that with the uncertain market conditions it's more important than ever to apply early.
"It's surprising how many don't or how many apply the day of the deadline, and it's really stressful for them," she said. "As a founder, your cortisol levels are already so high, and you don't need to get them any higher."
The process to apply to Y Combinator is pretty straightforward, Simon said. Once a founding team submits an application, the admissions team and even a few executives will review it.
If the committee decides they want to interview the founders, they schedule a 10-minute video interview, then make a decision about a founder's application shortly thereafter.
"I would say 99% of the time, you're getting a 10-minute interview and we're giving you an answer within a day," Simon said.
Simon added that no startup — no matter how trendy — would automatically get selected over others.
There are times when people on the admissions team are really excited about certain types of companies, like crypto in recent years or "chatbots" in 2016. But what's more important is the strength of the team. "The lens is, 'What are the smart impressive teams working on?'" Simon said.
Having a technical founder on the team is key
One way for startups to stand out is to have a cofounder and one team member who come from a technical background, Simon said.
"Basically, we're looking for founding teams where they can build the product, or at least the beginning versions of the product on the team itself," she said.
By having a technical founder, a startup will be able to solve problems more quickly and creatively because of their knowledge of the tech, Simon said. A technical founder will also make hiring engineers easier — which can be one of the hardest things that startups have to do, she said — since they usually have networks that they can hire from.
The startup should be solving a real problem, especially now
The other key quality most successful YC pitches have is a sense that the problem the startup is trying to solve feels real.
"When it's a problem that the founders themselves have felt or someone they know closely has felt, it just feels more grounded in reality and feels way more likely to succeed," Simon said.
Simon can tell from a pitch whether honesty and authenticity are tied to the problem, she said.
This part of a pitch is more important than ever in less frothy market conditions, according to Simon.
"It may be that a couple years ago, you saw your friends raising tons of money with ideas that seemed maybe not as tethered to a concrete problem. I think that's going to change," Simon said.
One of the best ways to confirm that you're solving a real problem is "talking to your users," Simon said, and taking in their feedback before you apply.
Plus, if your service comes at a cost to users, it's good to test that before applying to Y Combinator to confirm you're fulfilling a significant need.
"It's a good test for whether you're building something people want and tends to create more honest conversations with users," Simon said. "They'll tell you that the product is great until you ask them to pay."
Domain expertise is also important in some cases, she said. For startups in certain sectors, like insurance and biotechnology, being an expert will matter a lot more to the admissions team when it's reviewing the application.
Only one quality would completely disqualify a company
The biggest turnoff for YC admissions managers is "inauthenticity," Simon said, especially in a downturn. In every application batch, they see some startup ideas that seem inauthentic.
"It feels it's pretty obvious when the idea feels made up and they haven't experienced it personally or don't know anyone who has experienced the problem that they're trying to solve," she said.
But Simon said there's only one criterion that would completely disqualify a startup: "I think the only absolute no for us is if when we imagine that company being successful, it was net negative for the world."
More: Startups Y Combinator Venture Capital
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2022-08-08T13:27:49Z
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What Y Combinator Looks for in an Application in a Down Market
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-apply-y-combinator-application-down-market-successful-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-apply-y-combinator-application-down-market-successful-2022-8
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I started an online law practice that earns me up to $10,000 in revenue a month working 20-hour weeks. Here's how I used social media to attract clients.
Kelli Jones' law firm laid her off during the pandemic.
Kelli Jones' private-litigation firm laid her off during the pandemic in June 2020.
None of the open roles in Jones' field appealed to her, so she launched her own online law firm.
This is how she scaled her virtual law business to make $10,000 a month, as told to Amber Sunner.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Kelli Jones, a 33-year-old in New York, about setting up a law-firm business. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I worked at a private-litigation firm for three years, but in 2020 we weren't getting any business because of the pandemic.
The courts had closed, so at first, they cut all employee salaries by 25% in May 2020. A month later, the firm laid me off.
While working in litigation, I was also a part-time spin instructor teaching a few nights a week. I began teaching fitness in 2017 and used my social-media presence to market my classes.
After the firm let me go, I started applying for jobs.
I discovered that many of the available positions expected employees to go into court regularly, which I didn't enjoy. I decided to pivot the direction of my law career. I took the leap and started my online firm.
I always said I would never start my law firm
I thought it would be too much work for just one person. But after seeing other lawyers on Instagram build their firms off the backs of their social-media accounts, I saw it as more accessible.
Even though I'd been laid off and was not working, I still had around $15,000 in savings that I could invest. My startup costs were about $6,000 in total.
I took a course by another lawyer which focused on setting up a virtual law firm. This course cost $4,500, which was the majority of my overall expenses.
I found the lawyer and their course on a Facebook group for trademark attorneys. I learned a lot from the group through questions other people were asking, and it took me two weeks to finish the course.
I spent the remaining $1,500 on a website, a website domain, and PLLC, meaning I am registered as a professional limited-liability company.
I launched my trademark practice in August 2020. I also offered digital products on my website, like contract templates.
I offer flat-fee pricing because the majority of work for a trademark client happens within the first couple of weeks. I retain clients for a year because that is how long it takes to get a trademark.
Charging a flat fee of $2,000 plus filing fees is also easier for billing and accounting.
I knew I could switch my Instagram from fitness to law
I had about 3,000 followers when I made this pivot. During my time dedicated to fitness, I connected with a lot of fitness entrepreneurs. A lot of them had already pivoted from fitness coaching to business coaching.
I started working from home so I could work freely and be close to my dog, who I like to call my mini-coworker.
At the start, I had enough business to cover my bills which, was fine for me. Then slowly the business started growing.
Reinvesting into platforms that improved my business early on helped me grow. I employed Honeybook for onboarding clients in September and invested in Podia to host my contract templates in the same month.
I hired a virtual assistant for three months to help me create Pinterest content in October 2020. At this point, I was making $3,000 a month.
At the end of 2020, I began posting business-related content on TikTok because I liked short-form videos
I was generating $5,000 a month on average at this point. I think TikTok allowed me to connect with people on a more relatable level.
TikTok has helped increase my sales — in my trademark-consultation forms, I always ask, "Where did you hear about us?" I notice that more people than before have been writing TikTok in this section.
In January 2021, I hired a designer to design my logo and my brand colors. She also helped move my Wix website to Squarespace in May 2021. All in, this cost me $1,000.
I feel like this has helped me stand out as an online lawyer.
After generating a following on TikTok and revamping my online presence, I reached my first $10,000 month in September 2021, which was an exciting moment.
I now work between 15 and 20 hours a week, generating on average $10,000 a month
My weeks consist of five or six hours of content creation, including posting on Instagram and filming and posting TikToks. I repurpose videos for Pinterest and Youtube. I also respond to messages and comments.
Two hours of my week are spent organizing my accounts and onboarding new clients. The rest of my time is spent searching for trademarks, filing trademark applications, or drafting office actions.
The amount of hours I work depends on the week.
I did try to invest in paid advertising for the first time in February this year
I hired a Facebook Ads manager to promote my contract templates. I paid the manager $1,000 a month, and then for the ads, I paid between $400 and $700. I made back $500, so I lost more than I gained. I stopped this after three months.
If there's something that you want to start, you can do it. Consistent posting on social media is a small effort, but can effectively grow a business.
More: contributor 2022 as told to UK Freelance
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2022-08-08T13:27:55Z
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How I Make $10K a Month in Revenue As a Lawyer Working 20-Hour Weeks
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https://www.businessinsider.com/lawyer-laid-off-makes-10k-monthly-working-less-hours-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/lawyer-laid-off-makes-10k-monthly-working-less-hours-2022-8
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Sponsor content Home Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Retail
How businesses can manage fraud and risk without compromising on customer experience
Created by Insider Studios with PayPal
Businesses have witnessed an influx of fraudulent activity over the last few years.
Merchants and e-commerce brands are feeling the pressure to provide customers with seamless and secure user experiences.
Partnering with a vendor that uses the most up-to-date data can address fraud challenges and offer a seamless shopping experience.
Fraud is on the rise. As consumers shift more of their shopping behaviors to digital platforms, businesses are experiencing unrelenting fraud tactics emerging from all directions — and the threat landscape only continues to evolve. In fact, according to "Adaptive ML: The Future Of E-Commerce Fraud Management," an April 2022 research study commissioned by PayPal and conducted by Forrester Consulting*, 97% of global fraud prevention decision-makers at e-commerce companies experienced fraud in the past 24 months*. According to another survey by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by PayPal, 81% said their organizations are more vulnerable because of digital transformation.
Fraud negatively impacts both consumers and businesses. The Forrester study revealed that respondents saw fraud incidents as a cause of negative customer experiences, losses in sales and revenue, wasted labor for resolving issues, and led to an inaccurate view of the customer. The balance of protecting customers while also delivering on the best shopping experiences and growing a business is the complex situation today's enterprises find themselves trying to solve.
Moving toward secure selling
In 2021, in the US alone consumers reported losing more than $6.1 billion to fraud, an increase of more than 70% from the previous year according to data from the Federal Trade Commission. This has put added pressure on e-commerce platforms to move beyond just selling. Now, they must also ensure they offer a secure transaction process for all customers.
However, while consumers expect a convenient, frictionless transaction on the front end, businesses are struggling to keep things running smoothly in processes that take place after checkout.
PayPal, which is one of the global leaders in digital payments for more than two decades, cites its work on behalf of both consumers and retailers as key to help meeting this critical challenge for merchants.
"Our two-sided network generates a tremendous amount of aggregate data to help identify and detect fraud while keeping customer experience at a premium," said Bingjie Bai, vice president of global decision strategy and BI at PayPal. "For every PayPal transaction, we run hundreds of different models using hundreds of thousands of data variables all within sub seconds."
After all, most organizations are not in the business of managing fraud. They should focus their energy on selling goods and services rather than trying to keep up with evolving threats from fraudsters.
A framework for effective fraud management
Of course, managing fraud is easier said than done. There's no one-size-fits-all fraud protection solution, so businesses need a system customized to their specific needs.
Here are four factors for merchants to consider when choosing the right fraud solution:
Focus on preventing chargeback fraud. Chargebacks are a normal part of running a business, but you shouldn't have to handle them all on your own. Look for tools that can automate the disputes and actions required to process chargebacks.
Rely on tools and resources that use machine learning. There are tools on the market designed to help automate fraud protection with machine learning. They can help detect and mitigate fraud in real time so you can minimize any damage before your business or customers lose money.
Collaborate. "Fraud is not the responsibility of one – it's an ecosystem of responsibility," Bai said. "Collaborating with in-house experts and industry partners can improve fraud detection and save you time and money."
Leverage data. Fraud management comes down to how you use existing data and how relevant that data is to real-time threats. As a merchant, you can't always know what type of fraud you will face next, and with risk and compliance changing constantly, you need a partner whose datasets are dynamic and broad enough to anticipate what's coming next.
An efficient fraud protection solution
By providing merchants with a tool that leverages existing data to investigate and identify suspicious transactions, solutions like PayPal can recognize fraudulent patterns and detect instances of fraud before they happen.
"Merchants have had to pivot and change focus as they pursue success in the digital economy," Bai said. "They need partners that understand that every organization is unique in what they need to help create a safe and secure environment."
PayPal helps merchants right size their risk with adaptive machine learning which is informed by the transaction data of its 429 million global active accounts and 35 million global active merchant accounts. The platform applies the insights that come not just from those large datasets, but also the risk experience gleaned from decades working with some of the world's largest companies to provide decisioning that adapts with the fraud environment.
In this way, by reducing merchants' exposure to fraud and offering the ability to differentiate between legitimate and non-legitimate transactions, PayPal helps merchants increase their authorization and conversion rates, and ultimately, drive more revenue.
"Our merchants use our data science models and products to drive their business forward and protect consumers at each step of their experience," Bai said.
In the Forrester study commissioned by PayPal, 55% of respondents said partnering with a fraud management vendor enabled them to provide a better customer experience*.
Other businesses can reap similar benefits. Leveraging a fraud management solution may result in a secure and enjoyable shopping experience for customers.
At the end of the day, managing risk doesn't have to be a barrier to growth. That's why Bai noted that organizations should collaborate on a solution and see it as "a critical combination of technology and expertise," not a choice between protecting their business and evolving to meet customer expectations.
Find out more about PayPal's fraud management solutions.
Note: The content of this article is provided for informational purposes only. You should always obtain independent business, tax, financial, and legal advice before making any business decision.
*Forrester Consulting, a study commissioned by PayPal, November 2021. Forrester conducted an online survey with 309 global fraud prevention decision-makers at ecommerce companies across North America (102), Europe(104) and Australia (103).
Base: 253 global fraud prevention decision-makers at e-commerce companies planning to invest/investing in an automated fraud management solution.
This post was created by Insider Studios with PayPal.
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2022-08-08T13:28:13Z
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How Businesses Can Manage Fraud and Risk
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https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-businesses-can-manage-fraud-and-risk
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9 top West Coast biotechs that VCs say are poised to take off in the next year
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Insider asked 12 venture capitalists which biotech startups would take off in the next 12 months.
Here are the startups they named that are located on the West Coast.
They're manufacturing and discovering new drugs and treating cancer.
The West Coast is a hot region for startups in biotech, containing booming areas like Seattle and the Bay Area. The Bay Area in particular has been hailed as the "birthplace of biotechnology," and the biosciences market there reached $9.6 billion in venture capital funding in the first quarter of 2022, according to real estate firm Kidder Matthews. While the Bay Area is a known biotech hotspot, other cities on the West Coast are also thriving. Bioscience in San Diego raised an impressive $1.08 billion from venture capital in the second quarter of 2022 per real estate and investment group CBRE, and Seattle bioscience raised $2.0 billion in venture capital funding in 2021 according to a report from Canadian real estate group Colliers.
While biotech funding has slowed compared to 2021 due to the current economic downturn, some biotech companies are still raising millions — especially those in hot-button areas like cancer research.
Insider asked 12 of the top investors from firms like Arch Venture Partners, NEA, and Flagship Pioneering to list some of the startups they are most interested in. Each investor was asked to name one startup that they are invested in and one they are not.
9 of the named biotech startups are located on the West Coast. Combined, they've raised $700.5 million in funding.
Below you can find the list of West Coast-based startups, listed alphabetically. You can find the full list here.
A-Alpha Bio
A-Alpha Bio founders David Younger and Randolph Lopez
Picked by: Chris Garabedian, a venture-portfolio manager at Perceptive Advisors (investor)
What it does: A-Alpha Bio sells its machine-learning-powered technology to pharma companies, helping them identify promising drug candidates.
Why it's poised to take off in the next year: Garabedian said his firm typically passed on companies selling tools, but A-Alpha's technology could fill a gap in the drug-research process.
The startup's platform uses machine learning to run millions of tests to see how a potential new drug interacts with a wide range of proteins. These tests can uncover whether a drug might work, as well as potential toxicities. That could help a drug company figure out which therapeutic candidate to advance into clinical trials.
A-Alpha specifically studies how proteins interact with other proteins, which is a similar research focus as companies such as Relay Therapeutics and Gandeeva Therapeutics.
The startup, which spun out of the University of Washington, also benefits from already having revenue, Garabedian said, which is more valuable during this downturn. The company declined to disclose its revenue but said that it has partnered with biotechs, including Kymera Therapeutics and Twist Bioscience.
"They're not reliant on the old, binary nature of a drug-development program," Garabedian said, referring to the lengthy and expensive process of bringing an experimental drug through clinical studies. "We're investing more in companies that can generate revenue and that can do partnerships. A-Alpha hits that perfectly."
Actio Biosciences
Actio Biosciences CEO David Goldstein
Picked by: Oleg Nodelman, the founder and managing director of EcoR1 Capital (investor)
What it does: Actio Biosciences developing treatments for rare diseases that could also help treat common illnesses.
Funding raised: $8 million in a seed round, EcoR1 Capital said
Location: San Diego
Why it's poised to take off in the next year: Nodelman's main attraction to Actio is its two scientific founders: David Goldstein, a Columbia University genetics professor, and John McHutchison, a Gilead Sciences veteran.
"The idea that rare-disease genes regulate biological pathways relevant to more common diseases has been the focus of David's research for the last decade," Nodelman said, adding that he's "very lucky to get to work with a scientist" like Goldstein.
Much is still under wraps for the new company, which was founded in 2021, including its initial disease targets. But Actio will soon be raising a Series A round, Nodelman said.
What it does: Affini-T wants to tackle hard-to-treat types of cancer with improved cell therapies.
Location: Seattle and Boston
Hexagon Bio
Picked by: Oleg Nodelman, the founder and managing director of EcoR1 Capital
What it does: Hexagon Bio analyzes the genetic code of fungi, bacteria, and plants to find promising drug candidates.
Location: Silicon Valley
Why it's poised to take off in the next year: Hexagon takes a high-tech approach to old-school drug discovery. For decades, pharma giants found blockbuster medicines in dirt samples from obscure places around the world. Hexagon has built a massive database of these so-called microbial genomes, aiming to find drug candidates with a focus on cancer and infectious-disease treatments. Its platform brings together DNA sequencing, machine learning, and synthetic biology.
Nodelman said he was intrigued by what he heard from David Goeddel, a managing partner at The Column Group who cofounded Hexagon and serves as its chair.
"From what I hear from him, they are finding some really unique science from this platform," Nodelman said. "These guys may have found something really interesting here."
Openwater CEO Mary Lou Jepsen
Picked by: Jeff Huber, a cofounder and general partner at Triatomic Capital (Huber sits on Openwater's board but is not an active investor in the company)
What it does: Openwater is working to improve imaging in medicine.
Why it's poised to take off in the next year: Openwater was founded by CEO Mary Lou Jepsen, a former Facebook and Google executive who helped design the Oculus. While Openwater has been around for six years, Huber said it's poised to take off as it expects to publish its first use case in a medical journal within the next 12 months. The startup has developed imaging technology that can detect strokes faster, which could help improve patient outcomes.
The device — a wearable electronic headset — could potentially be used in ambulances to help first responders figure out if someone is having a stroke caused by a blocked artery or uncontrolled bleeding. The two types of stroke have similar symptoms but are treated differently. Openwater's approach could bring MRI-like imaging directly into ambulances at a fraction of the traditional cost. "The implications for global health and affordability and accessibility are huge," Huber said.
Pheast Therapeutics
Amira Barkal, Principal Founder and Interim CEO of Pheast Therapeutics
Picked by: George C. Petrocheilos, a managing partner at Catalio Capital Management (investor)
What it does: Pheast plans to use the body's immune system to destroy cancerous cells and tumors.
Why it's poised to take off in the next year: Pheast Therapeutics hopes to use the junk-eating properties of white blood cells to destroy cancerous cells and tumors from within the body. An important part of the human immune system are macrophages — white blood cells that engulf and then eradicate foreign and dangerous molecules in the body. Unfortunately, many cancers have developed what Dr. Amira Barkal, Pheast's founder and interim CEO, calls "shields of armor" in the form of chemical signals that don't let the macrophages see the cancerous cells for the threat that they are.
Pheast is working on a new suite of immunotherapies that target the cancer proteins that emit these "don't eat me" signals. They hope that if they can turn these signals off, macrophages will be able to find and devour cancerous cells within the body. Pheast launched in April with a $76 million Series A round coled by Catalio Capital Management and Arch Venture Partners.
"Biotech/pharma have only just begun to leverage scientific knowledge surrounding other cells of the immune system for the treatment of disease," Petrocheilos told Insider via email. Pheast, he said, "has the potential to again change the paradigm of cancer immunotherapy treatment."
Shape Therapeutics
Francois Vigneault, cofounder and CEO of Shape Therapeutics
Picked by: George C. Petrocheilos, a managing partner at Catalio Capital Management
What it does: Shape Therapeutics is creating better ways to find RNA medicines and deliver them into the body.
Why it's poised to take off in the next year: The COVID-19 vaccines created by Pfizer and Moderna rocketed RNA technology into the spotlight — but they're not the only ones exploring the uses of RNA medicines. Seattle's Shape was founded in 2018 to use artificial intelligence to find new RNA medicines and create better ways to deliver them into the human body.
Shape plans to treat both rare genetic diseases as well as more common illnesses, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The company is developing a next-generation gene-therapy delivery system based on viruses that can infect human cells and deliver a payload of RNA to edit genes.
"The technology overcomes limitations in safety, delivery, and programmability," Petrocheilos told Insider over email. "While still likely years away from de-risking the technology clinically, a bet on the space could offer long-term upside."
Terremoto Biosciences
The Terremoto Biosciences team
Picked by: Aaron Davis, the CEO of Boxer Capital
What it does: Terremoto Biosciences uses covalent chemistry to create small-molecule drugs for cancer and other diseases.
Why it's poised to take off in the next year: Terremoto Biosciences is creating new medicines by harnessing the power of covalent bonds — a chemical interaction that occurs when two atoms share electrons. This principle has been used to create medicines for decades, including aspirin and penicillin.
Terremoto takes the science a step further by creating medications that form a covalent bond with lysine, a common amino acid in the body. The startup hopes these new drugs will be able to inactivate mutated proteins in the body without causing severe side effects. The company launched in May with a $75 million Series A funding round coled by OrbiMed and Third Rock Ventures.
"Companies have tried this before," Davis said. "It's been challenging based on the chemistry, so we'd love to learn more." He said that the people behind Terremoto have already been successful with other companies, and that Boxer plans to follow the company closely.
Tune Therapeutics
Picked by: Ali Behbahani, a general partner at NEA (investor)
What it does: Tune is pursuing a twist on gene editing called epigenetic editing. Instead of modifying actual genes, Tune is focused on the epigenome, or the chemicals and proteins that can modify and regulate DNA.
Location: Seattle and Durham
Why it's poised to take off in the next year: Behbahani has long been involved in the hot space of gene editing, having sat on the board of CRISPR Therapeutics since 2015. He's also interested in what new technology could move the field forward, and he said epigenetic editing could be that big leap.
The gene-editing tool CRISPR has brought impressive early human results and has showed its power at modifying genetic code. But that only works for certain diseases, and Behbahani said epigenetic editing unlocks new opportunities.
"Genes only make up 1% of your DNA," Behbahani said. "The other 99%, people for a long time thought was junk. Now we know it's not junk."
This noncoding DNA doesn't create proteins but still plays important biological roles, such as regulating genes. The startup hopes that it can "tune" genes rather than edit them, which could tackle more diseases.
In particular, this new approach could fine-tune how much of a certain protein the body makes. Behbahani said Tune's team has made significant progress over the past year, with Charles Gersbach, a Duke gene-editing pioneer and Tune's cofounder, serving as the acting chief scientific officer.
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2022-08-08T13:28:25Z
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Top Biotech Startups on the West Coast
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https://www.businessinsider.com/top-biotech-startups-on-the-west-coast-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/top-biotech-startups-on-the-west-coast-2022-8
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The travel industry ramped up TV advertising by 151% in the first half of this year as vacation-starved travelers began their great escapes
Economic uncertainty has caused marketers to slash their advertising budgets.
But consumers are traveling and companies like Booking Holdings and Carnival are boosting ad spend.
The travel industry increased TV ad spend by 151% in the first half of this year, per iSpot.
Rising inflation has caused marketing spend cuts across areas like crypto, finance, and auto, but the travel industry has massively ramped up TV advertising as consumers shut in by the pandemic plan their great escapes.
The travel industry — including airlines, cruise lines, and travel websites — dished out $559 million on TV ads from Jan. 1 through June 30, a 151% increase from the $223 million those companies spent on TV ads during the same time period in 2021, according to estimates from TV measurement company iSpot.
After halting ad spend in 2020, these companies are nearly back to pre-pandemic spend levels. Travel companies spent $585 million on TV ads during the first half of 2019, per iSpot.
Travel has been a bright spot for ad agencies amid declining spend in areas like auto and finance.
WPP CEO Mark Read said on its Q2 2022 earnings call that its business from travel clients grew 23% in the first half of the year, although that was still about 10% below 2019 levels.
Here's what travel companies including Airbnb and Booking Holdings, the parent of online booking companies like Priceline.com and Kayak, said they were able to achieve by boosting their advertising spend during the first half of the year.
Cruise lines are focused on attracting new customers
Carnival CEO Arnold Donald said on the company's recent earnings call that Q2 was the first time since the pandemic that the company spent more on advertising than it did in 2019. He said Carnival's marketing efforts have targeted people who have never taken a cruise before, but are now showing interest.
"We have begun to ramp up our advertising efforts selectively to help support attracting first-time cruisers," Donald said.
Royal Caribbean Cruises President and CEO Jason Liberty said the company will increase marketing spend in Q4. As more people shop online, Royal Caribbean has been successful getting people to book additional shows and activities before they board.
"I believe that everything that we've done with our pre-cruise marketing is really proving to be very effective," Liberty said.
The company's YouTube blog, for instance, shows customers what they can book before their cruise.
Online booking companies return to pre-pandemic ad spend levels
Marketing expenses for Booking Holdings increased 27% in Q2 2022 compared to Q2 2019. The return on investment exceeded the company's expectations, said David Goulden, Booking Holdings EVP and chief financial officer, during the company's recent earnings call.
TripAdvisor bolstered its advertising in Q2, and saw more repeat customers and higher conversions than 2018-2019, said TripAdvisor SVP and CFO Ernst Teunissen on the company's earnings call.
Expedia Group is also focusing on loyalty. CEO Peter Kern said the company was investing in its loyalty programs, and that members drove twice the amount of repeat business compared to nonmembers. Expedia also boosted its investments in direct sales and marketing to $1.5 billion in Q2 2022, a 12% increase from Q2 2019.
Airbnb, during its earnings call, took a more cautious approach to marketing. Company cofounder and CEO Brian Chesky said Airbnb would modestly increase its marketing expenditures throughout the year compared to 2021, to capitalize on pent-up consumer demand to travel.
"The next thing is just making sure that once people are ready to travel, our product is continuing to be updated, and we have the marketing campaign ready to go," Chesky said.
Domestic airlines are spending big in marketing, but international airlines aren't
Domestic airlines increased ad spend to $63 million in Q1 2022 from $23.6 million in Q1 2019, according to Kantar estimates.
Southwest Airlines said during earnings that it attracted customers by marketing the fact that it wouldn't charge fees to change flights or check bags. "That can lower the hurdle for people to buy," said Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Watterson.
While United Airlines lost money when it decided to permanently get rid of change fees, it offset those losses by selling services like seat upgrades, said Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella during the company's earnings call. Marketing was key in making those sales.
"I give all the credit to our digital team and our app and how our marketing on those things, and we're accelerating on that front," Nocella said.
But international airline ad spend is far from getting back to prepandemic levels. Foreign airline ad spend was $16 million in Q1 2022, compared to $41 million in Q1 2019.
Despite the summer travel rebound, many international airlines have not invested heavily in marketing as they struggle with staff shortages that are forcing them to cancel flights.
Some airlines don't need to market to drive demand. Low-cost Swiss airline EasyJet, for instance, said on its Q1 earnings call that it had pulled back on marketing spend as capacity reached 2019 levels without it.
More: Carnival AirBnB booking holdings
United Airline
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2022-08-08T13:28:31Z
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Travel Industry Advertising Is Booming Despite Economic Uncertainty
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https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-industry-advertising-is-booming-despite-economic-uncertainty-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-industry-advertising-is-booming-despite-economic-uncertainty-2022-8
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Katie Warren and Melkorka Licea
In June, Tokata Iron Eyes's parents obtained a temporary protection order demanding Ezra Miller stay away from their daughter. Tokata denies any abuse.
Tokata Iron Eyes told Insider the "Flash" actor Ezra Miller never groomed or abused her.
She spoke to Insider as part of an investigation detailing new allegations that Miller ran a cult in Iceland and is traveling the US with guns.
Tokata's parents say Miller left bruises on their daughter's body, restricted her phone access, and verbally abused her.
Tokata Iron Eyes says 29-year-old "Flash" actor Ezra Miller never groomed or abused her.
Iron Eyes, an 18-year-old Lakota activist, spoke out about the allegations for the first time as part of Insider's investigation into Miller. Tokata's parents, Chase Iron Eyes and Sara Jumping Eagle, say Miller has been "grooming" their daughter since she was 12. They said that this past year, Miller left bruises on Tokata's arms and cheeks, restricted access to her phone, and verbally abused her. In June, Tokata's parents obtained a temporary protection order demanding Miller stay away from their child.
In text messages to Insider, Tokata said that these allegations were "a disgusting and irresponsible smear campaign" against Miller, and that Miller "in multiple cases has done the right thing and stood in protection of others."
In the past six months, Miller has been driving around the US wearing body armor and carrying at least one gun, paranoid about being followed by the FBI and the KKK.
Miller has known Tokata since she was 12, when they traveled to North Dakota to support the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline in 2016. Over the next six years, Miller kept in touch with the young activist, promising to help her music career and sometimes stopping by her home out of the blue, her parents said. Over time, they said, Miller's interest in their daughter intensified.
In December 2021, Tokata and Miller went to stay with a family friend in South Dakota. During this visit, a member of the family friend's household said she saw Tokata and Miller having sex on a bed outside. Tokata told Insider this was "so very false."
Iron Eyes and Jumping Eagle flew to Vermont the next day. They said they found Tokata "out of it" and "incoherent," screaming so relentlessly that she lost her voice for several days. She had bruises on her arms and left cheek, they said, and she didn't have her phone or ID. Another person at the farm told Tokata's parents that the bruising occurred when Miller pinned Tokata to the ground and screamed at her for failing to respond to a question, the protection order said.
Tokata told Insider she took "a microdose" of LSD and that the bruises were a result of self-harm following a close friend's death. She added that some of the bruises may have occurred when her parents "violently dragged" her out of Miller's house. (Jumping Eagle said Tokata was not "dragged" at any point.)
Oliver Ignatius, a longtime music collaborator of Miller's, said he witnessed what he described as Miller's "verbally abusive" treatment of the 18-year-old in both Hawaii and Vermont. In Hawaii in March, the actor confiscated Tokata's phone "for her safety" and pressured her to change her name to Gibson, Ignatius said. Tokata told Insider she goes by both Tokata and Gibson and came up with Gibson herself.
At the Vermont farm in May, Miller again hid Tokata's phone from her and at one point screamed obscenities at her for wearing makeup, Ignatius said. He recalled Miller saying: "What the fuck are you doing? Putting on this fucking clown paint?"
Over the past six months, Miller has been driving around the US carrying at least one gun and wearing a bulletproof vest, paranoid about being followed by the FBI and the Ku Klux Klan, people told Insider. Tokata said the vest was "a fashionable safety measure in response to actual attacks and received death threats."
Tokata's mother said she and her husband have been motivated to sound the alarm about Miller, who they say has a pattern of targeting and grooming vulnerable young people.
Read Insider's full investigation: Ezra Miller's unraveling: Friends concerned as the 'Flash' actor travels the US in body armor and faces claims of running a cult in Iceland
More: Ezra Miller Tokata Iron Eyes The Flash Warner Bros. Discovery
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2022-08-08T14:02:43Z
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Ezra Miller: Tokata Iron Eyes Says the Actor Never Groomed or Abused Her
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ezra-miller-tokata-iron-eyes-allegations-grooming-abuse-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ezra-miller-tokata-iron-eyes-allegations-grooming-abuse-2022-8
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Axios is being sold to Cox Enterprises for $525 million
Axios co-founder and president Roy Schwartz.
Axios is being sold to Cox Enterprises.
The deal is worth $525 million.
It follows other recent major media mergers.
The media company Axios is being sold to its lead investor Cox Enterprises, Cox announced on Monday. The deal is worth $525 million, according to Axios reporter Sara Fischer.
"With so much happening in the world, Axios plays a critical role in delivering balanced, trusted news that people need," Cox Enterprises chairman and CEO Alex Taylor said in a statement. "Our company started in the media business, and we have always had a passion for journalism. Bringing a forward-thinking organization like Axios into Cox Enterprises is exciting for us on many levels, and we look forward to helping them continue to scale and grow."
Axios had recently expanded its Axios Local line of newsletters into three new cities — Boston, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City — in an effort to strengthen local news coverage. It now has newsletters in 24 cities.
Axios was launched in 2017 by former Politico reporters Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz, who will remain on the company's board.
The deal follows other recent blockbuster major media acquisitions, as some news companies faced headwinds during the pandemic.
Politico sold to Insider's parent company Axel Springer last year; BuzzFeed acquired Complex Networks last year; and Vox completed its purchase of Group Nine Media earlier this year, bringing PopSugar, Thrillist, NowThis, and more into its media umbrella that already included New York Magazine and others.
Disclosure: Axel Springer is Business Insider's parent company.
More: Axios Media Axel Springer
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2022-08-08T15:12:00Z
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Axios Is Being Sold to Cox Enterprises for $525 Million
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https://www.businessinsider.com/axios-to-be-sold-cox-enterprises-525-million-deal-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/axios-to-be-sold-cox-enterprises-525-million-deal-2022-8
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How I got my first 40,000 followers on my small business' TikTok by balancing fun videos with self-promotion
Jen Glantz has operated her own "bridesmaid for hire" business for the past eight years.
She created a successful TikTok strategy to grow her audience, garnering over 2.9 million likes on her videos.
Here are the steps she took to get more followers and make thousands in additional revenue.
For the past eight years, I've been a full-time entrepreneur running my business Bridesmaid for Hire. Before this gig, I was working as a copywriter at a tech startup and had no idea how to run my own company. I spent the first year trying to stay afloat, from finding ways to advertise my services to offering a variety of packages to bring in new business.
It was during the second year of running my business that I learned the power of tapping into social media. By creating valuable and interesting content, any entrepreneur can build an audience of people who might become customers or unofficial brand ambassadors. These people will share details of what you offer to their network just because they find your social media presence so engaging.
Like everyone else, I started from zero on TikTok
I found ways to successfully promote my business using Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and then I decided to start building a presence on TikTok.
In just a year, I went from having 1,000 followers and 2,500 likes on TikTok to having more than 39,000 followers and over 2.9 million likes. My engaged audience has also helped me increase my website traffic during a six-month period, and it's contributed to a lift in revenue since the start of 2022, compared to 2021.
I was able to make this happen thanks to a clear and strategic plan that any entrepreneur can follow to build a big audience on TikTok.
I understood how the platform was different from others
On other platforms, like Instagram or YouTube, the quality of your video footage or photos really matters when trying to capture an audience's attention. However, I've found that on TikTok it doesn't really work like that.
From doing tons of research and spending endless hours on the platform, I've found the videos that perform well aren't always the ones shot on fancy cameras. It's often the ones that look real and relatable that are successful.
When I began creating content for TikTok, I ditched my professional camera and bought a tripod for my phone
This also allowed me to create content faster since videos didn't require a ton of complicated editing, and I could shoot content in my living room or by my desk instead of setting up a whole film studio.
I also noticed content that does well on the platform is shot vertically, often includes text on the videos and has audio, whether original or trending.
In order to learn the platform, I devoted an hour a week (spread out across a few days) to watching other people's videos. I saw which ones had the most engagement and recorded test videos to learn the different platform features.
I also read articles on Social Media Today and watched TikTok editing videos on YouTube so I'd be better prepared to start creating content.
I strategized my own brand position
Just like on any other social media platform, your content needs to have a strong brand position in order to build an audience and get them to become customers.
I made sure to do this when I created the bio that would live on my TikTok profile so that when people discovered my page, they instantly knew what my business was about and why they should follow me.
I also decided to create four categories of videos that I wanted to focus on: stories from working as a professional bridesmaid; advice and tips from working this job; must-have products I could recommend and make affiliate money off of; and frequently asked questions. Having these four categories keeps me organized when it comes to brainstorming what kind of content I want to create.
It also helps teach my audience about my business in an engaging way, and it entices them to want to learn more after watching one video. This usually leads them to watching more videos or clicking my call-to-action button in my bio.
Even though there aren't many businesses that provide the same kind of service that my business does, I did spend time doing a competitor analysis. I picked five other businesses in the wedding space that I admire or that my customers really love and studied their TikTok strategy.
I wrote down what they do well, what I can do better, and which of their videos performed the best in the last 30 days. By doing this, I was able to generate more ideas on how to have a strong brand position and stand out on the platform.
I batched content
While learning how to use the app, I realized how content appears on people's TikTok feeds. Unlike other platforms that you go on to see posts from people you're following, TikTok is all about watching random videos that are curated for you. The algorithm factors in what videos you've watched, liked, and previously shared, among other determinants, to generate content new for you to view.
This means your content has the chance to reach a larger audience and can appear on a person's page weeks or even months after you post it. This makes it different from Instagram, for example, where content is usually prioritized on people's newsfeed by how recently it was posted.
I took this information and made the decision to create as much content as I could so that it had a good chance of appearing on more people's pages. I set a goal of releasing three to four videos every workday for the first three months. The outcome was a big lift in followers on the platform, from 1,000 to 10,000, and an increase in likes.
After I set the goal of posting multiple videos every day, I decided to only film videos for TikTok twice a month. Before the filming days, I'd sit down and write a summary of all the videos I wanted to film. If they were videos based on trending audio or popular dance moves of the week ,which I found by searching this thread on TikTok, I wrote down how I wanted to put my own twist on it and what text to use on the video.
By organizing my content this way, I could block out two hours and shoot enough videos for two weeks at a time.
I had clear offerings
Once I had a clear content position and knew how many videos I wanted to put out every week, I had to make sure my services were well-defined for people who wanted to go from being a TikTok follower or viewer to a customer.
I decided to use LinkTree to create a landing page with a list of call-to-action buttons. I put links to small purchases like my book and card game, to big-ticket items like my $2,000 wedding services.
Putting this in my bio helped me convert people from TikTok to my website landing pages, where some became customers and others subscribed to my businesses email list (which is another great sales tool to convert interested people).
In an effort to not be overly promotional on TikTok, I only created four to five videos a month about my products and services. The rest of the videos are about my main content focuses (answering frequently asked questions, sharing tips, and giving wedding advice) and that information turned curious TikTok viewers into website viewers and some into paying customers.
As an entrepreneur, learning how to tap into the power of social media is not only a free way to build your audience but, if used strategically, can also help generate more income and find new customers just like it did for me.
More: TikTok Marketing Social Media Algorithm
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2022-08-08T15:12:02Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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How I Got 40,000 TikTok Followers for My Small Business
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https://www.businessinsider.com/growing-small-business-on-tiktok-how-i-get-my-followers-2022-7
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https://www.businessinsider.com/growing-small-business-on-tiktok-how-i-get-my-followers-2022-7
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JPMorgan has been keeping close tabs on how often each employee ventures into the office.
But the bank's monitoring of its staff goes well beyond ID badge swipes.
Here's a rundown of the ways the largest US bank by assets keeps tabs on its workforce.
JPMorgan's efforts to keeps tabs on its workforce has some workers up in arms
Epics/Getty Images; Rebecca Zisser/Insider
It started with the swipes.
JPMorgan has asked half of its workforce to return to the office five days a week, and another 40% to come in a few days a week.
In an effort to enforce its return-to-office policies, the company has taken to compiling special "reports" and dashboards that managers can use to call and email staffers who fall short of their in-office mandates, bank workers said.
The reports — fueled by employees' ID swipes — infuriated some employees who spoke to Insider. Seven current and former employees shared their stories with Insider. Some said they've had their bonuses and promotions threatened. Others said they were afraid that demands to work from the office were putting their loved ones' lives at risk.
Of course, JPMorgan doesn't just track ID swipes. From the moment employees log into JPMorgan Chase's workplace portal each day, a powerful system begins pulling in data about what they're doing — from how long they spend on Zoom calls to writing emails to talking on the phone.
Attorneys and experts on workplace-data collection say that firms like JPMorgan are legally within their rights to gather information regarding employees' activities on the job. And regulators often require banks and brokerages to keep track of employees' workplace-related communications and record their fingerprints upon hiring.
But in the more than two years it has been used, the company's internal data-collection system, called WADU for short, has come to inspire rumors and fear throughout the ranks of America's biggest bank, according to interviews with more than half a dozen current and former employees.
Employees say this is because the reasons the bank tracks how much time they spend on Zoom calls or composing emails are vague — and they fear the data is being shared used to assess their performance and productivity.
An official at JPMorgan Chase told Insider that language on the firm's intranet, which is made available to all employees, is meant to allay concerns over the purposes of the data collection.
Employees interviewed by Insider said they were unaware of the disclosures, and that they continue to have questions about how data the is being used to assess their performance.
See stories on this topic here:
Leaked screenshots: JPMorgan is tracking office attendance using 'dashboards' and 'reports' — and some employees are threatening to quit
7 JPMorgan employees explain why the bank's return-to-office policies have them running for the exits — and what they want to tell Jamie Dimon about his 'surveillance state'
A top JPMorgan exec rolled back the number of days some teams need to be in the office, citing internal pushback. Read the memo here.
Inside the little-known tool that gives JPMorgan Chase the power to collect data about everything its employees do at work
JPMorgan has become even more secretive about the powerful system it uses to track workers' activities following an Insider report detailing staffers' complaints. Inside the emergency 'fire drill' meeting execs held to cut off access and stem leaks.
More: JPMorgan return to office Return to Work Wall Street
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2022-08-08T15:12:16Z
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The Many Ways JPMorgan Tracks Employees — From Zoom Calls to ID Swipes
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-jpmorgan-tracks-employees-zoom-calls-id-swipes-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-jpmorgan-tracks-employees-zoom-calls-id-swipes-2022-8
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Jack Dorsey on September 5, 2018.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted "end the CCP" after China rolled out strict COVID-19 measures.
China requires citizens to download an app displaying green, yellow, or red colors depending on their health.
CNN found that the government was already using the surveillance method for other means.
Jack Dorsey isn't a fan of the Chinese Communist Party.
On Saturday, Twitter's co-founder and former CEO voiced his apparent support for the ending of the Chinese Communist Party after the nation implemented stricter COVID-19 policies.
Dorsey retweeted an early June post from a Beijing-based CNN reporter detailing China's stringent measures that she had to follow, which includes constant testing and a mandatory health app that authorities can track people through. In the video, the CNN reporter said that "this surveillance will stay long after Covid is gone."
"End the CCP," tweeted Dorsey in response.
Dorsey did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
As CBS News reported, the health app decides where you can go and if you're allowed to go there — a green light means a user is COVID-free and can enter public places. Yellow means there is danger of infection, and red indicates that a person needs to isolate or quarantine.
CNN previously reported that the government was already using the app for means other than mere contact tracing — residents in the Chinese province of Henan saw their health codes turn from green to red in mid-June after staging a protest outside a bank that had frozen their deposits.
The CCP has a long history of surveillance of its citizens, a practice that has especially spiked since 2020 when the pandemic hit. Chinese officials were using sophisticated technology like facial recognition cameras and flying drones to make sure people were wearing masks that March.
The government also appears to have implemented a similar health app that displays green, yellow, and red colors indicating infection levels in early March 2020. The software used data from citizens' Alibaba accounts to estimate their health and then shared it with law enforcement.
Experts told Insider's Alexandra Ma at the time that China could maintain this kind of mass data collection even after COVID-19 is less of a public health crisis.
More: Twitter Jack Dorsey COVID-19 China
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2022-08-08T15:12:22Z
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Jack Dorsey Calls for 'End' of China's Communist Party
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https://www.businessinsider.com/jack-dorsey-twitter-end-ccp-china-communist-party-covid-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/jack-dorsey-twitter-end-ccp-china-communist-party-covid-2022-8
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Rossilynne Culgan books a business-class ticket for extra leg room to accommodate her pop-up workstation.
Rossilynne Culgan often takes the nine-hour Amtrak trip from New York to Pennsylvania.
As a freelancer who works from home, she finds the train journey a great place to get work done.
Culgan shares five reasons she swears by the Amtrak to maximize productivity on travel days.
I've worked in a lot of different offices over the years — a "hot-desk" coworking space, a cubicle farm, an open-plan newsroom, and even a corner office with a view.
But the best office in America for productiveness, I'm convinced, isn't an office at all — it's a seat on an Amtrak train.
I take Amtrak's Pennsylvanian train every few months to travel between New York City, my current home, and my hometown near Pittsburgh.
Every trip, I look forward to visiting family and friends, of course, but I also look forward to the intensely focused nine hours of work I can count on during the journey.
As a freelance journalist, I can write anywhere. But working from home with a pet and a partner who also works from home often means interruptions and jockeying for quiet in our tiny Manhattan apartment.
On the train, however, my train of thought is rarely disrupted.
This mobile, makeshift office offers the ambient sound and furtive people watching that you get while working in a coffee shop — the epitome of focus for me.
On two trips this summer, for example, I plowed through my to-do lists, pitching articles, sorting through hundreds of emails, creating a PowerPoint for an upcoming speaking event, editing an 8,000-word story, and working on this very article. Had I been working from home, or any other office, for that matter, I likely wouldn't have been able to complete as much.
In addition to the deep focus I find on the train, there's also WiFi, an outlet at each seat, and easy access to a bathroom that's, frankly, tidier than many coffee-shop restrooms.
Here are the five reasons I find working from the Amtrak so productive.
Amtrak is a stress-free way of cross-country travel
Amtrak travels to more than 500 destinations in 46 states and promises "the best views North America has to offer," a claim I have to agree with.
My regular route clocks in at about the length of a typical workday, but there are longer or shorter journeys to choose from.
With Amtrak, I avoid fighting through airports and transfers. I can sit and work peacefully for my entire journey and still get to my destination.
Instead of travel taking time out of my workday, I get more work done on a travel day.
In addition to its role as an efficient workspace, Amtrak is a more energy-efficient option compared with car or plane travel. Amtrak is 46% more energy-efficient than traveling by car and 34% more energy-efficient than domestic air travel, according to Amtrak's website.
I can feel confident that I'm more environmentally conscious on my trip than all these celebs traveling in their private jets.
I pay a little more for business class, and it's worth it
Business-class seats are available on a variety of routes. They're a bit more expensive, but they're worth it. Business class offers extra leg room, more spacious seats, and free soft drinks. This is crucial for my ideal Amtrak setup.
Culgan's ideal Amtrak work-station setup.
The cost of my most recent one-way business-class seats this summer came in at $141 and $105.
For comparison, airfare between New York City and Pittsburgh is running at about $220 on most airlines — except for a few cheap Spirit flights. A one-way standard rental car costs about $120, and that's before gas and tolls.
A coworking day pass in New York City costs about $35 a day, so my train trip is obviously more, but it propels me 373 miles westward.
Amtrak lets you see how busy your train is going to be
When you buy your ticket, the Amtrak website will show in real time how full the train will be. I've seen trains anywhere from 40% full to 80% full, depending on the day.
It's like being able to see how busy a coffee shop or coworking space is before you get there.
If you have flexibility in your schedule, I always recommend finding a train that is less busy.
I prefer a less full train so I'm more likely to have an entire row to myself to stretch out with my backpack, sweater, laptop, and snacks.
Having this space booked and marked out means I can relax for the rest of the day and focus on my work.
Occasional spotty WiFi helps me plan out my work and stay on task
Many Amtrak trains offer WiFi, and it generally connects well for me. But I travel through parts of central Pennsylvania that are very rural, so the signal can get spotty in some areas.
This forces me to organize my work in batches and impose deadlines. I focus on internet-intensive work on the leg between New York City and Philadelphia, where I can expect fast WiFi, then save offline work for the next part of the journey.
I can take a relaxing break just by looking out the window
Whenever I feel the need to take a short break, I don't even get up from my seat. I just turn to the window and marvel at the view rolling by, listen to the click-clicking rails, and hear the train's whistle.
Culgan's views of rural Pennsylvania on her most recent trip.
I feel immediately transported away from my work and peaceful admiring the natural beauty outside. When I turn back to my laptop, I'm refreshed and ready to plow on.
There's something magical about seeing the country by rail and arriving at a destination to explore — perhaps even more magical than checking items off your to-do list.
More: UK Freelance contributor 2022 Kiera Fields BI-freelancer
productivity hack
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2022-08-08T15:12:34Z
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5 Reasons Why Traveling on the Amtrak Is My Ideal Remote Working Space
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https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-traveling-on-amtrak-great-for-work-productivity-hack-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-traveling-on-amtrak-great-for-work-productivity-hack-2022-8
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A dummy version of the PFM-1 landmine reportedly being used in Ukraine by Russian forces.
