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HONOLULU (KITV4) – Hawaii Food Bank officials said they are in a double pinch – that demand for their services is increasing as well as the price of the food they give out.
CEO and President of Hawaii Food Bank said food costs increased by more than 10% this year.
“We are seeing more and more families show up to our food distribution sites. Many families were barely able to make ends meet during the pandemic but with these economic hardships, they now need help. At the same time, our food prices are going up to provide these free services,” said Amy Marvin, President of Hawaii Food Bank.
She also said the organization can really stretch $1. Every $1 donated can cover more than two meals.
“What we have to do now is, when we buy food, we have to raise more money than we typically aim for to cover these new costs,” said Neill Char, board member at Hawaii Food Bank.
The organization held a gathering outside Water Front Plaza – accepting both food and cash donations.
They said another goal they have is food rescue. They urge residents to bring in fresh food from home that might go to waste. They also work with local grocery stores to recue fresh produce.
"It was really great for us to give these food items to people who need them especially right now because when we go shopping for ourselves, everything is really high. The cost of food, gas and everything else is high," said Jonathan Sypert, a food donor.
If you’re interested in donating or volunteering at Hawaii Food bank, visit their website at Hawaiiafoodbank.org or call (808) 836-3600.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com | https://www.kitv.com/news/business/hawaii-food-bank-faced-with-double-pinch---rising-food-costs-and-higher-demand/article_3e998ca8-2674-11ed-afee-038d47633fb3.html | 2022-08-28T04:03:24Z |
JMU volleyball sweeps season opener
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - JMU volleyball swept its first three games at home to open the 2022 season.
On Friday, JMU defeated UAlbany 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-18, 25-17). Junior Miette Veldman led the Dukes with 16 kills, while freshman Brenya Reid notched 15 kills. Senior Caroline Dozier recorded 47 assists.
The Dukes won a doubleheader on Saturday. In the morning, they powered past Robert Morris in straight sets 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-10). Veldman had 15 kills while Dozier notched 29 assists. JMU beat Kent State in the evening 3-2 (25-20, 31-29, 20-25, 23-25, 15-4). Veldman recorded 32 kills while Dozier had 38 assists. Veldman was named the MVP of the invitational.
JMU returns to the court on Thursday when they face Florida State in Tallahassee.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/jmu-volleyball-sweeps-season-opener/ | 2022-08-28T04:29:07Z |
Unarmed man dies in struggle with police; video shows lack of de-escalation
(AP) - A caller to 911 in Salt Lake City said a man had come into a brewery in his underwear, tried to steal beer and was running around in the street, posing a danger to himself and to drivers. Police tried to detain the man. Soon, Nykon Brandon was dead.
After the Salt Lake City Police Department on Friday released body-camera footage of the Aug. 14 fatal encounter and the 911 recording, activists on Saturday were asking why an unarmed person wound up dead and were accusing police of using disproportionate force.
“Stealing a beer does not equate to the death penalty,” said Lex Scott, founder of Black Lives Matter-Utah. “I don’t care if this man robbed 10 banks in one day. He didn’t deserve to die. He deserved to make it to court.”
The death of Brandon, who was 35, comes as the United States is still seeing uncounted numbers of police killings of unarmed people, many of whom were suffering a mental health crisis. Activists have called for reforms, saying rather than armed police who can often escalate situations, a better solution would be for special mental health crisis teams to respond.
Brandon’s Facebook page says he’d attended Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and worked for a firm that sells appliances, plumbing and hardware. Many people who posted on his page expressed shock and grief over his death.
The 911 caller said a man had come to Fisher Brewing, attacked a person at the door and was “running around crazy. Very erratic. He just jumped in and out of the road.”
“Definitely mental health issues,” the caller said. “So if you’ve got mental health resources, send them out.”
Instead, bodycam footage shows a police officer get out of his patrol car and order Brandon to stop. When he resists and puts up a fist and appears to reach for the officer’s holstered pistol, another officer pushes Brandon to the ground and the two officers try to pin him down. “Stop,” one of the officers says repeatedly as Brandon is on a gravel bed between the road and the sidewalk and continuing to push against the officers.
No de-escalation attempts by the police are visible or audible in the footage from nine body-worn cameras, even though an executive order signed by Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall two years ago requires all Salt Lake City Police Department officers to use de-escalation techniques before using force.
“De-escalation tactics are no longer suggested or preferred — they are mandatory prior to using force to effect an arrest unless it would be unreasonable to do so,” Mendenhall said in announcing the police reforms, which were prompted in part by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020.
Salt Lake City Police Department spokesperson Brent Weisberg said of the Aug. 14 incident: “As the body-worn camera video shows, this is a situation that rapidly unfolded. It was a chaotic situation and our officers were required to make very fast decisions to get a situation under control that was very tense.”
Before Brandon walked into Fisher Brewing, he had been taken by South Salt Lake Police to a detox facility after they received a report of a man acting confused and scared at a park just after 1 p.m. on Aug. 14, KUTV reported.
Officers determined he was intoxicated, took him to the facility and cited him for public intoxication. But the facility is not a detention center and patients can leave at their will, KUTV reported.
The Salt Lake City Police Department officers encountered Brandon at 3:22 p.m. In the videos, he’s not heard speaking during his struggles with the officers, except for maybe a couple of words that are unclear.
A minute later, a third officer arrives. Video shows Brandon grabbing onto his holster and gun. They finally manage to cuff Brandon’s hands behind his back as he lies on the gravel belly down.
“We want to help you,” an officer says. “You’ve got to stop fighting with us.”
After a few seconds, Brandon stops moving. An officer taps Brandon on the shoulder with his gloved hand and asks “Can you hear me?” three times. Brandon does not respond.
“Get him in recovery,” an officer commands, and the others roll Brandon onto his side.
“Come on man,” an officer says. All the camera footage released by the police goes dark at that point.
Salt Lake City Police said in a press release that officers began to perform medical aid at 3:27 p.m. A minute later, they administered the first of multiple doses of Narcan and started performing chest compressions.
“At 4:16 p.m. SLCPD is notified that Mr. Brandon died. The exact time of death is unknown,” the news release said.
The police department said a thorough investigation was being conducted by an outside agency and that the department’s own internal affairs unit would conduct a separate investigation.
Rae Duckworth, operating chairperson for Black Lives Matter’s Utah chapters, wants to know why the released footage doesn’t show the officers trying to help Brandon.
“We don’t even have proof they actually administered aid. We don’t have proof that they actually administered Narcan,” Duckworth said.
Weisberg, the police spokesperson, said footage of the resuscitation efforts was not released out of consideration for Brandon’s family.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/unarmed-man-dies-struggle-with-police-video-shows-lack-de-escalation/ | 2022-08-28T04:29:13Z |
Very warm next few days
Rain will be limited over the next few days
SUNDAY: Plenty of sunshine to start the day with patchy fog early. Warm with temperatures rising into the 70s. Lots of sunshine in the afternoon with a few passing clouds. Very warm and humid with highs in the mid to upper 80s. Petersburg/Moorefield around 90 degrees. A very warm evening with some clouds and temperatures in the 80s. Partly cloudy through much of the evening and overnight. An isolated shower or storm cannot be ruled out. Patchy fog late. Warm and humid overnight with lows in the mid to upper 60s.
MONDAY: Plenty of sunshine to start the day with patchy fog early. Warm with temperatures rising into the 70s. Adding some clouds for the afternoon with an isolated shower or storm possible throughout the day. Hot and humid with highs in the upper 80s to low 90s. A very warm evening with just a few passing clouds and temperatures falling into the 80s. Skies turning clear by the overnight. Warm and humid with overnight lows in the mid to upper 60s.
TUESDAY: A mix of sun and clouds to start the day and warm with temperatures rising into the 70s. Some clouds for the afternoon with a few showers and storms developing out ahead of a cold front. Very warm and humid with highs in the mid to upper 80s. A very warm evening with temperatures in the 80s and some clouds. An isolated shower or storm cannot be ruled out for the evening into the early part of the overnight. Warm with dropping humidity and overnight lows in the low to mid 60s.
WEDNESDAY: A mix of sun and clouds to start the day and warm with temperatures rising into the 70s. Some clouds for the afternoon and very warm. Comfortable with highs in the low to mid 80s. Warm for the evening with temperatures falling into the 70s. Clear skies for the evening and overnight and pleasant with overnight lows in the upper 50s to low 60s.
THURSDAY: Plenty of sunshine to start the day and mild with temperatures rising into the 60s. Lots of sun throughout the day and very warm. A beautiful day and very pleasant with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. Mostly clear for the evening and overnight. Very pleasant with overnight lows in the mid to upper 50s.
FRIDAY: Some clouds to start the day and mild with temperatures rising into the 60s. A very pleasant and beautiful day. Very warm with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. Overnight lows in the mid to upper 50s.
SATURDAY: A mix of sun and clouds to start the day and warm with temperatures quickly rising into the 70s. Some clouds and very warm with highs in the low to mid 80s.
As always, you can get the latest updates by downloading and checking the WHSV Weather App.
Copyright 2021 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/very-warm-next-few-days/ | 2022-08-28T04:29:19Z |
WyoSports
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A blowout loss to Illinois on Saturday showcased a shortcoming that has become all too familiar for the University of Wyoming since Josh Allen left campus after the 2017 season.
At least for the first game of 2022, the Cowboys continued to lack consistent production at the quarterback position. Starting his first game since transferring from Utah State this offseason, Andrew Peasley went 5 of 20 for 30 yards, no touchdowns and an interception in a 38-6 defeat, while at least another two potential picks were dropped by Illini defenders.
Peasley did show playmaking ability with his legs – rushing for 76 yards on eight carries, with a 37-yard scamper on a designed run marking UW’s longest play from scrimmage. But for the fifth consecutive season, it appears that the pass attack could continue to be a significant source of concern for the run-heavy offense.
“I’m not going to overreact,” UW coach Craig Bohl said when asked if there would be continued competition for the starting quarterback job. “We’re going to have to take a hard look ... Andrew did some nice things in the run game, obviously, and they neutralized that. They brought their safety down, and some of our other answers weren’t there.
“There were some decisions Andrew made that were good, and there were some decisions that were poor. I was pretty pointed with him on the sideline about that, and he’s a tough competitor. A decision like that, you need to take a pretty full-measured view of the tape.”
Recent history seems to indicate these struggles aren’t solely on the shoulders of Peasley. Last year’s 54.5% completion rate, which ranked 10th in the Mountain West, was the Pokes’ only season in which they completed more than half of their pass attempts since Allen’s departure.
Turning points
Despite being outgained by 265 yards, the Cowboys found themselves on the verge of remaining competitive at a couple different moments in the game.
The first came late in the first quarter following a defensive stand that caused a potential touchdown drive to turn into a missed Illinois field goal attempt. Junior running back Titus Swen started the drive with an 11-yard run to the right, and Peasley kept a bootleg back to the other side of the field for 17 yards on the next play. Two plays later, the Pokes motioned Swen across the field, and Peasley took a designed run 37 yards in the other direction to set UW up with a first-and-goal inside the Illinois 10.
The Cowboys weren’t able to capitalize, though, with a pair of rush attempts going for little gain and a potential game-tying touchdown pass to junior tight end Treyton Welch being ruled incomplete. As a result, the eight-play, 70-yard drive ended in a field goal.
“We held onto our momentum for a little bit after that,” Welch said. “We didn’t give up, we just didn’t play Cowboy tough football like we had been with that momentum. It’s just a matter of continuing to stay in the fight, no matter what.”
The Pokes had a chance to seize momentum again early in the second half. They cut the gap to 11 points with a field goal on the first drive of the quarter, and the defense delivered a three-and-out during its first trip back on the field. The wheels fell off on both sides of the ball after that, however.
Wyoming’s next two offensive possessions resulted in a punt and turnover on downs near midfield, while the defense allowed back-to-back touchdown drives that put the game out of reach.
“When we were in the locker room, we were talking about how quickly games can turn,” sophomore linebacker Easton Gibbs said. “We had really good energy coming out. We had the three-and-out, and the offense went and did their thing. We were really looking forward to getting back out there, and I think some guys looked at that drive and maybe took a step back.
“We just have to put drives together. We had a three-and-out, we just have to put more of those together. With drives like that, we can’t be complacent with having a three-and-out. We just have to keep the gas down and keep pushing.”
Swen suffers possible setback
Outside of being handed a 32-point loss in their first test of 2022, the Pokes may have suffered an additional setback early in the fourth quarter. Swen limped off the field after being tackled with 11:45 remaining, and did not return.
Bohl did not have much information to share immediately after the game on the potential nature of the injury, but did note that “it may be something with his ribs.”
Josh Criswell{span} covers the University of Wyoming for WyoSports. He can be reached at jcriswell@wyosports.net or 307-755-3325. Follow him on Twitter at @criswell_sports.{/span} | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/university_of_wyoming/football/pokes-passing-woes-continue-in-season-opening-loss/article_137d4e80-2677-11ed-a5b7-a7100f6a68f6.html | 2022-08-28T04:46:01Z |
WyoSports
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After expressing optimism throughout training camp, the University of Wyoming football team was brought back down to earth with a lopsided loss to begin its 2022 campaign.
The Cowboys were outmatched across the board in a 38-6 loss at Illinois on Saturday, coming up unsuccessful on their first 12 third-down attempts, while getting outgained 477-212. The Illini jumped ahead less than a minute into the contest, and would lead for the rest of the way.
UW coach Craig Bohl says this loss will test a group that has been vocal about their increased chemistry and cohesiveness. The Pokes will also look to avoid a hangover effect in next weekend’s home-opener against Tulsa.
“Just to say, ‘Oh yeah, this is no big deal,’ this is a big deal,” Bohl said. “A lot of times, you can learn a lot from a loss, (even though) they’re not fun to go through. Sometimes you can let one team beat you twice, and it’s going to be important for us as coaches to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“They are close, but a lot of times everything can be going good when you’re winning and are undefeated. Then, all of a sudden, you go out there. We got took to the woodshed. It’s going to test us.”
It took the Illini just 41 seconds and two plays from scrimmage to take a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
Senior defensive back Peyton Vining returned the opening kickoff 43 yards to near midfield, and junior running back Chase Brown broke away for a 38-yard run on the first snap of the game. Brown hauled in a 14-yard touchdown catch from senior quarterback Tommy DeVito on the ensuing play to put Illinois up 7-0 in the opening minute.
The Cowboys shored things up defensively for the rest of the quarter, and after a slow start on the other side of the ball, began to gain some traction during their third possession of the game. A 37-yard designed run by junior quarterback Andrew Peasley brought Wyoming down to the Illinois 9-yard line amid an eight-play, 70-yard drive.
The Pokes thought they had a game-tying touchdown two plays later, as junior tight end Treyton Welch went up for a jump ball in the corner of the end zone. However, the official closest to the play determined that the Illini defender separated the ball from Welch before he was able to secure possession.
UW gained just 2 yards on a rush attempt on third-and-goal from the 8-yard line, and settled for a 22-yard field goal by John Hoyland.
“I wish they would’ve reviewed it,” Welch said. “I thought it was maybe a Julian Edelman (in the 2017 Super Bowl) situation, where I grabbed it, and if it touched the ground, it touched the ground, but I thought I grabbed it before it did again. If I didn’t even get two feet in the end zone, I was down anyways before it popped. But that’s a play that I can’t even make it a 50-50 review play. I just have to be able to catch it and move on.”
Illinois dominated the second quarter, outgaining the Cowboys by 100 yards, while stretching its lead to 17-3 with an 11-yard touchdown run by Brown and a 27-yard field goal from Caleb Griffin.
Despite an underwhelming first half, though, the Cowboys seemed to briefly capture momentum as the third quarter got underway.
Junior running back Titus Swen opened the second half with a 25-yard run to the right that sparked a seven-play, 47-yard scoring drive, which was capped by a career-long, 46-yard field goal by Hoyland. UW’s defense then forced a three-and-out, with Easton Gibbs and Cole Godbout teaming up to stop Chase Brown on third-and-short to get the ball back.
Trailing by 11 with a chance to make it a one-score game, however, UW’s offense stalled out after a 10-yard rush by Swen to start the next drive. The Cowboys ran into eight Illinois defenders in the box on a third-and-3 near midfield, and were stopped short of the first-down marker. They elected to punt the ball away, and the Illini responded with an 11-play, 78-yard touchdown drive – capped by a 6-yard pass from DeVito to Pat Bryant – to stretch their lead to 24-6.
The Pokes picked up a first down on the next drive, as Illinois was called for a defensive holding penalty, but they weren’t able to do anything beyond that. They proceeded to throw an incomplete pass, followed by a pair of handoffs for nine yards, before going for it on fourth-and-1 from their 44-yard line. Peasley was stopped for no gain on a quarterback keeper, and Brown rushed for a 5-yard touchdown – his third score of the game – on the first play of the fourth quarter to stretch Illinois’ lead to 25.
“I definitely thought that was a big momentum swing,” junior defensive tackle Cole Godbout said. “I think we had a turnover (on downs) right after that, and I think it killed our team’s momentum. I just think if we want to be a better team, a great team like we talk about, we just need to be able to see past one turnover and continue playing our best ball.”
Quarterback play was a source of concern for a sputtering offense, as Peasley completed just 5 of 20 passes for 30 yards, zero touchdowns, an interception and a passer rating of 27.6 in his first game since transferring from Utah State.
“I stuck to my game plan and my reads,” Peasley said. “I think I was inaccurate on a few balls, and then I just don’t think things went our way all around. I wish I could go back and make the throws that I missed.”
Swen was a bright spot for the offense, rushing for 98 yards on 17 carries, while Peasley added 76 yards on eight carries. Sophomore Joshua Cobbs was the Pokes’ leading receiver with two catches for 14 yards.
Brown led the way for the Illinois offense, racking up 151 yards on an average of 7.9 yards per carry. DeVito, who was playing his first game for the Illini since transferring from Syracuse, was 27 of 37 for 194 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
“At the end of the day, I think we defeated ourselves, and the guys understand that,” Godbout said. “We just didn’t execute, and they took us for a ride.”
Wyoming will look to bounce back next Saturday against Tulsa. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium.
Josh Criswell{span} covers the University of Wyoming for WyoSports. He can be reached at jcriswell@wyosports.net or 307-755-3325. Follow him on Twitter at @criswell_sports.{/span} | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/university_of_wyoming/football/uw-opens-season-with-blowout-loss-at-illinois/article_128dea10-266e-11ed-893a-13b9b499eeb0.html | 2022-08-28T04:46:07Z |
Unarmed man dies in struggle with police; video shows lack of de-escalation
(AP) - A caller to 911 in Salt Lake City said a man had come into a brewery in his underwear, tried to steal beer and was running around in the street, posing a danger to himself and to drivers. Police tried to detain the man. Soon, Nykon Brandon was dead.
After the Salt Lake City Police Department on Friday released body-camera footage of the Aug. 14 fatal encounter and the 911 recording, activists on Saturday were asking why an unarmed person wound up dead and were accusing police of using disproportionate force.
“Stealing a beer does not equate to the death penalty,” said Lex Scott, founder of Black Lives Matter-Utah. “I don’t care if this man robbed 10 banks in one day. He didn’t deserve to die. He deserved to make it to court.”
The death of Brandon, who was 35, comes as the United States is still seeing uncounted numbers of police killings of unarmed people, many of whom were suffering a mental health crisis. Activists have called for reforms, saying rather than armed police who can often escalate situations, a better solution would be for special mental health crisis teams to respond.
Brandon’s Facebook page says he’d attended Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and worked for a firm that sells appliances, plumbing and hardware. Many people who posted on his page expressed shock and grief over his death.
The 911 caller said a man had come to Fisher Brewing, attacked a person at the door and was “running around crazy. Very erratic. He just jumped in and out of the road.”
“Definitely mental health issues,” the caller said. “So if you’ve got mental health resources, send them out.”
Instead, bodycam footage shows a police officer get out of his patrol car and order Brandon to stop. When he resists and puts up a fist and appears to reach for the officer’s holstered pistol, another officer pushes Brandon to the ground and the two officers try to pin him down. “Stop,” one of the officers says repeatedly as Brandon is on a gravel bed between the road and the sidewalk and continuing to push against the officers.
No de-escalation attempts by the police are visible or audible in the footage from nine body-worn cameras, even though an executive order signed by Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall two years ago requires all Salt Lake City Police Department officers to use de-escalation techniques before using force.
“De-escalation tactics are no longer suggested or preferred — they are mandatory prior to using force to effect an arrest unless it would be unreasonable to do so,” Mendenhall said in announcing the police reforms, which were prompted in part by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020.
Salt Lake City Police Department spokesperson Brent Weisberg said of the Aug. 14 incident: “As the body-worn camera video shows, this is a situation that rapidly unfolded. It was a chaotic situation and our officers were required to make very fast decisions to get a situation under control that was very tense.”
Before Brandon walked into Fisher Brewing, he had been taken by South Salt Lake Police to a detox facility after they received a report of a man acting confused and scared at a park just after 1 p.m. on Aug. 14, KUTV reported.
Officers determined he was intoxicated, took him to the facility and cited him for public intoxication. But the facility is not a detention center and patients can leave at their will, KUTV reported.
