text stringlengths 65 123k | url stringlengths 25 420 | crawl_date timestamp[us, tz=UTC]date 2022-04-01 01:00:57 2022-09-19 04:34:04 |
|---|---|---|
Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke to a crowd of regional energy industry leaders in Cheyenne, as part of the Rockies Petroleum Conference.
The Vice President was noticeably upbeat and energetic. He opened with a crowd pleaser.
“I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order,” he said to a room full of clapping. “And it's my privilege to be here in the great state of Wyoming at the Rockies Petroleum Conference, just 75 days away from a great victory for American energy independence.”
Pence referenced the upcoming fall election many times over the course of his almost hour-long speech. He drove home that he thinks the Biden administration’s climate policy is an attack on the oil and gas industries.
“What’s causing record inflation, what’s causing high gasoline prices, is not the war in Ukraine,” Pence said. “It’s the war on energy in America, and it has to stop, and it has to stop now.”
He said environmentalists like to fight the energy industry in court, but applauded Wyoming’s Governor Mark Gordon for fighting back.
“But one of the things I love about what Governor Mark Gordon is doing, he's headed to the courthouse too,” Pence said. “Let's go, right? Buckle up.”
Pence said the Trump administration put in place 300 conservative justices who will support the oil and gas industry in court battles.
However, according to a United Nations report from this spring, the extreme dangers of climate change can only be avoided through reducing greenhouse gas pollution, which is directly linked to the oil and gas industry, something Biden has tried to target through climate legislation.
Nevertheless, Pence said those policies must be reversed, and that the federal government needs to be less involved with extractive industry regulation. He said he anticipates Republicans will take back Congress in the upcoming fall elections, as well as the White House again in two years.
“When that day comes, I know the best days for Wyoming and America are yet to come,” Pence said. “So let’s get to work, friends. Let’s go make it happen. God bless you.”
Pence repeatedly thanked his Wyoming colleagues Senators Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso who also spoke at the conference.
In a question and answer session, an audience member asked Pence about the January Sixth attack on the capital. Reports later showed Pence was in danger, as rioters intended to stop him from certifying the 2020 election results.
“Look, I understand the disappointment in the election, I should remember I was on the ballot. But we have a constitution. And elections are governed at the state level,” he said. “Once the states had certified our elections, and once the courts had passed on that my duty was clear that day. And I'll always believe in my heart of hearts that I did my duty that day.”
Pence turned the conversation back to his main talking point of voting in upcoming elections.
“Elections are about the future,” he said.
Pence’s upbeat energy and repeated talk about Republicans taking back the White House at times seemed like a campaign speech. This summer he has hinted at the possibility of running for president in 2024. But, Pence spoke very positively about his transition to civilian life.
“I bought five acres and a pond. I bought a John Deere mower,” he said. “It wasn’t our first plan for these four years, but it’s been a blessing to be home, to be among family and friends and to just be ‘Mike’ in Indiana.” | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/politics-government/2022-08-25/mike-pence-discusses-energy-and-upcoming-elections-in-cheyenne | 2022-08-26T00:30:06Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.kitv.com/contact/meet-the-team/carly-yoshida/article_0a29c3f6-24cc-11ed-bcfa-4305f24046b6.html | 2022-08-26T00:43:07Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.kitv.com/news/business/bobs-bar-b-que-moving-to-new-honolulu-location/article_b0f5b2de-24d2-11ed-ba8f-a7a462b14ca0.html | 2022-08-26T00:43:13Z |
HILO, Hawaii (KITV4) -- "Put the knife down," the officer warned, but the man approached.
"I will shoot you if you don't put the knife down," the officer continued to yell.
But the man continued.
Two shots were fired and the man fell to the ground screaming as several additional officers arrived at the scene.
The suspect would later be immobilized by an electric gun.
But should have the police officer deployed his electric gun first? A firearms training expert weighed in.
"That gentleman had a knife in his hand and was charging after the officers. That is deadly force. They cannot respond with anything less at that moment. When they had other officers there, and they had officers with their firearms out, at that point, because it was safer, they could then utilize the taser," Raymond Craig told KITV4.
Craig, a retired law enforcement officer who now runs Smartraining Hawaii, says the video shows officers working in step to disarm the suspect.
"Taser, Taser," one called out.
Police Chief Paul Ferreira said in a statement, "The suspect is identified as Jordan Cacatian, male, 41, who has had numerous police contacts prior to this incident."
Ferreira described the suspect as having lacerations to wrists and having shattered a bone in the lower part of his leg from the gunshot wounds.
"The suspect was fortunate to be alive, in stable condition, following surgery. But was the intent to shoot the suspect in the leg? Not per training," Craig said. "It's never to go for that. It's always to go for center mass of the largest area which would be here (torso), that needs to stop the person and get them the help that they need."
So why the shot to the legs?
"Because he's moving backward, a little less control. So he was able to maintain control and still be accurate. I commend that restraint. But it did hit the leg, which worked. Nothing wrong with that at all. I commend their training," Craig concluded.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
Jeremy Lee joined KITV after over a decade & a half in broadcast news from coast to coast on the mainland. Jeremy most recently traveled the country documenting protests & civil unrest. | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/firearms-training-expert-weighs-in-on-big-island-police-involved-shooting/article_7798f306-245b-11ed-afea-1fb87ada16cf.html | 2022-08-26T00:43:19Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/hawaiian-airlines-flight-diverted-back-to-honolulu-after-pilots-smell-fumes-in-cockpit/article_1e28366e-24c5-11ed-8402-233353335a53.html | 2022-08-26T00:43:25Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.wyomingnews.com/boomerang-page-plan-aug-26/article_545c16da-24be-11ed-94c2-3bd1c0e134e9.html | 2022-08-26T01:25:17Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.wyomingnews.com/milestones/obituaries/nichelson-johnathan-allen/article_cbd31780-a2a9-552b-822e-171dfb448a4d.html | 2022-08-26T01:25:23Z |
The owner of the Elk Mountain Ranch broke federal law by blocking four hunters’ access to public land and by harassing and intimidating them, the hunters’ attorney alleges in new court papers.
The filing in a civil case in U.S. District Court by attorney Ryan Semerad marks the first time the four Missouri hunters have explicitly charged the ranch owner with violating U.S. statute. In court action to date, including at a criminal trial in Rawlins where the four men were found not guilty of criminal trespass, attorneys only suggested that the ranch owner violated the Unlawful Inclosures Act of 1885.
“We have relied on this [UIA] argument to make other arguments throughout this [civil] case and the criminal case,” Semerad wrote in an email, “but this is the first time we have made this argument/defense directly.”
A court ruling on the matter could have implications for a decades-old BLM interpretation that prohibits corner-crossing.
Corner crossing involves stepping from one piece of public land to another at the four-corner intersection with two pieces of private land. The four hunters crossed at such corners, without setting foot on the Elk Mountain Ranch, where public U.S. Bureau of Land Management property and private lands lie in a checkerboard pattern in Carbon County.
It is uncertain whether the allegation might trigger a federal investigation or other action against the official ranch owner Iron Bar Holdings, LLC, the company’s wealthy North Carolina owner Fred Eshelman, ranch property manager Steve Grende or any other party.
Aside from the routine practice of not commenting on pending or ongoing investigations, U.S. Attorney Nick Vassallo’s office couldn’t immediately explain the investigative process and what or whose allegations it probes. Eshelman’s attorney, along with the BLM, also did not respond to inquiries.
In a July 29 filing, attorney Semerad defended his clients against Eshelman’s civil claim.
“Plaintiff [Iron Bar Holdings] is now violating and has, at all times relevant to its claims in the Complaint, violated existing federal law … by unlawfully enclosing public lands and/or by using force, threats, intimidation, and other unlawful means to prevent or obstruct Defendants, as members of the public, from peaceably entering upon, freely passing over or through, or freely traveling over or through the public lands,” the document reads.
With the UIA, Congress protected legal access to federal property, especially in the West, by restricting landowners’ actions and structures. How and whether the UIA applies in the civil case could have a bearing on public access to some 8.3 million acres in the West, 2.4 million acres in Wyoming alone.
That’s the amount of acreage considered by the digital mapping company onX to be “corner-locked” by any definition that corner crossing is illegal.
During their 2021 hunt, the four hunters found two T-posts chained together at one checkerboard corner. They used a stile – a fence ladder – to climb over the obstacle. They claimed they were harassed, intimidated and threatened by Grende while hunting on public BLM land they accessed by corner crossing near the ranch.
Iron Bar’s civil suit claims the hunters damaged Eshelman’s ranch, a property that extends across more than 20,000 acres on and around wildlife-rich Elk Mountain. The ranch’s checkerboard layout “corner-locks” hundreds of acres of public land.
Separately, the Carbon County attorney in 2021 charged the four hunters with criminal trespass, arguing in the trial that they violated the ranch’s airspace. A Rawlins jury in April found them not guilty of the misdemeanor charges, but none of the six jurors explained their reasoning to reporters at the end of the circuit court trial.
Eshelman’s attorney, Gregory Weisz, filed Iron Bar’s separate civil suit in state court. But a federal judge moved that claim to his venue at the hunters’ request, agreeing that the issue involved federal statutes.
A section of the 1885 UIA titled “Obstruction of settlement on or transit over public lands” prohibits landowners from blocking “… any person from peaceably entering upon or establishing a settlement or residence on any tract of public land …” No person “shall prevent or obstruct free passage or transit over or through the public lands,” the UIA states.
But another clause appears to protect landowners, stating that the law “shall not be held to affect the right or title of persons, who have gone upon, improved, or occupied said lands under the land laws of the United States, claiming title thereto, in good faith.”
The federal law has teeth, if prosecutors choose to use them. Any “owner, part owner, or agent, or who shall aid, abet, counsel, advise, or assist in any violation” of the act who is found guilty can be fined up to $1,000, imprisoned for a year, or both.
From the BLM’s perspective, the UIA does not protect corner crossing as a means to access public land.
“There is no specific state or federal laws regarding corner crossings,” the agency states in a pamphlet that appears to have been updated in 2013. “Corner crossings in the checkerboard land pattern area or elsewhere are not considered legal public access.”
Courts could decide whether the BLM policy and the UIA are in conflict.
That pamphlet reflects a 1997 opinion by an Interior Department solicitor. In writing that, Lowell L. Madsen, assistant regional solicitor for the Rocky Mountain region, flatly stated that corner crossing was illegal because it cannot be done without violating private airspace.
“Under common law, the one who owns the surface of the ground has the exclusive right to everything which is above it,” his opinion states. In Wyoming law, “[t]he ownership of the space above the lands and waters of this state is declared to be vested in the several owners of the surface beneath subject to the right of flight …” Madsen wrote.
The solicitor even addressed the possibility that a stile could preclude trespass if all four of its feet were on public land at a checkerboard corner.
“[T]he stile would invade the airspace of the owner of the cornering private lands [and] constitute a trespass,” his opinion reads.
That passage was prescient. The hunters – Phillip Yeomans, Bradly Cape, John Slowensky and Zachary Smith – used a portable stile to climb over an obstruction erected at the four-corner intersection in question.
In the hunters’ criminal trial in Rawlins, Semerad challenged the airspace argument, emphasizing that the Wyoming law states airspace ownership is vested “in the several owners” of the property below, including the public – owners of the federal BLM parcels.
The federal civil trial – as-yet unscheduled – may address the two metal T-posts driven into Elk Mountain property at the four-corner intersection. Photographs show the posts connected across the corner by a wire and chain. The two posts were connected to nothing else – no property-line fences – a photograph shows.
After the hunters left the area in 2021, the chain was removed, Elk Mountain Ranch property manager Grende testified at the Rawlins trial.
“It was removed because it had no purpose,” he said in court.
Courts have defined what constitutes an illegal enclosure, according to Madsen, who quoted one ruling.
“[W]hen, under the guise of enclosing his own land, [a landowner] builds a fence which is useless for that purpose, and can only have been intended to enclose the land of the government, he is plainly within the (unlawful enclosures) statute, and is guilty of an unwarrantable appropriation of that which belongs to the public at large,” he wrote.
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/from_the_wire/corner-crossers-ranch-owner-broke-federal-access-law/article_6bca0be8-24cc-11ed-b162-0bd781ba3b72.html | 2022-08-26T01:25:29Z |
CHEYENNE – The Kiwanis, Rotary, Zonta and Lions Clubs of Cheyenne have all teamed up to sponsor a two-day food drive this weekend to support three local food banks – LCCC Western States Bank Food Pantry, Needs Inc. food pantry and Veteran’s Rock.
The food drive will take place this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. Collection boxes will be located both days at Albertsons on Yellowstone Road, King Soopers on Dell Range Boulevard, Safeway on South Greeley Highway and Walmart on Livingston Avenue.
In Wyoming, it is estimated that 86,000 residents struggle with food insecurity. In Laramie County alone, approximately 11% of households struggle with food insecurity, with the number increasing to 14% for those households with children. A large proportion of these individuals rely heavily on food banks and donations made possible by the community.
“Food insecurity is a real issue. Our clubs joined together because fighting hunger, especially within our community, is an ongoing problem that we are all committed to,” said Thomas Brantley, director with the Rotary Club of Cheyenne.
Collections will be taken outside at the front of each grocery store. Item requests vary for each beneficiary, but generally include peanut butter, jelly, rice sides, noodles, pasta and sauce, dry cereal, crackers, canned products, dry beans, oatmeal and other nonperishable food items.
A printed list of needs will be provided at each location so that shoppers interested in donating will know what to shop for.
In lieu of food donations, monetary donations may also be mailed to Food Drive, P.O. Box 2883, Cheyenne, WY 82003. Checks can be made out to one of the three beneficiaries receiving the collections. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/cheyenne-service-clubs-join-forces-to-support-local-food-banks/article_863a6166-24dc-11ed-9418-5b6e8e355602.html | 2022-08-26T01:25:36Z |
CHEYENNE – As efforts to establish a regional hydrogen hub in the Intermountain West continue, the Western Inter-States Hydrogen Hub coalition released a Request for Expression of Interest on Thursday to solicit input from key stakeholders.
The RFEI provides an avenue for stakeholders such as industry leaders, elected officials, community groups, tribes and the general public to provide input in creating a regional clean hydrogen hub across Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, according to a news release from the office of Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon.
In addition, the Rocky Mountain Alliance for Next Generation Energy launched a website that provides information about WISHH and its efforts to establish this hydrogen hub across the four-state region. The website, rangecollaborative.org, also creates a portal for interested parties and stakeholders to respond to the RFEI and offer information on how they could participate in the regional hydrogen hub.
On Feb. 23, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create the WISHH coalition. WISHH is coordinating and developing an application for the regional clean hydrogen hub funding allocated in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“Hydrogen projects will not be developed without major investment and buy-in from private companies. While our four states have worked out the parameters of our joint efforts, it is now time to find out what projects the public and industry will find feasible,” Gordon said in the release. “Wyoming has an all-of-the-above, net zero energy strategy and these partnerships will support that goal.”
Visitors to rangecollaborative.org can find details about WISHH members, highlights on the progress of developing the hub and express their interest in their hub involvement through the RFEI. The information submitted through the RFEI will be used to coordinate upcoming efforts in the four states, including the application for the Department of Energy’s Regional Hydrogen Hubs funding, expected to be submitted this fall. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/hydrogen-hub-coalition-releases-request-for-expressions-of-interest/article_95aa41e2-24d8-11ed-b05f-677e7864e8ff.html | 2022-08-26T01:25:42Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/police-skateboarder-struck-by-motorcycle-on-east-lincolnway/article_cf4bcfd8-24d3-11ed-8ad1-cfe76f622d9d.html | 2022-08-26T01:25:48Z |
When the 67th Wyoming Legislature convenes in January, more than one-third of the House of Representatives will be brand new. The Senate will have five new members, two of whom came from the House.
But the degree to which the new faces bring an ideological shift remains to be seen – in part because of contested House races in the November general election.
Challengers who ran anti-RINO – Republican in name only – campaigns defeated seven incumbents last week in the Republican primary.
Among the fallen incumbents is former Senate President Drew Perkins, R-Casper. Most high-profile legislative targets of the party’s right wing survived, however. Rep. Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale, and Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, both of whom serve in leadership roles, retained their seats.
With Democrats absent from 10 of 16 Senate contests and 43 of 62 House races, the Republican primary determined much of the Legislature’s make-up. Several Libertarian candidates are expected to appear on ballots in November, and independent candidates have until Aug. 29 to file – both factors could influence the body’s make-up. Meantime, other critical races will come down to a more traditional contest between a Republican and a Democrat.
Senate shakeups
Three members of the House Freedom Caucus – a coalition formed in 2020 to challenge what it described as moderate GOP legislative leadership – gambled their House seats for a shot at the Senate. Only one was successful.
Rep. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, beat incumbent Sen. R.J. Kost, R-Powell, and Kost’s predecessor, Ray Peterson, for Senate District 19.
Reps. Bob Wharff, R-Evanston, and Bill Fortner, R-Gillette, meanwhile, fell short. Wharff failed to oust Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Powell, from Senate District 15. Fortner was unable to dislodge Senate Majority Floor Leader Ogden Driskill from District 1.
About one-third of Wharff’s fundraising came from Dan and Carleen Brophy. The wealthy Jackson couple have developed a reputation for funding anti-establishment candidates in Wyoming. So far this cycle, the pair has spent more than $152,000, mostly on legislative candidates.
Out of 51 Brophy-backed legislative candidates, 21 lost their races, including incumbent Sen. Tom James, R-Green River, and Roger Connett, former chair of the Crook County GOP. Connett joined Fortner in challenging Driskill, who won the three-way race with about 40% of the vote.
The Brophys did not respond to WyoFile requests for comment.
As majority floor leader, Driskill is in line to be Senate president. The anonymous website wyorino.com labeled Driskill the June 2022 “RINO of the month.”
Speaker of the House Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, was the only other state representative to win a seat in the upper chamber. Senate District 23 was an open seat after Sen. Jeff Wasserburger, R-Gillette – July’s “RINO of the Month” – did not seek re-election. Barlow won handily against a write-in campaign by Patricia Junek.
The biggest upset in the Senate came in District 29. Challenger Bob Ide unseated Sen. Drew Perkins, R-Casper, by 302 votes. The race was the costliest legislative contest in the state’s history, with about $115,000 in contributions between the two candidates, according to campaign finance reports.
Perkins has served in the Senate since 2007, including as president of the body from 2019-20 and more recently as co-chair of the powerful Joint Appropriations Committee. During his long tenure, he played a key role in crafting important legislation, said Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander.
“That’s where Perkins was a star,” Case said. “He was always a builder. He could understand where legislation had to go, and the nuances.”
Case is less confident in Ide, who has not held public office before. Ide challenged Perkins before, in 2014, but lost that race by about 300 votes. Videos and photographs show Ide – who ran on a pro-freedom, small-government platform – in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, and close to the Capitol during the insurrection. Ide did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment.
Case, a 29-year veteran of the Wyoming Legislature, fended off his own primary election challenger, retired Colorado law enforcement officer Shawn Olmstead, with about 55% of the vote. Olmstead had the financial backing of the Brophys and was among the candidates invited to the all-day Save Wyoming rally in July.
The Fremont County GOP censured Case earlier this year for supporting Medicaid expansion, among other things.
“I stand tall, and the people in my district are going to decide whether I need to be thrown out or not,” Case said at the time. He won by about 480 votes.
Despite his victory, Case is concerned about the quality of legislation that will come out of this new Senate, he said. He’s also uncertain the body will get much done.
“I guarantee it’s harder. It’s harder when it’s this polarized,” Case said.
Concerns over quality and effectiveness have bubbled in recent years, especially as the success rate of committee bills has declined. In 2022, only 59% of introduced committee bills survived to become law – a 23-year low, according to the Legislative Service Office.
The House
House incumbents who lost to anti-RINO challengers were concentrated in central Wyoming. Reps. Aaron Clausen, R-Douglas, Joe MacGuire, R-Casper, and Pat Sweeney, R-Casper, all lost their races for reelection, as did Reps. JD Williams, R-Lusk, and Shelly Duncan, R-Lingle.
Two open House seats in northeast Wyoming also went to candidates expected to bolster the ranks of the Freedom Caucus – Abby Angelos and Ken Pendergraft.
A whistleblowers’ list obtained by WyoFile identified Pendergraft as a member of the far-right anti-government Oath Keepers group.
Angelos campaigned closely with Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, a vocal member of the House Freedom Caucus, who ran unopposed this year. Bear did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, Reps. Sandy Newsome, R-Cody, Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, John Eklund, R-Cheyenne, and Steve Harshman, R-Casper, all fended off Brophy-backed challengers.
Notably, so did Rep. Albert Sommers, who defeated Mike Schmid. As House majority floor leader, Sommers would traditionally be expected to become speaker of the house. But given some of the losses by moderates, that may not be a slam dunk, according to Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne.
“I think it’ll be probably the closest leadership votes we’ve ever had in my 20 years,” said Zwonitzer, who also fended off primary challengers after his party targeted him during the last session. His father and former lawmaker Dave Zwonitzer also won his primary bid for House District 8, which redistricting left open.
While the House Freedom Caucus did not come out of the primary with a resounding sweep, Zwonitzer said, the group appears to have gained at least two more seats. The caucus does not disclose its membership, but Zwonitzer and others estimate its members occupy 20 seats, nearly a third of the 62-member House. Should it pick up more seats in the general election, Zwonitzer said, the bloc could wield significant power, especially during budget sessions, like 2024, when bills require a two-thirds majority vote for introduction.
Because the Freedom Caucus operates behind the scenes, Zwonitzer said it is difficult to suss out aligned candidates. Plus, candidates that run anti-RINO campaigns sometimes come to different realizations in Cheyenne, Zwonitzer said.
“When they really get to see what we’re like and [that] it’s not super, liberal RINO-ville, and that things are pretty conservative here … a number of new legislators realize that it’s not as bad as it was made out to be believed every term,” Zwonitzer said.
General election showdowns
A handful of general-election contests will determine the final composition of the 67th Wyoming Legislature and with it the balance of power between traditional establishment Wyoming Republicans and the anti-establishment new wave.
In Albany County, Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, will face Republican Bryan Shuster for House District 14. Recently considered one of the safest Democratic seats in the Legislature, HD 14 has been redistricted to include the small town of Rock River, making it more competitive.
Former Democratic lawmaker Sara Burlingame is running for her old seat, House District 44, in Cheyenne against Republican Tamara Trujillo. Trujillo defeated Burlingame’s successor, John Romero-Martinez, in the primary. Legislative leadership had investigated Romero-Martinez for making death threats against Burlingame and Rep. Andi LeBeau, D-Riverton.
LeBeau, whose district encompasses the Wind River Indian Reservation, will face Sarah Penn, who beat two other Republicans in the primary.
The Senate was already further to the right than the House, according to Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson.
“And they’ve gotten even more further to the right than they were before. So I think there’s a higher risk in the Senate than there is in the House for crazy power dynamics,” Yin said.
Despite what he sees as a shift to the right, Yin said he thinks there are still plenty of Republican lawmakers that have “shared goals” with Democrats, such as education, keeping young people in Wyoming and lowering healthcare costs.
“What that looks like moving forward, I think, is going to involve a long discussion with a lot of people and will depend for sure on how these general elections turnout,” Yin said.
The general election is Nov. 8.
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/primaries-set-most-of-legislature-general-will-decide-balance-of-power/article_769733e6-24ce-11ed-96bf-57d52c8fc2aa.html | 2022-08-26T01:25:54Z |
CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, in partnership with the Department of Corrections, was recently awarded a $3.9 million Pathway Home 3 Grant.
Providing justice-involved individuals and incarcerated adults with critical skill building and support services prior to – as well as after – release, the grant provides the opportunity for these individuals to successfully re-enter their communities and the labor force. This grant is job-driven, and builds connections with local employers who enable returning citizens to secure employment, while advancing equity for individuals facing significant barriers to labor market re-entry – including incarcerated women.
DWS Director Robin Sessions Cooley explained in a news release that through this grant, DWS and DOC will teach returning citizens foundational skills, such as job readiness, employability, digital literacy and job search strategies.
“The grant also provides for additional occupational training, leading to industry-recognized credentials, to reduce the likelihood of recidivism,” Cooley said.
Both agencies will work in collaboration to serve 400 participants over the three-year course of the grant.
DOC Director Dan Shannon stated, "The Department of Corrections is very appreciative of the collaboration with the Department of Workforce Services. Our common goal of public safety is a key factor, and this partnership will provide those confined a validated opportunity for success when returning to our communities." | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/wyo-awarded-grant-to-support-adults-reentering-the-workforce-from-incarceration/article_fcabe8f8-24da-11ed-a9a4-83f0af370118.html | 2022-08-26T01:26:00Z |
CHEYENNE – Nonprofit organizations across the state can apply for a new round of grants of up to $10,000 through Wyoming Humanities.
Wyoming Crossroads Grants are part of an initiative to apply humanities perspectives locally to help the state realize growth out of change, according to a news release. Wyoming Humanities has taken the lead in this multi-faceted statewide campaign to dig deep into the themes of Wyoming’s identity, sense of community, connection to the land, persistence and ability to manage change.
Wyoming Crossroads Grants will support various public humanities projects across four broad categories: programming, publications, preservation and digital media projects.
Applications for programming or publication funding are due Oct. 14; digital media or preservation applications are due April 14, 2023.
The aim of the grant funding is to serve the three primary goals:
Increase Wyoming’s intellectual, community, social and civic wealth as the state restructures its economy.
Apply humanities programming in new and innovative ways to reach audiences that do not typically engage in public humanities.
Develop new partnerships with groups and associations not typically considered “humanities” or cultural organizations.
“I’ve heard from people asking whether they should apply or whether they fit the criteria,” said Chloe Flagg, the director of grants and programming with Wyoming Humanities. “The quick answer is often a resounding ‘yes’ – and if they have any questions, they should absolutely speak with us about these opportunities.”