Till Rimmele/ Getty Images
Russia is likely using "unreliable and unpredictable" butterfly mines in Ukraine, UK intelligence said.
Children mistook the mines for toys when they were used in the Soviet-Afghan War.
"This poses a threat to both the local population and humanitarian mine clearance operations," the UK Defense Ministry said.
Russia is likely using "unreliable and unpredictable" butterfly mines in Ukraine that children could mistake for toys, the UK Defense Ministry said Monday in an intelligence update.
British intelligence said Russia is "likely deploying anti-personnel mines to protect and deter freedom of movement along its defensive lines in the Donbas."
Usage of these PFM-1 and PFM-1S mines — also known as butterfly mines — has been decried by international watchdogs. They are banned as part of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty; neither Russia nor the US have signed the treaty, though Ukraine has.
The mines — which has two plastic wings to help it drift to the ground — contain about 40 grams of explosives, according to the Imperial War Museum. Just 11 pounds of pressure is enough to set off the mine, the War Museum states.
Russian forces have used at least seven types of antipersonnel mines since it invaded Ukraine earlier this year, Human Rights Watch said in a report in June. There is no credible evidence that Ukraine has deployed anti-personnel mines, the nonprofit group found.
These types of mines were used in the Soviet-Afghan War where they "allegedly maimed high numbers of children who mistook them for toys," UK intelligence said.
Since these mines have not been used since the Soviet era, the UK Defense Ministry predicts that their usage is now "highly unreliable and unpredictable."
"This poses a threat to both the local population and humanitarian mine clearance operations," the update from the UK Defense Ministry said.
—Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 8, 2022
The Ukrainian Military said Sunday that Russia attacked Donetsk, but the Ukrainian army was able to push back enough to prevent attacks in other places.
"With offensive actions, the enemy tried to improve its tactical position near Verkhnokamianske but was unsuccessful and retreated," the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said.
The General Staff added that Russia is "concentrating its main efforts on preventing the advance of our troops."
More: Speed desk Russia Ukraine donbas
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2022-08-08T15:12:40Z
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Russia Likely Deploying 'Unpredictable' Butterfly Mines in Ukraine: UK
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https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-ukraine-unpredictable-butterfly-mines-uk-intelligence-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-ukraine-unpredictable-butterfly-mines-uk-intelligence-2022-8
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Mekenna Malan
The author in Joshua Tree, California.
Mekenna Malan and her partner took an 86-day road trip around the US in their 1986 Land Cruiser.
They visited nine states, 13 national parks, and traveled 7,000 miles across the West Coast.
During the trip, they both worked remotely from their van, coffee shops, and public libraries.
In July 2020, I decided to take a 7,000-mile road trip through the western United States with my partner.
Malan and her partner in Yosemite National Park, California.
The dream was to live, cook, work, and sleep in our car as much as possible and visit as many national parks as we could along the way. We ended up visiting nine states and 13 national parks over 86 days.
Malan somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway in California.
Attempting this kind of adventure while working remotely as a full-time copywriter and freelance journalist was more challenging than I expected — but also intensely rewarding.
Malan in Glacier National Park, Montana.
Prior to leaving, my partner and I worked for six months on our 1986 Land Cruiser to make it our home.
In addition to getting the engine swapped and performing other mechanical repairs, we hand-built and installed a wooden platform bed with drawers underneath to hold our kitchen and camping gear.
Malan near her car.
I had already been working remotely for most of the year. As long as I stayed committed to keeping my deadlines, it wasn't difficult to coordinate my new lifestyle with my employer.
Malan at a highway pull-off in California.
The biggest difference was that my work setup now included the passenger seat of our Land Cruiser, which squeaked a bit anytime we drove more than 40 miles per hour, and free WiFi courtesy of coffee shops, public libraries, and visitor's centers.
Malan at a coffee shop in Seattle, Washington.
Sometimes, we got lucky. In Ojai, California, for example, we worked from the patio of a charming market with free WiFi, munching on cherry turnovers and banana-nut muffins from the bakery while completing the day's tasks.
Ojai, California.
Afterward, we drove through acres of orange groves just before sunset, pulled into an overlook during Ojai's famous "pink moment," and cooked a skillet dinner on the tailgate.
Malan in Ojai, California.
While it fueled me creatively to work from an unfamiliar location each day, relying on fickle public WiFi was the most difficult component of our road trip. Thankfully, while driving or camping in areas without cell service, I was able to write drafts of articles and blog posts in Google Docs offline.
Because office hours coincided with the hottest parts of the day, early mornings and evenings were spent hiking around the national parks we visited. I attempted to complete my work projects ahead of time and put in extra hours to submit assignments when WiFi was stable.
Malan in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.
Things didn't always go as planned. Just 365 miles into our trip, my partner and I found ourselves trapped just outside Mesa Verde National Park for three days because the Cruiser's fuel pump started acting up.
Malan in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.
Luckily for us, the local public library in Delores, Colorado, had everything we needed for a perfect office setup, including chairs and tables in the shade next to a flowing river.
Delores, Colorado.
After a productive workday, we headed to the local brewery for wood-fired pizza in an open-air barn structure with vines of wild hops growing up the walls.
Malan in Cortez, Colorado.
Other times, we weren't so lucky — like when we fled the blistering Arizona heat and made it to Palm Springs within a half-day of travel.
Just outside of Palm Springs, California.
After cooking an al fresco meal in a park, we posted up outside the closed public library in an attempt to spend a few hours in the office — but we were still sweating profusely and could barely focus on a single Slack message.
Malan's partner at a park in Palm Springs, California.
We stayed at a few hotels or Airbnbs in California towns like Joshua Tree, Los Olivos, and Big Sur when my partner or I had a big work project due.
Deejen's Big Sur Inn in Big Sur, California.
In city stopovers like San Francisco and Seattle, we took advantage of friends' showers, fast WiFi, and washing machines. There's nothing like the feeling of hitting the road again with your laundry done, hair washed, and a slew of road-trip snacks from Trader Joe's.
Malan's partner in San Francisco, California.
Because we had the freedom to plan trips to national parks around off-peak days and hours, it often felt like my partner and I had these exquisite landmarks all to ourselves.
Malan and her partner in Olympic National Park, Washington.
My favorite memories include a post-work dip in Lake Crescent near Olympic National Park, an offline brainstorming session among towering redwoods, and a happy hour with a perfect view of Yosemite's Half Dome.
Malan in Yosemite National Park, California.
While social media makes the #vanlife appear glamorous, living on the road is a full-time job.
Malan having car troubles somewhere outside Burley, Idaho.
Ordinary daily tasks, like prepping dinner or washing dishes, took at least twice as long to complete when camping in areas without running water.
Malan somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway.
It also took unpredictable amounts of time at each waypoint to find a bathroom, a place to set up our camp stove for cooking, and a flat spot to sleep.
Malan somewhere along the Oregon Coast.
What do you do when there's no Bureau of Land Management land for miles, all nearby campsites are full, and every other dirt lot you find has a sign that says, "No Overnight Parking"?
Malan just outside of Delores, Colorado.
My partner and I often found ourselves weighing the options of sleeping in a Walmart parking lot or a noisy highway pull-off — or giving in to the allure of an air-conditioned motel room.
Malan in Umpqua National Forest, Oregon.
Luckily, the money we made while working on the road completely offset the cost of our trip.
Malan in Moab, Utah.
While my partner and I had saved up a few thousand dollars for living expenses prior to leaving, the ability to work our regular jobs helped us feel like we could enjoy our road trip without too much financial stress.
Malan in North Cascades National Park, Washington.
It was also relieving to continue some facet of our normal routine while everything else in our lives was so unknown.
Though it poses some unique challenges, there's a sense of ease that comes with life on the road.
Malan in Joshua Tree National Park, California.
Hungry? Open the tailgate and make some food.
Somewhere outside Olympia, Washington.
Want to change your shirt or socks? Your clothes are in the duffle bag behind your seat. Need floss? It's next to your toothbrush in the right-hand drawer under the platform bed.
Malan's partner somewhere outside McCall, Idaho.
Want to take a nap? Crawl in the back for a few minutes.
Somewhere along the Oregon Coast.
In the end, the experience was worth the atypical work hours and excruciatingly slow internet connection.
Malan in Redwood National Park, California.
Our road trip was planned prepandemic and initially set back by it. But following through on our plans — and working remotely along the way — allowed us to visit some of the most beautiful areas of the American West.
More: Travel Road Trip van life Traveling
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2022-08-08T15:12:52Z
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PHOTOS: I Worked Remotely on an 86-Day Road Trip to 13 National Parks
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https://www.businessinsider.com/worked-remotely-full-time-road-trip-us-national-parks-022-7
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https://www.businessinsider.com/worked-remotely-full-time-road-trip-us-national-parks-022-7
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How 16-year-old Shamus Madan turned his love of tech into a hit investing podcast and a job at Blitzscaling Ventures, a VC fund backed by Reid Hoffman.
Shamus Madan, host of the MBIT podcast
Shamus Madan
Shamus Madan is a New Jersey 12th grader who hosts the MBIT podcast, covering tech and investing.
Madan interviews founders and VCs, including big names like Mark Cuban and Tim Draper.
He explains how he turned MBIT into a hit and landed a fellowship at Blitzscaling Ventures.
When Shamus Madan was nine years old he was obsessed with Apple. His grandparents took him to the Apple store so often, he began helping other customers solve their tech issues before they got help at the Genius Bar. At age 12, his father allowed him to buy shares in Apple.
Fast forward a few years and Madan parlayed that interest in tech into a hit podcast where he's interviewed heavy hitters like Mark Cuban and Tim Draper. That podcast also helped him land a fellowship with Blitzscaling Ventures, a venture capital fund backed by Reid Hoffman and run by Chris Yeh, Hoffman's coauthor of their bestselling business book Blitzscaling.
And he's only 16 years old.
Madan, who will enter 12th grade this fall, is the host and creator of the MBIT podcast, which covers financial and technology news. He interviews startup founders, early-stage VCs and big-name investors. Madan began the podcast in December 2020 after needing to close a phone repair business he started at school and was itching to try something new.
"I was inspired by the podcast Robinhood Snacks from Robinhood," Madan said. "I've been listening to them for a while, so I started my own business and tech news podcast. I reached out to them, and they gave me advice."
At first, the podcast focused on the tech and finance news of the day, but he soon added market insights to the show. Madan took courses on micro and macroeconomics and eventually tapped other experts in the field.
He began cold emailing start-ups and early-stage VCs, asking them to be on his show. Madan used to hide the fact that he was a teenager to appear a bit older. Soon, he realized people responded better when he was fully transparent.
"I think, with anything, practice makes improvements," Madan said. "I've written hundreds of cold emails to people, and every time I'm learning something new."
Madan may have inherited his interest in tech from his father, Vineet Madan, the founder of edtech startup Junction Education. He was fascinated by his dad's work setup and thought it "was super cool and super inspiring that he was doing so much work."
When Junction Education was just starting, Madan asked to help test some links on the site for a small fee, and his dad agreed to hire him, so he felt a part of its formation and feels compelled to keep starting his own.
"Being a startup founder is always in my books," he said. "Like, when I decided to build the phone repair business, the problem was people had broken phones and cracked screens, so I built a business off of that. And I consider MBIT a startup as well because there are not enough people in my generation that understand personal finance and business and venture capital, so I'm bringing it to the next generation. I always like building things from scratch, watching them grow, and being part of that growth journey."
His parents support his interest in business and technology, he said, especially his father who likes that Madan is starting to network in the VC scene at such a young age.
But Madan didn't originally intend on becoming a VC himself. After he interviewed climate startup Climatize for the podcast, he realized another MBIT guest, Molly Wood — who invests in climate companies for Jason Calacanis's Launch — might be interested in working with the startup, so he introduced the founder to Wood. This moment of connection intrigued Madan.
And so he reached out to Yeh, another previous MBIT guest, and asked about maybe working in his VC firm Blitzscaling Ventures. Yeh agreed and brought him on as a fellow.
At Blitzcaling, Madan and other fellows help analyze deal flow from different regions. If something seems interesting, they bring it to the investment team. The experience has sharpened Madan's views on companies he wants to work with. He said he's become very interested in the impact side of venture, something he made sure to touch on during his conversation with Cuban about his Cost Plus Drug Company.
His podcast may attract big names in the investing world, but Madan still plans to finish high school. He's also pretty active in the youth council of his city in New Jersey, where he sits on the climate committee. And he plays golf with his dad.
But when it comes to his future, he's looking at the more traditional path other VCs take.
"Business school is definitely in the cards, and I think it's going to be super important to understand operation strategy," Madan said. "I've always wanted to go to college anyway."
Along the way, he plans to continue working on MBIT and learning more about investing at Blitzscaling.
Oh, and he's still got those Apple shares.
More: Startup Venture Capital Teens
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2022-08-08T16:26:20Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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How 16-Year-Old Shamus Madan Created a Hit Podcast and Became a VC
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https://www.businessinsider.com/shamus-madan-mbit-podcast-reid-hoffman-vc-fund-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/shamus-madan-mbit-podcast-reid-hoffman-vc-fund-2022-8
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In this March 5, 2020 file photo, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel addresses the media during a news conference in Lansing,
Dave Eggert/AP
Michigan's AG is asking a special prosecutor to probe her Trump-backed opponent, Politico reports.
GOP AG candidate Matt DePerno "orchestrated a coordinated plan" to breach voting machines, she said.
Reuters reported that DePerno led a team that accessed a voting machine in an attempt to prove fraud.
Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel is asking a special prosecutor to investigate her Trump-backed opponent for his role in a "coordinated plan" to breach voting machines, Politico reports.
Reuters reported on Sunday that Matthew DePerno led a team in accessing and possibly tampering with a ballot tabulator from Richfield Township in Roscommon County, a small county in northern Michigan that backed former President Donald Trump by 30 points in 2020.
DePerno, now the Republican nominee for attorney general in Michigan, presented the photograph and serial number of the Roscommon County tabulator, an Election Software & System DS200 scanner, in part of a lawsuit challenging the election results in a separate county, Reuters found.
Nessel, whose office has been investigating multiple instances of voting equipment breaches in Michigan for several months, asked for a special prosecutor to probe the breaches that DePerno is accused of leading in a court filing obtained by Politico.
In the petition, Nessel wrote that DePerno and three of his associates are accused of having "orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators" that were used in three counties.
Three of DePerno's associates, according to the petition, took the machines to hotels and Airbnbs where they "broke into the tabulators and performed 'tests' on the equipment" and "it was determined during the investigation that DePerno was present at a hotel room during such 'testing.'"
Nessel wrote that, following months of law enforcement investigation, "it is now time for a prosecutorial review for charges" including conspiracy, using a computer system to commit a crime, willfully damaging a voting machine, malicious destruction of a voting machine, fraudulent access to a computer or computer system, and false pretenses.
"When this investigation began there was not a conflict of interest," the filing explained in asking for a special prosecutor. "However, during the course of the investigation, facts were developed that DePerno was one of the prime instigators of the conspiracy."
The Roscommon County incident, which officials have been probing since at least February, is part of a larger pattern of breaches of voting technology and attacks on the integrity of voting equipment perpetrated by officials and activists hunting for evidence of election fraud, a growing trend in Michigan and across the country.
DePerno, an attorney, made a name for himself by leading the charge to challenge and overturn the 2020 election in Michigan, including leading a lawsuit against Antrim County and pushing for partisan post-election ballot reviews and "audits" in the state.
DePerno and another prominent election denier, Joe Oltmann, also participated in a meeting with a high-level official at the State Department on January 6, 2021, the day Trump's supporters breached the US Capitol to stop Congress from affirming the 2020 election results, the Washington Post previously reported.
"On January 6, 2021, I was in the State Department briefing Mike Pompeo's staff on how the election was stolen," DePerno later said on a candidate questionnaire for a pro-Trump group, according to the Post, adding: "(NOTE to reader: don't tell the Feds!)"
DePerno's efforts to find nonexistent widespread fraud in service of overturning the election earned him an enthusiastic endorsement from Trump, who has backed multiple election deniers for top statewide offices in key battleground states.
Trump lauded DePerno for having "defended the Constitution for 20 years," and said that DePerno "has been on the front lines pursuing fair and accurate elections, as he relentlessly fights to reveal the truth about the Nov. 3rd Presidential Election Scam."
More: Michigan dana nessel Matthew DePerno Matt DePerno
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2022-08-08T16:26:26Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Trump-Backed Michigan AG Candidate 'Orchestrated' Voting Machine Breach: AG
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https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-backed-michigan-ag-candidate-orchestrated-voting-machine-breach-ag-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-backed-michigan-ag-candidate-orchestrated-voting-machine-breach-ag-2022-8
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Americans' inflation expectations are falling back to earth, according to a New York Fed survey.
Households' one-year expected inflation rate dipped to 6.2% from 6.8% in July.
Respondents also expect the housing market to cool and their finances to improve in the next year.
Americans believe the worst of the pandemic economy is over, and that things are going to look a whole lot better in a few years.
Headlines abound regarding recession risks, high inflation, and unaffordable housing. Yet a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found households expect the economic backdrop to improve across a range of factors in the months ahead.
Chief among them is inflation. Prices rose 9.1% in the year through June, reflecting the fastest growth since 1981. Yet after months of accelerating inflation, Americans are increasingly hopeful the pace will cool off. Median one-year inflation expectations slid to 6.2% in July from 6.8%, according to the survey. Median three-year expectations, meanwhile, dipped to 3.2% from 3.6%, nearing the pre-pandemic trend.
The declines were broad-based across income groups, but households earning less than $50,000 and respondents without more than a high school education posted the largest drops. That signals inflation is starting to ease for those hit hardest by price increases, as lower-income groups are less able to tap their savings to offset the impact of inflation.
The downtrend is a hugely encouraging sign for economists. Inflation expectations can impact actual price growth over time, as businesses tend to raise prices faster when such increases are already anticipated. Expected inflation swung sharply higher through 2021 as supply-chain snags and elevated demand lifted prices. The July survey's findings signal Americans' expectations are falling back to earth, dashing concerns of persistently fast price growth.
July revealed a handful of green shoots in the inflation-rattled economy. Gas prices fell further from the mid-June peak throughout the month, offering much-needed relief in one of the areas hurting Americans' wallets the most. Prices for other key commodities like wheat and lumber also slid throughout last month.
Wage growth, meanwhile, continued to climb at a faster-than-usual pace, with average hourly earnings rising by $0.15, or 0.5%, through July. That beat the average estimate of 0.3% growth and marked the largest one-month gain since March.
Americans also see the price boom reversing course in the housing market. Home valuations skyrocketed throughout the pandemic amid a surge in demand and fast-paced bidding wars that saw countless houses sell well above their listing price. Americans now expect home prices to climb just 3.5% over the next 12 months, according to the Fed survey. That's down from the 4.4% expected rate in June and marks the slowest rate since November 2020.
The print also compares to the 19.7% year-over-year gain posted by the S&P Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. While that's down from the April peak, it's still leagues above the 4% average observed before the pandemic.
It's not just the inflation front where Americans see improvement on the horizon. The median expected growth in household income rose by 0.2 percentage points to a series-high 3.4% in July, according to the survey. Perceptions of current financial conditions also improved slightly, with fewer respondents telling the Fed branch that they were financially worse off than they were one year ago. Households also shared more optimistic outlooks for the year ahead, as fewer cited concerns about their finances worsening in the coming months.
There's a way to go before inflation returns to the Fed's 2% target. But with gas prices continuing to fall and Americans hoping for the best, the price-growth trend is moving in the right direction.
More: Economy survey of consumer expectations New York Fed Federal Reserve
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2022-08-08T16:26:38Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Americans Think Home Prices and Inflation Will Slow; Pay Will Rise
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https://www.businessinsider.com/when-prices-fall-inflation-expectations-improving-housing-market-outlook-fed-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/when-prices-fall-inflation-expectations-improving-housing-market-outlook-fed-2022-8
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The US is back to its pre-pandemic payroll count, and unemployment is back to 50-year lows.
Yet the recovery has been extremely uneven and affected by several pandemic-era trends.
While some sectors have rebounded and then some, others are struggling to hit their pre-crisis headcounts.
The US is back to record-high employment after 29 months of recovery, but several industries have been left behind.
Data out Friday showed the economy adding another 528,000 nonfarm payrolls in July, bringing the country's total count above the pre-pandemic peak. The unemployment rate also finished its recovery, sliding back to the early 2020 low of 3.5%. After more than two years of rapid rehiring and an unprecedented worker shortage, the labor market is largely healed.
Yet the headline payroll count doesn't tell the entire story. The rebound, while swift, has been extremely uneven across industries. The initial months of recovery saw manufacturers and remote-work-friendly industries fare much better than in-person businesses like restaurants and hotels. The reopening of the economy in early 2021 flipped the script and opened the door for large-scale hiring across the service sector.
Clear winners and losers of the hiring recovery have since emerged, and those in the former category are leagues ahead of their pre-crisis employment levels based on percent changes. The warehousing and storage sector is one that quickly regained the jobs it lost and has continued to see employment soar, buoyed by the surge of online shopping and shipping demand. The sector boasts 475,000 more payrolls than it did in February 2020. That's up 36% from the pre-pandemic high based on data going back to 1990.
The couriers and messengers sector is another that rapidly brought on workers through the pandemic. As of July, the industry is up around 236,000 jobs compared to February 2020, or nearly 27% above its pre-pandemic level.
Other information services, which includes a broad range of tech companies, similarly rebounded and now has 71,000 more jobs than its pre-crisis count as of July.
On the other end of the spectrum, several sectors are still below their February 2020 employment levels. Travel arrangement and reservation services is down about 68,000 payrolls and 31% from their pre-pandemic count. Travel was generally hit hard by 2020 lockdowns and subsequent virus variants hampered its recovery. While summer travel is in full swing and case counts are relatively low, such businesses are still having a rough go at boosting their headcounts.
Accommodation is also still recovering from pandemic losses, down 404,900 payrolls from February 2020.
The transit and ground transportation sector has a 86,000 payroll deficit, or employment that's 17% lower compared to February 2020.
Vocational rehab services were still down 54,000 payrolls, or 16%, by the end of July.
To be sure, the labor market's recovery is far from over. Most sectors continue to add payrolls at a healthy pace, and of the few industries posting payroll losses in July, the declines were negligible. With job creation accelerating considerably through July and job openings still surpassing 10 million, several subsectors that haven't returned to pre-crisis employment could still do so by the end of 2022.
There's hope left for industries lagging the broader recovery. But as interest rates climb and the economy settles into a slower pace of growth, the best days for rehiring are behind the US.
More: Economy Economic Data NFP nonfarm payrolls
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2022-08-08T17:18:24Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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The US Is at Record Employment, but Many Sectors Are Still Struggling
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https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-trends-jobs-report-july-sectors-struggling-most-economic-recovery-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-trends-jobs-report-july-sectors-struggling-most-economic-recovery-2022-8
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I'm a productivity advisor at Google. Here are 6 tips I give executives to better manage their email, meetings, and workload.
Laura Mae Martin.
Courtesy of Laura Mae Martin
Laura Mae Martin has been at Google for 12 years and created her own role, productivity advisor.
She helps executives take back their days and recommends grouping meetings by content.
Here are her other tips for work success, as told to writer Robin Madell.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Laura Mae Martin, the 33-year-old executive-productivity advisor at Google who's in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I started at Google almost 12 years ago as an account manager on the Ads team (formerly known as Adwords) and shortly after began my passion project: teaching people how to manage their work lives more effectively. It was part of an internal Google program known as "20% time," which enables Googlers to spend 20% of their total work time focusing on what they think will most benefit Google.
I created trainings based on the personal strategies I used for managing my inbox and calendar, and they became extremely popular. I also started a weekly employee newsletter for productivity tips, which more than one-third of Google employees now subscribe to. I was also asked to start leading one-on-one training for executives in a coaching capacity, which ultimately led to a full-time role and my title as Google's executive-productivity advisor. I work with Google executives and run the Productivity@Google program to help all employees stay productive, even when our surroundings make it difficult.
Over the years, people have come to me with very different ideas about what productivity is, why it matters, and how to achieve it. They often think about making every moment productive.
My definition of personal productivity is less about crossing off your to-dos and more about achieving the thing you set out to accomplish and making an impact. My coaching focuses on best practices for email management, time management, energy management, and effective meetings.
As many of us find ourselves returning to the office or preparing to do so, my focus has been on helping employees transition to hybrid work environments.
Here are my six top tips for being productive across all the places we work:
1. Understand your natural work rhythm
Being more productive and fulfilled at work starts with making a list of the times throughout the day and week when you feel most energized and focused — these are your peak times.
Most people who don't know their peak times are likely in so many meetings they haven't thought about when they like to focus. The question I always ask to flesh this out is: "If I told you that tomorrow you had a full day, by yourself, no meetings to structure exactly how you want to get things done, what would that look like?"
Then I ask questions like: "If you feel energized in the morning, when do you feel the least energized?" If they're in all-day meetings, I ask: "Which meetings do you feel most focused in? Least focused? Are there any patterns?"
I also suggest making a list of the times throughout the day and the week when you're most likely to need a break — these are your reset times.
Regardless of your working style, you should block your peak times at least two to three times a week for focus time. If you can avoid it, don't let these windows be scheduled with meetings or whittled away with distractions or other activities, like checking emails. I like to reserve my peak times for activities that are analytical or strategic, as well as those that require deep focus.
2. Recognize that a new 'season' of work calls for spring cleaning
Much like the new year or a new job, a new schedule at the office is a great time for a "spring cleaning" of your work life.
Every few months, I clean up my calendar. With the return to the office, I'm asking myself these questions:
Do you need to keep that recurring meeting you set up two years ago to keep in touch with people you'll now see in the office?
Should your team be meeting in person on a different day given everyone's locations?
Do you need to lighten up your schedule to make more time for travel and commuting?
Common changes I've seen employees make to their schedules include shortening meetings from one hour to 45 minutes, updating meeting cadences to monthly from biweekly, and combining meetings with the same attendees into one meeting.
I've also worked with employees who have moved into leadership roles to delegate meetings that are no longer relevant to their roles. I've heard from employees that cleaning up their calendars has made their schedules make more sense and accommodate new hybrid ways of work.
3. Group meetings by type, content, and location wherever possible
Many people think of their schedule like a puzzle: "Sure, wherever you find a 30-minute slot, throw a meeting in there!" But your energy and focus change when you bounce from a one-on-one meeting to a brainstorming session to a project check-in.
Be intentional about when you place meetings. Group meetings of similar type and topic, especially given the new variety in location. Theme your days, and minimize switching topics and types of meetings.
I like to use Tuesdays as my "coding day"' and schedule work time and meetings for that project on that day. On Wednesday mornings, I have meetings with my manager, and I like to block time afterward to digest the updates and trickle down the information to my team.
4. Build in some things that happen every day
To give yourself some consistency, try finding one to three things that you do every day, no matter where you're working.
For example, if on the days you go into the office, you commute from 8:15 a.m. to 9 a.m. and listen to an audiobook, recreate that on the days you work from home by going on a walk and listening to your book during the same period. If you always take a walk at home after lunch, also do it at the office. These signals help you keep your flow and make it a consistent workday, no matter where you are.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I found myself with no commute and more time in the mornings. I started waking up before my kids to have a cup of coffee and read. I loved that it helped set the tone for my day, and I've kept this as part of my routine even now that I'm back in the office.
One exec told me that she liked to take her kids to school throughout the work-from-home period, so I helped her reorganize her calendar so she'd always have a later start to allow for that. Another executive I worked with enjoyed taking daily walks at home, so we made some of his one-on-ones walking meetings at the same time each day.
5. Lean on apps for assistance
While productivity and well-being are much more than just managing our calendars and inboxes, they go hand in hand with the tools we use to work smarter and more efficiently.
Naturally, as the productivity advisor for Google, I use Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Google Chat, and Google Calendar more to connect with the right people.
For example, you can create a calendar event directly from Gmail and add a "keep note" to your calendar invites. With the return to the office, I love that I can set my working locations and hours in Google Calendar so that my teammates know where and when I'm working.
6. Take time to adjust
Two years ago, no one had any idea we'd be at home for so long. And during that time, many of us became great at being productive while working remotely. Others realized they definitely wanted to go back to the office.
Whatever your preference, we gave each other grace and embraced the value of human connections. And we should continue to home in on the productivity and well-being habits we developed during the pandemic as we transition yet again — whether it's adding an agenda item around well-being and time management to kick off one-on-one meetings or making time for a coffee chat with teammates.
The logistics of how we work are constantly changing, but productivity should always remain grounded in understanding yourself as a whole person.
More: Google Productivity Google employees BI-freelancer
productivity tips
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2022-08-08T18:06:14Z
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A Google Productivity Advisor Shares 6 Tips for Success at Work
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https://www.businessinsider.com/google-productivity-advisor-tips-work-email-meetings-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/google-productivity-advisor-tips-work-email-meetings-2022-8
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I'm an entrepreneur making 6 figures a year. Here are 5 steps I'm taking to recession-proof my business.
Jen Glantz is an entrepreneur, bridesmaid for hire, and consultant who makes six figures a year.
To protect her business, she's taking steps this summer to keep spending low and earn more money.
The steps include creating a budget, adding other streams of income, and starting an emergency fund.
When I got laid off from my full-time job as a copywriter in 2015, I promised myself that I'd do all I could to never work as an employee of a company ever again. At the time, I had a small side hustle I was working on in the wedding industry and did some freelance writing in my free time. I decided to focus on finding a handful of ways to generate income and build up those streams so that I could make more than I had at my full-time job and become a profit-generating entrepreneur.
Over the past seven years, I've hit that goal and been able to generate more than six figures a year through a variety of income streams, including services offered from my business as a bridesmaid for hire, passive income through courses, books, and merchandise that I sell on my website, and freelance consulting that I provide to one-off clients.
With talk of a recession on the horizon, I've been trying to find different ways to ensure my income streams won't be impacted by a downslide in the economy. Here are the five things I'm doing to recession-proof my business this summer.
1. I'm taking inventory of my cash flow
One of the first steps I took is something I've been negligent about for quite a few months. I started off by taking inventory of my cash flow and business finances to see where I'm overspending and bleeding money. I reviewed my bank statements and credit-card bills to identify the five to 10 different monthly services or products that were the most expensive so I could find less expensive options.
For example, I noticed I was paying 25% more for a software subscription every month than I should be since multiple viable competitors I found offered lower pricing for the same type of service. Making that switch saved me a couple hundred dollars a month.
I also found several subscriptions that I no longer needed or had to use, like plugins for my website or recurring ink being sent for my printer every month. When I canceled them, I saved more than $150 a month.
2. I'm creating a business budget
Once I felt my spending was more under control, I decided to give my business a monthly budget to stick to for products and services.
I accounted for monthly recurring charges and different services I usually solicit to help my business grow and expand, such as using virtual assistants or hiring photographers for social-media content. I decided to set a limit on how much I wanted to spend on hiring people every month as a way to keep my output lower than any other month so far in 2022.
3. I'm finding new income streams
When the pandemic paused a good chunk of my income since my primary business is in the wedding industry, I realized I needed to find new income streams and innovate my offerings to stay afloat.
I sat down in 2022 and researched five potential new income streams for myself by browsing the offerings of competitors, looking at industry trends, and seeing which of my skills might be the most in-demand. I decided to sell another online course and offer TikTok consulting — something small businesses have requested from me over the past few months. These two streams of income can hopefully start generating a few extra thousand dollars every month.
4. I'm modifying my offerings
In case the downturn in the economy continues to impact people, I wanted to make working with me more accessible and affordable.
I've been brainstorming ways to allow customers to build their own packages so that they can get more a-la-carte pricing instead of a standard package and price that I offer. That way, people can get what they need at a lower price. Hopefully, in the future, this can result in a higher customer volume.
5. I'm creating a business emergency fund
Depending on how bad a possible recession is, a lot of my standard work could see a huge decrease. In an effort to be able to keep my business afloat and not take on any debt, I've started to put money into a business emergency fund every month. That way, if I have a few months where I'm not bringing in enough income to pay my business bills, I can tap into that emergency fund.
Right now, I'm only putting aside $50 a month into that fund, but when I do have more profitable months, I plan to put aside a few hundred dollars.
More: BI-freelancer Recession Recession Proof
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2022-08-08T18:06:20Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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How I'm Recession-Proofing My Business As a 6-Figure Entrepreneur
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-recession-proof-business-6-figure-entrepreneur-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-recession-proof-business-6-figure-entrepreneur-2022-8
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More online banks are raising interest rates on savings accounts.
Competitive interest rate
Free incoming wire transfers
$25 outgoing wire transfer fee
Keep up to $1 million in an account
The BrioDirect High-Yield Savings Account and Bread Savings High-Yield Savings Account offer the highest interest rate on our list.
Meanwhile, the Bread Savings High-Yield Savings Account requires at least $100 upfront. If you haven't heard of Bread Savings, you might recognize the name Comenity Direct. Comenity Direct has recently been rebranded because its parent company, Bread Financial, has expanded to include lending options.
CIT Bank might be suitable for you if you plan to open a savings and checking account. The CIT Bank Savings Connect Account requires a minimum opening deposit of $100.
The CIBC Agility Account is a good high-yield savings account overall, as long as you have at least $1,000 to open the account. CIBC Bank USA is the US division of the Toronto-based bank Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and lets you open checking and money market accounts if you live in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
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2022-08-08T18:06:38Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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The Highest Savings Account Rates Today: August 8, 2022 | Over 1.81% APY
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/highest-savings-account-rates-today-august-8-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/highest-savings-account-rates-today-august-8-2022-8
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Check out the pitch deck pharmacy startup RxLive used to persuade investors at SpringTide to back its vision of reinventing pharmacy care
RxLive's chief pharmacy officer, Kristen Engelen, and CEO, Mark Engelen.
RxLive
The healthtech startup RxLive says pharmacists are underused in the healthcare system.
The startup puts pharmacists at the center of patient care teams.
Here's the 16-page pitch deck RxLive used to raise $5 million in Series A funding.
One health-technology startup believes that pharmacists — who spend four years in graduate school to earn Ph.D.s — are underused in healthcare, and its founders just persuaded investors to back their idea of putting these professionals at the center of care teams.
The pharmacy startup RxLive closed a $5 million Series A funding round led by the venture-capital firm SpringTide, which invests in healthtech companies. The healthcare-logistics firm Cardinal Health also participated in the funding round, which was announced on July 26.
RxLive's cofounders, Mark and Kristen Engelen — who have been married for 17 years — told Insider in an interview that many pharmacists couldn't spend enough time offering patient care and were often relegated to dispensing medication instead of building relationships.
"That's the problem we set out to solve, and we see pharmacy undergoing a really important transformation: The role of the pharmacists is going from just being the counter to much more patient-facing and value-oriented," Mark Engelen said. Under RxLive's model, he added, pharmacists are a core part of a patient's care team and work directly with doctors and patients to provide support.
"The folks our pharmacists are speaking with are getting a better education on how medications work and why they're important, which is a conversation that physicians don't always have time to have with their patients," he said.
Kristen Engelen, a pharmacist by training, added that the average RxLive patient was taking about 12 medications and could benefit from pharmacists' specialized training.
"They're highly trained clinicians who don't always have the time they need to put into patient care," she said. "Counseling patients and seeing how they're doing with their care is what many pharmacists want to spend their time doing, so we're giving the opportunity to deliver meaningful interactions with patients and coordinate care with their providers."
Pharmacy disruption is a growing segment within the healthtech industry. The digital pharmacies Alto and Capsule work to quickly deliver medication to patients' doors, and they're also partnering with the primary-care startups Ginger and Maven, respectively, to reach more customers.
Here's an exclusive look at the 16-page pitch deck RxLive used to woo investors and raise $5 million.
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2022-08-08T18:06:50Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Pharmacy Startup RxLive's Series a Pitch Deck for SpringTide
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pharmacy-startup-rxlives-series-a-pitch-deck-springtide-health-tech-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pharmacy-startup-rxlives-series-a-pitch-deck-springtide-health-tech-2022-8
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Getty/Cliff Welch
NFL quarterback Tom Brady has lost tens of thousands of dollars on his Bored Ape NFT.
He paid 133 ether ($430,000) for it in April, which is $235,436 right now. Its best offer is $136,034.
Celebrities have famously hyped up NFTs to the masses, who stand to lose more amid the crypto winter.
It appears that NFL quarterback legend Tom Brady has taken a bit of an L on one of his recent investments.
The 45-year-old purchased an NFT from the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club collection in April for 133 ether, which amounted to around $430,000 at the time.
But its value has plummeted in the four months since — 133 ether is now worth $235,436, and the best offer his NFT, #3667, has is 77 ether, or $136,034.31, meaning its worth has dropped by 68%.
It's a stark dip that has coincided with a broader slump in the world of crypto and all things decentralized finance. Bitcoin's price has dipped considerably — dragging other coins, like ether, down with it. Trust in the ecosystem has fallen, and users are less likely to invest in such risky assets right now due to rises in inflation and federal interest rates.
Bitcoin was at an all-time high of $68,000 in November and is around $23,000 this month, for example, while ether sat at $4,800 in late 2021 and is now trading at about $1,700.
Though luckily for Brady, he has plenty of cash to spare — the NFL great penned a post-retirement, 10-year, $375 million broadcasting contract with Fox in May. He also launched an NFT company called Autograph in 2021 that will sell digital collectibles from celebrities and sports icons.
Brady is one of many crypto-curious, multimillionaire celebrities that have dived into the Web3 space face first in the past year, endorsing exchanges and NFT projects and likening investing in crypto to exploring outer space.
But the crypto winter that began creeping in last November has wiped out much of the market, which in June fell below the $1 trillion mark for the first time since February 2021.
The NFT market specifically has seen daily sales decline from 225,000 in September 2021 to about 19,000 as of early May, the Wall Street Journal reported.
And as Insider's Avery Hartmans has reported, it's the average retail investor — not the deep-pocketed celebrity sponsors — who feel the greatest effect from dwindled or lost holdings.
For example, if you had invested in bitcoin on the same day that actor Matt Damon's now-famous Crypto.com ad aired on October 28, you would have seen over half of that investment wiped out by now.
More: NFTs Tom Brady crypto Ether
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2022-08-08T18:36:25Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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NFL's Tom Brady Loses Tens of Thousands on Bored Ape NFT
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https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-brady-nft-lost-thousands-bored-ape-club-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-brady-nft-lost-thousands-bored-ape-club-2022-8
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Alexander Schulz/EyeEm/Getty Images
Airline passengers with disabilities have been especially impacted by this summer's flight chaos.
In July, the US Dept. of Transportation published a "bill of rights" for travelers with disabilities.
Here are the accommodations airlines are required to provide, as stipulated in the Air Carrier Access Act.
From airlines breaking custom-fitted wheelchairs to staff members "abandoning" wheelchair users in the airport amid flight delays, this summer's travel chaos has made flying an even more challenging experience for some passengers with disabilities.
A total of 1,110 wheelchairs and scooters — 1.53% of all wheelchairs and scooters enplaned — were mishandled by US airlines this May, according to the Department of Transportation. During the same time period last year, 601 or 1.18% of all wheelchairs and scooters enplaned were mishandled.
In July, the agency released a "bill of rights" for airline passengers with disabilities — here is an abbreviated list of the 10 fundamental rights protected under the Air Carrier Access Act, as described by the DOT:
1. The Right to Be Treated with Dignity and Respect: An airline may not refuse a passenger services because of their disability or subject them to restrictions that do not apply to other passengers. Airline staff must receive disability training at least once every three years.
2. The Right to Receive Information About Services and Aircraft Capabilities and Limitations: Airlines must provide passengers with disabilities information upon request about the specific aircraft scheduled for their flight. This includes any limitations on the availability of the plane's storage for assistive devices and whether or not the plane has an accessible restroom.
3. The Right to Receive Information in an Accessible Format: Passengers who need visual or hearing assistance must receive "prompt access" to the same trip information as other passengers at the gate, ticket area, customer service desk, and onboard the aircraft. Airline staff must be trained to recognize requests for communication accommodations.
4. The Right to Accessible Airport Facilities: Airlines must ensure that terminal facilities that they own, lease, or control are readily accessible and usable by passengers with disabilities at US airports, and readily usable at international airports. This includes ensuring an accessible route between the gate and the aircraft boarding location, providing ramps or mechanical lifts when level-entry boarding is not possible, and providing service animal relief areas at the airport.
5. The Right to Assistance at Airports: Passengers with disabilities must be provided "prompt and timely" assistance throughout the airport. This includes assistance with transportation between gates to make connections, assistance with moving from the arriving or departing flight to the curb for pick-up, assistance with accessing the ticket counter, baggage claim, and restroom. Airlines cannot leave a passenger who is not independently mobile unattended for more than 30 minutes in a wheelchair or other device.
6. The Right to Assistance on the Aircraft: Airlines must allow a passenger with a disability who self-identifies at the gate as needing additional time or assistance to board, stow accessibility equipment, or be seated, the opportunity to board before all other passengers. Once the passenger has boarded, crew members must provide assistance with moving to the lavatory or retrieving carry-on items upon request.
7. The Right to Travel with an Assistive Device or Service Animal: Airlines must allow assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, as carry-ons in the cabin free of charge consistent with safety rules. If an airline loses, damages, or destroys the wheelchair or other assistive device, it must provide compensation "up to the original purchase price of the wheelchair or device."
8. The Right to Receive Seating Accommodations: Airlines must provide specific seats (when available on the same "class of service") to passengers with disabilities who request needing a movable aisle armrest, a bulkhead seat, greater leg room, or an adjoining seat.
9. The Right to Accessible Aircraft Features: New aircraft delivered to US airlines after April 1992 and to foreign airlines after May 2010 must have the following accessible features: (1) movable aisle armrests on half of the aisle seats, if the aircraft has 30 or more seats, (2) priority stowage space for wheelchairs in the cabin for aircraft with 100 or more seats, (3) at least one accessible lavatory, if the aircraft has more than one aisle, and (4) an on-board wheelchair when requested for on-board lavatory access.
10. The Right to Resolution of a Disability-Related Issue: Airlines must respond and directly address disability-related complaints submitted by passengers in writing within 30 days. Airlines are not required to address complaints sent more than 45 days after the incident unless the complaint is referred to the airline by the DOT.
More: Airlines summer travel chaos Flight Delays disability rights
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2022-08-08T20:16:34Z
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Summer Travel Chaos: 10 Rights of Airline Passengers With Disabilities
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https://www.businessinsider.com/summer-travel-chaos-airline-passengers-with-disabilities-accommodation-rights-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/summer-travel-chaos-airline-passengers-with-disabilities-accommodation-rights-2022-8
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The Inflation Reduction Act aims to cool the US's rampant price growth, but expect its effects to be limited.
Drug-price negotiation and clean-energy rebates will lower costs for millions of Americans through 2031.
Yet the overall impact on inflation will be minor and take years to be felt, analysts say.
Depending on who you listen to, the Inflation Reduction Act is either a panacea for the country's year-long price surge or a wasteful spending plan that'll do little to cool inflation.
Neither side of the debate is entirely wrong.
Senate Democrats passed their party's large-scale economic plan on Sunday, teeing up the measure for House approval and a signature from President Joe Biden. The package includes funding for clean-energy projects, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and improving IRS enforcement. It also aims to counter high inflation by paying down the federal budget deficit by taxing profitable firms that currently pay nothing to the government.
The bill's passage hinged on its inflation-fighting features. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia — the holdout Democrat who blocked his party's previous spending proposals — only backed the package once he and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer shifted the plan's focus to cooling price growth.
Yet different analyses of the IRA offer different forecasts for where — and when — the plan will actually cool inflation.
Drug costs and energy prices will show the biggest differences
Analysts largely agree on where the bulk of the IRA's inflation relief will show up. The plan allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies for the first time, opening the door for millions of Americans to enjoy significantly lower costs for crucial medicine.
"To seniors who've faced the indignity of rationing medications or skipping them altogether, this bill is for you," Schumer said on the Senate floor soon after the IRA's passage on Sunday.
Drug-price negotiation will also put downward pressure on inflation by cutting down on the government's budget deficit. The measure will cut $3 billion from the deficit in fiscal 2023 and another $2 billion from the following fiscal year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Cutting the government's spending lowers overall demand in the economy, as there's less cash moving throughout the system. As such, the drug-price-negotiation measure eases both upfront costs for Americans and inflation pressures throughout the economy, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said in its own analysis.
The IRA's 15% minimum tax on profitable corporations achieves a similar effect, the CBO said in a letter to Sen. Lindsay Graham. The tax is the IRA's single-largest deficit reducer and makes up for much of the bill's spending measures.
Energy reforms in the IRA are also set to pull inflation lower in the coming years. Funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies can lower the average household's energy costs by more than $300 per year once their effects are fully felt later in the decade, economists at Moody's Analytics said last week. Various tax rebates, such as those for electric vehicles and roof-installed solar panels, will also lower costs.
Relief is years away — and some new taxes could keep inflation high
The IRA is set to reach Biden's desk in a matter of days, but many of its inflation-fighting effects won't be felt for some time. The package won't have a significant effect on overall inflation until halfway through the decade, the team at Moody's said, as the new corporate taxes and other deficit reducers will take time to slow growth.
Drug-price negotiation won't start until 2026 as well, further delaying the downward pressure it will ultimately place on inflation. The IRA's impact will become "more meaningful later in the decade" as those measures and others go into effect, Moody's said.
Other analysts don't see the IRA having any significant effect at all on inflation. The package will produce "a very small increase in inflation for the first few years" due to government spending on extended Obamacare subsidies and climate projects, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a research initiative at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
The IRA will then lower overall inflation by a quarter of a percentage point by the late 2020s. The estimates are so close to zero, however, that the model indicates "a very low level of confidence" that Democrats' plan will have any impact on inflation.
A small tax revived in the IRA could even saddle Americans with higher prices in the near-term, the conservative advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform said in an August 1 statement. The IRA reinstates a 16.4-cents-per-barrel fee on crude oil and other petroleum imports that aims to pay for the cleaning of hazardous waste sites. Yet the tax "will be paid by consumers in the form of higher gas and energy costs," ATR said.
The bill's relief, then, likely won't be felt for some time. Yet with gas prices still falling and overall inflation expected to have cooled through July, Americans might not even notice.
More: Economy Inflation Reduction Act CBO Congressional Budget Office
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2022-08-08T21:51:58Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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How the Inflation Reduction Act Does — and Doesn't — Reduce Inflation
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https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-reduction-act-how-it-reduces-price-growth-deficit-pressures-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-reduction-act-how-it-reduces-price-growth-deficit-pressures-2022-8
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Haus, the millennial-favorite alcohol startup, is shutting down after Corona beer parent company reneged on an investment in the eleventh hour
Haus cofounders Helena Price Hambrecht and Woody Hambrecht.
Haus, a startup selling alcohol directly to consumers, is shutting down after running out of cash.
The founders had signed a term sheet for $10 million in fresh funds but the lead investor walked.
Now, Haus is hunting for a buyer to take it over, chief executive Helena Price Hambrecht said.
Haus, a startup that ships low-alcohol aperitifs to people's doors and found favor with millennials, is shutting down after a new funding round fell through, according to the company's chief executive, Helena Price Hambrecht.
The Sonoma County, California, startup had stood out in startup land as one of the few alcohol purveyors to raise venture capital, taking in more than $17 million from over a hundred individual investors and funds since its founding in 2019.
Haus was in the midst of closing its next fundraising round, attempting to bring in at least $10 million from a brand-name strategic investor, when it ran into trouble, Price Hambrecht tweeted and told Insider later on Monday.
Constellation Brands, a leading alcohol company known for Corona and Modelo beers, had issued the startup an offer to invest in July, Price Hambrecht said. She and partner Woody Hambrecht signed a term sheet. Then, unexpectedly, Constellation Brands pulled out of the deal, according to Price Hambrecht and one Haus investor.