The Salt Lake City Police Department officers encountered Brandon at 3:22 p.m. In the videos, he’s not heard speaking during his struggles with the officers, except for maybe a couple of words that are unclear.
A minute later, a third officer arrives. Video shows Brandon grabbing onto his holster and gun. They finally manage to cuff Brandon’s hands behind his back as he lies on the gravel belly down.
“We want to help you,” an officer says. “You’ve got to stop fighting with us.”
After a few seconds, Brandon stops moving. An officer taps Brandon on the shoulder with his gloved hand and asks “Can you hear me?” three times. Brandon does not respond.
“Get him in recovery,” an officer commands, and the others roll Brandon onto his side.
“Come on man,” an officer says. All the camera footage released by the police goes dark at that point.
Salt Lake City Police said in a press release that officers began to perform medical aid at 3:27 p.m. A minute later, they administered the first of multiple doses of Narcan and started performing chest compressions.
“At 4:16 p.m. SLCPD is notified that Mr. Brandon died. The exact time of death is unknown,” the news release said.
The police department said a thorough investigation was being conducted by an outside agency and that the department’s own internal affairs unit would conduct a separate investigation.
Rae Duckworth, operating chairperson for Black Lives Matter’s Utah chapters, wants to know why the released footage doesn’t show the officers trying to help Brandon.
“We don’t even have proof they actually administered aid. We don’t have proof that they actually administered Narcan,” Duckworth said.
Weisberg, the police spokesperson, said footage of the resuscitation efforts was not released out of consideration for Brandon’s family.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/unarmed-man-dies-struggle-with-police-video-shows-lack-de-escalation/ | 2022-08-28T04:50:23Z |
Mom saves toddler but loses 2 other kids to house fire
IRVINGTON, Ala. (WALA) - Investigators in Alabama are still working to find out how a mobile home fire that killed two young children started.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said the fire broke out around 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Irvington. The mobile home was fully engulfed in flames.
Two young boys, identified by officials as 4-year-old Liam Barnes and 2-year-old Noah Gordon, were killed in the blaze, WALA reports.
MCSO Sgt. Mark Bailey said the children’s mother, 24-year-old Kali Sherman, was next door when she was alerted to the fire. She ran home to attempt to rescue the three boys inside. She rescued 10-month-old Sebastian Gordon from his crib and got the 4-year-old out.
According to authorities, the 4-year-old and 2-year-old were taken to the hopsital, where they were pronounced dead. Sherman also received burn injuries and was treated. The 10-month-old was unharmed.
Investigators were on the scene Friday morning, speaking with witnesses.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, but investigators believe it started in the front bedroom.
Neighbor Shaun Kendall learned about the fire when somebody pressed his doorbell.
“We started seeing smoke in the actual Ring itself, and we heard the fire alarm going off. So, we called Courtney, which is the person that’s in front of the trailer that caught on fire,” Kendall said. “So, they ran outside and found out that it was her house that was actually on fire. Then, we rushed home, and that’s when we found everything on fire and seen everything going crazy.”
Kendall is a professional tattoo artist at Medusa’s Art & Soul in Mobile. He is using his artwork as an opportunity to help the family.
“I wanted to at least help the family give back. So, everybody that comes in for a tattoo, I want to give them a chance to help me help them,” Kendall said. “So, anything that I get, I’m going to give them 25% of the proceeds off of my cut. That’s not including the shop cut. That’s gonna be out of my pocket.”
Donations are also being accepted.
Copyright 2022 WALA via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/mom-saves-toddler-loses-2-other-kids-house-fire/ | 2022-08-28T06:22:57Z |
Mom saves toddler but loses 2 other kids to house fire
IRVINGTON, Ala. (WALA) - Investigators in Alabama are still working to find out how a mobile home fire that killed two young children started.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said the fire broke out around 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Irvington. The mobile home was fully engulfed in flames.
Two young boys, identified by officials as 4-year-old Liam Barnes and 2-year-old Noah Gordon, were killed in the blaze, WALA reports.
MCSO Sgt. Mark Bailey said the children’s mother, 24-year-old Kali Sherman, was next door when she was alerted to the fire. She ran home to attempt to rescue the three boys inside. She rescued 10-month-old Sebastian Gordon from his crib and got the 4-year-old out.
According to authorities, the 4-year-old and 2-year-old were taken to the hopsital, where they were pronounced dead. Sherman also received burn injuries and was treated. The 10-month-old was unharmed.
Investigators were on the scene Friday morning, speaking with witnesses.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, but investigators believe it started in the front bedroom.
Neighbor Shaun Kendall learned about the fire when somebody pressed his doorbell.
“We started seeing smoke in the actual Ring itself, and we heard the fire alarm going off. So, we called Courtney, which is the person that’s in front of the trailer that caught on fire,” Kendall said. “So, they ran outside and found out that it was her house that was actually on fire. Then, we rushed home, and that’s when we found everything on fire and seen everything going crazy.”
Kendall is a professional tattoo artist at Medusa’s Art & Soul in Mobile. He is using his artwork as an opportunity to help the family.
“I wanted to at least help the family give back. So, everybody that comes in for a tattoo, I want to give them a chance to help me help them,” Kendall said. “So, anything that I get, I’m going to give them 25% of the proceeds off of my cut. That’s not including the shop cut. That’s gonna be out of my pocket.”
Donations are also being accepted.
Copyright 2022 WALA via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/mom-saves-toddler-loses-2-other-kids-house-fire/ | 2022-08-28T06:47:43Z |
Postal worker saves woman allegedly attacked by her boyfriend
TORRINGTON, Conn. (WFSB) - A postal worker went from mail carrier to potential life saver when she sprang into action to help a woman who was being beaten up.
Christine Cambizaca is a mail carrier in Torrington, Connecticut. She was doing her job Tuesday on Blinkoff Court when a woman ran up to her, WFSB reports.
“I knew something was wrong,” Cambizaca said. “She was very bruised. She was bleeding.”
The woman had been beaten in a park nearby. Then, she sprinted over to Blinkoff Court, saw Cambizaca in her mail truck and begged her for help.
“She wanted me to help, basically call 911,” the mail carrier said.
Cambizaca called 911 then let the woman in her mail truck and locked it. That was crucial because then, the man accused of beating the woman showed up.
Cambizaca says the man claimed to be the victim’s boyfriend and was carrying a knife.
“Her boyfriend was abusive to her, abusing her in that moment,” the mail carrier said.
Police arrived five minutes later. They handcuffed the man, identified as 20-year-old Jackson Morgan, and found a knife at the scene. The female victim was put in an ambulance.
“If she didn’t seek help, it could’ve been worse and who knows what would’ve happened,” Cambizaca said. “I felt I did the right thing because it could’ve been anyone’s sister, anyone’s daughter.”
Cambizaca’s boss is calling her a hero.
“The courage that she showed and the compassion for one of our citizens in Torrington, we’re super proud of her,” he said.
Morgan is now facing six charges, including assault, strangulation and threatening. He’s still in jail with his bail set at $5,000.
Copyright 2022 WFSB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/postal-worker-saves-woman-allegedly-attacked-by-her-boyfriend/ | 2022-08-28T08:06:44Z |
Postal worker saves woman allegedly attacked by her boyfriend
TORRINGTON, Conn. (WFSB) - A postal worker went from mail carrier to potential life saver when she sprang into action to help a woman who was being beaten up.
Christine Cambizaca is a mail carrier in Torrington, Connecticut. She was doing her job Tuesday on Blinkoff Court when a woman ran up to her, WFSB reports.
“I knew something was wrong,” Cambizaca said. “She was very bruised. She was bleeding.”
The woman had been beaten in a park nearby. Then, she sprinted over to Blinkoff Court, saw Cambizaca in her mail truck and begged her for help.
“She wanted me to help, basically call 911,” the mail carrier said.
Cambizaca called 911 then let the woman in her mail truck and locked it. That was crucial because then, the man accused of beating the woman showed up.
Cambizaca says the man claimed to be the victim’s boyfriend and was carrying a knife.
“Her boyfriend was abusive to her, abusing her in that moment,” the mail carrier said.
Police arrived five minutes later. They handcuffed the man, identified as 20-year-old Jackson Morgan, and found a knife at the scene. The female victim was put in an ambulance.
“If she didn’t seek help, it could’ve been worse and who knows what would’ve happened,” Cambizaca said. “I felt I did the right thing because it could’ve been anyone’s sister, anyone’s daughter.”
Cambizaca’s boss is calling her a hero.
“The courage that she showed and the compassion for one of our citizens in Torrington, we’re super proud of her,” he said.
Morgan is now facing six charges, including assault, strangulation and threatening. He’s still in jail with his bail set at $5,000.
Copyright 2022 WFSB via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/postal-worker-saves-woman-allegedly-attacked-by-her-boyfriend/ | 2022-08-28T08:35:02Z |
TAIPEI, Taiwan — The U.S. Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in the first such transit publicized since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier in August, at a time when tensions have kept the waterway particularly busy.
The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville are conducting a routine transit, the U.S. 7th Fleet said. The cruisers "transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State," the statement said.
China conducted many military exercises in the strait as it sought to punish Taiwan after Pelosi visited the self-ruled island against Beijing's threats.
China has sent many warships sailing in the Taiwan Strait and waters surrounding Taiwan since Pelosi's visit, as well as sending warplanes and firing long-range missiles. It views the island as part of its national territory and opposes any visits by foreign governments as recognizing Taiwan as its own state.
China said it tracked the movement of the ships. "Troops of the (Eastern) Theater Command are on high alert and ready to foil any provocation at any time," said senior Col. Shi Yi, spokesperson for the People Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command.
The U.S. regularly sends its ships through the Taiwan Strait as part of what it calls freedom of navigation maneuvers.
The 100 mile-wide (160 kilometer-wide) strait divides Taiwan from China.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/us-sails-warships-through-taiwan-strait-in-1st-since-pelosi-visit | 2022-08-28T09:02:17Z |
College football player fatally shot in argument with roommate, police say
FAYETTE, Mo. (KMIZ) - A Missouri prosecutor has charged a suspect after the fatal shooting of a senior Central Methodist University football player.
Kundarrius Taylor, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the deadly shooting of his roommate, Torrance Evans, according to online court documents. Evans was an offensive lineman for CMU’s football team.
The team held a moment of silence during Saturday’s football game in honor of Evans. A group of students also held a fundraiser outside the entrance to the game to help raise money for his funeral expenses.
Police responded Thursday night to a home in Fayette on a report of a shooting and found Evans’ body inside the residence’s door.
A witness said Taylor admitted to the shooting.
When Taylor returned to the residence, he was taken into custody, according to a probable cause statement.
In a police interview, Taylor said that he and Evans had not been getting along for over a month and that Taylor felt Evans had been disrespecting him on numerous occasions, the statement said.
Police say an argument turned into a confrontation in which Taylor shot Evans twice.
CMU Vice President for Enrollment Management and Athletics Joe Parisi said Taylor was a former student trying to get readmission to the school. Both he and Evans are from Memphis, Tennessee.
Taylor will be arraigned Tuesday. He is being held without bond.
Copyright 2022 KMIZ via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/college-football-player-fatally-shot-argument-with-roommate-police-say/ | 2022-08-28T09:55:52Z |
College football player fatally shot in argument with roommate, police say
FAYETTE, Mo. (KMIZ) - A Missouri prosecutor has charged a suspect after the fatal shooting of a senior Central Methodist University football player.
Kundarrius Taylor, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the deadly shooting of his roommate, Torrance Evans, according to online court documents. Evans was an offensive lineman for CMU’s football team.
The team held a moment of silence during Saturday’s football game in honor of Evans. A group of students also held a fundraiser outside the entrance to the game to help raise money for his funeral expenses.
Police responded Thursday night to a home in Fayette on a report of a shooting and found Evans’ body inside the residence’s door.
A witness said Taylor admitted to the shooting.
When Taylor returned to the residence, he was taken into custody, according to a probable cause statement.
In a police interview, Taylor said that he and Evans had not been getting along for over a month and that Taylor felt Evans had been disrespecting him on numerous occasions, the statement said.
Police say an argument turned into a confrontation in which Taylor shot Evans twice.
CMU Vice President for Enrollment Management and Athletics Joe Parisi said Taylor was a former student trying to get readmission to the school. Both he and Evans are from Memphis, Tennessee.
Taylor will be arraigned Tuesday. He is being held without bond.
Copyright 2022 KMIZ via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/college-football-player-fatally-shot-argument-with-roommate-police-say/ | 2022-08-28T10:19:21Z |
The 138-year-old Simmons-Wright Company store in Kewanee, Mississippi looks like a relic, almost a museum dedicated to country life.
Its two floors are filled with baskets of cotton, cast-iron skillets and farming plows. But hiding underneath it all is a remarkably nimble business, one that's survived that long by knowing how to adapt.
Country stores are a hallmark of rural life – the kind of places where you can buy fertilizer in one aisle, lotion in the next and crickets for bait in a third.
Many, like Simmons-Wright Company, have survived for more than 100 years by learning to adapt when confronted with every economic challenge that has come its way, from the Great Recession to the Great Depression.
Now, those stores are putting those survival skills to use to deal with the latest challenge: the highest inflation the country has seen in around 40 years.
Simmons-Wright Company owner Gary Pickett says he sees the impact when his suppliers charge him more and his wallet-squeezed customers spend less.
"Normally we'll have people come in here buying 100, 150 dollars' worth of stuff," he says while watching a regular searching through the home repair wall. "Now they're coming in here and maybe they buy about 20 dollars' worth of stuff."
A matter of survival
Surviving in the face of tough economic times is nothing new for Pickett or generations of his family. He inherited the business, just off the interstate, after it was passed down to him by his aunt.
In 2008, the Great Recession was cutting into his business. In order to save the store Pickett created a new niche for the business, selling pork skins and fried catfish in the store while delivering burgers to a truck line across the border in Alabama.
The 1884 Cafe has now become the majority of his business. That makes the old knick-knacks the store is best known more like rustic decorations than actual revenue generators.
That shift helped him keep the doors open and later avoid the fate of other country stores forced to close as dollar stores replaced Walmarts as the low-cost place to shop in rural communities.
"Dollar Generals are everywhere," Pickett says "I don't try to compete with them."
Grappling with high inflation
But Pickett says now even his restaurant is feeling the inflation squeeze, and he's rethinking how to run his over 100 year business to keep the doors open.
Before, Pickett wouldn't mind throwing some extra fries into the styrofoam containers he packs meals in.
But now, to keep up with prices, Pickett's team measures everything – even the hamburger patties get weighed before cooking.
Prices at the store and restaurant have gone up around 15%. Really, he should have taken them up another 15%, Pickett says, but he also knows he can't raise prices too much.
Lauderdale County, where the store is located, is similar to much of the rest of the state with roughly one out of five residents living below the poverty line.
"Well, the beef and the meat has almost doubled in price," he says. "And we've gone up just a little bit, but we haven't gone up the percentage we need to go up."
However, Pickett knows if inflation continues to stay high, he will be forced to raise prices even at his restaurant.
"I know we're going to have to go up. We just don't want to run everybody off it, regular customers," he says.
Yet another pivot?
Just like when he pivoted to his restaurant business, Pickett is considering whether he will need more drastic changes to ensure survival at a time when economists are now also warning about a potential recession.
One idea floated by Pickett's son is to turn the place into an event venue. His son predicts wedding and photo shoots held at the store's old cotton gin could bring in $10,000 per event.
The idea leans into a key part of Pickett's current business model – nostalgia. The old nutcrackers and antique soda bottles might not sell, but they draw in customers.
After all, changing focus yet again wouldn't be anything new for the Simmons-Wright Company.
At one point the whole second floor of the store was dedicated to shoes. In other years, the cotton gin and blacksmith shop were the moneymakers. It has even sold caskets.
It's how generations of his family have ensured the survival of the business.
"They were people that did what it took to survive," Pickett says.
Pickett hopes his son and daughter will have to be the ones to decide on that next pivot when he eventually leaves them the store. But as he confronts the current moment of punishing inflation, it may force him yet again to figure out how to ensure the Simmons-Wright Company survives.
Copyright 2022 Gulf States Newsroom. To see more, visit . | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/inside-the-survival-story-of-a-mississippi-store-fighting-high-inflation | 2022-08-28T10:31:55Z |
ATLANTA – Stacey Abrams didn't always support abortion rights. The high-profile Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia, the daughter of two retired United Methodist pastors, grew up opposing abortion because of her religious beliefs at the time.
But on the campaign trail ahead of the November midterms where Georgians will cast ballots in the contentious gubernatorial race, Abrams tells the story of her change of heart that happened in college.
"I evolved on this issue because I learned more. And what I understand is that abortion is not a political decision. It is a medical choice," she said during a press conference in July.
Abortion rights have been thrust into the center of Democrat's campaign for statewide offices in Georgia.
The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and hand the decision on abortion back to states heightened the stakes of decisions made at the ballot box. Particularly in Georgia, where shortly after the ruling a federal appeals court decided the state's strict abortion law could immediately take effect.
By a narrow vote in 2019, Georgia lawmakers passed a law that bans most abortions around six weeks of pregnancy, which opponents say is often before a person knows they're pregnant.
It also includes controversial language that gives an embryo or fetus at any stage of development legal rights. That has prompted a slate of legal questions.
Questions like whether or not a woman who has a miscarriage could be investigated for murder – although the law does not explicitly state that.
Polling shows Abrams trailing slightly behind her opponent, incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp with a little more than two months until the November election.
But the party eyes a new opportunity for a boost in turnout in their favor: hopes that anger over the law will mobilize the base and even win over some swing voters.
Momentum after Kansas
They have reason to be hopeful. In deeply conservative Kansas, voters recently turned up in droves to vote down a state constitutional referendum that would have dissolved abortion rights.
Abrams said that moment gave her hope.
"What that signals to us here in Georgia is that we have the same power. We are not a hyper-conservative state. We are a divided state," she said. "But that division disappears when you look at what's happening around the issue of abortion."
A recent poll conducted by the University of Georgia for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed that more than half of voters do not support the state's new abortion law.
Audrey Haynes, professor of political science at the university, said that Republicans may have alienated some independent voters with their strict abortion choices – a group that will be crucial in November as the margin of votes between statewide candidates has gotten slimmer over the past few years.
"It is clear that in the state of Georgia, most people – the majority of people – are opposed to what happened with Roe v. Wade," she said. "In fact, I think that one of the problems that Republicans have in this case is that they are projecting a level of conservatism on the electorate that doesn't really exist."
Republicans cheered the ruling when a federal appeals court in Georgia allowed the 2019 law to go forward after three years tied up in court.
"We are overjoyed that the court has paved the way for the implementation of Georgia's Life Act," said Kemp in the halls of the state Capitol in July.
But since initial reactions, the party has been quiet on the issue. Instead, Republicans in Georgia and nationally are working hard to leverage disapproval with President Joe Biden and the national economy as their go-to rallying cry to voters.
National polling from Monmouth University shows inflation is still top of mind for voters as they face sky-high prices at the grocery store and the gas pump.
Martha Zoller, the executive director for Georgia Life Alliance and longtime conservative commentator, is skeptical that abortion as a driving issue will have a measurable impact on the outcome of the election.
"I think people that are pro-life are already voting Republican and people that are pro-choice are already voting Democrat," she said. "In light of the economy and inflation, I just still think that this issue is not going to be the number one issue for most voters."
Trying for personal appeals
The top of the state ticket in Georgia is nearly entirely women – Stacey Abrams is the nominee for governor, Jen Jordan is up for attorney general and Bee Nguyen is in the contest for secretary of state.
The party has launched an aggressive effort to reach women voters – Democrats and Republicans alike – on the issue with emotional personal appeals.
"As more and more women understand what is happening, as more and more women face the reality of this law, we will see more and more women turn out," Abrams speculated.
In the basement of Abrams' headquarters, a small group of women gathered for an intimate conversation.
Abrams sat in the middle of the six women with a grim look on her face as they shared their personal stories of miscarriage.
Atlanta resident Alana Leverette emotionally described going through two miscarriages – one while she was at work.
"I felt embarrassed. I felt very, again, sad," she said. "But I wished I had more of a support system to be able to say, I need a minute, I need to grieve."
Uncertainty around Georgia's new law has sparked deeply personal conversations like this one across the state, although abortion opponents adamantly deny that the law would open a path for women to be investigated for murder after a miscarriage.
"The left is just trying to scare people," Zoller, with the Georgia Life Alliance, said.
Democratic state Rep. Shea Roberts was also among the group of women gathered at Abrams' headquarters that day.
She, too, has been sharing her own abortion story after she made the decision 15 years ago to terminate a pregnancy after bloodwork showed the baby would not survive outside the womb.
In 2020, she narrowly beat a Republican incumbent in a suburban Atlanta district – her opponent was one of the few GOP lawmakers who voted against Georgia's abortion ban in 2019.
With suburban women a highly sought-after voter demographic, Roberts is focusing a portion of her reelection campaign on reaching Republican and independent women on the issue of abortion.
"I'm hoping that's going to show up at the ballot box," she said. "I'm hoping that people understand. Yes. There are economic issues that need to be addressed right now. But this is [a] fundamental freedom."
Georgia is not the only place where abortion rights could be a key issue in November: Planned Parenthood recently announced a $50 million investment to mobilize around the issue nationwide.