Applicants will have the opportunity to expand on proposed projects during a conversation with Flagg and other members of the Wyoming Humanities team. Conversations will supplement applications and be used for evaluations. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/wyoming-humanities-opens-new-round-of-grants-for-nonprofit-organizations/article_9601427c-24d7-11ed-af76-c73e5f1d69a0.html | 2022-08-26T01:26:17Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/wyoming-state-museum-family-day-event-focuses-on-buzzing-bees/article_6c77f4ec-24db-11ed-900f-8b0d7994fadd.html | 2022-08-26T01:26:23Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.wyomingnews.com/rocketminer/deadline-to-request-bus-transportation-for-scsd-no-1-students-is-sept-6/article_90af3dee-24b7-11ed-a332-d3180a2da874.html | 2022-08-26T01:26:30Z |
Rock Springs librarian Sunny Hobbs’ daughter Daisy enjoys reading Maurice Sendak’s book before the exhibit of the original artwork arrives at the CFAC. The public is invited to the opening reception of the traveling exhibit of Sendak’s work to be held Sept. 1 from 4 to 6 p.m.
ROCK SPRINGS -- Maurice Sendak: the Memorial Exhibition is opening at the Community Fine Arts Center on Thursday, Sept. 1, with a public reception from 4 to 6 p.m.
A retrospective of original paintings and illustrations by Maurice Sendak has been touring many museums and libraries across the country since 2013. That year was the 50th anniversary of when the book “Where the Wild Things Are” was originally released. Presidents, renowned illustrators, friends and celebrities have shared a quote about the renowned author; how he inspired them, influenced their careers and touched their lives. The quotes will be presented together with the artwork, offering viewers food for thought as well as a feast for their eyes.
“We first arranged for this exhibit in 2017, but had to reschedule when the pandemic closed many public venues,” said Debora Soulé, CFAC director. “Now it’s finally here and we can’t wait to share in with our community. And not to give anything away, but there will be a special guest during the opening reception that the kids will not want to miss!”
The exhibit has been made possible by funding from the Sweetwater County Library Foundation and the CFAC programming supported by the city of Rock Springs.
The public is invited to the opening reception on Sept. 1 and the exhibit will be on display through Oct. 8. Also available to see is the permanent art collection owned by Sweetwater County School District No. 1. A small gift shop of local artists’ work is at the center and supports an annual scholarship for a Rock Springs senior student going to college.
The CFAC is a department of the Sweetwater County Library System and programming is supported by the City of Rock Springs. An extensive library on the arts is maintained by the CFAC for the public for research and checkout. The current center’s hours are Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 5 p.m. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/rocketminer/wild-things-are-happening-at-the-cfac/article_38075418-24b9-11ed-a36b-e3d58a285a33.html | 2022-08-26T01:26:36Z |
POWELL — At the start of the growing season, commodity prices suggested that farmers were going to be sitting pretty when the crops were harvested, but the increased cost of fuel, fertilizer, and labor have since dampened those earlier hopes.
“It’s not the banner year it could have been if those [production costs] had been back where they were historically,” said David Northrup, who grows beets, corn, barley, oats and hay in Park County.
Northrup said he had expected that the invasion of Ukraine, which exports a lot of corn and wheat, would have spelled big profits, but as inflation drove up prices, it drove those hopes down.
“Now it looks like we’re just going to have a regular year,” he said.
Ric Rodriguez, owner of Rodriguez Farms Inc., grows barley and beets on Heart
Mountain. He said the commodity prices will offset those increased costs of production, but they’re not to the finish line yet.
“The margins are pretty slim right now, and if you have any kind of a weather wreck or yield loss, your net income is going to be short,” he said.
As the season approached last spring, drought conditions were hanging heavy over much of the state, but toward the end of May and through the middle of June, the Big Horn Basin saw quite a bit of cool weather and regular moisture.
The moisture was needed, but it would have been more beneficial if it had come later on or earlier.
Corn and beans got planted later, which means a later harvest.
“That cold spring set things up for a different kind of year than we’re used to,” Northrup said. “Timing, timing, timing.”
Up on Heart Mountain, which typically gets more moisture than surrounding areas, the drought earlier in the year was so bad, Rodriguez said, that they had to start irrigation earlier than normal. He said it was the first time in 40 years that his farm had to water barley that early.
The cool, wet weather that came in May and June was ultimately good for the barley, he said, but not so good for the beets.
There was also some high-wind weather in late July, which Rodriguez said wasn’t good for the people growing grass seed.
“They lost some yield there because it just thrashed out the seed. I’ve never seen that happen,” he said.
Jeremiah Vardiman, agriculture and horticulture educator for the University of Wyoming Extension, said the weather this year has generally been good for pastures, which will benefit the ranchers.
“It was very good for forage production,” he said.
Weather can be fickle, and so what happens in one area may be different just 20 miles away. Northrup said he’s heard that the barley farmers in Burlington and up in Montana got moisture earlier than he did on his farm, so they’ll see some benefits from that.
How this year’s ag season turns out, Vardiman explained, depends on the final yields the farmers get, as well as how the weather goes this fall.
“Nobody knows exactly where they stand until everything is harvested and in the bank,” he said.
Rodriguez said he’s watching how his crops bulk up in the next few months. If things stay dry and warm, without being too hot, they’ll see a better margin.
“It depends on what Mother Nature does from now until the end,” he said.
Northrup is crossing his fingers that the area won’t get hit with an early frost, which can really slim up margins. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/agribusiness/as-local-harvest-approaches-farmers-watch-for-good-weather-to-bring-in-a-decent-year/article_fda8d7e2-24b8-11ed-94d7-dfc437530a13.html | 2022-08-26T01:26:42Z |
Work to complete the new Slade Elementary School in Laramie has been fast and furious the past few weeks, as seen in this Aug. 6 photo. But with a Wednesday deadline to pass an inspection, unfinished Americans With Disabilities Act issues will keep the $17.8 million school closed for the first two days of the new school year.
The first day of classes for Slade Elementary School students won’t begin Thursday morning as it will for other schools in Albany County School District 1.
The new $17.8 million school instead will open for the first time Monday, said ASD1 superintendent John Goldhardt.
While administrators originally had planned for the new school to receive its occupancy permit in time for Thursday, the permit was not approved because of a lack of tactile plates on the handicap parking sidewalk egress, an Americans with Disabilities Act requirement.
To complicate things, on Wednesday a worker hit a gas line at the school site at 1223 E. Shield St. in Laramie. While the Laramie Fire Department responded and fixed the line, the hiccup was one of many that has caused the school’s completion date to be pushed back multiple times.
“We’re highly disappointed that the building is not completely finished on time,” Goldhardt said. “We would rather have our kids there on the first day, but unfortunately we’re going to have to wait until Monday.
“But they will get the most beautiful elementary school in the state.”
Goldhardt clarified that the building is safe, but that school administrators want to be extra sure everything is ready for the students. While students are not allowed in the school without the occupancy permit, teachers have been allowed in to set up their classrooms, he said.
Classes at the other schools in Albany County School District will begin Thursday as planned. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/education/thursday-is-first-day-for-area-schools-except-slade-elementary/article_ef5ee096-24b8-11ed-a753-c71dd719c01f.html | 2022-08-26T01:26:48Z |
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
CHEYENNE – A former Cheyenne day care worker sentenced to probation for her role in the death of an 8-month-old girl intends to appeal her felony conviction to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
Kristina Eileen Croy was sentenced in late July to five years of probation, with a suspended sentence of five to seven years imprisonment, by Laramie County District Judge Peter Froelicher. She was also ordered to pay $5,482.04 in restitution.
Croy is also not allowed to care for any children under the age of 3 during her probationary period, excluding family members, and is not permitted to run a day care or offer babysitting services.
In early April, a jury found Croy guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the September 2019 death of Malia Gavagan. Croy had been accused of placing the infant in a too-small swaddling device against her mother’s wishes and against state guidelines, leading to her death. Croy was also accused of directing an employee of her day care to lie to police following the incident, and of changing her story about the incident.
An autopsy report concluded Malia died of positional asphyxia, meaning the infant’s position had prevented her from breathing properly, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Croy’s attorney, Dion Custis, filed a notice of appeal Aug. 17 in Laramie County District Court. On Wednesday, Custis told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that he and his client will “draft an appeal brief with errors made at trial.”
Following Croy’s sentencing last month, Custis told the WTE that he felt the sentence given to his client was “very appropriate.”
“She’s the ideal candidate for probation. There’s nothing in her background to warrant any type of prison sentence, and her conduct was obviously unintentional,” Custis said at the time.
Marcia Bean, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the state, gave a statement to the WTE on Wednesday regarding the notice of appeal.
“Every defendant has a right to appeal their convictions. Ms. Croy is no different,” Bean said in an email. “However, having said that, Judge Froelicher was very careful and diligent in overseeing the presentation of the state and defendant’s case. And the jury carefully deliberated before returning their verdict that Ms. Croy was guilty in causing the death of the infant.
“I cannot conceive of any issue that will be successful on appeal,” she continued. “Unfortunately, this just continues the pain the victim’s family is already suffering.”
After Croy’s sentencing, Bean told the WTE that, while the state believes “an imposed prison sentence was warranted,” the court has the final say, and that it understands a court “may see cases differently than the parties who litigate them.” She emphasized the “severity” of the case and its impact on the Gavagan family, and said she hoped the conclusion of sentencing would begin to bring them peace.
Bean, the county and prosecuting attorney for Big Horn County, had been appointed to prosecute the case because of the victim’s family’s ties to the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office.
Bean had asked for Croy to receive a prison sentence of three-and-a-half to 10 years. The judge rejected that proposal, in part because the crime was nonviolent and not intentional, and because he said Croy had done well on bond, he said.
In Wyoming, manslaughter is described as “unlawfully” killing a person “without malice, expressed or implied.” It carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Involuntary manslaughter under this statute is assumed to be a result of recklessness.
Hannah Black is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s criminal justice reporter. She can be reached at hblack@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3128. Follow her on Twitter at @hannahcblack. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/legal_and_courts/cheyenne-day-care-worker-to-appeal-manslaughter-conviction/article_d46c316c-24b8-11ed-8c97-6b6c19095d9a.html | 2022-08-26T01:26:54Z |
Loved ones remember ‘amazing’ couple killed in head-on crash while visiting Hawaii
HONOLULU (KHNL/KGMB/Gray News) - A Virginia couple is being remembered as pillars of their community after they were killed in a head-on crash during a trip to Hawaii this week.
KHNL/KGMB reports Ron and Michelle Hartman died Monday afternoon in a crash on the Kamehameha Highway in Kahuku.
Relatives said they leave behind three children, including a daughter, Holly, who was also involved in the crash and remains hospitalized.
“She [Holly] has multiple broken bones and internal injuries,” Tiffany Smith, a cousin of the Hartmans, said. “She does not really understand what’s going on. She keeps asking for her mom and dad and her dog.”
Smith said the couple was adored by many in their Virginia community.
“They created an amazing life for themselves and were very active in their church,” Smith said.
According to the family, the Hartmans were scheduled to return to the U.S. Wednesday after flying into the islands for their daughter’s Spartan Race at Kualoa Ranch.
The Hartmans’ two other children are reportedly still in Virginia, trying to make sense of the unfathomable.
“I don’t think it’s really kicked in,” Smith said. “I think they’re just going through the motions of figuring out what to do with the house, the dogs, the bodies and worrying about Holly.”
According to police, a pickup truck driven by a 27-year-old slammed into the couple’s vehicle head-on, and a double manslaughter case has since been opened.
Meanwhile, the Hartman family has started a GoFundMe to help cover travel, medical and funeral expenses.
Copyright 2022 KHNL/KGMB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/loved-ones-remember-amazing-couple-killed-head-on-crash-while-visiting-hawaii/ | 2022-08-26T01:32:46Z |
Police: 3-year-old shoots himself after getting gun from unlocked case
Published: Aug. 25, 2022 at 8:27 PM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB/Gray News) - A toddler in Florida shot and killed himself while playing with a gun he was able to get his hands on, according to police.
The Gainesville Police Department said the 3-year-old child grabbed a gun from an unlocked gun case inside a home in the Lamplighter Mobile Home Community on Wednesday.
WCJB reports the gun went off at around 6 p.m. and hit the child.
Police said two other juveniles witnessed the shooting.
The toddler was rushed to the hospital, where he died.
Detectives are investigating the incident. Authorities gave no immediate word if any charges would be filed.
Copyright 2022 WCJB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/police-3-year-old-shoots-himself-after-getting-gun-unlocked-case/ | 2022-08-26T01:32:52Z |
VIDEO: Brawl breaks out between Bengals, Rams during practice
Video contains mild language.
CINCINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) - A brawl broke out Thursday during the joint practice session between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams.
Tempers between the two sides escalated when Bengals offensive lineman La’el Collins and Rams linebacker Leonard Floyd exchanged punches.
An ugly brawl between the two sides ensued.
Rams star Aaron Donald grabbed the helmet of a Bengals player and started swinging.
Eventually, Donald had a hold of two Bengals players’ helmets.
Regardless of his actions, Donald is unlikely to face discipline from the NFL, according to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero.
A suspension for Donald would have to come from the Rams, Pelissero explained.
He wrote on Twitter: “Clubs -- not the NFL -- are responsible for overseeing conduct of players at practice, including joint practices. So fair to say league discipline for Aaron Donald (or anyone else) in today’s brouhaha is unlikely.”
The joint practice session came to a halt following the altercation.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor spoke after practice about what happened between the teams, saying: “Emotions run high. You’ve been working together for two days now, and that’s just some really competitive guys getting into it a little bit.”
The Bengals host the Rams Saturday at Paycor Stadium in the final preseason game.
Copyright 2022 WXIX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/video-brawl-breaks-out-between-bengals-rams-during-practice/ | 2022-08-26T01:32:59Z |
Loved ones remember ‘amazing’ couple killed in head-on crash while visiting Hawaii
HONOLULU (KHNL/KGMB/Gray News) - A Virginia couple is being remembered as pillars of their community after they were killed in a head-on crash during a trip to Hawaii this week.
KHNL/KGMB reports Ron and Michelle Hartman died Monday afternoon in a crash on the Kamehameha Highway in Kahuku.
Relatives said they leave behind three children, including a daughter, Holly, who was also involved in the crash and remains hospitalized.
“She [Holly] has multiple broken bones and internal injuries,” Tiffany Smith, a cousin of the Hartmans, said. “She does not really understand what’s going on. She keeps asking for her mom and dad and her dog.”
Smith said the couple was adored by many in their Virginia community.
“They created an amazing life for themselves and were very active in their church,” Smith said.
According to the family, the Hartmans were scheduled to return to the U.S. Wednesday after flying into the islands for their daughter’s Spartan Race at Kualoa Ranch.
The Hartmans’ two other children are reportedly still in Virginia, trying to make sense of the unfathomable.
“I don’t think it’s really kicked in,” Smith said. “I think they’re just going through the motions of figuring out what to do with the house, the dogs, the bodies and worrying about Holly.”
According to police, a pickup truck driven by a 27-year-old slammed into the couple’s vehicle head-on, and a double manslaughter case has since been opened.
Meanwhile, the Hartman family has started a GoFundMe to help cover travel, medical and funeral expenses.
Copyright 2022 KHNL/KGMB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/loved-ones-remember-amazing-couple-killed-head-on-crash-while-visiting-hawaii/ | 2022-08-26T01:40:49Z |
Police: 3-year-old shoots himself after getting gun from unlocked case
Published: Aug. 25, 2022 at 8:27 PM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB/Gray News) - A toddler in Florida shot and killed himself while playing with a gun he was able to get his hands on, according to police.
The Gainesville Police Department said the 3-year-old child grabbed a gun from an unlocked gun case inside a home in the Lamplighter Mobile Home Community on Wednesday.
WCJB reports the gun went off at around 6 p.m. and hit the child.
Police said two other juveniles witnessed the shooting.
The toddler was rushed to the hospital, where he died.
Detectives are investigating the incident. Authorities gave no immediate word if any charges would be filed.
Copyright 2022 WCJB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/police-3-year-old-shoots-himself-after-getting-gun-unlocked-case/ | 2022-08-26T01:40:56Z |
VIDEO: Brawl breaks out between Bengals, Rams during practice
Video contains mild language.
CINCINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) - A brawl broke out Thursday during the joint practice session between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams.
Tempers between the two sides escalated when Bengals offensive lineman La’el Collins and Rams linebacker Leonard Floyd exchanged punches.
An ugly brawl between the two sides ensued.
Rams star Aaron Donald grabbed the helmet of a Bengals player and started swinging.
Eventually, Donald had a hold of two Bengals players’ helmets.
Regardless of his actions, Donald is unlikely to face discipline from the NFL, according to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero.
A suspension for Donald would have to come from the Rams, Pelissero explained.
He wrote on Twitter: “Clubs -- not the NFL -- are responsible for overseeing conduct of players at practice, including joint practices. So fair to say league discipline for Aaron Donald (or anyone else) in today’s brouhaha is unlikely.”
The joint practice session came to a halt following the altercation.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor spoke after practice about what happened between the teams, saying: “Emotions run high. You’ve been working together for two days now, and that’s just some really competitive guys getting into it a little bit.”
The Bengals host the Rams Saturday at Paycor Stadium in the final preseason game.
Copyright 2022 WXIX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/video-brawl-breaks-out-between-bengals-rams-during-practice/ | 2022-08-26T01:41:03Z |
KAILUA, Hawaii (KITV4) – Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused a deadly fire and explosion inside of an ambulance that had just arrived at Adventist Health Castle in Kailua, Wednesday night.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Honolulu Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Director Dr. Jim Ireland led the press conference but would not speculate on a possible cause.
Ireland said the investigation is being handled by the Honolulu Fire Department, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health (HIOSH), Honolulu Police, and the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
According to EMS, a 91-year-old man was killed and a paramedic suffered critical injuries when the ambulance caught fire at the hospital. Both the patient and paramedic were riding in the back of the ambulance at the time of the incident.
"We had an ambulance tonight for reasons we don't understand catch on fire, possibly explode, prior to entering the hospital," Ireland said Wednesday night, not long after the incident happened. “We're all just very concerned about our team and the patient that lost their life.”
The patient was being taken to the emergency room in serious condition for an undisclosed medical issue when the fire broke out just after 8 p.m. That person died at the scene.
The Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) who was driving the ambulance was uninjured in the fire. The EMT tried to open the back doors but the fire made entry impossible, officials said.
The injured paramedic managed to escape from the burning ambulance on his own and walked into the Adventist ER with critical injuries. He was first treated by staff at Adventist before being taken to the Intensive Care Unit at the Straub Burn Unit in critical condition, officials said. That paramedic, only identified as a 36-year-old man, has been with Honolulu EMS for 10 years.
“Please keep our Paramedic in your thoughts. We are praying he makes a full recovery and know he’s in the best care with the talented team at the Straub Burn Unit,” Ireland said Wednesday night.
The EMS crew and ambulance was stationed out of Kaneohe. Ireland said the Kaneohe unit is out of service and will remain out of service until Friday. In the meantime, the private ambulance service American Medical Response is assisting in coverage of the area.
“All our paramedics, EMTs and dispatchers are all treasured members of our staff and or family, they save lives every day, and it's just very hard to be in a situation where our team is the ones who are injured. I'll just leave it at that. Please pray for him," Ireland said.
“We want to first say to the family of the deceased patient and to our Paramedic’s loved ones, Honolulu EMS and the City is going to work to ensure there are answers as to what happened. Every day we are the men and women who save lives and to have this happen has left us heartbroken,” he added.
Honolulu Firefighters responded quickly to the scene and had the fire under control within 11 minutes of their arrival, officials said.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. An EMS officials says the city will be handing over vehicle maintenance records to investigating parties as part of the investigation.
The President of Adventist Health Castle, Ryan Ashlock, issued the following statement on this incident:
“It is a devastating day for our Adventist Health Castle family. We extend our deepest sympathies to the patient’s loved ones during this difficult time. We are keeping the injured paramedic, a beloved member of our close-knit medical and emergency services community, in our thoughts and prayers. We are grateful to our ED and security staff for their efforts last night to keep our patients and employees safe.”
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi issued the following statement about this incident:
“Every day, we ask more of our EMS personnel than we do of almost anyone else. They selflessly, instinctively and heroically put themselves in harm’s way to keep the people of our communities safe, and I was heartbroken to learn about the tragic events that unfolded Wednesday night. We are devastated by the passing of the patient in last night’s incident, and our hearts go out to his family. And to the loved ones and colleagues of the Paramedic who was critically injured, we join you in praying for his speedy recovery and promise to do everything we possibly can to support you during this difficult time.”
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
Matthew has been the digital content manager for KITV4 since September 2021. Matthew is a prolific writer, editor, and self-described "newsie" who's worked in television markets in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii. | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/cause-of-deadly-ambulance-fire-explosion-at-adventist-health-castle-still-unknown/article_b0ea66d0-24a6-11ed-9b84-bb325c7f1315.html | 2022-08-26T02:34:47Z |
President Joe Biden offered one of his sharpest rebukes Thursday of Republicans who adhere to his predecessor's political credo, labeling it "semi-fascism" and predicting it has gone too far for most of the country.
It was a forceful kickoff to midterm politicking for the President, who later spoke to a capacity crowd of supporters in a Maryland high school gymnasium to test-run the message he is expected to tout aggressively for Democrats this fall.
"In 2020, you and 81 million Americans voted to save our democracy," Biden told a roaring crowd. "That's why Donald Trump isn't just a former president. He is a defeated former president."
The return to the campaign trail in the reliably Democratic Washington suburbs coincided with a winning streak for the President, including passage of new gun reforms and a major climate, health and tax law that is expected to form the centerpiece of Biden's midterm strategy.
But his attacks on Trump, and Republicans who have remained loyal to him, have also grown distinctly sharper as November's congressional contests approach.
"What we're seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy," Biden told a group of Democratic donors at a private home in Maryland ahead of the rally.
"It's not just Trump," he went on, "it's the entire philosophy that underpins the -- I'm going to say something: It's like semi-fascism."
Labeling Trump's views a type of proto-fascism marked an escalation in Biden's reprimands of his predecessor, and laid the groundwork for a midterm political message designed to paint his opponents as too extreme for most voters.
He used the presidential bully pulpit to call out GOP efforts to curtail women's reproductive rights, as well as draw contrasts on other key issues, as he made a wide-ranging midterm argument for Democrats.
The President also touted a series of recent legislative wins during the speech, including the climate, health care, and tax bill he signed into law and the CHIPS and Science Act aimed at boosting domestic semiconductor production, as well as last year's bipartisan infrastructure law.
His remarks come as Democrats appear to be closing an enthusiasm gap with voters, gaining some momentum in a series of recent contests. Democrats argue wins in some key races reflect how the Supreme Court's ruling ending federal abortion rights earlier this summer has shaken up the November race.
Earlier this week in upstate New York, Democrat Pat Ryan's victory in a special election offered a clear sign that the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade has animated the Democratic base. And earlier this month, Kansas voters turned out in droves to oppose a ballot measure that would have allowed lawmakers to ban abortion in the state, signaling the issue's galvanizing effect.
Ahead of the rally -- at a private fundraiser in Bethesda, Maryland -- Biden told roughly 100 attendees that he feels Democrats are headed "in the right direction." The fundraiser raised about $1 million for the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, a DNC official told the press pool.
"What we've demonstrated is we can take on the gun lobby, we can take on these other organizations and educate the American people on what's at stake. And I think we can win," Biden said.
A Republican National Committee spokesperson fired back at Biden's labeling of some Trump-following Republicans as "semi-fascist."
"Despicable," said Nathan Brand, an RNC spokesman. "Biden forced Americans out of their jobs, transferred money from working families to Harvard lawyers, and sent our country into a recession while families can't afford gas and groceries. Democrats don't care about suffering Americans -- they never did."
The Thursday speech offered a preview of how the President will personally continue to press the importance of the fight for reproductive rights with voters as his administration has taken steps toward shoring up protections for women in the aftermath of the June ruling. It comes as a slate of restrictive state abortion laws are set to take effect this week.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday at a press briefing that the White House remains "committed to restoring protections of Roe." But the executive branch is limited in its ability to respond to the Supreme Court's ruling.
The President and top administration officials have repeatedly called on Congress to restore the nationwide right to an abortion, but any such legislation to codify the protections in Roe v. Wade does not currently have the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. Biden and other top Democrats will need to make clear to voters their case for electing pro-abortion rights officials at the state level as Republican-led legislatures rush to limit the procedure.
Trigger laws in three states -- Idaho, Tennessee, and Texas -- take effect Thursday, banning abortions in their respective states with few exceptions, though litigation continues around certain aspects of some of those states' bans. These laws were designed to take effect 30 days following the US Supreme Court's transmission of its judgment overturning Roe v. Wade -- a procedural step by the court that occurred on July 26.
The White House has cast those laws -- as well as abortion laws in South Carolina, Alabama, Indiana, Arizona, and Georgia and proposed laws in South Carolina, Texas, and Missouri -- as "extreme."
Those state laws, White House Gender Policy Council Director Jen Klein said in an interview with CNN, "not only threaten the right to abortion, but they are putting women's lives and health at risk."
The President and White House officials have said that the Supreme Court's decision was "out of step" with a majority of Americans' views on the issue.
"Women in particular, but people generally across the political spectrum are angry, are scared, and are motivated by this wrongly-decided case," Klein said.
She added, "What we are seeing now across the country is that Americans need to make their voices heard to make sure their elected officials represent their views. In the interim, we are going to do everything we can."
Earlier this month, Biden signed an executive order that will help women travel out of state to receive abortions, ensure health care providers comply with federal law so women aren't delayed in getting care, and advances research and data collection on the matter. And in July, he signed an executive order that he said would safeguard access to abortion care and contraceptives, protect patient privacy, and establish a task force on reproductive health care access with members from multiple departments across the government.
The White House has also kept up a public pressure campaign. On Wednesday, Jean-Pierre lambasted a decision from a federal judge in Texas that blocked guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services that said emergency medical care must include abortion services. She called the ruling "devastating" in a statement and warned that women "may die as a result."
And in a statement on Thursday, Jean-Pierre offered support for a ruling in a federal Idaho district court that will allow women to continue to seek abortion care, saying it will "prevent serious harm to women in Idaho."