"Raising money has always been difficult for Haus," Price Hambrecht, a seasoned brand consultant turned founder, said. "I was feeling very lucky I had found this lead, given the market is cooling for all startup investment."
It had been more than two years since Haus raised $4.5 million in seed funding, and the company was running out of cash. Haus reached a deal with Constellation that it would receive part of the funds in advance of the Series A round closing, while Constellation spoke to investors and shareholders to evaluate whether the deal was worth pursuing, a process known as "due diligence" in venture-speak. But in July, Constellation ended talks to invest, saying that the timing didn't work, Price Hambrecht said. Constellation Brands did not respond to a request for comment.
Price Hambrecht said without a lead investor for the next round, the company didn't have enough cash to continue operations. It has laid off 25 employees out of a staff of 30, leaving mostly warehouse workers at the startup who will pack and ship the company's aperitifs until the online store sells out. Haus has also hired a liquidation firm to find a buyer.
"It's possible that someone will buy Haus in its entirety, and it can continue on under new ownership," Price Hambrecht said in a tweet on Monday. "It's also possible that it will be sold for parts."
Haus' shutdown comes as the technology stock crash has roiled startups as they seek new investment. In the second quarter of this year, investors plugged $62.3 billion into startups, a 23% decline from the same period last year. Founders say that investors have pulled term sheets and stopped responding to emails as funding dries up.
Haus saw sales explode early in the pandemic, as online shopping boomed. But the party didn't last. The company's low-alcohol aperitifs, which can be mixed with liquor or enjoyed straight from the bottle, are meant to be shared — but the lingering effects of the pandemic slowed the return of social gatherings, Price Albrecht said. Even though the company doubled sales in 2021 over the previous year, the growth rate declined. It turned to wholesale distributors to juice sales.
Haus, a startup selling low-alcohol mixed drinks directly to consumers, is shutting down as funding for startups dries up.
Meanwhile, the founders struggled to raise the next funding round, partly because many funds are subject to a "vice clause" — a restriction by a firm's outside investors on where their money can be invested — Price Albrecht said. The foundations and schools that front them capital might not want to put their cash in cannabis or porn, for instance.
The founders pushed on, taking small checks from lots of investors on a rolling basis, rather than raising lump sums from a few large firms. Their backers include Brianne Kimmel of Worklife Ventures, Alexia Bonatsos of Dream Machine, Semil Shah from Haystack, Hunter Walk from Homebrew, Adam Michela of Combine, and Shrug Capital.
The company spent much of its cash on team, product, and advertising campaigns.
"Haus was a big idea, and raising capital allowed us to do things that other alcohol brands haven't been able to do before," Price Hambrecht said. "We were able to invent new ways of producing and shipping alcohol that were truly innovative for the industry. We were able to build a national audience with ads and press.
"We were able to build a brand and experience that was very focused on the customer, even if it meant spending some money up front to get there. It was really incredible what we were able to do with the funding we had."
More: Startups Venture Capital Haus
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2022-08-08T21:52:04Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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DTC Alcohol Startup Haus Shuts Down Due to Cash Woes, CEO Says
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https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-dtc-alcohol-startup-haus-shuts-down-constellation-investor-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-dtc-alcohol-startup-haus-shuts-down-constellation-investor-2022-8
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Basics of the cannabis industry
Types of marijuana investments
Risks of investing in marijuana
How to invest in marijuana
Marijuana ETFs
As cannabis goes mainstream, the budding industry is poised to grow.
There are several ways for investors to gain exposure to the marijuana industry.
There are two types of marijuana investments: individual stocks and marijuana ETFs
Due to legal uncertainties on the federal level, marijuana investments remain risky and volatile.
When it comes to investing in the legal marijuana industry, they don't call it the "green rush" for nothing. Many analysts are projecting massive growth for the cannabis industry. New Frontier, a Washington DC-based cannabis research firm, expects total US legal cannabis sales to exceed $57 billion by 2030.
In light of such tremendous growth potential, many see marijuana as a golden investment opportunity — but not without risk. Here's what you need to know about investing in the legal cannabis industry, including the risks and challenges, the biggest companies to watch, and why ETFs could be the safest way to add marijuana stocks to your portfolio.
With each election, more states are voting to legalize some form of marijuana use. A total of 38 states have legalized medical marijuana, with 19 states and Washington DC legalizing cannabis for recreational adult use.
States where cannabis is legal.
Broadly speaking, there are two markets in the marijuana industry: recreational and medical. While each cater to different markets, both represent growth potential. Whereas medical marijuana stocks involve companies dedicated to the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of the drug, recreational cannabis companies cover products for personal enjoyment.
On the medical side, there's also a growing market for CBD products. CBD, short for cannabidiol, is the legal, non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis plants that's taken to ease chronic pain, anxiety, and other ailments.
The growing acceptance of cannabis is not just happening in the US, but all over the world. Grandview Research projects that the global market size for the cannabis industry will reach $102.2 billion by 2030.
"Investors have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of an emerging industry," says Michael Shea, CFP at Applied Capital, adding that by getting in early, investors could "capture outsized returns as the industry grows and develops."
Currently, the medical marijuana market offers strong short-term income potential. But the recreational side continues to attract investors as more states pass legislation.
There are four major categories of marijuana stocks related to different facets of the cannabis industry:
Growers: Companies that own marijuana farms and actively cultivate the plant.
Retailers: This includes dispensaries in states where residents can purchase marijuana and cannabis-related products such as edibles, oils, and more.
Manufacturers: Companies that provide ancillary support to the industry and are involved in cannabis extraction, product preparation, packaging, and labeling.
Drugmakers: Pharmaceutical companies that use biotech to create drugs derived from the cannabis plant.
It should be noted that some companies that are tangentially connected to the marijuana industry may still benefit from its growth. An example would be companies that develop hydroponic technologies, such as GrowGeneration (GRWG).
One of the biggest risks of marijuana investing is that it's rising popularity makes it a prime target for scam artists. In fact, the SEC has issued a warning that lists several various marijuana-related fraudulent investment schemes including unlicensed sellers, unsolicited investment offers, and market manipulation.
Quick tip: Before you agree to work with a seller of investments, use the SEC's Investment Advisor Search tool to make sure they're properly registered and licensed.
Other risks of investing in marijuana to consider:
Business risk: As long as marijuana is federally illegal, it will continue to be difficult for marijuana companies to open US bank accounts. Sean van der Wal, Managing Partner at Drawing Capital, explains that this not only makes it more difficult to secure funding, but also means that "many marijuana producers rely on cash," which "poses a significant risk from a liability and accounting perspective."
Legislative risk: The industry's growth is tied to legislation. Surprisingly, there's even some risk involved with the legalization of marijuana. Kenny Polcari, founder and Managing Partner of Kace Capital Advisors, says future taxation is a big question mark. "Right now you can buy marijuana and pay no sales tax." But "taxes will increase the price of marijuana for the end user." And, if too high, those added costs could push some consumers away.
Valuation risk: Many of the companies that are involved in producing or selling marijuana are young. What should their valuations be? It's hard to tell. Polcari warns that "if valuations end up too high as the excitement builds, the potential exists that the market will correct and prices will decline."
Demand risk: As more companies enter the market, supply could outpace demand for cannabis products. Van der Wal also says that "enthusiasts may be compelled to produce their own product in small batches for personal consumption" as legalization spreads. This could especially be true if high excise taxes are applied to marijuana sales. And, in these ways, he says "analysts may overstate the total addressable market."
Volatility risk: Marijuana stock prices often swing wildly up and down in short periods of time. This is less likely to be a concern if you plan to hold onto your investments for 10-30 years or more. But if you have a shorter investment horizon, you may want to stay away from volatile investments like marijuana stocks.
Much like investing in any stock, you'll need a broker to invest in marijuana. You'll also want to do your due diligence before choosing investments, which means taking the time to research each company and staying up to date with the latest regulations.
There are two main types of marijuana investments: individual stocks and marijuana ETFs. ETFs allow you to spread your investment among companies across the entire marijuana industry.
If you're a trader looking to take advantage of short-term price shifts, Polcari says that individual stocks may be the way to go. Otherwise, he prefers ETFs since they don't require you to pick and choose and run the risk of picking the wrong company.
Some ETFs seek to provide investment results that correspond to an underlying index while others are actively managed. The advantage of index ETFs is that they tend to have lower expense ratios. But actively managed funds may be able respond faster to marijuana stock news — both positive and negative.
The list below of popular marijuana ETFs includes a mixture of actively managed and index options:
ETF Net Assets
AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS) $624.88 million
ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ) $398.62 million
The Cannabis ETF (THCX) $91.59 million
Global X Cannabis ETF (POTX) $50.61 million
AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF (YOLO) $34.32 million
Because US marijuana companies are engaged in activities that are illegal on the federal level, there aren't many publicly-listed US cannabis stocks on major exchanges. By contrast, Canadian cannabis companies — where recreational use of cannabis was legalized in 2018 — are able to list on major stock US exchanges like the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.
The distinction is important to know because US cannabis companies looking to raise capital are forced to list on the secondary market, or trade over-the-counter (OTC). OTC stocks can be dangerous as they lack public financial records and are often more susceptible to price manipulation.
The good news is that the number of publicly-listed marijuana stocks is growing. As you're evaluating your options, the first thing to consider is the company's market cap. The larger the market cap, the better the chance that the company will have the financial stability to survive over the long haul.
Here's a list marijuana stocks that have a market cap of at least $1 billion:
Company Market Cap Type
Canopy Growth Corp (CGC) $1.30 billion Grower/Retailer/Drugmaker
Curaleaf (CURLF) $4.02 billion Retailer/Drugmaker
Green Thumb Industries Inc (GTBIF) $2.41 billion Manufacturer/Retailer
Tilray Inc (TLRY) $2.10 billion Drugmaker
Cronos Group (CRON) $1.29 billion Manufacturer
Village Farms International, Inc. (VFF) $280.93 million Grower
Marijuana investing isn't for everyone, especially for retail investors who prefer to minimize risk. But investors with a higher risk tolerance may find that the growth promise of marijuana stocks and ETFs make them a worthy addition to their portfolios.
CANNABIS From ETFs to over-the-counter stocks, here's how to invest in the booming cannabis industry, according to 2 expert investors
FINANCE How to invest in healthcare, a massive market sector that offers unparalleled diversification for portfolios
CANNABIS All the states where marijuana is legal — and 5 more that voted to legalize it in November
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2022-08-08T21:52:28Z
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Cannabis Investment Basics: How to Invest in Marijuana Stocks
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Leaked memo shows Salesforce is shuffling its executive ranks with a new COO and moving its head of revenue to a strategy role
Bret Taylor, Salesforce COO
Salesforce announced two key exec changes, according to an internal memo viewed by Insider.
Salesforce's chief customer success officer Brian Millham is its new chief operating officer.
Chief revenue officer Gavin Patterson is moving into a new chief strategy officer role.
Salesforce announced an internal shakeup in its executive ranks today, naming a new chief operating officer and moving its head of revenue into a new strategic role, according to a leaked internal memo viewed by Insider.
Salesforce also filed an 8-K document with the Securities & Exchange Commission detailing the executive shuffle.
The new leadership structure will enable Salesforce to deliver customer success in a "more powerful, unified, and agile way on our path to $50B in revenue," the memo, signed by company co-CEOs Marc Benioff and Bret Taylor, says.
Brian Millham, the company's chief customer success officer, will become Salesforce's new chief operating officer, according to the memo. Salesforce is moving ownership of its global sales organization under Millham, who will also oversee customer success, professional services, and alliances and channels, according to the memo.
Gavin Patterson, the company's chief revenue officer, will now be the company's chief strategy officer. Patterson has been the company's chief revenue officer since May 2020 after joining Salesforce in August 2019.
"Over the last two years, he has been our CRO, overseeing the most rapid growth period in Salesforce's history," the memo states. "Gavin will help guide our strategy as we innovate, deliver customer success, and supercharge Salesforce's growth for decades to come."
Millham, meanwhile is a Salesforce lifer, having joined the company in 1999. He was president of the company's commercial sales for 16 years, according to his LinkedIn profile, before taking over customer success in September 2018.
The executive shuffle happens as Salesforce will announce its second-quarter results later this month. Salesforce reported $4.87 billion in the first quarter at the front of Patterson's tenure in Q1 2020, while reporting $7.41 billion in Q1 this year—an overall increase of around 52.5%.
Like most companies, Salesforce has seen a precipitous decline in its stock amid a wider market downturn. The company was worth roughly $300 billion in November last year, but has since shed more than $100 billion from its high.
Salesforce declined to add any additional details about the executive changes.
More: Salesforce Slack stock Tableau Bret Taylor
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2022-08-08T22:13:56Z
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Salesforce Promotes New COO, Chief Revenue Officer Moves to New Role
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https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-new-coo-brian-millham-cro-gavin-patterson-moved
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DTC pioneer Warby Parker cuts 63 corporate jobs as its stock price plummets this year
Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal, the co-CEOs of Warby Parker.
Colin Hughes/Courtesy Warby Parker
Warby Parker cut 63 jobs this week ahead of its second-quarter earnings call.
The layoffs affected employees from several teams across Warby's corporate headquarters.
In an internal memo, the co-CEOs cited the "macroeconomic environment."
Warby Parker has joined the wave of DTC companies like Daily Harvest and Allbirds laying off workers this year, Insider has learned.
The DTC eyewear brand eliminated 63 roles across its corporate departments this morning, according to an internal email viewed by Insider. The memo, signed by cofounders and co-CEOs Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, stated that layoffs excluded customer-facing roles on the retail and customer experience teams, as well as workers in the company's Optical Lab.
At least one employee, a business analyst, announced on LinkedIn on Monday that their role had been affected by the layoffs.
"As we have discussed over the past few weeks, the global economy continues to face significant volatility and uncertainty. This is impacting consumer behavior in every industry, including the optical industry. As a business, we must do our best to adapt, which sometimes involves making difficult decisions in the best interests of the company," the internal memo said.
"While this was an incredibly difficult decision, we are making these changes to enable us to operate in a more focused and nimble manner and to capitalize more efficiently on our highest impact opportunities," the company wrote in a separate statement to Insider.
As business growth slows and labor costs increase, companies are slashing headcounts to reduce costs.
Warby Parker is just the latest high-profile company to cut its corporate headcount. Allbirds recently laid off 23 employees — 8% of its staff — according to a Retail Dive report on Wednesday. Last week, Wal-Mart laid off hundreds of corporate workers at its Bentonville, Arkansas. headquarters. In July, Shopify cut 10% of its global workforce and 7-Eleven announced a reorganization that would affect nearly 900 of its corporate employees in Ohio and Texas.
Warby Parker reported a surprise loss and missed on expected revenue in the first quarter of 2022, attributing $15 million in losses to the Omicron variant. Still, the company was optimistic about its outlook, expecting that the first quarter would be "the lowest growth in profitability quarter" for the year, Blumenthal said on a call with investors in May.
Cofounded in 2010 by Blumenthal, Gilboa, Andrew Hunt, and Jeffrey Raider, Warby Parker was in the initial class of DTC disruptor brands. After its IPO in September 2021, the company's shares soared 30%. Its stock price is down 70% in 2022.
Warby Parker has spent the last few years aggressively expanding its retail footprint. At the end of the first quarter, the company operated 169 stores in the US and Canada, and has said it plans to reach 200 by the end of 2022.
Warby Parker next reports quarterly earnings on August 11.
Got a tip for this reporter? Contact Ellen Thomas via email at ethomas@insider.com. Check out Insider's source guide for other tips on sharing information securely.
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2022-08-08T22:14:08Z
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Warby Parker Lays Off 63 Corporate Staff Amid Poor Stock Performance
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https://www.businessinsider.com/warby-parker-lays-off-63-corporate-employees-internal-memo-2022-8
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Leaked email shows Nvidia's CEO reassuring employees that layoffs aren't coming after missing revenue targets, but the company will 'find and eliminate all wasted time, process, and material'
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia
In an email to employees, Nvidia's CEO promised no layoffs are coming even as revenue dips.
On Monday, Nvidia warned investors that it will miss its Q2 revenue guidance by over $1 billion.
The email also said that Nvidia employees were given a raise "to take care of your families."
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reassured its 22,000-plus employees on Monday that no layoffs are imminent at the chip giant — even after the company released preliminary earnings warning Wall Street that it's likely to miss its quarterly revenue guidance by over $1 billion.
In an email to employees viewed by Insider, Huang says that the Q2 results were "significantly lower than anticipated" largely thanks to a slowdown in its gaming business, but reassured employees that Nvidia's fundamentals are still strong and demand remains high.
It's not clear if Huang was referring to a new pay raise initiative for Nvidia employees, or speaking more generally about the company's compensation practices. In the email, Huang also did not rule out the possibility of layoffs in the future. Nvidia declined to comment on this story.
He said that the company will instead take the opportunity to make Nvidia a better, more efficient company, and that the company will hold "investments at current levels."
"We will exercise extreme collaboration, a hallmark of our culture, finding every opportunity to leverage and reuse. We will find and eliminate all wasted time, process, and material," he wrote. "Take this opportunity to make Nvidia even faster, leaner, and agile."
In an announcement made on Monday, Nvidia said that its quarterly earnings are expected to come in at $6.7 billion, down significantly from the $8.1 billion it had previously told investors to expect. Nvidia's stock sunk over 6% on Monday on the news.
Nvidia chalked the decrease to a decline in the firm's gaming division which saw a drop of 44%. It also called out a slowdown in its data center business, which provides powerful server chips for businesses, but which has been impacted by the global supply chain slowdowns. That business is expected to post $3.81 billion in quarterly revenue, Nvidia said in its Monday filing, which would be up only 1% from the quarter before — but 61% from the same timeframe of 2021.
Nvidia's pledge that layoffs aren't imminent comes as tech industry peers like Oracle and Robinhood have cut jobs as markets sour and fears of a recession loom. Others have tightened their belts in different ways, including by rescinding offers to new hires.
Huang closed out his email by urging Nvidia's employees to turn their energies towards doubling down on the company's investments in cutting-edge fields like the metaverse and artificial intelligence, where he says future growth will be found.
"So let's turn our alertness and agility to maximum, engines full-throttle, and fly through the challenges ahead while continuing to do our impactful work," he wrote.
More: nVidia Layoffs Leaked Memo Semiconductors
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2022-08-09T01:03:03Z
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Nvidia CEO Promises No Layoffs After Revenue Dips
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https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-ceo-no-layoffs-memo-employees-2022-8
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A senior PitchBook analyst breaks down 3 reasons why crypto venture funding is on track to surpass 2021 despite a market downturn
Robert Le is a Senior PitchBook Emerging Tech Analyst and former PwC Associate.
Crypto exchange FTX has accepted $1.96 billion in VC backing, per a recent PitchBook report.
VCs are still investing, Le says, because they don't want to "miss the next Google" of crypto.
It's been a rocky year for crypto markets. The nascent space has slashed almost two-thirds of its value, according to Messari on Monday, with ethereum and bitcoin dropping over 63.4% and 65.2% from their all-time highs.
The market took major hits following the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD, or UST, causing widespread contagion concerns. Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which reportedly had exposure to UST, filed for bankruptcy. The major centralized lender Celsius and brokerage Voyager Digital followed suit.
On the macro front, token prices have sustained a significant correlation to traditional equities on inflation concerns, leaving investors wary of risk assets at-large. Crypto market have made slow and steady gains in recent weeks, however.
Prices aren't the sole gauge of the nascent space's longevity or health. Despite a nearly two trillion-dollar loss of its market cap since November, venture funding is still on track to outpace last year, according to a Q2 2022 fintech report from PitchBook.
Robert Le, a senior PitchBook emerging tech analyst, told Insider that despite a bearish market, projects and protocols are still getting sizable capital.
"We believe crypto funding in 2022 could surpass last year's record high of $25.8 billion based on the continual increase in capital flows this year," Le said. "The more than $18.5 billion invested to date extrapolates to over $30 billion for the year. Further, a record amount of crypto VC is still sitting on the sidelines, which we believe will drive funding activity for the remainder of the year."
Fintech venture funding at-large has slowed down, however, with investments falling 17.8% from the last quarter. Per the report, this is the largest percentage drop since Q3 2018, causing startups to attract potential M&A opportunities in the future.
To be sure, new investors could be warded off by more systemic risks in the space, resulting in a downturn in crypto venture funding. For the first half of 2022, investments in crypto-related companies totalled $9.3 billion, according to data from Crunchbase, down from $12.5 billion in the first half of last year. However, 534 deals were announced in H1 2022, compared to 456 in H1 of the year before.
Despite bearish market, venture funding continues
Amid market carnage, Solana-based non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden announced a whopping $130 million Series B raise at a $1.6 billion valuation in June. Venture giant Andreessen Horowitz also secured a $4.5 billion fund for crypto investments, while Soona Amhaz's venture firm Volt Capital raised a $50 million fund as well.
Amhaz's fund, which completed its cap formation in less than a month, said bear markets are the best time for LPs to invest. Last year, VCs were paying Series A figures for early-stage projects, per Amhaz, but now investors can capitalize on rounds while lowering pre-seed risk.
"The exact right time to be investing in founders is when the markets cool down," she previously told Insider, adding that a bear market gives investors a "margin of safety."
"When you're investing at those prices, you're assuming perfection," Amhaz continued. "You assume that the team is going to perfectly hit product-market fit, that they're going to hire the perfect team to do it, and that everything is going to work flawlessly."
Le echoed these sentiments, adding that terms and valuations in bear markets will be "more favorable for investors" as venture capitalists try to seek out the "strongest" projects.
Second, the analyst compared the market to the dot-com boom, adding that investors don't want to miss out on the premiums that some of their peers may have notched in the late 1990's. VCs are still investing, Le says, because they don't want to "miss the next Google" of crypto.
"If you pulled back on investing during the dot-com era you would have missed out on the next Google, the next Amazon, or the next Ebay. No one wants to miss out on that," Le said. "I think a lot of these people are still pushing on the pedal because they believe the next Amazon or the next Ebay will come out of this market."
Third, venture funding remains strong due to high-conviction investors who believe that crypto will be the "next technological revolution," according to Le.
He added: "If that's true then there's going to be trillions of dollars that's going to be created in this space. And VCs do not want to miss out."
Some of the top VC-backed fintech companies, per the report, include the exchange FTX and custody platform Fireblocks. FTX and Fireblocks have received more than a combined $3.1 billion in venture funding, as of June 30, 2022. The top VC investors in fintech companies include asset manager Blackstone and PE firm Accel-KKR with 39 deals total.
Dot Com Era
Robert Le
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2022-08-09T08:39:11Z
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Crypto VC Funding on Track to Surpass 2021 Despite Downturn: PitchBook
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In June 2021, 21 GOP lawmakers voted against giving Capitol police officers congressional medals.
This Monday, many of them leapt to Trump's defense over the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago.
Their slamming of the FBI stands in stark contrast to their pro-law enforcement platform.
Though the House eventually approved the medals, these Republicans rejected the idea that medals should be awarded — with some lawmakers objecting to how those who attacked the Capitol were referred to as insurrectionists.
On Monday, these GOP lawmakers joined a chorus of voices asking for the FBI to be destroyed and defunded for executing a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump's potential 2024 rivals — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — joined the former president's defense on Monday, decrying the operation and alleging it was politically motivated.
The GOP branch of the House Judiciary Committee posted a rebuke of the FBI on Twitter, writing: "This is what happens in third world countries. Not the United States. Doesn't the FBI have better things to do than harass the former PRESIDENT?"
"If they can do it to a former President, imagine what they can do to you," they added in a separate tweet.
The GOP's vociferous protest of the FBI's action comes despite indications that the search warrant is likely due to an overwhelming amount of evidence against Trump. Christopher Wray, the current FBI chief, was also a Trump appointee nominated in June 2017 who the former president once described as "a man of impeccable credentials."
Here's what these lawmakers said on Monday about the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago — and how it contrasts with their pro-law enforcement stance.
Rep. Andy Biggs
—Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) August 8, 2022
Biggs in May 2021 released a statement on National Police Week, saying that "serving in law enforcement takes a special kind of person."
"Instead of the hyper-critique they have received of recent times, they deserve the praise and admiration of this body. Police officers routinely face grave threats with great courage," Biggs wrote.
—Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) August 9, 2022
In a statement on her website, Boebert called law enforcement "the heroes that run towards danger while others run away."
"Our men and women in law enforcement work tirelessly every day to protect our communities and have my full and unwavering support," Boebert wrote. "In short, I back the blue, and I will never apologize for it."
Rep. Andrew Clyde
—Rep. Andrew Clyde (@Rep_Clyde) August 8, 2022
In a statement in March 2021, Clyde wrote: "I have, and always will be, a fervent supporter of our men and women in uniform."
"I do my best each day to honor our law enforcement officers, service members, and all those who serve in uniform on our behalf," he added, saying he would "not use their sacrifice as a political tool."
Rep. Warren Davidson
—Warren Davidson (@WarrenDavidson) August 9, 2022
"This war on police must end!#DefendThePolice," the congressman wrote on Facebook in September 2020.
In May 2021, he also called for people to "be sure to show your appreciation" for officers' "hard work and dedicated service."
—Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) August 8, 2022
Gaetz in April 2021 railed against a DOJ investigation into allegations that he sex-trafficked a minor, writing in an op-ed that he had "decided to take on the most powerful institutions in the Beltway: the establishment; the FBI" and "the Biden Justice Department."
Gaetz, has, however, like many GOP lawmakers, expressed his backing of the police.
—Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) June 22, 2020
—Louie Gohmert (@replouiegohmert) August 9, 2022
"We are always grateful for the men and women in blue who have sworn to protect and serve our communities," Gohmert tweeted on National Police Week in May 2018. "This week, we thank you and honor you for your service!"
—Congressman Bob Good (@RepBobGood) August 9, 2022
Good on Monday also retweeted an exhortation to GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to "immediately set up a modern day Church committee to investigate the FBI & other weaponized deep state arms."
In January 2021, Good tweeted in support of law enforcement officials, saying that he thanks "the men and women who leave their families each day to protect ours. #BackTheBlue."
—Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) August 9, 2022
"Back the blue. Now. Phoenix supports our law enforcement and our president," Gosar tweeted on November 2020.
Greene is known for her pro-cop stance, even signing up to speak at an Ohio "Back the Blue" rally back in April 2021. She also proposed legislation to award gold medals to police officers to honor them with medals for protecting cities against "Black Lives Matter (BLM) terrorists."
Massie previously expressed gratitude to law enforcement in his state for supporting him.
"I am always thankful for the brave men and women who put their lives on the line each day to protect communities in the 4th District," Massie posted on Facebook in November 2020.
US House Office of Photography
—Rep. Barry Moore (@RepBarryMoore) August 9, 2022
In an op-ed about his vote on the Congressional Gold Medals, Moore clarified that he thought "these brave men and women rightfully deserve this accolade after putting their lives on the line to protect the People's House."
"I have always backed the blue, and I always will, as a matter of principle, not politics," he wrote in an op-ed published in the Montgomery Advertiser.
Rep. Ralph Norman
—Rep. Ralph Norman (@RepRalphNorman) August 9, 2022
Norman, too, is a proponent of the "back the blue" slogan.
"As I have said repeatedly, law enforcement officers who serve their communities with honor and dignity will always have my respect," Norman wrote on Facebook in July 2021.
"It is maddening to me to see a lack of appreciation and support for our men and women in law enforcement, which unfortunately permeates too many parts of our society today. This has to stop," he continued in that Facebook post. "It is right to demand transparency and accountability from our law enforcement agencies – nobody disagrees with that. Nor should anyone disagree that when law enforcement officers are held to account, it should be based on fair, appropriate standards that are blind to external pressures and the public spotlight."
—Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) August 9, 2022
Rep. Greg Steube's rebuke of the FBI stands in stark contrast to his statement in May 2020, where he spoke up in support of law enforcement officers' mental health.
"I'm honored to have a Father as a former Sheriff and a brother who still serves as a Deputy Sheriff," Steube wrote. "Those who put on the uniform every day to protect and serve our communities deserve our support and assistance when they need it most."
More: GOP lawmakers Republicans Donald Trump
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2022-08-09T08:39:17Z
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Pro-Cop GOP Lawmakers Are Slamming the FBI on Trump's Behalf
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pro-cop-gop-lawmakers-slam-the-fbi-on-trumps-behalf-2022-8
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A entrepreneur turned one TikTok into $100,000 in sales. Here's her strategy for turning viral videos into business.
Abby Michaelsen, founder of Statement Home, at a recent pop-up event in New York.
courtesy of Michaelsen
Abby Michaelsen launched her decor business, Statement Home, in June 2020.
She's since gone viral on TikTok, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales.
She shared advice on forming a social-media strategy, including the successful steps she took.
When Abby Michaelsen lost her job in marketing and business development in 2018, she reevaluated her career choice.
"I used that as a moment to reassess," Michaelsen told Insider. "Am I going to try to find a new job or am I going to try to start something?" she asked herself.
As Michaelsen considered her options, she joined her mother's interior-design firm for two years and enrolled in an entrepreneurship master's program at the University of Southern California. Those experiences were the catalyst for her own business, Statement Home, a decor brand that sells decorative trays with interchangeable inserts.
After she launched in June 2020, sales were slow. However, her decision to prioritize TikTok marketing sent sales skyrocketing, she said. In fact, one video directly led to $100,000 in sales, while others brought in $20,000 at a time, according to documents verified by Insider.
With much of her success coming from social-media marketing, Michaelsen spoke with Insider about her biggest tips for turning views into sales.
Know what kind of creator you are
Michaelsen filming a TikTok video.
It can be tempting to act like an influencer, but a curated feed of lifestyle content doesn't guarantee sales, said Michaelsen.
"I was spending so much time trying to have this perfect Instagram feed, as if I was an influencer," she said. "But it wasn't showing the versatility of the product."
The first time Michaelsen went viral on TikTok was in May 2021. The video showed her friend organically unboxing her Statement Home tray, and it brought in $10,000 in a matter of four days, Michaelsen said.
Several of Michaelsen's videos have since generated significant traction and generated up to $20,000 in sales each. But her most viral video was posted in April, which garnered 2.8 million views and brought in $100,000 in sales. The video showed the Statement Home tray in multiple settings: Michaelsen changed the inserts, displayed the tray with a charcuterie board, used it as home decor, and gave the tray as a gift.
Michaelson quickly realized that authentic videos of the tray in action got customers to open their wallets.
Be a responsible business owner
Michaelsen working in the fulfillment center.
Despite the success Michaelsen has seen on social media, it's important to her to remain a "responsible" creator and business owner, she said.
Because results can be so unexpected, entrepreneurs should be prepared for anything, she said. For example, because a single video can lead to an increase in sales, it's important for business owners to always have an updated inventory and website. That way, they'll avoid overselling the product and upsetting would-be customers.
The dos and don'ts of social-media marketing
@statementhome Replying to @kaylakinderr no paper inserts here! Our tray inserts are made of a durbale, premium plastic material with high resolution printing and a glossy protectant layer so they hold up for many years to come! They’re waterproof and washable with soap & water 🧼 ✨ #decorideas #kitchenhacks #homedecorinspiration #homedecorideas #homedecorhacks #womanowned #servingtray ♬ FEEL THE GROOVE - Queens Road, Fabian Graetz
1. Vary the type of content
Social media can be used to increase sales, but garnering general brand awareness is another benefit. It's important for Michaelsen to build her business image through a variety of content categories, including her founder story, seasonal lifestyle content, and trends, she said.
"It's helped me and the brand become a destination to learn more about decor entertaining and small-space living," she said. "If someone enjoys my recipe and decides to follow and doesn't buy a tray, that's OK, because maybe they'll buy something later on, or maybe they'll send it to a friend."
2. Repost and reuse your content
Social media can be time-consuming, but reposting and reusing content is an effective way to save time, she said.
If there is a video that did well last holiday season, repost it this year, she suggested.
3. Quality video production matters
While videos shouldn't look overly produced, there are simple ways to improve the quality of the content, said Michaelsen.
For example, the focus of the video should be near the center of the frame, since TikTok's presentation will slightly zoom in, and captions and features will block the top and bottom.
She also suggests filming the video slower and then speeding it up. That way, the camera won't have missed any details while filming but it will still look natural.
Michaelsen has seen the majority of her success by sharing her brand story, demonstrating her product in an entertaining way, and using the app's features.
"Get on camera, amplify other parts of your business, and respond to comments."
More: Small Business entrepeneur Founder
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2022-08-09T10:10:38Z
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How to Go Viral on TikTok and Make Money As an Entrepreneur
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-go-viral-on-tiktok-make-money-entrepreneur-2022-8
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How to write a résumé that can get you hired in an economic downturn
Flexibility, adaptability, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving are among the traits hiring managers are seeking.
It's more important than ever to have a résumé that makes your experience jump off the page.
Additionally, the skills employers look for have changed in the past two years, experts said.
Career experts shared their advice for résumé writing in the current climate.
Between the "Great Resignation," a bear market, and questions about the direction of the economy, it's more important than ever to have a résumé that makes your experience jump off the page.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job openings slid to 10.7 million last month from 11.3 million in June, the largest drop since the start of the pandemic. For job seekers, this means the window to land a new position might be closing — so now is the time to make your résumé the best it can be.
The skills employers look for have changed in the past two years: In a 2020 survey of 334 hiring professionals from the career-advice platform TopResume, flexibility, adaptability, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving were top of mind. It's also become more normal to have a break in your résumé — a LinkedIn survey from March found that nearly half of 7,000 employers considered candidates with career breaks to be an untapped talent pool.
Rebecca Pay has built a business — Pay for Precision — helping people write their résumés. Résumés today should have a touch of personality and tell a clear story about how your experience qualifies you for the position, she said.
"Writing CVs can be tough. That's why I've got a business," Pay told Insider. "Writing about yourself is the hardest thing."
Some advice may be intuitive, like brainstorming with colleagues and using concise language when describing your work, Pay said. Other advice is different from what it was five years ago: Pay said most people should keep their résumé formatting simple unless they're in graphic design or art.
Insider spoke with career experts about their advice for résumé writing today, including exercises to find the strongest adjectives and describing your qualifications.
1. Try some writing exercises
Eli Joseph, a faculty member at Columbia University and New York University, takes a unique approach to résumé writing. In his book, "The Perfect Rejection Résumé," he helps people document how they failed and what they learned. While you shouldn't give this to a hiring manager, it's an exercise in thinking about your experience in a different light.
Then, switch it up. Write a résumé where you completely praise yourself, jotting down all the personal, professional, and technical things you're proud of each week. After looking at your experience and skills from these opposite perspectives, you can incorporate lessons from both into the final product.
2. Focus on a summary section
Both Joseph and Pay said the summary section was one of the most important parts of a résumé today. This section at the top of your résumé should be between 100 and 150 words and written in the first person.
Pay said this was a place to add your voice, instead of being overly formal. This is where you tell a story about how your qualifications equip you for the position you want.
"Work out what you uniquely offer," Pay said. "Why would they pick you for the job as opposed to someone else?"
Joseph highlighted additional skills that employers were looking for. Communication skills are in high demand, though you should be more specific about those opportunities by highlighting speaking gigs, research projects, and presentations.
Technical skills are also important to employers. And artistic skills like writing or design can be worth highlighting to show that you're well rounded, he said.
"It brightens up your résumé and it lets employers know that you're productive in an organization," Joseph said.
4. Tailor your résumé to each posting
Pay and Joseph agreed that you should change your résumé for each job application. These can be small tweaks in the skills section and the summary at the top, but you should speak to the specifics of how your experience would lend itself to the job.
"No application should be the same because no opportunity is the same," Joseph said. "We need to add some flavor, and the best way to do that is to come up with as many ideas as possible so that you can make changes on the résumé for opportunities in the future."
More: resume writing Resume Tips Job hopping
Failure resume
Resume makeover
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2022-08-09T10:10:44Z
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How to Write a Résumé and Update Your CV in a Recession
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-write-a-resume-update-your-cv-in-recession-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-write-a-resume-update-your-cv-in-recession-2022-8
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There's a right way to do layoffs and a way that makes it worse for outgoing workers — and for those who remain
Insider pulled together a tool kit for human-resources professionals who carry the weight of conducting layoffs and facility closures.
Some companies are making already difficult situations worse by mishandling layoffs.
Klarna and Calibrate are recent examples of corporate layoffs that drew backlash.
Insider spoke with experts who constructed a tool kit for HR to facilitate layoffs the right way.
But there is a better way — and a worse way — to tell workers you're laying them off. Lately, some companies' job-cutting announcements have left human-resources experts cringing.
In the high-stress environment of a layoff announcement, corporate leaders can get so fixated on rehabilitating the bottom line and checking off the legal boxes that they lose focus on the workers whose lives are about to be upended.
That's not only callous, it's also bad for business because causing layoffs to be more painful than necessary can make enemies of former workers and damage morale for those who remain.
To help get it right, Insider pulled together a tool kit for HR professionals who carry the weight of conducting layoffs.
When layoffs arrive
The job market remains strong, for now. The July employment report revealed that the economy had regained the jobs lost during the pandemic; the jobless rate is now in line with a 50-year low. Yet even in a robust market, layoffs occur.
In late June, 551 employees of the digital-health startup Calibrate received a celebratory message from its founder and CEO, Isabelle Kenyon.
In a company Slack channel, Kenyon wrote: "Congratulations on an incredible first two years. We're just getting started, and I can't imagine a team I'd be more grateful to be in it together on this mission." In the message, viewed by Insider, Kenyon also said the company would be sending the staff gifts to commemorate the anniversary.
Weeks after the Slack notification, Kenyon held a meeting via Zoom to announce that 24% of the company's workforce — some 150 employees — would be laid off. Minutes after the call, the corporate laptops of the laid-off workers' were automatically wiped. And those two-year anniversary gifts never came, according to six former workers.
In May, the CEO of Klarna, a fintech company, told employees via a video played during an all-staff meeting that the company would slash 10% of its workforce. Last year, more than 900 employees at Better.com learned they were being sacked during a Zoom call. Vishal Garg, the founder of the the tech mortgage company, then accused hundreds of the terminated workers of "stealing" time by working two hours a day.
Human resources professionals are responsible for managing layoffs under these difficult conditions and making sure they're done right.
"We often follow processes and systems that are built to comply with internal policies and external laws, and these can often get in the way of basic humanity," said Rudhir Krishtel, a workplace culture expert who worked as a lawyer at Apple, and is CEO and founder of an eponymous executive-coaching agency.
"Be clear about the direction of the company, the strategy, the importance of the decision, the why, the alignment with company values," Rudhir Krishtel said.
Rudhir Krishtel,
Here are suggestions for how HR professionals should conduct layoffs.
Step 1: Have an executive meeting
Before constructing a layoff plan, HR executives should meet with their C-suite counterparts to understand any pending projects, company goals, or departmental objectives that the layoffs will affect, Tara Hines-McCoy, an HR consultant and corporate diversity expert, told Insider.
"This information is crucial for determining which skill sets should be preserved to advance the company's goals," she said.
"Advocating for employees while representing the business during a reduction in workforce can be a daunting task," Tara Hines-McCoy said.
Tara Hines-McCoy
Executives should be sure they're aligned on details such as how many employees will be let go, how many employees will be affected in each department, and whether the layoffs will occur at once or be staggered.
Step 2: Set selection criteria
HR experts should help set the criteria for who should be laid off. Hines-McCoy said that small businesses and startups often make the mistake of basing layoffs solely on seniority. "It's rarely as straightforward as the adage, 'last fired, first hired,' implies," she said.
Employers should instead weigh several factors when selecting which employees to cut. These include the skills that workers have, their job performance, and, yes, seniority. Even with these considerations, it's important to be sure that using performance criteria to guide these decisions doesn't come off to workers as the company conducting a witch hunt, Hines-McCoy said.
Fears of a company seeking out flaws can spook workers. In a recent round of layoffs at Meta, the parent company of Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned workers he was introducing "ruthless prioritization" and "modified performance standards."
Krishtel cautioned against this kind of terse and abrupt shift in performance philosophy. Instead, he said companies should "be mindful" in their communications. "Employees who are leaving should feel supported on the way out," he said.
Step 3: Review the roster
Once the list of outgoing employees has been established, the names should be scrubbed to determine whether an adverse or disparate impact exists for a protected class of worker; criteria vary by state.
In a recent round of cuts at Netflix, Protocol reported, many of the contractors who lost their jobs came from marginalized backgrounds.
To avoid making cuts that can appear targeted, HR staff should review layoff rosters with the company's legal department. If a protected class represents a disproportionately large share of affected workers, it might be wise to reset criteria, said Hines-McCoy. Where the impact is unavoidable, it's best to consult with legal counsel to ensure the company isn't engaging in discriminatory behavior, even inadvertently.
Additionally, employers should be diligent not to eliminate workers on leave or an otherwise protected status.
Step 4: Compassionate Dismissals
How you notify employees they're being let go is critical. "Be mindful in your communications. Express them with care, not just compliance," Krishtel said.
Proper communication will likely first require providing instructions for those in leadership roles, Krishtel said. "Managers are often not trained for this type of transitioning, and often HR doesn't have the people power to have this dialogue. Train your managers in having difficult conversations. They and you will be much more respected for it," he said.
Managers should explain the reasons for the discharge in one-on-one meetings with those being cut, Hines-McCoy said. "Employees should leave the meeting with a clear view of what's next," she said. Managers can work with HR to review health benefits, procedures for electing a continuation of health insurance coverage, and 401(k) options. Employers might also want to provide information on the unemployment process.
No matter how humanely layoffs are carried out, emotions are often strained. While receiving the news is never easy, Hines-McCoy said being clear about the "why" goes a long way to depersonalize the impact. "This can help comfort both the folks who are leaving and those who are staying," she said.
More: Layoffs Human Resources Job Cuts Workers
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2022-08-09T10:10:50Z
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An Improperly Planned Layoff Is a Recipe for Unnecessary Pain
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https://www.businessinsider.com/layoff-improperly-planned-recipe-for-added-pain-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/layoff-improperly-planned-recipe-for-added-pain-2022-8
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A Qantas aircraft at Sydney Airport on November 09, 2021 in Sydney, Australia.
Qantas' plan to alleviate travel mayhem is "actually likely to make airport chaos worse," a union said.
The airline has asked senior office staff to volunteer as baggage handlers at airports.
Australia's Transport Workers' Union has warned this could cause safety incidents.
An Australian transport union said that airlines like Qantas Airways who have been asking office workers to help out in understaffed airports were "actually likely to make airport chaos worse."
The Australian flag carrier wants at least 100 managers and executives to help out from mid-August for three months. Their tasks would include loading, unloading, sorting, and scanning bags.
"Throwing inexperienced workers into the aviation mix is actually likely to make airport chaos worse, particularly given the serious risks of injuries and safety incidents if workers aren't appropriately trained and experienced," Michael Kaine, national secretary of Australia's Transport Workers' Union, told The Sydney Morning Herald.
He told Australian Aviation that the move would likely throw airports "into further disarray."
The airline countered this, telling The Herald that the executives would undergo "the same level of training as any new recruit."
Passengers have faced a summer of travel chaos worldwide because of a combination of understaffing, soaring demand for travel, technical issues, and strikes. This has led to flight delays and cancellations, lost luggage, and huge lines for check-in and security. A baggage handler told The Guardian Australia in July one in 10 bags were not making it onto Qantas flights at Sydney airport.
Qantas hit the headlines in 2020 after it replaced 2,000 ground staff with outsourced workers, citing the need to cut costs and the impacts of the pandemic on the aviation industry. Australia's federal court ruled that the move was unlawful, which Qantas appealed but lost. The airline is now trying to appeal in the country's high court, The Herald reported.
Kaine, the union secretary, told Australian Aviation that Qantas asking for office staff to help was an "admission" that the move had "achieved nothing other than the total devastation of what was once Qantas' trusted service."
"It's a shocking insult that nearly 2,000 experienced workers are forced to sit at home because their jobs were stolen," Kaine continued. Qantas told The Herald that data had showed that outsourced ground handling had a lower rate of safety incidences than in-house handling.
A Qantas spokesperson told Insider on Monday that it was making contingency plans because a combination of ongoing COVID-19 cases, a bad flu season, and "the tightest labor market in decades" were affecting its airport operations.
They added that around 200 Qantas office staff members have been helping out at airports since Easter.
More: Qantas Qantas Airways Australia Airlines
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2022-08-09T10:11:14Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Airline Execs Handling Bags Will 'Make Airport Chaos Worse,' Union Says
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https://www.businessinsider.com/qantas-execs-airports-baggage-handling-airport-chaos-worse-transport-union-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/qantas-execs-airports-baggage-handling-airport-chaos-worse-transport-union-2022-8
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The CEO of a national homebuilder that did $1 billion in sales last quarter tells us why 2023 might bring about a much more normal housing market and much-needed relief for buyers.
Tri Pointe Homes CEO Doug Bauer
Tri Pointe Homes
Tri Pointe Homes is a $2 billion homebuilder that operates across the US.
CEO Doug Bauer says the housing market is moving toward equilibrium, not crashing.
After a big price spikes and a jump in mortgage rates, he says 2023 might bring a "normal" market.
After years of torrid price gains, it's easy to picture a housing market that's turned ice cold thanks to rising interest rates.
But according to Tri Pointe Homes CEO Doug Bauer, the truth is more nuanced. Bauer's firm topped $1 billion in sales in the second quarter and had a $3 billion backlog of sold homes across 10 states and Washington DC. He told Insider that rising mortgage rates were just a bump in the road for homebuilders compared to bigger factors.
"Interest rates don't define demand for housing. They really just define payment," he said. "Demand for housing is generated from jobs and household formation. So, actually, since probably after the 4th of July, we've actually seen the consumer get more engaged" after some weakness in late June.
Tri Pointe said it cancelation rate rose to 16% in the second quarter from 7%, which Bauer says is a much more typical rate historically. They've had to offer more incentives to buyers in response.
"Most of us public home builders are using some sort of incentive dollars to either lock in our backlog, provide rate buy downs, and so forth," he said. Across Tri Point's markets, those incentives roughly doubled to 3% or 4%, which Bauer says amounts an increase of about $10,000.
Bauer says there's very strong demand for new homes, while past generations of home buyers who've locked in mortgage rates of around 3% don't have much incentive to sell. So he says that builders like himself are in pretty good shape and they won't cut way back on construction.
"The new home builders, if you really study the business right now, are in a really good position," he said, adding that if mortgage rates spike, buyers might get cautious in the short term, but conditions will still look good over the long term.
Supply of new homes has increased sharply in recent months as long-standing supply chain issues are sorted out and commodity prices return back to earth. However, high mortgage rates have made homebuying less affordable for many, but Bauer says it's returned to a more normal level.
While the overheated phase of the cycle may have ended and prices for new homes have slipped, he says they won't crash because there aren't many completed and unsold homes on the market either. Supply chain problems made it impossible to overbuild, which could have set the stage for prices to crash.
"It's not maybe as much of a seller's market. It's not really a buyer's market. I kind of feel like it's at equilibrium right now," he said. "Hopefully, by the early part of next year, after the Fed has some success in raising rates and hopefully putting out the inflation flames, 2023 will become more of a normal housing market."
More: Investing Housing Market Home Prices
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2022-08-09T11:41:54Z
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Housing Market Forecast, Homebuilder Outlook From CEO Doug Bauer
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https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-forecast-homebuilder-outlook-from-ceo-doug-bauer-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-forecast-homebuilder-outlook-from-ceo-doug-bauer-2022-8
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Wizz Air passengers traveling from Cardiff to Corfu were boarded and deplaned twice, per Wales Online.
The flight was delayed by four hours due to technical issues and passengers were deplaned.
After passengers were boarded for a second time, the flight was canceled due to staffing issues.
Passengers traveling from Cardiff, Wales to the Greek island of Corfu last week were boarded and deplaned twice for a flight that was eventually canceled, Wales Online reported.
The flight, operated by Wizz Air, was due to depart on August 7 but was hit with both technical difficulties and staffing issues, causing it to be delayed by around four hours and then ultimately canceled.
Wizz Air did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the incident.