Copyright 2022 Georgia Public Broadcasting | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/stacey-abrams-is-behind-in-the-polls-and-looking-to-abortion-rights-to-help-her-win | 2022-08-28T10:32:01Z |
On Monday, there was one traveler who got a true bird's-eye view of the Charlotte Douglas Airport.
Clark, a 19-year-old bald eagle, was recorded going through TSA with his handlers for his return flight home to Missouri. The footage and photos caught the attention of Twitter.
Clark is a flying ambassador of World Bird Sanctuary in south St. Louis. The scales on his talons never developed properly, and he would eventually get pneumonia and die if he were to hunt in the wild, the nonprofit's executive director, Dawn Griffard, told NPR over the phone.
Griffard said Clark's job is to spread a message about conservation and raise money to support the sanctuary. He does this by attending events to fly to songs like The Star Spangled Banner or You Raise Me Up.
TSA officers are used to seeing an eagle on their uniform as they look over their shoulder, but I’m sure the team at @CLTAirport Checkpoint A did a double take when they saw a real one earlier this week. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/cxfbqyVok1
— TSA Southeast (@TSA_Southeast) August 25, 2022
Griffard said that Clark, who is named for William Clark – and yes, there is another eagle named Lewis at his sanctuary – is hired to fly between four to six times a year. Over the course of 12 years, this frequent flier has taken more than 100 commercial flights.
Eagles may not have shoes or belts to remove, but they have their own version of being patted down. A TSA search of a bald eagle involves investigating its crate and under the carpet inside it.
People at airports often want to touch or see Clark, and his stewards have to deny their requests to stick their fingers through the window in his crate. But usually they're respectful, Griffard said.
Much to World Bird Sanctuary's appreciation, Southwest Airlines lets Clark travel in the main cabin. Other airlines don't allow this, and Griffard has had to put him in cargo in the past – once, she said, an airline misplaced him this way.
Despite standing 30 inches high and weighing 7.5 pounds, Clark gets two seats and three seat-belt extenders. That's because of his crate, which gets strapped in at the plane's bulkhead. A member of World Bird Sanctuary's eagle team sits beside the crate to keep an eye on him and give him snacks — typically bits of rat, Griffard explained.
In each stage of travel, World Bird Sanctuary's team, the airport staff and often even the Southwest pilots are careful to keep Clark's trip as bump-free as possible. He hates turbulence.
When the group arrives at their destination, Clark gets his own hotel room. They move the furniture and throw a large tarp over the floor. He gets a perch in the middle of the room, from which he watches TV. Griffard said he prefers cartoons and nature shows.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/travelers-spotted-a-bald-eagle-at-the-airport-but-this-isnt-his-first-tsa-line | 2022-08-28T10:32:08Z |
ATLANTA – Stacey Abrams didn't always support abortion rights. The high-profile Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia, the daughter of two retired United Methodist pastors, grew up opposing abortion because of her religious beliefs at the time.
But on the campaign trail ahead of the November midterms where Georgians will cast ballots in the contentious gubernatorial race, Abrams tells the story of her change of heart that happened in college.
"I evolved on this issue because I learned more. And what I understand is that abortion is not a political decision. It is a medical choice," she said during a press conference in July.
Abortion rights have been thrust into the center of Democrat's campaign for statewide offices in Georgia.
The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and hand the decision on abortion back to states heightened the stakes of decisions made at the ballot box. Particularly in Georgia, where shortly after the ruling a federal appeals court decided the state's strict abortion law could immediately take effect.
By a narrow vote in 2019, Georgia lawmakers passed a law that bans most abortions around six weeks of pregnancy, which opponents say is often before a person knows they're pregnant.
It also includes controversial language that gives an embryo or fetus at any stage of development legal rights. That has prompted a slate of legal questions.
Questions like whether or not a woman who has a miscarriage could be investigated for murder – although the law does not explicitly state that.
Polling shows Abrams trailing slightly behind her opponent, incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp with a little more than two months until the November election.
But the party eyes a new opportunity for a boost in turnout in their favor: hopes that anger over the law will mobilize the base and even win over some swing voters.
Momentum after Kansas
They have reason to be hopeful. In deeply conservative Kansas, voters recently turned up in droves to vote down a state constitutional referendum that would have dissolved abortion rights.
Abrams said that moment gave her hope.
"What that signals to us here in Georgia is that we have the same power. We are not a hyper-conservative state. We are a divided state," she said. "But that division disappears when you look at what's happening around the issue of abortion."
A recent poll conducted by the University of Georgia for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed that more than half of voters do not support the state's new abortion law.
Audrey Haynes, professor of political science at the university, said that Republicans may have alienated some independent voters with their strict abortion choices – a group that will be crucial in November as the margin of votes between statewide candidates has gotten slimmer over the past few years.
"It is clear that in the state of Georgia, most people – the majority of people – are opposed to what happened with Roe v. Wade," she said. "In fact, I think that one of the problems that Republicans have in this case is that they are projecting a level of conservatism on the electorate that doesn't really exist."
Republicans cheered the ruling when a federal appeals court in Georgia allowed the 2019 law to go forward after three years tied up in court.
"We are overjoyed that the court has paved the way for the implementation of Georgia's Life Act," said Kemp in the halls of the state Capitol in July.
But since initial reactions, the party has been quiet on the issue. Instead, Republicans in Georgia and nationally are working hard to leverage disapproval with President Joe Biden and the national economy as their go-to rallying cry to voters.
National polling from Monmouth University shows inflation is still top of mind for voters as they face sky-high prices at the grocery store and the gas pump.
Martha Zoller, the executive director for Georgia Life Alliance and longtime conservative commentator, is skeptical that abortion as a driving issue will have a measurable impact on the outcome of the election.
"I think people that are pro-life are already voting Republican and people that are pro-choice are already voting Democrat," she said. "In light of the economy and inflation, I just still think that this issue is not going to be the number one issue for most voters."
Trying for personal appeals
The top of the state ticket in Georgia is nearly entirely women – Stacey Abrams is the nominee for governor, Jen Jordan is up for attorney general and Bee Nguyen is in the contest for secretary of state.
The party has launched an aggressive effort to reach women voters – Democrats and Republicans alike – on the issue with emotional personal appeals.
"As more and more women understand what is happening, as more and more women face the reality of this law, we will see more and more women turn out," Abrams speculated.
In the basement of Abrams' headquarters, a small group of women gathered for an intimate conversation.
Abrams sat in the middle of the six women with a grim look on her face as they shared their personal stories of miscarriage.
Atlanta resident Alana Leverette emotionally described going through two miscarriages – one while she was at work.
"I felt embarrassed. I felt very, again, sad," she said. "But I wished I had more of a support system to be able to say, I need a minute, I need to grieve."
Uncertainty around Georgia's new law has sparked deeply personal conversations like this one across the state, although abortion opponents adamantly deny that the law would open a path for women to be investigated for murder after a miscarriage.
"The left is just trying to scare people," Zoller, with the Georgia Life Alliance, said.
Democratic state Rep. Shea Roberts was also among the group of women gathered at Abrams' headquarters that day.
She, too, has been sharing her own abortion story after she made the decision 15 years ago to terminate a pregnancy after bloodwork showed the baby would not survive outside the womb.
In 2020, she narrowly beat a Republican incumbent in a suburban Atlanta district – her opponent was one of the few GOP lawmakers who voted against Georgia's abortion ban in 2019.
With suburban women a highly sought-after voter demographic, Roberts is focusing a portion of her reelection campaign on reaching Republican and independent women on the issue of abortion.
"I'm hoping that's going to show up at the ballot box," she said. "I'm hoping that people understand. Yes. There are economic issues that need to be addressed right now. But this is [a] fundamental freedom."
Georgia is not the only place where abortion rights could be a key issue in November: Planned Parenthood recently announced a $50 million investment to mobilize around the issue nationwide.
Copyright 2022 Georgia Public Broadcasting | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/stacey-abrams-is-behind-in-the-polls-and-looking-to-abortion-rights-to-help-her-win | 2022-08-28T11:09:23Z |
SUNDAY
Laramie Valley Jackalopes picnic: 1-3 p.m., Washington Park. All are invited to meet the Jackalopes family of running enthusiasts. Enjoy hot dogs, chips and lemonade, and people are welcome to bring fruit, veggies, sides or desserts to share.
Laramie Connections free Meet and Eat dinner and faith gathering: 4:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1517 E. Canby St.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 6:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
MONDAY
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Climb Wyoming medical career event: 4:30 p.m., Climb Wyoming office, 217 S. 1st St. For single moms interested in starting a medical career.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
UW Music presents Diego Caetano on piano: 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts Recital Hall. Free to attend and all are invited. Program focuses on French-inspired music by an artist who’s been described as “a gifted pianist with a brilliant technique and musicality.”
TUESDAY
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
WEDNESDAY
Laramie Tai Chi and Tea meets: 1:30 p.m. at outdoors Harbon Park, North 14th and Gibbon streets. For more information, visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
Open mic poetry event: 6-7:30 p.m., Night Heron Books and Coffee.
THURSDAY
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 5:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
Diabetes Support Group meets: 5:30-6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Email questions@ivinsosnhospital.org for the link.
FRIDAY
Spaghetti fundraiser dinner: 5:30-7:30 p.m., Elks Lodge, 103 S. 2nd St. Cost is $15 for a spaghetti dinner with meatballs and sausage. Limited quantities, so please call for a reservation, 307-742-2024.
SATURDAY
Acoustic singer-songwriter Jonathan Foster performs: 8 p.m., The Great Untamed, 209 S. 3rd St.
Sept. 4
Walk with a Doc: 1:30-2:30 p.m. at the Washington Park west shelter No. 3. Bring walking shoes and a friend. For more information, email questions@ivinsonhospital.org.
Laramie Connections free Meet and Eat dinner and faith gathering: 4:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1517 E. Canby St.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 6:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
Sept. 5
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Veterans service office hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Veterans Service Center at the UW Student Union, 1000 E. University Ave.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
Sept. 6
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Sept. 7
Laramie Tai Chi and Tea meets: 1:30 p.m. outdoors at Harbon Park, North 14th and Gibbon streets. For more information, visit visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
Ivinson’s women’s health team hosts prenatal education: 5:30 p.m. in the Summit conference room. For more information and registration, visit ivinsonhospital.org/childbirth.
Free “American Trombone!” recital at UW: 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts recital hall.
Sept. 8
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Business After Hours: 5:30-7 p.m., Western States Bank, 3420 E. Grand Ave.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 5:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
Fly fishing rod building for veterans: 7-9 p.m., Laramie Chamber Business Alliance office, 528 S. Adams St.
Sept. 9
NU2U street dance and costume party: 5-11 p.m., in front of the store at 5th and Garland streets in Laramie. Open for all ages.
Sept. 10
22nd annual Wyoming Buddy Walk: 9 a.m. to noon, Washington Park band shell.
Tailgate party for Wesley Foundation’s 100th anniversary: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., United Methodist Church parking lot, 1215 Gibbon St. The student ministry is marking 100 years at the University of Wyoming and First United Methodist. Free lunch picnic.
Summer Market Day at the fairgrounds: 3-6 p.m., beef barn.
Sept. 11
Walk with a Doc: 1:30-2:30 p.m. at the Washington Park west shelter No. 3. Bring walking shoes and a friend. For more information, email questions@ivinsonhospital.org.
Special worship service for Wesley Foundation: 10 a.m., First United Methodist Church, 1215 Gibbon St., followed by a potluck. Special guest Bishop Karen Olivetto will attend and preach. All are invited to reminisce with former Wesley Foundation members and meet the recent generation of the organization.
Laramie Connections free Meet and Eat dinner and faith gathering: 4:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1517 E. Canby St.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 6:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
Sept. 12
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
Albany County Historic Preservation Board meets: 6 p.m. via Microsoft Teams. To attend and receive an invite, email a request to kcbard@charter.net.
Sept. 13
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Albany County Republican Party meets: 6 p.m., Albany County Public Library.
Sept. 14
Laramie Tai Chi and Tea meets: 1:30 p.m. outdoors at Harbon Park, North 14th and Gibbon streets. For more information, visit visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
Ivinson’s women’s health team hosts prenatal education: 5:30 p.m. in the Summit conference room. For more information and registration, visit ivinsonhospital.org/childbirth.
Sept. 15
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 5:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
Fly fishing rod building for veterans: 7-9 p.m., Laramie Chamber Business Alliance office, 528 S. Adams St.
Sept. 16
Albany County CattleWomen meet: 11:30 a.m., location tbd. Visit wyaccw.com in the week before the meeting for location and more information.
Sept. 17
Walk to End Alzheimer’s: 9 a.m., Optimist Park, with music and food following the walk.
Higher Ground Fair: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site in Laramie. A celebration of the six Rocky Mountain states and the native first nations that also call the region home. Proceeds from ticket sales (kids admitted free) help support Feeding Laramie Valley. Fore more information or to volunteer, call 307-223-4300 or email info@highergroundfair.org.
Sept. 18
Higher Ground Fair: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site in Laramie. A celebration of the six Rocky Mountain states and the native first nations that also call the region home. Proceeds from ticket sales (kids admitted free) help support Feeding Laramie Valley. Fore more information or to volunteer, call 307-223-4300 or email info@highergroundfair.org.
Walk with a Doc: 1:30-2:30 p.m. at the Washington Park west shelter No. 3. Bring walking shoes and a friend. For more information, email questions@ivinsonhospital.org.
Laramie Connections free Meet and Eat dinner and faith gathering: 4:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1517 E. Canby St.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 6:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
Sept. 19
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Veterans service office hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Veterans Service Center at the UW Student Union, 1000 E. University Ave.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
Sept. 20
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Sept. 21
Laramie Tai Chi and Tea meets: 1:30 p.m. outdoors at Harbon Park, North 14th and Gibbon streets. For more information, visit visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
Ivinson’s women’s health team hosts prenatal education: 5:30 p.m. in the Summit conference room. For more information and registration, visit ivinsonhospital.org/childbirth.
Sept. 22
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 5:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
Fly fishing rod building for veterans: 7-9 p.m., Laramie Chamber Business Alliance office, 528 S. Adams St.
Sept. 25
Laramie Connections free Meet and Eat dinner and faith gathering: 4:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1517 E. Canby St.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 6:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
Sept. 26
Alcoholics Anonymous meets: Daily at various times in person or on Zoom. For more information, call 307-399-0590 or visit area76aawyoming.org or aa.org.
Survivors of Suicide Support Group: Meets from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at Hospice of Laramie House, 1754 Centennial Drive.
America Sewing Guild Laramie Chapter meets: 7 p.m., United Methodist Church, 1215 E. Gibbon St.
Sept. 27
Prayers & Squares Quilting Group meets: 9 a.m., Room 1 of Hunter Hall at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Sept. 28
Laramie Tai Chi and Tea meets: 1:30 p.m. outdoors at Harbon Park, North 14th and Gibbon streets. For more information, visit visit laramietaichiandtea.org.
Sept. 29
Caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s/dementia: 3 p.m., meet for coffee, pie, understanding and comradeship at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 204 S. 30th St. For more information, call 307-745-6451.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 5:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716.
Fly fishing rod building for veterans: 7-9 p.m., Laramie Chamber Business Alliance office, 528 S. Adams St.
Oct. 2
Laramie Connections free Meet and Eat dinner and faith gathering: 4:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1517 E. Canby St.
Al-Anon Family Group meets: 6:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian church, 215 S. 11th St. For relatives and friends of alcoholics. For information, call Jane at 307-760-4683 or Mark at 307-760-4716. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/announcements/whats-happening-aug-28-2022/article_0166ce24-2640-11ed-9ab7-2f64d7c827c7.html | 2022-08-28T11:30:27Z |
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.
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 Party. 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 2019-2020 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.
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.
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. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/balance-of-political-power-on-the-line/article_4630975e-248f-11ed-bb5d-93f9b516a65e.html | 2022-08-28T11:30:33Z |
After enacting a series of at-times contentious changes to city zoning and housing regulations, Laramie officials are preparing to enter a new phase in their push to create more local affordable housing options.
Over the past seven years, the city has collected and worked out multiple pieces of research showing a need to broaden housing access in the community.
Data shows that 54% of renters and 30% of homeowners are cost burdened by their current living situations, City Planning Manager Derek Teini told the Laramie City Council last week.
The city began taking initial steps to address the problem in 2020, researching and ultimately issuing a range of zoning changes aimed at encouraging development, such as reducing minimum lot size requirements, allowing the construction of accessible dwelling units and easing up on garage regulations.
Other recent changes, such as requiring builders to submit to a permitting process and creating a set of minimum habitability standards for rental housing, focus on increasing the quality of existing housing.
Now, the city plans to explore a more hands-on approach by potentially creating an urban renewal authority or using a tax increment financing method to encourage development in certain areas of the city.
Building back
Urban renewal authorities have historically brought mixed reactions and results to communities over time. URAs are statutory bodies formed with the intention of removing instances of “blight” in areas that are developed or have the potential for further development.
“Blight” could refer to various issues such as unfinished or broken roadways or failing infrastructure, Teini said.
Methods of resolving these issues can vary depending on the procedures of a specific URA and the situation, and could range from collaborative projects with property owners to condemning a property altogether.
The official process to create a local URA is likely to come before City Council in September, said Assistant City Manager Todd Feezer. If approved, it would likely be active by January.
City leaders said they expect public transparency and thoughtfulness to be a part of any potential URA decisions.
“Every member of council is not interested in pursuing rules that are going to put existing developing areas and property areas in a bad place where they might be struggling,” said Mayor Paul Weaver. “What we’re not trying to do is encourage a gentrifying policy in the city of Laramie.”
An important part of the process will be ensuring the city creates its policy structures in a way that avoids the pitfalls of URAs in other communities, said Laramie City Manager Janine Jordan.
Feezer explained that a URA could help create opportunities for new development in the city by focusing on demolition and reconstruction in areas that are already abandoned, such as the former Slade Elementary School building.
Finding money
City staff are also conducting intensive research on the process of tax increment financing to promote development in unused areas.
This funding structure, also known as TIF, allows cities to pay for development work up front and then make up for that spending by collecting the increase in property taxes applied to areas that benefit from the development.
This payment structure is one of the few tools communities with lower income rates across the population have at their disposal, Jordan said.
Some potential areas of city-owned property that could be developed using a TIF structure include lots on Crystal Court and the Turner Tract, Feezer said. The property along North 4th Street that the city vacated in a move to its new Public Works facility could be reimagined to be a mixed-use residential and retail area that could provide 70-200 residences.
TIF has not been used in Laramie before, Feezer said. The process would include vetting from the Laramie Planning Commission and City Council, which includes opportunity for public comment.
Long wait for improvement
With even small changes to zoning ordinances causing turbulence in the community, city staff and council members discussed the importance of public input and research in the process of considering new housing expansion approaches.
“Those changes that were made over the last two years are a significant amount of changes to housing,” Teini said. “There are communities across the West that would love to have just one part of those changes done in the last two or three years. I think it shows as a community our desire to provide that option.”
In an online survey of Laramie residents this year, 56% of respondents said they are in favor of the city playing a role in increasing housing options, Jordan said.
She said residents have been asking the city to address housing issues for nearly a decade.
“This is not a static process,” Weaver said. “It’s going to require looking at policies and deciding whether or not they’re a good thing for Laramie.” | https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/housing-dilemma-city-searches-for-missing-middle/article_6f44a8f8-257d-11ed-8504-cb2f9f33fd4c.html | 2022-08-28T11:30:40Z |
State lawmakers spent Friday morning searching for ways to provide more affordable housing to Wyoming residents, including solutions such as a state housing trust fund and land banking.
Discussions were led by members of the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, state agencies and local nonprofits invested in breaking down barriers to housing development. It falls in line with the committee’s second-highest priority to address the lack of workforce housing, which they have studied throughout the interim.
“Because of housing, we can’t keep teachers, snowplow drivers, or doctors and nurses,” said Rep. Jim Roscoe, I-Wilson.
Despite stakeholders showing support for a state housing trust fund, legislators decided only to take action on land banking. There were concerns expressed that the state housing trust fund would be unconstitutional because legislative appropriations for charitable or industrial purposes are not allowed unless the recipient is under control of the state.
“Section 6 prohibits the state and its political subdivisions from loaning or giving credit to guarantee private obligations, and also prohibits these actors from making donations to private individuals or entities except for the necessary support of the poor,” said Legislative Service Office staff attorney Anna Johnson.
A state housing trust fund could be possible, but not by following the original recommendation based on Iowa’s model, which legislative staff attorneys said could be problematic because of the difference in how Wyoming’s trust funds are laid out. Wyoming is one of just three states in the nation without a housing trust fund.
Other housing programs in Wyoming already exist, but legislators hoped to find additional ways to manage the pressure on the market.
The Wyoming Business Ready Community Program doesn’t specifically address workforce housing, but Johnson outlined in a memo how it would be a helpful framework for a program, since it provides loans for infrastructure, economic or educational development projects.
There is the Wyoming Workforce Housing Infrastructure Program, which provides loans for the creation of workforce housing subdivisions or developments. However, the infrastructure must be publicly owned, and doesn’t include the building of actual houses in order to follow state statute.