The DNC is also boosting messaging efforts on the issue, with a six-figure television ad buy across the country in July highlighting the "fight to protect abortion access." A seven-figure television and other media ad buy launched last week also mentions the issue, an effort to keep it top of voters' minds.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.kitv.com/news/national/biden-criticizes-semi-fascism-underpinning-the-extreme-maga-philosophy/article_68399e52-1911-50ff-8fae-ac03819d0063.html | 2022-08-26T02:34:53Z |
President Joe Biden walks on the beach with daughter Ashley Biden, in Rehoboth Beach, Del. on June 20. Two people have pleaded guilty in a scheme to peddle a diary and other items belonging to President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley to the conservative group Project Veritas, prosecutors said on August 25.
Two people who sold Ashley Biden's journal and other items to Project Veritas pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court on Thursday.
Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander pleaded guilty to stealing Biden's belongings and selling them to the conservative media group for $40,000, according to court documents.
In September 2020, Harris moved into a Delray Beach, Florida, home where the daughter of now-President Joe Biden had recently lived and temporarily stored some personal belongings. Harris solicited Kurlander's help to sell Biden's valuables to the highest bidder, according to the criminal information.
The pair attended a Donald Trump fundraiser on September 6, 2020, hoping to arrange a sale to the then-President's campaign.
According to the documents filed Thursday, Kurlander texted Harris after the event saying, "[Trump] campaign can't use it. They want it to go to the FBI. There is NO WAY [Trump] can use this. It has to be done a different way..."
Days later, they sent photos of some of Biden's belongings to Project Veritas. The organization paid for airfare, hotel, and a car service for the pair to transport the property from Florida to New York City, according to the court documents.
Kurlander acknowledged the crime in a text to Harris, saying that Project Veritas is in a "sketchy business," the court documents show.
"They are in a sketchy business and here they are taking what's literally a stolen diary and info . and trying to make a story that will ruin [Ashley Biden's] life and try and effect the election. [Ashley Biden] can easily be thinking all her stuff is there and not concerned about it. . we have to tread even more carefully and that stuff needs to be gone through by us and if anything worthwhile it needs to be turned over and MUST be out of that house," the text message said.
Harris took more of Biden's belongings from the house after their New York meeting at the request of Project Veritas, according to the court documents. A Project Veritas employee then flew down to Florida to get the additional items and shipped them back to New York, the court documents say.
No one from Project Veritas has been publicly charged in connection to the alleged scheme.
Harris and Kurlander pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, according to sentencing guidelines, but a judge will ultimately decide their sentence. They are not being held, pending their sentencing later this year.
Harris "accepted responsibility for what happened and she's looking forward to moving on with her life," her attorney Sanford Talkin told CNN.
CNN reached out to an attorney for Kurlander but did not immediately hear back.
In a statement released Thursday about the guilty pleas, Project Veritas said their employees' news gathering was "ethical and legal," adding: "A journalist's lawful receipt of material later alleged to be stolen is routine, commonplace, and protected by the First Amendment."
CNN has reached out to representatives for Biden for comment.
This story has been updated with additional details. | https://www.kitv.com/news/national/two-individuals-plead-guilty-to-stealing-and-selling-ashley-bidens-belongings-to-project-veritas/article_4fd39587-d04c-5288-8c14-754c118f4076.html | 2022-08-26T02:34:59Z |
Sometimes when Charlie Chasen or Michael Malone would be out and about on their own in Atlanta, people would mistake one for the other.
The long-time friends who live in Atlanta are not related. Their ancestors don't even come from the same part of the world. Malone's family came from the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. Chasen's family came from Scotland and Lithuania. They aren't the result of some deep dark family secret, either. Yet they look strikingly similar. It's not just their brown hair, beards and glasses. It's also the structure of their nose, their cheekbones, and the shape of their lips.
"Michael and I go way back and it's all been like a source of a lot of fun for us because over the years, we've been mistaken for each other all over the place all over Atlanta," Chasen told CNN's Don Lemon. "There's been some really interesting situations that have come out just because people thought we were the other person."
The two look so similar, even facial recognition software had a hard time telling them apart from identical twins. But now scientists think they can explain what it is that makes them look so similar -- and could explain why each of us may have doppelgänger.
People who resemble each other, but are not directly related, still seem to have genetic similarities, according to a new study.
Among those who had these genetic similarities, many also had similar weights, similar lifestyle factors, and similar behavioral traits like smoking and education levels. That could mean that genetic variation is related to physical appearance and also, potentially may influence some habits and behavior.
Scientists have long wondered what it is that creates a person's doppelgänger. Is it nature or nurture? A team of researchers in Spain tried to find out. Their results were published in the journal Cell Reports on Tuesday.
Dr. Manel Esteller, a researcher at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain, said that he worked on research involving twins in the past, but for this project, he was interested in people who look alike but have no actual family connection going back almost 100 years.
Art leads to science
So, he turned to art to answer a question about science. He and his co-authors recruited 32 people with look-alikes who were part of a photo project "I'm not a look-alike!," done by a Canadian artist, François Brunelle.
The researchers asked the pairs to do a DNA test. The pairs filled out questionnaires about their lives. The scientists also put their images through three different facial recognition programs. Of the people they recruited, 16 pairs had similar scores to identical twins identified using the same software. The other 16 pairs may have looked the same to the human eye, but the algorithm didn't think so in one of the facial recognition programs.
Researchers then took a closer look at participants' DNA. The pairs the facial recognition software said were similar had many more genes in common than the other 16 pairs.
"We were able to see that these look alike humans, in fact, they are sharing several genetic variants. And these are very common among them," Esteller said. "So they share these genetic variants that are related in a way that they have the shape of the nose, the eye, the mouth, the lips, and even the bone structure. And this was the main conclusion that genetics puts them together. "
These are similar codes, he said, but it is just by random chance.
"In the world right now, there are so many people that eventually the system is producing humans with similar DNA sequences," Esteller said. This likely was always true, but now with the internet, it's a lot easier to find them.
Other factors at play
When they looked closer at the pairs, they determined other factors were different, he said.
"There's the reason they are not completely identical," Esteller said.
When scientists looked closer at what they call the epigenomes of the doppelgängers that looked most alike, there were bigger differences. Epigenetics is the study of how the environment and behavior can cause changes in the way a person's genes work. When the scientists looked at the microbiome of the pairs that looked most alike, those were different, too. The microbiome are the microorganisms -- the viruses, bacteria, and fungi too small to see with the human eye -- that live in the human body.
"These results not only provide insights about the genetics that determine our face but also might have implications for the establishment of other human anthropometric properties and even personality characteristics," the study said.
The study does have limitations. The sample size was small, so it is difficult to say that these results would be true for a larger group of look-alikes. Although researchers believe that their findings would change in a larger group. The study also focused on pairs that were largely of European origin, so it is unclear if the results would be the same for people who come from other parts of the planet.
Dr. Karen Gripp a pediatrician and geneticist at Nemours Children's Health whose research is referenced in this work, said the study is really interesting and validates a lot of the research that comes before it.
Real world application of the science
Gripp uses facial analysis software in her work with patients who might have genetic conditions to assess her patient's facial features which might be suggestive of certain genetic conditions.
"It's a little bit different from the study, but it really points in the same direction that changes in a person's genetic material affect the facial structures, and that's really the same underlying assumption that was used in this study as being indeed confirmed, in contrast to some other things like the microbiome did not seem to be as relevant," Gripp said.
As far as the nature versus nurture question the study brings up, Gripp thinks that both are important.
"As a geneticist, I firmly believe in the nature and the genetic material being very important to almost everything, but that does not take away from saying nurture is just as important," Gripp said. "For every person to be successful in the world there are so many contributing factors and the environment is so important that I don't think it's one or the other."
A potential problem
The study she said also points out that there are still limits to the accuracy of facial recognition software. While several cities concerned about privacy issues and misidentification problems have enacted rules banning or restricting local police from using facial-recognition software, the federal government and some local law enforcement have been using it more frequently.
A 2021 federal investigation found that at least 16 federal agencies use it for digital access or cybersecurity, 6 use it to generate leads in criminal investigations, and 10 more said they planned to expand its use.
It's also used more commonly at airports. Some companies use it to help make hiring decisions. Some landlords have installed it so tenants can enter buildings. Some schools use it to take attendance and to monitor movements in public spaces on college campuses.
"If you translate this study into the real world, that shows you a potential pitfall that digital facial analysis tools could misidentify somebody," Gripp said.
While the technology has been improving, in past studies, the technology has already been shown to be far less accurate when identifying people of color, and several Black men, have been wrongfully arrested due to facial recognition.
"If you think about the facial recognition software that often opens computer screens and things like that, misidentification is possible. So I think this has taught us something very important about facial analysis tools too," Gripp said.
But the study does seem to suggest one conclusion. At least physically, we may not be all that unique.
"I think all of us right now have somebody that looks like us, a double," Esteller said.
While some would prefer to be singular in their look, Malone, who happens to be friends with his double, is heartened by the fact that he is not alone in his looks. His similarity to his friend has made them closer, and he thinks if more people knew how similar they were to others, that maybe they, too, could find commonality, especially in this polarized world.
"It's made me realize that we are all connected," Malone said. "We're all connected because humankind probably starts with one little thing."
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.kitv.com/news/national/you-have-a-doppelganger-and-probably-share-dna-with-them-new-study-suggests/article_1979f1c6-1296-5872-8c57-52b718d275a4.html | 2022-08-26T02:35:05Z |
In addition to illegal marijuana plants, Klamath County Sheriff's Office deputies seized cash, stolen weapons and fentanyl after a search warrant was served in the 7000 block of Wood Duck Drive near Bonanza.
Illegal marijuana plants grow in a greenhouse at a property in the 7000 block of Wood Duck Drive near Bonanza.
Klamath County Sheriff's Office
In addition to illegal marijuana plants, Klamath County Sheriff's Office deputies seized cash, stolen weapons and fentanyl after a search warrant was served in the 7000 block of Wood Duck Drive near Bonanza.
Klamath County Sheriff's Office
Illegal marijuana plants hang to dry in a greenhouse in the 7000 block of Wood Duck Drive near Bonanza.
Klamath County Sheriff's Office
Illegal marijuana plants grown in the 7000 block of Wood Duck Drive near Bonanza were destroyed after a search warrant was served Thursday, Aug. 25.
More than 4,500 illegal marijuana plants were seized Thursday, Aug. 25 during a bust of a Klamath County property.
Klamath County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) deputies served a search warrant in the 7000 block of Wood Duck Drive near Bonanza with assistance from the Basin InterAgency Narcotics Enforcement Team (BINET)
Deputies executing the search warrant oversaw the destruction of an illegal marijuana production operation.
The on-scene investigation revealed several large greenhouses containing more than 4,500 illegal marijuana plants nearly ready for harvest or in the process of being dried. Deputies estimate the value at more than $22 million based on current prices in eastern states where this product was destined. Deputies seized stolen weapons, cash and fentanyl at the location.
Because approximately five to 10 individuals fled into the hills as deputies arrived on scene, no arrests were made.
Also discovered was the illegal use of ground water to irrigate the marijuana. It is estimated that more than 4.1 million gallons of water was illegally misappropriated for this grow site over the past several months.
The KCSO and BINET were assisted by the Oregon State Police, Klamath County Solid Waste, Klamath County Code Enforcement, Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon State Waste Master. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/law_enforcement/klamath-county-sheriffs-office-busts-illegal-grow-site/article_fa1e8f94-24c8-11ed-ace1-eb30c04be032.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:02Z |
Sucker Spring, on the eastern shore of Upper Klamath Lake adjacent to Highway 97. In a normal water year, a foot or more of water would cover this gravel, allowing C'waam to access the cool, clean spring water to lay and fertilize their eggs.
The white markings on this boulder show how high the Upper Klamath Lake is supposed to get each spring to allow C'waam and Koptu to access their spawning habitat. While droughts would have naturally occurred before the watershed was altered, suckers would have had other options for lake spawning. Now, they're limited to just a couple hundred feet of it that's only accessible at high lake levels.
Sucker Spring, on the eastern shore of Upper Klamath Lake adjacent to Highway 97. In a normal water year, a foot or more of water would cover this gravel, allowing C'waam to access the cool, clean spring water to lay and fertilize their eggs.
Herald & News file photo
The white markings on this boulder show how high the Upper Klamath Lake is supposed to get each spring to allow C'waam and Koptu to access their spawning habitat. While droughts would have naturally occurred before the watershed was altered, suckers would have had other options for lake spawning. Now, they're limited to just a couple hundred feet of it that's only accessible at high lake levels.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Millions of dollars in federal funding is beginning to flow into the drought-stricken Klamath Basin that will be used for a variety of projects to improve water quality, irrigation efficiency and stabilize populations of endangered fish.
The U.S. Department of the Interior previously earmarked $162 million over five years for the basin. It comes from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed in 2021.
Officials announced the rollout of $26 million Tuesday, Aug. 23, calling it an "historic" investment for the region that has endured decades of conflict over water management for farms, ranches and several species of endangered fish.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the watershed straddling the Oregon-California border has long sustained tribal communities, productive agriculture and abundant fish and wildlife thanks to clean water, healthy forests and fertile land.
However, Haaland said recent water scarcity has put a tremendous strain on the area's fishing, farming and environment.
"With millions of dollars being invested in water and habitat resilience from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, help is on the way to restore this once abundant ecosystem for the benefit of all its inhabitants, human or otherwise," Haaland said in a statement.
A breakdown of the funding shows $10 million will go toward expanding the Klamath Falls National Fish Hatchery to increase rearing capacity for two species of critically endangered sucker fish found only in Upper Klamath Lake.
The species, known as C'waam and Koptu, are central to the Klamath Tribes' history and culture. At least one population of C'waam has plummeted to just a few thousand surviving individuals, according to tribal estimates.
When completed, the hatchery expansion will boost rearing capacity to 60,000 fish in an effort to stabilize rapidly dwindling populations.
Another $16 million will go toward other restoration projects — including more than $2.6 million for improving wetland habitat and irrigation efficiency at the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake national wildlife refuges, key stops for migratory birds and waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway.
The Klamath Tribes will also receive $913,786 for their salmon reintroduction program, and $875,061 to expand their own sucker-rearing effort.
Finally, the Bureau of Reclamation will collaborate with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund 10 grants totaling $2.2 million to improve fish and wildlife habitat as part of two programs — the Klamath River Coho Restoration Grant Program and the Trinity River Restoration Program.
Both programs aim to enhance coho recovery in the basin by removing fish passage barriers and providing cold, clean water for salmon to thrive.
Lawmakers from Oregon and California are hailing the package. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., called funding for the basin a "game-changer for water supply and fishery health."
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the investment comes as welcome news amid extreme drought.
"With no rain in immediate sight this summer, there's obviously much more work to be done during this brutally tough water year," Wyden said. "But I'm gratified the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has generated these federal resources for species recovery and habitat restoration to make sure every precious drop of water goes as far as possible in the basin." | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/klamath-basin-to-receive-26m-from-federal-infrastructure-package/article_b6ad8b5a-24a2-11ed-8244-ab1a670aa83e.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:08Z |
The downtown Klamath County Library has events almost every day for children, teens and families to enjoy in September.
The following events are available for children 12 and younger:
• Kids & Teens Lego Challenge – Beginning at 4 p.m., Thursday, Sept. play with the library’s collection of Lego bricks to tackle one of our build challenges, or design a creation of your own. For ages 4 to 18.
• Pre-K Storytime – 10:30 a.m. Fridays build the skills to start kindergarten with stories, games, crafts and more. For ages 4 and 5.
• Baby and Toddler Storytime – 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays enjoy stories, songs and games with your little ones. This event is aimed at newborns through about 3 years, but all are welcome.
• Tween Hangout Time – 4 p.m. Wednesdays we’re carving out a space just for tweens. No parents, no siblings, just fun times for tweens ages 8-12.
• Drop-In Baby & Toddler Playtime – 10 a.m. to noon Thursdays spend some quality time with your little ones! We’ll provide stories and activities for you to enjoy at your own pace. Geared toward little ones 3 and under and their grownups.
• Kids Drop-In Crafts – 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Third Thursday of the month (Sept. 15) and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the following Saturday (Sept. 17). Stop by for a project to work on at your own pace. For ages 3 to 12.
• All-Ages Family Board Game Fun – 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20 let’s play a variety of family-favorite board games. For kids and teens of all ages and their grownups, but players 6 and younger might need some extra adult help to participate.
And here’s what’s on deck for teens ages 12 to 18:
• Subscription Boxes – available while supplies last starting Sept. 1. Pick up an art-themed subscription box and get a pile of free swag, including a huge pile of art supplies. Each Subscription Box contains snacks, stickers, and other goodies — all for free. Our Subscription Boxes are extremely popular and supplies are limited, so don’t procrastinate on signing up for yours. Stop by the Youth Services desk, call 541-882-8894 or email smiller@klamathlibrary.org. (Received one in the past? Please return the box it came in to the library so we can keep the subscription boxes going next month!)
• Kids & Teens Lego Challenge – 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1. Play with the library’s collection of Lego bricks to tackle one of our build challenges, or design a creation of your own. For ages 4 to 18.
• Dungeons & Dragons – Players meet Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evenings, depending on their playgroup. No roleplaying experience needed. New players can jump in any time, but demand for this event is extremely high and you might have to join a waitlist to get a spot at the table. Stop by the Youth Services desk, call 541-882-8894 or email smiller@klamathlibrary.org for more information.
• Teen Craft Club – 3:30 p.m. each week we’ll have a new project: stained glass art, perler beads, canvas paintings, hydro dipping, loom bracelets, plushies, DIY bath products and much more.
• Teen Social Club – 3:30 p.m. Wednesdays. No plans, just vibes. Crafts, chill out… y’know. Whatever.
• Teen Game Club – 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15. We’re down for anything, whether it’s board games, video games, or video games.
• All-Ages Family Board Game Fun – 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20 let’s play a variety of family-favorite board games. For kids and teens of all ages and their grownups, but players 6 and younger might need some extra adult help to participate.
• Teen Writing Club – 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22 hang out with fellow writers and workshop your latest fanfic project, get feedback on a poem in progress or discover inspiration for dope rap lyrics with your friends.
• Dinner & Graphic Novels Club – 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29 enjoy a meal (usually pizza) and chat about graphic novels on the last Thursday of every month. (We'll be discussing the graphic novel adaptation of Jason Reynolds’ novel "Long Way Down." Sign up and pick up your copy of the book at the Youth Services desk starting Thursday, Sept. 1.)
Children 10 and younger must attend library events with a parent or guardian. For more information on any of these events, please call 541-882-8894 or stop by the downtown library’s Youth Services desk. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/klamath-county-library-offers-events-for-children-teens-families-in-september/article_f09720a6-24b1-11ed-a3e7-bb62ca96d5d0.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:14Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/klamath-symphony-to-hold-annual-outdoor-concert/article_10f945c2-24c1-11ed-9766-0bd01561a05f.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:21Z |
Oregon Republicans have made a ritual of tearing into Portland and its policies in election years. On Wednesday, the top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives decided to get in on the action.
As he raises funds for Republican congressional candidates throughout the West, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., appeared at a Tigard hotel to tear into “defund the police” policies he said had exacerbated crime in Portland and other liberal cities.
“The one size fits all that the Democrats have about just cutting police does not work,” he said. “We watch the homicides go up. Crime goes up. Communities’ economics go down. The real question is how many people in the last two years seek to go to downtown Portland.”
Appearing alongside U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, and three GOP candidates hoping to prevail in November, McCarthy talked of rising murders and disorder in Portland, explicitly tying those issues to a progressive movement to slash police funding.
Top Democrats including President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have said repeatedly they do not agree with a push to defund law enforcement espoused by some of their party’s most progressive members — and that they in fact have increased police funding. While McCarthy linked the majority party to defunding police, he made no actual claim that they’d done so, repeatedly touting federal grants for law enforcement and promising to bolster the criteria for receiving those grants.
Flanking McCarthy were mayors and other elected officials from cities in the Portland area, including Troutdale, Gresham, Canby and Aurora. As part of the event’s roundtable format, they brought public safety concerns to McCarthy, many urging him to ensure their small communities could compete for federal public safety money.
“We’ve seen firsthand the issues of Portland that have crept into Gresham,” said Gresham City Councilwoman Sue Piazza. “The crime in Gresham has gone up exponentially. It’s still unbelievable to me.”
Wednesday’s visit was further evidence that the GOP sees Oregon as a potentially fruitful place to flip Democratic House seats as it attempts to retake the chamber in November. McCarthy has made no secret that he badly wants to be the next speaker of the House.
Republicans currently hold just one of the state’s five congressional districts — a safely red Eastern Oregon seat occupied by Bentz. But with national political winds at their backs, newly reshaped district boundaries and a brand new congressional district open for the taking, the party believes it can net at least one additional seat in the Beaver State.
Republicans are particularly optimistic about the 5th Congressional District, which was reshaped in last year’s redistricting process and now stretches from Portland to Bend.
Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader, a seven-term incumbent, lost a primary challenge from Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a Terrebonne attorney and consultant who ran to his left. She faces Republican former Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a race many analysts believe is a toss-up. The political forecasting site fivethirtyeight currently gives Chavez-DeRemer a “slight edge.”
One sign of GOP bullishness in the district: The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC affiliated with McCarthy, announced in April it had spent $3.3 million to reserve ad space in the Portland market.
Republicans appear to have a tougher fight in the other two Oregon districts they’d like to flip this year.
In the 4th Congressional District that includes much of coastal and southwest Oregon, Democratic Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle and Republican Alek Skarlatos are vying to fill the opening left by outgoing Democratic Congressman Peter DeFazio. Skarlatos, a former Oregon Army National Guardsman who won fame for his role in foiling a 2015 terror attack in France, mounted a competitive campaign against DeFazio two years ago.
But under redistricting the seat has grown bluer, a factor DeFazio cited when announcing his retirement last year. Democrats now hold an 8% registration advantage. Even so, Republicans have named Skarlatos one of their “trailblazer” candidates, signaling they think he has a chance to flip the district.
One candidate national Republicans haven’t talked up much: Mike Erickson, a businessman and three-time congressional hopeful who won a competitive GOP primary for Oregon’s new 6th Congressional District.
Erickson faces state Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego, in a district that stretches from Portland to Salem and west to the coast range. Democrats hold a registration advantage of more than 5 points, and many forecasters believe the party has a good chance to prevail in the district.
McCarthy offered no hint Wednesday his candidates could lose.
“I believe this election’s gonna change the course of history,” he said. “Oregon could be a fundamental state that changes their direction. I think voters want to see something different.”
Portland has long served as a foil for Republican candidates keen to depict the city’s problems and policies as an example of Democratic failures or overreach. That’s been especially true since 2020, when a combination of pandemic closures, rising homelessness and convulsive racial justice protests attracted the attention of national Republicans like former President Donald Trump.
After calls by some progressive groups and city officials, Portland trimmed its police budget and got rid of a gun violence reduction team that critics charged disproportionately targeted Black residents. The city has since reinstated a similar effort under a different name and with more oversight.
At the same time, Portland has seen a surge in shootings and murders. In 2021, the city saw a record 92 homicides, and it could surpass that number this year. Assaults and property crime were up last year compared to 2019, according to Portland Police Bureau statistics.
Those issues are not unique to Portland, or even Democrat-led states and cities. McCarthy’s own hometown of Bakersfield, led by a Republican mayor and under the jurisdiction of a law-and-order district attorney, has seen increases in murder, sexual assault and robberies.
McCarthy suggested those problems came from state policies passed by Democrats.
Like many downtowns nationwide, Portland has also struggled to bounce back to pre-pandemic form. A recent much-publicized study suggested the city has lagged behind other large and mid-sized cities in attracting people back downtown. The Portland Business Alliance released its own data on Tuesday countering that narrative and suggesting foot traffic in the downtown core has surged of late.
McCarthy has recently traveled around the West touting candidates. On Monday, he stumped for a Republican congresswoman in New Mexico under the auspices of an education roundtable, and yesterday held an event in Las Vegas to support three GOP candidates in Nevada.
National Democrats issued a statement ahead of McCarthy’s visit. But where the House minority leader wanted to talk crime, the Democrats hammered on the issue they most want to put before voters: Abortion and the demise of Roe v. Wade.
“Oregonians overwhelmingly support a woman’s right to choose — but that hasn’t stopped Alek Skarlatos, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Mike Erickson from pushing an extreme anti-abortion agenda,” Johanna Warshaw, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement. “With this visit from Kevin McCarthy, the Oregon GOP field has made clear they would be a solid vote for a nationwide abortion ban.”
Congressman Earl Blumenauer, a Portland Democrat who is in no danger of losing his seat this year, offered his own thoughts. In a statement, he attacked McCarthy for threatening to investigate FBI officials after the agency executed a search warrant on former President Donald Trump’s home earlier this month. Agents were reportedly looking for documents Trump kept improperly when departing the White House, including highly sensitive material.
“The notion that Republican enablers want to discuss public safety while they excuse Donald Trump’s illegal handling of highly classified materials and attack the FBI is shameful,” Blumenauer’s statement said. “This is pure grandstanding when America needs leadership.” | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/national-gop-leader-mccarthy-piles-on-portland-criticism-in-pitch-for-oregon-republicans/article_21211828-24b0-11ed-8a82-27eeb8ab918c.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:27Z |
Members of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes can attend the state’s public universities and community colleges practically free this school year, and members of federally recognized tribes from around the country will be eligible for in-state tuition at the school’s two largest universities.
In May, the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission rolled out a grant for members of Oregon-based tribes, covering the average cost of attendance at the state’s eight public universities, 17 community colleges and 14 of the state’s 18 private nonprofit colleges. The grants cover everything not already paid by other state and federal aid and can be used to help cover housing and book costs, too.
This summer, three public universities in Oregon announced they’d go even further, offering in-state tuition to members of all 574 federally recognized tribes across the U.S. Among them are the state’s two largest universities by enrollment, Oregon State University and Portland State University. On Monday, Southern Oregon University announced it, too, would offer the same deal.
It makes Oregon one of a small but growing number of states offering free and reduced tuition to Native American students in an effort to boost enrollment and graduation rates among the population.