A passenger, Sean Glossop, told Wales Online the first delay was due to a technical fault with the plane.
He said engineers had to "turn the plane on and off again" and passengers were deplaned. He added they were then sent back to the airport with a $5 food voucher which was "enough to buy half a sandwich" at Cardiff Airport.
After the passengers were boarded for a second time, they were told the pilots had run out of working hours and were deplaned for a second time while the airline arranged a standby crew, Glossop said.
Pilots have a legal maximum limit of working hours, 900 hours per year, to prevent fatigue and unsafe flying conditions.
Glossop said when passengers returned to the terminal there were advised by staff that the flight was canceled. Data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24 appears to show that the plane never departed Cardiff.
"All in all, they kept us waiting for around four hours whilst boarding and deboarding us twice, with absolutely no help from anyone working for the airline to rebook passengers," Glossop said.
This summer, as travel disruptions and staffing issues impact the aviation sector, pilots from many airlines have complained about overwork, toxic work environments, and fatigue, Insider has previously reported.
Last month, the CEO of Wizz Air, József Váradi, faced criticism for appearing to suggest pilots should fly while fatigued, Insider reported. Váradi reportedly said pilots should "take the extra mile" despite fatigue to help stabilize flight schedules.
"We have a robust and responsible crew management system which meets the needs of our people and enables us to serve as many customers as possible in the current challenging environment," a Wizz Air spokesperson told Insider at the time.
More: Wizz air flight transport Airlines
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2022-08-09T11:42:24Z
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Passengers Boarded a Plane Twice for a Flight That Never Took Off
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https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-chaos-wizz-air-delay-flight-travel-boarding-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-chaos-wizz-air-delay-flight-travel-boarding-2022-8
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Here's the pitch deck chronic-gut-health startup Salvo used to raise $10.5 million in 'supergiant' seed funding
The Salvo Health cofounders, from left, Jason Finger, Jeff Glueck, and Avi Dorfman.
Salvo Health
Three Silicon Valley founders and execs have teamed up to create a new healthtech startup.
Foursquare, Compass, and Seamless founders have created a virtual startup for chronic gut issues.
Here's the pitch deck Salvo Health used to raise $10.5 million in seed funding.
A trio of well-known Silicon Valley founders are teaming up on a new chronic-illness startup, and they just raised a massive seed round to break into the healthtech industry.
Salvo Health, which provides virtual care for chronic conditions, just closed a $10.5 million seed round led by Threshold Ventures. Torch Capital and Felicis, along with the founders of fellow healthtech startups Ginger and Forward Health, also participated in the round.
The startup is benefitting from an explosion of so-called supergiant seed rounds, a term coined by Crunchbase to describe seed funding rounds of at least $10 million. During the VC slowdown during the current economic downturn, many early-stage companies have had better luck fundraising compared to their late-stage counterparts.
Founded last year, Salvo Health is currently focusing on gastrointestinal issues, which affect between 60 and 70 million people in the U.S. For $127 per month, users get 24/7 access to a care team to treat gut conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and Celiac disease.
Salvo's founders are no stranger to success in Silicon Valley: Jeff Glueck is the former CEO of location startup Foursquare and founded the travel startup site59.com, which was acquired by Travelocity in 2002. Jason Finger cofounded the food-delivery startup Seamless, and Avi Dorfman is a founding member of the real-estate startup Compass. This is the trio's first foray into the healthtech world.
Glueck told Insider in an interview that chronic gut conditions are difficult to treat, especially in the US, which inspired them to make the jump.
"I've built meaningful companies transforming travel and location technologies, but I deeply wanted to do something mission-driven in healthcare," he said. "My wife and I went through the heartbreaking loss of our first child late in her pregnancy, and it just brought home for me how slowly healthcare can be to adopt science-based approaches and how hard it can be to find specialist doctors to treat chronic conditions."
"Gut conditions can't be solved by a pamphlet and a follow-up appointment in six months — it's all about what happens in between doctor visits," Glueck said. He added that Salvo's membership model and all-in-one care team in most cases is significantly more affordable than independently meeting with multiple specialists each month, which could cost between $500 and $900.
There are some pharmaceutical and therapeutics startups competing in the gut-health space, such as IBS-focused MetaME Health and Celiac disease-focused Mozart and Sitari. In the chronic-care space, startups like the heart disease-focused Hello Heart have recently raised funding rounds.
Another competitor, Parsley Health, which virtually treats a host of chronic conditions via a membership model, has raised $35 million.
While Salvo is currently centered around GI issues, Glueck said the startup eventually plans to expand its "Whole Self Science" — which brings together a holistic-care team of doctors and health coaches to manage ongoing health issues — to other chronic conditions. For its current gut-health offering, Salvo care teams consist of board-certified physicians and behavioral-heath coaches in addition to care navigators, registered dietitians, and other experts in therapy and lifestyle changes.
Here's an exclusive look at the 23-page pitch deck Salvo Health used to raise $10.5 million in seed funding.
More: Features Startups Healthcare
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2022-08-09T13:12:58Z
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Chronic-Gut-Health Startup Salvo Health's Seed-Round Pitch Deck
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https://www.businessinsider.com/chronic-gut-health-startup-salvo-healths-seed-round-pitch-deck-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/chronic-gut-health-startup-salvo-healths-seed-round-pitch-deck-2022-8
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Foodtech insiders say QR code and online ordering startups suddenly look unappetizing as the pandemic recedes
The QR code helped diners order diner during the pandemic. But will it survive as the pandemic recedes?
Tech layoffs are sweeping the US, including in the foodtech sector.
The restaurant-focused startups Nextbite, ChowNow, Lunchbox, Reef, and Sunday have laid off dozens.
Amid slowing e-commerce spending, analysts say startups are course-correcting with leaner staffs.
The rush to help restaurants survive the pandemic put the spotlight on foodtech companies. These startups, which range from ghost-kitchen operations to restaurant payment platforms, grabbed the attention of venture capitalists and restaurants alike.
In November 2020, the SoftBank-backed startups Nextbite and Reef Technology raised a combined $820 million. The QR-code-payment startup Sunday raised more than $120 million in less than a year in 2021. New York's Lunchbox, billed as the anti-Grubhub of digital ordering solutions, nabbed $50 million in early 2022.
But tech companies are facing a reckoning as the days of fast growth and limitless capital are over. Layoffs are sweeping all sectors, and companies such as Spotify, Netflix, and Gopuff haven't been spared. The foodtech sector, in particular, is spiraling as diners' habits continue to shift as the pandemic recedes. Hundreds of workers have lost their jobs at Nextbite, Sunday, ChowNow, Lunchbox, Gopuff, and Reef. Online grocery startups are taking a beating, if not collapsing. Getir and Gorillas are also laying off workers, while Fridge No More, Buyk, Jokr, and 1520 have shuttered their US operations.
Chris Webb, the CEO of the online-ordering company ChowNow, said the tech industry has been "addicted to venture capital" for a decade. After cutting almost 100 staffers in late July, he told Insider it was time to go "cold turkey" by "trying to kick a bad habit."
Gopuff has closed some warehouses and laid off staff.
Hannah Yoon
'Everyone was playing the same game, which is growth at all costs'
Over the past two years, CEOs took their venture-backed war chests, hired like crazy, expanded restaurant-tech services, and projected growth based on pandemic-fueled e-commerce trends.
"We are all drunk on VC capital," Nabeel Alamgir, Lunchbox's CEO, told Insider after he laid off 33% of his staff last month. "Everyone was playing the same game, which is growth at all costs."
Analysts say cheap money has evaporated, especially for businesses perceived as pandemic tech. Bloated startups are now course-correcting by cutting staff and streamlining operations amid record inflation rates and a leveling off of online buying trends.
"It is clear that many companies overinvested over the past few years, particularly the ones that greatly benefited by the favorable demand environment caused by the pandemic," said Arun Sundaram, a senior equity analyst at CFRA Research.
Jim Balis, a managing director at the restaurant investment firm CapitalSpring, said investors are now "looking more closely at burn rates, realistic modeling, and what the competitive set is and how they differentiate."
To make matters worse, restaurant visits are down. The NPD Group said in-store and online restaurant traffic declined by 2% in the second quarter versus a year ago and is down 6% for the same period in 2019. Foodtech companies often earn revenue per digital transaction.
Even savvy, tech-forward companies such as Chipotle are experiencing a dip in online orders. Last week, the chain, headquartered in Newport Beach, California, said second-quarter digital sales accounted for 39% of sales, down from 48.5% for the same period in 2021.
Still, foodtech founders and consultants told Insider that the recent spate of layoffs didn't mean digital was dead.
Webb, of ChowNow, said a slowdown in digital ordering was not the reason for his company's downsizing. June was the company's best month of 2022 in terms of adding new restaurants, he said.
But the company mistakenly projected 2022 growth based on a 2021 bull market.
"That era is now behind us," he said.
Sunday uses QR codes for payment.
Preparing for the storm ahead
"I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with these companies," said Carl Orsbourn, a foodtech consultant and a coauthor of "Delivering the Digital Restaurant."
Corporate layoffs and operational cuts, Orsbourn said, are more likely tied to preserving runway as founders manage out-of-control burn rates.
"Businesses that are perceived as pandemic tech, i.e., their models were accidentally or purposely suited to the unique consumer behaviors or conditions that occurred during the pandemic, are out of favor," Zolidis said.
And many of these companies offered restaurants the same services. Sunday, which cut staff and pulled out of four of its seven global markets, offered QR-code-payment technology. But this service was also found on Toast, a popular point-of-sale provider, and Thanx, a loyalty-focused restaurant-tech startup. The rapid-delivery grocery players, including Gopuff, Buyk, and Getir, have a similar list of products with a similar 30-minute or less promise. Many of these startups have folded, laid off staff, or closed businesses in certain cities.
But it's not all bad news for foodtech. Some are growing, adding employees, and finding investors, including the ghost-kitchen startup Kitchen United and SoftBank-backed EzCater.
Kitchen United recently raised a fresh $100 million to supercharge its growth to 500 locations over the next five years. Its backers include the owner of Simon malls, Circle K, and the parent company of Burger King.
Stefania Mallett, EzCater's CEO, said business for the corporate-catering app is "stronger than ever" as demand for food at work keeps increasing.
"Our June business was 101% higher than January's. The week of July 11, we hit an all-time high," she told Insider. The company added 140 employees in the second quarter and is eyeing an initial public offering in 2023.
But for companies struggling, industry analysts are expecting consolidation.
Tim Powell, a restaurant consultant, said consolidation makes sense for companies that can't demonstrate a "competitive advantage" or thought they could be acquisition "bait" during last year's IPO boom.
"Many of these startups go into business with the hopes that they will be purchased by a larger company," said Powell, a managing principal at the consultancy Foodservice IP.
In an editorial column published last week in Nation's Restaurant News, Orsbourn and his book coauthor, Meredith Sandland, said some delivery-focused startups might not make it. "Many will be acquired by the powerful few. Many more will close their doors," they wrote.
For now they're hunkering down.
ChowNow's Webb said if he's wrong about the "storm" ahead, he'll call back those he had to lay off.
"That would be a fantastic scenario. But let's see how the next few months go and the next six months, before we make that determination."
Are you a foodtech insider with insight to share? Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at nluna@insider.com or via Signal encrypted number 714-875-6218.
More: food delivery Layoffs Tech layoffs
Reef Technology
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2022-08-09T13:13:10Z
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Layoffs Hit Foodtech Startups That Raised Millions During the Pandemic
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https://www.businessinsider.com/layoffs-hit-food-tech-startups-raised-millions-during-pandemic-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/layoffs-hit-food-tech-startups-raised-millions-during-pandemic-2022-8
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The maker of Dude Wipes is projected to hit $90 million in sales in 2022 by forgoing one of the biggest strategies in the traditional DTC playbook
Dude Products' discontinued body spray and deodorants.
Dude Products/Sean Riley
Dude Wipes expanded into deodorant and body wash — something the brand now says was the wrong move.
Sean Riley, the brand's cofounder, said it's "the biggest mistake" startups in his industry make.
The company is focusing on a single product and bootstrapping instead of taking investor money.
In 2019, the founders of Dude Wipes took what they thought was a major step forward: They extended their brand from solely toilet wipes into body wash and deodorant. Like numerous other startup brands, they believed launching new products was the key to growth.
Three years later, it's clear that the move was a mistake, according to Sean Riley, one of the brand's three founders.
The initial results from the body-wash and deodorant launches encouraged the founders, but a combination of early-pandemic demand for the company's Dude Wipes plus a determination to expand distribution pushed the company to abandon the new products, Riley said. Cutting the new products freed up money for the company to invest in its flagship wipes.
Riley founded the brand, known today as Dude Products, in 2012 with Ryan Meegan and Jeff Klimkowski. So far, Dude Products has eschewed most investors. Its sole outside capital consists of $300,000 that Mark Cuban invested when the company appeared on the TV series Shark Tank in 2015.
"We're bootstrapped guys," Riley told Insider. "We don't have a bunch of venture capital and anything like that."
Sean Riley (left), Ryan Meegan (center), and Jeff Klimkowski (right), the founders of Dude Wipes.
Dude Wipes/Sean Riley
Avoiding 'the biggest mistake' in CPG
Dude Wipes designed its first product years before the pandemic to compete with existing brands such as Charmin and Cottonelle, which were expanding into selling their own flushable wipes.
When COVID struck, demand for the brand's signature Dude Wipes took off.
"When the toilet-paper rush happened, everybody's buying as many Dude Wipes as they can get from us," Riley said. "We tripled our manufacturing capacity over the course of a couple months."
That pressure led Riley, Meegan, and Klimkowski to reevaluate the approach they took to their business. Riley read "Marketing Warfare," by Al Ries and Jack Trout, who each had decades of experience in advertising.
His takeaway? "You can't be on divided fronts trying to win wars," he said.
For Riley and his cofounders, that meant getting the widest possible reach for their most successful product instead of going after brands like Axe in new categories like men's deodorants and body wash.
With just one product, Dude Products had secured nationwide distribution at retailers like Walmart and Target.
Even today, with many early-pandemic consumption habits subsiding, Riley sees the opportunity to grow sales among existing consumers and attract new ones through sponsorships and other marketing strategies. The brand expects to book $90 million in sales in 2022.
"We were like, 'Let's whole-ass one thing, half-ass nothing,'" he added.
The company took about 18 months to wind down its body-wash and deodorant lines. Riley estimates the experiment cost about $250,000.
Earlier this month, Riley posted on LinkedIn to share Dude Wipes' experience. "The biggest mistake I see in CPG is the over extension of a brand," his post reads.
The goal, he said, was to keep other founders from doing the same thing.
"That's really who I was trying to speak to: People like myself or companies that are not billion-dollar companies."
'Stay focused on the mission'
Growing a brand through new products is a mainstay in the DTC and consumer-goods worlds.
One high-profile example played out after Unilever, a consumer-goods giant known for well-established brands such as Dove soap and Hellmann's mayonnaise, bought Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion in 2016.
Dollar Shave Club found early success by selling shaving supplies, with a focus on razors that undercut competitors like Procter & Gamble's Gillette on price. But under Unilever, the brand introduced several products that didn't resonate with the value-focused consumers that the brand had attracted, such as cologne that sold for $50 a bottle.
Riley pointed to another example: Coors discontinued its line of light seltzers in July 2021 less than a year after introducing them.
Much of the drive to launch new products follows an infusion of new cash into a brand, whether through a big investor, an acquisition, or an IPO. But Riley said he and his cofounders have turned away those kinds of opportunities in part to avoid creating products that won't work for Dude Wipes in the long run.
"When you get the big money in there... there's a lot of pressure to grow in the short-term," he said.
"I talk to entrepreneurs doing a couple million dollars a year, and they're talking about line extending," Riley said. "I'm like, 'Bro, you haven't even figured out what you're doing yet.'"
His advice to those early-stage founders is simple: "Stay focused on the mission, unless something's telling you your core idea is terrible."
NOW WATCH: Burger King's CMO explains why the biggest risk in marketing is not taking one
More: DTC eCommerce Big Box
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2022-08-09T13:13:58Z
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Why Dude Wipes Thinks New Products Are 'the Biggest Mistake' for DTC
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https://www.businessinsider.com/why-dude-wipes-thinks-new-products-biggest-mistake-for-dtc-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/why-dude-wipes-thinks-new-products-biggest-mistake-for-dtc-2022-8
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French power stations are reportedly being allowed to break environmental rules to stay open.
sinology/Getty Images
French power stations are reportedly being allowed to break environmental rules to stay open, per Bloomberg.
The waiver is in place until September and will potentially breach national environmental standards.
Europe's prolonged hot weather is putting a further strain on energy supplies.
The European energy crisis set into motion by the Russian invasion of Ukraine shows no signs of abating and looks to deepen further in coming weeks as record heatwaves hit the continent.
In France, the crisis is so bad that power stations are being permitted to break environmental rules to stay open as the country struggles to maintain national energy supplies, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) granted a temporary waiver allowing five nuclear plants across the country to dispense more than the authorized amount of hot water into rivers, the news agency reported.
The waiver, reportedly in place until September, allows Electricite de France to keep the energy plants operating amid national pressure on supply.
Electricite de France did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
In France, rivers and waterways are used to cool power plants. Under the current environmental rules, nuclear plants must reduce or stop output when river temperatures reach a point at which use by the plants may harm the environment, per Bloomberg. That provision is being temporarily halted.
Europe's prolonged high temperatures are putting further pressure on the bloc's already strained energy supplies.
The River Rhine, one of the continent's most important rivers, is drying up amid the record-breaking summer heatwaves, Insider reported last month. The river is currently at its lowest level in at least 15 years, making moving goods — including coal and gas — in container ships down the river a challenge.
Northwest and central Europe are set for even more hot weather in the coming weeks. Temperatures in the UK, France, and Germany are expected to soar on Friday, with some estimates predicting highs of 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the week.
The demand for cooling systems such as fans and air conditioning in the heat puts even more pressure on Europe's energy supplies.
In a further issue for European energy supplies, Norway has also threatened to ration international electricity exports if domestic needs are not met, per The Guardian.
Water levels in southern Norway have been so low that the government has said it may need to prioritize its own citizens ahead of international customers, the news outlet said.
More: Energy France UK Europe
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2022-08-09T14:36:10Z
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Energy Crisis: French Power Stations Allowed to Break Environment Rules
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https://www.businessinsider.com/energy-french-power-stations-environmental-rules-heatwave-europe-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/energy-french-power-stations-environmental-rules-heatwave-europe-2022-8
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Buy stocks with these 3 qualities to hedge against short-term volatility, according to the head of equities at a firm that manages $141 billion in assets
The July inflation reading will be crucial for stocks.
Inflation data set to hit markets on Wednesday will likely define what's next for stocks.
Anik Sen, the global equities head at PineBridge Investments, believes inflation has peaked.
Here's how he recommends investing in this volatile stock market.
Investors are on the edge of their seats ahead of the pivotal inflation report on Wednesday morning. A low reading should add fuel to the furious 13% market rally that's been ongoing since mid-June, while a higher reading could send stocks tumbling.
Although everyone can agree that this latest inflation reading is important, besides that there's not a consensus on where markets are heading.
In fact, there's an "unusually wide" disconnect between economists' often pessimistic top-down forecasts and a bottom-up view that suggests firms have "incredibly strong" order books, said Anik Sen, the global equities head at PineBridge Investments, in a recent interview with Insider.
Though Sen and his colleagues at PineBridge, which manages $141.1 billion in assets, aren't certain that the US will avoid a recession as the economy continues to contract on a GDP basis, he said that stock fundamentals should stay "relatively strong" despite the big selloff this year.
"When I look at stock prices today, they are trading as if we're going to get a recession," Sen told Insider. "So I think that's very much baked into these prices. So we are actually taking this opportunity in our portfolios to buy into those kinds of companies that are world-class companies that have been sold off aggressively."
Inflation's likely peak, strong job growth outweigh market risks
Sen believes that price growth has peaked and the job market is truly as strong as it appears to be. Inflation will recede, in Sen's view, because the supply-side issues that have plagued companies since the pandemic began and worsened early in the year are now healing.
"You could argue that it's because of global recession concerns, but generally speaking, people in all industries are saying that the supply chains are beginning to feel a lot better," Sen said.
Even though price growth should start to decline, as Sen has been predicting for months, inflation isn't yet an issue that investors can ignore. Slowing inflation means that prices are still increasing, albeit at a slower rate, and it's also worth noting that the consumer price index (CPI) may merely fall month-over-month because it's starting to lap higher year-over-year marks.
Although consumers may be disappointed that goods and services aren't getting cheaper yet, it would be encouraging to see evidence later this week that inflation isn't spiraling out of control.
While a soft inflation report would be unequivocally positive for both stocks and the economy, investors were less sure that the remarkably robust jobs data released last Friday is a tailwind for equities. There's a sense in markets that the shocking display of economic strength will encourage the Federal Reserve to keep rapidly raising interest rates, which could hurt economic activity and end up causing a recession.
But Sen is taking the glass-half-full view of the July jobs report. Unemployment is near a 53-year low, and there were nearly twice as many available jobs as there are unemployed people, the equities head noted — a gap that he said is "historically, the highest ever."
"Looking at unemployment — not just as an average, but also unemployment in certain demographic groups of the population — that number, obviously, is trending down," Sen said. "By all accounts, the economy is in reasonably strong shape."
And while that economic strength could lead to wage inflation and give the US central bank a green light to hike rates to a level that hurts stocks, neither possibility is overly worrying to Sen.
"I don't think that the jobs report per se is a cause for concern from a Fed standpoint," Sen said.
Sen made clear that there are still serious risks for stocks, including that some companies will lose pricing power as they sell goods at a discount after over-ordering inventory. Another far-more-frightening threat is that the Russia-Ukraine war escalates or that the relationship between China and Taiwan gets hostile.
How to hedge against near-term risk
The fate of stocks depends on unpredictable inflation data, Federal Reserve policy choices, unemployment reports, and geopolitical developments.
Investors can't possibly know what's coming next, but they can protect their portfolios by hedging against short-term risk, said Sen, who co-manages the PineBridge Global Focus Equity Fund. The mutual fund is having a tough year, but trounced its benchmark in both 2021 and 2020.
Sen's strategy is a bottom-up approach that focuses on several key attributes of companies regardless of what sector they're in. He then chooses 40 "world-class companies" that he said have three qualities: "extremely strong" leadership and governance, pricing power, and healthy financials.
The former trait is easy to understand but difficult to find. Companies with capable management tend to nail the small details, which can have huge consequences. For example, ordering the proper amount of inventory sounds simple, but it hasn't been in recent years. Under-ordering goods hurts revenue, while over-ordering weighs on margins and can sink a company entirely.
Effective pricing power can come from having the right amount of inventory, but Sen said that it can also stem from having "tremendous scale or tremendous technology" — or both.
Lastly, companies that are financially healthy with either very low net debt levels or even a net cash level, Sen said. That attribute is especially relevant during periods of economic stress.
While Sen didn't speak on his favorite stocks due to compliance reasons, there's a publicly available list of his fund's top 10 holdings, as of June 30, on its website. Those names are as follows: Alphabet (GOOGL), LPL Financial Holdings (LPLA), Allegion Public Limited Company (ALLE), TE Connectivity (TEL), Walmart (WMT), Otis Worldwide (OTIS), Honeywell International (HON), Motorola Solutions (MSI), State Street Corporation (STT), and Centene Corporation (CNC).
inflation july
July inflation report
Anik Sen
Anik Sen PineBridge Investments
PineBridge Global Focus Equity Fund
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2022-08-09T14:44:15Z
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How to Invest With Inflation Set to Peak: PineBridge
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https://www.businessinsider.com/investing-inflation-stock-market-how-to-invest-strategy-recession-jobs-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/investing-inflation-stock-market-how-to-invest-strategy-recession-jobs-2022-8
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PSLF has rejected 98% of eligible applicants.
Missing paperwork is one of the most common reasons people are rejected.
Debt expert Nika Booth says borrowers need to know the terms 'waiver' and 'recertification' to maximize forgiveness.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was implemented in 2017 to help government and non-profit workers access student loan forgiveness after 10 years of payment.
While borrowers remained hopeful, 98% of eligible applicants are denied relief. A 2021 study by the Education Data Initiative shows that 30.7% of claims are denied due to incomplete paperwork, while 35.2% of applications have yet to be processed.
Debt expert Nika Booth, who shares her experience navigating PSLF with her 50,000 Instagram followers, says she almost gave up on loan forgiveness herself. According to records viewed by Insider, Booth's monthly payments totaled over $1,000 per month.
When federal student loan payments were paused in March 2020, Booth learned that paused payments during the pandemic count toward PSLF. With 102 qualifying payments, according to records reviewed by Insider, Booth is only 18 months away from having $132,000 worth of student loans forgiven.
Booth says public servants should know three keywords to make the most of PSLF:
1. Submit your waiver by October 31
In the past, only payments made under income-driven repayment plans were counted towards PSLF. The Biden Administration released a waiver to make more past payments eligible for PSLF. Here are the changes to PSLF that are only valid until October 31:
Late payments or payments less than the amount due are now eligible.
Payments are now eligible regardless of which payment plan you had.
Military service members can now receive credit for the time they spent in active duty.
To take advantage of the limited waiver, you have to submit this form to Federal Student Aid on or before October 31.
Booth has been explaining the waiver to her followers in very simple terms. She says, "I told all of my coworkers about the waiver when it came out. They submitted the paperwork, and within a few months, one of my coworkers got a stack of checks from the Department of Treasury for overpayment because they got their loans forgiven."
2. You must recertify every year
PSLF is only available for borrowers who work full-time in the following sectors:
Federal, state, or local government
Federally recognized tribal governments
Nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code
Because PSLF is only for full-time public servants, borrowers must recertify every year to qualify. Booth says this is typically what throws borrowers for a loop. "For example, people who work in healthcare assume, 'Oh, I'm in public service, I'm sure I qualify,'" she adds. "But if you work for a for-profit hospital, you actually don't qualify for PSLF."
To get clarity on whether or not you can recertify for PSLF, Booth suggests speaking with the HR department of your company.
3. Paused payments during the pandemic are eligible
Booth says that many of her followers did not realize that the paused payments during the pandemic count toward student loan forgiveness.
Between March 2020 and August 31, 2022, the date that federal student loan payments are set to return, there are 34 payments that borrowers can count toward their progress. Under the limited waiver, even more past payments are now count toward PSLF, meaning more people are closer to student loan forgiveness than they think.
Booth says, "The limited waiver is giving me a light at the end of the tunnel. For me, it just means I get to move on with the rest of my life 18 months sooner."
PERSONAL FINANCE Public Service Loan Forgiveness borrowers are getting a new loan servicer — here's what it means for you
PERSONAL FINANCE 3 common mistakes people make applying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness that disqualify them immediately
PERSONAL FINANCE Over half a million student loan borrowers are now closer to forgiveness — here's how to know if you're one of them
More: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program student loan forgiveness Student Loans Debt payoff
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2022-08-09T14:44:27Z
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Public Service Loan Forgiveness: 3 Things People Don't Know
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/pslf-student-loan-forgiveness-keywords-to-know-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/pslf-student-loan-forgiveness-keywords-to-know-2022-8
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I charge up to $15,000 to photograph adventure elopements. I'm completely self-taught and grew my business using SEO — here's how.
Sam Starns.
Sam Starns
Sam Starns is a self-taught photographer who specializes in adventure elopements all over the US.
She built her business strategically by targeting SEO phrases and giving welcome gifts to clients.
Here's her story, as told to writer Perri Ormont Blumberg.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sam Starns, a 31-year-old adventure elopement photographer based in Roseburg, Oregon, about her job. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm based in Southern Oregon, but I travel worldwide for my job as an adventure elopement photographer. I'm also ordained through Universal Life Church, and I officiate a more simplified version of a traditional ceremony while photographing in real-time for roughly half my couples.
So far, I've been to 10 states and four countries for my work, and it's ever-expanding. My path to becoming a self-taught photographer started with my experience competing in equestrian events. I loved the movement of the horses (their mane, tail, lines when a horse goes over a jump) and my father had a Minolta that he'd use to photograph. I would borrow it and through trial and error — and after experimenting with different niches like macrophotography, landscape, weddings, and families — I homed in on weddings and then more specifically elopements. I took a more ballsy route and didn't second shoot or assist at weddings, which many photographers do when they're first starting out.
Instead, I soaked up information from free online resources and a few small courses and workshops and provided discounted wedding photography for my first several weddings. While I don't recommend not second shooting to start, I knew my capacity and was prepared with dual slot cameras (so your images are on two SD cards instead of one) and backup systems so I wouldn't lose any client images.
I started my adventure elopement photography business in 2017 after photographing weddings part-time for several years
Before that, I worked in various fields, including as an environmental education intern and park ranger on the Oregon Coast with the Bureau of Land Management.
Jacintha and Kevin.
Courtesy of Sam Starns
Now, using my knowledge as a park ranger and through my minor focus in geological sciences in university, I educate my couples on the outdoor spaces we explore while capturing their "best day yet." I provide a planning portal with location information, vendor referrals, and "leave no trace" information, among other resources for my clients before we shoot. Via email, text, and Zoom calls, the couple and I organize what I tell them to think of as "an adventure first, and a wedding second." That way, they aren't bogged down with the conventional ideas of how a wedding should go, and we can focus on what resonates with them instead.
My least expensive collection is four hours and starts at $6,000, but couples can book up to two full days of adventuring and beyond, which can be upwards of $15,000. The vast majority of couples opt to book a full eight-hour day or one-and-a-half days. I typically photograph around four to five elopements a month on average during peak season from May to October. I limit the number of couples I photograph during peak season in order to dedicate my focus to them.
Since 2017, I've photographed more than 100 adventure elopements and adventure-intimate weddings of up to 20 guests
Lindsey and Kevin.
Adventure elopements are often me, the couple, and maybe a few other people. When it gets to 15-20 guests, I consider it more of an intimate wedding. I also do separate "adventure sessions" for engagements, "just for fun," or anniversaries.
After regretting my own wedding and wanting to elope during the planning process, I realized that I wasn't alone in feeling like a traditional wedding wasn't representative of the relationship I had with my spouse. I now do that very thing I wish I had when I was engaged: I empower couples to have a wedding day that represents their relationship.
I was able to grow my business by homing in on SEO and providing valuable resources on my website, along with targeted Google Ads
While I have a solid social-media presence of around 7,500 followers, I'm not what you may call "Instagram famous." Instead of relying on my followers or word-of-mouth referrals, I target location-based keywords like "Oregon elopement photographer" and "Alaska elopement photographer." I also keyword target useful search terms that engaged folks are searching for, like "how to elope in [location]" or "how to cancel your wedding and elope" by writing articles and blog posts optimized with useful knowledge, with the intent of serving the visitor.
I've also written a book, "Elope Your Life," which I self-published via IngramSpark, and I gave a TEDx Talk in April 2021 about the pressures of the modern-day wedding industry and how to have the best elopement ever.
There has been an increase in bookings — my bookings for 2023 are nearly twice what they normally are at this time of year. My experience and the book and TEDx Talk have allowed me to raise prices and be more selective with whom I work with, so I might've missed out on some inquiries who heard about me through those avenues because I was out of budget. Ultimately, those two projects were about continuing to spread awareness about eloping and giving resources to couples considering it.
Starns giving her TEDx talk.
The beauty of adventure elopements and helping couples see what's possible is that every day is different
A typical day can start before sunrise with getting ready images and catching the sunrise at a gorgeous viewpoint. It can end at sunset with a glass of champagne, or staying up late to capture astrophotography portraits. In between, there are often getting ready images that transition into a first look (if a couple decides to get ready separately), hiking, going on a tour/experience like a helicopter ride, sea kayaking, or horseback riding, having a picnic lunch or stopping by a pub to grab a pint, and carving out intentional time for their ceremony.
When I'm not in the field (which often requires me to be gone for days or weeks at a time), every work day at my office is different as well. A lot of it is spent on the computer. I may be editing images or chatting with my couples from across the country on Zoom, getting to know each other, and brainstorming about their day. I might be editing wedding albums that my couples receive as part of their elopement collection.
I also give each of my couples who book a full day or more with me a welcome box. They're customized to some level based on the couple, and I create them after the couple fills out a "Getting to Know You" questionnaire. The box often includes products from local businesses near where they're eloping, like glacier soap from Denali Dreams if they're eloping in Alaska.
While I've had people comment that elopements must be booming, for me, that's not quite accurate
Elopements have jumped in popularity due to the pandemic, but I've found there are generally two types of people who elope: There are those who have embraced the idea of adventure, making their day as intentional as possible with all the sights and experiences they love.
Then there are those whom I call "Plan B Elopers," which is the more common situation. Those are the people who are shifting their wedding plans during an incredibly difficult time and either don't want to have a big, in-depth elopement experience, or who don't realize it's an option. Either way, they aren't as invested in the idea of an elopement.
My career has taken me to some amazing places and allowed me to share my outdoor knowledge with some of the most fantastic people
Shelby and Jeff.
A top elopement memory was Shelby and Jeff. We took a helicopter to a glacier in Alaska then zoomed up a mountaintop, where they had their ceremony. Their families, a total of around five guests, were helicoptered up separately. Their second day of coverage was horseback riding, and their third day was back up in a helicopter to a glacier where they went dog sledding. We were able to revel in our surroundings with no other visitors around and search for moose from the air, and I was able to share geological knowledge of glaciers and how they transform the topography.
Incorporating unique and epic activities and places stimulates my artistic side. I'm able to get more epic images than if we were merely driving to and hiking a popular trail that was crowded with other visitors.
Another beautiful memory was Gabby and Lydia saying their vows among the Redwoods, before riding horses among the old-growth trees.
Gabby and Lydia.
My best advice that goes beyond the general advice that can apply to most photographers is to make sure your niche is something you're passionate about
While adventure elopements aren't all hiking 10 miles up a mountain, if you don't like being outdoors a lot, this niche likely won't fulfill you long term. Find aspects of your niche that resonate with who you are as a person. If you love astronomy, allow that to be a sub-specialty that you can share with your subjects. Be an expert at taking nighttime portraits. If you're obsessed with a particular national park, share that love.
You can be a specialist, but being authentic to who you are will bring you far more success and happiness than doing something because it's what others are doing.
More: BI-freelancer Weddings Elope
Elopement
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2022-08-09T16:15:31Z
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I'm an Adventure Elopement Photographer — Here's How I Grew Using SEO
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https://www.businessinsider.com/adventure-elopement-photographer-grew-business-seo-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/adventure-elopement-photographer-grew-business-seo-2022-8
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The US supply of active home listings surged 30.7% in the year through July, Realtor.com said.
That marked the third straight month of record-breaking inventory growth.
Housing market activity has quickly cooled as soaring mortgage rates crush buyer demand.
In just one year, the story of the US housing market has completely flipped.
It's now housing supply — not demand — that's surging at a record pace. The national inventory of available homes rose by 30.7% in the year through July, according to a Realtor.com report published Tuesday. That's the fastest pace since at least 2017 and the third consecutive month of record-breaking inventory growth.
The uptick amounted to 176,000 more homes actively for sale on an average July day than in the year-ago period, Sabrina Speianu, economic data manager at Realtor.com, said in the report.
The total supply of unsold homes rose by 3.5%, reflecting the first increase since September 2019. That measure's increase was smaller largely due to the fact that it counts homes in various stages of the selling process that aren't yet sold. The gauge showed annual declines throughout much of the pandemic as most homes spent only a few days on the market.
The rebound in home supply is a welcome development for Americans looking to buy their first house. That's because the US has been in a housing shortage for years — and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the problem.
Many construction projects have stalled during the pandemic due to labor shortages and a lack of building material. This has made homebuilding costly and difficult, leading to less new residential construction. But as priced-out homebuyers sit on the sidelines, the surge in demand has faded and given way to more existing home inventory.
Soaring mortgage rates have also played a major role in slowing homebuyer demand and the housing market's price surge. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates at the fastest pace since the 1980s as it aims to cool sky-high inflation. The hikes lifted borrowing costs throughout the economy, including the housing sector.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now sits at 4.99%. While that's down slightly from the late-June high of 5.81%, it's still nearly two percentage points higher than levels seen at the end of 2021.
The steady increase quickly stifled the housing demand that drove prices sharply higher throughout the pandemic. After several months of frenetic bidding wars that pushed selling prices higher, sales of both new and existing homes are down significantly.
Home price growth has started to slow too, albeit not by much. The S&P Case-Shiller National Home Price Index dipped to a 19.7% year-over-year pace in May, down from 20.6% the month prior. While that's still well above the pre-pandemic pace of roughly 4%, the recent influx of supply and slower sales rates signal home inflation could be turning a corner.
More: Economy Housing Housing Market home supply
home inventory
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2022-08-09T16:16:01Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Available Homes Rebound at Record Pace As the Housing Market Cools Off
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https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-home-supply-surges-record-real-estate-demand-cooling-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-home-supply-surges-record-real-estate-demand-cooling-2022-8
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The 'lipstick index' says people buy more makeup when times get tough. Here's where it comes from — and whether it can really predict a recession.
The lipstick index is the theory that sales of "affordable luxuries" rise during economic downturns.
The phrase was coined in the early 2000s by Leonard Lauder, heir to Estée Lauder cosmetics.
It played out during the 2008 recession and the pandemic, and it seems to be happening now too.
Conventional wisdom would imply that when times get tough, economically speaking, people cut back on non-essential purchases, even the affordable kind.
But that's not always what happens — in fact, some experts believe that people tend to buy more little luxuries the worse the economy looks.
This phenomenon has a name — the lipstick index — and it's borne out multiple times throughout history when the economy has experienced a downturn. It's not foolproof: the early months of the pandemic disproved the theory, and there are periods of tranquility when cosmetics sales have skyrocketed.
Still, as inflation rages on and a possible recession lurks on the horizon, we're already seeing indicators that the lipstick index is coming into play once again.
What, exactly, is the lipstick index?
The creation of the lipstick index is widely attributed to Leonard Lauder, one of the billionaire heirs to the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune.
Back in 2001, when the US economy was in the throes of a recession, Lauder noticed that lipstick sales were actually rising, not falling. Lauder's theory was that lipstick sales and the health of the economy were in inverse proportion to one another — essentially, as the economy got worse, lipstick sales got better.
"At times when discretionary income is scarce and splurging on expensive non-essential goods is not an option, buying lipstick could be a way of escapism," Natallia Bambiza, a director and beauty analyst at market research firm NPD Group, wrote in a recent blog post.
Bambiza described lipstick as an "affordable luxury," one that people are willing to splurge on even as they give up luxuries like a designer handbag or a piece of jewelry.
When have we seen this play out in history?
Around the time Lauder invented the index, lipstick sales at mass retailers had risen 11%, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
Makeup sales also jumped between 1929 and 1933, as the US was mired in the Great Depression. And some of the world's biggest cosmetics brands reported a sales boost in 2008 as the US headed into a recession.
Is lipstick the only 'affordable luxury' people buy?
It's not always lipstick that gets people spending in a downturn.
During the 2008 Recession, nail polish sales soared as people skipped the salon to save money.
And during the first year of the pandemic, the need to wear masks all the time made lipstick a pointless purchase. Instead, people opted for fragrances: sales were up 45% in the first quarter of 2021 versus the year prior, and were higher, even, than pre-pandemic times.
Larissa Jensen, vice president and beauty industry advisor at NPD Group, told Insider at the time that scents offered a moment of escapism during an especially dark time and became "a means to lift our spirits."
Can the lipstick index actually predict a recession?
Probably not. There isn't always a correlation between lipstick sales and the health of the economy — sometimes cosmetics sales have boomed during times of relative economic prosperity and dipped during downturns.
"The smaller the economic data becomes, the more volatile it tends to be, and the harder it is to extract the underlying signal," economist Lou Crandall told The New York Times about the lipstick index during the 2008 Recession.
Still, sales of lip products are rebounding in 2022, at a time when many Americans have a dim outlook on the economy. NPD data showed that lip products — which includes items like lipstick and gloss — were the fastest-growing makeup product from January to June 2022, with revenue rising 28% in the second quarter.
NOW WATCH: Sephora's rewards program and product display may make you spend more money. These are other sneaky ways it gets your money.
More: Lipstick The Lipstick Index Luxury Cosmetics luxury spending
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2022-08-09T16:16:19Z
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What Is the Lipstick Index? How Makeup Sales Could Forecast Recession
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https://www.businessinsider.com/lipstick-index-explained-how-makeup-sales-could-forecast-recession-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/lipstick-index-explained-how-makeup-sales-could-forecast-recession-2022-8
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I make 5 figures a month in revenue and only work 15-hour weeks. Here's how I escaped the 9-to-5 grind by creating multiple income streams.
Bayoumi set up her first income stream, a Shopify store, in 2018.
Sina Roopol
Farida Bayoumi started selling sunglasses sourced from China on Shopify while she was in college.
After leaving her graduate job to freelance, she set up six more income streams over three years.
Here's how she set up seven income streams making up to five figures a month, as told to Amber Sunner.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Farida Bayoumi, a 24-year-old in Toronto, Canada, about setting up multiple income streams. It has been edited for length and clarity. Insider has verified the revenue from Bayoumi's seven income streams.
I was working in retail and sales while I was at university, but I wanted to take my final year off to focus on my studies.
I set up my Shopify store, Own The Trend, in 2018 while I was still at university. I sold sunglasses to gather some income. The store cost $40 a month to run, and we did a photo shoot which cost $200.
I purchased the sunglasses from Alibaba, had them labeled in China with my brand, and then shipped to a third-party licensing warehouse shiped to my customers. I reinvested all the profits from this business into buying more inventory. It was time-consuming.
After graduating in 2018, I began working for a digital-marketing company. I quickly discovered the lifestyle wasn't for me. I felt like spending an hour commuting followed by eight hours in an office and an hour commute home was a waste of time.
I made $19 an hour and was essentially living paycheck-to-paycheck
I was 22 when I left my nine-to-five job in 2019 and began doing freelance work. I set a deadline: I had a year to make income for myself online. I focused on my sunglasses business.
I felt like I had to rip the bandage off and leave my job — otherwise, I wouldn't take it seriously. My job was my security blanket.
During this time, I had the support of my husband and family for my income.
I set up a subsidiary of my sunglasses business in Eygpt in 2020; I'm Egyptian and visit every summer. We had our sunglasses stocked in a physical retail store because I saw a gap in the market there for fashionable sunglasses.
I hired an e-commerce brand manager who lives in Egypt. We were generating $3,000 a month in sales across both brands.
At the end of 2020, I started selling my sunglasses on Amazon using Fulfilment By Amazon, or FBA. Before starting my business, I had prior experience managing the Amazon store for a clothing brand.
Amazon FBA means you store your stock in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and Amazon picks, packs, ships, and provides customer service for these products. I listed my sunglasses business on Amazon and began seeing sales.
I invested $3,000, which went toward inventory and marketing.
We lost a lot of money scaling the FBA business because we started using pay-per-click advertisements
These are ads that run on the Amazon platform. You pay if someone clicks on your products from the advertisement, but with every click, you have to pay up to $2. Using this method, we lost $500 in one day.
I began exploring different marketing routes and sent out free products to influencers. An influencer called Julia Havens, who has 341,000 followers, posted the sunglasses to her social-media account.
After she posted, we sold out of our Amazon stock, generating over $3,000 in sales.
It took us six months to restock our Amazon sunglasses because of pandemic-induced supply-chain issues. I continued to receive income from Egyptian retail and Shopify sales.
I began creating fashion content on TikTok in early 2021. I found myself interested in the small-business world and spent a lot of time learning about the community.
I switched my content to how to start a business on Amazon and helping other businesses list their products on the platform
I began gaining traction because people were very interested in that topic. At this point, we had made $10,000 in gross sales on Amazon FBA.
Now, I have three million likes on TikTok and 876,000 followers. I've continued to grow my FBA business; last month, I made $18,000 in sales from FBA.
My growing social-media presence meant that by June 2021 I was able to start affiliate marketing. The software company Jungle Scout, which I used for my Amazon FBA business, approached me about an affiliate partnership.
They offered me an affiliate program, meaning I would refer to the software on my social-media bios and receive income from any revenue those links generated. This stream doesn't take any time for me. I can make up to $4,900 a month from affiliate links.
I also started doing brand partnerships in July 2021. This takes more time because I have to coordinate with the partnering businesses, review contracts, sign review briefs, and create the content. I now make around $5,000 a month from this revenue stream.
People began commenting on my TikTok videos asking for a course about starting a business on Amazon.
In July 2021, within three days I wrote and edited the course on growing a successful Amazon business. I priced it at around $250, and I began advertising it on my platforms. I had to pay a monthly fee of $100 to host my courses on an online platform.
I made $7,000 in five days because of the high demand
I advertised organically through social media.
I set up my Youtube channel in 2018, but didn't have enough subscribers to generate an income.
By September 2021, I had enough subscribers to start making money on AdSense.
I currently have over 41,000 YouTube subscribers, and I've made up to $2,641 a month from this revenue stream. This revenue stream is one of my most time-consuming. It takes me around a week to get a video up. I've spent around $2,000 on recording equipment for YouTube.
In June this year, we filmed a second, more detailed course. The first course is not available to purchase anymore.
My course now costs $997. We currently have 1,320 students. Selling this digital product has been my most profitable income stream — it has a profit margin of around 80%.
I now work 10 to 15 hours weekly on all my income streams and generate up to five figures monthly in revenue.
More: income streams as told to contributor 2022
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2022-08-09T16:16:25Z
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I Work 15-Hour Weeks on My Online Businesses Making 5 Figures a Month
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https://www.businessinsider.com/make-five-figures-month-working-less-hours-passive-income-online-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/make-five-figures-month-working-less-hours-passive-income-online-2022-8
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A 22-year-old business major from wealthy Weston, Connecticut, is behind OlympusDAO, one of crypto's most notorious projects, according to a new lawsuit seeking $791 million
A new lawsuit claims a 22-year-old business major from Connecticut is the OlympusDAO founder known on the platform by the nickname "Zeus."
OlympusDAO, which once paid out 7,000% interest rates on its token, is being sued by a backer.
Jayson Liang says OlympusDAO's founders took away his ability to redeem his investment tokens.
The identity of "Zeus" has been a subject of speculation. Liang's lawyers claim to have found him.
There's a lot of money sloshing around in tony Weston, Connecticut. And if a new lawsuit is to be believed, the founders of a notorious crypto project that once held $800 million live there, too.
OlympusDAO revolves around a digital token that became popular last year when its holders could collect 7,000% returns on its core token, leading some crypto enthusiasts to openly debate whether the operation might be a Ponzi scheme. A new lawsuit claims that its anonymous founders include Timothy Gray Troxell, a 22-year-old from Weston.
The lawsuit was filed by Jayson Liang, who claims he was an early backer of the crypto project who was cheated out of millions when the DAO and its founders, Troxell and another Weston man named Daniel Bara, took away his ability to convert investment tokens to OHM tokens.
Liang's lawsuit claims Troxell is the OlympusDAO founder known on the platform by the nickname "Zeus." Liang has previously claimed that the founder who goes by the nickname "Apollo" is Bara.
A woman who answered the phone at a number listed for Troxell on Friday told a reporter that she would pass along an interview request. A Twitter message to OlympusDAO's Zeus about the lawsuit went unanswered, and Troxell didn't respond to a LinkedIn message.
Bara's lawyers didn't respond to a request for comment. Daniel Ravicher, a lawyer for OlympusDAO, said in an emailed statement from a consultant at Tusk Strategies that the group "categorically denies" the claims in the lawsuit.
Is OlympusDAO replacing banks, or getting its founders rich?
OlympusDAO holds itself out as a decentralized autonomous organization, which is a kind of loose collective of crypto users working toward a common goal. The forum and voting platform it uses are populated by a mix of identifiable people and users with nicknames and cartoon profile pictures.
In responding to questions about the company's business model, Zeus has told Coindesk that he wants to create the "reserve currency" for an online financial system where tokens are generated and exchanged according to rules set by algorithms, not bankers.