The Wyoming Community Development Authority was also created for many of the same reasons as the infrastructure program, and provides low-interest mortgage loans and financial education. Opportunities are available for down payment assistance, but it is still a loan.
Land banking
Advocates for a direct approach to solving the affordable housing crisis pushed for land banking. The banks are state-enabled public entities with unique governmental powers “that are solely focused on converting problem properties into productive use according to local community goals.”
“It’s a device, in part, where a municipality can clean up that kind of problem and eventually wind up with a property that is sellable,” said Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper.
Brenda Birkle, executive director of the local nonprofit My Front Door and chair of Cheyenne’s Affordable Housing Taskforce, made her case for the land bank. She played an instrumental role along with Dan Dorsch, special coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Laramie County, in identifying tools the Legislature could consider.
In her presentation to the committee, she described the land bank as having special powers, “including the ability to hold land tax-free, clear title, negotiate sales, convey property for other-than-monetary consideration and lease for interim uses.”
It acquires property through the expedited tax foreclosure process, lending institutions and the Department of Housing and Urban Development transferring low-value properties to the land bank, as well as private individuals and probate estates not wanting the burden of owning a property and giving it away. This, in return, can address community blights, increase the number of low- to moderate-income units, increase area property values and provide economic growth.
“Land banks are most commonly established in localities with relatively low or declining housing costs and a sizable inventory of tax-delinquent properties that the community wants to repurpose to support community goals,” according to Local Housing Solutions. “In high-cost localities, however, where there are few tax delinquent properties, land banks can serve as a vehicle for holding land purchased strategically for future affordable housing development.”
Based on the presentation and support from nonprofits, legislators passed a motion for the legislative staff to draft a bill based on Nebraska’s statutes. It would not require an appropriation from the Legislature, but rather develop legislation that enables local entities to develop interagency agreements to establish the land bank.
Housing trust fund
Although the housing trust fund that would have fallen under the Wyoming Community Development Authority’s responsibility was not supported by the majority of the committee, it did take up a significant portion of the discussion.
Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, was a supporter of the housing trust fund, even with the work required make it constitutional. She was unsure whether the bill would move forward, but she encouraged efforts to be made, nonetheless.
“I do think, in light of it being one of our priority topics that this committee has chosen to take up, and hearing the overwhelming testimony from May, which I know we have all forgotten that there is an attainable housing concern – then at least we will have something tangible to work on at some meeting,” she told her fellow Corporations Committee members. “And, unfortunately, it will be our last.”
The wariness among legislators to draft the bill started hours before her call to draft the bill, and not just regarding the legal barriers.
According to the Housing Trust Fund Project, they are distinct funds established by governments that receive ongoing sources of public funding to support the preservation of affordable housing.
“Housing trust funds systemically shift affordable housing funding from annual budget allocations to the commitment of dedicated public revenue,” the advocacy organization wrote. “While housing trust funds can also be a repository for private donations, they are not public/private partnerships, nor are they endowed funds operating from interest and other earnings.”
Birkle said money from a statewide trust fund could go into local housing trust funds to create local control, and millions could be used to address housing issues. She said it could be used as gap funding for projects, to acquire and redevelop properties or land, to teach financial literacy and housing counseling, or for down payment assistance for homebuyers that are of low to moderate income.
“The good news is it’s customizable,” she told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle days before she went before the committee.
In order to implement it in Wyoming, it could be placed under the authority of agencies such as the WCDA and the Wyoming Business Council.
However, the WBC didn’t want to take on the housing affordability tool, and leadership argued its focus should be in expanding the workforce.
“The Business Council’s job is to create a housing problem. And I say that, in all seriousness, and I don’t mean to be flippant about it, but it is actually our job to create an environment where businesses can thrive, where businesses can grow,” WBC CEO Josh Dorrell testified Friday. “Housing is one component of it, but, ultimately, it’s our job to create the pressure. That creates a housing problem. And if we stay focused on that, we can create enough pressure, we can create enough of a housing problem, that will make us attractive to developers.”
Dorrell was supported by staff from Gov. Mark Gordon’s office, who argued the agency should stay in line with its duties and not take on the housing trust fund. Policy advisor Ivy McGowan-Castleberry said the governor expressed that he feels very strongly that the Business Council has a mission, that they need to work on activating new economic opportunities, and that the framework and expertise for a housing trust fund don’t currently exist.
Some lawmakers questioned whether companies would be deterred from moving into the state if there wasn’t housing, or why the private sector was having difficulty developing enough properties. Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, stepped in to defend the private sector, and said his colleagues were forgetting how well it worked.
“I don’t think we should be so short and frustrated with what the private sector has accomplished and say, ‘Well, it’s not working right now, let’s create a program,’” he said. “I think there’s complementariness that we can pursue.”
Lawmakers will continue to try to find that balance at the next Corporations Committee Oct. 13-14. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/lawmakers-search-for-housing-solutions/article_f661de3e-263e-11ed-a5aa-f3b9120adf2a.html | 2022-08-28T11:30:46Z |
A federal judge in Montana issued two separate decisions this month that threaten the future of federal coal leasing in the Powder River Basin – where mining was already expected to continue a precipitous decline.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ordered the Bureau of Land Management to revise two resource management plans to more fully analyze the climate and human health implications of leasing federal coal, oil and natural gas in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana.
The RMP revisions, administered by BLM field offices in Buffalo and in Miles City, Montana, are due by Aug. 3, 2023, according to the order.
The same federal judge, a President Barack Obama appointee, also issued a summary judgment this month to reinstate an Obama-era leasing moratorium for all federal coal reserves in the U.S. until the BLM revamps the program to make climate and public health among priority considerations in leasing decisions.
Taking into account coal’s contribution to planet-warming CO2 emissions, as well as its toll on public health, the decisions could curtail new coal leases or significantly cut back on the volume of coal offered for development in the Powder River Basin, according to a coalition of conservation groups.
“This is a significant victory for our climate and the communities across the country who are impacted by our continued reliance on this dirty and dangerous fuel,” Earthjustice attorney Jenny Harbine said via a press release.
Wyoming intervened on behalf of the BLM in both cases. Gov. Mark Gordon criticized the moratorium ruling as “wrong-headed” and a “step backwards that doesn’t protect the environment and ensures consumers will pay more for energy.
“This decision is bad for Wyoming,” Gordon continued in a press statement. “It hurts our country’s ability to provide reliable, low-cost energy to Americans and hinders the abilities of companies to plan and invest in new technologies like carbon capture and utilization.”
The National Mining Association and other coal backers have promised to challenge the rulings.
A federal court ruling in 2018 instructed the BLM to include an analysis of climate implications when considering whether to lease more coal in the PRB. Judge Morris agreed the agency’s revision in response to the 2018 ruling gave only a cursory look and didn’t consider climate impacts as a reason to not lease. This month, Morris more explicitly ordered the BLM to consider a “no leasing” alternative.
The BLM must “consider no coal leasing and limited coal leasing alternatives and […] disclose the public health impacts, both climate and non-climate, of burning fossil fuels from the planning areas,” Morris wrote. “Coal mining represents a potentially allowable use of public lands, but BLM is not required to lease public lands.”
“That a federal judge ordered the [BLM] to consider a no-leasing alternative and disclose to the public how many people will be sickened and die as a result of the combustion of federal coal is groundbreaking,” Western Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Melissa Hornbein said in a press release. “The courts recognize the seriousness of the climate crisis and the impacts of fossil-fuel pollution. The BLM must now do likewise.”
The separate ruling that reinstates the coal-leasing moratorium adds another layer of assurance for a full analysis of climate and human health implications, according to Western Organization of Resource Councils and other groups, as well as an opportunity to update federal royalty rates and reclamation requirements.
Now, conservation groups want to press the federal government even further. Some want the Biden administration to “phase out” or buy back existing coal leases. “There is no room to continue producing coal in a climate emergency,” Earthjustice’s Harbine said.
“That’s troubling right there,” Wyoming Mining Association Executive Director Travis Deti said. “Every little effort to try to inhibit and stop [coal production], that’s tough and that’s troubling.”
Continued coal production and slowing the retirement of coal-fueled power plants are key to launching carbon capture and sequestration technologies, Deti said. Goals such as electrifying vehicles can’t happen without coal-based power and the opportunity to cut greenhouse gas emissions from those facilities, Deti said.
Regardless of whether the PRB coal industry continues to shrink due to the retirement of coal-burning power plants or if federal policies hasten the decline, Wyoming and its coal-reliant communities are in for an economic shock, according to some industry watchers. That’s not lost among conservationists who celebrate the potential demise of Wyoming coal.
“There isn’t a good answer or a ready replacement for Wyoming,” Sierra Club Wyoming Chapter Director Connie Wilbert told WyoFile. But, she added, “if we don’t stop emitting carbon and methane pollution, nothing else is going to matter. This is way bigger than the immediate hardship that we face here in Wyoming.”
Coal production in the Powder River Basin – the nation’s largest coal-supplying region – has declined 49% from 2008 to 2021, according to WyoFile’s analysis of U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration data. Even before Judge Morris’ rulings this month, the PRB mining industry may have already seen its last round of large federal coal leasing.
The most recent large federal coal leases sold in the basin went to Peabody Energy and Arch Coal (now Arch Resources) in 2012. Peabody paid $1.24 billion for the rights to mine 1.12 billion tons of coal to extend operations at its North Antelope Rochelle mine, according to the BLM. Arch paid more than $300 million for 222.67 million tons of federal coal for its flagship Black Thunder mine.
All told, some 2.5 billion tons of federal coal reserves were leased in the Powder River Basin under Obama prior to his administration issuing a coal leasing moratorium in 2016 to revamp the leasing program. But bad investments and shifting markets had already sent coal company finances into a nosedive, kicking off a series of coal company bankruptcies and mine layoffs in Wyoming.
Since 2016, PRB coal producers have withdrawn several federal lease applications, and some have even relinquished tracts of coal.
The basin’s second largest producer, Arch, for example, told investors last month it’s using its current cash windfall from PRB coal to close its operations in the state. The company, which has shifted its focus to mining coal in the eastern U.S. for steelmaking clients, intends to relinquish millions of tons of Powder River Basin coal already under federal lease.
Deti with the Mining Association pointed out that PRB coal producers are enjoying a surge in demand and pricing, and mine operators are in a good position – for “the short term.”
“We’ve got enough [PRB coal] leased for the next decade,” Deti said.
But that doesn’t mean the court rulings and more stringent leasing rules are inconsequential. “The issue is, when these [court rulings] come out, our utility customers see that, and they’re looking down the line and saying, ‘Well, is this even going to be an option in the future?’” Deti said. “So that’s what’s really concerning about it.”
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/from_the_wire/court-rulings-threaten-to-hasten-wyo-coal-s-demise/article_58170396-2655-11ed-9d8e-83e1e082d923.html | 2022-08-28T11:30:52Z |
Anxiety and stress levels are up for many students, parents, staff and teachers as they return to campuses and classrooms for the 2022-23 school year.
Some students and teachers are still wrestling with the return to schools after the remote learning and shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.
Others are anxious over mass school shootings and their seemingly too regular occurrence across the country.
The horrific elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in late May, with its bungled police response and slaughter of 19 elementary school kids and two teachers, has added to the stress.
Students and parents want to feel more empowered and in control over potential emergency situations. That is part of a much larger mental and behavioral component to addressing school violence, according to counselors and school safety experts across the country.
“There’s a lot of anxiety – a lot of them feel pretty helpless,” said Willow Goldfarb, a licensed mental health counselor and lead clinician for Thriveworks in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, of students she’s counseled after Uvalde.
She’s worked with those impacted by the 2018 mass shooting, on Valentine’s Day, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Nikolas Cruz, then 19, opened fire there, killing 17 and injuring 17 more.
The wounds of the Parkland massacre and examinations of Cruz’s troubled childhood and mental and behavioral health problems have been reopened this summer with sentencing testimony being heard in a Florida courtroom. Those testifying have included still-grieving parents and relatives.
Goldfarb is hearing from students, parents and teachers in the wake of the Uvalde shooting, on their worries about police responses after it took officers there an hour to confront shooter Salvador Ramos.
Empowerment
Goldfarb said some students are pressing for more of their own options for survival, escape and connections to the outside world.
Some students have questioned why they can’t be armed if teachers and staff have that option in more gun-friendly states and regions.
“It’s the narrative of the good guy shooter shooting the bad guy shooters,” Goldfarb said.
She also said some students don’t like restrictive cellphone policies imposed by some schools. She’s heard from kids who became used to constant communication with their parents during the pandemic, as well as those who want to be able to call 911 or share information during an emergency, that such rules are a source of anxiety.
Goldfarb said students have also shared that they often feel talked down to when it comes to school security and safety. They say districts would be better served if school officials were as collaborative, inclusive and transparent as possible.
“I feel a lot of times kids get talked over. Just tell them what’s going to happen,” Goldfarb said.
She said she tries to empower students who are feeling trepidation about school safety to follow their instincts in school security situations.
“I talk to them about trusting their gut,” Goldfarb said.
Concerned parents also want to feel more empowered and are pushing to be more involved with school security and safety decisions in light of the recent shootings, said Sharon Hoover, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine and co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health.
“How are you going to keep my kid safe?” is a common refrain Hoover hears from worried parents headed into the new school year.
“Families are certainly wanting to be at the table,” Hoover said.
‘Living hell’
The need to feel empowered and included is just the tip of the mental and behavioral health iceberg when it comes to schools, given the continued challenges of bullying and the regularity of contemporary mass shootings.
Addressing bullying and antisocial behavior are essential to addressing the mental health components of school violence, according to Brenda High.
High co-founded Bully Police USA after her 13-year-old son died by suicide after being bullied at a school in Washington State. The Idaho group advocates for tougher anti-bully laws across U.S. states.
High said there are still schoolyards and social cultures that allow bullying and fail to help kids in distress.
“You will still find many places where it’s still ‘boys will be boys’, ‘girls will be girls’,” said High.
Her group helps schools implement more student-focused behavior programs, such as peer groups who can help address bullying and mistreatment of classmates.
She said mental health counselors in schools also need to be paid more. School counselors earn a median annual salary of $46,778, with starting pay of $33,000 per year for some, according to San Francisco-based staffing firm Zippia Inc.
Many of the school shooters suffered from mental and behavioral health problems and faced bullying – or felt they were bullied and mistreated, according to reports on those incidents.
Their feelings of ostracization and disassociation can dangerously combine with access to weapons and inadequate responses to mental health challenges by parents, schools and law enforcement.
“It comes back to that sense of connectedness and relationships,” said Amy Klinger, an education professor with Ashland University in Ohio and co-founder of the nonprofit Educators School Safety Network.
Klinger said not all of the mass shooters were bullied – but all of them believe they were mistreated and felt disconnected from their schools and classmates.
Klinger said school can be “a living hell” for some kids who face endless bullying and mistreatment from classmates. Some also live in abusive, traumatic and toxic situations at home.
Some of those same homes might not be supportive of behavioral health counseling, while others offer access to guns and ammunition.
Students and their caregivers can also worry about stigmatizations at school and within families and communities that might come with mental counseling.
Goldfarb and other mental health professionals said kids will often follow suit if one or more parents are into guns – or, conversely, are skeptical of behavioral and mental health counseling.
“The kid is picking up on that message and running with it,” she said.
Federal gun measures passed earlier this summer after Uvalde allocated $750 million over five years to help states with crisis intervention programs such as ‘red-flag’ laws that can block purchases and confiscate guns for mental health reasons.
Those efforts run into constitutional protections for gun ownership via the Second Amendment, as well as civil liberties concerns about how far police and commitment powers should potentially be expanded.
The federal bill also offers another $510 million in various mental and behavioral health grants for states, localities and school districts.
Disparate reactions
Social division and politically fueled disagreement over how to address mass shootings also creates disparate reactions to proposed school safety solutions.
Principals Dave Hardesty of Linford Elementary and Loren Engel of Beitel expressed confidence that the district is doing effective work in keeping local schools safe.
Nationwide, Republicans opposed to new federal gun controls have called for more police officers, security guards and security layers on campuses.
That may give confidence to some – but not others.
“I do find students of color or marginalized communities feel a lot more anxious when there are more police officers around,” Goldfarb said.
Some school districts took fresh looks, with some scaling back cops and security guards on campus after the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer.
But the pendulum is swinging back toward increased security and police footprints on campuses after Uvalde and other recent shootings.
David Moore, police chief of Janesville, Wisconsin, near the Illinois border, said law enforcement agencies need to build trust within communities and at schools in order to get help with early identification and interventions.
“You need to have that trust in the community so they will reach out,” said Moore, who has resources officers at local schools in southern Wisconsin.
Law enforcement officers, like teachers and school staff, have been struggling with how to recognize and deal with behavioral health problems, as well as bullying and harassment.
Teachers, many of whom already had high anxiety over COVID-19 and are stressed by labor shortages, are also seeing more training related to shootings including crisis interventions and treating severe gunshot wounds.
Hoover said districts need to be sensitive to what they are adding to teachers’ duties. “We have to be really careful about adding one more thing to their plate,” she said.
There are also continuing problems with societal approaches to mental health – on and off campus.
A person with untreated mental illness is 16 times more likely to be killed by police, according to a study by the Treatment Advocacy Center. And mentally ill persons make up more than 1 in 4 fatal police shootings, according to the Virginia-based group.
A 2020 study Harvard University found Black people are 3.23 times more likely than whites to be killed by police.
The rush to increase security infrastructure, including limiting access points, and installing more cameras and layers of fences and barriers, can ease concerns, but create anxiety for others.
“You can set it up like a prison, but then who wants to send their kids,” said Klinger, who is concerned that knee-jerk reactions to the latest shootings give the appearance of action, but can fail to address root challenges, such as helping kids in distress, and teachers and staff following security protocols and addressing bullying situations.
“When you have an active shooter incident, the immediate response is to do more active shooter drills,” Klinger said.
Hoover said anxiety over shootings and the return to school are combining with some of the stresses, conflict and social isolations of the pandemic.
“We do better when we feel stable and secure,” said Hoover, who is also director of the Maryland-based National Center for Safe Supportive Schools. “We have had nothing that feels stable or secure for two-and-a-half years now.” | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/in_our_schools/stress-tests-schools-seek-mental-and-behavioral-health-solutions/article_055df39a-264f-11ed-8c1a-47534c92f95b.html | 2022-08-28T11:30:58Z |
Wyoming lawmakers are considering removing election-related duties from the office of secretary of state.
The Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee passed a motion during a Thursday meeting to draft a bill to create a separate office to administer the state’s elections. The effort was in direct response to Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, securing the Republican nomination for secretary of state.
“I’m concerned based on some of the rhetoric and some of the mailers I saw in regards to our most likely upcoming secretary of state that we may be in a precarious position when it comes to election administration for the next four years,” said committee co-chair Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, who introduced the motion.
Audits before and after the 2020 election in Wyoming indicated 100% accuracy. Gray, however, campaigned heavily on unsupported claims about voter fraud, saying there were “tremendous problems” with the security of Wyoming’s elections. This week, the State Canvassing Board certified the results of the 2022 primary election after an enhanced audit indicated zero issues across all 23 counties.
Gray did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment.
Lawmakers moved several other election-related matters forward during the meeting, including a bill to open Wyoming’s primary election using ranked-choice voting.
Election duties
While the committee passed the motion to explore the possibility of having a separate state agency in charge of elections, the vote was not unanimous. Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, spoke against it.
Voters who supported Gray in the primary election would “rightfully feel insulted if we tried to take a major portion of the responsibilities away before the guy’s even had a chance,” he said.
Scott also pointed to recent history.
“We’ve been down this road before in the education area. There was consequences [that] were most unfortunate,” he said in reference to former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill.
After Hill refused to implement legislation, Gov. Matt Mead signed a bill into law in 2013 that stripped Hill of most of her authority, rendering her position largely ceremonial. A lengthy legal battle ensued, with the Wyoming Supreme Court declaring the removal of powers unconstitutional.
Like most states, Wyoming’s secretary of state administers elections, which includes providing residents with election information. The office also prepares a campaign guide for candidates and collects campaign finances.
In recent years, that workload has ballooned in a very specific way, according to Monique Meese, former policy advisor to the office.
“Election records requests have become exponentially greater since the 2020 election on a variety of data points,” she said. Meese recently resigned from the position as a direct result of Gray’s primary election victory, according to the Cowboy State Daily.
When Wyoming voters raised questions about the state’s elections in 2020, Secretary of State Ed Buchanan spent a considerable amount of time traveling the state to give presentations on election integrity and security. Buchanan’s office also looked into allegations of voter fraud, but no evidence ever surfaced.
Creating an office solely devoted to election duties would address this new workload, according to Zwonitzer, who said it would also be able to perform additional audits, including of political spending. Currently, there is no automatic audit mechanism for campaign finances, so a review of filings only takes place if the office receives a complaint about a report.
“You’d be able to go after transparency when it came to dark money and really strengthen and buffer our election security,” Zwonitzer said.
The new office would be overseen by the state’s top five elected officials – the governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor and superintendent of public instruction – who would also appoint its director, Zwonitzer said.