Nationwide, about 24% of Native American students ages 18 to 24 are enrolled in a college or university, about half the rate of the general population, according to the National Center of Education Statistics. In Oregon, about 48% of Native students enroll in college after high school, about 15% less than the rate for all high school graduates in the state.
Oregon now joins Michigan and Montana in making tuition at public universities free to members of tribes based in the state, along with several public universities doing so independently, such as the University of Minnesota at Morris and the University of Maine. This summer, the University of Arizona announced it would offer free tuition to Native students, and the University of California system, the nation’s largest, announced this summer that it would waive tuition for members of federally recognized tribes within its borders.
Free tuition for Oregon’s Native students
In late 2021, Gov. Kate Brown joined Oregon’s tribal leaders and the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission to discuss equity and access gaps in higher education among the state’s Native high school graduates and their non-Native peers. A survey from the commission found that 40% of Native American students at Oregon’s public universities who had received financial aid still struggled to afford college. The coalition recommended the Legislature allocate money to a grant program to cover those costs, and in February, the Legislature approved $19 million dollars to fund one year of the Tribal Student Grant program.
It will cover the average cost of attendance at public universities, community colleges and the bulk of tuition at most of the state’s private nonprofit schools for Native students enrolled in Oregon-based tribes. The grants awarded for private schools are capped at the cost of the average Oregon public university. The size of the grants are worked out between students and the school’s they attend, given other forms of aid that need to be accounted for, according to Endi Hartigan, communications director at the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
As of Aug. 22, 423 students had applied and are tentatively eligible for the grant, according to Hartigan. Despite an Aug. 1 application deadline, she said in an email that the commission will still continue to accept applications for any eligible student hoping to enroll this fall.
“We will continue to make awards until funds are exhausted,” she wrote.
The commission is recommending the grant program be continued after this school year, and will ask the Legislature to approve another round of funding in 2023.
A deal for tribal members across the U.S.
The state’s two biggest universities, Oregon State and Portland State, this summer announced they’d be offering in-state tuition to any Native student enrolled in one of 574 federally recognized tribes across the country.
Last fall, 174 Native students enrolled at OSU either online or on one of its two campuses in Corvallis and Bend, said Steve Clark, vice president for university relations and marketing.
He estimates about 29 were nonresident students who could qualify for the new in-state tuition policy this school year.
Portland State hasn’t collected data on the enrollment of Native students, according to Katy Swordfisk, a communications officer for the school. But under the new policy students from tribes based outside Oregon will benefit from in-state tuition that is about $10,000 less per year than it is for out-of-state students. Non-Oregon-based Native students will pay the in-state cost of about $19,000 per year as opposed to $29,000, a reduction of about $420 per credit hour.
Southern Oregon University in Ashland is the latest to announce it will offer in-state tuition to Native students from outside Oregon. In-state tuition means some Native students will pay up to $18,000 less this year depending on the state they are coming from and the degree program they choose, said university spokesperson Joe Mosley.
According to Mosley, 251 students at Southern Oregon University identified as Native American last fall. Among them, 167 were from Oregon but just 11 were enrolled in one of the state’s federally recognized tribes.
At each of these three universities, students who submit documentation of their tribal status while applying automatically qualify for in-state rates. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/oregon-joins-states-offering-free-and-reduced-college-tuition-for-native-americans-this-year/article_d68ae858-24a4-11ed-9bbb-e7ca09ac8ab3.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:33Z |
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, Aug. 26 a one-time cancellation of a portion of federal student loan debt. The new policy erases up to $20,000 for people who went to college on Pell Grants and $10,000 for those who didn’t — only if they’re making less than $125,000 per year.
Some Oregon students are appreciative of the move but think the president could have gone further.
According to 2019-20 school year data from Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission, or HECC, people who graduated with associate or bachelor’s degrees from Oregon’s public universities have an average of roughly $21,000 in federal loan debt. At community colleges, former students owe about $13,000 on their federal loans. Overall, 31% of Oregon undergraduates have federal loans, according to the Oregon HECC.
“I am thrilled for the mobility and relief this decision will bring to student debt holders in Oregon and across the country,” Luda Isakharov, the University of Oregon’s student body president, said in a statement to OPB. “However, a one-time cancellation is the bare minimum in addressing the skyrocketing costs of a college education.”
Isakharov is from Oregon, and she said she chose to go to UO because the in-state tuition made it more affordable.
“But, a lot of my friends and peers come to Oregon for programs from out-of-state, and the costs are extremely burdensome, and as a result they have to take on extremely large amounts of loans,” she said. “I just wish we could all choose our college, universities and educational paths based on our passions and the best fit for us and not be restrained by burdensome costs.”
Student leaders over at Oregon State University, Oregon’s largest public university, had a similar mixed reaction to Biden’s announcement. The Associated Students of Oregon State University said in a statement from its executive branch that while the partial loan cancellation will benefit many students, it’s not a permanent solution.
“While we wish for greater action from the federal government on the student debt crisis, we are pleased to hear that action is being taken,” ASOSU’s executive branch wrote. “We are hopeful that this represents a first step towards longer-term actions to combat the dramatically rising costs of higher education.”
Oregon politicians reacted positively to Biden’s announcement Wednesday.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., and U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, put out statements Wednesday morning in support of the president’s action.
Bonamici called the announcement “the most far-reaching in a long list of actions taken by the Biden administration to support student borrowers, reform the federal student loan system, and make our nation’s colleges and universities more affordable.”
Wyden tweeted that the one-time loan forgiveness is great news for students who are forced to make decisions between paying off their loans and making ends meet. He said he’ll continue to push for student debt relief in the future.
Merkley said he applauds the action but views it as a “down payment” on the overall solution. He says he’ll pursue larger reforms, including affordable income-based repayment plans.
As enrollment has dropped at most of Oregon’s public higher education institutions during the pandemic, tuition has increased. The rising cost of higher education has made it even harder for students to graduate without substantial debt.
The Oregon Student Association, a nonprofit student advocacy group, said while Biden’s partial debt cancellation is a step toward addressing the “broken higher education system,” more needs to be done.
“Public higher education continues to be drastically underfunded, forcing students to shoulder the burden of high tuition,” OSA’s executive committee told OPB in a statement. “We urge President Biden to expand financial aid, fully fund higher education, and cancel all student debt.”
UO student body president Isakharov says she hopes Biden’s announcement will start a wider conversation about access and affordability for college.
“Forgiving loans is an amazing step, but I want to know what is next — both from the federal government, but also from the state of Oregon,” Isakharov said. “The systematic issues that force people to take out loans in the first place are continuing to raise tuition prices.”
Along with the partial, one-time loan cancellation, Biden announced a cap on monthly payments for undergraduate federal loans — lowering it from 10% to 5% of a borrower’s discretionary income.
He said the U.S. Department of Education is also proposing a rule to overhaul income-driven repayment plans in a multitude of ways. That includes forgiving loan balances after 10 years of payments instead of 20 years for borrowers with original loan balances of $12,000 or less.
Biden announced he will extend the student loan pause one last time. It had been previously extended to Aug. 30, but Biden said it will now last through the end of this year. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/some-oregon-students-say-biden-s-loan-forgiveness-doesn-t-go-far-enough/article_081f13ce-24b1-11ed-96cb-fbeaff332886.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:39Z |
CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK — Most of the trails at Crater Lake National Park are relatively short, with many of the most popular only a half-mile to 3-1/2-miles round-trip. So, after making the drive to the park, why not add on a second hike, especially if it involves Cleetwood Cove.
Getting in two hikes in a day is a form of double dipping, but the best dip is in the lake itself.
An afternoon dip in Crater Lake was the reward after an earlier hike to Garfield Peak. It’s a peak that provides more than a peek because it includes eye-popping views of the lake along with unusual sightings of the Phantom Ship and distant mountains such as Scott, Thielsen, McLoughlin and Shasta. The 3.6-mile round-trip hike begins near the Crater Lake Lodge and gains more than 1,000-feet in elevation, topping out at 8,059 feet.
The rewards include the views from Garfield’s summit area, but the sights along the trail also provide excuses for periodic rest stops. Several overlooks at switchbacks offer varied perspectives of the lake and, as the trail gains elevation, sights include a succession of wildflowers, from pale blue lupine to red-tinted paintbrush, purple penstemon and more.
Alongside the trailside are evidence of Mount Mazama’s 7,700 years ago crater-creating explosions, including erratically shaped volcanic rubble called breccia. Frequent, too, especially along the trail’s upper sections, are gnarly, five-needled whitebark pines, trees that grow in high elevation areas.
Views of the lake and its surroundings from Garfield’s expansive summit area are the true reward, and it’s also a welcome respite to rehydrate, snack and take inevitable photos. Although rated as strenuous, on this morning, as on previous visits, the trail was well-populated with hikers of all ages, include children. It is recommended, however, that the hike be done in the morning because the trail up Garfield is in direct sunlight.
Instead of driving home after returning to Rim Village, my plans included a dip in the lake. A swim in Crater Lake has been an annual ritual for 40-plus years.
Reaching the lake requires a 1.1-mile downhill hike from the Cleetwood Cove parking lot/trailhead, which is 11 miles from Rim Village. While the downhill hike to the lake is relatively easy, the return from the lake to the parking area requires a 700-foot elevation gain. As some friends’ quip, “It’s a mile down to the lake, and five miles back up.” The views from the trail are breathtaking, and so is the climb, especially for people unaccustomed to the park’s high elevation. It’s also recommended that hikers be prepared with sturdy footwear and water.
Once at Cleetwood Cove, most people admire the lake-level views of Crater Lake’s stunningly blue waters and the surrounding caldera. Most summers, many make the hike to the lake to join a ranger-guided, concession boat tour. This year, however, tours were delayed but will begin Friday, Aug. 26.
With a maximum depth of 1,943 feet, Crater Lake is the deepest in North America and ninth deepest in the world. That depth also means the lake’s waters can be chillingly cold. By mid- to late-summer, water temperatures at Cleetwood Cove are refreshingly enjoyable. But people planning lake swims, or quick dips, should be prepared. According to “Reflections,” the park’s visitor guide, the lake’s water temperature is typically about 60 degrees in an average August. But, after this summer’s hotter than average days, swimming and just floating in the lake was pure pleasure.
“It’s great once you get used to it,” barked a swimmer to friends lounging on lakeside rocks.
“Come on in! It’s lovely!” a woman called out to her teenaged son. Once in he agreed, repeatedly shouting, “It’s so blue! It’s so blue!”
After my relaxing, cooling-off swim, a trio of golden-mantled ground squirrels relentlessly and unsuccessfully begged for crumbs during my quick snack. Then it was back in the lake for another dip.
As a second dip proved, two swims in Crater Lake is the best kind of double dipping. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/outdoors/double-dipping-at-crater-lake-boat-tours-have-begun/article_a487ce1a-24b9-11ed-af31-633d24ef122d.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:45Z |
Recently, I was having a discussion with a group of people who lamented the fact they hadn’t been born hundreds of years ago. It gave me pause.
Though we almost romanticize those who lived in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and many envision these folks as conquerors and explorers of an untamed world, people from that day and age had such comparatively limited life experience. Even a modern shut-in has seen so much more than the likes of these early pioneers, settlers and scientists that sorted and classified and codified the world in which we live, but we never talk about that.
Almost everything around us — from the rocks and fishes and aquatic insects to the rivers they inhabit — was named by a handful of wealthy, land-owning nominally Protestant white men, so assume that’s the group to which I refer.
Many of that era’s big names front-loaded their lives with major accomplishments coming in their 20s and 30s because the average life expectancy of a white American man at the time of the Declaration of Independence was between 35 and 40. Were I writing this 250 years ago, I’d probably be in my final decade.
The relative lack of technology, communication capabilities and transportation infrastructure at this time made your average American’s world very, very small. Sure, these men were some of the most well-traveled and cosmopolitan men of their day, and though a handful (like Benjamin Franklin) would still be cosmopolitan by today’s standards, most would not. Yet, these are the people who wrote the maps, described the animals and plants populating the lands and seas and gave us the words we take for granted today. And if you look closely, it really shows.
Nomenclature
Do you ever look at the name of a creek or mountain or fish or bird and think “How on earth did it get that name?”
Well it’s because it was likely named by someone who had never visited a foreign country (potentially not even another region of their own country), had an education a modern senior in high school has already outpaced and had social circles so homogenous that you wouldn’t be able to tell their resumes apart if you took the names off the papers.
Do you ever think about what would happen if we, societally, agreed to rename things based on modern nomenclature? Virtually everything that wasn’t invented this century was named hundreds of years ago. That’s kind of wild.
Sometimes, these names were based purely on physical characteristics that universally track (i.e., blackbirds). Others were based on a specific, observed behavior or characteristic that led to an inside joke, obscure reference or something equally esoteric. Take for instance the magpies, a group of birds believed to have been named in the Old World for “Margaret.” Maggie is short for Margaret, apparently a slang term for nagging women in England hundreds of years ago. It’s not too far off from modern, insulting usage of the name “Karen” to signify a woman who is entitled and a pain to be around except that it’s been permanently captured in our language instead of fading after a few weeks of heavy social media usage.
This is the best we could do, huh?
I’m not saying I could come up with better names, but certainly someone could. And in some cases, they have begun to.
Beginning in the 1980s, public sentiment to change Mount McKinley in Alaska to Mount Denali began building. The name change, in line with the comparatively local Athabascan Native language, officially took place in 2015. This makes more sense than naming it for a president who never even visited Alaska.
Now, I’m not advocating we replace every name with Native language, but that is a viable choice in some contexts. Also viable? Replacing names that are insulting, unkind or simply inaccurate.
It might leave a bit of confusion, but does it hurt anyone to change wildlife and wildlands named for racial slurs? Of course not. We have fixed the poorly named “squawfishes,” a vague slur against Native American women and given these fish the name “pikeminnows” as they are Cyprinids (minnows) that are highly predatory. Pikeminnow is a better name.
This is a great start. We should fix all of the offensive and insulting names first, but we shouldn’t stop there. Let’s also rename things with confusing, unclear or even inaccurate names.
Anglers fishing Florida, Alabama or Mississippi can find hogfish, pigfish, porkfish, hogsuckers and hogchokers in their local waters. Pigfish are from a family called “grunts” and make sounds an imaginative person could think came from a pig. The other aforementioned porcine-themed fish make zero sense. Lazy. Let’s fix them.
Many names are great and should stand.
I’m not disavowing the piles of viable work some of these early pioneers accomplished, but societally we can view people holistically and say they did a lot of good without glossing over their faults. Changing five or six of the 50 names a particular cartographer or naturalist came up with isn’t radical; it’s logical. If we follow the example of the pikeminnows, it’s possible to not only remove the uneducated, narrow-minded names that leave a bad taste in our mouths but then replace them with better ones. We can also fix the poorly-named features of the natural world and give them better names that simply fit.
Best of all, the originators of those names can’t be insulted — namely because they’re already dead. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/outdoors/its-time-to-change-insulting-hurtful-or-just-poorly-described-names/article_59ecf4c6-24b8-11ed-bab7-cbd5e9601ff2.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:52Z |
The 2021 Oregon Tech men’s soccer season was one for the record books.
Not only did the Hustlin’ Owls win their first Cascade Collegiate Conference regular-season and tournament titles, but the squad made its first appearance at the NAIA National Championships in the 14-year history of the program.
The key to the success was OIT’s defense – as the Owls led the entire NAIA in goals-against average (0.38), holding opponents to eight goals in 21 games. Tech recorded 13 clean sheets – including a scoreless draw in the NAIA Championships against Lyon (Ark.) – a match the club lost in penalties.
A year later, much is the same for the Hustlin’ Owls, but things have changed.
First-year coach Sean McManamon has replaced Casey Tate (who is now an assistant at Division I Grand Canyon), with the squad returning its entire goalkeeping crew and three of its four starting defenders – having to replace All-CCC pick, Kyle Sanchez.
“Training has been feisty,” McManamon said. “We have a competitive mindset and the boys have responded well. This team loves to be together; we are truly a family. We have no weak links – everyone has shown that they belong here.”
It starts in goal with Joel Witts, the 2021 CCC Defensive Player of the Year and NAIA All-American. The senior ranked fourth in the NAIA with a 0.40 goals-against average, holding opponents to eight goals in nearly 1,800 minutes.
Juniors Connor Caslin and Joshua Morgan will serve as the back-up goalkeepers, providing a safety net behind Witts. The duo saw limited action in 2021 – combining for 94 minutes played without allowing a goal.
“It is great to have three strong ‘keepers and knock-on wood, if anything ever happens to Joel, we have outstanding depth,” McManamon said. “His expertise is key to our success – it’s his fifth year and is going to be a huge piece for us. In sessions, you can see him open up, spreading the vocality to the group.”
In front of Witts, the Owls have a trio of quality center backs – each standing 6-foot-1 or taller.
Returning starter Reilly Combs is key in the middle – as the senior started all 20 games in 2021. He is joined by Sebastian Brunk, who will see extended playing time after serving in a reserve role a sophomore. The newcomer of the group, Cooper Hunt, has a big upside – as the 6-foot-4 freshman from Australia played at a high level prior to joining the Owls.
“The boys we have slotted in there have done a great job keeping the ball away from the net,” McManamon said. “It’s great to have a returning captain (Combs) at center back.”
On the outside, both starters return, with McManamon having the luxury of a deep pool of players to choose from.
Two-time All-CCC defender Brock Rideout has played in 48 career games and added a scoring punch in 2021, tallying eight goals with six assists. On the opposite side, Ryan Pearson has started all 26 games he has donned a Hustlin’ Owl uniform.
“Brock and Ryan do such a great job holding things down out wide and can lock players up one-vs.-one to not allow dangerous opportunities” the coach said. “I love it how Brock mixes between lines, which is dangerous for our opponents.”
Five others – three returners and two newcomers – will play behind Rideout and Pearson.
Senior Roni Rountree and juniors Ian Bermudez and Brandon Donat are battle-tested, combining for 43 appearances with the Owls. They will be joined by Ben Bradshaw from Forest Grove and Pima College transfer Eric McDonald.
“We have three of our four starters from our back line returning, giving us key experience,” McManamon said. “However, I believe the depth we have, especially with our outside defenders, will be huge.” | https://www.heraldandnews.com/sports/strength-of-oregon-tech-mens-soccer-team-will-again-be-on-defense/article_d431f29c-24bb-11ed-994f-07538ebebde1.html | 2022-08-26T02:59:58Z |
Man arrested after wanting to drug, kidnap child from school, authorities say
XENIA, Ohio (WXIX/Gray News) - Police in Ohio say a man is facing multiple charges after he admitted to going to an elementary school to drug and kidnap a child.
WXIX reports authorities were called Monday evening by St. Brigid School Principal Terry Adkins about an unknown man, later identified as 35-year-old Reid Duran, who entered the school during an open house.
According to Adkins, Duran lied to him about who he was and why he was at the school.
Court documents said Adkins met officers in the parking lot and told them about Duran.
Authorities said Duran told them several stories about why he was at the school before eventually admitting that he came to the school to kidnap a juvenile.
Court documents shared that Duran voluntarily went to the Xenia Police Division. However, while speaking to officers, he picked up a pen, stood up and violently lunged at an officer.
Sgt. Lon Etchison of the Xenia Police Division said the officer defended himself and took Duran into custody.
According to court documents, Duran told officers that he was attempting to find a small child for sexual favors at the school. He also claimed that he preferred children between the ages of five and 13.
Duran reportedly told officers that he planned to give a child a Starburst candy that would tranquilize them. He said he planned to wait until the child passed out and then remove them from school.
Sgt. Etchison said Duran attempted to escape police custody after his interview and had to be physically restrained. Duran was then taken to the Greene County Jail.
Police said Duran has been charged with one count of attempted kidnapping, one count of felonious assault and one count of escape. He is currently scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 29.
Police urged anyone with further information to contact the Xenia Police Division Criminal Investigation Section at 937-376-7026.
Copyright 2022 WXIX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/man-arrested-after-wanting-drug-kidnap-child-school-authorities-say/ | 2022-08-26T03:06:08Z |
Millions of Americans remain out of work due to long COVID, study finds
(CNN) - A new study has found that long COVID is preventing up to 4 million Americans from working.
The Brookings Institution estimates two to four million people are out of work due to long COVID, with 3 million full-time workers representing 1.8% of the entire U.S. civilian labor force.
The study said long COVID is a combination of symptoms that emerge months or even years after initially recovering from the virus.
People suffering from long COVID can face a range of symptoms that can make it challenging to work, including brain fog, anxiety, depression, fatigue and breathing problems.
The findings come as many industries struggle with severe labor shortages contributing to the worst inflation in four decades.
Brookings calls for government actions to ease the economic burden of long COVID, including better prevention and treatment and expanded paid sick leave.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/millions-americans-remain-out-work-due-long-covid-study-finds/ | 2022-08-26T03:06:14Z |
Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office greets college students in the Valley
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) - The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office visited two apartment complexes in the county to say hello and wish students well this school year.
“For us, a big part of this is just starting the school year off on the right note,” Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said. “We want to get out here, meet the kids, and let them know we’re here for them.”
Students who stopped by got to speak with the deputies while enjoying some snacks and water. They also received fliers with important phone numbers and reminders of local alcohol ordinances.
“It’s not us versus them,” Hutcheson said. “We want everyone to have some fun but to be safe. We don’t want anybody to be a victim of a crime. A lot of the crimes they may become victims of are preventable, so we’re trying to get information to them and let them know again- we’re here for you. We’re not here against you.”
Residents could also sign up for a free raffle that contained a $50 gift card and a bunch of goodies.
Before leaving, each person was reminded to call the Sheriff’s Office at any time.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/rockingham-county-sheriffs-office-greets-college-students-valley/ | 2022-08-26T03:06:20Z |
The last weekend of August will bring spotty rain/t-storms
A weak front moves into the area Friday-Saturday
Besides a stray shower or storm this evening (mainly east of I-77 and south of HWY 460), the majority of us will stay dry. We’ll otherwise be partly cloudy overnight, with low temps in the upper 50s and low 60s and areas of patchy fog.
Friday will bring a mix of sun and clouds, gradually increasing humidity, and temps in the upper 70s-mid 80s. A cold front sliding in from the northwest will bring a slightly better chance of hit-and-miss showers and thunderstorms here & there Friday afternoon and into the early evening. While severe weather nor flooding look to be major threats, stay weather aware and have raingear just in case if heading out for Football Friday .Friday night, storms will fade after sundown, and we’ll see some lingering clouds and areas of fog with low temps again in the upper 50s and low 60s.
Saturday will bring partly sunny skies, and a few more showers/storms during the afternoon/evening as the front continues to work its way through the area, eventually heading east by the second part of the weekend. High temps Saturday will again be just on either side of the 80 degree mark.\
We’ll see mainly sunny skies, with only and isolated shower or two on Sunday. Highs will again be seasonable, in the upper 70s-mid 80s. Stonger low pressure could bring a bit more of an unsettled weather pattern next week....and temps look to drop below normal again in time of the start of September...
STAY TUNED!
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) -
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/last-weekend-august-will-bring-spotty-raint-storms/ | 2022-08-26T03:12:04Z |
Man arrested after wanting to drug, kidnap child from school, authorities say
XENIA, Ohio (WXIX/Gray News) - Police in Ohio say a man is facing multiple charges after he admitted to going to an elementary school to drug and kidnap a child.
WXIX reports authorities were called Monday evening by St. Brigid School Principal Terry Adkins about an unknown man, later identified as 35-year-old Reid Duran, who entered the school during an open house.
According to Adkins, Duran lied to him about who he was and why he was at the school.
Court documents said Adkins met officers in the parking lot and told them about Duran.
Authorities said Duran told them several stories about why he was at the school before eventually admitting that he came to the school to kidnap a juvenile.
Court documents shared that Duran voluntarily went to the Xenia Police Division. However, while speaking to officers, he picked up a pen, stood up and violently lunged at an officer.
Sgt. Lon Etchison of the Xenia Police Division said the officer defended himself and took Duran into custody.
According to court documents, Duran told officers that he was attempting to find a small child for sexual favors at the school. He also claimed that he preferred children between the ages of five and 13.
Duran reportedly told officers that he planned to give a child a Starburst candy that would tranquilize them. He said he planned to wait until the child passed out and then remove them from school.
Sgt. Etchison said Duran attempted to escape police custody after his interview and had to be physically restrained. Duran was then taken to the Greene County Jail.
Police said Duran has been charged with one count of attempted kidnapping, one count of felonious assault and one count of escape. He is currently scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 29.
Police urged anyone with further information to contact the Xenia Police Division Criminal Investigation Section at 937-376-7026.
Copyright 2022 WXIX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/man-arrested-after-wanting-drug-kidnap-child-school-authorities-say/ | 2022-08-26T03:12:10Z |
Millions of Americans remain out of work due to long COVID, study finds
(CNN) - A new study has found that long COVID is preventing up to 4 million Americans from working.
The Brookings Institution estimates two to four million people are out of work due to long COVID, with 3 million full-time workers representing 1.8% of the entire U.S. civilian labor force.
The study said long COVID is a combination of symptoms that emerge months or even years after initially recovering from the virus.
People suffering from long COVID can face a range of symptoms that can make it challenging to work, including brain fog, anxiety, depression, fatigue and breathing problems.
The findings come as many industries struggle with severe labor shortages contributing to the worst inflation in four decades.
Brookings calls for government actions to ease the economic burden of long COVID, including better prevention and treatment and expanded paid sick leave.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/millions-americans-remain-out-work-due-long-covid-study-finds/ | 2022-08-26T03:12:17Z |
RIO DE JANEIRO — Before about 500 worshippers at an evangelical Christian church in a working-class Rio neighborhood, Pastor Abner Ferreira works himself into a frenzy describing the power of God to save souls.
But he's just as fervent about politics.
During the nearly three-hour service, Ferreira praises Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and displays photos of himself alongside the right-wing leader on a giant screen displayed behind the altar.
Later, in an interview with NPR, he says evangelicals are drawn to Bolsonaro because he promotes conservative family values and opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.
With the president seeking another four-year term in the Oct. 2 election, Ferreira predicts: "I am sure that evangelicals will vote massively for Bolsonaro."