But the project has had trouble living up to the hype. OlympusDAO's digital treasury grew to over $800 million and OHM shot up to over $1,300 per token last fall as users clamored for its high rates. Amid a broader downturn in crypto prices, the token's value has fallen by about 99% and the treasury only holds about $300 million in crypto today.
Matt Levine, a columnist for Bloomberg, has also questioned whether the project is a Ponzi scheme in his widely read newsletters. He's also used Zeus to joke about a difference between crypto projects with anonymous figureheads and flashy startups that revolve around a founder.
"What if Zeus, the pseudonymous founder of OlympusDAO, is actually Adam Neumann?" Levine wrote in January. "Or a mid-level executive at Citadel Securities? Elon Musk, in his abundant free time? Martin Shkreli, from prison? A lot of great options really."
Liang, who says he is an early investor in OlympusDAO, claims in his lawsuit that he contributed 50,000 DAI tokens to the DAO and was awarded with 4 million tokens that were supposed to be convertible to OHM. He claims that he was deprived of his ability to convert, however, and now seeks up to $792 million in damages.
In filings in an earlier lawsuit, before Troxell was identified, lawyers for OlympusDAO and Bara argued that the dispute should be resolved in Switzerland, not in US courts. They also said Liang violated his funding agreement. They haven't said Bara wasn't Apollo, but haven't confirmed it either.
Liang said he determined Bara's identity by doing a reverse search for the phone number that "Apollo" used to call him, and claims Bara's lawyers confirmed it.
As for Troxell, Liang's lawyers only cited "information and belief" to support their claim that "Troxell and Bara's families have been close for years."
Small town, big money
Troxell, who appears to go by his middle name, lists himself on LinkedIn as a recent student at the University of Washington studying business and finance. The profile lists Solidity, a programming language used to write smart contracts, among his skills.
Weston, which is described on its website as "rural, yet sophisticated," has been home to a mix of celebrities like Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and actor Tom Cruise, as well as financial professionals. It is known for its good schools, low crime, and large lots that allow for privacy, with few houses on the market with less than two acres of land.
OlympusDAO says on its website that its treasury currently holds more than $300 million worth of crypto, which is deposited by people seeking OHM. That's down a great deal from the roughly $800 million balance reported last year.
It's not known how much digital wealth Zeus is sitting on. He claimed in a post in April that he paid for a $115,000 smart-contract audit out of his own pocket in December 2021 and "forgot" to seek reimbursement for several months.
More: Law crypto
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2022-08-09T16:16:37Z
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OlympusDAO Founder Is a 22-Year-Old Business Major, a New Lawsuit Says
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https://www.businessinsider.com/olympusdao-founder-zeus-real-name-lawsuit-says-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/olympusdao-founder-zeus-real-name-lawsuit-says-2022-8
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I recruit new grads at Meta. Here's what I look for when vetting job candidates.
Janelle Henry.
Courtesy of Janelle Henry
Janelle Henry is the global head of university talent at Meta who helps recruit new grads.
She suggests recent grads tailor applications to the jobs they're applying to and have fun with it.
Here's her job search advice, as told to writer Robin Madell.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Janelle Henry, the global head of university talent at Meta based in Palo Alto, California. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I've had the opportunity to interact with thousands of internship and new-grad candidates over my 20-year career in recruiting, and I've thought a lot about how someone can stand out and impress a hiring manager in the tech world.
One of the best things someone right out of college can do during an interview is show their passion. Of course, it's important to show dedication to your classes and extracurriculars, but what would really set you apart from the crowd is demonstrating your desire to learn, make a difference, or apply your experience to the job at hand. We look for interns and junior staff who are ready to explore and push themselves to perform at a high level at Meta and are excited to take advantage of all the resources available to them.
Don't shy away from being less experienced
You've spent the last several years learning subjects that you'll bring to these new roles and might be exactly what the company needs — leverage that in your application and interview.
There are specific skill sets that recruiters and hiring managers look for in recent grads depending on the position, but in general, we look for candidates who are collaborative, have strong communication skills, and are curious and proactive.
For curiosity, I always enjoy when candidates come prepared with questions based on the interviewer's or recruiter's background or are thinking of some real time based on conversation. Rarely is an interviewer perfect, so even clarifying questions about something mentioned or a question they asked show you're paying attention and listening rather than just waiting to speak to get your answers out.
There's always something to ask about — why someone stays so long in a role if your interviewer has been there for several years, why they left their last job, and how they're finding the shift if they're new.
I've also appreciated when technical students can explain their technical projects in a really digestible format. Often, we all don't have the same background or baseline understanding, and a candidate being able to speak very deep on a technical subject is impressive, and needed when they're also speaking to technical people. But often you need to explain it to someone who doesn't have the same knowledge as you. How would you explain your project to your grandparent or a 10-year-old? I think that shows you've really thought about your audience and are comfortable speaking to both types of audiences.
Part of the fun of being on a university recruiting team is that we often get to work with candidates over the course of several years
We often meet them early during college when they come to an informational event, or midway through when they're exploring internship opportunities, and then again as they approach graduation.
Often applying for an internship is a candidate's first exposure to a company, but ideally not their last. We often see students applying for several roles over numerous years, and something that can make you stand out is sharing with your recruiter what's changed since the last time we connected or you applied.
I've always enjoyed and found it valuable when a student will send me a note saying something like, "Hi Janelle, I applied for an internship last fall and now it's spring and I wanted to share with you that I'm still interested in Meta, as I spent the last three months in an internship focused on machine learning, which I think is relevant to this job."
And it doesn't always have to be work experience. Perhaps you took a new class, had a leadership opportunity, or something that has since elevated you to be reconsidered. This is a far better approach than just reapplying when a certain timeframe has passed.
The applications that really shine are ones that are specific and tailored to the role they're applying for
During the vetting and interview processes, we want to get to know you — why you're excited about joining Meta and the energy and experience you'll bring. We're lucky to get a lot of recent-grad applications with impressive backgrounds.
Using deliberate and descriptive language in your application and resume can make all the difference in whether you get an interview or not.
Often, when someone writes a resume, they try to make it seem as though they're better than they are, and the urge exists to use words or phrases that may not actually describe what they did: "CEO of Written Communications" instead of "took notes for team meetings" type of examples.
Instead of focusing on making the description of the job or project sound more impressive, take that extra time to better articulate the impact you had. A strong resume should read more closely to an accomplishments list rather than a job description or list of tasks you were asked to do.
Not all impact needs to have flair behind it, either: If you "took notes" then just say "note taker." You don't need to say "took notes 10 times faster than the person sitting next to me." But if you found a way to move from "note taker" to "creation of a catalogue system of written communications that resulted in better experience for team and record keeping," then share that. We love reading about what you did, not what anyone could have done in that role.
It's also okay to have a little fun with your application at these larger tech companies
So much of what we see looks the same in terms of templates, cover letters, and formalities that it's refreshing and welcome when you add in the "you" element. We always get a kick out of candidates who find creative ways to stand apart: starting off an email in a highly personalized manner, sharing a fun or unique fact about yourself, doing research on LinkedIn about the recruiter and referencing similarities, or even finding creative ways to link to your website or sending a link to a project you did for fun are all solid examples.
I've seen some wild applications in my time. I once received a shoe in the mail and a note attached where the student wanted to get "a foot in the door," as well as creative video productions complete with music and acting expressing interest in a role.
Keep in mind, however, that none of these impact your ability to get hired, as that's tied to your experience and application requirements, but these are fun ways to build a connection with your recruiting team. And as I've learned in this business, even if you don't get the first job, you may get the second, or third, or even the 20th, so relationship building can be a great first objective as you find what's right for you.
More: Meta New Grad Graduation
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2022-08-09T16:16:50Z
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I Recruit New Grads at Meta. Here's What I Look for in Job Candidates.
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https://www.businessinsider.com/recruit-new-grads-meta-facebook-what-look-for-job-candidates-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/recruit-new-grads-meta-facebook-what-look-for-job-candidates-2022-8
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Over the last year, companies have complained about labor shortages and difficulty hiring.
With fears that the economy is cooling off, firms are cutting costs — for some that means cutting workers.
Some companies see those reductions as permanent, a far cry from labor shortages of the past year.
For over a year, companies have had one big complaint: Nobody wants to work anymore.
Now, though, the tide seems to be turning. Firms have shifted to talking about getting rid of their staff to save costs, and becoming leaner.
Lyft's chief financial officer Elaine Paul said in an earnings call that the company has "materially pulled back on hiring."
Walmart's first quarter earnings call in May saw CEO Doug McMillon saying that the company was overstaffed after employees came back to work from Covid leave sooner than expected.
"We hired more associates at the end of last year to cover for those on leave, so we ended up with weeks of overstaffing," he explained. "That issue was resolved during the quarter primarily through attrition."
In other words, overstaffing was solved by people leaving — something that runs contrary to the narrative that companies are eager to hire and can't find anyone. Then, the company laid off 200 corporate roles at the start of August.
Prabir Adarkar, the chief financial officer of DoorDash, said in the company's second quarter earnings call that "last year was anomalous" because it was "a very expensive labor environment that's fueled by fiscal stimulus." But while July marked a 5.2% rise in average wages nationwide compared to the year prior due to a competitive market for talent, Adarkar said that's not going to happen this year. It's another hint that companies won't be as desperate to hire in coming months.
Though hiring is still robust overall, layoffs remain low, and a workers are still quitting in near-record numbers, the number of job openings fell lower than expected in June. That, coupled with recent commentary from CEOs, could markthe beginning of the end of the labor shortage. After a whole slew of factors — such as lack of childcare, a pandemic, and low wages — kept workers on the sidelines, companies might be starting to be okay with that.
It's another sign that the economy is changing — and, in some cases, splitting in two. Though we're not in an economic recession yet, some companies have already made major cuts to their workforces and are facing their own Great Regret over hiring too much. They're billing it to shareholders as a cost-saving measure, in addition to hinting that labor will be less expensive in the year to come as the wage gains ushered in by a labor shortage abate. While layoffs aren't mass or widespread yet, the pace of hiring has slowed since last year's hiring bonanza.
For workers, that might mean that the leverage they wielded in the Great Resignation is shrinking — bad news for those who have been asking for better pay, benefits, or quality of life.
Meanwhile, reduced staffing might just become the new normal at some firms
Leisure and hospitality was one of the pandemic's hardest hit industries, and accommodation is one of the top 15 industries still lagging behind in recovery. As Insider's Ben Winck and Madison Hoff report, accommodation is still down 404,900 payrolls from its February 2020 levels, a 19% decrease in employment. But even hotels are keeping their workforces lean.
Tom Baltimore, chairman and chief executive officer of real estate investment firm Park Hotels & Resorts — which is affiliated with brands like Hilton and Hyatt — said in an earnings call that headcount at their Hilton-managed hotels had dipped by 23% for managers and 29% for full-time hourly employees compared to 2019.
"We firmly believe that the operational changes behind many of the staffing reductions are permanent, translating into $85 million in savings," Baltimore said.
Similarly, Jim Risoleo, the president and chief executive officer of Host Hotels & Resorts — another real estate investment trust — said in an earnings call that the company had eliminated some positions "to become more efficient and increase productivity." Risoleo thinks that the "labor situation is going to stabilize."
Amy Shapero, Shopify's chief financial officer, said in a first quarter earnings call that they expected to see the labor market "ease." "We're already starting to see news and information about that easing," Shapero said. Shopify went on to layoff about 1,000 workers months later.
Meanwhile, movie theater chain Cinemark is gearing up for a lighter film slate in August and September. In response, they'll "essentially ramp down our operating hours and our labor hours" until the fourth quarter, chief financial officer Melissa Thomas said in a second quarter earnings call.
They're not the only company going leaner: Phil Hardin, chief financial officer and treasurer at Beyond Meat, said that beyond the announcement of layoffs, "there's a lot more" the firm can do outside of reducing costs for people.
"The intent is that we continue to reduce the rate of cash consumption as we go through the year," Hardin said in an earnings call.
All of that points to leaner companies, less hiring, and reduced workforces — a sharp contrast to the labor market jobseekers have experienced over the past year, which won them higher wages and a better quality of life. Economists say that the only way to permanently enshrine those wins for workers is through structural change, whether new laws, regulations, or an even more concentrated labor movement. After all, a looming recession could wipe it all out.
More: Economy labor shortages labor shortage Hiring
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2022-08-09T16:17:26Z
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US Economy Outlook: Companies Hint Labor Shortage Ending, Hiring Slowing, Some Layoffs
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https://www.businessinsider.com/us-labor-shortage-ending-companies-hint-hiring-layoffs-cut-employees-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/us-labor-shortage-ending-companies-hint-hiring-layoffs-cut-employees-2022-8
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Minnesota is holding primary elections on Tuesday. Polls close at 8 p.m. local time and 9 p.m. ET. Follow along for live results.
Half of the North Star State's eight-member House delegation is running unopposed in Tuesday's primaries, including Democratic Reps. Angie Craig and Dean Phillips (who is up by 20 points in the latest FiveThirtyEight polls), and Republican Reps. Tom Emmer and Michelle Fischbach.
The rub for two-term lawmaker Craig is that respected election handicapper the Cook Political Report has tagged the race as "Democratic Toss Up" in its competitive race tracker. Craig is involved in a rematch with her 2020 GOP challenger Tyler Kistner, whom she edged out by just 2 points the last time.
Three other incumbents still need to clear primary hurdles.
Eleven-term Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum is being challenged by first-time candidates Amane Badhasso and Fasil Moghul. McCollum got 61% of the vote in 2020.
Two-term Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is being challenged by former Minneapolis city councilman Don Samuels, as well as first-time candidates A.J. Kern, Albert Ross, and Nate Schluter. Omar got 65% of the vote in 2020.
Two-term Republican Rep. Pete Stauber is being challenged by former Duluth school board member Harry Welty. Stauber got 57% of the vote in 2020.
There's also a special election to succeed two-term Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn, who died on February 17, 2022, after battling kidney cancer.
The candidates vying to fill that open seat include former Minnesota state Republican Rep. Brad Finstad, Democrat Jeff Ettinger, Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis nominee Haroun McClellan, and Legal Marijuana Now nominee Richard Reisdorf. The latest FiveThirtyEight polls give Finstad an eight-point lead over Ettinger, while the Cook Political Report has rated the race as "Likely Republican" in its competitive race tracker.
Governor and secretary of state
Minnesota's two Democratic senators, three-term lawmaker and 2020 presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar and two-term lawmaker Tina Smith, aren't up for reelection untill 2024 and 2026, respectively.
There are also races for the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state in play.
Incumbent Democratic Gov. Tim Walz is being challenged by failed 2018 gubernatorial hopeful Ole Savior. Walz, a former congressman, got 54% of the vote in 2018.
Incumbent Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is being challenged by first-time candidate Julia Parker. Flanagan got 54% of the vote in 2018.
Incumbent Democratic Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is being challenged by failed 2020 Senate hopeful Steve Carlson. Across the aisle, state GOP party officials endorsed Trumpy 2020 election denier Kim Crockett for the post.
More: Minnesota 2022 midterms INSIDER Data DDHQ
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2022-08-09T16:37:27Z
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Minnesota Congressional Primary Elections: Live Results
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https://www.businessinsider.com/minnesota-congressional-primary-elections-live-results-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/minnesota-congressional-primary-elections-live-results-2022-8
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What is a backdoor Roth IRA?
How to open a backdoor Roth IRA
Is a backdoor Roth IRA worth it?
Backdoor Roth IRA: Understanding the loophole that gives high-income earners the tax benefits of a Roth IRA
A backdoor Roth IRA offers the same flexibility and investment and trading options as a traditional IRA, without having to pay taxes when you withdraw money in retirement.
A backdoor Roth IRA is a completely legal strategy to avoid the Roth's income limits.
Backdoor Roth IRAs are really just a conversion, not a special type of retirement account.
Opening a backdoor Roth IRA comes with important tax implications to consider.
Roth IRA accounts offer tax-free growth on earnings and tax-free withdrawals in retirement. Those perks, however, come with a big asterisk: You can't contribute to a Roth directly if you exceed IRS-imposed income limits.
But people with high incomes still have a way into a Roth — a strategy that's called a "backdoor Roth IRA." It's relatively easy to do, but comes with some tax implications to be aware of.
Opening a backdoor Roth IRA gives high-income taxpayers a way to capitalize on the benefits of a Roth despite traditional restrictions.
Although opening a "backdoor" Roth IRA may sound shady, don't let the name mislead you. It's a totally legal loophole. At its core, a backdoor Roth IRA is a simple conversion: You put money into a traditional IRA or 401(k), then convert it to a Roth IRA.
According to CFP Brian Fry, a backdoor Roth IRA "is exactly what it's called, a backdoor solution, but I would say it's more mainstream than a backdoor or hidden thing."
Depending on your personal tax strategy, this could be a win-win situation, especially if you predict your tax rate will be higher in retirement.
Important: The big advantage Roth IRAs have over traditional IRAs is you pay taxes upfront. In exchange for that, the returns you accrue are tax-free, and you don't owe income taxes upon withdrawal.
Roth IRA accounts allow you to deposit money annually and pay income taxes the year the money is deposited. In contrast, a traditional IRA or 401(k) comes with an immediate tax advantage, because you are not expected to pay associated income taxes on deposits until the money is withdrawn. However, when money is withdrawn, you owe taxes on both their earnings and money that was initially invested.
To contribute directly to a Roth IRA, your income must be under a certain amount, determined by your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). Individuals who earn above a specified income limit (based on taxpayer status) are prohibited from opening or funding Roth IRA accounts under IRS regulations.
Here is a quick look at the 2022 limits, per the IRS:
Filing status Modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) You can contribute ...
Married filing jointly or qualified widow(er) < $204,000 Up to the $6,000 imit
>$204,000 but < $214,000 Reduced amount
> $214,000 Zero
Married filing separately and you lived with your spouse at any time during the year < $10,000 Reduced amount
> $10,000 Zero
Single, head of household, or married filing separately and you did not live with your spouse at any time during the year < $129,000 Up to the $6,000 limit
> $129,000 but < $144,000 Reduced amount
If your income is too high to contribute to a Roth, going through the backdoor can be your way in, since the IRS does not limit who can convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.
These accounts can be opened at banks and brokerages that offer IRAs. If your retirement plan is part of a 401(k) offered by an employer, the associated financial services company can also help you navigate the logistics.
Put money into a traditional IRA: After contributing to an existing traditional IRA, you can "roll over" or transfer the funds to a Roth IRA. You can also roll over money that's already in an existing IRA, and there's no maximum to how much you can roll over at once.
Figure out if you need to pay taxes: Money in a traditional IRA comes with earnings that are taxed upon conversion to a Roth. Taxes are also incurred on any money the account earns in the time between contribution and account conversion.
Convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA: If you go with this strategy, it's best to do so ASAP, because the sooner you convert to a Roth IRA, the fewer taxes incurred on your earned income.
It should also be noted that another option is to make an after-tax contribution to a 401(k) plan and then transfer those holdings to a Roth IRA.
Keep in mind that a backdoor Roth IRA isn't a tax dodge by any means, but it does promise the future tax savings of your typical Roth IRA account.
A backdoor Roth IRA comes with the tax perks of a Roth IRA, meaning you will not owe further taxes when you eventually withdraw money post-retirement. However, when opening a backdoor Roth IRA, you are subject to paying taxes on the money transferred in that tax year.
Fry asks clients to consider the following questions when deciding to open a backdoor Roth IRA:
"Where do I get the most value or the most tax-advantaged savings?"
"Does it make sense to get the tax deduction today if I potentially qualify?"
"Does it make sense to pay the taxes up front and have tax-free growth for potentially the rest of my life?"
"It's really just about comparing your taxes today versus down the road," Fry says, adding that "there's not any significant advantages. In the end, Uncle Sam always wins."
While opening a backdoor Roth IRA is a solid option under some circumstances, it isn't for everyone.
Individuals who will need to withdraw money in five years or less, for example, will not be able do so with a Roth IRA due to its five-year rule. Withdrawing early will subject you to taxes and a 10% penalty.
If you're considering opening a Roth IRA, you should also be mindful of your tax bracket, staying alert to the fact that withdrawing too much at once may push you into a higher income tax bracket.
Finally, withdrawing money from your IRA to pay taxes limits future investment growth, and individuals who withdraw under the age 59-½ are subject to early withdrawal penalties.
A backdoor Roth IRA is not an official type of retirement account, but a way for high-income taxpayers to fund a Roth IRA despite exceeding traditional income limits. A backdoor Roth IRA is entirely legal and sanctioned by the IRS.
Although opening a backdoor Roth IRA comes along with initial taxes, it also gives investors the future tax benefits that come along with a traditional Roth account.
PERSONAL FINANCE What is a rollover IRA? How to transfer funds from your 401(k) to an IRA and avoid taxes
PERSONAL FINANCE Understanding Roth IRA withdrawal rules helps you avoid taking money too soon, triggering taxes and penalties
PERSONAL FINANCE Borrowing from your 401(k) plan can be a fast, advantageous way to meet serious financial needs — here's everything you need to know about 401(k) loans
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2022-08-09T16:37:33Z
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Backdoor Roth IRA: How It Works and How to Open One
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/backdoor-roth-ira
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https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/backdoor-roth-ira
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Connecticut is holding primary elections on Tuesday. Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
Endorsed by former President Donald Trump, Leora Levy takes on two other Republican candidates, Themis Klarides and Peter Lumaj, who seek the Republican nomination for the US Senate.
The winner will face incumbent Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a two-term Democratic senator first elected in 2010. Blumenthal won his 2016 race by nearly 30 percentage points.
Levy, who was elected in 2016 as the national committeewoman of the Republican Party of Connecticut, supported abortion rights in 2012 and criticized Trump in 2016 — positions on which she has since backtracked. In his endorsement, Trump spoke highly of the Cuba-born Republican.
"She will work hard to grow the economy, secure the border, fight for energy independence, support our military and our vets, champion election integrity, protect the Second Amendment and fight violence and vicious crime," he said.
Klarides, whom Trump called a "RINO," is a socially moderate former state House Republican leader who supports gay and abortion rights. She did not vote for Trump in 2020.
Lumaj, an immigration attorney who is a pro-Trump Republican who opposes abortion rights and supports gun rights, failed to clinch the former president's endorsement.
Two candidates, Michael Goldstein and Jayme Stevenson, are running in the Republican primary for Connecticut's 4th Congressional District on Tuesday.
The winner will face Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, who is pursuing his eighth term this year.
Each of Connecticut's 36 state Senate seats and 151 state House seats is up for election on Tuesday.
More: Elections BI Graphics INSIDER Data Connecticut
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2022-08-09T17:47:00Z
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Connecticut Primaries: Live Results
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https://www.businessinsider.com/connecticut-primaries-live-results-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/connecticut-primaries-live-results-2022-8
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Former President Donald Trump at a rally in Waukesha, WI on August 5, 2022.
Many elected Republicans are furiously condemning the FBI raid of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.
Many of them are acknowledging something that they usually don't: that Trump is likely to run again.
Some are more forthright, while others simply refer to Trump as Biden's "top political opponent."
As elected Republicans condemn the FBI's raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, many of them are saying out loud what they've been hesitant to discuss for nearly two years: Trump is likely to run for president again in 2024.
While Trump has been hinting at the prospect for months on end — including declaring that Democrats "desperately don't want me to run in 2024" in his statement announcing the raid — many Republicans in Congress and other elected positions around the country have generally declined to speculate on the former president's plans.
While President Joe Biden says he was unaware of the raid ahead of time, he indirectly oversees the independent Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is under the leadership of director Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee.
But that didn't stop Republicans from claiming that the raid — reportedly in connection with classified documents that Trump took with him to Mar-a-Lago — was politically motivated. In the process, they often acknowledged Trump's future presidential plans.
"The optics are especially disturbing considering that Presidents Biden and Trump are past and potentially future political opponents," said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina in a statement. "The DOJ owes the American people a thorough explanation."
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of Trump, was even more direct.
"President Trump is likely going to run again in 2024," he wrote on Twitter, though he added that "no one is above the law."
—Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) August 9, 2022
And Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a 2016 presidential candidate himself, released a video in which he referred to Trump as a "likely future election opponent." Trump "might, in fact, be running against [Biden] in a couple years," Rubio said in the video.
—Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 9, 2022
Other examples abound.
"Joe Biden is trying to use the FBI to subdue his top political opponent because they are afraid of him running in 2024," wrote Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee.
"Joe Biden campaigned on bringing our country together, but his DOJ just raided the house of his former - and possibly next - political opponent," wrote Republican Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma.
—Congressman Ben Cline (@RepBenCline) August 9, 2022
Other Republicans stopped short of acknowledging 2024 outright, but instead referred to Trump, in various terms, as Biden's "political opponent."
"This is a brazen weaponization of the FBI by Biden's DOJ against his political opponent," wrote Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana.
—Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) August 9, 2022
—Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) August 9, 2022
And Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, often mentioned as a potential future presidential contender himself, referred to Trump as Biden's "chief political opponent" as he called for Attorney General Merrick Garland to either resign or be impeached.
—Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) August 9, 2022
Former prosecutors and other legal experts told Insider in July that a 2024 announcement from Trump ahead of the 2022 midterms would be a "train wreck for the party," taking the focus of the election off of Biden and placing the divisive former president at the center of the discussion.
Additionally, experts said, running for president again would not shield Trump from his ongoing legal woes.
More: Congress Donald Trump Trump 2024 presidential election
Congressional Republicans
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2022-08-09T17:47:12Z
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Mar-a-Lago FBI Raid Pushed GOP to Speak Openly of Trump 2024 Plans
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https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-raid-trump-elected-republicans-president-rubio-tillis-2024-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-raid-trump-elected-republicans-president-rubio-tillis-2024-2022-8
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Mike Pence expressed "deep concern" over the FBI's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago property.
Pence decried "the appearance of continued partisanship by the Justice Department."
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday defended Donald Trump after FBI agents raided the former president's personal residence at Mar-a-Lago.
"I share the deep concern of millions of Americans over the unprecedented search of the personal residence of President Trump," Pence wrote on Twitter. "After years where FBI agents were found to be acting on political motivation during our administration, the appearance of continued partisanship by the Justice Department must be addressed."
—Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) August 9, 2022
Countless Republican Party figures, including potential 2024 hopefuls, have condemned the FBI for searching the grounds of Trump's "Winter White House" reportedly in pursuit of evidence on whether Trump improperly handled classified information when he took White House documents with him after leaving Washington on January 20, 2021.
But Pence's words are notable as it's a show of support after months of public back and forth over his refusal to follow Trump's unconstitutional push to overturn the 2020 election. Some of Pence's former aides have also testified to the House January 6 committee that Trump did not express concern for his vice president's safety as rioters ransacked the Capitol and some shouted that they wanted to hang Pence.
Trump has also disputed former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony that he expressed some approval for the pro-hanging chants.
Like other Trump administration officials, Pence has been openly testing the ground for a 2024 run. Pence and Trump have issued endorsements for opposing candidates in key midterm races. The Wisconsin gubernatorial primary tonight is one of those contests.
More: Mike Pence Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago Raid Mar-a-Lago resort
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2022-08-09T17:47:24Z
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Pence Defends Trump, Expresses 'Deep Concern' Over FBI Mar-a-Lago Raid
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pence-defends-trump-deep-concern-fbi-mar-a-lago-raid-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/pence-defends-trump-deep-concern-fbi-mar-a-lago-raid-2022-8
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Why your business' data strategy probably needs an overhaul
Created by IBM with Insider Studios
Provided by IBM
By Dinesh Nirmal, General Manager, Data, AI and Automation, IBM
The age of data-driven work is here. Virtually all employees today say they are expected to work with data on the job to some extent, from retail employees needing to keep tabs on sales and supply chains to professional athletes using data to fine tune their game.
Despite the expectation for employees, most people have a really hard time getting the data they need. Research shows that up to 82% of enterprises are inhibited by data silos, meaning data that's left in inaccessible repositories and databases. Simply put, the prevalence of these data silos can make working with data a real pain, a fact which perhaps helps explain why employees spend an average of one hour per week procrastinating on data-related tasks alone.
As more people need access to data – and the volume of data within an organization continues to dramatically grow – the task of governing that data, ensuring it is secure and compliant with privacy standards, is increasingly difficult.
Unlocking Innovation
It doesn't have to be this way. A clear data strategy defines how to make sense of vast amounts of data, align data initiatives to business strategy, and build solutions that span the entire organization. It helps organizations realize their data's potential and gather insights and identify efficiencies while complying with increasingly complex regulations.
But a critical part of implementing a data strategy vision is getting the right technology in place. That's exactly why companies around the world are investing heavily in a solution that can weave their disparate data sources together, also known as a data fabric. A data fabric is a type of data architecture that automates data discovery, governance, and consumption, allowing enterprises to elevate the value of their data by providing access to the right data, at the right time, regardless of where it resides.
Research shows organizations that have adopted a data fabric architecture are significantly more innovative. Companies that have actively deployed and are seeing value from AI, for example, are 283% more likely to have a data fabric architecture in place than those that have not.
Making Work Easier
A data fabric unlocks innovation because it makes employees' jobs easier. With a data fabric, employees don't need to spend time hunting down, validating, and verifying the data they need to do their jobs. A data fabric architecture is also critical for feeding the models, AI, and automation needed to eliminate repetitive, low-value tasks and divert resources to more interesting, value-adding work.
A data fabric also enables a comprehensive approach to privacy and data access. Consumers need assurances that their data is being protected and companies are not running the risk of breaches, abuses, or other misuse that risks damage to their reputation.
The data-driven enterprise is more than just a buzzword – access to quality data can be transformative and differentiating. But ensuring access to quality data remains challenging for numerous reasons, and more employees need access to more data than ever before. A data strategy that takes advantage of data fabric architecture is the best way to democratize access to data so that data consumers —whether they are in human resources, customer service, manufacturing, or marketing — can get the data they need, while empowering IT teams to work smarter, not harder.
Optimize your data strategy and democratize data access with a data fabric. Check out IBM's new guide for data leaders here.
This post was created by IBM with Insider Studios.
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2022-08-09T17:47:36Z
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Why Your Business' Data Strategy Probably Needs an Overhaul
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https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/why-your-data-strategy-probably-needs-an-overhaul
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3 strategies I use as an Airbnb superhost making $35,000 in revenue a month to design homes people are excited to stay in
Melissa Forrest is a 33-year-old Airbnb superhost with her husband in California.
They design their homes around the guests they want to attract and focus on balance.
Here are her tips for designing a successful Airbnb, as told to writer Robin Madell.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Melissa Forrest, a 33-year-old Airbnb host based in El Segundo, California, and the cofounder of Host Life. Insider has verified her business' 2021 profit and 2022 sales revenue to date with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
My husband, Zev Forrest, and I run an Airbnb business together and have taught hundreds of others how to do the same.
Since using our own savings to launch our first two Airbnbs in 2018 in Riverside, California, we now make about $35,000 in gross average revenue per month and are on track to gross more than $500,000 in revenue in 2022. Our total earnings for 2021 (including direct bookings) were $407,216, and our total profit was $183,828. We now run 10 Airbnbs in Southern California.
It's taken us four years as Airbnb superhosts and a lot of trial and error — as well as taking into account the feedback we've received from our guests — to discover what's most important in setting up a successful Airbnb. Here are some pointers and steps I suggest taking.
Design for your guest avatar, not for you
When designing your own home, you're designing it the way you like it. When designing an Airbnb home, you should design it with your "guest avatar," or ideal guest, in mind. So as a first step, decide and define who this is.
When we first started, we thought that the more people we could host in a home, the more money we could make, so we loaded the rooms up with bunk beds. We were wrong with that approach and have since removed things like multiple bunks. When we niched down to focus on families, couples, and corporate employees who like a high-quality, beautiful, and bright home, we ended up making a lot more money.
Create a sense of balance and focus on areas where guests will spend the most time
As we create design plans that will make each space in our homes flow together, we think about a design technique called the "rule of three." When you arrange things in groups of three, it creates a more balanced space, which therefore creates a more appealing and memorable space.
We also stick to a tight color scheme throughout the home. Another one of our pro tips is if we have a TV console that we're decorating, we ensure that if we put a vase on the furthest right side of it, we don't leave the left side empty. Instead, we add other elements to the left side to make it balanced. Same for the pillows on the couch — we make sure to balance both sides with pillows.
Depending on who your ideal guest is, you can also think about where they'll spend the most time, then plan the perfect space around those needs. We learned that a thoughtful bedroom design is essential for all guests, so we focused on creating a peaceful place of rest.
The bed needs to be one of the most comfortable and quality pieces in the home, so don't cheap out on this. We also only make our beds with white linens, which create a welcoming, clean, and transparent bed. A stain or dirt can't be hidden on a white linen. Most spas and places of relaxation are predominately white. Lastly, we ensure that the bedroom has a rug that fills up the space underneath and alongside the bed to create a soft walking area for bare feet.
Avoid a bare-minimum approach, unless you want to risk becoming a party destination
While a bare-minimum design doesn't necessarily attract party guests, we found that with our first Airbnb, it created a trickle-down effect: Less amenities or a less aesthetically pleasing home equaled a lower rate per night, which meant a higher likelihood of attracting people only looking for a roof, couch, and four walls.
When we first started, we charged about $200 to $250 per night for our minimalist, three-bedroom home with the cheapest furniture and design. If a guest saw we didn't take interest in our home, they didn't care to take interest, either. Our home got dirtier and things broke regularly, which ended up costing us more in the long run.
In time, when we added more stylish and higher-quality furniture and décor pieces — which required investing about $5,000 to $8,000 of our savings — we were able to charge more, around $450 to $550 per night.
We learned from our mistakes and in addition to upgrading our furniture and decor, we also did more prescreening, which entailed investigating further when someone was booking a three-bedroom home how many people they're looking to house. Also, if a guest had a rating lower than five stars, we followed up about that to try to learn what happened.
More: AirBnB Airbnb hosting Real Estate
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2022-08-09T17:47:54Z
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3 Ways to Design Your Airbnb to Get More Bookings, From a Superhost
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ways-design-airbnb-get-more-bookings-superhost-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/ways-design-airbnb-get-more-bookings-superhost-2022-8
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Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio.
Republicans are reviving a false talking point after the raid on former President Donald Trump's property.
They're saying the same DOJ once called protesting parents "terrorists."
The National School Boards Association made the comparison, not DOJ.
"Understand the history, here," he said. "One year ago it was Merrick Garland using the Patriot Act against parents."
Here's what happened: In an October 2021 memo, Garland called on the FBI to address illegal threats against school leaders who were facing protests over face mask mandates, controversial books, and the teaching of race and gender in schools.
His memo came after the National School Boards Association — in a letter the group later apologized for — asked the feds to step in.
The NSBA — not the Department of Justice — compared the threats to "a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes."
More: Rep. Jim Jordan Glenn Youngkin school board doj
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2022-08-09T19:18:11Z
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Republicans Revive False Claim That DOJ Called Parents 'Terrorists'
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https://www.businessinsider.com/republicans-revive-false-claim-that-doj-called-parents-terrorists-2022-8
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Walmart could be adding streaming entertainment to its Walmart+ service, according to a report.
Walmart is exploring a streaming offering for Walmart+ subscriptions, according to the New York Times.
Walmart has taken steps to try to attract new customers to its subscription, putting it in direct competition with Amazon Prime.
Similar to Amazon Prime, Walmart+ has started offering a music subscription and additional perks to subscribers.
Walmart may be taking a major step to attract new customers to its subscription service, Walmart+ — and it could be upping the ante on its competition with Amazon Prime.
The New York Times reports that Walmart has held discussions with major media companies like Paramount, Disney, and Comcast about bundling streaming entertainment into its subscription offering, citing three people with knowledge of the conversations.
Adding a streaming perk would push Walmart+ closer to a membership offering a bundle of services, similar to its rival, Amazon Prime, rather than simply a membership with shipping benefits.
Walmart declined to comment to Insider for this story.
Walmart+ launched in September 2020 as a subscription service offering free shipping, no order minimum, and discounts on fuel. However, in recent months Walmart+ has added additional perks, upping the stakes in its competition with Prime, including a free six-month trial of Spotify Premium and steeper fuel discounts.
Amazon Prime offers a wide variety of services to members in addition to free two-day shipping, including access to its Emmy-winning streaming service, Prime Video, access to Amazon's own music-streaming service, Prime Music, free grocery delivery, and other perks.
The New York Times's report says that Walmart is similarly looking to build out its subscription offering at a lower cost than Prime. A Walmart+ subscription costs $98 per year, while Amazon Prime costs $139 per year.
Walmart has not disclosed how many members belong to Walmart+, but the practice of bundling services into one single subscription has proven a successful strategy for Amazon. Last year, Amazon said that it had more than 200 million subscribers to Prime.
Amazon is not the only company to bundle services to gin up excitement and loyalty from customers, though it may take the practice further than most other major companies. For example, mobile carriers Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, all offer free trials of streaming services with certain data plans, and Apple offers three free months of Apple TV Plus when customers buy new hardware from the company, like an iPhone or Mac computer.
More: Walmart Amazon Amazon Prime Walmart Plus
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2022-08-09T19:18:23Z
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Walmart's Streaming Plans Could Raise Stakes in Its Battle With Amazon Prime
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https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-amazon-prime-battle-streaming-disney-comcast-paramount-service-report-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-amazon-prime-battle-streaming-disney-comcast-paramount-service-report-2022-8
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The 15 best planners for staying organized and reaching your goals in 2022
By Jenny McGrath and Julia Pugachevsky
Planners are designed to keep you organized and help you map out your days. There are a few things to consider when picking the best planner for you.
Best low-cost planner
Best planner for everyday goals
Best themed planners
Best planner for writing a lot
Best planner for long-term goals
Best elaborate planner if you're on a budget
Best planner for flexibility
Best customizable planner
Best short-term planner
Best planner for creative projects
Best planner for a little bit of everything
Best planner for strictly scheduling
Best big planner
Best astrology planner
Best mindfulness planner
Best pocket-sized planner
Paper planners are calendars that help you keep track of tasks, appointments, ideas, and so on. They let you see the week or month all at once, in a clear and legible way. And if you want one halfway through the year, there are plenty of undated and academic planners so you don't have to wait until January to start getting organized.
No planner is one-size-fits-all: picking a planner comes down to personal preference, whether you like to schedule things down to the minute or just jot a few weekly notes. Some people want a balance of enough space for their jottings but in a book that can easily fit in their bag.
Planner styles get even more detailed, and we break down the ways to choose what's right for you at the end of this guide. We talked to two stationery store owners and a productivity expert to get their advice on how to pick a planner.
"There are lots of different, great planners, and it just kind of depends on thinking about how you want to plan your week and how you want to visualize your week," said Jeremy Crown, who co-owns Little Otsu, a paper store in Portland, Oregon.
Whatever style of planner you prefer, you'll be able to find something in the list below.
The 15 best planners to buy in 2022:
Best academic planner: Blue Sky Academic Planner
The Blue Sky Academic Weekly & Monthly Planner is an affordable option for students that still offers plenty of room for notes and organization.
Blue Sky Planner
Best for: Students
Length: One year (June to July)
Layout: Weekly
Format: Dated
Size: 8.5 by 11 inches or 5 by 8 inches
Slim yet sturdy, Blue Sky's academic planner gives students weekly planning layouts for June through July of next year. Some layouts give equal space to Saturday and Sunday as the rest of the week, which is perfect for people whose study and work schedules don't end on Friday. There are also two sizes so you can decide whether you prefer more room to write or something a bit more portable. (A few more sizes are available, though the design choices are much more limited.)
The front has a section dedicated to chronicling yearly goals. There's also space for contacts and notes. The covers tend to lean toward the pastel and floral, but there are some more understated options. For between $10 and $20, it's hard to beat the style and functionality you get with this academic planner.
Best teacher planner: 4theloveofpi Teacher Planner
4theloveofpi
4theloveofpi planners are made for teachers who have a lot to keep track of, from multiple subjects to conferences and field trips.
4theloveofpi Teacher Planner
$59.99 from 4theloveofpi
Best for: Teachers (and some students)
Length: One year (July to June)
Size: 8.5 by 11 inches
For many teachers, the new year really starts in the summer as they start to plan for back to school. The 4theloveofpi planners begin in July and run through June of the next year. You can opt for layouts based on the number of subjects you teach, from one to eight. Each planner comes with pages dedicated to checklists and student notes. Unlike some teacher planners, this one has space for weekend plans, too.
The covers come in a range of styles, including subject-specific options for science, math, special education, and more. Add-ons for seating charts, students' health information, professional development, and expense tracking are also available. This isn't the most budget-friendly teacher planner out there, but the thoughtful design and customizability are ideal for teachers with hectic schedules.
Best planner for tracking everyday goals: BestSelf Co. the Self Journal
BestSelf Co
BestSelf Co Self Journal
The Self Journal from BestSelf is geared toward quarterly planning, with daily, intensive options for tracking your goals.
Best for: Dedicated daily users
Layout: Daily
Format: Undated
Size: 5.75 by 8.5 inches
If you're looking for a lot of structure and prompts, the Self Journal might be right for you. It has pages of tasks and templates to guide your goal-setting. While undated, it's only meant to last 13 weeks, so you won't have a full year at your fingertips.
The idea is to break the year — or just daunting projects — down into manageable chunks. There are spaces to fill out what you're grateful for, as well as your goals and targets.
With 240 pages, the size is fairly portable and has a hardcover. The paper is also fountain-pen friendly.
Best mindfulness planner: UrBestSelf 6-Minute Diary
The 6-Minute Diary from UrBestSelf leaves space for daily gratitude journaling and goal-setting.
UrBestSelf 6-Minute Diary
Best for: More detailed daily prompts
Size: 8.66 by 5.59 inches
For anyone interested in gratitude journaling, this planner is made for daily reflections, including short sections on things you're grateful for, goals you want to accomplish, and good deeds you did that day. It also has inspirational quotes and a habit tracker for more ambitious goal-setting.
Best planner for writing a lot: Clever Fox Non-Dated Daily Planner
Clever Fox Planner
Clever Fox Non-Dated Daily Planner
With a full page for each day, the Clever Fox Non-Dated Daily Planner gives you space for your packed schedule or brainstorming sessions.
Best for: People who like to do daily entries and love stickers
Length: 6 months
Size: 5.8 by 8.3 inches
Clever Fox's daily planner has scads of room for those with busy days — or anyone who likes to doodle and brainstorm in their calendars. Each day of the week has its own page, with space to schedule from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. There are also prompts for weekly goals (both work and personal priorities) and productivity tracking.
The planner also comes with stickers to help you personalize your pages. With a sturdy cover in colors from black to rose gold to royal blue, it should be easy enough to find one that matches your style.
In addition to the daily version — which is only for six months — there are weekly options that have space for a full year. If you want a larger planner, the pro version measures 8.5 by 11 inches.
Best planner for flexibility: Field Notes 56-Week Planner
Field Notes 56-Week Planner
Robust yet portable, the Field Notes 56-Week Planner is a great low-priced choice that still lasts a full year.
Best for: Fans of utilitarian planners
Length: 13 months
Compact yet rugged enough to toss in a backpack, Field Notes' 56-week planner is no-frills but fully functional. Each week gets two pages, with Saturday and Sunday sharing space. They're undated, so you can start anytime, miss a couple weeks, and pick back up without wasting pages. As the name suggests, you get space for over a year, with 112 pages total.
At less than $20, it's one of the more affordable planners on the list, though we wish there were a few options for the covers.
Best themed planners: Bloom Daily Planners
Bloom Daily Planner
Bloom's Daily Planners come in many versions to suit many styles, all with plenty of supplemental sheets for tracking progress.
Best for: Anyone looking for a specific layout
Length: One year
Size: 6 by 8.25 inches
Bloom's planners are full of lists and charts for you to fill out and help you figure out how to schedule the year ahead. There are vision boards and habit-tracking options included. You can also sign up for additional, downloadable sheets for bill tracking, meal planning, and so on.
The nice thing about Bloom is that it has almost countless options for getting exactly what you want. The planners come in both softcover and hardcover options, and there are several planner layouts to choose from. For teachers, there are undated versions, as well as ones that start in July. If you have a wedding or new baby on the horizon, there are planners for that, too.
Best short-term planner: Panda Planner
Panda Planner Daily/Weekly Planner
$24.97 from Panda Planner
The Panda Planner is meant to be hyper-focused on a three-month period, with daily tracking.
Best for: Short-term projects, starting new habits or routines
Length: Three months
The classic version of the Panda Planner is undated, with room for three months of daily tracking. There are also weekly and monthly sections, and the planner is designed for those who need lots of on-page support, with boxes for morning and end-of-day reviews, habit tracking, and priorities. Each day gets an undated two-page spread, so you can skip weekends if you want something more work-focused.
Panda Planners also come in undated, six-month, and dated, full-year versions.
Best planner for creative projects: Passion Planner
Passion Planner Annual Planner
$12.75 from Passion Planner
Designed with motivation in mind, the Passion Planner has a few layouts to help you follow through with your goals.
Best for: Creative projects, people who want goals and prompts
Size: 8.3 by 11.7 inches
The Passion Planner is focused on motivation and helping you achieve your yearly goals. The weekly version has places for you to note what you're focusing on and the good things that happened in your life.
There are a few styles to choose from, including undated, daily, and weekly layouts. On the website, you can also choose whether you want your planner's week to begin on Sunday or Monday. Small, medium, and large sizes are available, with the biggest being a bit larger than a standard sheet of paper.
If buying a Passion Planner doesn't fit into your budget, the site also offers downloadable content that you can print and fit into a regular, three-ring binder. There are also digital versions available.
Best planner for strictly scheduling: Quo Vadis Weekly Business Planner
Qua Vadis
Quo Vadis Business Weekly Planner
Good quality yet affordable, the Quo Vadis Weekly Business Planner is a no-nonsense way to keep tabs on your weekly to-dos.
Best for: Those who want a particular layout, without quotes and prompts
Size: 4 by 6 inches
This well-designed, pocket-sized planner from Quo Vadis has a textured, faux leather cover. It's helpful to go on the Quo Vadis website because it lays out all the options available for its planners: Academic or calendar year; daily, weekly, or monthly format; and small, medium, or large size.
The planner's weekly layout is vertical, with scheduling space from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. There are large squares on the right page for extra notes. The cover comes in several colors, and you can also find the planner in faux suede or smooth faux leather options.
Though there isn't a lot of extra space for habit tracking, the back of the planner does have some space for personal notes and a map of the world's time zones.
Best pocket-sized planner: Lemome Pocket Planner
Lemome 2022 Pocket Planner
Lemome's pocket-sized planner (which also comes in a spiral-bound version) is ideal for carrying around with you on the go.
Best for: Travel
The planner features a simple calendar grid each month for jotting down quick reminders or plans, and has a section on the side for extra notes. Still, considering the small size, this notebook is best if you anticipate using it for bare-bones planning (such as dinner reservations or birthdays). It also has a separate section for writing down contact information and has a list of the year's holidays as a quick reference.
Best all-in-one planner if you're on a budget: Day Designer Daily Planner for Blue Sky
Day Designer for Blue Sky Daily Planner
A thorough planner with lots of room for notes, the Day Designer Daily Planner for Blue Sky is great for people with busy days or lengthy to-do lists.
Best for: Those who love splashy, detailed planners but without the high price
Size: 8 by 10 inches
Usually, Day Designer planners are $59, but the Blue Sky collaboration version is $38.
The day has a 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. schedule, along with room for to-do lists. At the top and bottom are boxes for gratitude, your "top three" important items, and notes for the night.
If you have a larger budget and prefer a daily calendar, Day Designer's flagship planner has a page dedicated to each weekday, with a single page for weekends.
Best customizable planner: Happy Planner
Happy Planner
The Happy Planner Classic Planner (12-Month)
Happy Planner has lots of customization options, including layout and length.
Best for: Disney fans, people looking for a planner with removable pages
Happy Planner is all about making its products work for you, so there are quite a few ways to customize your planner. It offers vertical and dashboard layouts, as well as a few different sizes and undated options. You can also buy plenty of stickers to add more flair, and we also like the planner's disc-bound binding, which is like a three-ring binder you don't have to open and close.