Special elections
Following controversy and a legal battle involving the process to replace Jillian Balow earlier this year when she resigned from her position as superintendent of public instruction, lawmakers are looking to change how the state fills certain vacancies.
The committee is working on a bill from the 2022 session which would create, for example, a special election in the case of a vacancy in the governor’s office.
“I’ve certainly heard the concerns for six months now that we may want to have a better system, and this [bill] is at least one option,” Zwonitzer said.
The more elections that are held, however, the fewer people come out to them, according to Kai Schon, director of the secretary of state’s Election Division. Another concern with the bill is the cost, which would be shouldered solely by the counties.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Scott said in opposition. Sen. Danny Eyre, R-Lyman, disagreed.
“I believe the system is broken, or at least we can do better,” he said, adding that low voter participation is preferable to the current system that involves political parties making appointments.
The committee voted to work together with county clerks and the secretary of state’s office to draft a bill that’s neither cost prohibitive nor disruptive to other elections.
The committee plans to meet again in October.
UPDATE: Schon has plans to leave the secretary of state’s office and is looking for work elsewhere, according to his LinkedIn account. He did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment by press time Friday.
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/lawmakers-seek-to-restrict-secretary-of-state-s-authority/article_b087adfc-2658-11ed-914c-7b66370a23a6.html | 2022-08-28T11:31:04Z |
CHEYENNE – The Cheyenne Central girls and boys cross-country teams both won the Horizon Invitational on Saturday in Thornton, Colorado.
The Lady Indians put four athletes in the top 10 to finish with 32 points. Senior Sydney Morrell won the meet with a 5-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 22.69 seconds.
Classmates Averie Perriton and Lauren Clark placed eighth and ninth, respectively. Perriton finished in 20:36.99, while Clarke clocked in at 20:40.86. Sophomore Rian Cordell-Reiner was 10th at 20:42.79. Junior Emma Hofmeister was Central’s fifth scoring runner, taking 12th in 20:56.26.
The Central boys finished with 27 points. Juniors Bridger Brokaw and Trevor Schmidt placed second and third, respectively. Brokaw finished in 16:34.03, while Schmidt crossed the line in 16:44.96.
Senior Will Barrington was sixth (17:05.25), freshman Race Morrell took seventh (17:10.77) and Jonah Rigg captured ninth (17:17.21). Senior Toren Rohde placed 11th (17:48.27).
East girls sixth in Fort Collins
CHEYENNE – The Cheyenne East girls cross-country squad placed sixth at the John Martin Invitational on Saturday in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Ynes Ronnau led the Lady Thunderbirds by taking 21st in 21 minutes, 34 seconds. Molly Madsen was 26th (21:59).
The East boys were 11th in the team standings. Brayden Colbert and Lucas Steveson placed 47th and 49th, respectively. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_central/cross-country-central-sweeps-horizon-invite/article_7a70e842-2648-11ed-af51-47aaa52447d2.html | 2022-08-28T11:31:11Z |
CHEYENNE – Cheyenne Central won both the team and individual titles at the Gillette Pentathlon on Saturday with a final team score of 171.
Junior Izzy DeLay swam a combined time of 4:36.95 to win the pentathlon event. She swam the fastest time in the 100-meter freestyle (55.16) and the 100-meter breaststroke (1:07.98), and tied for the fastest time in the 50-meter freestyle (25.30).
Emily Meares (4:58.23), Andie Prince (5:01.00), Sydney Gough (5:03.42) and Kayleigh Hood (5:09.83) all finished in the top 15 for Central, as well.
Senior Brinkley Lewis (230.80) edged out Sheridan’s Maggie Turpin (225.60) to take first place in the one-meter diving event.
Cheyenne South finished eighth overall in the team standings, picking up a total of 19 points.
Junior Paula Musslick had the team's highest placing in the pentathlon, placing 22nd with a time of 5:17.43.
Senior divers Hannah Soden (161.45) and Rhyana Barta (129.30) finished 11th and 21st in the one-meter diving.
East second at Rawlins Pentathlon
CHEYENNE – The Cheyenne East girls swimming and diving team placed second at the Rawlins Pentathlon on Saturday.
The Lady Thunderbirds finished with 153 team points. Douglas won the meet with 204.
East junior Sydni Sawyer placed second individually with a combined time of 4 minutes, 51.50 seconds. The pentathlon consisted of a 100-yard butterfly, 100 backstroke, 50 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle.
Sawyer had the top time in the 100 breast (1 minute, 11.91 seconds) and 100 free (57.72). She placed second in the 100 fly and 50 free.
T-Birds' senior Shannon Bailey took sixth in 5:22.06, while freshman Nzelle Ayokosok placed eighth (5:33.00). | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_central/girls-swimming-central-takes-home-first-place-in-gillette-pentathlon/article_b11223b0-2658-11ed-8ba7-c725bd7087e0.html | 2022-08-28T11:31:17Z |
CHEYENNE – The Cheyenne Central volleyball team went 1-2 on the final day of the Cheyenne Invitational on Saturday.
The Lady Indians opened with a 25-23, 26-24 win over Rawlins before falling to Rock Springs (23-25, 19-25) and Kelly Walsh (15-25, 19-25).
Junior Brooklynn Sullivan notched 17 kills and 14 digs on the day. She had eight kills against Rock Springs.
Senior Madisyn Baillie added 10 kills and seven digs, while classmate Joslyn Siedenburg chipped in with eight kills and five blocks. Senior setter Sophia Thomas dished out 37 assists, while junior Aubrey Trujillo had 13 digs.
East goes 0-3 on final day of Cheyenne Invite
CHEYENNE – The Cheyenne East volleyball team closed the Cheyenne Invitational with three losses Saturday.
The Lady Thunderbirds fell to Thunder Basin (13-25, 18-25), Kelly Walsh (15-25, 16-25) and Natrona County (20-25, 25-23, 23-25).
“We didn’t walk away with any wins, but we battled and got better each game,” East coach Nicole Quigley said. “We made a lot of progress throughout the day. We walked away with some positive things to build off of from the first weekend.”
Senior Elysiana Fonseca posted 17 kills and 10 blocks on the day, while junior Janie Merritt chipped in with 32 digs and 15 kills. Junior Taliah Morris added 11 kills. Junior setter Bradie Schlabs had 43 assists, 23 digs and 10 kills, while classmate Gracin Goff dished out 35 assists to go with 10 digs. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/cheyenne_central/prep-volleyball-central-posts-1-2-record-to-close-cheyenne-invite/article_4d1be4c8-2661-11ed-8e8e-7bf94b1fd2ad.html | 2022-08-28T11:31:23Z |
LARAMIE – The Laramie High tennis teams had quite a run for the second week of the fall season at home and on the road.
The Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen took on four teams since Monday, with the Plainsmen remaining undefeated at 6-0. The Lady Plainsmen bounced back for four straight dual wins to improve to 4-2.
The week began at home against Cheyenne South on Monday, with each team winning 4-1 at the LHS tennis courts.
The squads traveled north to Gillette right away for competitions against Campbell County and Thunder Basin on Tuesday.
The Plainsmen beat the Camels 4-1 and the Bolts 5-0; the Lady Plainsmen prevailed against the Lady Camels 3-2 and the Lady Bolts 4-1.
The week concluded with a LHS sweep at Cheyenne Central, with the boys winning 4-1 and the girls 3-2.
Plainsmen junior Declan O’Connor was 4-0 throughout at No. 2 singles. He beat: South’s Armando Hernandez 6-3, 6-0; Campbell County’s Justin Gibson 6-0, 6-0; Thunder Basin’s Owen Gorsuch 6-0, 6-2; and Central’s Nathaniel Thornell 6-0, 2-6, 6-1.
The LHS boys No. 3 doubles team of juniors Ryan Dennis and Matthew Pikal also strung four wins together against South 6-1, 6-0; Campbell County 6-1, 6-1; Thunder Basin 6-0, 6-0; and Central 6-2, 6-1.
Plainsman senior doubles player Gage Hepworth also was 4-0 at either the No. 1 or No. 2 spots. He joined senior Macoy Callihan to beat South 6-4, 7-6 at No. 1, Campbell County 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 and Central 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2. Van Wiederhalt joined Hepworth to beat Thunder Basin 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2.
The Lady Plainsmen No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams also had a perfect week.
At No. 1, senior Ruby Dorrell and junior Morgan Moore beat South 6-0, 6-1; Campbell County 6-2, 7-6 (7-1); Thunder Basin 6-3, 7-6 (10-8); and Central 7-5, 6-1.
At No. 2, sophomore Makeda Proctor and freshman Chloe Wallhead beat South 6-0, 6-0; Campbell County 6-0, 6-3; Thunder Basin 6-0, 6-3; and Central 7-6, 7-5.
Multiple other spots went either 3-1 or 3-0 as coach Elizabeth Clower continued to mix the lineups a little for the most optimal positioning before postseason play.
Golf
Wyoming prep golf is the other sport that had an earlier start to the fall season to be able to play in summer-like weather conditions.
The Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen have competed in two-day tournaments in Wheatland, Cheyenne and Torrington.
This week, at the Torrington Invitational on Thursday and Friday on the course at the Cottonwood at Torrington Golf Course, the Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen each had two golfers finish in the top five.
Lady Plainsmen senior Samantha Kitchen finished runner-up with rounds of 91 and 99 for a total of 190. Wheatland’s Lily Nichols won with cards of 86 and 89 for 175. LHS senior Grace Kordon tied for third place at 98 and 97 for 195.
Leading the Plainsmen were juniors James Trask and Colin Suloff. Trask placed third by carding consistent rounds of 81 for a 162 total, seven strokes behind winner Zack Wiltnger of Central. Suloff placed fifth with an 82 and 83 for 165.
LHS will next play Thursday and Friday at Rochelle Ranch Golf Course in Rawlins. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/high_school/laramie_high/lhs-tennis-completes-undefeated-week/article_2e9cb7a0-264a-11ed-9f88-170bd810c17b.html | 2022-08-28T11:31:29Z |
LARAMIE – The University of Wyoming volleyball team opened the season with a pair of hard-fought home losses Friday against quality opponents for the first day of Rumble in the Rockies at the UniWyo Sports Complex.
UW lost in five sets to the Wichita State Shockers after coming back from two sets down, losing 25-15, 25-22, 15-25, 29-31, 15-8. The Cowgirls closed the day with a four-set loss to the Iowa State Cyclones 19-25, 25-20, 25-19, 26-24.
Corin Carruth paced the Cowgirls offense in both matches, tallying 15 kills off the bench and hitting .306 against the Shockers. She then notched a career-high 23 kills against ISU and hit .432. She also set a career-best with five total blocks against the Cyclones and chipped in with eight digs.
Against Wichita, KC McMahon and Naya Shimé hit double-figure kills with 12 and 10, respectively. In her first action as a Cowgirl, Kasia Partyka recorded a pair of double-doubles with 45 assists and had 10 digs against WSU. She then had 41 assists and 10 digs against Iowa State.
Hailey Zuroske, making the first two starts of her career at the libero spot, led UW in both matches with 12 and 14 digs, respectively.
The Cowgirls were out-hit by Wichita State, as the Shockers hit .207 to Wyoming’s .176. Against Iowa State, Wyoming hit .250, while the Cyclones hit .230. But the Cyclones had a 10-3 advantage in the service game and also had a 9-6 edge in team blocks.
UW freshman Tierney Barlow also helped spark the Cowgirls in the two losses. She had eight kills and hit .313 against Wichita State, and tallied six kills on just 10 swings against Iowa State. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/university_of_wyoming/cowgirls-drop-a-pair-of-season-opening-matches/article_7e54f720-264b-11ed-ad39-0bf0eb58bff3.html | 2022-08-28T11:31:35Z |
MVPoke: TITUS SWEN
The University of Wyoming junior running back nearly tallied 100 yards in the season-opener with 17 rushes for 98 yards with a long of 25. Swen, along with the help of downfield blocking, accounted 42.6% of the Cowboys’ total offense.
Key Stats: 1, 30
Wyoming could not give its defense an extended rest by going just 1-of-12 for third-down conversions. Questions surrounding the passing attack were not answered against the Illini as UW had just 30 yards through the air. Junior quarterback Andrew Peasley was 5-of-20 throwing the ball, completing passes to four players. In comparison, Illinois senior quarterback Tommy Devito was 27-of-37 and junior Artur Sitkowski was 3-of-3 as the pair combined for 217 passing yards, completing passes to 12 players.
Up Next
The Cowboys (0-1 overall) will next host Tulsa (0-0) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3 at War Memorial Stadium.
GAME SUMMARY
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Wyoming 3 0 3 0 6
Illinois 7 10 7 14 38
SCORING
First Quarter
UIUC —Chase Brown 14 pass from Tommy Devito (Caleb Griffin kick), 14:19. Drive — 2 plays, 52 yards, 0:35 elapsed. Illinois 7, Wyoming 0.
UW — John Hoyland 22 field goal, 0:34. Drive — 8 plays, 70 yards, 4:05. Illinois 7, Wyoming 3.
Second Quarter
UIUC —Brown 11 run (Griffin kick), 8:12. Drive — 6 plays, 59 yards, 2:19. Illinois 14, Wyoming 3.
UIUC —Griffin 27 field goal, 4:33. Drive — 6 plays, 10 yards, 2:13. Illinois 17, Wyoming 3.
Third Quarter
UW — Hoyland 46 field goal, 12:15. Drive — 7 plays, 47 yards, 2:45. Illinois 17, Wyoming 6.
UIUC —Pat Bryant 8 pass from Devito (Griffin kick), 2:56. Drive — 11 plays, 78 yards, 5:06. Illinois 24, Wyoming 6.
Fourth Quarter
UIUC —Brown 5 run (Griffin kick), 14:56. Drive — 5 plays, 44 yards, 1:04. Illinois 31, Wyoming 6.
UIUC —Reggie Love III 33 run (Griffin kick), 6:49. Drive — 7 plays, 70 yards, 4:09. Illinois 38, Wyoming 6.
TEAM STATISTICS
UW UIUC
FIRST DOWNS 10 26
RUSHES-YARDS 31-182 41-260
PASSING YARDS 30 217
TOTAL YARDS 212 477
COMP-ATT-INT 5-20-1 30-40-0
3RD DOWN CONVERSIONS 1-of-12 7-of-16
4TH DOWN CONVERSIONS 0-of-1 1-of-2
FUMBLES-LOST 2-1 1-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 4-39 6-65
TIME OF POSSESSION 23:24 36:36
ATTENDANCE: 37,832
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
WYOMING
RUSHING: Titus Swen 17-98, Andrew Peasley 8-76, Joseph Braasch 4-9, D.Q. James 2-(minus 1).
PASSING: Peasley 5-20-1, 30 yds.
RECEIVING: Joshua Cobbs 2-14, Braasch 1-7, Will Pelissier 1-5, Treyton Welch 1-4.
TACKLES (solo-assist-total): Easton Gibbs 4-5-9, Cole Godbout 3-4-7, Shae Suiaunoa 5-1-6, Wyatt Ekeler 4-2-6, DeVonne Harris 2-4-6, Miles Williams 5-0-5, Cole DeMarzo 3-2-5, Wrook Brown 1-4-5, Cameron Stone 2-2-4, Oluwaseyi Omotosho 3-0-3, Isaac White 3-0-3, Keonte Glinton 2-1-3, Braden Siders 2-1-3, Jordan Bertagnole 2-1-3, Jakorey Hawkins 2-0-2, Deron Harrell 2-0-2, seven players with 1.
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Godbout 1-2, Suiaunoa 1-2, Harris 1-2, Bertagnole 1-1.
PASS BREAKUP: Ekeler 1.
ILLINOIS
RUSHING: Brown 19-151, Love III 3-46, Josh McCray 8-33, Chase Hayden 7-28, Devito 2-4.
PASSING: Devito 27-37-0, 194 yds.; Artur Sitkowski 3-3-0, 23 yds.
RECEIVING: Isaiah Williams 7-26, Brian Hightower 4-32, Bryant 3-44, Casey Washington 3-26, Brown 3-16, Jonah Morris 2-18, Hayden 2-12, McCray 2-7, Tip Reiman 1-12, Michael Marchese 1-10, Beatty Hank 1-8, Miles Scott 1-6.
TACKLES (solo-assist-total): Jartavius Martin 5-2-7, Keith Randolph Jr. 2-4-6, Jer’Zhan Newton 2-4-6, Isaac Darkangelo 3-1-4, Calvin Avery 2-2-4, Calvin Hart Jr. 1-2-3, Seth Coleman 0-3-3, Tarique Barnes 1-1-2, Sydney Brown 1-1-2, Jamal Woods 1-1-2, Matthew Bailey 1-1-2, TeRah Edwards 0-2-2, nine players with 1.
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Randolph Jr. ½-1, Barnes ½-1.
FORCED FUMBLE: Avery 1.
FUMBLE RECOVERY: Edwards 1.
INTERCEPTION: Devon Witherspoon 1-40.
PASS BREAKUPS: Martin 3, Brown 1, Bailey 1, Tyler Strain 1. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/university_of_wyoming/wyoming-illinois-statistics/article_f60c72b6-266e-11ed-a2d3-07925d7a1e0a.html | 2022-08-28T11:31:42Z |
Cities near Ukrainian nuclear plant shelled
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Russian rocket and artillery strikes hit areas across the Dnieper River from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials said Sunday, as fears persisted that fighting in the vicinity could damage the plant and cause a radiation leak.
Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant soon after the war began and hold adjacent territory along the left bank of the wide river. Ukraine controls the right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each of them about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the plant.
Heavy firing during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity, said Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Rocket strikes damaged about a dozen residences in Marhanets, according to Yevhen Yevtushenko, the administration head for the district that includes the city of about 45,000.
The city of Zaporizhzhia, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) upriver from the nuclear plant, also came under fire during the night, wounding two people, city council member Anatoliy Kurtev said.
In eastern Ukraine, where Russian and separatist forces are trying to take control, shelling hit the large and strategically significant cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, but no casualties were reported, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region.
Much of the Donetsk region is held by Russian and separatist forces. It is one of two Ukrainian regions that Russia has recognized as sovereign states.
Authorities last week began distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhia plant in case of radiation exposure, which can cause health problems.
Much of the concern centers on the cooling systems for the plant’s nuclear reactors. The systems require power to run, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline Thursday because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission line. A cooling system failure could cause a nuclear meltdown.
Russian forces occupied the nuclear plant complex early in the 6-month-old war, but local Ukrainian workers have kept it running. The Ukrainian and Russian governments have repeatedly accused the other of shelling the complex and nearby areas, raising fears of a possible catastrophe.
Periodic shelling has damaged the power station’s infrastructure, Ukraine’s nuclear power operator, Energoatom, said Saturday.
“There are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high,” it said.
The U.N.’s atomic energy agency has tried to work out an agreement to send a team in to inspect and help secure the plant. Officials said preparations for the visit were underway, but it remained unclear when it might take place.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/cities-near-ukrainian-nuclear-plant-shelled/ | 2022-08-28T11:39:58Z |
Cities near Ukrainian nuclear plant shelled
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Russian rocket and artillery strikes hit areas across the Dnieper River from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials said Sunday, as fears persisted that fighting in the vicinity could damage the plant and cause a radiation leak.
Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant soon after the war began and hold adjacent territory along the left bank of the wide river. Ukraine controls the right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each of them about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the plant.
Heavy firing during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity, said Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Rocket strikes damaged about a dozen residences in Marhanets, according to Yevhen Yevtushenko, the administration head for the district that includes the city of about 45,000.
The city of Zaporizhzhia, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) upriver from the nuclear plant, also came under fire during the night, wounding two people, city council member Anatoliy Kurtev said.
In eastern Ukraine, where Russian and separatist forces are trying to take control, shelling hit the large and strategically significant cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, but no casualties were reported, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region.
Much of the Donetsk region is held by Russian and separatist forces. It is one of two Ukrainian regions that Russia has recognized as sovereign states.
Authorities last week began distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhia plant in case of radiation exposure, which can cause health problems.
Much of the concern centers on the cooling systems for the plant’s nuclear reactors. The systems require power to run, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline Thursday because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission line. A cooling system failure could cause a nuclear meltdown.
Russian forces occupied the nuclear plant complex early in the 6-month-old war, but local Ukrainian workers have kept it running. The Ukrainian and Russian governments have repeatedly accused the other of shelling the complex and nearby areas, raising fears of a possible catastrophe.
Periodic shelling has damaged the power station’s infrastructure, Ukraine’s nuclear power operator, Energoatom, said Saturday.
“There are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high,” it said.
The U.N.’s atomic energy agency has tried to work out an agreement to send a team in to inspect and help secure the plant. Officials said preparations for the visit were underway, but it remained unclear when it might take place.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/cities-near-ukrainian-nuclear-plant-shelled/ | 2022-08-28T12:03:00Z |
The Biden administration is forgiving up to $10,000 in federal student loans and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. What will that mean for future borrowers?
Copyright 2022 NPR
The Biden administration is forgiving up to $10,000 in federal student loans and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. What will that mean for future borrowers?
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/americans-react-to-bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-plan | 2022-08-28T12:06:15Z |
NPR's Books We Love includes dozens of recommendations for new books. Today, we hear about "The Last Slave Ship," "The Power Law," and "The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein."