Bolsonaro is relying on their support to pull off an upset. He trails his main opponent in the race, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in all of the polls, mainly due to Brazil's stagnant economy.
In the last election, evangelicals, who now make up nearly one-third of the Brazilian population, demonstrated their clout. Nearly 70% of them favored Bolsonaro ahead of the 2018 presidential election runoff, helping him score an easy victory, according to the Brazilian polling firm Datafolha.
Nearly one-fourth of Brazil's Congress is made up of evangelicals, while Bolsonaro has named them to his Cabinet. In December, he appointed the first-ever evangelical pastor, André Mendonça, to the Supreme Court. Upon the announcement, first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, a fervent evangelical, was ecstatic, jumping up and down shouting "Hallelujah!"
It's a huge change for Brazil, which has long been the world's largest Roman Catholic country. For a time in the 1800s, Catholicism was its official religion while other denominations were not allowed to open churches, says Juliano Spyer, a Brazilian anthropologist who studies the evangelical movement.
Evangelicals — conservative Protestants who, in general, believe the Bible is the ultimate moral authority and that lives must be transformed through a "born-again" experience — made up just a tiny fraction of the population.
But amid mass migration from the countryside to Brazilian cities that started in the 1950s, evangelical churches began sprouting up in poor urban neighborhoods.
"People were coming from all sorts of places. They were disconnected from their families. And the church became this substitution for a family," Spyer says.
He recalls doing field work in a poor settlement near the Atlantic coast city of Salvador. It had one Catholic church and 80 evangelical churches which, due to fewer internal regulations and bureaucracy, are easier to open. In impoverished areas ignored by the government, he says evangelicals have stepped in to provide everything from spiritual guidance to day care and after-school sports programs.
"If you lose your job, there is an infrastructure for you to receive help. If your kid is involved in drugs, you can find a lawyer. So it's a huge attraction to be part of that organization," he says.
Among the faith's best-known projects are drug-rehabilitation centers, like the Desafio Jovem Ebenézer facility about an hour west of Rio. There, 128 live-in patients receive religious instruction and classes in auto mechanics and other technical training as they recover from addictions to cocaine, heroin and alcohol.
One of the supervisors, Carlos Faria, is a former drug addict who was treated here. He was living in the streets of São Paulo when evangelical pastors invited him into a church. Soon afterward, he was admitted to the rehab center where, Faria says, through the help of God, he kicked his cocaine addiction.
"I was going through some very hard times," Faria says as he walks around the grounds of the treatment center. "But I found refuge in Jesus Christ."
Evangelicals now make up 31% of Brazil's population, according to a 2020 survey by Datafolha. They're still outnumbered by Catholics, who make up about 51%, according to the survey, but evangelicals are growing at a much faster clip.
Looking ahead, José Eustaquio Alves, a demographer formerly with the government's Institute of Geography and Statistics, told the Infobae news service that evangelicals would match the Catholic population by 2032.
"In 10 years, Brazil will cease to be a Catholic country," Fabio Zanini, a columnist for Folha de S.Paulo newspaper who covered the rise of Bolsonaro and the religious right, told NPR.
However, not all evangelicals are conservatives. Many are poor, single mothers, and of African descent, and have often voted for left-wing political candidates due to their economic proposals, says Anna Virginia Balloussier, a Brazilian journalist who is writing a book about the country's evangelical movement.
Lula, as the former leftist president is known, is Catholic but he is also trying to woo evangelical voters, who analysts say are often more politically active.
"The evangelical community is more engaged in everything they do. And so it's easier to mobilize people in evangelical churches right now," Balloussier told NPR.
Bolsonaro is working hard to prevent evangelicals from defecting to Lula. At a meeting with evangelical pastors last month, Bolsonaro declared that real Christians don't vote for left-wing candidates. At another encounter in May, he told pastors that God entrusted in him a hard mission — the mission of leading Brazil.
The pastors responded with a standing ovation for Bolsonaro — and then by praying for him.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-25/behind-in-polls-brazils-bolsonaro-hopes-evangelicals-will-carry-him-to-reelection | 2022-08-26T03:30:42Z |
Myanmar authorities have detained a British former ambassador and her Burmese husband, a senior military officer in the capital, Naypyidaw, confirmed.
In a statement released late Thursday, Myanmar's military said Vickie Bowman and her husband, former political prisoner and artist Htein Lin, are being detained for immigration offenses. Earlier in the day, a senior military source said Bowman had been detained for sending information to the group Justice for Myanmar and others opposed to military rule.
Representatives from Justice for Myanmar emphatically denied the allegation as "false" and said the group has never had contact with Bowman. It called for the couple's release and for the release of all those detained by the "illegal junta."
Bowman served as ambassador to Myanmar from 2002-2006 and currently is the director at the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business. Her husband Htein Lin is one of Myanmar's most famous artists and is a veteran activist. He has previously spent time in prison for his opposition to an earlier junta.
The military leadership in Myanmar overthrew the elected civilian government in early 2021, jailing many senior members of the government, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Australian economist Sean Turnell, an adviser to Suu Kyi, was arrested days after last year's coup and is being tried along with her on several charges.
The military junta has also clamped down on press freedoms. American journalist Danny Fenster was sentenced to 11 years in November for incitement and other offenses but was released days later and allowed to leave the country. In August of this year, a Japanese journalist was detained in the country and charged with violating immigration law and encouraging dissent against the army.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-25/myanmar-authorities-detain-the-u-k-s-former-ambassador-to-the-country | 2022-08-26T03:30:48Z |
Your farm enhancements could be free with CREP
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - Efforts to improve water quality and preserve wildlife habitats continue.
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Project (CREP) is “one of Virginia’s most active water quality partnership efforts.” It is a partnership between the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Farm Service Agency that offers incentives to farmers who adopt conservation practices.
According to National Affairs Coordinator from the Virginia Farm Bureau, Ben Rowe, adding riparian, grass, and shrub buffers and wetlands are some of the improvement practices they look at.
Rowe explained that Virginia is divided into two CREPS: the Chesapeake Bay CREP, which includes the bay watershed and the Southern Rivers CREP is everything else.
He hopes that farmers will take advantage of the program before the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan Phase 3 deadline, which requires a certain improvement to water quality by 2025. There is a lot of work left to be done.
“[The Chesapeake Bay] CREP calls for planting 22,000 acres of riparian buffer and 300 acres of wetland restoration,” he said. “The Southern Rivers CREP aims to put 13,500 acres of riparian buffers and 1500 acres of wetland restoration.”
Farmers interested must, first, “identify riparian buffers adjacent to either fields or forests.” Then, input fencing, and the land between the new fencing and the stream becomes the buffer.
Rowe said the increase in funding now allows CREP to take care of the cost of fencing and the new systems, like water, needed to make that farmland suitable for animals again. Additionally, the program has expanded its list of projects considered for funding.
Projects must meet certain criteria from the FSA to be eligible for funding.
He acknowledged the struggles farmers have had previously with implementing the practices including the cost of fencing and even the fact that farmers may have lost quality land.
“If you’re a farmer with several hundred acres and a handful of streams on that property, you could be talking about thousands of feet or even miles of fencing,” he added. “It’s gonna make it a much easier decision for a farmer from a financial standpoint to implement these practices.”
Another potential barrier though is the lack of land ownership.
“The majority of farmland in Virginia is rented and if they don’t own that land, it can be really difficult to put 10′s of thousands of dollars of investment in putting in fencing and other infrastructure in place you don’t have a guarantee that you’ll be able to farm there long-term,” Rowe said.
Rowe said CREP is available for nearly all parts of the state. Those interested should contact your local FSA office.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/your-farm-enhancements-could-be-free-with-crep/ | 2022-08-26T04:02:42Z |
LIHUE, Hawaii (KITV4) -- After joining the Kauai Gymnastics Academy at 4 years old back in 1996, Lani Johnson began teaching younger gymnasts when she was 16.
The long-time gymnast is now 30 years old and a full time coach for the Lihue team.
"I can't remember a time in my life where I wasn't a part of the gym," Johnson said. "It's (the gym) kind of a part of who I am. It's been my family. I've met a lot of lifelong friends and a lot of people who I consider family here."
After 15 years, the island's only full-service gymnastics club that Johnson grew up in will soon have to vacate its current space.
JP Parrish, the owner of the Hanahao Place building, notified the group in July it would not renew their lease.
While the contract was supposed to expire in August, Parrish extended it until Oct. 1 so the club could complete a final session, meaning the more than 175 students ages from 1 to 18 years old still have a place to practice for a few months.
"It's something that really inspires me and it makes me feel happy doing it," 13-year-old gymnast Juniper Reiss said.
Now that the gym's lease is up, Johnson worries they'll lose some of their gymnasts if they have to move to another side of the island, adding many of their students walk to the facility after school.
"I've watched all of these kids grow up, some of them I remember when they were in diapers and I really care for them and all that matters to me is their success and if they weren't able to continue, it would just break my heart," Johnson said.
The group has been struggling to find a new location because they need at least 5,000 square feet of open space with 25-foot ceilings to accommodate the equipment.
Not only are options limited in Lihue, the few in mind need renovations.
"Coming out of COVID, the funds are very low, so, trying to come up with that, to be able to move into a new location is very difficult right now," Kauai Gymnastics Academy owner Tiffany Dick said.
Meanwhile, the academy is thankful to the many Kaua'i community members who have been helping them look for a new space.
"It's an amazing feeling, I feel very blessed to be a part of this," Dick added.
Parrish, head of Parrish Collection vacation rentals, told KITV4 in a state the building "was purchased in January 2021 to meet our need for space for our growing businesses on Kauai...that expansion will create 16 new jobs..."
'A'ali'i is a reporter with KITV. He was born and raised on the island of Maui and graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/after-more-than-15-years-the-future-of-kauais-only-full-service-gymnastics-club-in/article_d62740d8-24df-11ed-8543-7726963b35d5.html | 2022-08-26T04:23:45Z |
Country
United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary
People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/hundreds-of-hawaii-primary-election-ballots-cured-due-to-signature-issues/article_bb2c5c34-24e7-11ed-b6ca-77481b59a74a.html | 2022-08-26T04:23:51Z |
HHS drops season opener Thursday night
Published: Aug. 25, 2022 at 11:01 PM EDT|Updated: 46 minutes ago
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - The Harrisonburg High School football team opened the 2022 season Thursday.
The Blue Streaks suffered a blowout loss at home to Albemarle, 47-0. The game started more than an hour late due to lightning in the area.
Harrisonburg’s next game is Saturday, September 3 at John Handley with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/hhs-drops-season-opener-thursday-night/ | 2022-08-26T04:37:30Z |
Rhode Island delivery driver finds naked man sleeping in back seat of vehicle
(CNN) - A donut delivery driver is startled after discovering an intoxicated naked man sleeping in the back seat of her vehicle.
While arriving for her shift to work, she discovered the nude man passed out in her back seat.
“I don’t know how to put it into words,” Amanda Kean said, owner of the vehicle. She added, “It really took a minute for my mind to like really understand what I was seeing.”
When she arrived for her shift late Sunday, she heard a noise coming from the back seat.
“All of a sudden I heard moaning, like a moaning noise, rolled down the window and I heard it again and I realized it was not coming from outside of my truck. It was coming from inside of my truck.”
She then realized the naked man lying on the floor of her SUV, under the car’s seats that were down.
The man went unnoticed during Kean’s entire trip to work, which included a stop for gas.
“Never anything I could have ever imagined that happening, things you see on TV. I felt like my privacy had been invaded,” Kean said.
Easton police believe the man entered the car in Providence, Rhode Island earlier in the evening.
Kean says it could’ve been while she was bringing in groceries and forgot to lock the vehicle.
“The 911 operator was like, ‘what?’ Even he was like flabbergasted,” Kean said.
Easton police identified the naked man as 21-year-old Jose Osorio of Providence.
Officers say Osorio was found extremely intoxicated, and later learned he consumed alcohol and marijuana earlier in the evening.
Police say he was found with a pair of shorts around one leg and a shirt around one arm.
Fortunately, Kean wasn’t hurt and is happy it wasn’t more serious.
“I’m lucky that it wasn’t more than just a naked guy in my back seat. It made me a little more thankful for, you know, life because it could have been really bad,” Kean said.
Her naked passenger didn’t threaten or even speak to her during the incident.
When she yelled at him after discovering him in the back seat, he moaned in response, possibly suffering from a hangover.
Osorio was charged with breaking and entering a vehicle.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/rhode-island-delivery-driver-finds-naked-man-sleeping-back-seat-vehicle/ | 2022-08-26T04:37:36Z |
Trump search redacted affidavit set to be released
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is set to release Friday a heavily blacked out document explaining the justification for an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate earlier this month, when agents removed top secret government records and other classified documents.
The document, expected by noon, is likely to offer at least some new details about an ongoing criminal investigation that has brought fresh legal peril for Trump just as he lays the groundwork for another presidential run. Though Justice Department officials are expected to have removed sensitive details about witnesses, and the scope and direction of the probe, the affidavit may offer the fullest explanation yet about the events leading up to the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago.
The document being released is the redacted form of an affidavit, or sworn statement, that the FBI submitted to a judge so it could obtain a warrant to search Trump’s property. Affidavits typically contain vital information about an investigation, with agents spelling out to a judge the justification for why they want to search a particular property and why they believe they’re likely to find evidence of a potential crime there. But affidavits routinely remain sealed during pending investigations, making the judge’s decision to reveal portions of it all the more striking.
In an acknowledgment of the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday ordered the department by Friday to make public a redacted version of the affidavit. The directive came hours after federal law enforcement officials submitted under seal the portions of the affidavit that they want to keep secret as their investigation moves forward.
The redactions proposed by the Justice Department are likely to be extensive given the sensitivity of the investigation, lessening the likelihood that the document will offer a comprehensive look at the basis for the unprecedented search or significant insights about the direction of the probe. Yet even a redacted affidavit can contain at least some fresh revelations about the investigation, and is likely to help explain why federal agents who had tried for months to recover sensitive government records from Mar-a-Lago ultimately felt compelled to obtain a search warrant.
Documents already made public show the FBI retrieved from the property 11 sets of classified documents, including information marked at the top secret level. They also show that federal agents are investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.
It’s possible that the affidavit, particularly in its unredacted form, could shed light on key unanswered questions, including why sensitive presidential documents — classified documents, among them — were transported to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House and why Trump and his representatives did not supply the entire tranche of material to the National Archives and Records Administration despite repeated entreaties.
It could also offer additional details on the back-and-forth between Trump and the FBI, including a subpoena for documents that was issued last spring, as well as a June visit by FBI and Justice Department officials to assess how the materials were being stored.
The Justice Department had earlier contested arguments by media organizations to make any portion of the affidavit public, saying the disclosure could contain private information about witnesses and about investigative tactics. But Reinhart, acknowledging the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, said last week that he was disinclined to keep the entire document sealed and told federal officials to submit to him in private the redactions it wanted to make.
In his order Thursday, Reinhart said the department had made compelling arguments to leave sealed broad swaths of the document that, if disclosed, would reveal grand jury information; the identities of witnesses and “uncharged parties”; and details about the investigation’s “strategy, direction, scope, sources and methods.”
But he also said he was satisfied “that the Government has met its burden of showing that its proposed redactions are narrowly tailored to serve the Government’s legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation and are the least onerous alternative to sealing the entire Affidavit.”
____
Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
___
Find more on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/trump-search-redacted-affidavit-set-be-released/ | 2022-08-26T04:37:43Z |
Bluefield and Graham brace for 96th collision
Beaver lead all-time series 69-24-2
Published: Aug. 26, 2022 at 12:32 AM EDT|Updated: 12 minutes ago
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) - The Bluefield Beavers and Graham G-Men renew their rivalry on Friday.
This game features a pair of new starting QBs, a dynamic RB matchup and a capacity crowd for the first time since 2019.
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/bluefield-graham-brace-96th-collision/ | 2022-08-26T04:44:58Z |
Independence dominates Liberty to claim victory in the Battle of 76
Patriots run all over Raiders
Published: Aug. 26, 2022 at 12:38 AM EDT|Updated: 6 minutes ago
COAL CITY, W.Va. (WVVA) - The Independence Patriots were in complete control from the opening kickoff.
The Patriots won 60-0 in an impressive opening week performance.
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/independence-dominates-liberty-claim-victory-battle-76/ | 2022-08-26T04:45:05Z |
Rhode Island delivery driver finds naked man sleeping in back seat of vehicle
(CNN) - A donut delivery driver is startled after discovering an intoxicated naked man sleeping in the back seat of her vehicle.
While arriving for her shift to work, she discovered the nude man passed out in her back seat.
“I don’t know how to put it into words,” Amanda Kean said, owner of the vehicle. She added, “It really took a minute for my mind to like really understand what I was seeing.”
When she arrived for her shift late Sunday, she heard a noise coming from the back seat.
“All of a sudden I heard moaning, like a moaning noise, rolled down the window and I heard it again and I realized it was not coming from outside of my truck. It was coming from inside of my truck.”
She then realized the naked man lying on the floor of her SUV, under the car’s seats that were down.
The man went unnoticed during Kean’s entire trip to work, which included a stop for gas.
“Never anything I could have ever imagined that happening, things you see on TV. I felt like my privacy had been invaded,” Kean said.
Easton police believe the man entered the car in Providence, Rhode Island earlier in the evening.
Kean says it could’ve been while she was bringing in groceries and forgot to lock the vehicle.
“The 911 operator was like, ‘what?’ Even he was like flabbergasted,” Kean said.
Easton police identified the naked man as 21-year-old Jose Osorio of Providence.
Officers say Osorio was found extremely intoxicated, and later learned he consumed alcohol and marijuana earlier in the evening.
Police say he was found with a pair of shorts around one leg and a shirt around one arm.
Fortunately, Kean wasn’t hurt and is happy it wasn’t more serious.
“I’m lucky that it wasn’t more than just a naked guy in my back seat. It made me a little more thankful for, you know, life because it could have been really bad,” Kean said.
Her naked passenger didn’t threaten or even speak to her during the incident.
When she yelled at him after discovering him in the back seat, he moaned in response, possibly suffering from a hangover.
Osorio was charged with breaking and entering a vehicle.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/rhode-island-delivery-driver-finds-naked-man-sleeping-back-seat-vehicle/ | 2022-08-26T04:45:11Z |
Trump search redacted affidavit set to be released
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is set to release Friday a heavily blacked out document explaining the justification for an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate earlier this month, when agents removed top secret government records and other classified documents.
The document, expected by noon, is likely to offer at least some new details about an ongoing criminal investigation that has brought fresh legal peril for Trump just as he lays the groundwork for another presidential run. Though Justice Department officials are expected to have removed sensitive details about witnesses, and the scope and direction of the probe, the affidavit may offer the fullest explanation yet about the events leading up to the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago.
The document being released is the redacted form of an affidavit, or sworn statement, that the FBI submitted to a judge so it could obtain a warrant to search Trump’s property. Affidavits typically contain vital information about an investigation, with agents spelling out to a judge the justification for why they want to search a particular property and why they believe they’re likely to find evidence of a potential crime there. But affidavits routinely remain sealed during pending investigations, making the judge’s decision to reveal portions of it all the more striking.
In an acknowledgment of the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday ordered the department by Friday to make public a redacted version of the affidavit. The directive came hours after federal law enforcement officials submitted under seal the portions of the affidavit that they want to keep secret as their investigation moves forward.
The redactions proposed by the Justice Department are likely to be extensive given the sensitivity of the investigation, lessening the likelihood that the document will offer a comprehensive look at the basis for the unprecedented search or significant insights about the direction of the probe. Yet even a redacted affidavit can contain at least some fresh revelations about the investigation, and is likely to help explain why federal agents who had tried for months to recover sensitive government records from Mar-a-Lago ultimately felt compelled to obtain a search warrant.
Documents already made public show the FBI retrieved from the property 11 sets of classified documents, including information marked at the top secret level. They also show that federal agents are investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.
It’s possible that the affidavit, particularly in its unredacted form, could shed light on key unanswered questions, including why sensitive presidential documents — classified documents, among them — were transported to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House and why Trump and his representatives did not supply the entire tranche of material to the National Archives and Records Administration despite repeated entreaties.
It could also offer additional details on the back-and-forth between Trump and the FBI, including a subpoena for documents that was issued last spring, as well as a June visit by FBI and Justice Department officials to assess how the materials were being stored.
The Justice Department had earlier contested arguments by media organizations to make any portion of the affidavit public, saying the disclosure could contain private information about witnesses and about investigative tactics. But Reinhart, acknowledging the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, said last week that he was disinclined to keep the entire document sealed and told federal officials to submit to him in private the redactions it wanted to make.
In his order Thursday, Reinhart said the department had made compelling arguments to leave sealed broad swaths of the document that, if disclosed, would reveal grand jury information; the identities of witnesses and “uncharged parties”; and details about the investigation’s “strategy, direction, scope, sources and methods.”
But he also said he was satisfied “that the Government has met its burden of showing that its proposed redactions are narrowly tailored to serve the Government’s legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation and are the least onerous alternative to sealing the entire Affidavit.”
____
Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
___
Find more on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/trump-search-redacted-affidavit-set-be-released/ | 2022-08-26T04:45:18Z |
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
CHEYENNE – Lawmakers agreed Thursday to draft legislation that, if approved by the full Legislature next year, would distinctly change the format of elections across the state in 2024.
The approval came after more than two hours of testimony and discussion in the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee. Members carefully weighed the benefits and shortcomings of instant runoff elections, ranked-choice voting and open primaries.
Legislative staff has been directed to draft two bills for the Corporations Committee to consider at its upcoming meeting in October. It took a second vote for both motions to pass, but either would closely align with election formats used by fellow “red” states.
“I’m just happy Alaska and Utah are our models, and not Massachusetts or New York,” said Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, chairman of the committee, following the votes.
Currently, the state utilizes a closed primary and plurality voting system. Only voters registered with the Republican or Democratic Party can vote in their party’s primary, and the party affiliation is included in voter registration so there is an official record. Voters are allowed to switch their party affiliation at any time.
The plurality system refers to how a candidate is elected. The contender who receives the highest number of votes is elected, and it is not required that they receive more than 50% of the total votes cast.
This is a significant difference from the first proposed election format bill the Legislative Service Office is responsible for drafting. It will take after the initiative Alaskan voters approved in the 2020 general election to establish a nonpartisan primary and ranked-choice voting system.
However, the recommendation by Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, was for an open primary that would have the top four choices move forward to a ranked-choice voting system in the general election.
His second motion, which also was passed, was to keep a closed primary, but to implement a ranked-choice voting system similar to what is being tested by Utah at the municipal level. Both proposals will be considered in October.
Open primary, ranked-choice
FairVote, a nonpartisan election reform organization, defines an open primary as an election where “voters of any affiliation may vote in the primary of any party. They cannot vote in more than one party’s primary, although that prohibition can be difficult to enforce in the event a party has a primary runoff. In many open primaries, voters do not indicate partisan affiliation when they register to vote.”
Along with a ranked-choice voting system, the Wyoming election format would transform dramatically. Voters would rank candidates by preference on their ballots, and if a candidate wins more than half of first-preference votes, they are declared the winner. If no candidate wins based on first-preference, Ballotpedia explains that the candidate with the least first-preference votes are eliminated.
“All first-preference votes for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the second-preference choices indicated on those ballots,” according to the digital encyclopedia on American politics and elections. “A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won an outright majority of the adjusted voters. The process is repeated until a candidate wins a majority of votes cast.”
Case suggested the system after hearing testimony from stakeholders on its positive impacts. Many argued it would address concerns of crossover voting and the plurality system, as well as encourage candidates to communicate to a greater number of voters, rather than to the extremes of either party.
“With 94% of people voting on the same ballot last Tuesday, we essentially had an open primary here in Wyoming. Open primaries almost eliminate the need for crossover voting, though. There’s no need to switch parties when there’s no parties involved,” said Jennifer Lowe, executive director of the Equality State Policy Center. “The other wonderful thing about open primaries is it allows taxpayers – those who are funding these elections – to fully participate.”
The majority of votes Aug. 16 were in the Republican primary, which pitted U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., against challenger Harriet Hageman. Although many Democrats crossed over to vote for Cheney, Hageman easily ousted the incumbent and advanced to the Nov. 8 general election.
Despite significant support for the system voiced in testimony, there were those who criticized its consideration.
Wyoming GOP National Committeeman Corey Steinmetz said the political philosophy between the parties was very evident, and taking away a partisan primary would be a challenge. He said many voters trust the “R” behind a Republican candidate’s name when they’re running, and it assures that the contender represents their shared values and beliefs.
“What we’ve heard from Republicans all across the state is that we want to keep our primary,” he told lawmakers. “We want Republicans voting for Republican nominees, they want Democrats voting for Democratic nominees, and we would have competitive elections if the Democrats would have people run.”
Steinmetz said changing the voting system has been an ongoing discussion for years, but he didn’t know if “we need to reinvent the wheel.” He was concerned any major changes to the election statutes would also impact political organization makeup and elections for precinct committee persons.
“That’s a very dangerous territory,” he said.
Jacqueline McMann was a supporter of an open primary and ranked-choice voting, and argued against Steinmetz’s theory about Wyoming voters. She said the current system deters healthy participation, and the Republican Party has developed a monopoly on voting.
“We use a shorthand, the ‘R’ in front of a person’s name and the ‘D’ in front of a person’s name. The ‘L’ for libertarian. It’s a shorthand for trust,” she said. “And I think we have broken down that trust by our divisiveness, and people are no longer engaged.”
Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s state government reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/elections/legislative-committee-considers-election-format-changes/article_e6afd0be-24d5-11ed-84da-af7552fd7e08.html | 2022-08-26T04:58:20Z |
CHEYENNE – The following people had filed with the Laramie County Clerk’s Office to run for Laramie County School District 1, LCSD2 and Laramie County Community College Board of Trustees as of Wednesday, Aug. 24.
The filing period lasts until Monday, Aug. 29. Candidates will vie for nonpartisan positions in the Nov. 8 general election.