Happy Planner is a popular brand with teachers, and it offers 18-month versions that start in July.
Best big planner: Wit & Delight Stay on Track Desktop Notepad
Wit & Delight
Wit & Delight Stay On Track Desktop Notepad
Portable planners aren't for everyone, so the Wit & Delight Stay on Track Desktop Notepad is a great (big) way to jot down notes, appointments, and the like.
Best for: People who want a desk-sized planner
Length: 180 weeks
If you want a planner that you can't accidentally lose, this desk version from Wit & Delight is a good option.
It's undated, comes with 180 sheets, and each page has vertical space for Monday through Friday. There aren't Saturday and Sunday spots, but there's a "home life" box that could work for weekend activities. There are also places for notes, projects, and big picture items.
How to choose a planner
There are an overwhelming number of planner types. Chandra Greer, who owns Greer, a stationery store in Chicago, Illinois, prioritizes stocking her store with functional, quality options, knowing they might not be the right fit for everyone. "I'm more interested in the function," she said. "Is the layout useful? Is it something that is going to withstand being your daily friend for 365 days?"
To find out what will work for you, you can start by considering what qualities are most important to you. "I think if you sort of start with, 'What is it that I want to use this for?' that gives you a good starting point," said Alexandra Cavoulacos, founder of The Muse and author of "The New Rules of Work."
Daily, weekly, or monthly
For some people, a planner is merely a portable calendar, Cavoulacos said. Other people want to track projects and create to-do lists. The amount of detail per day will start to dictate how much space you need.
Dated or undated
There are many reasons you might decide to buy an undated calendar. "People might decide on March 28th, they want a planner," said Greer. "But if a planner is dated, they're already three months through the year."
Plus, with an undated planner, you can always pick up where you left off without wasting days' worth of paper.
Horizontal or vertical
When someone comes into Little Otsu looking for a planner, co-owner Jeremy Crown first asks, "Are you more of a task-oriented planner?" He thinks people with detailed schedules or long to-do lists may prefer the column format of vertical layouts, while those who like making notes or doodling might prefer the horizontal layout.
Some planners also use a "dashboard" view, with a week or day on one page and the other dedicated to habit trackers, gratitude prompts, and other fill-in-the-blanks.
Doctors, nurses, and chefs always want pocket-sized notebooks and planners, said Crown. You might want something big enough to hold your sprawling handwriting but small enough to carry around in your purse or messenger bag.
Minimalist or full of prompts
Planner aesthetic ranges from very bare-bones to packed with extras like quotes, charts, and check-ins.
"You want your planner to inspire you," Cavoulacos said. "I do think the sort of aesthetic piece, the inspiration piece, is also something that shouldn't be forgotten," she said.
Both Greer and Cavoulacos point out that you can add your own quotes and personalizations to even the most minimalist planner, as long as there's space. "It could become more of a person's little command center," said Greer.
Paper quality
If paper quality is high on your list of importance, Greer suggests taking a close look at who makes a planner.
"I definitely gravitate towards manufacturers who have a background in paper," she said, recommending notebook or paper companies that have planners such as Midori, Paperways, High Tide, and Kokuyo Jibun Techo.
Even if you're not into paper, you'll want to pay attention to the cover's material. Hardcovers will stand up to more wear and tear than softcovers. "Sometimes people will trade that durability for something that doesn't cost very much, but definitely people are expecting [their planner] to get through the whole year and not look like it was run over by a truck," Greer said.
It's important that planners lie flat since you're writing in them. Many are spiral bound, but others are stitch bound. Either will let you write on them, but you can flip one side of the book behind the other with a spiral binding. "A lot of people are kind of indifferent between spiral and stitch bound now, as long as it lies flat because that's really what they're looking for," Greer said.
Another concern with the binding is whether it will keep the planner together for the whole year. Some glued-in pages might not hold out as well. "If you have something that's stitch-bound or spiral, it's very sturdy for the long haul," Greer said.
Why not just use your phone as a digital planner?
"I don't necessarily think a planner is for everybody, just like any particular productivity hack or tool," Cavoulacos said. There are plenty of people who prefer to keep their calendars and notes strictly digital, and getting a paper planner might not make sense for them.
If you're on the fence, she suggests asking yourself what's attractive about a paper planner. "I think for a lot of people it's slowing down, right?" Cavoulacos said. "It's like the lack of distraction. It's the moments to think, to cross things off — the satisfaction of crossing things off."
For Crown, it's more personal than a phone calendar. "It's your life in a book," he said. "[By] the end of the year, you have this book that was like, this is what I did. That's something that the phone doesn't do that well."
More: Features Insider Picks Guides Insider Picks Back-To-School Back to School
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2022-08-09T20:19:47Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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15 Best Planners to Buy in 2022
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https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/best-planner
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https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/best-planner
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As many in the GOP rally around Trump following an FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago, McConnell has remained quiet.
On Tuesday, he dodged a question about the raid. "I'm here today to talk about the flood," he said.
But conservatives online are increasingly noticing McConnell's silence on the issue.
—bryan metzger (@metzgov) August 9, 2022
The raid reportedly occurred in connection with classified documents that Trump took with him to the South Florida resort following the end of his presidency.
McConnell's silence on the issue stands in stark contrast to his counterpart in the lower chamber, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Just hours after Trump issued a statement on the raid, McCarthy promised "immediate oversight" of the Department of Justice if Republicans retake the majority following this year's midterm elections.
—Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) August 9, 2022
Other members of Senate Republican leadership — including Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming — have issued statements on the raid, stopping at calling it "unprecedented" while calling for further explanations.
Sens. Roy Blunt and John Thune have not issued any statements thus far, while Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the leader of the party's campaign arm, called for Attorney General Merrick Garland to be impeached if he doesn't explain the reasoning for the raid.
Unlike McCarthy, McConnell has long had a strained relationship with the former president.
According to "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future," by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, McConnell crowed that Trump was "thoroughly discredited" by the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, believing that the then-president's influence over the GOP would soon fade.
And Trump has frequently bashed McConnell since leaving office, most recently after the Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act on a party-line vote.
Other conservatives, from online conservative personalities to talk radio hosts, are taking note of McConnell's silence.
—Benny Johnson 🍊 (@bennyjohnson) August 9, 2022
—Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 9, 2022
—Unaffiliated Voter (@WayneDupreeShow) August 9, 2022
—Alex Bruesewitz 🍊 (@alexbruesewitz) August 9, 2022
More: Congress Mitch McConnell Trump Donald Trump
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2022-08-09T20:19:59Z
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www.businessinsider.com
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Video: McConnell Dodges Question on Trump FBI Raid As Conservatives Seethe
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https://www.businessinsider.com/mcconnell-dodges-question-trump-fbi-raid-conservatives-seethe-video-2022-8
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https://www.businessinsider.com/mcconnell-dodges-question-trump-fbi-raid-conservatives-seethe-video-2022-8
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The PSC is charged with ensuring that utility services are affordable, reliable and sustainable. I agree with this objective, but we need to add "predictable" or some other term that would prevent a sudden, massive cost increase to Montana families and businesses. The PSC and NWE are both at fault here. Nothing unforeseen happened. As a former businessman I can tell you that this size of increase with such short notice driven by nothing more than failure to manage ongoing finances is unacceptable. When elected, I will want to know how and why this could happen and I will work full time to dig into this increase on your behalf.
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2022-08-16T16:07:00Z
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helenair.com
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John Repke: PSC needs to challenge utilities | Columnists | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/opinion/columnists/john-repke-psc-needs-to-challenge-utilities/article_45f61e10-7783-5397-b525-e0e8d64e1847.html
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https://helenair.com/opinion/columnists/john-repke-psc-needs-to-challenge-utilities/article_45f61e10-7783-5397-b525-e0e8d64e1847.html
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Leon James Higginbotham
A 41-year-old Helena man is being charged with felony criminal possession of drugs and misdemeanor driving without a valid license after an officer conducted a traffic stop for no headlights on a motorcycle.
On Aug. 13, an officer was on traffic patrol driving eastbound on Euclid Avenue when a motorcycle carrying two passengers stalled at a stop sign on Madison Avenue facing north. The motorcycle had no headlight on as the driver, Leon James Higginbotham, pushed the motorcycle across Euclid Avenue.
The officer activated his traffic stop lights. Higginbotham stated that he was having trouble with the battery on his motorcycle.
Dispatch advised the officer that Higginbotham had three warrants out for his arrest. One was for failure to comply for drug-related offenses and two were for failure to appear for traffic offenses.
During a search, the officer asked Higginbotham if there was anything that could poke him. Higginbotham told him that “he had a kit in his pocket,” according to court reports.
The officer didn’t know what was meant by “kit”, and Higginbotham told the officer that it had methamphetamine in it.
Higginbotham was read his Miranda Warning, and he gave the officer permission to open the eyeglass container, or “kit.” Inside was a needle with a cap on and two small baggies, one with a “white crystalline substance” that weighed 0.7 grams and presumptively tested positive for methamphetamine, said officials.
Higginbotham was operating his motorcycle with a suspended driver’s license. He was booked in the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center on Sunday.
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2022-08-17T00:14:49Z
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helenair.com
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Helena man admits to having meth during traffic stop | | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-admits-to-having-meth-during-traffic-stop/article_d8f8fcd0-6f54-5ca9-9a53-274788b59135.html
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-admits-to-having-meth-during-traffic-stop/article_d8f8fcd0-6f54-5ca9-9a53-274788b59135.html
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Matt Martin Brydich
A 66-year-old Helena man is being charged with his fifth DUI offense, a felony, following a single-vehicle wreck.
Matt Martin Brydich III is also charged with a misdemeanor count of driving a motor vehicle while privilege is suspended or revoked and possession of marijuana or paraphernalia in a vehicle.
Brydich was leaving the Causeway, driving a vehicle on Lake Helena Drive and Hauser Dam Road when he crashed into a ditch. He admitted to law enforcement that he had consumed alcoholic beverages prior to driving, but he refused to provide a breath sample and refused implied consent for breath or blood, according to court reports.
A telephonic search warrant was granted by a judge. Two vials of blood were drawn and sent to the State Crime Lab for analysis, said officials.
The defendant's criminal history included driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. He was booked into the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center on Sunday.
Matt Martin Brydich Iii
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2022-08-17T00:15:01Z
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helenair.com
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Helena man charged with 5th DUI | | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-charged-with-5th-dui/article_9d23f827-99fd-5364-a4f5-31606ba80d19.html
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-charged-with-5th-dui/article_9d23f827-99fd-5364-a4f5-31606ba80d19.html
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Helena man charged with sixth DUI
Harvey Lamont Smith
A 45-year-old Helena man is being charged with his sixth DUI, a felony, and diving a motor vehicle while privilege to do so is suspended or revoked, a misdemeanor, after he was pulled over for having a taillight out.
On Aug. 12, a trooper with the Montana Highway Patrol conducted a traffic stop on a Ford 150. The truck has been swearing left and right over the fogline and centerline, authorities noted.
Harvey Lamont Smith was the driver. He had bloodshot eyes, smelled strongly of alcoholic beverages, and his vehicle was “littered with empty beer cans,” said officials.
Smith said he was coming from Hap’s Bar in Helena and that he had consumed alcohol. He was unsteady on his feet and used the truck to balance when he exited the vehicle.
“Smith didn’t seem to be interested in a field sobriety test as he said he knew he was going to jail,” stated the affidavit filed in District Court of Helena on Tuesday.
Testing indicated a breath alcohol content of 0.227.
Smith was arrested and booked into the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center on Aug. 13.
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2022-08-17T00:15:08Z
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helenair.com
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Helena man charged with sixth DUI | | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-charged-with-sixth-dui/article_b33fd435-70a1-5709-baca-cd50072f8c7c.html
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-charged-with-sixth-dui/article_b33fd435-70a1-5709-baca-cd50072f8c7c.html
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Though neighboring Idaho is the only state to call the huckleberry its state fruit, if Montana had a state fruit, it would likely be the deep purple treat. Loved by people and bears alike, huckleberries are found in Montana-made food products including pancake syrups, jams, candies, ice cream, hamburgers, beer, liquor and coffee.
James Ridle, BMGphotos.com
Loved by bears, Montanans and tourists alike, one of the state’s most iconic objects — the small-but-mighty huckleberry — may no longer be subject to a never-used, 15-year-old law regulating the sale of products made from the fruit.
Back in 2007, state legislator Jim Elliott, of Trout Creek, passed a law that put strict rules on what could be labeled a “Montana huckleberry” product. From candy bars to smoothies, products had to be made from berries picked in the wild and in Montana, no Idaho fruits allowed. Producers had to file the location of their patches with the state Department of Agriculture, though the information would be kept confidential. Products could not be mixed with any other type of berry except specific members of the wild species of the Vaccinium genus.
Violating the law came with a misdemeanor penalty, Cort Jensen, a lawyer with the state Department of Agriculture, told a legislative interim committee on Tuesday. But it turns out the law has never been used.
“In the entire history of the bill, no one has ever bothered to register their huckleberry patch because, of course, the way you keep your huckleberry patch secret is you don't, say, file it (with) a government agency,” Jensen said. “So no one complied ever with that law and there was no real penalty for not complying with that law.”
Jensen added that the Ag department is not a law enforcement agency, and to his knowledge “no county attorney has ever prosecuted somebody under the act.”
A report from Montana State University called the huckleberry “one of the most important of these specialty crops in Montana, which also holds a strong cultural association.”
Last weekend Trout Creek held its 42nd annual Huckleberry Festival, featuring a competition for best jams, jellies and desserts, as well as a huckleberry pie eating contest.
The MSU report said one cafe owner in Libby “estimated that she purchased hundreds of gallons of huckleberries in 2013, mostly from locals who spend their days out picking.” Gallon bags of frozen berries can sell for up to $70 at grocery stores in Bozeman, the report noted.
Huckleberries have a long history in the West, with Indigenous populations preserving them at the end of summer for a winter food source, according to an episode of the Field Notes program produced by the Montana Natural History Center and broadcast on Montana Public Radio.
The MSU report notes the state’s huckleberry industry declined after World War II, but re-emerged in the 1980s “primarily as a cultural symbol of state pride.”
When the law was introduced in 2007, Elliott said some people in his district "take offense to less scrupulous producers" passing off products with blueberries as huckleberry items, according to a Missoulian story from that time.
The bill did have opposition, however, from people who were worried the definition of a huckleberry was too narrow and that pickers would not want to disclose their best patches.
Jensen told legislators during a meeting of the Economic Affairs Interim Committee the law is also “somewhat redundant with the Consumer Protection Act,” which deals with false or misleading food labels through civil penalties.
Committee members voted unanimously Tuesday to allow the Ag department to draft legislation to eliminate the law. A bill would need to be introduced by a legislator in the upcoming 2023 session that starts in January, when anybody needing a huckleberry will have to find a freezer or preserved product to get their fix.
Ag Business
Cort Jensen
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2022-08-17T00:15:17Z
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helenair.com
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Law regulating huckleberry products could be hucked | 406 Politics | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/law-regulating-huckleberry-products-could-be-hucked/article_57d28cd2-9d1d-5580-b025-fa83bb1585f2.html
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/law-regulating-huckleberry-products-could-be-hucked/article_57d28cd2-9d1d-5580-b025-fa83bb1585f2.html
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Judge Michael G. Moses is seen in this file photo.
Billings Gazette staff
Native Americans living on reservations in Montana are more likely than off-reservation voters to not cast ballots as a result of state laws enacted by Republican lawmakers in 2021, according to a statistical analysis that got a lengthy hearing in a Billings courtroom Tuesday.
Alex Street, the Carroll College political science professor who conducted the analysis, offered hours of testimony during the second day of a trial to determine the constitutionality of three election-related laws passed last year. Yellowstone District Court Judge Michael G. Moses is overseeing the case, which is scheduled to last up to two weeks.
Street’s report was commissioned by a group of tribal governments and Native American organizations that are among the plaintiffs in the case. It focused on the effects of House Bill 176, which eliminates Election Day voter registration, and House Bill 530, which places restrictions on who can collect and turn in other people’s voted ballots, and whether those people can get compensated for that work.
Street’s report relied in part on a statistical analysis of the statewide voter file, a database maintained by the Secretary of State’s office, which includes information on each voter including what method they used to vote in each election. Determining whether each voter’s address was within one of the seven Indian reservations — or on off-reservation trust land — in Montana, he also used 2020 Census data to determine which parts of the reservations had higher concentrations of Native Americans.
“This is a pretty clear and consistent pattern in the data, and it’s pretty high-quality data, and it quite clearly shows that Native Americans living on reservations in Montana are more reliant on Election Day registration than” other groups, he said.
In the elections he studied — 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 — Street identified 2,530 Montana voters living on reservations who registered and voted on Election Day, with the vast majority doing so during the general elections. Except for the 2020 election, he said he found statistically significant differences in the number of voters from each group that used Election Day Registration, accounting for as much as a full percentage point difference. Due to the pandemic, many counties in Montana held the 2020 primary and general elections by mail.
Overall, he found that 1.3% to 2.3% of off-reservation voters relied on Election Day registration, while 1.5% to 3% of on-registration voters relied on the practice. Although those numbers may seem small, Street said, the differences account for hundreds to thousands of voters.
Mac Morris, an attorney with the law firm Crowley Fleck hired by Jacobsen, pointed out during a lengthy cross-examination that not all of those voters would be denied the ability to vote on Election Day under the new law.
Morris also questioned several other aspects of Street’s analysis, including his finding that HB 530 would also disproportionately affect Native voters. He noted the law uses the word “pecuniary benefit,” suggesting the plaintiffs are jumping to conclusions if they assume it could prohibit all forms of paid ballot collection.
Morris also reiterated the defense’s argument that HB 530 is still subject to the rulemaking process, meaning the fine print of how the language in the bill will be implemented hasn’t been hammered out yet. The rulemaking process, Jacobsen’s attorneys have suggested, could afford room for tribal governments to conduct their own third-party ballot collection drives, in the absence of those efforts being continued by groups like Western Native Voice.
Senate Bill 169, a bill that created stricter voter identification requirements, is also being challenged. The consolidated case also includes the Montana Democratic Party and a coalition of youth organizations as plaintiffs.
State-governemnt
Election Laws Trial
Republican Election Bills
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2022-08-17T02:29:33Z
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helenair.com
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New election laws will disproportionately burden Native voters, professor argues | 406 Politics | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/new-election-laws-will-disproportionately-burden-native-voters-professor-argues/article_9b037a1a-a4ec-526f-974f-a7317bc58ff3.html
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/new-election-laws-will-disproportionately-burden-native-voters-professor-argues/article_9b037a1a-a4ec-526f-974f-a7317bc58ff3.html
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Ryan Hannahoe, executive director of the Montana Learning Center, walks by a new telescope at the Canyon Ferry observatory on Thursday.
Ryan Hannahoe
The Montana Learning Center, a nonprofit organization providing educational opportunities, has been gifted a 24-inch Ritchey-Chretien Reflecting Telescope from Mike and Lynn Rice of the New Mexico Skies.
It now sits with two other telescopes at the Mike and Lynn Rice Astronomical Park for Science and the Arts at the learning center in a newly built building with a retractable roof on the cusp of Canyon Ferry Reservoir.
Ryan Hannahoe, executive director of the Montana Learning Center and friend of the Rices, said it is the largest and most advanced public-access telescope in the state, adding Glacier National Park has a 20-inch telescope.
He said the telescope, which was one of the personal telescopes of the late Mike Rice, is meant for up-close views of the moon and planets within the solar system.
“It displays planetary objects very nicely,” Hannahoe said.
"It's a beautiful instrument," he said. "I am glad we have support from people like the Rices."
Hannahoe said the telescope can track objects all night long and said it is connected to a computer and can be run by an iPad.
“It’s amazing, it really is,” he said, adding some of the students at the Montana Learning Center’s overnight summer camp have had a chance to look through it and saw the moon for the first time through a telescope.
To look through a telescope like this, for the first time, is huge for the kids, Hannahoe said.
“A telescope like this is jaw-dropping for them,” he said, adding it brings a “wow” factor with it.
Hannahoe said the telescope was picked up in 2018 and refurbished with the help of some Montana Department of Commerce grants. It was finished in early 2022 and moved to Montana.
The learning center has had some public observing nights for $15 a person. It also offers small group parties where people rent the facility for $500 for 10 or fewer people for a 90-minute program, and it comes with an astronomer. Public viewing is by appointment only.
He said there was local support for the telescope mount. The maker, Software Bisque, did an in-kind donation, and there was some funding from the Treacy Foundation of Helena and Boeing Helena.
He said the donated telescope, if new, would cost $150,000. He said it was made in the United States in 2005. Hannahoe said there was probably $40,000 in setup costs.
The telescope weighs 1,200 pounds and was lowered into the building by crane on July 21.
Hannahoe said he hopes to expand the guest astro-tourism program and make the telescope more available to kids. There will be five telescopes at the park. He said two are installed with the nonprofit and three are on back order.
Jon Dillard is a board member and volunteer at the Montana Learning Center and is also a member of the Helena Astronomical Society. He was grilling burgers last week for students at the learning center’s academic summer camp.
“I am absolutely thrilled,” he said of the telescope. “To have that kind of capability and resources in Helena and Montana is wonderful.”
He joked that he has not had a chance to look through the new telescope but was hoping for a chance to be asked.
“It’s gorgeous,” he said.
For more information, call the Montana Learning Center at 406-475-3638 or go to https://montanalearning.org/contact-us/.
Montana Learning Center
Ritchey-chretien Reflecting Telescope
Mike And Lynn Rice Of The New Mexico Skies
Mike And Lynn Rice Astronomical Park For Science And The Arts
Treacy Foundation Of Helena
Boeing Helena
Jon Dillard
Ryan Hannahoe, Montana Learning Center at Canyon Ferry Lake
Ryan Hannahoe was fascinated by both dinosaurs and space when he was a kid.
Space junk or visual gem? Possible Russian rocket fuel tank lights up Montana's night sky
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, turns out an old Russian rocket fuel tank lit up Montana's night sky. The event was caught on video.
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2022-08-17T13:48:44Z
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helenair.com
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New telescope a shining star at Montana Learning Center | Local | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/new-telescope-a-shining-star-at-montana-learning-center/article_fc01ddbd-82cd-5743-a130-f03981b0256c.html
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https://helenair.com/news/local/new-telescope-a-shining-star-at-montana-learning-center/article_fc01ddbd-82cd-5743-a130-f03981b0256c.html
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Rural water infrastructure projects receive ARPA funds
A subdivision and a Hutterite colony in Lewis and Clark County received more than $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds through the Lewis and Clark County Board of County Commissioners and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation for water and sewer upgrades.
Eastgate Village near East Helena, which is home to about 2,000 residents, was granted $750,000 of ARPA minimum allocation funds through DNRC and $250,000 from the county's pot of ARPA money for improvements to its water system. Eastgate Village Water and Sewer Association is contributing $517,000 in matching funds for the project.
Elk Creek Colony, about 5 miles east of Augusta, received $60,000 from both a DNRC competitive grant and county ARPA money for a total of $120,000. The colony is contributing $60,000 in matching funds to the project.
The county allocated its ARPA contributions to the projects in July. The county has earmarked approximately $11 million of its $13 million in ARPA funds so far.
The pass through of the DNRC ARPA funds was accepted Tuesday.
Eastgate Village has a seven-well distribution system dating back to the 1970s and a more than 40-year-old pumphouse. One of the wells is out of commission due to sand issues and two others in the same area were taken offline.
"The loss of three wells means the (Eastgate Village Water and Sewer Association) simply cannot keep up with demand without placing water use restrictions on all users," the project's DNRC grant application states.
Eastgate Village Water and Sewer Association President Jean Riley told the county commission at Tuesday's regular meeting that the heat has caused residents to strain the system with near overwhelming demand.
"Even the big wells ... are going down because of the draw on them because of the heat," Riley said. "Our concern is firefighting. If we have a big fire, we're going to have some issues."
The project calls for a new pumphouse with a building bypass line and valve; installation of existing booster pumps and one new booster pump into the new pumphouse; a back-up emergency generator; the installation of a new "deep aquifer well," including drilling, development and casing; installation of a new well pump; installation of 1,400 feet of 8-inch transmission line; and electrical and instrumentation upgrades.
The hope is to complete the construction this fall to be ready for next summer.
County Commission Chairman Jim McCormick said he is "pleased to support this."
Elk Creek Colony has been dealing with high levels of nitrates in its drinking water supply.
"The Elk Creek Colony was in pretty serious need of some treatment for their drinking water," the county's ARPA Program Specialist Carrie Lutkehus said. "They were well in excess of the minimum levels for nitrates and despite drilling some pilot wells to find a new source of water, they were unable to do so."
Their project calls for the purchase and installation of an ion exchange system to remove nitrates from the colony's water supply; purchase and implementation of water quality monitoring equipment; and replacement of well pumps. The money will also pay for a local plumber to do the work.
According to the DNRC grant application, Elk Creek Colony intends to "complete most of the upgrades in-house with assistance from a local contractor."
Elk Creek Colony
Eastgate Village
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2022-08-17T13:48:56Z
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helenair.com
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Rural water infrastructure projects receive ARPA funds | Local | helenair.com
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The other two proposed maps, HDP1 and HDP4, create over 70 districts favoring Republicans and less than 30 districts favoring Democrats. These maps meet the mandatory criteria with an emphasis on compactness. While the difference in party voters statewide is only 14%, these maps would create an advantage of 30% to the majority party. Regardless of the shape of the districts, this is partisan gerrymandering.
To reach more than 70 Republican-favored districts, HDP1 and HDP4 eliminate districts where Native Americans have majorities, reducing Native American voters’ ability to elect the candidates of their choice. Beginning with the districts drawn by 2000 commission, Native Americans were elected to the Legislature in about the same proportion as their share of the state’s population. These maps reverse the work of past commissions in assuring fair Native American representation.
Our elections are based on the principle “one person, one vote.” But one vote doesn’t have equal weight when the deck is stacked with gerrymandered districts. State legislatures should reflect and represent the political makeup and the minority populations of their state. Gerrymandered maps empower the majority political party while ignoring the views of the state’s voters. Under HDP1 and HDP4, the majority party could elect two-thirds of the Legislature or more, when in fact they don’t represent two-thirds of the voters. Such illegitimate political power would have complete control of the lawmaking process to suppress the minority party and secure ongoing control. This would be the death of representative democracy.
You can also submit written comments by following the directions on the Commission website. Let the Commission know that you favor maps that do not unduly favor a political party and that you want maps that fairly reflect and represent minorities and political makeup of Montana voters.
Nancy Leifer
Bonnie Lorenzen
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2022-08-17T13:49:09Z
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helenair.com
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Nancy Leifer and Bonnie Lorenzen: Are Montana’s proposed Legislative District maps gerrymandered? | Columnists | helenair.com
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Emergency responders were dispatched to the Lewis and Clark Picnic Area on the northwest side of the reservoir just before 5 p.m. on Monday for a report of a drowning, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton said.
Dutton said 14-year-old Kayden Bitter was playing in the water while his relatives were preparing a meal, and they later noticed the boy floating about 10 feet from shore. Dutton said the boy might have suffered a medical issue that led to the drowning, and he was not wearing a life jacket at the time.
The boy’s relatives immediately brought him back to shore and started CPR, Dutton said. A deputy later took over CPR, and he had a pulse when an ambulance arrived.
Dutton said the boy was transported to St. Peter’s Health in Helena and then a hospital in Missoula, where he later died.
Investigators and doctors found no signs of trauma or foul play, he said, and the boy’s death certificate lists his manner and cause of death as accidental drowning.
“Even on hot days, things can take a turn for the worst when you don’t expect them,” Dutton said.
Flash flood sends water flowing through downtown Helena
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Lewis and Clark County until 9:15 p.m. Sunday, following a storm that dropped heavy rain and hail on the area.
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2022-08-17T20:20:41Z
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helenair.com
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Laurel boy drowns in Canyon Ferry Reservoir outside Helena | Local | helenair.com
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The Bureau of Indian Affairs can be held liable for one of its officers using his position to sexually assault a Northern Cheyenne woman, the Montana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The case stems from a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer's rape of a Northern Cheyenne woman in 2015. Rather than reaching the decision on a case that rose through the state's lower courts, Montana's high court was asked last year by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to define what was a legal gray area.
The Montana Supreme Court was split 5-2 on the question of whether the BIA was liable for former Officer Dana Bullcoming's conduct during a DUI investigation involving a woman identified in court records as L.B.
John Heenan, a Billings attorney representing L.B., said the ruling assures greater protections for women in Indian County, who are often under the jurisdiction of the BIA.
"She's been pursuing this case not just for her own recourse but to try and protect other women and people in Indian Country that up until yesterday didn't have the same rights and remedies as other Montanans," Heenan said.
The majority opinion, authored by Justice Laurie McKinnon, found that the nature of the employment must be weighed when considering liability for an employee's misconduct.
Montana Supreme Court Justice Laurie McKinnon asks a question during arguments in the Jon Krakauer records request hearing at the Strand Union Building at Montana State University in Bozeman in April 2016.
"Undisputedly, governments do not authorize their police officers to sexually assault people when performing these authorized acts," McKinnon wrote in the majority opinion. "Nevertheless … characterization of the act as unauthorized does not necessarily place an officer's sexual assault outside the sphere of employee actions for which the employer may be liable."
According to court documents, L.B. called the police when her mother had gone driving after drinking. Bullcoming, according to court filings, had determined the mother was safe, and then went back to the woman's house. He threatened to call social services because the woman was intoxicated while in the presence of her children, putting her job in jeopardy. Bullcoming told her "something had to be done," and answered affirmatively when the woman asked if Bullcoming meant sex. The woman became pregnant after the rape and gave birth.
Bullcoming was convicted of rape and sentenced in May 2018 to three years in federal prison. When L.B. later filed a civil lawsuit for damages, a Billings federal judge awarded her $1.6 million, but ruled the BIA was not liable because the judge considered Bullcoming's conduct outside the scope of his employment. When L.B.'s lawyers appealed, the 9th Circuit found the question of whether state law holds federal agencies liable to be unanswered in Montana case law, and put the question to the Montana Supreme Court.
The case stood against the backdrop of the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Montana, as well as across the country, which has spotlighted jurisdictional issues of law enforcement in Indian Country. The Fort Belknap Indian Community, the Blackfeet Nation, the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center and the Sovereign Bodies Institute each joined the case as parties in support of the Northern Cheyenne's woman's case.
They argued in court filings that L.B. is in a unique position because she is a tribal member who must rely on federal law enforcement without a local tribal police force, but cannot pursue the agency when one of its officers violates her, as she could for a city, county or state law enforcement officer.
“It's a great day for Native women in Montana," said April Youpee-Roll, counsel for the tribes and an enrolled member of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
Montana Supreme Court Justice Dirk Sandefur
In the dissenting opinion, Justice Dirk Sandefur said the majority's ruling was speculative and "result-oriented" application of the law in order to hold the federal government financially liable for the "outrageous tortious criminal conduct of a rogue federal law enforcement officer."
The facts presented in the case can only show Bullcoming's actions to pursue sex with L.B. were for his own benefit and did not intend to benefit the BIA in any way, Sandefur contended. He and Justice Jim Rice, who signed onto the dissenting opinion, wrote that proof of Bullcoming's motive to further his employer's interest was an important hurdle in determining whether the BIA could be held liable.
Heenan said Wednesday L.B. was pregnant when she first contacted him about taking the case. Today, the child is 7, he said. Heenan added he hopes the Supreme Court's ruling will be the end of L.B.'s legal journey for justice.
April Youpee-roll
John Heenan
MT Supreme Court hears arguments over liability for on-duty assaults
The case stands before the backdrop of the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Montana, which has spotlighted jurisdictional issues of law enforcement in Indian Country.
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2022-08-17T22:18:14Z
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helenair.com
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MT Supreme Court: BIA liable for officer's sexual assault | 406 Politics | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/mt-supreme-court-bia-liable-for-officers-sexual-assault/article_e1c55a0b-30ca-592c-8998-4340689643a9.html
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The state on Wednesday announced $18 million in grants to help pay for 31 child care innovation projects in communities around Montana.
The money comes from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act, and was recommended for child care innovation grants by an advisory commission created by the state Legislature. Gov. Greg Gianforte approves the programs the commissions recommend.
A report from the state Department of Labor and Industry last year found that 60% of Montana's counties were child care deserts, meaning the supply of care meets less than a third of demand.
The projects are in areas with "significant observed shortages of child care capacity," according to a press release from the state Wednesday. Projects that are awarded grants are meant to increase child care capacity by using local resources, organizations and community-specific plans.
The grants ranged from $142,000 to $1 million.
“For too long, Montana’s working families faced a shortage of child care providers, putting them between a rock and a hard place," Gianforte said in the press release. “To increase access to sustainable, quality child care and address this longstanding problem, we’re investing in quality providers who operate in child care deserts throughout our state.”
Browning Public Schools was awarded a $207,568 grant. Their application said the community had a severe shortage of child care providers and an increasing teacher shortage, and money would be used to address both problems by increasing child care slots and attract more qualified teachers to the area.
Family Promise of the Gallatin Valley, which was awarded $989,734, plans to expand its Rising Stars Early Learning Center to address long waitlists for child care and make more options for those who are lower-income, unhoused or otherwise vulnerable.
According to the press release, applicants had to show how they'd address the needs in their community for affordable, sustainable, high-quality child care. They also needed to address one or more of the following: creating community partnerships like working with a business to offer child care for employees; creating or expanding services for infants, toddlers and children in vulnerable populations; offering care for non-traditional hours like from 6 p.m.-6 a.m. or over the weekend; or collaborative approaches like hubs or shared space models.
Counties with grant recipients are Glacier, Gallatin, Missoula, Mineral, Ravalli, Lewis and Clark, Beaverhead, Carter, Flathead, Granite, Yellowstone, Jefferson, Carbon, Deer Lodge, Sweet Grass, Fergus, Judith Basin, Petroleum, and Cascade.
The $18 million is part of more than $61 million in federal money that the state health department has directed to address child care in Montana.
The state said Wednesday that 66% of the federal funding has been obligated, and the department has contracted with 551 child care providers serving about 15,000 Montana kids.
In July, Montana Public Radio reported that some providers were frustrated with the grant process for part of the $61 million, saying the amount awarded was less than half of what the health department first estimated.
MTTPR reported that the average grant was about $71,000. At that time, about 500 people had applied and 350 were still eligible for funding.
Lack Of Child Care
Child Care Desert
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2022-08-17T22:18:20Z
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helenair.com
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State distributes $18 million in federal funding for child care | 406 Politics | helenair.com
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Police officers from the Helena Police Department and the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office participate in the “Shop with a Cop” School Clothes Shopping Spree at Old Navy on Wednesday.
Photo Courtesy of the Helena Police Department
With the current economy, many parents aren’t sure if they can afford new clothes for their children for the upcoming school year, but the Salvation Army in Helena is more than ready to help.
The Salvation Army partnered with the Helena Police Department and the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office to host the “Shop with a Cop” School Clothes Shopping Spree Wednesday morning at Old Navy.
“Parents hit hard by inflation are having to make difficult decisions, like whether to put gas in their car, or buy needed school supplies for their kids. The Salvation Army helps by meeting a family’s back-to-school needs,” wrote the Salvation Army in a press release. “Providing new clothing and necessary school supplies allows kids to focus on their education, so they do better and feel more confident as they learn and grow.”
This event provided 40 children who are at a financial disadvantage in the Helena area with a $150 stipend to spend at Old Navy on school clothes. These children were previously notified and signed in upon arriving at the store. Old Navy provided a 20% discount, which comes to a total of $4,800 fundraised and provided by the Salvation Army for these children.
In addition to clothes, the children received backpacks full of school supplies to start the new school year.
The Salvation Army's Helena leaders, Majs. Brian and Iva West, who’ve been in their role for about a year, hosted the event. Together, they direct the Salvation Army’s office in Helena and provide essential services to local families and individuals in need.
“We just want to thank our community partners," Brian said, adding that the store was not open to the public during the shopping spree. “ ... We’re grateful for the volunteers. We couldn’t do this without their help.”
The Salvation Army has been providing social services in Lewis and Clark County and surrounding counties for 134 years. The organization also offers emergency food, utility assistance, rent assistance, transitional housing, life skill courses and individual case management. In 2021, the Salvation Army served 5,000 individuals in the Helena area.
“We just want every child to start the school year on the right foot,” said Brian.
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2022-08-18T00:11:30Z
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helenair.com
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Helena's Salvation Army partners with law enforcement to provide back-to-school clothing | Local | helenair.com
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A police report filed over a "forced holdover" to stay after his shift ended — something a correctional officer equated to kidnapping — illustrates the temperature of discord between employees and management at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge.
While no charges are likely to arise from Anthony Cotton's report to law enforcement, he claimed that on July 25 at 10 p.m. he wasn't allowed out of the control cage because he was being held for another shift. It was the second time in two days that happened.
Staffing at the prison has been a long-simmering problem. Corrections leaders say their hands are tied by limited staff and a small pool of potential hires needed to carry out the public safety responsibilities of a prison. Employees, meanwhile, argue their own safety and mental health feel at risk because of the situation.
When Cotton was allegedly kept in the prison's intake unit known as the "cage," he called his union representative to get confirmation that the forced holdover was a violation of the employees' collective bargaining agreement with the Montana Department of Corrections. By 10:30 p.m., a relief officer arrived and Cotton was released.
Cotton later filed a police report with the Powell County sheriff, and County Attorney Kathryn McEnery told the Montana State News Bureau on Wednesday the matter did not appear criminal and was most likely a labor issue.
MTN News first reported on Cotton's report to law enforcement.
In a phone interview this week, Federation of Montana State Prison Employees Local 4700 union president Cathy Clark said prison employees are suffering in the conditions there.
"Prison employees have some of the highest rates of PTSD of any profession out there," Clark said. "When you have PTSD, you cannot lock someone in a cage where they can't get out on their own. That will destroy you."
"(Cotton) has been an officer out there for 17 years," she added. "There's no reason to treat officers, especially seasoned officers, that way."
It's unclear if the Department of Corrections launched an internal investigation into the Cotton incident or whether this was an example of the staffing issue, considering a relief officer was available for Cotton's post. A spokesperson for the department did not respond to those questions on Wednesday.
In an emailed statement, Warden Jim Salmonsen was critical of Cotton filing a police report.
"On the day in question, it took a few extra minutes to relieve Correctional Officer Cotton from his locked work location inside the prison," the warden wrote. "It is disappointing that he is wasting limited criminal justice resources in his attempt to turn a shift he worked a few minutes longer — for which he was paid overtime — into a felony kidnapping complaint."
'Nothing to this magnitude'
The frustrations over holdovers are not limited to Cotton's shifts. Four grievances have been filed over the forced holdovers and changes in scheduling without bargaining since the union signed a new contract with the Department of Corrections in late March. According to Clark, the local union voted to move ahead with all of the grievances and begin the arbitration process.
The forced holdovers themselves were a symptom of the wider staffing crisis at Montana State Prison. County jails in more populous cities pay well above the starting salary of the prison in rural Deer Lodge. In May, Clark's predecessor said the prison had hired 106 people since July 2021, but 166 have left through resignations, retirement or another exit. Salmonsen told reporters during a tour of the prison in June "we've had a staffing issue for 10 years, but nothing to this magnitude."
This came after the department signed a new contract with the union, which gave $2 raises for correctional officers like Cotton. The problem also prompted lawmakers to huddle with Gov. Greg Gianforte about finding solutions. The Department of Corrections has established a committee to address recruitment and retention issues at Montana State Prison, while it continues to deploy recruiters to career fairs and cross-train employees from different facilities to patch together a workforce. The department did not respond to a question Wednesday asking for an update on the committee's work.
The stakes are high for correctional officers who have remained in the thinning ranks, Clark said. At the 1,600-inmate facility, Clark's latest tally counted 158 correctional officers, down from 296 a year earlier. That means movement of inmates within the facility slows down to meet what officers are capable of doing safely, while activities like recreation and yard time may be put on halt altogether.
"(Officers) cannot do cell searches like they're supposed to do," Clark said. "The inmates, some of them aren't getting mental health treatment. The things they should be getting just makes that whole thing like a pressure cooker. It's extremely dangerous."
In June, the Department of Corrections said it was doing away with forced holdovers by switching from eight-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts. The change took place after Cotton's report to law enforcement, but the announcement was enough reason for Aaron Meaders, who had been union president for nearly two years and was a vocal critic of the change, to resign and leave the prison after eight years.
"I couldn't accommodate that and continue with the poor working conditions and everything else going on with no real plan to fix things," Meaders said.
Meaders was a mental health care technician, a specialist in the tapestry of positions that make up the prison workforce. He said upon submitting his two-week notice, no one within his chain of command made an effort to change his mind.
"In my opinion, it was a very accurate representation of them not doing what they say they're doing, trying to keep people," he said, pointing to the recruitment and retention efforts espoused by the Department of Corrections.
"The culture needs to change," Meaders added. "If you were the CEO of a company and had 166 people quit in one year, the board of directors would have fired your ass."
Artwork is found throughout the Montana State Prison complex.
The workforce troubles in some ways mirror the situation at the state's psychiatric hospital, which earlier this year reported vacancies among its registered nurses to be as high as 70%. But that facility was able to lean on traveling or contract staff to augment holes in its permanent workforce, an employee pool the prison isn't able to draw from.
While some lawmakers have floated the idea of the state activating its National Guard to keep staffing levels where they need to be, DOC officials have pushed back against the idea, contending the type of work soldiers could contribute would still fall short of the functions needed in vacant posts at the prison.
But like the state hospital's staff late last year, Clark lays the blame for the dwindling workforce and incidents like the Cotton holdover at management's feet. The union and management are still discussing the 12-hour shift requirement with the department, and Clark said it could violate the collective bargaining agreement signed earlier this year. While she said she was told the change is necessary in the current emergency, Clark said there's nothing sudden about the workforce crisis.
"It's 100% a management problem," she said. "Their staffing problems are not considered 'emergencies.' Emergencies are unforeseen. They've refused to fix this."
A Department of Corrections spokesperson did not respond to Clark's comment.
Powell County Sheriff's Office
Federation Of Montana State Prison Employees
Aaron Meaders
Montana Prisons
Prison extends shifts to cover worker shortage
"This is going to do nothing but make things worse," the correctional officers' union president said Monday. "We're all barely holding on as it is."
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2022-08-18T00:11:42Z
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helenair.com
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Corrections officer alleged 'kidnapping' as friction between staff, management heats up | 406 Politics | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/corrections-officer-alleged-kidnapping-as-friction-between-staff-management-heats-up/article_dd610c1f-c48a-5a5d-8844-e2098dcb0312.html
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Montana U.S. House candidate and former Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, left, speaks with patrons at Metals Sports Bar and Grill on May 13, in Butte.
Monica Tranel, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, speaks in front of a crowd of supporters at the Missoula County Courthouse on July 26.
Republican nominee for Montana’s new western congressional district Ryan Zinke said the first bill he'd introduce if he wins in November would target certain federal employees, echoing concerns he raised while Secretary of the Interior of an "entrenched" bureaucracy and tapping into GOP frustrations following a search of former President Donald Trump's home last week.
The legislation would include proposals such as capping years of service and salary for non-military employees, preventing political appointees from obtaining permanent jobs and creating a “clear pathway” for removing employees for cause.
The Federal Employees Accountability and Reduction Act, or FEAR Act, would also aim to reduce the size of the federal government through employee attrition and defunding and repealing recent expansions of agencies such as the IRS.
The proposed legislation requires quarterly posting of political appointee salaries, eliminates preferred hiring for non-veteran employees and expedited agency-to-agency hiring; automatically strips benefits from current or former employees convicted of violent or federal crimes or crimes committed using access to information from their employment; requires certain federal agencies to relocate out of Washington D.C.; and requires sale of certain unused building in metro areas.
“I ask the question on these stump speeches — give me an example of one division, one department, one agency of the United States’ government that you have full trust and confidence in,” Zinke said in an interview Wednesday. “Even the post office is now a suspect, and that’s a stark deviation from when I was growing up.”
Zinke previously served as Montana’s lone congressman before he was appointed by Trump to lead the Department of the Interior. He resigned after two years amid multiple ethics investigations, events that have been highlighted by his political opponents during the primary and now Democratic nominee Monica Tranel in the general.
Tranel's campaign issued a statement Wednesday sharply criticizing Zinke's proposed bill, raising those concerns again.
Zinke has spent much of this campaign railing against the so-called “deep state,” alleging that an entrenched federal bureaucracy stifles meaningful change. He has heavily criticized officials such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was the public face of the federal government's pandemic response, and quickly went to Trump’s defense following the recent FBI search at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Zinke says while at Interior he frequently ran up against federal employees that he believes were protected by the bureaucracy despite cause for discipline or termination.
“We’ve got to get back to transparency, holding people accountable because I think it’s a dangerous path once the people no longer have confidence in any branch of government,” he said.
The campaign’s press release does not differentiate which federal employees would be subject to the legislation’s provisions besides an exemption for the military. When asked about potential impacts to agencies or a chilling effect on hiring quality employees, Zinke said the bill is not directed at those working in the field. He anticipates amendments that would “round some of the sharp edges” in terms of who would be exempted, such as law enforcement or others in the field.
“There’s going to be exceptions,” he said. “We made a broad brush, but what it really is is how long have you been at the headquarters. Have you been out in the field? Some people will go up and then never ever leave the headquarters and there’s an arrogance involved.”
Government at all levels is a major employer in Montana, with one recent report pegging 19% of Montana employees working in the public sector. When asked about their potential reaction to the bill, Zinke again said the legislation is not meant to target field staff.
“I think (field staff is) going to be as frustrated with the headquarters as I am,” he said. “… This strikes at what I would consider to be the elite, the bureaucratic elite.”
In response to the proposed legislation, Tranel’s campaign accused Zinke of hypocrisy on the issue of accountability. The campaign pointed to investigations including an inspector general’s report that found Zinke misused his official position and did not comply fully when questioned by ethics officials, as well as a pending grand jury probe into his statements to investigators regarding permitting for a tribal casino.
“Once again scandal-plagued Ryan Zinke has failed and embarrassed Montana. His new 'FEAR Act' fails to recognize his long history of failures, misdoings, and corruption as a life-long government employee. Zinke fears accountability, the grand jury investigating the lies he made to a Trump-hired inspector general, and being fired, again," a statement issued by the campaign read.
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2022-08-18T00:11:49Z
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helenair.com
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Zinke proposes bill targeting federal agencies | 406 Politics | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/zinke-proposes-bill-targeting-federal-agencies/article_57c824a9-5ffa-5df8-a45b-4e25c56caff8.html
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/zinke-proposes-bill-targeting-federal-agencies/article_57c824a9-5ffa-5df8-a45b-4e25c56caff8.html
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Studebaker John & the Hawks play blues 7 to 10 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Lewis & Clark Tap Room.
Studebaker John & The Hawks take the stage on Thursday, Aug. 18, from 7 to 10 p.m. $20 advance/ $25 day of show. $5 cover.
Vinyl City performs Aug. 19 at the Tap Room.
Friday, Aug. 19, Vinyl City performs a wide variety of music — '60s through '90s classic rock; blues; Americana; pop, and a hint of country from 7 to 10 p.m.
Pure Prairie League performs at the Tap Room on Saturday, Aug. 20.
Pure Prairie League visits the Tap Room on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 7 to 10 p.m. $30 advance/ $40 day of show.
Too Slim and the Tail Draggers plays Blues Rock on Tuesday, Aug. 23, from 7 to 10 p.m.
Jazz in the Woods is Sunday
Join us Sunday, Aug. 21, for the annual jazz in the woods concert at Moose Creek Cabin outdoor concert sponsored by the Discovery Foundation.
'22-'23 Masterworks Concert tickets available
The Helena Symphony announces individual tickets for the 2022-2023 Masterworks Concerts will go on sale to the public on Friday, Aug. 19.
The six Masterworks Concerts in the subscription series provide something for all music lovers.