Copyright 2022 NPR
NPR's Books We Love includes dozens of recommendations for new books. Today, we hear about "The Last Slave Ship," "The Power Law," and "The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein."
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/books-we-love-recommended-reading-for-nonfiction | 2022-08-28T12:06:21Z |
David Gura talks with Gita Gopinath of the International Monetary Fund about the role that central banks will play in bringing down inflation.
Copyright 2022 NPR
David Gura talks with Gita Gopinath of the International Monetary Fund about the role that central banks will play in bringing down inflation.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/inflation-fight-will-take-more-time-says-imf-deputy-managing-director | 2022-08-28T12:06:28Z |
President Biden's plan to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt is sparking heated debate.
Biden last week announced plans to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for others who qualify.
The news will provide relief for borrowers at a time when the cost of higher education has surged.
But critics are questioning the fairness of the plan and warn about the potential impact on inflation should the students with the forgiven loans increase their spending.
Here are three key arguments – for and against the wisdom of Biden's decision.
Raising living standards or adding fuel to inflation?
Undoubtedly, student debt is a big burden for a lot of people.
Under Biden's plan, 43 million people stand to have their loan payments reduced, while 20 million would have their debt forgiven altogether.
People whose payments are cut or eliminated should have more money to spend elsewhere – maybe to buy a car, put a down payment on a house or even put money aside for their own kids' college savings plan. So the debt forgiveness has the potential to raise the living standard for tens of millions of people.
Critics, however, say that additional spending power would just pour more gasoline on the inflationary fire in an economy where businesses are already struggling to keep up with consumer demand.
Inflation remains near its highest rate in 40 years and the Federal Reserve is moving to aggressively raise interest rates in hopes of bringing prices back under control.
Not all economists believe the debt forgiveness will do much to fuel inflation.
Debt forgiveness is not like the $1200 relief checks the government sent out last year, which some experts say added to inflationary pressure. Borrowers won't suddenly have $20,000 deposited in their bank accounts. Instead, they'll be relieved of making loan payments over many years.
Because the relief is dribbled out slowly, Ali Bustamante, who's with left-leaning Roosevelt Institute says Biden's move won't move the needle on inflation very much.
"It's just really a drop in the bucket when it come to just the massive level of consumer spending in our very service- and consumer-driven economy," he says.
The White House also notes that borrowers who still have outstanding student debt will have to start making payments again next year. Those payments have been on hold throughout the pandemic.
Restarting them will take money out of borrower's pockets, offsetting some of the additional spending power that comes from loan forgiveness.
Helping lower income Americans or a sop to the rich?
Another big point of contention has to do with fairness.
Forgiving loans would would effectively transfer hundreds of billions of dollars in debt from individuals and families to the federal government, and ultimately, the taxpayers.
Some believe that transfer effectively penalizes people who scrimped and saved to pay for college, as well as the majority of Americans who don't go to college.
They might not mind subsidizing a newly minted social worker, making $25,000 a year. But they might bristle at underwriting debt relief for a business school graduate who's about to go to Wall Street and earn six figures.
The White House estimates 90% of the debt relief would go to people making under $75,000 a year. Lower-income borrowers who qualified for Pell Grants in college are eligible for twice as much debt forgiveness as other borrowers.
But individuals making as much as $125,000 and couples making up to $250,000 are eligible for some debt forgiveness. Subsidizing college for those upper-income borrowers might rub people the wrong way.
"I still think a lot of this benefit is going to go to doctors, lawyers, MBAs, other graduates that have very high earnings potential and may even have very high earnings this year already," says Marc Goldwein senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Helping those in need or making college tuition worse?
Goldwein also complains that the loan forgiveness doesn't address the larger problem of soaring college tuition costs.
In fact, he suggests, it might make that problem worse — like a Band-Aid that masks a more serious infection underneath.
For years, the cost of college education has risen much faster than inflation, which is one reason student debt has exploded.
By forgiving some of that debt, the government will provide relief to current and former students.
But Goldwein says the government might encourage future students to take on even more debt, while doing little to instill cost discipline at schools.
"People are going to assume there's a likelihood that debt is canceled again and again," Goldwein says. "And if you assume there's a likelihood it's canceled, you're going to be more likely to take out more debt up front. That's going to give colleges more pricing power to raise tuition without pressure and to offer more low-value degrees."
The old rule in economics is when the government subsidizes something, you tend to get more of it. And that includes high tuition and college debt.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/is-it-fair-to-forgive-student-loans-examining-3-of-the-arguments-of-a-heated-debate | 2022-08-28T12:06:35Z |
NEW YORK — The MTV Video Music Awards are back Sunday with some of the biggest names in music vying for the network's fabled Moon Person statue.
Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow and Kendrick Lamar are tied for leading nominees with seven apiece. Harlow and Lil Nas X's collaboration "Industry Baby" propelled their nominations, landing them in competition for artist of the year along with Drake, Bad Bunny, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and Lizzo.
Closely behind are Harry Styles and Doja Cat, who received six nominations apiece, while Sheeran, Billie Eilish, Drake, Dua Lipa, Tayler Swift and The Weeknd each have five.
Harlow is pulling double duty, joining LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj as the show's emcees. The VMAs are being being held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and will air beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Minaj will perform hits from throughout her career and accept the show's video vanguard award, which MTV has said she's receiving for her artistry, barrier-breaking hip-hop and status as a global superstar. The honor is named after Michael Jackson.
Eminem, Snoop Dogg, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bad Bunny are also set to perform
Madonna, who is the most awarded artist in MTV history with 20 wins, becomes the only artist to receive a nomination in each of the VMAs five decades. She earned her 69th nomination for her 14th studio album "Madame X."
Lamar returns to the VMAs as a nominee for the first time since 2018, with nods for best hip-hop, direction, visual effects, editing, and a category known as video for good, while his songs "family ties" and "N95" are competing for best cinematography.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/mtv-vmas-ready-to-host-and-honor-some-of-musics-biggest-acts | 2022-08-28T12:06:41Z |
Monday, NASA plans to launch a new rocket and capsule to the moon. If all goes well, the next mission will send people back to lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Monday, NASA plans to launch a new rocket and capsule to the moon. If all goes well, the next mission will send people back to lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/nasa-begins-countdown-for-its-mission-around-the-moon | 2022-08-28T12:06:47Z |
In northeast Washington state, a remote region nestled against the Canadian border, the politics lean conservative and wariness of government runs high.
Earlier this year, a Republican-led county commission there made a decision that rippled across Washington — triggering alarm at the secretary of state's office, and now among cybersecurity experts who have worked for the past six years to shore up the security of America's voting systems.
It happened on Valentine's Day during the regular weekly meeting of the three-member commission in Ferry County, where Donald Trump received more than 63% of the vote in the 2020 election.
After an agenda that included an update on the county fair and a discussion about a local water and sewer district, the commissioners took up a proposal to disconnect a recently installed cybersecurity device from the county's computer network.
The device, known as an Albert sensor, was designed to alert local governments to potential hacking attempts against their networks. More than 900 Albert sensors have been deployed across the country, primarily to states and counties, and they have been a key component of the federal government's cybersecurity response following Russian election interference around the 2016 election.
But the commissioners in Ferry County had come to the conclusion that the sensor, which had been provided by the state at no cost, was more of a liability than an asset.
"Let's get rid of it," Commissioner Nathan Davis said before making his motion to remove the device.
The vote in support of the motion was unanimous.
"Bye bye, Albert sensor," one of the commissioners quipped.
Another county in Washington state also disconnected its sensor, and a third decided not to install one. It's an isolated trend in Washington at this point, but one that represents a stark example of how Republican mistrust in elections and government systems more broadly threatens to dismantle bipartisan progress made over the past decade to improve election security.
During the Ferry County meeting, Commissioner Davis quoted from a memo that circulated among Washington state Republicans. That memo, which NPR and the Northwest News Network obtained, raised a number of concerns about Albert sensors and also seemed to allude to the program being part of a left-wing conspiracy.
"Decisions are being made that are hurting the overall security of elections based on lies and untruths," said Matt Masterson, who led election security efforts leading up to 2020 within the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). "It is entirely healthy and appropriate for citizens and elected officials to ask questions about the nature of the technology they use. ... But those conversations have to be based in fact."
An early-warning system
Named after Albert Einstein, the Albert sensor is what's called an "intrusion detection" device that looks out for known bad actors, or malicious IP addresses, on the network it's connected to. When a match is detected, a notification is sent to an around-the-clock security operations center located near Albany, N.Y. There, analysts review the traffic and, if the threat is deemed credible, send an immediate alert to that government warning of a potential hacking attempt.
The program is operated by the Center for Internet Security (CIS), which was founded in 2000 to address emerging cyber threats. While CIS is a nonprofit, it receives federal funding and works closely with CISA, the DHS cybersecurity agency.
The Albert monitoring program first began in 2011 but was ramped up after the 2016 election, following the Russian hacking attempts on a number of different state and local government systems that happened around that time.
It took months for the federal government to notify and distribute information to the relevant local government officials after those attacks.
"There was zero information-sharing going on in the elections realm with relation to cybersecurity until 2016," said Masterson, who added that Albert sensors were a key piece in addressing that problem.
Not only do Albert sensors help individual counties understand the threats they face, they provide a clearer national picture of what's happening online in all the different localities that administer elections in the U.S.
Because of that, Masterson says a county pulling out of the program also hurts that national visibility.
"The less participation, the less broad deployment of Albert sensors — or frankly, to take it out one step further, the less information being shared broadly across the community, the less secure our elections are," he said.
The Albert sensor in Washington's Ferry County was one of hundreds installed on the networks of state and local governments in the runup to the 2020 election.
While voting equipment is not connected to the internet, hackers could still wreak havoc on an election by breaking into a county's network. Once inside, they could freeze or alter websites, affect registration infrastructure, or do other things to harm public confidence in elections.
It's happened before. For example, in October 2020, just before the general election, a ransomware attack on Hall County, Ga., temporarily took down election-related systems, including a voter signature database.
"Hall County was in a precarious spot and you don't want to be in a precarious spot," said David Levine, a former election official who's now with the nonpartisan Alliance For Securing Democracy.
In an average month, CIS says it investigates more than 25,000 Albert sensor alerts.
"The analogy that I often use here is that we don't ask the county sheriff to be responsible for repelling military invasions, but that is really the equivalent of what they're up against on the internet," said Matt Blaze, a cybersecurity expert at Georgetown University who is not associated with the Albert program or CIS.
But in some Republican parts of Washington, the sensor came to be seen not as an insurance policy against hackers, but as a device that should be viewed with suspicion — a form of "big brother" watching over everything on a county's network.
'Didn't do a damn thing'
Directly south of Ferry County is Lincoln County, a deeply conservative wheat farming community.
In late 2021, Lincoln County commissioners terminated their agreement for an Albert sensor, just 13 months after it was signed, deciding the device was more of a liability than a safeguard. Their skepticism was rooted in the fact that shortly after the sensor was installed, the county fell victim to a crippling ransomware attack.
"This Albert sensor didn't do a damn thing about it," said Lincoln County Commissioner Rob Coffman, a Republican. "It didn't function as it was advertised."
CIS said that while Albert sensors can detect ransomware attacks, they're not foolproof because the program only recognizes known hostile addresses in a rapidly shifting threat landscape.
Blaze, of Georgetown University, said the ransomware attack should've been further evidence for the county that the Albert sensor was a good thing to have.
"The fact that state and local networks are often victimized by this type of attack is an example why you need defenses like this," Blaze said.
After the ransomware attack, Lincoln County beefed up its cybersecurity protections, but Coffman also began doing research about the Albert sensor. He said he learned that his county's information technology director had been wary of installing the device, but felt pressure from the state to do so. Coffman said he also talked to the IT director in neighboring Grant County, who had declined to install an Albert sensor out of concern that it could be a point of weakness for his network.
CIS responded that it has specific recommendations about how to deploy an Albert sensor on a network to allay those concerns.
Suspicion catches on
As part of his research, Coffman said he also started looking into CIS and learned that in 2018 the organization briefly partnered with another nonprofit that the conservative website Influence Watch said was connected with "left-leaning social welfare" groups.
It was enough to add fuel to a brewing conspiracy.
Coffman said he shared his findings with members of the Lincoln County Republican Party. Months later, in February 2022, the county GOP chair, Mary Blechschmidt, issued a two-page memo about Albert sensors to her fellow county Republican chairs.
In her memo, Blechschmidt wrote: "I continue to press on this issue because it is hard to imagine why a county would allow a non-profit organization such as this, access to the proprietary data on its network, 24/7 across the internet."
In an interview, Blechschmidt, who said she believes the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, rejected the suggestion that she was spreading misinformation about Albert sensors.
"We're trying to keep outside influences out of our data and we took the time to research it and determined that we don't want it and we don't need it," Blechschmidt said of the Albert sensor.
Also in the memo, Blechschmidt tried to tie CIS to the left by, among other things, citing a CIS co-founder's stints in the Clinton and Obama administrations. But the Albert sensor program was significantly ramped up under the Trump administration.
"We've had a long track record of being nonpartisan and trusted by states and counties all over the country," said Jason Forget, a CIS spokesperson.
Thirteen days after Blechschmidt issued her memo on the Albert sensors, the Ferry County commission voted to remove theirs.
During their discussion, Ferry's commissioners referenced Lincoln County's ransomware event. Davis, the commissioner who led the effort, also voiced concern about what the Albert sensor was capturing and where the county's data was going.
"It's scanning everything we do on our network and it sends it to a third party," Davis said.
Asked to address this concern, Geoff Hale, who leads the election security initiative for CISA, said Albert sensors passively monitor for potential trouble and don't have unfettered access to a client's data.
"It's almost like seeing a license plate to a car," Hale said. "And so this sensor is looking at all the traffic that passes. And if one of those license plates, one of those signatures, matches up to known bad infrastructure, it sends you an alert."
A 'misinformation campaign'
Word of Ferry County's decision to remove its Albert sensor soon reached Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, in Olympia, Wash.
"Immediately it occurred to me this was the start of, perhaps, a misinformation campaign directed at the Albert sensor and I was quite concerned about it," he said.
The secretary of state's office quickly convened a virtual meeting about the Albert sensor program and invited county officials from across the state to attend. Among the speakers at the February meeting was former Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman, a Republican who spearheaded the deployment of Albert sensors in the state after the 2016 election. Wyman was appointed to oversee election security efforts for the Biden administration in 2021.
"The Albert sensor program is really a way for us to have one more layer of security and information that we can use to combat people who would do our system harm," Wyman told the counties.
The presentation ended with Hobbs making a direct appeal to skeptical county officials.
"If you do not have an Albert sensor, get the Albert sensor. If you have removed the Albert sensor or are thinking about removing the Albert sensor, please reconsider," Hobbs said.
That plea was not compelling to Ferry County Commissioner Davis, who has a background in IT. He said in an interview that he still has questions about how Albert sensors work, but did not have the time right now to continue researching them.
Davis also said he finds it odd that anyone cares whether his little county, with barely more than 7,000 people, has one or not.
"Why the hard push?" Davis asked. "What are the true motivations to push so hard on something that really doesn't do a lot?"
Davis said he's open to reinstalling the Albert sensor in the future, but would need to have more information before he's willing to do so.
CIS said the counties in Washington are the only ones to disconnect from the Albert program, and Hobbs said he thinks by responding quickly the state succeeded in stopping false narratives about the sensors from spreading.
Nationwide, Albert sensors still seem to have basically unanimous support. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Trump-endorsed Republican, mentioned them during a congressional hearing this summer.
"If you don't have [Albert sensors] at your county boards of elections you should do that," LaRose said. "So that way if something goes wrong on a Saturday night or Sunday morning, you can know about it before everyone comes back to work on Monday and you can mitigate the problem right then and there."
The vast majority of Washington's 39 counties have also embraced the program. In a series of interviews, county auditors, both Democrats and Republicans from small and big counties, praised the program and said they feel better knowing their county has an Albert sensor.
"We put it on and it's been working great," said Charles Ross, the Republican auditor in south central Washington's Yakima County. "It hasn't caused any problems."
Julie Wise, the nonpartisan director of elections in King County, the state's most populous, said the Albert sensor is "another data point" to help keep elections secure. She called efforts to undermine the Albert program part of a concerning pattern.
"This appears to be just another iteration of misinformation to discredit elections, like we've seen with ballot drop boxes, vote by mail and now it's Albert sensors," Wise said.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/some-republicans-in-washington-state-cast-a-wary-eye-on-an-election-security-device | 2022-08-28T12:06:53Z |
On-air challenge: I'm going to give you some categories. For each one, take the last two letters, reverse them, and use those as the starting letters to name something in the category.
Ex. Direction --> NORTH
1. Vitamin
2. Dutch Master
3. Car part
4. Native American
5. Young animal
6. Toy
7. European nation
8. Deadly gas
9. Dress material
10. Party snack food
11. Large breed of dog (2 wds.)
Last week's challenge: This challenge comes from listener Rawson Scheinberg, of Northville, Mich. Think of an eight-letter noun composed phonetically of two consecutive names traditonally given to girls. Remove the sixth letter and rearrange the result. You'll get an event where you might hear the thing named by the original noun. What words are these?
Answer: Clarinet (Claire, Annette) --> recital
Winner: Gary Clements of Chapel Hill, North Carolina
This week's challenge: The challenge comes from listener Paula Egan Wright. Name a well-known island. Move the last letter six spaces later in the alphabet. Read the result backward. You'll get where this island is located. What island is it?
If you know the answer to the two-week challenge, submit it here by Thursday, September 1 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/sunday-puzzle-switcharoo | 2022-08-28T12:07:00Z |
David Gura speaks with Rev. Kimberly Scott about last week's meeting of the United Methodist Church's Council of Bishops and its impeding vote on whether to ordain gay pastors.
Copyright 2022 NPR
David Gura speaks with Rev. Kimberly Scott about last week's meeting of the United Methodist Church's Council of Bishops and its impeding vote on whether to ordain gay pastors.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/united-methodist-church-remains-fractured-over-ordaining-lgbtq-clergy | 2022-08-28T12:07:06Z |
TAIPEI, Taiwan — The U.S. Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in the first such transit publicized since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier in August, at a time when tensions have kept the waterway particularly busy.
The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville are conducting a routine transit, the U.S. 7th Fleet said. The cruisers "transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State," the statement said.
China conducted many military exercises in the strait as it sought to punish Taiwan after Pelosi visited the self-ruled island against Beijing's threats.
China has sent many warships sailing in the Taiwan Strait and waters surrounding Taiwan since Pelosi's visit, as well as sending warplanes and firing long-range missiles. It views the island as part of its national territory and opposes any visits by foreign governments as recognizing Taiwan as its own state.
China said it tracked the movement of the ships. "Troops of the (Eastern) Theater Command are on high alert and ready to foil any provocation at any time," said senior Col. Shi Yi, spokesperson for the People Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command.
The U.S. regularly sends its ships through the Taiwan Strait as part of what it calls freedom of navigation maneuvers.
The 100 mile-wide (160 kilometer-wide) strait divides Taiwan from China.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/us-sails-warships-through-taiwan-strait-for-first-time-since-pelosi-visit | 2022-08-28T12:07:13Z |
We've been following the pandemic love affair of Patrick Phiri of Malawi and Fiona ten Have of the Netherlands. They first met when they were working for Heifer International, a nonprofit group that supports agricultural projects. In March of 2020 Patrick arrived in the small Dutch village of Middelstum (population 2,419) in the far north of the Netherlands to ask Fiona's parents for permission to marry her. They said yes, but pandemic travel bans stretched his three-week visit to seven and a half months. There were further delays in their wedding plans — but this summer the couple finally wed.
Wednesday, July 27, 2022 is a warm and beautiful blue-sky day in Middelstum, the Netherlands. Patrick Phiri stands next to me, fidgeting nervously with his violet boutonnière — the little bouquet worn on the lapel of a men's suit jacket. I put down my recorder and notebook and give him a hand.
"This day is a dream come true for me," he says quietly.
In about an hour, at 2pm, Patrick will marry Fiona ten Have, at Loppersum town hall. "I will spend the rest of my life with Fiona on our farm," he announces to no one in particular.
When looking back at all the twists and turns of their relationship, you'd be forgiven for betting against Patrick and Fiona making it this far. Theirs has been a COVID-19 love-story spanning two continents and one which many couples wouldn't have survived.
We first reported on Fiona and Patrick's story back in October 2020. The couple's budding relationship was being put to the test after Patrick's three-week visit to the Netherlands ended up lasting seven and a half months because of the pandemic travel ban.
In 2021, we caught up with them again, this time to see how they were coping during a 16-month stint living apart. Fiona was busy working as a team leader for her local health authority in the Netherlands; she sent money to Patrick, so that he could continue building their farm in Malawi.
A lot has happened since then, so to catch up we sat down with the couple on their wedding day in Middelstum, the Netherlands.
In March 2022, universities in the Netherlands reopened. Fiona could finally graduate as an animal health specialist. Soon after, she flew to Malawi. "It was amazing to see each other after 16 months," Fiona explains.
Fiona recalls how good it felt to walk around the farm she had worked so hard to finance but had only ever seen in pictures. "It was so exciting to see where my money went. This was what my future was going to look like."