LCSD1 Area 1 (roughly South triad; one open seat): Susan Edgerton, Joseph Ramirez
LCSD1 Area 2 (roughly East triad; one open seat): Maurina Venturelli, Rich Wiederspahn
LCSD1 Area 3 (roughly Central triad; one open seat): Todd Reynolds, Michelle Tonacchio, Peter Zipp III
LCSD1 At-Large (one open seat): Henry (Hank) Bailey, Rene R. Hinkle, Lilia Olejnik, Jenefer Pasqua, Joe Plowman, Meg Varhalmi
LCSD2 Area D (one open seat): Billie Wilson
LCSD2 At-Large (three open seats): Michael Lerwick, Cody Nusbaum, Kendra Roeder
LCCC (three open seats): Joe Kelly, Janine Thompson
Applications for each position can be found online at elections.laramiecountyclerk.com/candidates-corner/. They can be filed in person at the county clerk’s office, located inside the Laramie County Governmental Complex, 309 W. 20th St. They can also be sent by email (PDF, minimum 300 DPI) to election@laramiecountywy.gov with the subject line “Candidate filing,” or by fax to 307-633-4240. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/candidate-filings-as-of-8-25-22/article_705f3d52-24dd-11ed-91bb-6bfa714cdba6.html | 2022-08-26T04:58:26Z |
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee considered four draft bills Thursday that would modify the state’s liquor license statutes.
Only one was ultimately approved for the committee to sponsor for the 2023 general session, which would loosen population formulas for bar-and-grill liquor licenses.
Stakeholders from throughout the state have been pushing the Legislature to take action to make more liquor licenses available, saying the current laws are stifling economic growth and encumbering innovative business proposals. A recent example came from Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins, who had 11 local entrepreneurs apply for a sole retail liquor license.
“We have 38 people who own a retail liquor license. Some of them are good friends of mine, and I feel like our future growth has been held hostage because no one wants to do anything that will take the sale of even one beer from those 38 people,” Collins told committee members Thursday. “I’ve heard all of the reasons, you’ve heard them all, but it frustrates me. It’s hurting our ability to diversify our economy.”
Along with supporters of expanding the number of liquor licenses available or changing the population requirements come wary critics. Health care providers, as well as law enforcement and state liquor association members, shared their perspectives on more liquor distribution, such as rising alcoholism, increased crime and unsafe quantities of alcohol available to the public.
Lawmakers listened to the debate and conflicting positions on all four bills. They decided to indefinitely delay a piece of legislation that would have made any retail liquor licenses issued after July 1, 2023 non-transferable, and continue to draft changes to two others before the next meeting in mid-October.
The bills that the committee will reconvene to consider relate to the cost of retail liquor license fees, and creating a tavern and entertainment liquor license. There would have been no limit on the number of the latter licenses based on population, and many criticisms came from both sides of the argument due to the definition of “entertainment.”
April Brimmer-Kunz, one of the 11 applicants for the single retail liquor license in Cheyenne, was especially passionate regarding the development of a new type of liquor license. She and her son plan to open Ace’s Range in Cheyenne, a golf and laser-shooting simulator location, but were denied the license. She told committee members that she understood why they were denied, yet there wasn’t a license that fit the needs of their business.
“The world is changing,” she said. “And I think the liquor licenses need to change with it.”
Bar-and-grill liquor licenses
The one proposal that was supported by the committee relates to changes to bar-and-grill licenses. The committee’s fourth draft bill would change the population formula for bar-and-grill licenses starting July 1, 2023, and incrementally increase the number of licenses available. It would sunset on July 1, 2028, when another set of population formulas would be issued with even more licenses available per thousand.
The final sunset would be in 2033, when population would no longer be a factor in the issuance of bar-and-grill liquor licenses.
A similar system is laid out for county commissioners, and the cost of those licenses is adjusted, as well. The license fee assessed for bar-and-grill liquor licenses would not be less than $1,500, no more than $10,500. Those amounts would be changed in 2033, when each license would cost no less than $500 and no more than $3,000.
Applicants for a bar-and-grill liquor license would still have to satisfy the appropriate licensing authority that not less than 60% of revenue from the operation of the bar and grill would come from food service, not alcohol sales. This applies to all 12 months of operation, and an annual gross sales figures report would be required.
“It worries me sick to flood the market, because of the burden to our communities, law enforcement, etcetera. This does it in phases,” said Mike Moser, the executive director of the Wyoming State Liquor Association. “And I think that way we can gradually adopt it is, as Mick Jagger says, ‘You can’t always get what you want. But you find you always get what you need.’ And this gets what people need.”
Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s state government reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/more-liquor-license-changes-considered/article_b0f830c8-24e5-11ed-aca8-4f03d80f0561.html | 2022-08-26T04:58:32Z |
PREP TENNIS: Central squads fall at Laramie Aug 25, 2022 2 hrs ago Comments Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Ashli Smedley Jeremiah Johnke/WyoSports Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save CHEYENNE – The Cheyenne Central girls and boys tennis teams both dropped duals Thursday evening at Laramie.The Lady Indians lost 3-2, while the boys fell 4-1.Singles players picked up both girls wins. Junior Ashli Smedley topped Mia Wallhead, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, at No. 1 singles. Freshman Hailey Mathis-Brietkopf downed Hannah Peterson, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 2 singles.The boys No. 1 doubles team of Mike Ellison and Owen Black won 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-4. Nathaniel Thornell lost a three-set match at No. 2 singles. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Tags Single Tennis Sport Hailey Mathis-brietkopf Win Indians Squad Hannah Peterson Recommended for you Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. comments powered by Disqus Latest Special Section 2021 Wyoming Football Preview To view our latest e-Edition click the image on the left. Trending Now Keys to success for Wyoming football in 2022 Keagan Bartlett ready to lead Indians after season of learning LCCC women's soccer adapts to new coach Predicting Wyoming’s starters for the season opener Cowboys turn focus to Illinois | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_central/prep-tennis-central-squads-fall-at-laramie/article_175f4982-24e6-11ed-9950-974afa1e96a3.html | 2022-08-26T04:58:38Z |
Several consumers are suing Whole Foods, claiming traces of antibiotics were found in their beef products labeled antibiotic-free, according to a lawsuit filed in California this week.
Whole Foods uses the slogan, "Our Meat: No Antibiotics, Ever" in its marketing materials, such as on packaging, signs in the store and on its parent website, Amazon.
But one of the plaintiffs, Farm Forward, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending factory farming, said it did its own testing in 2021 and 2022 and found traces of monensin sodium, a growth antibiotic, in one sample of a Whole Foods beef product, and fenbendazole, an antiparasitic, in five Whole Foods beef products.
The organization said it shared its findings with the CEO of Whole Foods, but received no response. The organization also alleges it emailed a Whole Foods executive in 2017 suggesting a testing method to verify the supermarket's antibiotic-free claims, but were told "the repercussions for having a positive result were beyond ridiculous."
A spokesperson for Whole Foods said the company does not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit also claims Whole Foods financially exploited its customers by charging significantly more for its meat products compared to competitors, under the guise that their products are healthier.
"Consumer Plaintiffs would not have purchased Beef Products, or would not have paid the prices they did, had they had known the truth that cattle used in the Products were raised with antibiotics," the complaint says.
Some of Whole Foods' cattle are sourced from the Global Animal Partnership (GAP) Animal Welfare Certified program. A study published on Science.org in April found that in an independent lab test, 26% of these cattle tested positive for antibiotics.
A Whole Foods spokesperson told Consumer Reports at the time: "We have extensively reviewed the information made available to us and have no reason to believe that the cattle tested in this study ended up in products in our stores. We take compliance very seriously and never hesitate to act if a supplier has failed to meet our rigorous quality standards."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-25/lawsuit-alleges-whole-foods-has-antibiotics-in-its-beef-labeled-antibiotic-free | 2022-08-26T05:04:21Z |
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- Overcrowding, damage to the environment, high prices/higher cost of living, and traffic problems continue to be the most concerning issues when it comes to tourism in Hawaii.
The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) released the results of its Spring 2022 Resident Sentiment Survey during the Hawaii Tourism Authority's monthly board meeting on Thursday.
The survey was conducted between May 7 and July 30, and a total of 1955 Hawaii residents participated -- 839 on Oahu, 458 on Hawaii Island, 403 in Maui County, and 255 on Kauai.
DBEDT's latest visitor statistics show that 842,927 people visited Hawaii in June, which was the second highest visitor count since January 2020.
According to the survey, when asked what problems they think tourism has created in Hawaii, overcrowding was the number one problem for Maui County residents at 75%, Oahu residents at 72%, and Kauai residents at 71%. The leading problem for Hawaii Island residents was high prices/higher cost of living.
Despite the concerning issues, 54% of respondents said that tourism has brought more benefits than problems, which is up from the 49% in the Fall of 2021, but on par with Spring of 2021 (53%) and 2020 (54%).
The survey also found that residents expressed strong support for using Hawaii's tax dollars to manage tourism and less so to encourage tourism.
Marisa Yamane joined KITV4 in January 2022 as an anchor and executive producer. She is an award-winning veteran journalist, who’s spent most of her career in Hawaii. She’s a proud graduate of Iolani School and UCLA. | https://www.kitv.com/news/business/hawaii-tourism-authority-and-dbedt-release-results-of-resident-sentiment-survey/article_7182e23a-24f9-11ed-81c4-67ffb254ee99.html | 2022-08-26T06:06:41Z |
HONOLULU (KITV4) – As we’re heading into football season, many local doctors and parents share their concerns about student athletes suffering from concussion – and ways to prevent these injuries.
Mililani resident, Jeris wise says he monitors his son, Clinton Wise, for possible Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy also called (CTE) – which can be caused by suffering from several concussions.
Wise said his son played football for more than 10 years and had between six to seven concussions.
“Football is not a contact sport, it’s a collision sport and he definitely collided more than once. We tried to limit tackling drills after a few years and he even broke his helmet a few times,” said Wise.
He said he hopes athletic trainers and coaches stay on high alert this season.
The Neurotrauma advisory board members at DOH said symptoms can show up to hours or even weeks after an injury.
“Hawaii has high numbers of concussion because we have out door sports all year long. What is important are preventative measures like wearing helmets, seatbelts and going to the doctor after injuries, even some that seem minor,” said Dr. Christine LaChance, Doctor of Physical Therapy.
Doctor also want to address myths about concussions.
"One myth is that if you didn’t hit your head, you couldn’t possibly get a concussion. That is not true. If there is a hard enough blow to any part of your body, you could still end up with a concussion. Another myth is concussions are just mild when really they can have life-long affects if not treated,” said Dr. Violet Horvath, director of Pacific Disabilities Center at UH Manoa.
Hawaii Concussion Awareness and Management Program officials said more than 1,000 concussions were reported in Hawaii High schools in 2019 -- and 20% of head injuries are in the 13 -17 age group.
Officials urge to not take symptoms lightly and go to a health professional immediately. Symptoms can include headaches, dizziness, change of behavior, vomiting, and so on.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com | https://www.kitv.com/news/business/health-experts-warn-the-danger-of-concussions-as-were-heading-into-football-season/article_ac16ce3c-2500-11ed-a797-9bbc539899ed.html | 2022-08-26T06:06:47Z |
FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2015, file photo, former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman tells a story of a young Muhammad Ali to the audience at the Sports Illustrated Legacy Awards Thursday, in Louisville, Ky. Foreman took to Twitter on Oct. 3, 2017 to challenge actor Steven Seagal to a 10-round fight. Seagal declined comment. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
Two women have accused former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman of sexually abusing them when they were minors in the 1970s, according to lawsuits filed this week.
One of the women is described as the daughter of an adviser and manager to Foreman while the second woman is the daughter of a boxer who trained with him, according to the documents.
They are seeking a jury trial and damages against Foreman and anyone who may also be responsible for the alleged abuses. Those additional parties could be added to the lawsuit as more information becomes available in the case, the documents say
Foreman, in a statement Wednesday, denied the allegations.
"Over the past six months, two women have been trying to extort millions of dollars each from me and my family. They are falsely claiming that I sexually abused them over 45 years ago in the 1970s. I adamantly and categorically deny these allegations," he said.
"The pride I take in my reputation means as much to me as my sports accomplishments, and I will not be intimidated by baseless threats and lies. I am, and always will be, guided by my faith and trust in God. I will work with my lawyers to fully and truthfully expose my accusers' scheme and defend myself in court. I don't pick fights, but I don't run away from them either," Foreman added.
The lawsuits, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, do not name Foreman, but provide identifying details, including that the alleged abuser is "a former professional heavy weight boxer who went professional in 1969" who was inducted into both the World Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame." The suits also say the defendant became a world heavyweight champion in 1973 and eventually lost the title to Muhammad Ali in 1974.
One of the alleged victims, referred to in the suit as Denise S., says she was groomed by the boxer "at an early age" and accuses Foreman of performing sexual acts with Denise S. when she was a minor, according to the lawsuit.
The second alleged victim, referred to as Gwen H., alleges that when she was between 15 and 16 years old, Foreman molested and sexually abused her after he "threatened that if she didn't comply, her dad would lose his job."
CNN has reached out to the attorneys for both women.
Foreman, a champion boxer and Olympic gold medalist, defended the coveted world heavyweight title twice before losing it to Muhammad Ali in the 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle." He took a long hiatus from competing at the end of the 1970s before resurrecting his career once more and again becoming world heavyweight champion, before finally retiring in 1997. | https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/former-boxing-champ-george-foreman-accused-of-sexual-abuse-by-daughters-of-his-former-associates/article_dac1e12c-d551-5e77-b293-70b962245ab2.html | 2022-08-26T06:06:53Z |
GNO Foundation Names Barnes VP of Communications and Public Affairs
NEW ORLEANS — Courtney Thomas Barnes will join the Greater New Orleans Foundation as vice president of communications and public affairs. She most recently served as the vice president of communications for Berni Consulting, where she developed communications strategies and focused on new business development.
“We are thrilled to have Courtney join our leadership team as we continue our mission to drive positive impact in the Greater New Orleans region,” said Andy Kopplin, GNO Foundation president and CEO. “Her passion for strategic communication and keen ability to build relationships with both internal and external stakeholders throughout our region make her the ideal person to take the helm of the Foundation’s public affairs and communications initiatives.”
“As a proud New Orleans native, I have always admired the foundation’s work and regional impact,” said Barnes. “I’m honored to be a part of such a dynamic and skilled group of professionals who share my commitment to creating generational change in our region through philanthropy, leadership and action.”
Prior to her time with Berni Consulting, Thomas Barnes served as the chief communications officer for the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. As a member of SWBNO’s executive team, she focused on both internal and external communications, public relations and intergovernmental affairs.
Thomas Barnes also served in the office of Mayor Mitch Landrieu as a communications manager and oversaw communications for a diverse portfolio of city departments, including the New Orleans Health Department, the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and the New Orleans Recreation Department.
Thomas Barnes graduated from Florida A&M University with a B.S. in journalism and a concentration in public relations | https://www.bizneworleans.com/gno-foundation-names-barnes-vp-of-communications-and-public-affairs/ | 2022-08-26T06:09:34Z |
Growing the New Orleans Population (and More)
At a time when there is considerable concern about people leaving the New Orleans region, one local institution is bucking the population outflow trend. Over the past few years, Children’s Hospital of New Orleans has attracted more than 200 of the nation’s top pediatric physicians to move to the area and work at the Hospital.
According to Children’s Hospital President and CEO John R. Nickens, IV, this is one aspect of a major refocus for the institution that began some five years ago.
“We recognized that health equity began with access to care, which many people did not have,” he explained. “So we set up to radically change access.”
This began with creating the hospital’s NOLA Now program, with the intention of bringing immediate solutions to the problem. In Nickens’ words, “you build the bricks and mortar, then you build the programs, then you bring in the people.”
Accomplishing the first step involved investing some $300 million, including improvements to the main Uptown campus as well as building a large satellite facility in Metairie. Recognizing that Children’s is the only provider of many pediatric specialties in the entire state of Louisiana, additional projects included opening a heart clinic in Alexandria and a multi-service office center on the Northshore.
However, as Nickens pointed out, “anyone can build a building, but you have to recruit and retain the talent.”
Part of this was educating potential new physicians about New Orleans, many of whom knew nothing about the city or region other than the French Quarter. Nickens also worked to address the lingering impacts of Hurricane Katrina, asking and then answering the question, “Is New Orleans 300 years old or 17 years old?”
Nickens, who himself arrived at Children’s in 2017, quickly found two effective approaches to recruiting for the facility: “I go after legacy and opportunity.”
Legacy, he elaborated, means reaching out to leading physicians who are nearing the ends of their careers, and making the case that in a place like New Orleans, “they really can make a difference. They have the opportunity to grow and be impactful.”
As an added benefit to the Hospital and its patients, these leading medical lights “come in with such standing and pedigree and influence that they challenge us and make us better.”
Overcoming any concerns the doctors might have had about the problems in the region was easier than one might expect. As Nickens noted, “every city has struggles right now, but do they have that culture, that spirit that you find in New Orleans?”
Further, the career experiences of many included working in difficult circumstances. Nickens cited the example of a new staff physician who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work building medical clinics across Africa.
“He’s not afraid of crime in New Orleans,” Nickens commented dryly.
The second pitch is opportunity. The expansion and reimagining going on at the Hospital “gives people a chance at leadership and the freedom to be leaders,” Nickens said. “I sell this to every number two person across the country: come here and you get to create your own program.”
Nickens is equally up front with these individuals about the challenges in the city, but as he puts it, “we signed up to do the hard stuff. And if we change the dynamics of pediatric health care here, the people of New Orleans have a brighter, healthier future.
“We don’t control crime, but we can impact crime.”
Drawing these world-renowned physicians to New Orleans has important impacts beyond improving pediatric health care quality. As one might expect, these leaders are highly paid, and they and their families spend most of those salaries in the area. A GNO Inc. study put the regional economic impact resulting from the Hospital’s total employee compensation and related financial activity at $429 million annually.
In addition, as leading innovators in their field, these doctors are able to attract substantial new grant funding, which supports research at multiple local facilities. In the process, the monies support additional positions and salaries, vendor contracts and other local spending, while the studies funded by the grants increase patient access to cutting-edge treatments and technologies.
Just beginning to emerge from this work is new entrepreneurial activity. As Nickens pointed out, “innovative thinkers like these doctors and their spouses are willing to take risks and invest in their communities.”
One more community benefit results from the willingness of many of the new physicians – and, again, their spouses – to volunteer with various local organizations. “When you bring in people who want to be impactful,” observed Nickens, “it’s natural that they sign up to volunteer, to be on boards.”
The challenge of maintaining a world class staff and operation is never-ending, but it is clearly one that Nickens relishes. He believes in Children’s Hospital, and in his approach to attracting the best pediatric doctors.
“What we’ve done in the last five years is remarkable,” he stated. “I’d put us up against anyone in terms of the quality of talent we’ve recruited.
“We make a difference.” | https://www.bizneworleans.com/growing-the-new-orleans-population-and-more/ | 2022-08-26T06:09:40Z |
WWII Museum Announces New Board Chair, Officers and Trustees
NEW ORLEANS — From the National WWII Museum:
The National WWII Museum has announced the election of Ted Weggeland as chairman of its national board of trustees and the installation of a slate of board officers and five new trustees. Weggeland follows outgoing chairman John Koerner, whose leadership from 2020 to 2022 was critical to advancing the museum’s mission and goals despite significant challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ida.
Weggeland has been a passionate supporter of the museum for more than two decades, and his term as chairman coincides with a momentous time for the institution as it prepares to celebrate the completion of its long-planned physical expansion in 2023 with the opening of Liberation Pavilion, its final exhibition hall, and the Col. Battle Barksdale Parade Ground. The museum is also planning for the Veterans Day weekend world premiere of its newest permanent attraction, Expressions of America, a nighttime sound and light experience that will completely transform the Col. Battle Barksdale Parade Ground with cutting-edge technology, stunning visuals, vintage cocktails, festive food offerings and more.
The new team of officers charged with leading the board of trustees through 2024 includes:
Chairman of the Board
Ted Weggeland, Founder, Raincross Corporate Group, Riverside, California
Weggeland is the Founder of Raincross Corporate Group in Southern California. He is an active civic leader, having served on the California Travel & Tourism Commission and the California Fish & Game Commission, the California State Commission on the Political Reform Act of 1974, as co-chair of the 1999 Congressional Medal of Honor Society National Convention, and as the youngest member of the California State Assembly in the 1990s.
Vice Chairwoman
Suzanne Mestayer, Managing Principal, ThirtyNorth Investments, New Orleans, Louisiana
Mestayer is Managing Principal of ThirtyNorth Investments and serves on the boards of Pan American Life Insurance Group Inc. and Ochsner Health, which she previously chaired. She is also past chairwoman of the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region, Loyola University New Orleans, Greater New Orleans Inc., and United Way of Greater New Orleans.
Vice Chair
John Georges, CEO, Georges Enterprises, New Orleans, Louisiana
Georges took his family business, Imperial Trading Co., to a 3-billion-dollar corporation and currently serves as CEO for Georges Enterprises and CEO of Georges Media Group L.L.C., Louisiana’s largest media company. Over the past 30 years, John has served on over 30 boards, including the State of Louisiana Board of Regents.
Vice Chair
Sonia Pérez, President, AT&T Southeast States, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Pérez is President of AT&T Southeast States and currently serves as an Independent Director for Hancock Whitney Corporation, on the governor’s Resilient Louisiana Commission, and on the executive committees of The University of Texas Foundation and the Louisiana Board of Regents. She has chaired various boards including the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the Committee of 100, and Xavier University of Louisiana.
Treasurer
James Maurin, Founder and Past Chairman, Stirling Properties, Covington, Louisiana
Maurin is one of the founders of Stirling Properties and served as Chairman. He currently serves on the Boards of Ochsner Health, Highland Cashiers Hospital, and the LSU Real Estate Facilities Foundation. He is also a member of Tulane’s Freeman Business School Council, Urban Land Institute’s Small Scale Development Council, Young President’s Organization, and Chief Executive Organization.
Secretary
John Hairston, President & CEO, Hancock Whitney Corporation, Gulfport, Mississippi / New Orleans, Louisiana
Hairston has served as CEO of Hancock Whitney Corporation since 2006, having joined the company in 1994. He serves on the New Orleans Business Council Board of Directors and Greater New Orleans Foundation, and he has previously chaired the Board of Mississippi Information Technology Services, the Mississippi Gaming Commission, the Mississippi State University College of Business Executive Advisory Board, and the Gulf Coast Business Council.
Immediate Past Chairman
John Koerner, President, Koerner Capital, LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana
Koerner is President of Koerner Capital. He is a past Chairman of the New Orleans Business Council and Tulane University Board, and he currently serves on the Board of Lamar Advertising Company.
The five newly appointed members of The National WWII Museum’s Board of Trustees, who will serve three-year terms, include:
- Louis E. Caldera, Former Secretary of the Army and Former President of The University of New Mexico, Bethesda, Maryland
Caldera served as a commissioned officer in the US Army and later as a California legislator. In 1998, President Clinton appointed him Secretary of the Army, and he also served in the Obama Administration as Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office. Caldera has also served as President of The University of New Mexico and a law professor in California, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C.
- Fleur C. Harlan, Trustee of the Manhattan Institute, New York, New York
Harlan is a Trustee of the Manhattan Institute and a member of Business Executives for National Security. Her previous professional roles include limited partner at RS Lauder, Gaspar and Co., managing director at Central European Development Corporation, manager at Bain & Company, and strategic planner for Scitex Corporation in Israel.
- Deanna Rodriguez, President & CEO, Entergy New Orleans, LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana
Rodriguez is President & CEO of Entergy New Orleans and a 28-year veteran of Entergy Corporation, where she has served in multiple leadership roles across the enterprise. Rodriguez has served on numerous nonprofit boards in the past and currently sits on the United Way of Southeast Louisiana, Louisiana’s International Women’s Forum, as well as Subiendo, with The University of Texas at Austin, School of Business.
- Laura Stephens, VP Marketing & Communications, Stephens Inc., Dallas, Texas
Stephens is Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Stephens Inc. Prior to joining the firm in 2015, she was an account executive at Rooney Partners.
- Sandy Villere, Partner & Portfolio Manager, Villere & Co., New Orleans, Louisiana
Villere is Partner & Portfolio Manager at Villere & Co., which he helped to grow over a nearly 60-year tenure. He has served a number of civic organizations, including the Eye Ear Nose & Throat Foundation, United Way, and Willwoods Foundation. | https://www.bizneworleans.com/wwii-museum-announces-new-board-chair-officers-and-trustees/ | 2022-08-26T06:09:46Z |
Nuclear treaty conference near end with Ukraine in spotlight
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — As 191 countries approach Friday’s end to a four-week conference to review the landmark U.N. treaty aimed at curbing the spread of nuclear weapons, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and takeover of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and rivalries between the West and China were posing key obstacles to agreement on a final document.
Argentine Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen, president of the conference reviewing the 50-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which is considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament, circulated a 35-page draft final document on Thursday. After listening to objections from countries at a closed-door session, diplomats said he was planning to revise the document for a final closed-door discussion Friday morning, ahead of an open meeting in the afternoon to end the conference.
Any document must be approved by all parties to the treaty and it’s uncertain whether an agreement will be reached before the conference ends. There is a possibility that only a brief statement reaffirming support for the NPT might get unanimous support.
The NPT review conference is supposed to be held every five years but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last one in 2015 ended without an agreement because of serious differences over establishing a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction.
Those differences haven’t gone away but are being discussed, and the draft final document obtained by The Associated Press would reaffirm the importance of establishing a nuclear-free Mideast zone. So this is not viewed as a major stumbling block this year.
The issue that has changed the dynamics of the conference is Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning that Russia is a “potent” nuclear power and any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen,” and his decision soon after to put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert.
Putin has since rolled back, saying that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” a message reiterated by a senior Russian official on the opening day of the NPT conference on Aug. 2. In addition, Russia’s occupation of Europe’s biggest nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, where Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling, has raised fears of a nuclear disaster.
Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that the Biden administration is seeking a consensus final document that strengthens the treaty and acknowledges “the manner in which Russia’s war and irresponsible actions in Ukraine seriously undermine the NPT’s main purpose.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the United States and its allies at that council meeting of “politicizing the work on the final document, putting their geopolitical interests in punishing Russia above their collective needs in strengthening global security.”