Sept. 17, 2022 - Masterworks Concert opens with evocative escape and sensuality. Violinist Stephen Cepeda’s virtuosity soars in Max Bruch’s quest for an idyllic dream of Scotland, and the HSO brings to life the magical mayhem of Dukas with his Sorcerer’s Apprentice. This performance starts at 5:30 p.m. and the After Party begins at 7.
Oct. 22, 2022 - explore sorrow and love with Mozart’s unfinished, yet soul-stirring Requiem, coupled with opera giant Richard Wagner’s portrayal of desire, love, and death with heart-breaking opening and ending from Tristan und Isolde.
Jan. 28, 2023 – explodes into the concert hall with Richard Strauss’s massive masterpiece, Also Sprach Zarathustra, with its instantly recognizable opening from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Feb. 25, 2023 – celebrate the iconic composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Noted Philadelphia Orchestra Violinist Amy Oshiro-Morales performs Tchaikovsky’s popular Violin Concerto exuding sublime lyricism, yearning wistfulness, and thrilling virtuosity.
March 25, 2023 – welcome internationally acclaimed Pianist Claire Huangci as she returns to perform Rachmaninoff’s breathtakingly beautiful Second Piano Concerto.
May 6, 2023 – Stephen Sondheim’s iconic musical and operatic thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a story of love, loss, wit, enterprise, and revenge.
Tickets can be purchased by calling the Symphony Box Office at 406-442-1860, or visiting the Symphony Box Office located in the Placer Building at 21 N. Last Chance Gulch, Suite 100 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, or online at www.helenasymphony.org. Tickets for the Non-Series Concerts, Mozart by Candlelight and Christmas in the Cathedral will go on sale on Monday, Sept. 19.
Learn bookbinding at 1+1=1 Gallery
Booklovers have the opportunity to learn two traditional bookbinding techniques during a two-day workshop offered as part of 1+1=1 Gallery’s upcoming “Paperwork” exhibit. The exhibit and workshop both kick off on Saturday, Aug. 27.
The workshop will be led by artists Robin Leenhouts and Amanda Determan.
Booklovers have the opportunity to learn two traditional bookbinding techniques during a two-day workshop offered at 1+1=1 Gallery on Aug. 27.
Leenhouts will lead workshop attendees through the process of making a case bound book -- the final product is a traditional hardcover book that is heirloom quality and deserves pride of place on the coffee table or in a display case.
Determan will demonstrate coptic bookbinding, a book form with an exposed spine and the ability to open 360 degrees and lay flat.
The class fee is $280 and covers two days of instruction (from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday), plus all the necessary materials to leave class with two completed books. Beverages will be provided during the day, but participants are encouraged to bring their own lunch or plan on dining downtown.
The workshop is limited to six participants.
To register for the bookbinding workshop, visit: https://1plus1is1gallery.square.site/product/bookbinding-workshop/2646.
Artist wanted for October show
In keeping with the social media designation of October as ‘INKtober’, all art for this show must incorporate INK in a majority of the piece while keeping with this year’s theme “My Dream.”
The show will be up during the month of October in Queen City Framing & Art Supplies at 400 Euclid Ave. in the Lundy Center. There is no submission fee, and artists may submit up to two pieces completed within the last two years. Works must be for sale and framed in a professional manner no larger than 16"X20". There are two prizes awarded for Judges Choice and Best of Show
Nutcracker on the Rocks auditions
Auditions for Helena’s eighth annual Shira Greenberg’s Nutcracker on the Rocks will be held Monday-Wednesday, Sept. 5-7. Those interested must call 406-422-0830, between Aug. 20-Sept. 2, to schedule an audition time.
Auditions for Helena’s eighth annual Shira Greenberg’s Nutcracker on the Rocks will be held Monday-Wednesday, Sept. 5-7.
Shira Greenberg’s Nutcracker on the Rocks is a community based, rock-n-roll rendition of the traditional holiday classic. Featuring the music of James Brown, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin and more. Performances will be Thanksgiving weekend, November 26-28, at the Helena Civic Center.
Whether you’ve danced for years or only in the confines of your living room, this is the show for you. Welcoming adults and youth, ages 7 and up, of all skill levels and physical abilities, including those with disabilities. No dance experience is required.
Group audition times are based on age and skill level. Everyone who auditions and can commit to the required rehearsal/performance schedule will be cast.
More information at www.cohesiondance.org.
Visit www.projectsunshine.info.
Live music headlines JeffCo Fair and Rodeo
The Jefferson County Fair and Rodeo, A Fair of the Heart, kicks off Thursday, Aug. 25, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 28. Held at the Jefferson County Recreation Park one-half mile south of Boulder, the fair and rodeo is affordable fun for the whole family. There is free admission to the grounds with a $2 per car parking fee Friday and Saturday.
Entertainment includes displays and exhibits along with a carousel, inflatable games, acrobats, 4-H animals, a baked goods auction, food trucks, and more. Saturday and Sunday morning breakfasts will be served up at the rodeo concession stand.
The Jefferson County Rodeo Association sponsors the free In-County Rodeo on Thursday.
Friday features the kids’ horse show and rodeo, kids’ parade in Boulder, and NRA Jefferson County Rodeo.
Saturday’s events include the rodeo parade on main street, and another Jefferson County NRA Rodeo.
The Longhorn Band plays for the fair’s real barn dance on Saturday night, Aug. 27. Boulder’s own Clint Rieder and his band serve up a lively mixture of new and classic country and rock. This family-friendly, alcohol free event costs $2.
Sunday morning, Aug. 28, is a great day for kids with a kids’ stick horse rodeo and free kids’ hunt in the hay with prizes donated by the See N Save Thrift Store.
For fair & rodeo details, call 406-225-4039 or go to jeffersonmtfairrodeo.org.
The event is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. at the Montana Historical Society. Copies of the book will be available for signing by the author at the society bookstore.
Gaub, a Glendive native, was a newspaper reporter for 25 years, 20 of them at the Billings Gazette. He also was a reporter and editor for newspapers in Colorado, Wyoming and Michigan.
Gaub changed careers and went into the software industry. He retired in 2017 and has since been a full-time book author. He has two other published books — “Win ‘Em All — Little Laurel Wins Montana’s Biggest Basketball Trophy” (2016) and “Sky Dreamer” (2019) — and has a book in progress, “Lindbergh in Montana,” scheduled for publication in late 2022. He lives in Billings.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, PG-13
Bodies Bodies Bodies, R
Dennis Gaub
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2022-08-18T13:19:05Z
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helenair.com
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Around the Town: Helena-area arts and entertainment news published Aug. 18 | Local | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/around-the-town-helena-area-arts-and-entertainment-news-published-aug-18/article_7d934101-ee5a-5bf2-a6dc-54673dd1323d.html
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https://helenair.com/news/local/around-the-town-helena-area-arts-and-entertainment-news-published-aug-18/article_7d934101-ee5a-5bf2-a6dc-54673dd1323d.html
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Dred Scott sued to declare his emancipation. Born a slave, he and his wife had escaped Missouri, settled in Illinois and Wisconsin territory where they lived free. Scott sued to resolve his citizenship status. The USSC held that Scott, born a slave, remained a slave under Missouri law. To declare him free would deprive his owner of “property,” a right protected by the United States Constitution. This decision lit the fuse that started the Civil War. Following the war, the right of citizenship was conferred upon all people born in the United States.
Now the United States Supreme Court has overruled Roe. Pundits say we will go back to a pre-Roe world, when abortion was prohibited and criminalized. Yet the world has changed since the Roe decision.
Roe was decided in 1973. Since then the feminist movement has developed into a vibrant nationwide movement. In 1973, abortion was only a medical surgical procedure. Now more than half of all abortions are done using pills and consultations with physicians occur using telemedicine.
Things have changed in state and federal governments. In 1973 there was one woman in the House, one woman in the Senate. Now 120 women are in the House, one is the speaker. There are 24 women in the Senate. In Montana, in 1973 there were seven women in the House, two in the Senate; in 2021 there were 24 in the House, 12 in the Senate.
These statistics repeat across the spectrum of American life. In the courts, in the professions, in corporate America women have achieved progress toward equity and equality. Women represent a significant proportion of the entire working force.
What we are seeing with the decision in Dodd is a replay of the past. A citizenry accepting of abortion with some restrictions. A USSC reverting to concepts outmoded by time and experience.
With Dodd the court has done the same thing it did in Scott. It has lit a fuse which will explode and lead to massive injury and death among women and children but in the end, after struggles, will finally assure all women the exclusive right to control their own bodies.
Abortion may be outlawed in various states but enforcing those restrictions will be impossible. We can’t control our borders against illegal drugs; restricting abortion pills will be doubly impossible.
The real question is the way forward. Make no mistake about it, as with the aftermath of Scott, with Dodd, there will be hardship, a great deal of pain and suffering and unnecessary deaths. We will witness children, as young as 10, being forced to deliver a baby resulting from rape. We will witness women who experience a miscarriage being charged with crimes. We will see health care professionals jailed for participating in a medical procedure. Medical professionals will second guess what procedures they will recommend causing unnecessary deaths.
There is no easy way forward. Women and their allies must organize and exercise their vote. This clarion call can only be answered by a massive voter turnout. Given that the Republican Party has embraced the most radical of abortion prohibitions, the only vote must be for candidates of a party other than Republican.
This is not an issue restricted to abortion. It is far broader. It is about privacy. Privacy to control one’s body, whether you are a woman or a man. Privacy to determine when and how many children you want and whether to use birth control. Privacy to love who you love in the privacy of your bedroom. Privacy to protect communications isolated from government control. This issue is about the role we want government to play in our private lives. Dodd is setting up governmental intrusion into the private lives of Americans never seen before and never contemplated by our founders.
Overruling Roe is not the end of the abortion controversy. It is a chapter in the struggle for equity and equality. In the end, women’s right to control their own bodies will prevail. There will be no going back. Those who believe so are ignorant of our current realities. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Ron Waterman,
Ron Waterman
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2022-08-18T15:25:27Z
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helenair.com
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We are not going back | Letters | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/opinion/letters/we-are-not-going-back/article_34a0c140-f86c-51dd-b394-2a6d7d4004e3.html
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https://helenair.com/opinion/letters/we-are-not-going-back/article_34a0c140-f86c-51dd-b394-2a6d7d4004e3.html
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Officers responded to the 800 block of Abbey Street for a report of an assault with a weapon, and authorities discovered two males who had been shot. They were transported to the hospital via ambulance and neither suffered life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
The person who shot the two males fled the scene. Police have not been able to identify a suspect at this time. Currently, it is believed that the suspect is a male and was wearing a face covering during the shooting, possibly to conceal his identity. He was also wearing a black hoodie and he is believed to be about 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall.
“With the information we have gathered to this point of the investigation, we do not believe there is a threat to the community,” HPD Capt. Cory Bailey said in a press release.
A 59-year-old Helena man is being charged with two felony counts of strangulation of a partner or family member, three felony counts of partne…
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2022-08-18T17:22:49Z
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helenair.com
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Helena police seeking suspect in early morning shooting | Crime & Courts | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/helena-police-seeking-suspect-in-early-morning-shooting/article_30e49bb9-ff2c-5fe1-bdcd-a87b1e2f3abc.html
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https://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/helena-police-seeking-suspect-in-early-morning-shooting/article_30e49bb9-ff2c-5fe1-bdcd-a87b1e2f3abc.html
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The commission will interview Troy McGee at 9 a.m., Brianne Harrington at 9:40 a.m., Mark Juedeman at 10:10 a.m., Patty Mastin at 10:40 a.m., Michael McCabe at 11:10 a.m., Andy Shirtliff at 11:40 a.m., and Kim Mangold at 12:10 p.m.
The meeting will be held in Conference Room 326 at the City-County Building, 316 N. Park Ave. It can be viewed online at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86102419288.
The seven candidates to be interviewed are among the 12 who applied by the 4 p.m. Monday deadline. Each of the existing city commissioners submitted the names of their top five candidates to the city clerk on Wednesday, and those with the most votes are the ones who will be interviewed Friday.
The other applicants were Kent Barnes, James Sutfliffe, Jacob Torgerson, John Benoit and Walter Deege. However, city officials said Benoit dropped out and Deege was disqualified because he does not reside within Helena city limits.
A final round of interviews will be held Aug. 23, where the commission will be seeking further information from selected candidates about their commitment to local issues in the spirit of the Preamble of the Helena City Charter.
The seat vacated by the late City Commissioner Eric Feaver, who at age 77 died of natural causes in June, will be filled by an appointee until Jan. 1, 2024. This position, along with those held by Commissioners Emily Dean and Sean Logan, will be on the ballots in the Nov. 7, 2023, election.
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2022-08-18T17:27:10Z
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helenair.com
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Seven Helena City Commission candidates to be interviewed Friday | Government & Politics | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/government-and-politics/seven-helena-city-commission-candidates-to-be-interviewed-friday/article_2ccda4c8-0a02-56f3-b633-95382bfd6f5b.html
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https://helenair.com/government-and-politics/seven-helena-city-commission-candidates-to-be-interviewed-friday/article_2ccda4c8-0a02-56f3-b633-95382bfd6f5b.html
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“If you’re drinking this holiday weekend, be sure to plan for a safe ride home, the important thing to know is how you’re getting home before you even go out. There are lots of ways to plan for a sober ride home,” said Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton.
Impaired-driver-involved crashes in Montana accounted for 10% of all reported roadway crashes in 2020. However, these accounted for 66% of all roadway crash fatalities. In 2020, 99% of impaired-driver-involved roadway deaths occurred in rural areas. Of impaired drivers with a blood alcohol content of 0.79 involved in roadway deaths in 2020, 77% were males.
As the Labor Day weekend approaches, the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Helena Police Department, East Helena Police Department, and the Montana Highway Patrol are encouraging Montanans to plan ahead for a safe and sober ride home before the celebrations start.
Law enforcement across the state will be increasing patrols and DUI arrests to ensure the safety of everyone on the road.
“Do not drive impaired – it’s dangerous for everyone on the road. We’ll have increased patrols out Labor Day weekend to keep Montanans safe as they travel to and from their activities in these final days of summer,” said Montana Highway Patrol Col. Steve Lavin. “Have fun, but please be responsible as you spend time with your friends and family. Together we can make sure everyone gets home safe.”
According to the Montana Department of Transportation, if drivers have a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher, they could be charged with a DUI and other serious consequences including having their driver’s license revoked, mandatory classes, possible jail time and up to $10,000 in fines and legal fees.
“Designate one of your friends as a sober driver, arrange for a rideshare service/cab/public transportation, or call a friend or family member,” said Helena Police Chief Brett Petty. “If you see your friends have had too much to drink, have their back and help them get home safely, too.”
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2022-08-18T22:45:26Z
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helenair.com
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Helena-area law enforcement increasing patrols over Labor Day weekend | Crime & Courts | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/helena-area-law-enforcement-increasing-patrols-over-labor-day-weekend/article_931d9626-ff07-5077-ae31-961b71f3bdc9.html
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https://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/helena-area-law-enforcement-increasing-patrols-over-labor-day-weekend/article_931d9626-ff07-5077-ae31-961b71f3bdc9.html
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The Montana Supreme Court hears arguments on Friday, April 8, 2022.
The Blackfeet Nation's chairman and advocacy groups applauded Tuesday's Montana Supreme Court ruling finding the Bureau of Indian Affairs can be held liable for an officer's on-duty sexual assault of a woman involved in a DUI investigation.
The 5-2 ruling published Tuesday found former BIA officer Dana Bullcoming was acting within the scope of his employment when he sexually assaulted a Northern Cheyenne woman who had summoned law enforcement because her mother had been drinking and driving.
Montana's local and state law enforcement had long been determined to be liable in these circumstances, but the question of whether federal agencies fell under the same obligations remained unclear until the precedent established in Tuesday's ruling. Most of the enrolled tribal members living on reservations in Montana are under the jurisdiction of federal agencies like the BIA and the FBI.
“We currently face some of the highest rates of Murdered and Missing in the entire United States,” said Blackfeet Nation Chairman Illiff “Scott” Kipp in a statement Thursday. “And because the Supreme Court has limited the inherent jurisdiction of Tribal Nations to prosecute crimes committed on reservation lands, we rely on the BIA and federal law enforcement agencies to keep our citizens safe."
Over the course of the case, tribal advocacy groups had filed briefs and presented arguments in support of the Northern Cheyenne woman's claim, elevating the disproportionate levels of violence Native women face. One of those groups, the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, on Thursday heralded the ruling as a "victory for Native women all across Montana."
“In Montana, our Native women, children, men, and two-spirit relatives are murdered and go missing at some of the highest rates in the United States," executive director Lucy Simpson said in a statement Thursday. "But when the price for calling the BIA for help is being raped or having your children removed from your home, victims simply will not pick up the phone to call for help. The Montana Supreme Court’s decision will assist victims in holding the BIA accountable for the actions of its law enforcement officers, and that will help address the crisis of violence we currently face here in Montana.”
The woman, identified as L.B. in court documents, was drunk in the presence of her children when Bullcoming arrived at her home in 2015. Bullcoming, according to court records, threatened to call social services. He told the woman "something had to be done," and answered affirmatively when the woman asked if Bullcoming meant sex. The woman became pregnant after the rape and gave birth. Bullcoming was ultimately convicted and sentenced to federal prison, and the woman filed a civil suit for damages.
She was awarded $1.6 million in damages, but a federal judge in Billings had ruled the BIA was not liable. The woman appealed, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals put to the Montana Supreme Court the question of whether, under Montana law, federal law enforcement agencies were liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
The state's high court ruled that the nature of the employment must be considered when considering vicarious liability, and in this case, the majority ruled Bullcoming's use of his authority to coerce L.B. fell within the scope of his employment. The ACLU of Montana had raised that argument in its own brief in the case.
“This is a step toward accountability and justice for Indigenous women in Montana, who are not only disproportionately impacted by violence, but also are a population more likely to be impacted by federal officers,” Sharen Kickingwoman, Indigenous Justice Program Manager with the ACLU of Montana, said in a statement Thursday. “I’m thankful for the courage and bravery of the survivor to seek justice and fight for this fix, so no other Indigenous woman has to face this battle.”
The Sovereign Bodies Institute, the Fort Belknap Indian Community and the Blackfeet Nation each joined the NIWRC in supporting L.B.'s case, arguing a ruling in the BIA's favor would establish uneven protections for Native and non-Natives assaulted by law enforcement.
"Officer Bullcoming’s horrific violations of L.B. are unfortunately all too common in Montana," Kipp added in his statement. "Truly, we will never be able to address the MMIWG2s (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit) crisis in Montana until the BIA cleans up its act, and that begins with ensuring the law permits victims to hold the BIA accountable when its officers rape, beat, or kill Native people on tribal lands.”
Kipp said the ruling comes at a "critical time" as tribal members look to U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland's Missing and Murdered Unit within the BIA to help resolve the disproportionate rate of violence and missing persons cases that occur on reservations in Montana and beyond. Now that the courts have established a route for accountability against the agency, the BIA can again begin to establish trust with the communities they are charged with protecting, he said.
National Indigenous Women's Resource Center
Ft. Belknap Indian Community
Aclu Of Montana
Illiff Kipp
Lucy Simpson
Sharen Kickingwoman
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2022-08-18T22:45:32Z
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helenair.com
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Tribes, advocacy groups herald Supreme Court ruling on BIA liability | State & Regional | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/tribes-advocacy-groups-herald-supreme-court-ruling-on-bia-liability/article_6f4f1d99-d169-5cbf-8ebe-af06f0264810.html
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/tribes-advocacy-groups-herald-supreme-court-ruling-on-bia-liability/article_6f4f1d99-d169-5cbf-8ebe-af06f0264810.html
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Chase Jon Knutson
A 28-year-old Helena man has been charged with two felony counts of burglary and one felony count of criminal mischief after allegedly attempting to break into a house and then breaking into a motel in Lincoln.
On Tuesday around midnight, a deputy was dispatched to the 300 block of Main Street in Lincoln for a report of a suspicious person.
The complainant told the deputy that someone had attempted to break into her daughter’s house while her daughter was inside. She said her husband saw the man, and she provided a description of Chase Jon Knutson.
The daughter stated that Knutson broke the back door of their house and entered the residence without permission. Knutson is also accused of breaking an insect shield on the hood of her vehicle. The deputy saw the pieces of the broken shield near the vehicle, according to court reports.
The owner of a motel on the 300 block of Main Street called and stated that a male, matching the description of Knutson, attempted to break into a room.
The deputy found Knutson inside of one of the motel rooms, naked and under a mattress. Authorities said the motel room was “destroyed.” The mattress was off the bed, the lamps were knocked over and broken, the microwave was broken on the floor, holes were in the wall, and items were thrown about the room, said officials.
The owner of the motel stated they did not know Knutson, nor had they rented a room to him.
Knutson was arrested and booked into the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center on Tuesday.
Jon Knutson
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2022-08-19T00:29:38Z
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helenair.com
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Helena man accused of burgling Lincoln home and motel | | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-accused-of-burgling-lincoln-home-and-motel/article_441e2fa4-e515-511c-9bb8-350804e993e1.html
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-accused-of-burgling-lincoln-home-and-motel/article_441e2fa4-e515-511c-9bb8-350804e993e1.html
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Community briefs: 'Future Vision' workshop; Ride to Remember; student news
'Future Vision' workshop upcoming
A series of workshops titled “Future Vision” will be presented at First Presbyterian Church, Helena on Saturday, Sept. 17, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Presenters and their topics are: Joe Tackett, Wills and Trusts; Rob Hagen, Legacy Giving; Karissa Bennett, Hospice/Palliative Care/Advanced Directive; James Olson, Home Care; Al Castro, Funeral Planning.
The Presbyterian Foundation will provide lunch and snacks. This program is open to the community. There is no fee but registration is necessary. Please call First Presbyterian Church of Helena at 406 442-4775 or email to admin@fpchelena.org.
Ride to Remember is Saturday
The Montana POW/MIA Awareness Association hosts the 9th annual Montana Ride to Remember. The public is welcome to join us Saturday morning for our opening ceremony at Memorial Park beginning at 9:30 a.m. We will begin our journey honoring our missing at 10:15.
This is a patriotic motorcycle ride (vehicles allowed at the back of the pack) dedicated to the memory of the more than 82,000 POW/MIA personnel from across the nation, with a special focus on the 53 missing from Montana.
This annual event -- always held on the third Saturday in August -- is escorted by Montana law enforcement along Highway 287; Montana's POW/MIA Memorial Highway from Helena to West Yellowstone.
The library is located on the lower level of the main church building. Please enter using the Cruise Avenue entrance.
Anna Denali, of Helena, was named to Fort Lewis College's dean's list for the spring 2022 semester. Denali's major is psychology.
To be eligible for dean's list, a student must carry a semester GPA of 3.6 or better in no fewer than 15 credit hours of graded college-level work and have completed all work for which they are registered by the end of the semester.
Trevor Raulston, of Helena, was named to the Eastern Oregon University's dean's list for the 2022 spring term.
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2022-08-19T12:44:40Z
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helenair.com
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Community briefs: 'Future Vision' workshop; Ride to Remember; student news | Local | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/community-briefs-future-vision-workshop-ride-to-remember-student-news/article_41777b5f-d1fe-5c86-9a1a-27648891bf66.html
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https://helenair.com/news/local/community-briefs-future-vision-workshop-ride-to-remember-student-news/article_41777b5f-d1fe-5c86-9a1a-27648891bf66.html
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Zoey sits with her cat Zelda, who returned home on Aug. 13 from Elko, Nevada, after four years missing.
Zoey cuddles Zelda over four years ago, before Zelda went missing.
Photo Courtesy of the Goreçki family
A reunion four years in the making happened in Helena on Aug. 13.
For four years, Zoey Goreçki, now age 11, waited for her black and white cat Zelda to come home. One day, she was on vacation when she got a call from her mom.
“I called her and said, ‘Zoey, if I could give you any surprise, something you’ve been waiting for for a long time, what would it be?’,” her mom said. “She guessed ‘Zelda coming back’ as a joke, and she was right.”
“And I started crying in the middle of a gas station,” added Zoey.
“It gives you an idea of how big of a deal it was that four years later, that (Zelda) was still the first thing that came to her mind as a thing she wanted,” her mom said.
Zoey and her sibling, Gwyn Goreçki, now age 9, never gave up hope.
“We named her when we were younger. We just kept listing princess names, and my sister finally came up with the name Zelda,” said Gwyn. “Our dad played that game a lot so he thought it was OK.”
“I’m glad we didn’t name it Ariel. That would be sad,” Zoey said, without elaborating on her distaste for the name.
Zoey and Gwyn spend time with Zelda, their beloved cat who went missing for four years.
The family started fostering Zelda from the humane society when she was 3 months old. Zelda disappeared when she was only 1 in 2018. She had gone missing for a few hours a day before, but she would always return home. Except this time, she didn’t, and no one knew why or where she was.
“I remember being very depressed and thinking, ‘Mom, did she die?’” said Zoey.
“We had some pictures of (Zoey and Zelda) together that we had to hide. Even up to a few weeks ago, whenever she would see them, she’d cry,” recalled her mom.
An older woman in Elko, Nevada, had taken Zelda in for two years, thinking she was a stray. The woman got too old to care for her and turned her over to a local shelter. They checked Zelda’s microchip for the first time and realized she had a family in Montana who was missing her.
“They had already listed her on the shelter page as up for adoption, and then they checked for a chip just in case when the lady mentioned she was a stray. They went ‘Oh, she has an owner,’” said the children's mom. “I so wish there was a GoPro attached to (Zelda).”
The family still doesn’t know how Zelda got to Nevada in the first place or her whereabouts during the two-year gap before she was taken in by the woman in Nevada. Zelda pleaded the fifth and didn’t so much as meow when asked about her journey, but her green eyes looked like she’d seen a lot over the last four years.
Next came the issue of getting Zelda home. Elko to Helena is about a nine-hour drive, a difficult trip for a family with four children -- one a toddler, Malcolm Goreçki, and one a newborn, Franklin Goreçki. Their mom turned to social media for help.
“I have a smattering of followers (on Twitter) in Colorado and all over the place, so I tweeted out thinking maybe someone is traveling,” said their mom. “Then, Tom Winter (a former Montana state representative) saw it, picked it up and shared it to help generate something. He has a way bigger following than I do (about 28,000 followers), and it exploded so much that he actually messaged me and apologized for blowing up my phone without asking me first.”
We have a situation.
My daughter's beloved cat Zelda was found after being missing for about four years. Excellent news, except that she was found about 600 miles away in Elko, NV.
Our car won't survive that trip without some repairs, even if the newborn could handle it. Ideas? pic.twitter.com/XMrmEYXJnQ
— Speranza (@Retroition) August 1, 2022
The tweet went out on Aug. 1. As of Aug. 17, it had 310 retweets, 61 quote tweets, and 2,057 likes. The children's mom mentioned how some people were trying to take advantage of the situation and set up fake Venmo and PayPal accounts, lying about giving the money to help Zelda get home.
One user, Catherine Tobey, tweeted back that she was driving through Elko soon and that she would be happy to pick Zelda up if it wasn’t too late.
I’m in Tahoe and will be driving through Elko Friday, and strangely enough am headed to Sheridan, MT Saturday. Happy to pick her up if that’s not too late!
— Catherine Tobey (@catherinetobey) August 2, 2022
“I’m not even sure (how I stumbled across the tweet). I’m not even connected to (the Goreçkis) at all. I was sitting in Tahoe scrolling Twitter (and saw the tweet),” said Tobey. “I guess that’s the magic of the internet. It was just meant to be.”
Tobey lives in Ogden, Utah, and was coming to pick up her dog from her parents' cabin in Sheridan, Montana. The Goreçki family sent her money to cover the cost of the shelter adoption and a crate for the journey, and they wouldn’t let Tobey send leftover money back.
“It felt like such a normal thing to do, which is perhaps wild in itself, but I’m like, 'Of course I could do that.' I saw these people are asking for help and wanting their beloved animal back, and I’m here and going there, so obviously I would help. Wouldn’t anyone?” said Tobey. “I keep talking to people, and they say that not just anyone would do this, and that’s really sad.”
The family took Tobey up on that offer, and Zelda began the 600-mile journey home.
It’s a beautiful day to drive a sweet kitty home. #LegendofZelda pic.twitter.com/qJ8X2ZfZMY
Zelda is now reunited with the family, joining their two other cats, two dogs, and 13 chickens. She gets unlimited scratches from her longtime friends Zoey and Gwyn, and her new friends like Malcolm, who hadn’t been born when Zelda disappeared.
Zelda doesn’t have any future plans of hitchhiking to any more states at the moment.
“I hope this encourages other people to be willing to help others when they have the opportunity. The world is as small as we make it, and we can’t make it alone,” said Tobey. “Animals deserve our love. Who knows how she ended up there, but she needed to go home.”
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2022-08-19T12:44:40Z
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helenair.com
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The Legend of Zelda: After 4 years, Helena family reunited with missing cat found in Nevada | Local | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/the-legend-of-zelda-after-4-years-helena-family-reunited-with-missing-cat-found-in/article_758626cf-6850-5b33-a29d-6f0582a74fd2.html
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https://helenair.com/news/local/the-legend-of-zelda-after-4-years-helena-family-reunited-with-missing-cat-found-in/article_758626cf-6850-5b33-a29d-6f0582a74fd2.html
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Senator Daines‘ recent vote against the PACT Act is an insult to thousands of Veterans across Montana and a stain on our state. On Monday afternoon, 1 August, I called the Senator’s office and spoke with a staffer. In an attempt to reserve judgment I simply asked “help me understand the vote“. I wanted to know why the senator would take such a vote. The response I received claimed that it was due to the billions of dollars in discretionary funding that was in the bill. Accounting to the staffers written preprepared response, the discretionary funding would add to the threat of recession across the nation. This in nonsense! When I asked about the senator’s voting history on Defense Appropriations, the Overseas Contingency Operations fund (OCO), and the amount of discretionary funding associated with defense bills, the staffer could not tell me about the senators voting history. It took me two minutes online to confirm that Senator Daines voted for hundreds of billions of dollars in defense appropriations that go to the OCO slush fund. Voting for the defense industry and Daines’ eager willingness to send Service Members into harms way, but vote against supporting those same Service Members when they come home is hypocritical, negligent, and inhumane to those who stand up to serve our nation and the Constitution. Playing politics with veterans lives is shameful. The 10% of Montana’s population that are Veterans should take note. Everyone should be indignant. The voting pattern is clear: Daines votes for the military industrial complex and the overseas deployment of American sons and daughters. At the same time he votes against those who selflessly serve. Shame on you, Senator Daines.
David Oclander (Lieutenant Colonel, Retired) graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned in the Infantry. He commanded Infantry units at the Company and Battalion levels with the 82nd Airborne Division. He completed three tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
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2022-08-19T15:51:58Z
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helenair.com
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David Oclander: Daines' shame. A stain on Montana | Columnists | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/opinion/columnists/david-oclander-daines-shame-a-stain-on-montana/article_a902d90c-6e22-5e4e-9d1d-a481f88b7bb5.html
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https://helenair.com/opinion/columnists/david-oclander-daines-shame-a-stain-on-montana/article_a902d90c-6e22-5e4e-9d1d-a481f88b7bb5.html
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Cohort excluded from grant
Did you know Carroll College had its first cohort of accelerated nursing students graduate on Aug. 12? Probably not, because there was no media there. Do you know why? Because of how these students were treated.
This cohort of 17 not only experienced ongoing challenges as the program found its way but they were specifically excluded from financial assistance. The cost of the program is over $80K plus living expenses.
Carroll’s Nursing program received $400K from a private donor in the fall. Carroll made the decision these students would not be eligible for those funds. This was not at the donor's request.
Carroll received a $440K grant to provide scholarships from Accelerate Montana. Carroll knowingly excluded this year's cohort from the grant request. Future cohorts are eligible.
Why was this first cohort, who went back to college, during a pandemic, not financially assisted or advocated for? It takes a traditional student three years to complete what these students did in an intense 15 months.
Their concerns were shared with Cech, who did not follow through on what he said he would do.
Shame on Carroll! This is not how I thought they treated their students.
Sherry O'Donnell,
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2022-08-19T15:52:22Z
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helenair.com
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Cohort excluded from grant | Letters | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/opinion/letters/cohort-excluded-from-grant/article_e9b506cd-8f70-586d-bb66-0043296d4359.html
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https://helenair.com/opinion/letters/cohort-excluded-from-grant/article_e9b506cd-8f70-586d-bb66-0043296d4359.html
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The Helena City Commission is pictured in the Commission Chambers in the City-County Building on Feb. 3, 2020.
A dozen people applied for the seat vacated by Eric Feaver, who died of natural causes in June.
After interviewing the seven semi-finalists Friday, members of the Helena City Commission elected to bring back Brianne Harrington, Andy Shirtliff, Troy McGee and Kim Mangold for a final round of interviews on Aug. 23. The other candidates interviewed Friday were Michael McCabe, Mark Juedman and Patty Mastin.
During Friday’s meeting, Mayor Wilmot Collins and City Commissioners Sean Logan, Emily Dean and Melinda Reed each selected their top three candidates to bring back for a second interview.
All four members of the governing body selected Harrington, owner of The Painted Pot arts studio in downtown Helena.
Collins, Logan and Reed selected Shirliff, who works as a business engagement specialist at the Montana Department of Labor and Industry and previously held other jobs in state government and with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Collins and Logan selected McGee, who worked for the Helena Police Department for 43 years including 23 years as chief.
Dean and Reed selected Mangold, who has worked as deputy director of the Montana Department of Agriculture and policy director for Montana Farmers Union.
Dean also selected McCabe, an attorney who spent more than 20 years in the Montana Army National Guard and has served on the city’s zoning commission and the City-County Planning Board. McCabe will not get a second interview.
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2022-08-19T21:14:09Z
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helenair.com
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Four finalists selected for Helena City Commission seat | Government & Politics | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/government-and-politics/four-finalists-selected-for-helena-city-commission-seat/article_d8d62bd4-5081-57d5-8022-8bd153e0b1c7.html
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https://helenair.com/government-and-politics/four-finalists-selected-for-helena-city-commission-seat/article_d8d62bd4-5081-57d5-8022-8bd153e0b1c7.html
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Travis Martin Owens
On Thursday around 10:45 p.m., an officer responded to the 500 block of Harrison Avenue for a report of Travis Martin Owens pointing a firearm and threatening individuals.
The male who Owens was accused of pointing the gun at told the officer that Owens arrived at the location and started yelling at a female, so the male intervened.
Owens allegedly challenged the male to a physical fight. When the male did not back away, Owens allegedly went to his vehicle and returned with a firearm.
Owens pointed the gun at the male’s face about six inches away and said, “I’ll kill you,” according to court records.
The male told authorities that he believed Owens was going to shoot him.
Owens was later contacted and identified by his driver’s licenses. Owens confirmed that he was involved in the confrontation, but he stated that the male had taken several steps toward him before he drew his pistol. However, Owens did not express any fear for his life or state any reason why he needed to present a firearm.
The firearm was recovered and identified as a 9mm Ruger EC9s with a round in the chamber and a full magazine.
Owens was booked into the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center on Friday.
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2022-08-20T01:39:38Z
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helenair.com
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Helena man allegedly pulls gun during argument | | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-allegedly-pulls-gun-during-argument/article_c6ce55ec-7f6c-55fd-93bf-ae43e82b63a2.html
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https://helenair.com/helena-man-allegedly-pulls-gun-during-argument/article_c6ce55ec-7f6c-55fd-93bf-ae43e82b63a2.html
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Attorney General Austin Knudsen speaks at a press conference on Friday outside Four Corners regarding the rise in fentanyl related deaths and drug seizures.
FOUR CORNERS — Citing “never-before seen levels” of fentanyl activity in Montana, a group of state and federal officeholders gathered Friday at a press conference that heavily focused on the southern border to call for urgent federal action.
Gov. Greg Gianforte speaks at a press conference on Friday outside Four Corners regarding the rise in fentanyl related deaths and drug seizures.
“It's a consequence of our nation's insecure and porous border. Federal officials admit that fentanyl is coming to our country illegally from Mexico,” said Gov. Greg Gianforte. “Mexican cartels import precursors from China and other countries manufacture (them) for sale at massive labs and then traffic them across the border and into the interior of our country. Even though we're some 1,200 miles away from the border, Montana is not out of reach.”
The group gathered included Republican office-holders Gianforte, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale. They spoke alongside state and local law enforcement officials who work to locate and seize fentanyl and other illegal drugs brought into the state.
Through much of the press conference, the elected officials said the most immediate actions they wanted to see were at the U.S.-Mexico border, from a return to the "remain in Mexico" policy that would have migrants claiming asylum wait for hearings in Mexico instead of the U.S. to the use of a public health policy that allowed the U.S. to turn away migrants because of COVID-19 concerns.
Through filings by Knudsen, the state has entered into several lawsuits over Biden administration policies related to the southern border.
“We know where this fentanyl is coming from. It's not being made in Montana. It's not being made in the U.S. It is 100% being made by the Mexican drug cartels in Mexico using largely Chinese ingredients. And it's smuggled across our southern border because the border is wide open,” Knudsen said.
The elected officials also cited China as part of the problem, but said it would be more complex to address the chemicals produced in that country and brought to Mexico.
Daines called Montana a “northern-border state with a southern-border crisis” and said two cartels were primarily responsible for the drugs brought into Montana — the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Bryan Lockerby, administrator of the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, said law enforcement work in Montana to trace the origins of drugs reaching the state has proved that out, as officers conduct interviews and examine materials for branding marks.
The amount of fentanyl found in Montana and deaths and overdoses tied to it has dramatically increased from a minimal presence just a few years ago.
Col. Steve Lavin, head of the Montana Highway Patrol, said in a Tuesday press release troopers had seized 12,079 fentanyl pills as of March 15, up from about 3,800 last year.
In 2021, Lockerby said there were 49 fentanyl and fentanyl-related deaths; as of Thursday there had already been 47 in Montana this year.
There are two types of fentanyl overdoses or deaths, Lockerby said. One is among people who know they are using fentanyl but may encounter different dosages or formulations of the drug that make it difficult to know what is being consumed. Fentanyl-related deaths or overdoses, however, occur among people who think they are consuming a different drug that has been replaced with or mixed with fentanyl.
Just a small amount of fentanyl, even 2 milligrams, can be fatal.
On a recent radio program, Knudsen said a woman from Roosevelt County who called in said she lost two of her sons to fentanyl overdoses.
“She's now raising her grandchildren in Poplar because those children lost their fathers. This is the stuff that is happening every day in Montana. What are we doing about it?” Knudsen said.
He said the answer was, in part, the state Department of Justice getting involved in litigation related to the southern border.
All the elected officials said the recent record high apprehensions of people crossing the southern border was overwhelming Border Patrol agents who would otherwise be working to stop the smuggling of drugs into the U.S. None called for closing the border, but they all backed measures to increase security and allow agents more capacity to do drug interdiction work.
Republicans have in recent years suggested that extending the wall along the border or increasing security would cut off the flow of fentanyl to the U.S. Officials did not reference the wall Friday. Though Montana's spike is more recent, experts also note that the volume of those drugs coming north into the U.S. has been increasing for years, including during the presidency of Donald Trump, who made border security a top priority for his administration. The vast majority of fentanyl coming into the United States is coming through legal ports of entry.
While not at the press conference Friday, Montana’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester also called for more work along both U.S. borders.
“I’m going to keep working aggressively to secure the southern and northern borders and defend Montana from the flow of dangerous drugs like fentanyl into our state,” Tester said in a statement. “It’s essential to our national security that Customs and Border Protection is fully staffed, has the necessary resources, and can retain top-notch agents. But we also have to make sure Montana’s brave law enforcement officers have the tools and training they need to to protect our communities and our families from crime and drugs.”
Citing frustration with the Biden administration, Gianforte referenced his actions in April to sign onto the “American Governors' Border Strike Force,” an initiative of 26 Republican-led states formed as the number of migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border has reached a two-decade high. The group has requested a meeting with Biden that Gianforte said the administration has not responded to.
Congressman Matt Rosendale speaks at a press conference on Friday outside Four Corners regarding the rise in fentanyl related deaths and drug seizures.
Rosendale called for implementing the “remain in Mexico policy” and putting pressure on the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, to not allow people to reach the U.S.-Mexico border.
In addition to the focus on the southern border, Gianforte said the state is working on treatment and prevention efforts.
“It's one of the best defenses we have to the fentanyl crisis we face and I want folks to know if you are or you know someone who's trapped in addiction, there are services available to help,” Gianforte said
Lavin said the highway patrol has deployed criminal interdiction teams across the state and work with local and federal partners. The attorney general’s office has also increased their K9 operation.
Asked about ways to help address the use of drugs in Montana, Gianforte first said he wanted aggressive law enforcement action to apprehend drug distributers. He then said the state needs to help people dealing with addiction.
“But ultimately these drugs are coming in from Mexico. We must secure the border,” Gianforte said.
Lockerby said he didn’t think there was sufficient options for treatment in Montana, saying that fentanyl interacts with the brain in complex ways that takes a long time to treat and there aren’t good places for that in the state.
Knudsen said that he thought legislators may support efforts to clarify that fentanyl testing strips are legal to possess. Those would let people using substances check to see if they contain fentanyl. Knudsen said the DOJ may work with the Legislature to introduce a bill to make that change.
“I think testing strips is a really good idea practically because we are seeing more and more of other drugs that are now being tainted with fentanyl. It looks like the cartel is doing that intentionally. We're starting to see a lot of marijuana that's laced with fentanyl. It's pretty common for us to find heroin laced with fentanyl,” Knudsen said.
Knudsen said that could come with a negative side, however. He said that sometimes when law enforcement makes an announcement that a bad batch of fentanyl is causing overdoses, sometimes those addicted to the drug might seek it out.
Rosendale criticized what he called “a completely wide open southern border” but also placed blame with China.
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines speaks at a press conference on Friday outside Four Corners regarding the rise in fentanyl-related deaths and drug seizures.
“It's one thing to have intervention and treatment here in our communities. But we have to stop the flow,” Rosendale said. “ … You can very easily … connect the dots from Bozeman, Montana, all the way back to Beijing, China. This is an attack — a chemical attack — from the Chinese Communist Party on our nation.”
Daines said that on a trip to China before the pandemic, he met with the country’s premier and raised the issue of importing chemicals to Mexico.
“They're doing nothing about it. And in fact, I think China sees this as a way to continue to destabilize and demoralize our country,” Daines said. Still, he said he wants to focus on Mexico.
“We need to have a hard conversation with the Mexican government and ask for their assistance,” Daines said.
Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer speaks at a press conference on Friday outside Four Corners regarding the rise in fentanyl related deaths and drug seizures.
Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer labeled fentanyl a national issue with local consequences. His comments focused less on the border and more on efforts by law enforcement in Montana to stop distribution within the state.
“This will be solved at the local level,” Springer said. “We know that it is our work and our tireless efforts at the local level that will continue to find people that are involved in drug distribution, as well as drug usage.”
Springer said he wanted to see both rehabilitation and incarceration. "Incarceration has to be part of this so there's consequences to distribution of drugs. These people need to be taken off the streets,” he said
Agencies in Montana, from both the law enforcement and public health realms, are working together better than before, said Lockerby, but it’s still not enough.
“We're fighting a good fight, but it certainly feels like we're outgunned and our resources are strained,” Lockerby said.
— Reporter Sam Wilson contributed to this story.
Brian Lockerby
Drug Abuse In Montana
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2022-08-20T01:39:57Z
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helenair.com
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Montana officials point to southern border as driving fentanyl crisis | 406 Politics | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/montana-officials-point-to-southern-border-as-driving-fentanyl-crisis/article_3df19d87-d965-5b99-be9c-a912fc3c4427.html
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https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/montana-officials-point-to-southern-border-as-driving-fentanyl-crisis/article_3df19d87-d965-5b99-be9c-a912fc3c4427.html
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Maureen Driscoll watches as absentee ballots run through an electronic counting machine at the Butte Civic Center on Monday, June 6, 2022, prior to Montana's primary election.
Montana election officials, advocacy groups and political experts offered wide-ranging testimony during the first half of a two-week trial to determine whether GOP lawmakers ran afoul of the state constitution when they drafted new laws last year that took aim at the state's elections.
After initially keeping the focus on laws that ended voter registration on Election Day and restrict ballot-collection practices, attorneys increasingly delved into the state's controversial new voter identification laws during the latter half of the week. Yellowstone County District Court Judge Michael G. Moses is overseeing the case, in which three separate challenges to a trio of election laws have been merged into a marathon trial expected to wrap up by next Friday.
Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen is the sole defendant.
Senate Bill 169 created the requirement for photo ID to vote in person, and specifies that only a state photo ID or driver’s license, tribal photo ID, military ID or concealed carry permit is sufficient by itself. For other types of photo ID, including those issued by high schools and colleges, voters would also need to provide an official document showing their name and address — such as a utility bill, bank statement or car registration.
Witnesses called by the plaintiffs highlighted some of the barriers certain groups face in obtaining the types of ID mandated by the new law.
Shawn Reagor, a transgender man who works for the Montana Human Rights Network, testified Friday that for the trans community, obtaining gender-affirming government ID is often “a long and difficult process."
Reagor detailed the lengthy and onerous process for transgender people to update their social security information, a prerequisite for updating a Montana driver’s license to reflect a person’s name, photo and gender marker to reflect their identity.
“Oftentimes, as soon as you think that you have everything updated, you’ll find that there is something else that needs to be updated,” he said.
In contrast, he said, the process for updating a college ID to be similarly gender-affirming “takes significantly less time” and is typically less costly. Student IDs used to be sufficient for voting in-person, but now need to be paired with another official document showing the person’s name and address.
When he was a college student living on campus, Reagor testified, he lacked many of the supplemental forms of ID that need to be paired with a college ID, including a lease agreement, paystub or a bank statement.
Defense attorney Mac Morris, during cross examination, made the point that new voters are issued a confirmation card when they register, and that is both sufficient to pair with a student ID and could be gender-affirming, as long as the person’s name is up-to-date.
The Montana Democratic Party’s data director, Jacob Hopkins, also testified Friday. He noted that utility bills, another “supplemental” document that can be paired with a student ID, wouldn’t be easily obtained for students living on campus.
During another cross-examination on Friday, a defense attorney also referenced testimony from earlier in the week from one of the plaintiff’s witnesses. The witness had testified that “it would be weird” for a college student to lack a driver’s license, and that he had a passport, bank account and other forms of ID he could have relied on to vote as a college student.
In his questioning of the Democratic Party employee, Smith also pushed Hopkins to acknowledge that SB 169’s inclusion of tribal photo ID as a primary identification “would make it easier for Native Americans to vote,” that it removed the requirement that photo ID be “current” and that the party hadn’t identified individual students who were unable to vote as a result of the new law.
Election Day registration
Hopkins also spoke to the Democratic Party’s support for Election Day registration, which he called “the failsafe” to allow people to vote if they’d missed earlier opportunities in the election cycle. Echoing testimony from other witnesses called by the plaintiffs, he noted that Election Day is “by far” the most popular day of the year for voters to register.
Jacobsen’s attorneys, meanwhile, underscored the plaintiffs’ difficulty in proving that someone had been denied the right to vote because they weren’t registered on Election Day after HB 176 went into effect. They also referred to claims from some election officials — including some who may testify next week — who advocated for the law as a way to counter long lines and heavy workloads on the busiest day on the election calendar.
During his lengthy testimony on Thursday, Missoula County Election Administrator Bradley Seaman countered that any added responsibilities on Election Day were outweighed by the additional opportunity for people to participate in the democratic process.
“More voters use more resources,” Seaman said. “That’s our job. Our job is to be there to serve voters, and so we are ready to staff resources and provide them.”
Third-party ballot collection
The lawsuit also challenges House Bill 530, which prohibits third parties from collecting and turning in voters’ ballots for them if they receive a “pecuniary benefit” for doing so. The cases initially brought by the Democrats and the Native American groups argue it’s simply a recycled version of the ill-fated Ballot Interference Prevention Act, which was struck down as unconstitutional in 2020.