Patrick was proud to show Fiona the home he had been working on so hard while they were apart: "This is where Mr. and Mrs. Phiri-Ten Have will be staying in the years to come," Patrick said as he and Fiona gave me a tour of the farm in April of this year.
The couple settled in to what was supposed to be a 3-month push to finish building their house and lay the groundwork for Fiona's permanent move to Malawi later in 2022. But, just as they were rediscovering what it was like to live together, life threw them yet another curveball.
Patrick learned that he'd been awarded a one-year scholarship from the Marshall Papworth Fund to study horticulture at Writtle University College in the U.K. He'd applied for the scholarship back in 2019, but had to defer twice because of the pandemic. It felt as if it would never happen, so Patrick had given up and focussed on readying the farm in Malawi.
Patrick was excited. He'd always wanted to pursue a master's degree abroad — in Malawi, employers often prefer hiring people who've studied in the U.K. or U.S. as their education systems are considered superior. A master's would dramatically improve his chances of finding a good job.
Although Patrick and Fiona would be returning to Malawi to farm, Patrick was keen to get a contract with one of the many nonprofit groups as a project officer. The farm would take a while to be profitable, and they would have more construction costs to cover.
But Fiona had her doubts about the plan. "I was frustrated. My life was on hold, again," she admits.
Fiona, though, understood how important this scholarship could be for their future. Also, the delay in moving to Malawi would give her time to earn more of the money the couple needed to build their family home. "I didn't want to move into an unfinished house if we're trying to start a family," Fiona explains.
So, for the third time in their relationship, Patrick and Fiona decided to rearrange their life together. She would return to Middelstum, find a new job, and move back in with her parents while Patrick studied in the U.K.. If all goes well and Patrick graduates, the couple plans to return to Malawi permanently to raise a family.
They also made another, far bigger, decision: to marry in the Netherlands. "I felt that if I was going to get married, then the official part should be there," Fiona says. Patrick adds, "Before we left, we went to my parents to ask for their blessings for this day. They gave us all their support."
Fiona didn't tell her mother, Rita, that Patrick was traveling with her to Middelstum. "He suddenly walked into the kitchen and my mother just stood there, speechless," she recalls. "But my parents loved the fact that Patrick would spend the next three months with us."
It took several hectic weeks to get all the paperwork in order for Fiona and Patrick to be allowed to marry in the Netherlands. "I even needed to get a declaration from the Malawian government to prove that I was not already married," Patrick recounts. But everything was signed and submitted in time, and so, on July 27, on that warm blue-skied day, Fiona and Patrick tied the knot.
The wedding ceremony at Loppersum city hall lasted all of five minutes. Keen to save money, the couple had chosen the cheapest marriage package on offer: a maximum of 10 guests and a quick repeating of vows. The small wedding party was led into the room. The official said a few words; the couple exchanged rings and said "I do", and that was that.
Patrick was a bit surprised by how matter-of-fact it all was. "In Malawi, there is more dancing. We make a lot of noise," he says, thinking about weddings in his homeland. I would love for Fiona to experience this." The couple hope to have a second wedding in Malawi once they've moved there.
Patrick also keenly felt the absence of his family. "It is really emotional to not have my parents here." Patrick also missed his 4-year-old daughter, Zara, who lives with his ex-girlfriend in Blantyre, a city on the south of Malawi. The couple made sure to have Patrick's parents and his brothers and sister be present for the wedding via video chat.
Fiona and Patrick have lived in Middelstum for two and a half months now, falling into the same familiar rhythms they followed during their seven-month lockdown in 2020. While Fiona is at work, Patrick tends to the garden, helps around the house and paints.
"When I get home, dinner is waiting for me, and the dishwasher and washing machine have been emptied," Fiona adds with a smile.
Like any other couple thinking about their future together, Patrick and Fiona are not without worries. Patrick hopes his studies will help him provide for his family-to-be. "I have not been employed for two years. So I want this master's to help me secure a better job."
Fiona is looking for stability. "I just hope I can have my farm, my goats, my children."
She continues, "Of course, there are times when I question whether we're doing the right thing. But I love Patrick so much that those moments of doubt seem trivial compared to my desire to be with him."
Although he is not looking forward to another year apart, this time around Patrick isn't worried about the distance from his school in the U.K. "It is not far from the Netherlands. An hour and twenty minutes by plane. If I miss her, or she misses me, we can travel to see each other."
However, Patrick is cutting it close. He only handed in his visa application on August 16, and he now faces an anxious three to six-week wait to see if he will actually be able to enter the U.K. before his school starts on September 16.
Patrick doesn't know what will happen if his visa does not come through in time. In theory, he would have to reapply, which could take weeks or even months. But Patrick and Fiona are staying positive. Says Patrick: "We are married and together."
Whatever the future holds, the couple are eager to start the next chapter of their love story.
Nick Schonfeld is an award-winning advertising writer. In 2015, he quit his job and now divides his time between writing children's books and working on stories about affordable health care, gender equality, education and social justice.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/whatever-happened-to-the-pandemic-delayed-wedding-dreams-of-patrick-and-fiona | 2022-08-28T12:07:19Z |
David Gura talks with Matthew Belloni, founding partner of Puck News, about the effects of cost-cutting at Warner Bros. Discovery on the entertainment industry.
Copyright 2022 NPR
David Gura talks with Matthew Belloni, founding partner of Puck News, about the effects of cost-cutting at Warner Bros. Discovery on the entertainment industry.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/after-scrapping-cnn-and-batgirl-warner-bros-discovery-continues-to-cut-costs | 2022-08-28T13:03:26Z |
Alt.Latino's end of summer playlist showcases music from Colombia, Mexico and Austin, Texas By Felix Contreras Published August 28, 2022 at 6:59 AM CDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email NPR's Alt.Latino is featuring some of the summer's hottest releases in Latin music. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/alt-latinos-end-of-summer-playlist-showcases-music-from-colombia-mexico-and-austin-texas | 2022-08-28T13:03:32Z |
The Biden administration is forgiving up to $10,000 in federal student loans and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. What will that mean for future borrowers?
Sequoia Carrillo is an assistant editor for NPR's Education Team. Along with writing, producing, and reporting for the team, she manages the Student Podcast Challenge.
Based in New York, David Gura is a correspondent on NPR's business desk. His stories are broadcast on NPR's newsmagazines, All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition, and he regularly guest hosts 1A, a co-production of NPR and WAMU. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/americans-react-to-bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-plan | 2022-08-28T13:03:38Z |
NPR's Books We Love includes dozens of recommendations for new books. Today, we hear about "The Last Slave Ship," "The Power Law," and "The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein."
Copyright 2022 NPR
NPR's Books We Love includes dozens of recommendations for new books. Today, we hear about "The Last Slave Ship," "The Power Law," and "The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein."
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/books-we-love-recommended-reading-for-nonfiction | 2022-08-28T13:03:44Z |
Deadly fighting in Libya's capital sparks fears of wider conflict By David Gura Published August 28, 2022 at 6:59 AM CDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email An update on the recent deadly clashes in Libya between militias backed by rival administrations. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/deadly-fighting-in-libyas-capital-sparks-fears-of-wider-conflict | 2022-08-28T13:03:51Z |
In the book "Diary of a Void," a woman fakes pregnancy to avoid the unpaid office tasks often foisted on women. The simple lie turns into an absurdist exploration of motherhood and loneliness.
Copyright 2022 NPR
In the book "Diary of a Void," a woman fakes pregnancy to avoid the unpaid office tasks often foisted on women. The simple lie turns into an absurdist exploration of motherhood and loneliness.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/diary-of-a-void-turns-a-lie-into-an-exploration-of-motherhood-and-loneliness | 2022-08-28T13:03:57Z |
The U.S. has charged 7 people with spying on behalf of China. One target was in an unlikely venue for Chinese politics: A remote sculpture park in the California desert.
Copyright 2022 NPR
The U.S. has charged 7 people with spying on behalf of China. One target was in an unlikely venue for Chinese politics: A remote sculpture park in the California desert.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/espionage-case-involves-a-giant-sculpture-a-fake-art-patron-and-a-chinese-spying-ring-on-u-s-soil | 2022-08-28T13:04:03Z |
Inflation fight will take more time, says IMF deputy managing director By David Gura Published August 28, 2022 at 6:59 AM CDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email David Gura talks with Gita Gopinath of the International Monetary Fund about the role that central banks will play in bringing down inflation. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/inflation-fight-will-take-more-time-says-imf-deputy-managing-director | 2022-08-28T13:04:09Z |
Monday, NASA plans to launch a new rocket and capsule to the moon. If all goes well, the next mission will send people back to lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Monday, NASA plans to launch a new rocket and capsule to the moon. If all goes well, the next mission will send people back to lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/nasa-begins-countdown-for-its-mission-around-the-moon | 2022-08-28T13:04:15Z |
Both President Biden and former President Trump are headed to Pennsylvania this week as the midterm election campaigns heat up.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Both President Biden and former President Trump are headed to Pennsylvania this week as the midterm election campaigns heat up.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/politics-chat-u-s-intelligence-will-conduct-damage-assessment-of-recovered-mar-a-lago-documents | 2022-08-28T13:04:21Z |
David Gura speaks with New Jersey teacher Christa Delaney about teaching climate change in the classroom now that the state has officially included the subject in its curriculum.
Copyright 2022 NPR
David Gura speaks with New Jersey teacher Christa Delaney about teaching climate change in the classroom now that the state has officially included the subject in its curriculum.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/public-school-teachers-in-new-jersey-add-climate-change-to-curriculum | 2022-08-28T13:04:27Z |
On-air challenge: I'm going to give you some categories. For each one, take the last two letters, reverse them, and use those as the starting letters to name something in the category.
Ex. Direction --> NORTH
1. Vitamin
2. Dutch Master
3. Car part
4. Native American
5. Young animal
6. Toy
7. European nation
8. Deadly gas
9. Dress material
10. Party snack food
11. Large breed of dog (2 wds.)
Last week's challenge: This challenge comes from listener Rawson Scheinberg, of Northville, Mich. Think of an eight-letter noun composed phonetically of two consecutive names traditonally given to girls. Remove the sixth letter and rearrange the result. You'll get an event where you might hear the thing named by the original noun. What words are these?
Answer: Clarinet (Claire, Annette) --> recital
Winner: Gary Clements of Chapel Hill, North Carolina
This week's challenge: The challenge comes from listener Paula Egan Wright. Name a well-known island. Move the last letter six spaces later in the alphabet. Read the result backward. You'll get where this island is located. What island is it?
If you know the answer to the two-week challenge, submit it here by Thursday, September 1 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/sunday-puzzle-switcharoo | 2022-08-28T13:04:34Z |
'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' is a big budget journey back to Middle Earth By Eric Deggans Published August 28, 2022 at 6:59 AM CDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email A new series takes viewers back to Middle-earth. "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" premieres September 2. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-is-a-big-budget-journey-back-to-middle-earth | 2022-08-28T13:04:40Z |
David Gura speaks with William Ripple, professor of ecology at Oregon State University, about his proposal to "re-wild" the American West by reintroducing beavers and wolves to public lands.
Copyright 2022 NPR
David Gura speaks with William Ripple, professor of ecology at Oregon State University, about his proposal to "re-wild" the American West by reintroducing beavers and wolves to public lands.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/to-conserve-u-s-lands-ecologists-want-wolves-and-beavers-to-re-wild-the-west | 2022-08-28T13:04:46Z |
Shortly after Russia's invasion, we heard from a Ukrainian neurologist about how she was able to continue her practice. Over the last 6 months, her work has changed significantly.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Shortly after Russia's invasion, we heard from a Ukrainian neurologist about how she was able to continue her practice. Over the last 6 months, her work has changed significantly.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/ukrainian-neurologist-returns-to-kyiv-to-care-for-patients-affected-by-war | 2022-08-28T13:04:52Z |
David Gura speaks with Rev. Kimberly Scott about last week's meeting of the United Methodist Church's Council of Bishops and its impeding vote on whether to ordain gay pastors.
Copyright 2022 NPR
David Gura speaks with Rev. Kimberly Scott about last week's meeting of the United Methodist Church's Council of Bishops and its impeding vote on whether to ordain gay pastors.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-28/united-methodist-church-remains-fractured-over-ordaining-lgbtq-clergy | 2022-08-28T13:04:58Z |
Coming to a theater near you: $3 movie tickets for one day
NEW YORK (AP) — For one day, movie tickets will be just $3 in the vast majority of American theaters as part of a newly launched “National Cinema Day” to lure moviegoers during a quiet spell at the box office.
The Cinema Foundation, a non-profit arm of the National Association of Theater Owners, on Sunday announced that Sept. 3 will be a nationwide discount day in more than 3,000 theaters and on more than 30,000 screens. Major chains, including AMC and Regal Cinemas, are participating, as are all major film studios. In participating theaters, tickets will be no more than $3 for every showing, in every format.
Labor Day weekend is traditionally one of the slowest weekends in theaters. This year, the August lull has been especially acute for exhibitors. Cineworld, which owns Regal Cinemas, cited the scant supply of major new releases in its recent plans to fill for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
But, if successful, National Cinema Day could flood theaters with moviegoers and potentially prompt them to return in the fall. Before each showing, ticket buyers will be shown a sizzle reel of upcoming films from A24, Amazon Studios, Disney, Focus Features, Lionsgate, Neon, Paramount, Sony Pictures Classics, Sony, United Artists Releasing, Universal, and Warner Bros.
“After this summer’s record-breaking return to cinemas, we wanted to do something to celebrate moviegoing,” said Jackie Brenneman, Cinema Foundation president, in a statement. “We’re doing it by offering a ‘thank you’ to the moviegoers that made this summer happen, and by offering an extra enticement for those who haven’t made it back yet.”
After more than two years of pandemic, movie theaters rebounded significantly over the summer, seeing business return to nearly pre-pandemic levels. Films like “Top Gun: Maverick,””Minions: Rise of Gru,“”Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Jurassic World Dominion” pushed the domestic summer box office to $3.3 billion in ticket sales as of Aug. 21, according to data firm Comscore. That trails 2019 totals by about 20% but exhibitors have had about 30% fewer wide releases this year.
Organizers of National Cinema Day described the event as a trial that could become an annual fixture. While some other countries have experimented with a similar day of cheap movie tickets, the initiative is the first of its kind on such a large scale in the U.S.
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/coming-theater-near-you-3-movie-tickets-one-day/ | 2022-08-28T13:20:25Z |
Mickey Mantle card breaks record, as sports memorabilia soar
NEW YORK (AP) — A mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million Sunday, blasting into the record books as the most ever paid for sports memorabilia in a market that has grown exponentially more lucrative in recent years.
The rare Mantle card eclipsed the record just posted a few months ago — $9.3 million for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the contentious “Hand of God” goal in soccer’s 1986 World Cup.
It easily surpassed the $7.25 million for a century-old Honus Wagner baseball card recently sold in a private sale.
And just last month, the heavyweight boxing belt reclaimed by Muhammad Ali during 1974′s “Rumble in the Jungle” sold for nearly $6.2 million.
All are part of a booming market for sports collectibles.
Prices have risen not just for the rarest items, but also for pieces that might have been collecting dust in garages and attics. Many of those items make it onto consumer auction sites like eBay, while others are put up for bidding by auction houses.
Because of its near-perfect condition and its legendary subject, the Mantle card was destined to be a top seller, said Chris Ivy, the director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, which ran the bidding.
Some saw collectibles as a hedge against inflation over the past couple years, he said, while others rekindled childhood passions.
Ivy said savvy investors saw inflation coming down the road — as it has. As a result, sports memorabilia became an alternative to traditional Wall Street investments or real estate — particularly among members of Generation X and older millennials.
“There’s only so much Netflix and ‘Tiger King’ people could watch (during the pandemic). So, you know, they were getting back into hobbies, and clearly sports collecting was a part of that,” said Ivy, who noted an uptick in calls among potential sellers.
Add to that interest from wealthy overseas collectors and you have a confluence of factors that made sports collectibles especially attractive, Ivy said.
“We’ve kind of started seeing some growth and some rise in the prices that led to some media coverage. And I think it all it all just kind of built upon itself,” he said. “I would say the beginning of the pandemic really added gasoline to that fire.”
Before the pandemic, the sports memorabilia market was estimated at more than $5.4 billion, according to a 2018 Forbes interview with David Yoken, the founder of Collectable.com.
By 2021, that market had grown to $26 billion, according to the research firm Market Decipher, which predicts the market will grow astronomically to $227 billion within a decade — partly fueled by the rise of so-called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are digital collectibles with unique data-encrypted fingerprints.
Sports cards have been especially in demand, as people spent more time at home and an opportunity arose to rummage through potential treasure troves of childhood memories, including old comic books and small stacks of bubble gum cards featuring marquee sports stars.
That lure of making money on something that might be sitting in one’s childhood basement has been irresistible, according to Stephen Fishler, founder of ComicConnect, who has watched the growing rise — and profitability — of collectibles being traded across auction houses.
“In a nutshell, the world of modern sports cards has been going bonkers,” he said.
The Mantle baseball card dates from 1952 and is widely regarded as one of just a handful of the baseball legend in near-perfect condition.
The auction netted a handsome profit for Anthony Giordano, a New Jersey waste management entrepreneur who bought it for $50,000 at a New York City show in 1991.
The switch-hitting Mantle was a Triple Crown winner in 1956, a three-time American League MVP and a seven-time World Series champion. The Hall of Famer died in 1995.
“Some people might say it’s just a baseball card. Who cares? It’s just a Picasso. It’s just a Rembrandt to other people. It’s a thing of art for some people,” said John Holden, a professor in sports management law at Oklahoma State and amateur sports card collector.
Like pieces of art that have no intrinsic value, he said, when it comes to sports cards, the worth is in the eye of the beholder — or the pocketbook of the potential bidder.
“The value,” Holden said, “is whatever the market’s willing to support.”
_____
Follow Bobby Caina Calvan on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BobbyCalvan
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/mickey-mantle-card-breaks-record-sports-memorabilia-soar/ | 2022-08-28T13:20:33Z |
Updated August 27, 2022 at 7:48 PM ET
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence will review materials taken from former President Donald Trump's home in Florida for potential national security risks.
A spokesperson for ODNI told NPR that intelligence leaders will assess what level of harm could come from releasing documents seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
"ODNI will closely coordinate with [the Justice Department] to ensure this [Intelligence Community] assessment is conducted in a manner that does not unduly interfere with DOJ's ongoing criminal investigation," the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, a federal judge said she is inclined to grant Trump's request to appoint a special master to oversee the search of the seized material.
The decision is not final, and U.S. District Judge Aileen Gannon also told the Justice Department to produce "a more detailed" list of the items that were taken from Mar-a-Lago.
This is an initial step in a legal process that will span weeks.
Lawmakers back the intelligence community's move
Rep. Adam Schiff, who chairs the House intelligence committee, and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, who chairs the House oversight and reform committee, praised the intelligence community for their assessment in a joint statement.
"The DOJ affidavit, partially unsealed yesterday, affirms our grave concern that among the documents stored at Mar-a-Lago were those that could endanger human sources," they said. "It is critical that the [Intelligence Community] move swiftly to assess and, if necessary, to mitigate the damage done—a process that should proceed in parallel with DOJ's criminal investigation."
A redacted version of the affidavit used by the FBI to search the former president's home was made available Friday, nearly half of which was unreadable, NPR has reported.
According to the affidavit, 184 classified documents were found among 15 boxes taken from the resort earlier this year. Twenty-five of the documents were labeled "Top Secret."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-27/materials-taken-from-mar-a-lago-will-be-assessed-for-possible-national-security-risks | 2022-08-28T13:36:53Z |
Updated August 28, 2022 at 9:17 AM ET
CAIRO — Militias patrolled nearly deserted streets in Libya's capital Sunday, a day after clashes killed over 30 people and ended Tripoli's monthslong stretch of relative calm.
The fighting broke out early Saturday and pitted militias loyal to the Tripoli-based government against other armed groups allied with a rival administration that has for months sought to be seated in the capital.
Residents fear the fighting that capped a monthslong political deadlock could explode into a wider war and a return to the peaks of Libya's long-running conflict.
Libya has plunged into chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The oil-rich county has for years been split between rival administrations, each backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The current stalemate grew out of the failure to hold elections in December and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah's refusal to step down. In response, the country's east-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.
Saturday's fighting centered in the densely populated city center and involved heavy artillery. Hundreds were trapped and hospitals, government and residential buildings were damaged.
The Health Ministry said at least 32 people were killed and 159 wounded in the clashes.
Among the dead was Mustafa Baraka, a comedian known for his social media videos mocking militias and corruption. He was shot reportedly while live-streaming on social media. It was not clear whether he was targeted.
The Associated Press spoke to dozens of residents and witnesses. They recounted horrific scenes of people, including women and children, trapped in their homes, government buildings and hospitals. They also spoke of at least three motionless bodies that remained for hours in the street before an ambulance was able to reach the area. They asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal from the militias.
"We see death before our eyes and in the eyes of our children," said a woman who was trapped along with many families in a residential apartment. "The world should protect those innocent children like they did at the time of Gadhafi."