“Against the backdrop of the actual sabotage by the collective West of the global security architecture, Russia continues to do everything possible to keep at least its key, vital elements afloat,” Nebenzia said.
The 35-page draft document has at least three specific references to the Zaporizhzhia plant, including expressing “grave concern” over its security, the military activities conducted at or near it, and the loss of control over the facility by Ukrainian authorities. The draft expresses support for efforts by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to visit the plant and ensure the non-diversion of nuclear material.
Under the NPT’s provisions, the five original nuclear powers — the United States, China, Russia (then the Soviet Union), Britain and France — agreed to negotiate toward eliminating their arsenals someday and nations without nuclear weapons promised not to acquire nuclear weapons in exchange for a guarantee to be able to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
India and Pakistan, which didn’t join the NPT, went on to get the bomb. So did North Korea, which ratified the pact but later announced it was withdrawing. Non-signatory Israel, which is believed to have a nuclear arsenal but neither confirms nor denies it, has been an obstacle in discussions of a Mideast zone free of weapons of mass destruction.
Nonetheless, the treaty has been credited with limiting the number of nuclear newcomers (U.S. President John F. Kennedy once foresaw as many as 20 nuclear-armed nations) as a framework for international cooperation on disarmament.
The draft final document would express deep concern “that the threat of nuclear weapons use today is higher than at any time since the heights of the Cold War and at the deteriorated international security environment.”
Diplomats and nuclear experts monitoring the closed-door negotiations have cited other differences that could block agreement on a final document.
These include China’s demands that it mention the U.S.-UK-Australia deal to provide Australia with a nuclear-powered submarine and nuclear-sharing in Europe, and demands by some countries strongly opposed to nuclear weapons for immediate nuclear disarmament to be included, which some Western countries call unrealistic.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/nuclear-treaty-conference-near-end-with-ukraine-spotlight/ | 2022-08-26T06:11:14Z |
Constable, three others killed during eviction at apartment complex in Arizona
TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13/Gray News) - Four people were killed in a likely triple murder-suicide at an apartment complex in midtown Tucson on Thursday.
The Tucson Police Department said officers were called to Lind Commons Apartments, located at 3493 East Lind Road, around 11 a.m.
According to several sources, the shooting happened when Pima County Constable Deborah Martinez-Garibay and an apartment manager served an eviction notice.
Sources said the resident being evicted killed the apartment manager, Martinez-Garibay and a neighbor before turning the gun on himself. While the TPD could not confirm the details, they said the scene is safe and no suspects are in custody.
As of 8 p.m. Thursday, only Martinez-Garibay was identified.
Martinez-Garibay was a well-loved U.S. Army veteran, who was active in the Tucson community. She enlisted after Sept. 11 and served nearly two decades before she was injured, while serving in Afghanistan.
In 2019, Martinez-Garibay was honored for her work and received a vehicle from the Recycled Ride program.
“The biggest thing that I am seeing is more than they’re happy about learning the game of golf, they’re happy to have the social interaction with other veterans,” Martinez-Garibay said at the time.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered flags at all state buildings to be lowered to half-staff Friday in honor of the lives in the mass shooting.
Martinez-Garibay, a Democrat, was appointed constable in March 2022. She was set to run against Republican Bill Lake in the Nov. 8 election.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/constable-three-others-killed-during-eviction-apartment-complex-arizona/ | 2022-08-26T06:13:13Z |
Montcalm marches past Phelps (KY) to start 1-0
Generals score 42 points in the win
Published: Aug. 26, 2022 at 12:46 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
MONTCALM, W.Va. (WVVA) - The Montcalm Generals overpowered an out-of-state opponent on Thursday night.
The Generals beat the Phelps Hornets 42-6.
Elsewhere, the Shady Spring Tigers dropped a road game against Tug Valley 32-21.
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/montcalm-marches-past-phelps-ky-start-1-0/ | 2022-08-26T06:13:20Z |
Nuclear treaty conference near end with Ukraine in spotlight
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — As 191 countries approach Friday’s end to a four-week conference to review the landmark U.N. treaty aimed at curbing the spread of nuclear weapons, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and takeover of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and rivalries between the West and China were posing key obstacles to agreement on a final document.
Argentine Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen, president of the conference reviewing the 50-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which is considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament, circulated a 35-page draft final document on Thursday. After listening to objections from countries at a closed-door session, diplomats said he was planning to revise the document for a final closed-door discussion Friday morning, ahead of an open meeting in the afternoon to end the conference.
Any document must be approved by all parties to the treaty and it’s uncertain whether an agreement will be reached before the conference ends. There is a possibility that only a brief statement reaffirming support for the NPT might get unanimous support.
The NPT review conference is supposed to be held every five years but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last one in 2015 ended without an agreement because of serious differences over establishing a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction.
Those differences haven’t gone away but are being discussed, and the draft final document obtained by The Associated Press would reaffirm the importance of establishing a nuclear-free Mideast zone. So this is not viewed as a major stumbling block this year.
The issue that has changed the dynamics of the conference is Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning that Russia is a “potent” nuclear power and any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen,” and his decision soon after to put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert.
Putin has since rolled back, saying that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” a message reiterated by a senior Russian official on the opening day of the NPT conference on Aug. 2. In addition, Russia’s occupation of Europe’s biggest nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, where Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling, has raised fears of a nuclear disaster.
Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that the Biden administration is seeking a consensus final document that strengthens the treaty and acknowledges “the manner in which Russia’s war and irresponsible actions in Ukraine seriously undermine the NPT’s main purpose.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the United States and its allies at that council meeting of “politicizing the work on the final document, putting their geopolitical interests in punishing Russia above their collective needs in strengthening global security.”
“Against the backdrop of the actual sabotage by the collective West of the global security architecture, Russia continues to do everything possible to keep at least its key, vital elements afloat,” Nebenzia said.
The 35-page draft document has at least three specific references to the Zaporizhzhia plant, including expressing “grave concern” over its security, the military activities conducted at or near it, and the loss of control over the facility by Ukrainian authorities. The draft expresses support for efforts by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to visit the plant and ensure the non-diversion of nuclear material.
Under the NPT’s provisions, the five original nuclear powers — the United States, China, Russia (then the Soviet Union), Britain and France — agreed to negotiate toward eliminating their arsenals someday and nations without nuclear weapons promised not to acquire nuclear weapons in exchange for a guarantee to be able to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
India and Pakistan, which didn’t join the NPT, went on to get the bomb. So did North Korea, which ratified the pact but later announced it was withdrawing. Non-signatory Israel, which is believed to have a nuclear arsenal but neither confirms nor denies it, has been an obstacle in discussions of a Mideast zone free of weapons of mass destruction.
Nonetheless, the treaty has been credited with limiting the number of nuclear newcomers (U.S. President John F. Kennedy once foresaw as many as 20 nuclear-armed nations) as a framework for international cooperation on disarmament.
The draft final document would express deep concern “that the threat of nuclear weapons use today is higher than at any time since the heights of the Cold War and at the deteriorated international security environment.”
Diplomats and nuclear experts monitoring the closed-door negotiations have cited other differences that could block agreement on a final document.
These include China’s demands that it mention the U.S.-UK-Australia deal to provide Australia with a nuclear-powered submarine and nuclear-sharing in Europe, and demands by some countries strongly opposed to nuclear weapons for immediate nuclear disarmament to be included, which some Western countries call unrealistic.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/nuclear-treaty-conference-near-end-with-ukraine-spotlight/ | 2022-08-26T06:13:26Z |
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
When Roe v. Wade was overturned, Indiana became one of the first states to pass a near-total ban on abortion. Medical providers say this is bad news for patients, and it could hurt Indiana's ability to recruit and retain health care workers. WFYI's Farah Yousry spoke with young doctors there who are now reevaluating their future options.
FARAH YOUSRY, BYLINE: It's 7:30 in the morning at Indiana's largest teaching hospital. OB-GYN residents meet with their boss, Dr. Nicole Scott.
NICOLE SCOTT: All right, we'll go ahead and get started.
YOUSRY: Normally, they use these meetings to catch up and discuss the latest journal article. But top of mind today is what happened to one of their colleagues.
SCOTT: Any other abortion care questions? I know this is hard on everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: How's Dr. Bernard doing?
SCOTT: Bernard is actually in really good spirits - I mean, relatively. She has 24/7 security. She has her own lawyer. She has...
YOUSRY: Dr. Caitlin Bernard is an Indiana OB-GYN. She became the target of an onslaught of false accusations from TV pundits and political leaders after she revealed that she provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim who crossed state lines from Ohio to Indiana. Bernard has been a mentor to most of the residents here, like Dr. Beatrice Soderholm.
BEATRICE SODERHOLM: Watching what she went through was scary. I think that was part of the point for those who were putting her through that - was to scare other people out of doing the work that she does.
YOUSRY: Indiana's abortion ban has limited exceptions for rape and incest, fetal abnormalities and if the patient's life is at risk. Medical providers could lose their license and even risk facing up to six years in prison if they don't follow the law. Scott tells her residents there will be 24/7 legal counsel for them. But that's little consolation for most, like chief resident Soderholm.
SODERHOLM: Have you ever made a phone call at 2 a.m.? Even if we have consulting services available, my worry is that you might not get the best advice or the most timely advice. And some of these situations go poorly very quickly.
YOUSRY: That worries Dr. Wendy Tian. She's got a year left in her OB training. She's been open to practicing in Indiana, but that's changed.
WENDY TIAN: I always thought I wanted to do family planning. I'm now thinking about doing, like, something else. But I, for sure, like, don't know if I would be able to stay in Indiana post-graduation.
YOUSRY: A survey of residents and fellows across all specialties at the hospital found that 80% of the doctors said they are less likely to stay and practice in Indiana with the abortion ban. Scott says last year, more than half of them stayed.
SCOTT: I mean, our residents are devastated. I mean, they signed up to provide - I'm sorry - they signed up to provide comprehensive health care to women. And they are being told that they can't do that. And I think it will deeply impact how we recruit and retain people to our state.
YOUSRY: That could be trouble for patients in states like Indiana that already have a shortage of providers. One study suggests that nearly half of all rural counties in the U.S. do not have a single hospital with obstetric services. Dr. Scott says it'll also restrict the hands-on training she can offer doctors in abortion and managing miscarriages. Some programs may send residents to states without abortion restrictions, but that could be a logistical nightmare. All of this has given Beatrice Soderholm a lot to think about. Soderholm was certain she wanted to practice in Indiana. But lately, family in Minnesota have asked why she would stay.
SODERHOLM: I've had to think about it. There's been hesitation in that decision. But it's hard to leave. Sorry.
YOUSRY: She feels a strong connection to her underserved patients in Indianapolis and decided she'll probably stay. Other young doctors may choose to leave. For NPR News, I'm Farah Yousry.
SUMMERS: This story is a part of a partnership that includes Side Effects Public Media, NPR and Kaiser Health News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-15/their-mentor-was-attacked-now-young-ob-gyns-may-leave-indiana | 2022-08-26T06:24:17Z |
Almont football tops Marysville as both teams 'learn' where to improve
MARYSVILLE — Only one side walked away with a win. But both left with the same perspective — changes will have to be made.
"I think (this game) really helped us learn," Almont running back Bryce Ferman said. "From here, we have a lot of work to do."
"On offense, we really need to learn our plays," Marysville quarterback Noah LaValley said. "We need to learn where to go in our formations. Because that's taking up half our play clock."
"There's just a lot to fix," Almont running back Matthew Measel said. "But it's only Week 1."
The Raiders used a 21-point third quarter to topple the Vikings, 35-24, at Walt Braun Viking Stadium on Thursday. Almont improved to 1-0 while Marysville fell to 0-1.
"We've got to secure some things on defense and fix that," Almont coach James Leusby said. "But I liked our effort and our hustle."
"Obviously, we've got to make our corrections," Marysville coach Derrick Meier said. "Ultimately, we have to come out and play four full quarters. Our stamina and drive in the fourth quarter was good ... but you've got to fulfill the time in between."
The Vikings struck first on an eight-yard touchdown run by LaValley (8-for-10 passing, 104 yards, two touchdowns) at the 4:42 mark of the second quarter. They settled for a 6-0 lead after a missed point-after attempt.
The Raiders responded on their next drive. Quarterback Trenton Kruse scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 14 seconds remaining in the second quarter. After tacking on an extra point, Almont took a slim lead, 7-6, into the break.
"We went into halftime and made some adjustments," Leusby said. "We had to quit shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties. Once we cleaned that up, then we got rolling."
The Raiders worked quickly in the third quarter. Ferman (six carries, 54 yards) gave his team some breathing room with a 27-yard touchdown run 1:45 into the second half.
After Almont's defense recovered a fumble, running back Chase Battani (six carries, 69 yards, three touchdowns) scored from one yard out at 7:55.
Then with just under three minutes left in the third, defensive lineman Cody Koval returned a fumble two yards for another Raiders touchdown. Almont scored 21 points in less than 10 minutes to put the game away.
"We came out (in the second half) and just played Raider football," Ferman said.
Marysville refused to quit and totaled 18 points in the fourth quarter. While it was too little, too late, the Vikings have already made progress from 2021.
"We're having more sustainable drives on offense," LaValley said. "Instead of three-and-outs, we're getting down field now as opposed to what we did last year."
"I think we can get a lot better from here on both sides of the ball," Marysville defensive back Braden Turner said.
"We've got a little bit more size and speed this year," Meier said. "We've just got to get it all clicking together."
Both teams are idle until Sept. 1. Marysville will host Hazel Park and Almont will welcome Hamtramck.
"We're old, but we're inexperienced because we've moved so many guys around," Leusby said. "They're playing in such different spots so it's going to take a few games to get their feet underneath them. But it's fixable."
Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper. | https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/sports/2022/08/26/almont-football-tops-marysville-both-teams-learn/65419148007/ | 2022-08-26T07:06:28Z |
Taiwan: China, Russia disrupting, threatening world order
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s leader on Friday said China and Russia are “disrupting and threatening the world order” through Beijing’s recent large-scale military exercises near the island and Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
President Tsai Ing-wen was speaking during a meeting in Taipei with U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is on the second visit by members of Congress since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip earlier this month. That visit prompted China to launch the exercises that saw it fire numerous missiles and send dozens of warplanes and ships to virtually surround the island, including across the center line in the Taiwan Strait that has long been a buffer between the sides.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Beijing has also boosted relations with Russia and is seen as tacitly supporting its attack on Ukraine.
“These developments demonstrate how authoritarian countries are disrupting and threatening the world order,” Tsai said.
Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, reaffirmed shared values between the two governments and said she “looked forward to continuing to support Taiwan as they push forward as an independent nation.”
China sees high-level foreign visits to the island as interference in its affairs and de facto recognition of Taiwanese sovereignty. China’s recent military drills were seen by some as a rehearsal of future military action against the island, which U.S. military leaders say could come within the next few years.
Along with staging the exercises, China cut off contacts with the United States on vital issues — including military matters and crucial climate cooperation — raising concerns over a lasting, more aggressive approach by Beijing. It also called in U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns to formally complain. He later said China was overreacting in order to manufacture a crisis.
Due to the separation of powers in the U.S. government, the executive branch has no authority to prevent legislators from making such foreign visits and Taiwan benefits from strong bipartisan support in Washington. China, whose ruling Communist Party wields total control over the country’s politics, refuses to acknowledge that fundamental principle.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said members of Congress and elected officials “have gone to Taiwan for decades and will continue to do so,” saying it was in line with U.S. policy to only maintain formal diplomatic ties with Beijing.
“We’re going to continue to take calm and resolute steps to uphold peace and stability in the region and to support Taiwan in line with our longstanding policy,” Patel said at a briefing Thursday.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told reporters Friday that “China’s motivation is to destroy the Taiwan Straits’ status quo, and after this they want to cut down on Taiwan’s defensive space.”
Taiwan is seeking stepped-up defense cooperation and additional weaponry from the U.S., along with closer economic ties.
In their meeting, Tsai and Blackburn underscored the importance of economic links, especially in the semiconductor sector, where Taiwan is a world leader and the U.S. is seeking greater investment at home.
Blackburn arrived in Taipei late Thursday after visiting Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea as part of a U.S. push to “expand our diplomatic footprint in the area,” her office said in a statement.
“The Indo-Pacific region is the next frontier for the new axis of evil,” Blackburn, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, was quoted as saying. “We must stand against the Chinese Communist Party.”
China has been making inroads in the western Pacific, signing a broad security agreement with the Solomons that the U.S. and allies such as Australia see as an attempt to overthrow the traditional security order in the region.
Pelosi was the highest-level member of the U.S. government to visit Taiwan in 25 years. China’s response was to announce six zones surrounding the island for military exercises that included firing missiles over the island, some of which landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Following Pelosi’s trip, a delegation of House and Senate members visited. This week, Indiana’s governor made a visit focused on business and academic cooperation. U.S politicians have called their visits a show of support for the island.
“I just landed in Taiwan to send a message to Beijing — we will not be bullied,” said Blackburn in a tweet early morning Friday. “The United States remains steadfast in preserving freedom around the globe, and will not tolerate efforts to undermine our nation and our allies.”
During her three-day visit, Blackburn is also due to meet with the head of Taiwan’s National Security Council.
Washington has no official diplomatic ties with Taipei in deference to China, but remains the island’s biggest security guarantor, with U.S. law requiring it ensure Taiwan has the means to defend itself and to regard threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war and have no official relations but are bound by billions of dollars of trade and investment.
China has increased its pressure on Taiwan since it elected independence-leaning Tsai as its president. When Tsai refused to endorse the concept of a single Chinese nation, China cut off contact with the Taiwanese government.
U.S. congressional visits to the island have stepped up in frequency in the past year.
On Thursday, the executive branch of Taiwan’s government laid out plans for a 12.9% increase in the Defense Ministry’s annual budget next year. The government is planning to spend an additional 47.5 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.6 billion), for a total of 415.1 billion NTD ($13.8 billion) for the year.
The Defense Ministry said the increase is due to the “Chinese Communists’ continued expansion of targeted military activities in recent years, the normalization of their harassment of Taiwan’s nearby waters and airspace with warships and war planes.”
Also Thursday, the Defense Ministry said it tracked four Chinese naval ships and 15 warplanes in the region surrounding the island.
___
Associated Press writer Wu Huizhong contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/26/taiwan-china-russia-disrupting-threatening-world-order/ | 2022-08-26T07:43:28Z |
Constable, three others killed during eviction at apartment complex in Arizona
TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13/Gray News) - Four people were killed in a likely triple murder-suicide at an apartment complex in midtown Tucson on Thursday.
The Tucson Police Department said officers were called to Lind Commons Apartments, located at 3493 East Lind Road, around 11 a.m.
According to several sources, the shooting happened when Pima County Constable Deborah Martinez-Garibay and an apartment manager served an eviction notice.
Sources said the resident being evicted killed the apartment manager, Martinez-Garibay and a neighbor before turning the gun on himself. While the TPD could not confirm the details, they said the scene is safe and no suspects are in custody.
As of 8 p.m. Thursday, only Martinez-Garibay was identified.
Martinez-Garibay was a well-loved U.S. Army veteran, who was active in the Tucson community. She enlisted after Sept. 11 and served nearly two decades before she was injured, while serving in Afghanistan.
In 2019, Martinez-Garibay was honored for her work and received a vehicle from the Recycled Ride program.
“The biggest thing that I am seeing is more than they’re happy about learning the game of golf, they’re happy to have the social interaction with other veterans,” Martinez-Garibay said at the time.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered flags at all state buildings to be lowered to half-staff Friday in honor of the lives in the mass shooting.
Martinez-Garibay, a Democrat, was appointed constable in March 2022. She was set to run against Republican Bill Lake in the Nov. 8 election.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/constable-three-others-killed-during-eviction-apartment-complex-arizona/ | 2022-08-26T07:44:38Z |
Taiwan: China, Russia disrupting, threatening world order
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s leader on Friday said China and Russia are “disrupting and threatening the world order” through Beijing’s recent large-scale military exercises near the island and Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
President Tsai Ing-wen was speaking during a meeting in Taipei with U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is on the second visit by members of Congress since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip earlier this month. That visit prompted China to launch the exercises that saw it fire numerous missiles and send dozens of warplanes and ships to virtually surround the island, including across the center line in the Taiwan Strait that has long been a buffer between the sides.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Beijing has also boosted relations with Russia and is seen as tacitly supporting its attack on Ukraine.
“These developments demonstrate how authoritarian countries are disrupting and threatening the world order,” Tsai said.
Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, reaffirmed shared values between the two governments and said she “looked forward to continuing to support Taiwan as they push forward as an independent nation.”
China sees high-level foreign visits to the island as interference in its affairs and de facto recognition of Taiwanese sovereignty. China’s recent military drills were seen by some as a rehearsal of future military action against the island, which U.S. military leaders say could come within the next few years.
Along with staging the exercises, China cut off contacts with the United States on vital issues — including military matters and crucial climate cooperation — raising concerns over a lasting, more aggressive approach by Beijing. It also called in U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns to formally complain. He later said China was overreacting in order to manufacture a crisis.
Due to the separation of powers in the U.S. government, the executive branch has no authority to prevent legislators from making such foreign visits and Taiwan benefits from strong bipartisan support in Washington. China, whose ruling Communist Party wields total control over the country’s politics, refuses to acknowledge that fundamental principle.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said members of Congress and elected officials “have gone to Taiwan for decades and will continue to do so,” saying it was in line with U.S. policy to only maintain formal diplomatic ties with Beijing.
“We’re going to continue to take calm and resolute steps to uphold peace and stability in the region and to support Taiwan in line with our longstanding policy,” Patel said at a briefing Thursday.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told reporters Friday that “China’s motivation is to destroy the Taiwan Straits’ status quo, and after this they want to cut down on Taiwan’s defensive space.”
Taiwan is seeking stepped-up defense cooperation and additional weaponry from the U.S., along with closer economic ties.
In their meeting, Tsai and Blackburn underscored the importance of economic links, especially in the semiconductor sector, where Taiwan is a world leader and the U.S. is seeking greater investment at home.
Blackburn arrived in Taipei late Thursday after visiting Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea as part of a U.S. push to “expand our diplomatic footprint in the area,” her office said in a statement.
“The Indo-Pacific region is the next frontier for the new axis of evil,” Blackburn, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, was quoted as saying. “We must stand against the Chinese Communist Party.”
China has been making inroads in the western Pacific, signing a broad security agreement with the Solomons that the U.S. and allies such as Australia see as an attempt to overthrow the traditional security order in the region.
Pelosi was the highest-level member of the U.S. government to visit Taiwan in 25 years. China’s response was to announce six zones surrounding the island for military exercises that included firing missiles over the island, some of which landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Following Pelosi’s trip, a delegation of House and Senate members visited. This week, Indiana’s governor made a visit focused on business and academic cooperation. U.S politicians have called their visits a show of support for the island.
“I just landed in Taiwan to send a message to Beijing — we will not be bullied,” said Blackburn in a tweet early morning Friday. “The United States remains steadfast in preserving freedom around the globe, and will not tolerate efforts to undermine our nation and our allies.”
During her three-day visit, Blackburn is also due to meet with the head of Taiwan’s National Security Council.
Washington has no official diplomatic ties with Taipei in deference to China, but remains the island’s biggest security guarantor, with U.S. law requiring it ensure Taiwan has the means to defend itself and to regard threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war and have no official relations but are bound by billions of dollars of trade and investment.
China has increased its pressure on Taiwan since it elected independence-leaning Tsai as its president. When Tsai refused to endorse the concept of a single Chinese nation, China cut off contact with the Taiwanese government.
U.S. congressional visits to the island have stepped up in frequency in the past year.
On Thursday, the executive branch of Taiwan’s government laid out plans for a 12.9% increase in the Defense Ministry’s annual budget next year. The government is planning to spend an additional 47.5 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.6 billion), for a total of 415.1 billion NTD ($13.8 billion) for the year.
The Defense Ministry said the increase is due to the “Chinese Communists’ continued expansion of targeted military activities in recent years, the normalization of their harassment of Taiwan’s nearby waters and airspace with warships and war planes.”
Also Thursday, the Defense Ministry said it tracked four Chinese naval ships and 15 warplanes in the region surrounding the island.
___
Associated Press writer Wu Huizhong contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/26/taiwan-china-russia-disrupting-threatening-world-order/ | 2022-08-26T07:44:39Z |
LIHUE, Hawaii (KITV4) -- After joining the Kauai Gymnastics Academy at 4 years old back in 1996, Lani Johnson began teaching younger gymnasts when she was 16.
The long-time gymnast is now 30 years old and a full time coach for the Lihue team.
"I can't remember a time in my life where I wasn't a part of the gym," Johnson said. "It's (the gym) kind of a part of who I am. It's been my family. I've met a lot of lifelong friends and a lot of people who I consider family here."
After 15 years, the full-service gymnastics club that Johnson grew up in will soon have to vacate its current space.
JP Parrish, the owner of the Hanahao Place building, notified the group in July it would not renew their lease.
While the contract was supposed to expire in August, Parrish extended it until Oct. 1 so the club could complete a final session, meaning the more than 175 students ages from 1 to 18 years old still have a place to practice for a few months.
"It's something that really inspires me and it makes me feel happy doing it," 13-year-old gymnast Juniper Reiss said.
Now that the gym's lease is up, Johnson worries they'll lose some of their gymnasts if they have to move to another side of the island, adding many of their students walk to the facility after school.
"I've watched all of these kids grow up, some of them I remember when they were in diapers and I really care for them and all that matters to me is their success and if they weren't able to continue, it would just break my heart," Johnson said.
The group has been struggling to find a new location because they need at least 5,000 square feet of open space with 25-foot ceilings to accommodate the equipment.
Not only are options limited in Lihue, the few in mind need renovations.
"Coming out of COVID, the funds are very low, so, trying to come up with that, to be able to move into a new location is very difficult right now," Kauai Gymnastics Academy owner Tiffany Dick said.
Meanwhile, the academy is thankful to the many Kaua'i community members who have been helping them look for a new space.
"It's an amazing feeling, I feel very blessed to be a part of this," Dick added.