Western Native Voice, one of the plaintiffs in the latter case, has used the service extensively on Montana’s reservations, where it argues the new law will disproportionately impact those voters. Plaintiffs’ witnesses during the first week, including WNV executive director Ronnie Jo Horse, cited higher rates of poverty among Native Americans living on reservations, along with longer distances to post offices and election offices, as among the reasons ballot collection is especially important to the state’s Native voters.
Testifying on behalf of the Blackfeet Tribe, managing attorney Dawn Grey described extensive poverty within the reservation. Access to reliable transportation is “very limited,” she said, offering limited options to navigate long distances to locations where voter or ID services are offered. And general elections take place in early November, which could be dicey in a corner of the state known for its extreme weather events, she said.
“You never know when squalls and blizzards will happen in that area,” she said, describing the wind at times as “hurricane weather.”
Jacobsen’s attorneys framed third-party ballot collection as an unreliable service prone to potential manipulation, citing a high-profile ballot-tampering case in North Carolina in 2018.
On Friday, Smith also offered up a 2016 Helena Independent Record story that reported voters in Missoula County and elsewhere in the state “feeling unsettled” by interactions with people offering to collect their ballots, to the point of reporting incidents to election officials or the police.
But Democrats, who have also used the practice to turn out votes, pointed to the security protocols, trainings and “ballot collection pledge” required of anyone allowed to collect ballots on the party’s behalf.
“Voters having the right to cast their ballots without intimidation is a sacrosanct activity that forms the basis of our democracy, and it’s a value that we take very seriously,” Hopkins, with the Democratic Party, testified.
The defense has repeatedly pointed to the fact that HB 530 calls for rulemaking and is not currently in effect. But Hopkins noted the party believes the law’s language would prevent it from ballot collection and helping voters request absentee ballots.
Judge Moses indicated the trial could continue into the next weekend, if needed, although attorneys for the two sides indicated they expect to finish questioning witnesses by Thursday or Friday.
Montana Legislature 2021
Same Day Voter Registration
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2022-08-20T14:23:53Z
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helenair.com
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Montana election laws probed during marathon trial's first week | 406 Politics | helenair.com
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Jesse Chaney , Nolan Lister
Before selecting four finalists for a vacant seat on the Helena City Commission, members of the governing body on Friday interviewed seven of the 12 candidates who applied.
The four finalists selected for a final round of interviews Aug. 23 are Brianne Harrington, Andy Shirtliff, Troy McGee and Kim Mangold. The other candidates interviewed Friday were Michael McCabe, Mark Juedeman and Patty Mastin.
McGee worked for the Helena Police Department for 43 years including 23 years as chief.
Harrington is the owner of The Painted Pot arts studio in downtown Helena.
Juedeman worked as a geophysicist in the oil drilling industry before moving back to his home state of Montana to work on a Craig cattle ranch.
Mastin has worked in sales since 2010 and prior to that as an adjunct professor at Montana College of Technology.
McCabe is an attorney who spent more than 20 years in the Montana Army National Guard and has served on the city’s zoning commission and the City-County Planning Board.
Mangold has worked as deputy director of the Montana Department of Agriculture and policy director for Montana Farmers Union.
The city commission asked the following questions of each candidate during Friday's meeting.
Describe your experience in working in local community issues.
McGee cited his involvement with local, state and national associations and groups throughout his law enforcement career and presently, including the Montana Association of Chiefs of Police, adding he “learned a lot.” He said as two-time interim city manager of Helena, he “got to know a lot of groups and people through that. Quite an experience.”
Harrington said through her downtown business, she is involved in many charitable fundraising efforts with local nonprofits and has worked for years with children’s organizations such as Shodair, Intermountain and Helena Public Schools. She also noted her stint as president of Downtown Helena, Inc.’s board of directors.
Juedeman said after attending numerous meetings of the Helena Citizens Conservation Board, a volunteer citizen advisory board to the city commission, he joined and later became its vice chairman. He said that experience and a history of “just showing up” to public meetings and participating in local government have prepared him for the job.
Mastin said work with Prickly Pear Land Trust and other organizations taught her the importance of “finding the information you need.” She said that after 40 years of living in Helena, “I think I have spent a lot of time in the community and working with the community.”
McCabe said he worked on projects around the state during his time with the Montana Army National Guard, and he mentioned his service on the zoning commission and planning board. As a lifelong resident of Helena, he said, “I probably know as much about Helena as 80% of the Helena residents.”
Shirtliff pointed to his involvement with several charitable organizations such as Helena Food Share, United Way of the Lewis and Clark Area, the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity, noting that he tries to help where he is needed.
Mangold said she has served with the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind Foundation and YWCA Helena. She has also served as an assistant to the coaches of local sports teams, which she said has given her insight into the views of parents and children in the community.
What do you see as your qualifications for the position of city commissioner?
McGee told the commissioners he has worked hard for his hometown of Helena, logging many hours to ensure it is a great place to live, “and I want to continue that.” He pointed to his inside knowledge of city government and numerous contacts in the city. “I can get a lot of communication out there, and I think that’s important for commissioners.” He also noted his work with the Montana Legislature while representing the state police chief association.
Harrington said running her “intensely customer service driven” business requires her to be a good communicator. She also cited her familiarity with budgeting both as a business owner and board of directors president.
Juedeman said he has a long history of working with interdisciplinary teams and organizations of various sizes. He also pointed to his work on community issues, including city conservation efforts. He also said he brings a diverse set of experiences to the table between growing up on his family’s cattle ranch and working for a multinational oil company. It has given him “real perspective on what other contributions people can make and how to work effectively with others.”
Mastin said she has more than 30 years of experience in private business and that some of that overlapped with the public sector. She said she also brings “knowledge of the issues of Helena, and the only reason I bring that knowledge is that I’m very involved in the community.”
McCabe said he has experience in government at the city, state and national levels, which helped him understand the importance of listening to input from citizens. He noted that the best solutions come from the local level, as officials in higher levels of government may not understand what it is like to live here.
Shirtliff said he has been dedicated to the community ever since he arrived here 13 years ago, noting that he has helped raise funds for several organizations including the Friendship Center and Florence Crittenton. “I’m very into collaborating but also into listening,” he said, adding that he is both willing to take the lead and follow the leadership of others.
Mangold said she managed a nearly $19 million budget as deputy director of the Montana Department of Agriculture. She said she has worked on public policy issues at the federal and state levels and has been monitoring issues at the local level.
What is your approach in handling complicated and controversial issues?
McGee said in such situations, he tries to stay calm. “Don’t get emotional about issues. If you do, you’re not going to look at them properly.” He said the approach that works best for him is to listen to citizens. “They own the departments. They own the city government.” He also stressed the importance of relying on city staff and advisory groups. “Put in the time to talk to people and communicate. Put in the time to study it on the Internet or wherever if it’s a really complicated issue. But put in the time.”
Harrington said jokingly, “We don’t have a ton of controversial issues at The Painted Pot." She said that when dealing with “difficult customers” that listening is of chief importance. “Most people, they just really want to know that they’re being heard and that their concerns are being acknowledged,” she said.
Juedeman said listening and understanding where others are coming from allows one to have a “values-based discussion.” “I really do feel like people do have a set of shared values. I think just about everyone who wants to contribute to a discussion about Helena loves this city,” he said. He also said he believes it is important to “respect expertise,” be it from a staff member or citizen.
Mastin said the starting point is listening, but one also must “disseminate facts.” “People need to feel heard. You absolutely have to feel heard, so I think that that’s a very big piece to this,” she said. Mastin said with any big city commission decision, there will always be a group of people unhappy, “but if you can communicate the reasons for your decision and be clear in that communication and if they feel they’ve been heard, that’s going to move that forward.”
McCabe said such issues are unavoidable, and “you have to be professional.” He said it is important to treat people with respect and civility, and he would expect the same from them in return.
Shirtliff said he has learned that “people just want to be heard,” even though they may sometimes express themselves with anger. He said it is important to listen to both sides, consider the facts and do your homework when facing issues like these.
Mangold said it is important to define the problem first, and then come to a consensus on how it should be addressed. This often involves defining the roles of everyone who needs to work on the issue and can sometimes include defining job descriptions, she said.
Based on your knowledge of city government, what do you see as top priorities for the city?
McGee said he wants to be a part of continuing what he sees as great strides being made by the city commission this year in areas such as transparency and hiring, citing the commission’s recent interim hire of Tim Burton to the position of city manager. “I think there’s always improvements that can be made to try to get the word out to citizens about what's going on. Open up. Try to get them more involved.” He said the city’s charter is up for renewal soon and that educating the public on its importance in the coming year is an example of prioritizing such public engagement. He also said “the basics” would be something he would prioritize as commissioner, including infrastructure and assessments.
Harrington said “(h)aving a business downtown, I have to say affordable housing has skyrocketed to the top of the list.” She lamented the growing unhoused population and runaway rental market. “I don’t know if there’s anything close to the affordable housing issue,” she said, adding that infrastructure and the public school system are also important priorities.
“I’m sure you’re going to hear this over and over again, affordable housing is the big issue,” Juedeman said. He cited former land use planner and author Charles Marohn’s work “Small Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity” as a possible model for addressing Helena’s housing shortage. He said upgrading the city’s infrastructure in a “financially responsible way” is also a priority. He added that keeping a closer eye on maintenance, “making sure the assets we already have are well maintained,” should be a chief component of the city’s infrastructure management.
Mastin said sustainable growth and affordable housing are at the top of her priorities list.
McCabe said he believes many local residents see the city government as a nuisance, and his top priority would be to gain the community’s respect through educating people about the importance of civic engagement. He also said Helena’s revenues, affordability and vision would be among his top priorities as a commissioner, adding that transportation is a problem and the city needs housing closer to commercial areas to help decrease commuter traffic.
Shirtliff said housing, workforce and childcare issues are top priorities not only in Helena, but also in Lewis and Clark County and throughout the region. He also mentioned the importance of safe schools, maintaining trails and infrastructure, and being friendly to businesses looking to relocate, start and expand here.
Mangold said affordable housing is one of the biggest issues, noting that it can be difficult to find housing for the women moving out of the YWCA. She also noted the importance of providing fire and police protection to an expanding city and improving costly infrastructure such as sewers, water service and roads.
Can you describe how a city commissioner differs in responsibility from other elected officials?
McGee said at the local level, “that’s where the rubber meets the road,” adding that the takeaway from that is such governance is personal. “It’s us working together. People working together,” he said.
Harrington said especially in Helena, life is “intensely local, which means you can’t really hide from the people you work for,” necessitating local elected officials “look the people you are governing in the eye all the time.”
Juedeman said the accessibility of local elected officials “is a big deal.” He said “the most important difference is that the work that you all do has a much greater immediate impact on the quality of life for the residents of this city than anything that’s done at the state or federal level.”
Mastin said the city commission is in a unique position in that it must operate under the guidance of Montana law, “but we also need to manage as a city and set our own priorities.”
McCabe said the city commission’s authority is granted by state statutes, which outline the responsibilities and limitations of the local governing body. He said it is important to make sure the public understands the authority and responsibilities of city government.
Shirtliff said the city commission is empowered by its charter as authorized by the state and federal government. He also noted that city commissioners are volunteers and live in the community they serve.
Mangold said city commissioners represent their constituents on a more personal level and handle a wide variety of issues.
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2022-08-20T14:28:08Z
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helenair.com
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Helena City Commission candidates field interview questions | Government & Politics | helenair.com
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Ken Robison Overholser Historical Research Center
The Mandan is a carefully constructed 63-foot replica of the keelboats used from 1831-1860 on the upper Missouri River during the fur trade era. Here the Mandan, with a full crew on board, was being filmed on the Snake River during the making of the movie “The Big Sky.”
Overholser Historical Research Center
Toward the end of the busy tourist season of 2021, Fort Benton faced a critical decision: Should the keelboat Mandan be saved?
The Mandan, built for the 1952 filming of famed author A.B. Guthrie’s classic movie, “The Big Sky,” has graced the historic levee at Fort Benton since 1964. Yet, in the fall of 2021, it was clear that without care and preservation, the keelboat had reached a stage where many were saying, “Tear it down.”
The keelboat Mandan on the Fort Benton levee during phase one reconstruction work in July.
Ken Robison photo
A few others responded, “Well, not so fast, after all it represents an important era in our past heritage.”
Meanwhile continued inaction threatened to solve the dilemma as snow, ice and rain further rotted the core to total ruin.
So, through the pages of the Fort Benton River Press I posed a question to the community: “What do we lose if we tear the Mandan down?” I suggested it’s a movie prop, more representational than real keelboat. Its wood is rotting and its mast endangered. It’ll cost much to belatedly begin to preserve and protect it. So, shall we let it go — maybe even replace it with a real keelboat?
But, I advocated, not so fast.
Before we destroy the Mandan, let’s think about what it represents. What does the Mandan mean to Fort Benton, all Montana, and to the nation? Can it be saved? But first, let’s look at a touch of history.
Joel Overholser, Fort Benton’s journalist-historian, wrote, “The keelboat Mandan was built as a lead character in the movie, ‘The Big Sky’ by A.B. Guthrie, Jr." His book, "The Big Sky," came out with acclaim in 1947.
When Guthrie received a Pulitzer Prize two years later for his follow-on book, “The Way West,” many believed the prize was one book too late.
In the words of a reviewer: “The (Big Sky) novel is stunning in its descriptions of the (Missouri) river and of the large lonely places, mountains, wildlife, and seasons of the West... I enjoyed this Western with the grandeur of its portrait of the West and with its portrayals of a rare, flawed and wild way of life. This is a book for reflective readers of American literature and for lovers of the West.”
Just over 50 years after Guthrie created “The Big Sky,” highly respected Montanan scholars William E. Farr and William W. Bevis surveyed Montana literature over the previous five decades and concluded:
“For better or for worse, A.B. Guthrie Jr.'s The Big Sky has been ... the master narrative, the canonical text of texts of modern Montana literature and historical thought, since its initial publication in 1947. As such, for those of us intimately involved in regionalism in its manifold forms it has informed and influenced much of our thinking -- overtly or insidiously, depending upon one's perspective -- over the last five-and-a-half decades. It taxes the imagination to perceive of another 20th century literary work that has had a similar impact on the inter-mountain West's collective consciousness. There simply is none.
... though Montana's literary outpouring has been nothing short of astonishing over the last half century, if you only have time ever to read one novel about Montana, read The Big Sky.”
The “western premiere” of the acclaimed movie “The Big Sky,” based on A.B. Guthrie’s novel, was held in Great Falls in August 1952.
Great Falls Tribune, Aug. 26, 1952
In 1952, “The Big Sky” movie was first released in Chicago and then New York City. The “western premiere” of “The Big Sky” followed at the Civic Center in Great Falls a few days later in August 1952, with a parade, a speech by Gov. John W. Bonner, and a Blackfeet tribal initiation.
In this first showing west of the Mississippi, festivities began with a parade down Central Avenue to the Civic Center. The parade featured the Elks drum and bugle corps, the Cascade County sheriff’s posse, the Blackfeet contingent and pioneer western vehicles from Charlie Bovey’s collection at Old Town at the Fairgrounds. Bonner spoke, thanking RKO-Radio Pictures, distributors of the film, for their donation to Montana of the early American keelboat Mandan, a "star" in the filming of the movie.
Nine Blackfeet attended the ceremonies. Members of the tribal council, they adopted Guthrie into the Blackfeet tribe during a program on the Civic Center stage.
“The Big Sky,” which starred Kirk Douglas, opened to critical acclaim with one reviewer writing: “This sublime 1952 black-and-white masterpiece by Howard Hawks is a particular favorite of mine -- mysterious, beautiful, and even utopian.”
In 2007, I received a fascinating email from Ron Swartz, the son of one of the crew that built the Mandan for the movie. Swartz, of Columbus, Ohio, wrote:
“Recently I discovered that Ft. Benton is home to the movie keelboat Mandan used in the 1952 film ‘The Big Sky.’ As the son of one of the crew who built this and two other versions of Mandan I’d be interested in how and when it was acquired by Ft. Benton ... three duplicate boats were built for different purposes in the filming.
“One remained in Hollywood where it was used for sound stage shooting. This one remained on display in Los Angeles at Travel Town in Griffith Park for many years. The other two were trucked, in pieces to Moran, Wyoming where the location filming was shot... One of the two Wyoming boats was used for shooting on Jackson Lake which was used to represent the lower reaches of the Missouri River. The third boat was used on the Snake River below the dam. This represented the smaller, swifter Missouri.
The keelboat Mandan was on display at the Montana Historical Society in Helena from 1954-1964. At the time it came to Fort Benton in 1964, the Mandan was the only replica keelboat in the U.S.
“While the first two boats used sail and man power for motivation, the one on the Snake was equipped with two inboard diesel engines to assist with moving the boat in the swift current. Following the filming, the two location boats were given away allegedly to the Park Service. Apparently, one made its way to Ft. Benton.”
Our “Keelboat” file at the Overholser Historical Research Center in Fort Benton provided the rest of the story. Keelboats brought trade goods to Fort Benton and other trading posts on the Upper Missouri for three decades before steamboats successfully navigated the upper river. These keelboats carried down furs and bison robes gathered in trade with the Blackfeet and other Native Nations.
The research staff employed by Winchester Pictures Corp. spent many weeks gathering knowledge about keelboats before the replicas were built. According to Guthrie, the boats built were accurate to the last detail from tiller to prow and keel to masthead.
After completion of filming for “The Big Sky” movie, Montana “outbid” both Wyoming and Missouri, apparently because Guthrie was Montanan. Howard Hawks, producer and director of the movie, donated the Mandan to the Montana Historical Society, and it was hauled in sections to Helena.
For more than a decade, the 63 foot by 12-1/2 foot keelboat was displayed in an open area behind the then new Veterans-Pioneer Memorial, home of the Montana Historical Society.
In 1964, Ted Yates borrowed the Mandan for use in making a Lewis & Clark documentary on the Missouri River at Fort Benton. While the Mandan was being unloaded from a highway department truck, the keelboat was damaged. Undaunted, Yates stuffed the interior with plastic foam and completed filming the boat on the river.
Because of the damage, the Montana Historical Society placed the Mandan on loan, to remain on display in Fort Benton. In 2005, the loan was made permanent.
For half a century, the movie prop keelboat Mandan has been a “Star” on the levee at Fort Benton.
Yet, the Mandan is much more than a movie prop. It represents an era in Montana history when keelboats were the king of river transportation before the steamboat era. And, most importantly, the Mandan represents one of Montana’s finest authors, A.B. Guthrie, who lived on the Rocky Mountain Front, and it symbolized both the greatest book -- “The Big Sky” -- and the finest movie, “The Big Sky,” about the fur trade on the Upper Missouri. Author -- book -- movie, all among Montana’s very finest. No replacement keelboat will relate directly to Guthrie and "The Big Sky" book and movie. So, I advocated, let’s save the Mandan.
Kirby Mathews and Henry Schnackenberg discuss the condition of the keelboat Mandan on the Fort Benton levee. Kirby led phase one of the Mandan reconstruction work that occurred this past July.
Local debate over the fate of the Mandan ended with the Community Improvement Association (CIA) determining that the iconic keelboat could and should be saved. With funds raised from the Montana History Foundation and other sources, the CIA recruited Montana woods master Kirby Mathews of Deer Lodge to lead the effort to reconstruct the Mandan.
This July a volunteer crew, led by Mathews, Garvey Wood and Henry Schnackenberg, began work on phase one of the Mandan rescue mission. For 10 days, the crew worked long hours to stabilize and rebuild the most endangered sections of the keelboat with plans in place for a second phase when funds are raised and time permits.
With the phase one work successfully completed and follow-on plans, the keelboat Mandan is being rescued as an important historic visible symbol of "The Big Sky" and early river transportation during the fur trade era.
Long live the Mandan.
Those interested in helping save the Mandan can make donations to the Fort Benton CIA. Box 313 Fort Benton, MT 59442-0313 marked "For Mandan." Ken Robison of Great Falls is a historian, author and board member of the Montana Historical Society.
The Big Sky
Fort Benton
Fort Benton River Press
Joel Overholser
William E. Farr
William W. Bevis
A.b. Guthrie Jr.
Gov. John W. Bonner
Rko-radio Pictures
Winchester Pictures Corp.
Ted Yates
Montana History Foundation
Kirby Mathews
Garvey Wood
Henry Schnackenberg
Ron Swartz
Watch Now: Top 20 films set in Montana
A list of the top 20 movies set in Montana.
Honoring Vietnam veterans and Prisoners of War: ‘They will have to kill me’
For all of us who fought in our country’s Southeast Asian wars, we have stories; yet it is not easy to talk or write about them.
Steamboat Bertrand's sinking made ripples in Montana
As the end of the Civil War neared in the spring of 1865, a flood of steamboats gathered at the St. Louis levee to load passengers and freight…
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2022-08-21T13:16:21Z
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helenair.com
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Saving the Mandan: The near death of a historic Montana symbol | State & Regional | helenair.com
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Chloe Moorman, Free Root's school board vice president, and Emily Warhank, Free roots board president, cut the ribbon the day before school starts.
Chloe Moorman, Free Roots' board vice president, and Emily Warhank, Free Roots' board president, cut the ribbon the day before school starts.
Not many people have what it takes to create a new school from the ground up in six months, but Emily Warhank, board president of Free Roots Alternative Learning Center, has it.
Warhank thanked the parents, families, board members, and students for all the work they put into starting Free Roots, and a pastor blessed the opening celebration.
“This all started from a conversation (Brittany MacDougall) and I had in my living room because we had kids who were needing something different. We just started brainstorming,” said Warhank.
In February, Warhank ran with the idea of a new private school in the Helena area and invited anyone interested to a meeting, and there was enough interest from the community to get Free Roots up and running. The school can hold up to 40 students, and Warhank stated they’re not at full capacity but close to it.
Free Roots' vision is “every student fully thriving academically, socially and spiritually.” The school’s mission “is to provide for every student a quality alternative, individualized, and biblically-based education in a nurturing environment,” according to their website.
It’s a K-8 school with two teachers in two classrooms - one for K through second grade and one for third through eighth grade. It is montessori style school in that students self-direct much of their education.
Inside the school already, one girl in a sundress is drawing her sister as a princess. A young boy sits playing with legos. In another room, a pre-teen is reading a book from the school library. School hasn’t even started yet.
Monday’s first day of school will start with core subjects like English, math, and science in the morning, and then, in the afternoon, children will move onto electives.
The electives offered this fall are baking, music, P.E. obstacle courses, science of plants, hands on history, creation history, travel the continents, stem challenge, and entrepreneur. These run on six week intervals.
“For the entrepreneur class, they’re going to create a business plan for the school coffee house, and then present it to see if they get funded,” said Chelsea Culpon, a mother of three students attending Free Roots part time this fall. “Then, those who continue in the entrepreneur class will come to school early and bake goods to sell at morning during drop-off.”
Outside the school is a freshly built playground with swings, a slide, a jungle gym, colorful painted tires, and more just waiting to be played with for the first time.
“I arranged the tires on the ground because they were upright at first, but now it's cool because it’s like a military drill,” said Joseph Culpon who’s going into the sixth grade.
Joseph’s younger brother, Nathan, had one hope going into the coming school year.
“Please, tell me there’s no homework,” stated Nathan while jumping from a swing.
Tuition is $550 per student or $450 if parents volunteer six hours a month. Some students go part time for the morning core classes and pay $300 a month.
The Culpon family has three children attending part time from 9 a.m. to noon. The rest of the time, their mother, Chelsea, homeschools them.
“We’re still considered homeschools by the state of Montana, but we’re switching for more curriculum - to have a different teacher experience, versus only mom being a teacher, and to strengthen their academic performance,” said Chelsea.
“Also for the social aspect, although they don’t seem to need it,” said Chris Culpon, the father of the Culpon children, as the Culpon kids ran around the playground playing amongst the group of Free Roots children.
For the staff and volunteers, there is a nursery at the school to make childcare accessible for their young children.
“It was really important for us to have free childcare for staff and volunteers, which is why I ended up (overseeing the nursery) because it was sort of my idea,” said Brittany MacDougall who has two children attending Free Roots. “Child care is hard. It is not widely available or affordable.”
MacDougall was a part of Free Roots from the initial conversation with Warhank months ago in Warhank’s living room. They’ve come a long way since then.
“I’m excited, I hope my first day will be like today, exciting,” said Isiah Warhank who’s going into kindergarten.
“I feel like the main thing is just that the kids really thrive, and they all feel really good about coming to school and enjoying themselves,” said Warhank. “That’s my vision. And that the parents all feel heard and their kids are getting what they need.”
Free Roots Alternative Learning Center
Emily Warhank
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2022-08-22T00:42:33Z
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helenair.com
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Free Roots Alternative Learning Center cuts the ribbon before the first day of school | Education | helenair.com
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Tom O’Connell
A brass chandelier from the state Capitol was displayed in Nevada City before it was returned to the Senate Chamber.
Provided by the Lewis and Clark Co. Heritage Tourism Council
The barrel vault ceiling was reinstalled in its original home over the Grand Stairway in the Montana Capitol as part of a restoration project in 1999-2000.
I suspect everyone reading this article has some special experiences in life that are indelibly etched into their memories. For me, as a young child growing up in Bozeman, it was the weekend drive to nearby places that provided opportunities for new experiences. One of the most frequent trips was Yellowstone Park, where I was amazed by the geysers, animals and most of all Old Faithful Inn. I will never forget standing against the mezzanine railing, watching the visitors below like bees near the gigantic stone fireplace. And when I gazed above my head, the wooden logs supporting the towering roof over the atrium seemed to go up forever. It was, and is, a majestic space.
Another destination that held fond memories for me was Virginia City. The trip usually included playing the music machines, a picnic in the park outside the Old Brewery and walking the boardwalks while peering through the storefront windows. Sometimes a stagecoach ride to Boot Hill cemetery or a Virginia City Players show was part of the plan. I got to know my way around Montana’s second territorial capital. There were also a few trips to Helena to see the state Capitol, but I must admit it did not pique my imagination to the same extent as the Old Faithful Inn or Virginia City.
As the years passed, I initiated drives to these spots, albeit less frequently than my parents had. While Yellowstone was unchanged except for the number of visitors, Virginia City had added a new attraction called Nevada City, a ghost town of historic buildings gathered from around the state by Charles and Sue Bovey, Virginia City’s owners. Many of the structures came from the Bovey’s temporary exhibit called Old Town at the Great Falls fairgrounds, including a hotel, a two-story outhouse and a wonderful Music Hall filled with nickelodeons, calliopes and player pianos. The Music Hall had a gigantic ornate brass chandelier with glass globes hanging from the rafters. The bottom was just inches off the floor. I remember wondering why it was there; it looked like it belonged in an opera house, not a room with a 10–12-foot ceiling at best. Little did I know that my journey as an architect would eventually coincide with these experiences.
In the mid-1950s, shortly after Nevada City was created, structural issues were found in the 1901 Capitol. While the 1911 additions were stable, the original building was structurally unsound and susceptible in a significant seismic event. The 38th Legislature approved a $4.9 million project for seismic work and modernization of the Capitol, and in the mid-1960s extensive remodel work began that basically removed everything in the original building except the masonry facade and the columns and beams. You could literally stand in the basement and see the ceilings of the fourth floor, as the floors between the stories had been demolished. Fortunately, the reconstruction was completed before any building failures took place. The project also modernized the original building’s interior. Gone was anything of 1901 vintage; it was now a 1960s updated Capitol that provided more, and safer, space for state government and the Legislature.
Charles Bovey was an antique enthusiast and renowned for his preservation of Montana living history. He collected artifacts and funded projects that allowed future generations to experience an 1880s Old West town. In the early 1940s he served in both the Montana House of Representatives and Senate. Fortunately, he was a state senator in 1963 when the Legislature approved the project for seismic work and modernization of the Capitol. I can only guess his reaction as stained glass, wooden doors and trim, floor tile, hardware, plumbing fixtures, fireplaces, light fixtures and other items too numerous to mention were removed. From the records I have reviewed, some historic items were given to the Montana Historical Society, some sold at auction, and others were not protected by a specific directive.
As a recent graduate of the MSU School of Architecture in 1970, I was fortunate to land a position at the State Architecture and Engineering Office in Helena. It wasn’t long before the building that “did not pique my imagination” as a child was a frequent work destination. When the new Justice Building was completed in 1982, many agencies in the Capitol relocated, leaving a lot of available space in the building. A planning group was formed that produced a Historic Structure Report of the Capitol that would provide an assessment for any future changes/improvements to the building. Soon after the report was completed, the legislature appropriated $6.7 million to restore the Capitol, but a conflict arose and the project was scaled back significantly. However, my interest in the Capitol had finally been piqued.
It took another decade, but in 1995 the legislature authorized $19.6 million for the restoration of the Capitol, of which $6.1 million was to be raised privately. The planning began! Technology and electrical services in the Capitol had to be updated and public access to the legislative process had to be improved. Hearing rooms were a major concern as well as an overall lack of space. Eventually the 1997 and 1999 legislatures authorized additional funds that brought the total to around $27 million. The 1997 legislative bill included an important provision that ensured the successful historic restoration of the Capitol -- the purchase of Virginia City and Nevada City. Sen. Bovey had since passed away and his son Ford was looking for a buyer. The state paid $6.5 million for the properties with the provision that all Capitol artifacts be returned to the state so they could be incorporated into the restoration project!
Hundreds of items from the Bovey property allowed the Capitol to be restored to its original grandeur. I now knew that the strange chandelier I had seen 30 years earlier in the Music Hall had originally hung in the Senate Chamber and that it would soon be returned along with the stained-glass skylight and barrel vault. Boxes of stored floor tile were used as models for reproductions in the same colors and patterns. The original law library chandeliers could be reinstalled as well as various sconces. The huge arched window in the Senate gallery was coming home and the “Driving of the Golden Spike” painting would return to its original location at the top of the grand stairs. The stars certainly aligned for this project because so many folks pulling together for a common goal. Be it the Legislature, elected officials, Capitol workers, consultants, contractors, fundraisers, the public or the numerous committee members who worked on the project, it was a job well done. And yes, the Capitol has grown to be a very special building to me. It just took a little longer than Old Faithful Inn!
Tom O'Connell is the former administrator of Montana's Architecture and Engineering Division and a member of the Lewis and Clark County Heritage Tourism Council, which provides the monthly "Nuggets From Helena" column for the Independent Record.
Charles Bovey
Nuggets From Helena: Grandstreet Theatre and its history
Though most people may have only known Grandstreet as a theater, this building has had many changes since its construction.
Nuggets from Helena: The history of the South-Central neighborhood
Those who preceded us came to this city to follow their dreams, pursue new adventures, or perhaps to seek the riches of the 1864 gold discovery.
Nuggets From Helena: History of Cruse Avenue
Cruse Avenue sits above the east side of downtown high, wide and empty. Almost 60 feet across, it carries less traffic than residential street…
Nuggets From Helena: Appreciating a true hidden gem
Often when “Nuggets” are written they are about historic structures in Helena that occupy a prominent location in the city and have well docum…
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2022-08-22T12:39:13Z
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helenair.com
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Nuggets From Helena: How the Montana Capitol was restored to its original grandeur | Local | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/nuggets-from-helena-how-the-montana-capitol-was-restored-to-its-original-grandeur/article_43d7a2e7-413a-51d0-9b29-3a96b4ed596b.html
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Stories of Honor: Vietnam veteran Juan Garza earned Purple Heart in An Hoa Valley
U.S. Marine Cpl. Juan Garza, in Vietnam, circa 1969.
Helena Vietnam combat veteran Juan Garza poses with his Purple Heart.
Photo by Curt Synness
By the night of March 17, 1969, Juan Garza’s Marine outfit had been battling the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the An Hoa Valley for two months.
“It was about 9:30 p.m., we had been in this area for about three days,” Garza wrote in his 1987 military bio. “A radioman and rifleman went out about 25 yards in front of us.”
Fire team leader Garza, from Fairview, Montana, and Terry “The Kid” Taylor, peered into the pitch blackness from their foxhole, straining to hear the slightest noise. Taylor whispered nervously, “Garza, it seems that every time they do something good for us, something goes wrong.”
Juan answered simply, “Yes Kid,” aware that the meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn, flown in earlier that evening, was their second hot meal in eight weeks in the bush.
“At 10 p.m. exactly, the radioman and rifleman came running back to our position yelling, ‘Don’t shoot!’” recounted Garza. “They said that there were (enemy) up the (ying-yang) out there.”
What happened in the next few moments culminated Garza’s combat service. And although the results of the exploding mortar remain his worst physical maladies, they're just some of the many emotional scars he still carries with him almost daily, 53 years later.
Juan Garza grew up on a farm in northeastern Montana. Good with his fists, he was a member of Fairview’s boxing team. One of Juan’s uncles served as a medic in World War II, and at just 19, he was killed at the Battle of the Bulge.
His two older brothers served in the Army as well; Emilio was stationed in Germany, while Troy was with the 69th Engineer Battalion in the Mekong Delta. “Three months after my graduation from Fairview High, I enlisted in the Marines, September 1967,” Juan, 73, told this reporter during a visit in his Helena home recently, “because I didn’t want someone else to take my place.”
In November 1968, he boarded a C-130 transport plane for Vietnam. At Da Nang’s First Marine Headquarters, Garza was assigned to India Company, 1st Marine Division, 3/26 (3rd Battalion, 26th Marines).
On New Year’s Day 1969, two days after his 20th birthday, they were helicoptered to the USS Tripoli, a chopper carrier. “While we were sleeping on the hanger deck, the medical personnel were stepping over us carrying dead marines in green bags,” he wrote.
Next, they were ordered on a 20-day mission, Operation Common Taylor, in an area called Arizona Territory in the Quang Nam province, 10 miles south of Da Nang. Their sister companies Charlie and Lima went into action first, with Charlie Company walking into a minefield.
“I was the third fire team leader in our squad,” Garza related. “The men under me were “Moz” Mozor, from Chicago, and ‘Park’ Parker, from Indiana. I can’t remember the Marine’s name from Oregon, but we called him Tingo Bell.
“Joe Chapburn was from Philadelphia, we called him Chappe, and Terry ‘Kid’ Taylor, the youngest in our platoon at 18, was from Yorktown, Pennsylvania. I, being of Mexican descent, was nicknamed Boing-Boing for Mexican jumping beans.”
Their first action in the An Hoa Valley took place after a week in country. As they settled in for the evening, the VC “sprayed the area with small arms fire,” killing one of the guys that came into the bush with Garza.
Two ambush teams set up at the treeline that night under a full moon. “It was about 3 a.m. when all hell broke loose,” he wrote. “About 10 Viet Cong were walking by us and we opened fire. It happened so quickly that the next thing we saw were dead bodies about six feet in front of us.”
Garza stated they had four platoons, the first, second and third took turns walking the line (up front), while the rest of the company followed in columns, and the fourth platoon was mortars. The Marines were pushing 18-hour days, getting just six hours of sleep, and sustaining heavy casualties.
“One night my platoon sergeant, SST Ira Franklin, told me that he had seven days left in Vietnam,” recalled Garza. “He showed me a picture of his wife and daughter. The next day we got hit by incoming mortar and he was killed.”
After about a month in country, they spent five days on a firebase hill. “We just guarded the perimeter, and at night each platoon had to send a fire team out on an ambush.”
Another time the PAVN opened fire inside their perimeter. It was raining, and Juan remembers stumbling over dead bodies and the smell blood. They were now on their 40th day in the bush with no relief, everyone’s hair was getting pretty long, and the Jarheads were wondering what happened with their “20-day mission.”
On about their 50th day in the bush, their platoon took part in a firefight involving a controversial order while walking the line. The Marines' ensuing casualties included seven killed and 10 wounded. Among the dead was their squad leader (who had argued in favor of his men) from an AK-47 round to the chest, and their corpsman.
As Navy Corpsman McDonald, whom Juan called one of the bravest men he’s ever met, lay dying under the hut, Garza watched him gasping for air. “Then his chest stopped rising, he was dead. He had been a very close friend of mine. I couldn’t break down because I was so pissed at everything.”
Then came the night of St. Patrick’s Day, 1969, their 60th day in the jungle. Park and Tingo Bell were sharing a foxhole, The Kid and Chappe shared the other hole. “Boing-Boing” Garza had his men lie low and took the first watch.
As he returned to the hole with Chapman and Taylor, the mortar platoon began firing in front of their position. “I knelt down next to (them), I had my hand on the Kid’s back,” he recounted. “I asked him if he could see anything and the next thing I remember, I was lying flat on my back.”
During the hostile fire, the next round landed directly in their foxhole. The Kid was killed instantly, and Chappe lay in the hole calling out, “Garza, help me.” He couldn’t move, answering, “I can’t.”
The corpsman ran up and tilted his head so that he wouldn’t choke on his own blood. His right leg was “hanging on by the muscles” and his left leg was broken. His jaw was shattered, most of his lower teeth were knocked out and his tongue had a deep slice in it.
“I heard Chappe gurgling in his blood. He didn’t believe in God, but his last words were, ‘God, help me!’ I prayed that his soul would go to heaven,” Garza recalled.
They put splints on his legs and packed gauze in his leg wounds and in his jaw. The machine gun sergeant knelt next to him: “Boing-Boing, you’re going home. You got your million-dollar wound.”
When they wheeled him into the Da Nang hospital’s operating room, he heard a doctor say, “This one ain’t gonna make it.” But his next memory was coming to the following day in the hospital, surrounded by shrieks of pain.
Still under sedation and the previous day’s happenings a blur, he asked the colonel how Chappe and the Kid were doing. When told they were dead, Juan broke down crying. The dam holding in all the pent-up emotions finally broke, and he couldn’t stop crying.
Next came two weeks in the hospital at Yokohama, Japan. Down to just 95 pounds from a muscular 150, he convalesced for four months at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, California, and received his discharge from the Marines on Dec. 31, 1969.
Garza came to Helena in 1973. His most glaring physical maladies consist of a baseball-sized hole in his right calf; a heel-lift on that same leg, which is 1 ½ inches shorter than the other. Since he can’t bend his knee, he has to turn around and walk down stairs backward.
He was exposed to napalm and Agent Orange.
Garza has battled with PTSD for over five decades, having undergone eight weeks of intense counseling at the Sheridan V.A. Center in Wyoming in 1987. But he’s managed to overcome a plethora of obstacles and has been a longtime stable family man, being the father of two sons from his first marriage, and two grown daughters with his current wife, Cindy.
During our interviews, Juan became emotional more than once, revisiting the horrific memories and painful losses of his buddies who didn’t come back from the war. But there were also times when he could laugh.
Like during the story of how he got his nickname Boing-Boing, when a radioman from Indiana handed him “mail from Crap Creek, Montana,” which contained a bean attached to a spring; or the time he was lobbing grenades at a VC nest 30 yards away. One bounced off a tree and rolled back toward them, and he covered up as dirt from the explosion pelted his helmet.
To Garza, among the saddest memories of Vietnam are those of the children.
“The villages … were just old men, women, and children,” he wrote in 1987. “I remember pulling the crying children away from their fathers or loved ones” that were old enough to be VC or NVA regulars, as they led them away blindfolded for interrogation. “I can still feel their little hands on me.”
Curt Synness, a Navy vet, can be reached at 406-594-2878 or curt52synness@gmail.com. He’s also on Twitter @curtsynness_IR
Juan Garza
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2022-08-22T12:39:19Z
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helenair.com
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Stories of Honor: Vietnam veteran Juan Garza earned Purple Heart in An Hoa Valley | Local | helenair.com
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THOMAS BAUMEISTER
Ring-necked pheasants are not native to North America but are widely distributed after being imported from Asia.
Billings Gazette photo
Checks and balances are a cornerstone of American democracy. This system of controls is also central to managing our fish and wildlife as a public trust resource in Montana. Here, our elected governor and legislators, along with the appointed fish and wildlife commissioners, have both the authority and duty to guide and approve how the department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks discharges its role as the custodian of our state’s wildlife and Montanans’ rights to hunt and fish.
Therefore, Montana hunters implore the Fish and Wildlife Commission to exercise its oversight powers and deny the approval sought to release tens of thousands of pen-raised pheasants on state-owned lands in Montana, to be decided on Aug. 25.
The impetus, rationale and execution of releasing pen-raised pheasants in Montana are ill-conceived. This saga has been a textbook example of the government putting the cart before the horse and validates the need for checks and balances.
It’s now upon the commission to stop this, and here’s why they should:
With disregard for the best available science, recommendations from biologists and concerns from the hunting community, FWP is poised to waste $1 million annually on pen-raised birds with a shockingly low survival rate. Rep. Keane wanted to rename the effort to the "owl-fox-coyote-recovery program" for good reason.
Montanans didn’t ask for this; there’s no documented public interest nor demand for pen-raised pheasant releases. Conversely, the proposal has received repeated and widespread condemnation from Montana’s hunting and conservation communities. Legislators who championed this idea appear more concerned with ensuring that state prisoners have day jobs raising pheasants than respecting the wishes of Montana hunters.
Then FWP misled the public during the environmental assessment process this spring, stating that the Legislature obligated FWP to develop the pheasant release program. This is false. Later, FWP quietly admitted that HB 637 merely authorized the department to spend up to $1 million each fiscal year for a pheasant program; it did not require this.
Despite widespread concern from the public and a failure to address the real and known risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza, the department proceeded regardless. As recently as July, poultry operations, not unlike the pheasant farm FWP hatched at the state prison, have experienced outbreaks.
While this is being pitched as an effort to recruit hunters, the connection between releasing pen-raised pheasants for teenagers to kill and creating new, lasting hunters is unconvincing. However, the long-term consequences that fabricated opportunities have on hunter conduct, skill development, fair-chase principles, the importance of habitat conservation, and hunter-landowner relationships are real and documented.
Finally, designated as a special project within the director’s office, the project has been shielded from public scrutiny and internal staff objections. We’re unconvinced that future pen-raising operations and releases will go smoothly since those responsible for this program lack technical and biological expertise. For example, during the first iteration of this release in 2021, it was carried out in Fergus County, which is prohibited by law from such releases.
This cock-brained pheasant idea goes against hunter’s wishes, against best science, against fair chase principles, against our hunting legacy, and against plain common sense.
As part of the system of checks and balances in a functioning democracy, all eyes are now upon the Fish and Wildlife Commission to put a stop to this madness. It’s time to kill this pheasant stocking program and, more importantly, to restore confidence in our system of managing fish and wildlife for and by the people instead of granting political favors while hoping no one will keep them in check. Let’s send the dollars back to the general fund with a kind request to the Legislature to invest instead in public access and habitat management – proven cornerstones that got us here in the first place.
Thomas Baumeister is the vice chair of the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, lives in Helena, and is an avid hunter of wild birds.
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2022-08-22T14:49:32Z
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helenair.com
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Thomas Baumeister: Time to kill FWP's pheasant stocking | Columnists | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/opinion/columnists/thomas-baumeister-time-to-kill-fwps-pheasant-stocking/article_0ac8a745-c24b-50ac-afe1-56e9639ca626.html
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https://helenair.com/opinion/columnists/thomas-baumeister-time-to-kill-fwps-pheasant-stocking/article_0ac8a745-c24b-50ac-afe1-56e9639ca626.html
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With the start of the new school year, traffic around buses and school zones is bound to increase.
“We can all do our part to ensure children get to and from school safely each day,” said Knudsen. “Please follow the laws to protect Montana students from unnecessary harm.”
Rep. Neil Duram, R-Eureka, a sergeant for the MHP, carried a bill during the last legislative session that requires buses to be equipped with a stop signal arm that can extend at least 4 1/2 feet from the bus at a height of no less than 3 feet if a route includes a stop where a student must cross the street. Additionally, a student cannot cross a street or enter or exit a school bus unless the road is partially blocked by the extended stop arm.
A portion of this bill went into effect last year, increasing the reckless driving penalties for drivers who pass, in either direction, a stopped school bus that is displaying the visual flashing red signal, from $500 to $1,000 or possible jail time, punishable upon conviction.
Buses are also equipped with cameras inside and out to catch reckless drivers not obeying traffic laws.
Some traffic laws to keep in mind when approaching a bus are: Prepare to slow down when you see the amber/yellow flashing lights. Stop 30 feet from a stopped school bus when it is flashing a red light; when a school bus is stopped at a four-way intersection, vehicles can’t turn left, turn right, or pass the school bus; when the stop arm is out on a school bus and there is a raised median, all traffic traveling in the same direction as the bus must stop; when the stop arm is out on a school bus on a non-divided highway or two-lane road, traffic traveling all directions must stop within 30 feet of the bus.
Another thing MHP wants Montana drivers to keep in mind is to pay attention and slow down for the changing speed limits in school zones, look for children crossing the street near schools and don’t pass a school bus that is stopped.
“It’s as easy as knowing the laws and being patient while paying attention to your surroundings,” MHP Col. Steve Lavin said. “These simple acts can save the lives of children and prevent injuries as they’re going between home and school.”
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2022-08-22T22:17:00Z
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helenair.com
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MHP offers back-to-school traffic safety reminders | Education | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/education/mhp-offers-back-to-school-traffic-safety-reminders/article_bf7bbff8-4221-54f1-b049-9e5f70e9673e.html
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Ryan will serve as deputy forest supervisor and Smith as the Belt Creek-White Sulphur Springs district ranger.
“Both Ryan and Smith have dedicated their careers to navigating challenging natural resource management issues while prioritizing local communities,” Forest Supervisor Emily Platt said in an email, adding she looks forward to the role they will play in working with local communities and advancing land management priorities of the forest.
Ryan is a third-generation Forest Service employee from Dillon. She studied western U.S. history and rangeland management at Montana State University. In 2009, she obtained her master of science in recreation management from the University of Montana.
While at school and for two years after graduating, she worked for the USDA Forest Service’s Region 1 Historic Preservation Team.
The crew rehabilitated Forest Service structures in front- and back-country situations. In 2012, Ryan moved to Utah where she spent five years on the Ashley National Forest’s Flaming Gorge Ranger District working as the special use permit administrator, district recreation program manager and deputy district ranger.
She came back home to Montana in 2017 as the district ranger for the Beaverhead – Deerlodge National Forest’s Wisdom Ranger District. She will start as the deputy forest supervisor for the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest on Aug. 29.
Smith will become the permanent Belt Creek – White Sulphur Springs District Ranger in September after serving as the acting ranger since late May. Smith is a native of Great Falls and developed her love of nature while roaming the forests and prairie on her family’s homestead near Helena, forest officials said. Smith has a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology and a master’s degree in resource conservation, both from The University of Montana. Smith has been the manager of the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest, west of Kings Hill, since 2012.
She oversaw maintenance of the facilities and collection of the long-term hydrology and forest ecology data. She has served as the primary liaison between the Rocky Mountain Research Station, university researchers and Belt Creek-White Sulphur Springs National Forest decision makers.
She has served as an ecologist at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab for 17 years. She enjoys hiking, walking, ice fishing and hunting with her husband and their friends.
Visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/hlcnf to learn more about the Forest.
Emily Platt
Belt Creek-white Sulphur Springs District
Clark National Forest
Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest officials are seeking information about vandalism to the Hellgate Pictographs that they believe occurre…
Groups sue federal government over revised plan for Helena National Forest
A group of wildlife advocates, hunters and anglers have filed a lawsuit against the federal government, saying the U.S. Forest Service erred in its decision to abandon all 10 “crucial wildlife standards” in a revised forest plan.
Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest adds 108 acres in land acquisition
The U.S. Forest Service announced Friday its acquisition of 108 acres of new public land to the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest portfolio.
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2022-08-22T22:17:06Z
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helenair.com
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Helena-Lewis and Clark Forest adds to leadership team | Local | helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/helena-lewis-and-clark-forest-adds-to-leadership-team/article_23710465-f0d8-5b2f-a444-1190f6d056cf.html
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https://helenair.com/news/local/helena-lewis-and-clark-forest-adds-to-leadership-team/article_23710465-f0d8-5b2f-a444-1190f6d056cf.html
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