Parrish, head of Parrish Collection vacation rentals, told KITV4 in a state the building "was purchased in January 2021 to meet our need for space for our growing businesses on Kauai...that expansion will create 16 new jobs..."
'A'ali'i is a reporter with KITV. He was born and raised on the island of Maui and graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/after-more-than-15-years-the-future-of-a-kauai-full-service-gymnastics-club-in/article_d62740d8-24df-11ed-8543-7726963b35d5.html | 2022-08-26T07:54:19Z |
Attention, auto enthusiasts: The "holy grail" of Chicago license plates is up for auction.
A black-and-white aluminum plate stamped with just the single numeral "1" gives bidders a chance to earn a piece of automotive history. The plate was made in 1904, the first year that Chicago made metal license plates, and the only year the city made plates from thin, stamped aluminum, according to the item's description on the auction site.
"Only (a) handful of these were made," said Mike Donley of Donley Auctions. "And it's number 1. It doesn't get any lower than that."
Before Illinois began making statewide license plates, Chicago issued its own plates between 1903 and 1907, Donley said. From that era, auctioneers said, those made in 1904 are the rarest. For the next few years that followed, the flimsy and damage-prone aluminum plates were replaced with heavy-duty solid brass.
Even more rare, this plate is graded "VG," or very good condition.
The plate's first owner was a founding member of AAA
This particular plate was issued to prominent Chicago lawyer and art collector Arthur Jerome Eddy, who in 1900 became the first person in Chicago to receive a license badge for a motor vehicle. Before plates were distributed, license badges, meant to go on drivers' coats, were issued to drivers as a way to tax city residents for funding road projects, Donley said.
Eddy was an early adopter of automobiles, Donley said. He set an auto distance record in 1901 by driving 2,900 miles from Chicago to Boston and back over two months, The New York Times reported. He even published a book about it the following year — one of several he authored — titled Two Thousand Miles On An Automobile.
Eddy also helped found the Chicago Motor Club in 1902, to advocate for driver rights and promote safe vehicles and roads. That club has since evolved into the American Automobile Association (AAA). He's also credited with putting Chicago on the map of the modern art world, according to auctioneers, by drawing interest to the Art Institute of Chicago.
More recently, this plate belonged to Lee Hartung, a well-known collector of motor vehicles, who died in 2011. Much of his personal collection was auctioned off years ago but, Donley said, when his partner was recently preparing to sell their house, she found a stash of more auto memorabilia — including the No.1 plate.
Donley estimated the plate will sell for around $4,000 to $6,000 at the auction, which ends on Sunday. But the intrigue Donley said it has garnered could hike up the bids. The auctioneer took the plate to a license plate show over the weekend in Wauconda, Ill., where he said the item attracted collectors from out of state to see the plate and gauge its authenticity.
"There's a lot of interest in this," Donley said.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/a-rare-first-of-its-kind-chicago-license-plate-is-up-for-auction | 2022-08-26T09:37:57Z |
In Afghanistan, ISIS has been targeting minority groups in a wave of attacks in recent months. It's undermining the Taliban's promise of greater security.
Copyright 2022 NPR
In Afghanistan, ISIS has been targeting minority groups in a wave of attacks in recent months. It's undermining the Taliban's promise of greater security.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/afghans-from-minority-groups-face-new-threats-this-time-from-isis | 2022-08-26T09:38:06Z |
Last week, a deadline passed for the seven states that use the Colorado River to get the federal government a regional conservation plan. Some are criticizing the feds lack of enforcement action.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Last week, a deadline passed for the seven states that use the Colorado River to get the federal government a regional conservation plan. Some are criticizing the feds lack of enforcement action.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/as-the-colorado-river-recedes-states-which-rely-on-it-struggle-to-curb-demand | 2022-08-26T09:38:07Z |
On a Friday evening at a call center in southeastern Pennsylvania, Michael Colluccio stirs his hot tea, puts on his headset, and starts up his computer. On the screen, calls are coming in to the suicide prevention lifeline from around the state.
The 38-year old Colluccio says he knows what it's like to be on the other end of one of those calls.
"So I had a suicide attempt when I was about 10, 11 years old," Colluccio says. "And we do get callers who are about that age, or quite young, and they are going through similar stressors."
For people having a mental health crisis, calling 988 can be a life-saving decision. But what happens after you call depends on where you are. The new 988 system launched in mid-July, and one early estimate says calls went up 45% nationally during the first week.
With calls expected to increase more as people learn about the helpline, some call centers say there are limits to what they can accomplish without more local resources.
Colluccio says callers in this area — Bucks County, a suburb of Philadelphia — have access to more services than in many parts of the state. His job with the Family Service Association, which runs the hotline, sometimes involves connecting them with services such as homeless shelters, therapists or drug and alcohol counselors.
More than anything, his job is to listen.
'If you did not pick up, I'd have killed myself'
Colluccio's first call of the evening is from a woman who sounds panicked. Her partner has been using drugs and has started making violent threats.
He spends a lot more time listening than talking. He says by listening closely to what she has to say, he offers relief, validation and human connection.
When he does talk, he usually asks questions — gently searching for specific ways to help. In this case, his questions lead him to connect the caller with local domestic abuse services and a social worker.
One service he rarely turns to is 911. Part of the idea behind 988 is that it offers an alternative to involving police or an ambulance for a mental health crisis. He would typically use 911 only if someone was an immediate threat to themselves or others.
After talking with the woman for a half hour, Colluccio asks her a few key questions to determine whether she feels suicidal. Colluccio says this is an important step to make sure each caller is safe after they hang up.
What happens next is surprisingly common. At the start of the call it seemed like the woman wanted help for her partner. But when he asks her directly on a scale of one to five how suicidal she is, she says she's a two or maybe a three — and she's attempted suicide before.
Before they end the call, Colluccio asks her if she would like a call back tomorrow. She says yes, so he schedules one.
Colluccio has just enough time for a sip of tea when another call comes in. It's a young man in college, overwhelmed by stress. They talk for over an hour.
This is a pretty typical evening.
"Sometimes it's more of an immediate intervention because sometimes people call with pills in hand and are actively considering ending their lives," Colluccio said. "There are people who have called and said, if you did not pick up, I'd have killed myself."
He says that's why having a national network of call centers works so well. There are more than 200 call centers like this one across the country. Calls are tied to area codes. If nobody picks up locally, the call gets kicked to somewhere else.
The promise is to always have someone pick up the phone.
Strained resources for in-person help
In some places, like Bucks County, there are options for callers who need more help than counselors can offer on the phone. Colluccio says he can even dispatch a mobile crew of mental health workers to visit someone at their home.
But that's not the case everywhere. In Hanover, a small town a few hours west, the 988 call center doesn't have that option.
Jayne Wildasin runs that center and says workers sometimes have to put down their headsets, get in their cars and go meet with people sometimes as far as an hour away.
"So right now if there's a crisis at someone's house we could potentially go there," Wildasin says.
In rural Centre County, the local 988 call center relies on volunteers — mostly college students from Penn State University. Denise Herr McCann runs the operation and says that her team can call in mobile mental health experts, but there need to be more of them.
Plus there's a gaping need for other mental health professionals to continue helping people once the crisis has passed.
"Sometimes those resources are other counseling services, and they don't have capacity," Herr McCann says. "People are calling, and providers are six weeks out if they're lucky. That's not any good."
For decades, suicide prevention call centers have had to scrape together funding from local, state and federal sources. Now with the switch to 988, they have to meet new federal regulations, such as data collecting and licensure requirements, says Julie Dees, who oversees the call center in Bucks County. That all costs money.
"There are increased responsibilities that are being put on the call centers, but there's really no additional funding being put on that," Dees says.
It's an issue around the U.S., according to a recent analysis from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The group notes that states are largely left to foot the bill for the change to 988 — and many of the call centers doing the actual work have been underfunded for years. It recommends that state policymakers evaluate funding needs to ensure that crisis services connected to 988 will be sustainable.
The Biden administration has dedicated $432 million toward building the capacity of local and backup call centers and providing associated services. But the expectation is that states will come up with the main funding streams.
The 2020 law enacting the 988 number also allows states to pass legislation to add a small fee to cell phone bills as a permanent source of funds for 988 and associated mental health services. So far, only four states have done so, and only two more have proposed legislation.
Pennsylvania is not one of those states, and doesn't have any other funding plan implemented. That worries Kevin Boozel, who heads the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.
"This is life or death," Boozel says. "And you can't halfway do it."
He pointed out that Pennsylvania has decided to hold back on publicizing the new 988 number until next year. The fear is that too many calls could flood the system, and counties need more time to set up funding, hire workers and build capacity for things like those mobile crisis teams.
Challenges aside, In Centre County, Herr McCann emphasizes that calling the hotline works. In most cases, just talking with someone is enough to defuse a crisis.
"When they have someone who is empathetic and who listens, that connection helps them," she said. That lets people know that "it isn't hopeless. There is hope out there. There is help out there."
Copyright 2022 WITF | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/at-988-call-centers-crisis-counselors-offer-empathy-and-juggle-limited-resources | 2022-08-26T09:38:13Z |
NPR's A Martinez talks to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which is now in the federal government's code of regulations.
Copyright 2022 NPR
NPR's A Martinez talks to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which is now in the federal government's code of regulations.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/biden-administration-moves-to-make-daca-harder-to-challenge-in-court | 2022-08-26T09:38:20Z |
Does Biden's student loan plan do enough for Black graduates? NPR Published August 26, 2022 at 3:15 AM MDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Flipboard NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Wisdom Cole of the NAACP about the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness program. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/does-bidens-student-loan-plan-do-enough-for-black-graduates | 2022-08-26T09:38:26Z |
Driving through the Wyoming sagebrush west of Cheyenne, the clouds of dust rising from the road give way to giant plumes of steam shooting into the warming sky.
This is the Jim Bridger power plant, one of the largest coal-fired power sources in the nation and an enormous emitter of carbon dioxide pollution. At the plant's edge there's a reservoir, lined with rocks and clumps of drying grass. The plant sucks up about 16 million barrels of water each day, using it to power more than million homes across six western states, all the way to Oregon.
But there's a problem that looms for the coal plant operator and the customers that rely on it for electricity. This water is piped here from the Green River, a tributary of the rapidly shrinking Colorado River. Now, amidst a decades-long drought and a shortage of water downstream across the Southwest, future conservation in the basin could mean industrial users like Jim Bridger see their water shut off, says Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart.
"They would be likely the first one shut off. Unless they were able to find a different source of water, we would have to just shut off their water and not allow them to divert," Gebhart says.
The western U.S. hasn't been this dry for more than 1,200 years, but 30 western coal plants continue to suck up 156 million gallons a day of the region's scarce water, according to the Energy Information Administration. Now the very plants whose emissions help drive climate change are at risk of shutdowns, because the water they need to operate has fallen to unprecedented levels.
Some utilities are already sending warnings, telling federal regulators that the drought could threaten coal plant operations. But there's uncertainty at the state level over which officials are responsible for managing drought risk to power plants and the threat of brownouts and blackouts.
Old coal plants like Jim Bridger have for decades been critical to the grid, says David Eskelsen, spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp, which operates the Wyoming plant. "With all the concerns about the use of fossil fuels, climate change, and the use of water in this way," Eskelsen says, "that has to be balanced against the role that these particular power plants play in the stability of the regional transmission system."
But rising water scarcity in the West means the stability of coal plants like Jim Bridger is no longer a sure thing, says Joe Smyth, research manager at the Energy and Policy Institute, a utility watchdog group.
"If you don't have water to cool it, you can't run it, right? Like it's not a minor risk. It is a very disruptive event," he says, "If you're not aware of those risks, then you are not really operating your power plants responsibly."
Who ensures that coal plants have enough water?
Drought threatens coal plant operations and customers across the US. Earlier this year in its reliability assessment, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation issued a warning that drought in the Missouri River Basin could affect power plants, including coal plants, that use river water for cooling. In the west, the risk of low water is leading to new alerts for Wall Street investors.
In its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, New Mexico utility PNM outlines the risks of drought to its coal plants on the San Juan river, a tributary of the Colorado. "If inadequate precipitation occurs in the watershed that supplies that region, PNM may have to decrease generation at these plants," the utility writes, "Drought conditions or actions taken by the court system, regulators, or legislators could limit PNM's supply of water, which would adversely impact PNM's business."
But for a coal plant like Jim Bridger, it can be unclear who is regulating this risk at ground-level, where power shortages could affect millions of Americans.
The Wyoming Public Service Commission (PSC) officially regulates plant operator Rocky Mountain Power, but the PSC's chief counsel John Burbridge tells NPR his office has not taken steps to ensure there's enough water to keep the power on. He says the PSC defers to the state engineer. "We trust that once [the utilities] have the state engineer's permit they do have enough water," Burbridge says, "You know it's the old Ronald Reagan thing, 'Trust, but verify.'"
But the state engineer Gebhart says a water right isn't a promise of water forever for coal plants. "The granting of a water right does not guarantee an amount of water," he says. "It allows them to use water when it's available."
Gebhart's office gave Jim Bridger its water rights from the Green River in 1968 – the coal plant started operating in 1974. In the scheme of Wyoming's Green River Basin, that isn't very old. Some local farms have water rights dating back to the 1880s, and they would have the seniority to keep their water over relatively newer users like Jim Bridger, Gebhart says.
Last week Wyoming and other upper basin states of the Colorado River missed the federal government's deadline to propose cuts to help with the low water levels downstream at Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
It's still unclear when this possible diversion of Colorado River water from the upper basin could happen. Eskelsen notes that Jim Bridger has a "contingency" at another nearby reservoir – although it, too, is on the Green River and also could be at risk. Ultimately while coal plants like Jim Bridger can ask the state engineer for guidance, they're on their own to make sure they have water supplies to keep operating into the future, says water expert Patrick Tyrrell, the former Wyoming state engineer. "That's not the state engineer's job," he says, "The primary responsibility is on them themselves."
Future plans for Western coal plants
The Jim Bridger coal plant isn't scheduled to close for good until 2037. The Biden administration is aiming for a fossil-free electric grid by 2035. While some Western states like Colorado have committed to shutting down all their coal plants in the next decade, others are considering a different direction.
States like Wyoming, which produces about 40% of the country's coal, hope to keep their coal plants running using new technology that would compress and trap their carbon emissions underground before they escape and cause global warming. In recent years, Wyoming's legislature has mandated that utilities with coal plants explore installing "carbon capture and sequestration" technology. And landmark federal climate legislation features new incentives for carbon capture and storage, including upping the tax credit for storing carbon emissions underground from $50 to as much as $85 per ton.
But installing this technology in a mega-drought that shows no signs of relenting poses serious risks, says Avner Vengosh, professor of environmental quality at Duke University. Carbon capture requires even more water than these Western coal plants already use. In a recent filing with the Wyoming Public Commission, PacifiCorp estimates that carbon capture increases a coal plant's water usage by about 35-40%.
Regardless of what happens with carbon capture and storage, Rocky Mountain Power plans to convert two of Jim Bridger's four units from coal to natural gas in 2023. But even with gas as a fuel instead of coal, the plant would still use the same amount of water, says Eskelsen. "The boiler is still the same and the cooling cycle is still the same," he says.
Locals push for less water-intensive energy
About 50 miles southwest of the Jim Bridger coal plant on the Green River is the Buckboard Marina. Families drive their boats down a long steep road to get to the shore.
Because of the drought, the water has dropped about six feet from a year ago, says Tony Valdez, co-owner of the marina, pointing to the old waterline where the sagebrush abruptly turns to sand. Now Valdez and his wife and co-owner, Jen Valdez, must continuously gauge the water to adjust the ramp to the boats. "It's just straight down," she says. "It's like a slip and slide."
Last month, the Valdez family attended a meeting at a local middle school with farmers, ranchers, and another marina owner about the shortage of water in the Colorado River Basin. "With our water dropping, you know our concern is, where's our marina go?" Tony Valdez asks, "Where's the water come from, if it ain't falling from the sky?"
This drought has forced new questions about the water intensity of energy sources throughout the Colorado basin, says Wahleah Johns, the director of the office of Indian energy policy at the Department of Energy. She says that's particularly true in the Navajo or Diné Nation, which is shifting away from coal. The Four Corners power plant, scheduled to close until 2031, draws from the San Juan River, part of the dwindling Colorado River basin. Johns says as the Diné consider alternative energies, they're thinking about the legacy of coal, water, and pollution.
"The biggest question that communities had is, 'How much water is this gonna use?' And particularly around solar power in comparison to coal." While solar needs some water in the production of the panels, it doesn't have a water footprint once it is installed. "We had to show, you know, very little water is gonna be used."
Johns is a member of Diné nation, "My family, we haul water, we don't have access to water. I mean [close to] 40% of my nation has to haul water every other day," she says, "Those folks have an understanding of how precious water is."
Back at the marina in Wyoming, Tony Valdez remembers his life working in coal plants, including Jim Bridger. "My dad worked in 'em, my brother worked in 'em, I worked in 'em." Valdez knows how much water coal plants use and says that's why he's interested in renewable energy.
"So why are we still pushing that sh*t up in the air when we have wind, we have solar, we have all this stuff that does not impact water?" he asks, "We're pumping water through pipes to power plants to produce power, when there's so many other things that you could possibly do."
This reporting was supported with a grant from The Water Desk at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/drought-threatens-coal-plant-operations-and-electricity-across-the-west | 2022-08-26T09:38:32Z |
It's peak blackberry season in Oregon. And even if you don't live there, the blackberries you eat are likely from the state. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on Aug. 10, 2022.)
Copyright 2022 NPR
It's peak blackberry season in Oregon. And even if you don't live there, the blackberries you eat are likely from the state. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on Aug. 10, 2022.)
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/encore-why-oregonians-are-so-proud-of-their-blackberries | 2022-08-26T09:38:38Z |
President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is designed to help low-income borrowers. But many will still have loans to pay off after Biden's changes.
Copyright 2022 NPR
President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is designed to help low-income borrowers. But many will still have loans to pay off after Biden's changes.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/examining-president-bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-program | 2022-08-26T09:38:45Z |
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell speaks Friday morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Powell hopes to curb inflation without pushing the economy into recession.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell speaks Friday morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Powell hopes to curb inflation without pushing the economy into recession.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/fed-chief-jerome-powell-is-under-pressure-to-curb-inflation | 2022-08-26T09:38:51Z |
With millions of Americans preparing to fly over the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is urging airlines to step up their game so travelers aren't stranded.
Copyright 2022 NPR
With millions of Americans preparing to fly over the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is urging airlines to step up their game so travelers aren't stranded.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/flight-delays-and-poor-customer-service-are-at-unacceptable-levels-buttigieg-says | 2022-08-26T09:38:58Z |
LONDON — Jennifer Jones keeps feeding money into her energy meter, but it never seems to be enough. And when she can't pay, she feels the impact immediately.
The power in her London home has gone off suddenly three times recently, once when her partner was cooking an egg.
Like millions of people, Jones, 54, is struggling to cope as energy and food prices skyrocket during Britain's worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. The former school supervisor has health problems and relies on government benefits to get by, but her welfare payments are nowhere near enough to cover her sharply rising bills.
"I've always struggled, but not as much," she said. "Everything is going up. I can't even pay my rent, my council tax, I can't afford to do anything. ... I keep asking myself, what am I supposed to do?"
And things are getting worse. U.K. residents will see an additional 80% increase in their annual household energy bills, the country's energy regulator announced Friday, following a record 54% spike in April. That will bring costs for the average customer from 1,971 pounds ($2,332) a year to 3,549 pounds.
The latest price cap — the maximum amount that gas suppliers can charge customers per unit of energy — will take effect Oct. 1, just as the cold months set in. And bills are expected to rise again in January to 4,000 pounds.
To blame for the increase is the soaring price of wholesale natural gas triggered by Russia's war in Ukraine, which is driving up consumer prices and roiling economies across Europe that rely on the fuel for heating homes and generating electricity.
That includes the United Kingdom, which has the highest inflation rate among the Group of Seven wealthiest democracies and seen disruptive strikes for months as workers push for pay to keep pace with the increasingly expensive cost of living.
The energy increases, together with rapidly rising food costs, are expected to push inflation above the 40-year high of 10.1% recorded in July and trigger a recession later this year, the Bank of England has predicted. Charities, public health leaders and even energy firms warn of catastrophic effects on poorer people already struggling to afford essentials as wages lag behind.
Jon Taylor, who helps Jones and others at debt counseling charity Christians Against Poverty, said growing numbers of people who have never had debt problems are turning to the group's helpline.
"What I'm seeing a lot of at the moment is personal tragedies, losing loved ones, emotional health problems," he said. "The pressure of not knowing how to pay the next bill or having enough food to survive just accentuates whatever they're already going through."
About 1 million low-income households have had to take on new or extra debt to cover an essential bill, according to a May study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on U.K. poverty.
The drop in living standards is "of a scale we haven't seen for many decades," said Rebecca McDonald, the charity's chief economist. "It really warrants big and creative national policy interventions in order to prevent what is a difficult year becoming essentially a catastrophe for many low-income families."
Britain's Conservative government is under heavy pressure to do more to help people and businesses — and fast. Authorities have said they're sending around 1,200 pounds to low-income people. Every household, no matter their financial situation, will get 400 pounds off their energy bills this winter.
Many say that financial support needs to be doubled — at least —and some have called for an immediate freeze on the amount that suppliers can charge for energy. The opposition Labour Party has called for an extension of the government's temporary tax on the windfall profits of oil and gas companies to help pay for relief.
But the government has said no further measures will be announced until the Conservative Party announces a new leader to replace Boris Johnson on Sept. 5. Neither Liz Truss nor Rishi Sunak, the two politicians vying to become the next prime minister, appear to support taxing energy giants.
Unions across multiple key sectors have reacted by going on strike to demand pay raises that keep pace with inflation. A series of national rail strikes have brought the U.K. train network to a standstill during peak travel days this summer, and postal and port workers, garbage collectors and lawyers have all staged walkouts over pay disputes.
Meanwhile, a grassroots movement called "Don't Pay" is campaigning to gather 1 million people who will commit to not paying their energy bills on Oct. 1 if the price hike goes ahead. The group is hoping that mass nonpayment will force energy firms to end the crisis.
"Everyone we speak to thinks that the price increases we've seen and are going to be seeing on Oct. 1 are beyond a joke and will push people to the edge," said Jeffrey James, one of the campaign's organizers.
"We are being forced into poverty, whilst others who are already in poverty will be forced into a life-or-death situation this winter," he added. "That is the level of discontent and despair we are talking about."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/households-across-the-u-k-are-about-to-experience-an-80-jump-in-energy-costs | 2022-08-26T09:39:04Z |
The Fed chair speaks today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Biden's student loan plan is designed to help low-income borrowers. Conditions deteriorate at a Ukrainian nuclear plant under Russian control.
Copyright 2022 NPR
The Fed chair speaks today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Biden's student loan plan is designed to help low-income borrowers. Conditions deteriorate at a Ukrainian nuclear plant under Russian control.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/morning-news-brief | 2022-08-26T09:39:10Z |
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with MoviePass co-founder and CEO Stacy Spikes about the return of the service after its bankruptcy in 2020.
Copyright 2022 NPR
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with MoviePass co-founder and CEO Stacy Spikes about the return of the service after its bankruptcy in 2020.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/moviepass-is-back-after-its-bankruptcy-the-ceo-says-this-time-will-be-different | 2022-08-26T09:39:16Z |
NASA plans to test launch its newest rocket next week — one it hopes will eventually take astronauts back to the moon. But the rocket's big price tag has some critics skeptical about its future.
Copyright 2022 NPR
NASA plans to test launch its newest rocket next week — one it hopes will eventually take astronauts back to the moon. But the rocket's big price tag has some critics skeptical about its future.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/nasa-plans-to-launch-a-huge-moon-rocket-but-the-price-tag-may-impede-its-future | 2022-08-26T09:39:23Z |
The Inflation Reduction Act includes a number of provisions to tackle climate change and health care costs. But whether it really fights inflation is less clear.
Copyright 2022 NPR
The Inflation Reduction Act includes a number of provisions to tackle climate change and health care costs. But whether it really fights inflation is less clear.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/planet-money-will-the-inflation-reduction-act-really-fight-inflation | 2022-08-26T09:39:29Z |
The latest report cards from top U.S. retailers show shoppers are making fewer purchases and fewer trips to stores. But when they check out, they tend to spend more because things cost more.
Copyright 2022 NPR
The latest report cards from top U.S. retailers show shoppers are making fewer purchases and fewer trips to stores. But when they check out, they tend to spend more because things cost more.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/retailers-say-shoppers-are-making-fewer-purchases-but-inflation-means-they-pay-more | 2022-08-26T09:39:35Z |
StoryCorps: A mother talks about her love of learning NPR Published August 26, 2022 at 3:15 AM MDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Flipboard In this week's StoryCorps, a public school history teacher tells her son about how her love of learning began. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-26/storycorps-a-mother-talks-about-her-love-of-learning | 2022-08-26T09:39:37Z |
In Afghanistan, ISIS has been targeting minority groups in a wave of attacks in recent months. It's undermining the Taliban's promise of greater security.
Copyright 2022 NPR
In Afghanistan, ISIS has been targeting minority groups in a wave of attacks in recent months. It's undermining the Taliban's promise of greater security.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-26/afghans-from-minority-groups-face-new-threats-this-time-from-isis | 2022-08-26T09:57:21Z |
Last week, a deadline passed for the seven states that use the Colorado River to get the federal government a regional conservation plan. Some are criticizing the feds lack of enforcement action.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Last week, a deadline passed for the seven states that use the Colorado River to get the federal government a regional conservation plan. Some are criticizing the feds lack of enforcement action.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-26/as-the-colorado-river-recedes-states-which-rely-on-it-struggle-to-curb-demand | 2022-08-26T09:57:27Z |
NPR's A Martinez talks to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which is now in the federal government's code of regulations.
Copyright 2022 NPR
NPR's A Martinez talks to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which is now in the federal government's code of regulations.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-26/biden-administration-moves-to-make-daca-harder-to-challenge-in-court | 2022-08-26T09:57:33Z |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.