Militias allied with Tripoli-based Dbeibah were seen roaming the streets in the capital early Sunday. Their rivals were stationed at their positions in the outskirts of the city, according to local media.
Much of the city has suffered nightly power outages. Several businesses were closed Sunday and he state-run National Oil Corp. ordered its employees to work remotely Sunday.
Residents were still weary of potential violence and most stayed in their homes Sunday. Many rushed to supermarkets when the clashes subsided late Saturday to stock up on food and other necessities.
"It could be triggered in a flash. They (the militias) are uncontrolled," said a Tripoli school teacher who only gave a partial name, Abu Salim. "Our demand is very simple: a normal life."
Dbeibah's government claimed the fighting began when a member of a rival militia fired at a patrol of another militia in Tripoli's Zawiya Street. It said the shots came amid a mobilization of Bashagha-allied groups around the capital. The claim couldn't be independently verified.
Militia clashes are not uncommon in Tripoli. Last month, at least 13 people were killed in militia fighting. In May, Bashagha attempted to install his government in Tripoli, triggering clashes that ended with his withdrawal from the city.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-27/more-than-30-people-were-killed-as-militias-fight-each-other-in-libyas-capital | 2022-08-28T13:36:59Z |
David Gura talks with Matthew Belloni, founding partner of Puck News, about the effects of cost-cutting at Warner Bros. Discovery on the entertainment industry.
Copyright 2022 NPR
David Gura talks with Matthew Belloni, founding partner of Puck News, about the effects of cost-cutting at Warner Bros. Discovery on the entertainment industry.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/after-scrapping-cnn-and-batgirl-warner-bros-discovery-continues-to-cut-costs | 2022-08-28T13:37:06Z |
Alt.Latino's end of summer playlist showcases music from Colombia, Mexico and Austin, Texas NPR | By Felix Contreras Published August 28, 2022 at 5:59 AM MDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Flipboard NPR's Alt.Latino is featuring some of the summer's hottest releases in Latin music. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/alt-latinos-end-of-summer-playlist-showcases-music-from-colombia-mexico-and-austin-texas | 2022-08-28T13:37:13Z |
PROVO, Utah — BYU banned a fan who yelled a racial slur at a Black player on the Duke volleyball team during a match Friday night, the university said in a statement Saturday.
The fan was sitting in the BYU student section but was not a student, and has been banned from all athletic venues on campus, the statement said.
"We will not tolerate behavior of this kind. Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU Athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior," the statement said. "We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athlete competing last night for what they experienced. We want BYU athletic events to provide a safe environment for all, and there is no place for behaviors like this in our venues."
The player, Rachel Richardson, who is the only Black starter on the team, was called a racial slur "every time she served," Richardson's godmother, Lesa Pamplin, said in a tweet.
"For far too long, individuals have been subjected to racist slurs, taunts, and threats like the unfortunate incident that happened to my goddaughter, Rachel Richardson, at BYU. It is unfortunate that this incident has only received attention after I tweeted about it," Pamplin, a candidate for circuit court judge in Fort Worth, Texas, said in an emailed statement.
"Every American should be enraged that a young lady was subjected to hateful, demeaning language, and we should be even more outraged that it took a tweet from me in Tarrant County, Texas, to bring this incident to light," the statement continued.
Pamplin tweeted that Richardson "was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus. A police officer had to be put by their bench."
Richardson is a 19-year-old sophomore from Ellicott City, Maryland.
Duke said its match Saturday against Rider was moved from BYU's Smith Fieldhouse to a different venue in Provo.
"First and foremost, our priority is the well-being of Duke student-athletes," Duke athletic director Nina King said in a statement. "They should always have the opportunity to compete in an inclusive, anti-racist environment which promotes equality and fair play. Following extremely unfortunate circumstances at Friday night's match at BYU, we are compelled to shift today's match against Rider to a different location to afford both teams the safest atmosphere for competition."
Duke and BYU are playing in a four-team, round-robin invitational along with Rider and Washington State. BYU beat Duke 3-1 on Friday.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/byu-bans-a-fan-who-yelled-a-racist-slur-at-a-black-volleyball-player-on-dukes-team | 2022-08-28T13:37:19Z |
Deadly fighting in Libya's capital sparks fears of wider conflict NPR | By David Gura Published August 28, 2022 at 5:59 AM MDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Flipboard An update on the recent deadly clashes in Libya between militias backed by rival administrations. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/deadly-fighting-in-libyas-capital-sparks-fears-of-wider-conflict | 2022-08-28T13:37:26Z |
In the book "Diary of a Void," a woman fakes pregnancy to avoid the unpaid office tasks often foisted on women. The simple lie turns into an absurdist exploration of motherhood and loneliness.
Copyright 2022 NPR
In the book "Diary of a Void," a woman fakes pregnancy to avoid the unpaid office tasks often foisted on women. The simple lie turns into an absurdist exploration of motherhood and loneliness.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/diary-of-a-void-turns-a-lie-into-an-exploration-of-motherhood-and-loneliness | 2022-08-28T13:37:32Z |
The U.S. has charged 7 people with spying on behalf of China. One target was in an unlikely venue for Chinese politics: A remote sculpture park in the California desert.
Copyright 2022 NPR
The U.S. has charged 7 people with spying on behalf of China. One target was in an unlikely venue for Chinese politics: A remote sculpture park in the California desert.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/espionage-case-involves-a-giant-sculpture-a-fake-art-patron-and-a-chinese-spying-ring-on-u-s-soil | 2022-08-28T13:37:38Z |
Both President Biden and former President Trump are headed to Pennsylvania this week as the midterm election campaigns heat up.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Both President Biden and former President Trump are headed to Pennsylvania this week as the midterm election campaigns heat up.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/politics-chat-u-s-intelligence-will-conduct-damage-assessment-of-recovered-mar-a-lago-documents | 2022-08-28T13:37:45Z |
David Gura speaks with New Jersey teacher Christa Delaney about teaching climate change in the classroom now that the state has officially included the subject in its curriculum.
Copyright 2022 NPR
David Gura speaks with New Jersey teacher Christa Delaney about teaching climate change in the classroom now that the state has officially included the subject in its curriculum.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/public-school-teachers-in-new-jersey-add-climate-change-to-curriculum | 2022-08-28T13:37:51Z |
A new series takes viewers back to Middle-earth. "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" premieres September 2.
Copyright 2022 NPR
A new series takes viewers back to Middle-earth. "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" premieres September 2.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-is-a-big-budget-journey-back-to-middle-earth | 2022-08-28T13:37:58Z |
David Gura speaks with William Ripple, professor of ecology at Oregon State University, about his proposal to "re-wild" the American West by reintroducing beavers and wolves to public lands.
Copyright 2022 NPR
David Gura speaks with William Ripple, professor of ecology at Oregon State University, about his proposal to "re-wild" the American West by reintroducing beavers and wolves to public lands.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/to-conserve-u-s-lands-ecologists-want-wolves-and-beavers-to-re-wild-the-west | 2022-08-28T13:38:04Z |
Shortly after Russia's invasion, we heard from a Ukrainian neurologist about how she was able to continue her practice. Over the last 6 months, her work has changed significantly.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Shortly after Russia's invasion, we heard from a Ukrainian neurologist about how she was able to continue her practice. Over the last 6 months, her work has changed significantly.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/ukrainian-neurologist-returns-to-kyiv-to-care-for-patients-affected-by-war | 2022-08-28T13:38:11Z |
Coming to a theater near you: $3 movie tickets for one day
NEW YORK (AP) — For one day, movie tickets will be just $3 in the vast majority of American theaters as part of a newly launched “National Cinema Day” to lure moviegoers during a quiet spell at the box office.
The Cinema Foundation, a non-profit arm of the National Association of Theater Owners, on Sunday announced that Sept. 3 will be a nationwide discount day in more than 3,000 theaters and on more than 30,000 screens. Major chains, including AMC and Regal Cinemas, are participating, as are all major film studios. In participating theaters, tickets will be no more than $3 for every showing, in every format.
Labor Day weekend is traditionally one of the slowest weekends in theaters. This year, the August lull has been especially acute for exhibitors. Cineworld, which owns Regal Cinemas, cited the scant supply of major new releases in its recent plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
But, if successful, National Cinema Day could flood theaters with moviegoers and potentially prompt them to return in the fall. Before each showing, ticket buyers will be shown a sizzle reel of upcoming films from A24, Amazon Studios, Disney, Focus Features, Lionsgate, Neon, Paramount, Sony Pictures Classics, Sony, United Artists Releasing, Universal, and Warner Bros.
“After this summer’s record-breaking return to cinemas, we wanted to do something to celebrate moviegoing,” said Jackie Brenneman, Cinema Foundation president, in a statement. “We’re doing it by offering a ‘thank you’ to the moviegoers that made this summer happen, and by offering an extra enticement for those who haven’t made it back yet.”
After more than two years of pandemic, movie theaters rebounded significantly over the summer, seeing business return to nearly pre-pandemic levels. Films like “Top Gun: Maverick,””Minions: Rise of Gru,“”Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Jurassic World Dominion” pushed the domestic summer box office to $3.3 billion in ticket sales as of Aug. 21, according to data firm Comscore. That trails 2019 totals by about 20% but exhibitors have had about 30% fewer wide releases this year.
Organizers of National Cinema Day described the event as a trial that could become an annual fixture. While some other countries have experimented with a similar day of cheap movie tickets, the initiative is the first of its kind on such a large scale in the U.S.
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/coming-theater-near-you-3-movie-tickets-one-day/ | 2022-08-28T13:38:59Z |
Mickey Mantle card breaks record, as sports memorabilia soar
NEW YORK (AP) — A mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million Sunday, blasting into the record books as the most ever paid for sports memorabilia in a market that has grown exponentially more lucrative in recent years.
The rare Mantle card eclipsed the record just posted a few months ago — $9.3 million for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the contentious “Hand of God” goal in soccer’s 1986 World Cup.
It easily surpassed the $7.25 million for a century-old Honus Wagner baseball card recently sold in a private sale.
And just last month, the heavyweight boxing belt reclaimed by Muhammad Ali during 1974′s “Rumble in the Jungle” sold for nearly $6.2 million.
All are part of a booming market for sports collectibles.
Prices have risen not just for the rarest items, but also for pieces that might have been collecting dust in garages and attics. Many of those items make it onto consumer auction sites like eBay, while others are put up for bidding by auction houses.
Because of its near-perfect condition and its legendary subject, the Mantle card was destined to be a top seller, said Chris Ivy, the director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, which ran the bidding.
Some saw collectibles as a hedge against inflation over the past couple years, he said, while others rekindled childhood passions.
Ivy said savvy investors saw inflation coming down the road — as it has. As a result, sports memorabilia became an alternative to traditional Wall Street investments or real estate — particularly among members of Generation X and older millennials.
“There’s only so much Netflix and ‘Tiger King’ people could watch (during the pandemic). So, you know, they were getting back into hobbies, and clearly sports collecting was a part of that,” said Ivy, who noted an uptick in calls among potential sellers.
Add to that interest from wealthy overseas collectors and you have a confluence of factors that made sports collectibles especially attractive, Ivy said.
“We’ve kind of started seeing some growth and some rise in the prices that led to some media coverage. And I think it all it all just kind of built upon itself,” he said. “I would say the beginning of the pandemic really added gasoline to that fire.”
Before the pandemic, the sports memorabilia market was estimated at more than $5.4 billion, according to a 2018 Forbes interview with David Yoken, the founder of Collectable.com.
By 2021, that market had grown to $26 billion, according to the research firm Market Decipher, which predicts the market will grow astronomically to $227 billion within a decade — partly fueled by the rise of so-called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are digital collectibles with unique data-encrypted fingerprints.
Sports cards have been especially in demand, as people spent more time at home and an opportunity arose to rummage through potential treasure troves of childhood memories, including old comic books and small stacks of bubble gum cards featuring marquee sports stars.
That lure of making money on something that might be sitting in one’s childhood basement has been irresistible, according to Stephen Fishler, founder of ComicConnect, who has watched the growing rise — and profitability — of collectibles being traded across auction houses.
“In a nutshell, the world of modern sports cards has been going bonkers,” he said.
The Mantle baseball card dates from 1952 and is widely regarded as one of just a handful of the baseball legend in near-perfect condition.
The auction netted a handsome profit for Anthony Giordano, a New Jersey waste management entrepreneur who bought it for $50,000 at a New York City show in 1991.
The switch-hitting Mantle was a Triple Crown winner in 1956, a three-time American League MVP and a seven-time World Series champion. The Hall of Famer died in 1995.
“Some people might say it’s just a baseball card. Who cares? It’s just a Picasso. It’s just a Rembrandt to other people. It’s a thing of art for some people,” said John Holden, a professor in sports management law at Oklahoma State and amateur sports card collector.
Like pieces of art that have no intrinsic value, he said, when it comes to sports cards, the worth is in the eye of the beholder — or the pocketbook of the potential bidder.
“The value,” Holden said, “is whatever the market’s willing to support.”
_____
Follow Bobby Caina Calvan on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BobbyCalvan
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/mickey-mantle-card-breaks-record-sports-memorabilia-soar/ | 2022-08-28T13:39:05Z |
Officials confirm death of Jeffrey Epstein mentor Hoffenberg
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Medical examiners confirmed Friday that convicted Ponzi schemer and Jeffrey Epstein mentor Steven Hoffenberg was the person found dead in a Connecticut apartment earlier this week.
Hoffenberg, 77, is believed to have died at least seven days before his body was found Tuesday in Derby by police, who responded to a request to check on his welfare, authorities said. He had to be identified through dental records because of the decomposition of his body, police said.
His cause of death is pending toxicology test results. An autopsy showed no signs of trauma, and there were no indications of a struggle or forced entry at the apartment, officials said.
Epstein, the disgraced financier who killed himself in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on allegations he sexually abused dozens of girls, worked for Hoffenberg’s bill collection company, Towers Financial Corp., in the late 1980s, when prosecutors said the Ponzi scheme began.
Hoffenberg, who once tried buying the New York Post, ended up getting busted in one of the country’s largest frauds. He admitted he swindled thousands of investors out of $460 million and was sentenced in 1997 to 20 years in prison. He claimed Epstein was actually the architect of the scheme, but Epstein was never charged.
He was released from federal custody in 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. It was not immediately clear how he ended up living in a small apartment in a multifamily home in Derby, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northeast of Bridgeport.
Gary Baise, one of Hoffenberg’s friends and lawyers and a former acting deputy U.S. attorney general, said Hoffenberg and Epstein had a “special relationship” and Hoffenberg said Epstein was the smartest person he knew when it came to money.
Baise said Hoffenberg also was very intelligent, which may have contributed to his downfall.
“He was too smart for his own good,” Baise said in a phone interview Friday. “He thought he could get away with his Ponzi scheme but he could not. He did not have self-control. He always thought he was smarter than the next guy and that was one of his problems. ... But he was a good man.”
Baise, who said he had not had contact with Hoffenberg for several months, said he wasn’t surprised by his death because Hoffenberg did not appear to be taking good care of himself.
Police in Derby were asked to do a welfare check on Hoffenberg on Tuesday by a private investigator for a woman who identified herself as close to Hoffenberg and a sexual abuse victim of Epstein’s, Derby police Lt. Justin Stanko said. The investigator said the woman had not heard from Hoffenberg for five days, and that was unusual, Stanko said.
Hoffenberg briefly took over the New York Post in 1993 while bidding to own it. The Post reported that Hoffenberg funded the paper for three months and rescued it from bankruptcy. His efforts to buy the paper were derailed by civil fraud allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that led to the criminal prosecution of the Ponzi case.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/officials-confirm-death-jeffrey-epstein-mentor-hoffenberg/ | 2022-08-28T14:58:51Z |
Updated August 28, 2022 at 10:57 AM ET
TAIPEI, Taiwan — The U.S. Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in the first such transit publicized since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier in August, at a time when tensions have kept the waterway particularly busy.
The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville are conducting a routine transit, the U.S. 7th Fleet said. The cruisers "transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State," the statement said.
China conducted many military exercises in the strait as it sought to punish Taiwan after Pelosi visited the self-ruled island against Beijing's threats.
China has sent many warships sailing in the Taiwan Strait and waters surrounding Taiwan since Pelosi's visit, as well as sending warplanes and firing long-range missiles. It views the island as part of its national territory and opposes any visits by foreign governments as recognizing Taiwan as its own state.
China said it tracked the movement of the ships. "Troops of the (Eastern) Theater Command are on high alert and ready to foil any provocation at any time," said senior Col. Shi Yi, spokesperson for the People Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command.
The U.S. regularly sends its ships through the Taiwan Strait as part of what it calls freedom of navigation maneuvers.
The 100 mile-wide (160 kilometer-wide) strait divides Taiwan from China.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/the-u-s-sails-warships-through-the-taiwan-strait-for-first-time-since-pelosis-visit | 2022-08-28T15:14:33Z |
Officials confirm death of Jeffrey Epstein mentor Hoffenberg
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Medical examiners confirmed Friday that convicted Ponzi schemer and Jeffrey Epstein mentor Steven Hoffenberg was the person found dead in a Connecticut apartment earlier this week.
Hoffenberg, 77, is believed to have died at least seven days before his body was found Tuesday in Derby by police, who responded to a request to check on his welfare, authorities said. He had to be identified through dental records because of the decomposition of his body, police said.
His cause of death is pending toxicology test results. An autopsy showed no signs of trauma, and there were no indications of a struggle or forced entry at the apartment, officials said.
Epstein, the disgraced financier who killed himself in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on allegations he sexually abused dozens of girls, worked for Hoffenberg’s bill collection company, Towers Financial Corp., in the late 1980s, when prosecutors said the Ponzi scheme began.
Hoffenberg, who once tried buying the New York Post, ended up getting busted in one of the country’s largest frauds. He admitted he swindled thousands of investors out of $460 million and was sentenced in 1997 to 20 years in prison. He claimed Epstein was actually the architect of the scheme, but Epstein was never charged.
He was released from federal custody in 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. It was not immediately clear how he ended up living in a small apartment in a multifamily home in Derby, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northeast of Bridgeport.
Gary Baise, one of Hoffenberg’s friends and lawyers and a former acting deputy U.S. attorney general, said Hoffenberg and Epstein had a “special relationship” and Hoffenberg said Epstein was the smartest person he knew when it came to money.
Baise said Hoffenberg also was very intelligent, which may have contributed to his downfall.
“He was too smart for his own good,” Baise said in a phone interview Friday. “He thought he could get away with his Ponzi scheme but he could not. He did not have self-control. He always thought he was smarter than the next guy and that was one of his problems. ... But he was a good man.”
Baise, who said he had not had contact with Hoffenberg for several months, said he wasn’t surprised by his death because Hoffenberg did not appear to be taking good care of himself.
Police in Derby were asked to do a welfare check on Hoffenberg on Tuesday by a private investigator for a woman who identified herself as close to Hoffenberg and a sexual abuse victim of Epstein’s, Derby police Lt. Justin Stanko said. The investigator said the woman had not heard from Hoffenberg for five days, and that was unusual, Stanko said.
Hoffenberg briefly took over the New York Post in 1993 while bidding to own it. The Post reported that Hoffenberg funded the paper for three months and rescued it from bankruptcy. His efforts to buy the paper were derailed by civil fraud allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that led to the criminal prosecution of the Ponzi case.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/officials-confirm-death-jeffrey-epstein-mentor-hoffenberg/ | 2022-08-28T15:18:38Z |
NASA moon rocket on track for launch despite lightning hits
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new moon rocket remained on track to blast off on a crucial test flight Monday, despite a series of lightning strikes at the launch pad.
The 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA. It’s poised to send an empty crew capsule into lunar orbit, a half-century after NASA’s Apollo program, which landed 12 astronauts on the moon.
Astronauts could return to the moon in a few years, if this six-week test flight goes well. NASA officials caution, however, that the risks are high and the flight could be cut short.
In lieu of astronauts, three test dummies are strapped into the Orion capsule to measure vibration, acceleration and radiation, one of the biggest hazards to humans in deep space. The capsule alone has more than 1,000 sensors.
Officials said Sunday that neither the rocket nor capsule suffered any damage during Saturday’s thunderstorm; ground equipment also was unaffected. Five lightning strikes were confirmed, hitting the 600-foot towers surrounding the rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The strikes weren’t strong enough to warrant major retesting.
“Clearly, the system worked as designed,” said Jeff Spaulding, NASA’s senior test director.
More storms were expected. Although forecasters gave 80 percent odds of acceptable weather Monday morning, conditions were expected to deteriorate during the two-hour launch window.
On the technical side, Spaulding said the team did its best over the past several months to eliminate any lingering fuel leaks. A pair of countdown tests earlier this year prompted repairs to leaking valves and other faulty equipment; engineers won’t know if all the fixes are good until just a few hours before the planned liftoff.
After so many years of delays and setbacks, the launch team was thrilled to finally be so close to the inaugural flight of the Artemis moon-exploration program, named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology.
“We’re within 24 hours of launch right now, which is pretty amazing for where we’ve been on this journey,” Spaulding told reporters.
The follow-on Artemis flight, as early as 2024, would see four astronauts flying around the moon. A landing could follow in 2025. NASA is targeting the moon’s unexplored south pole, where permanently shadowed craters are believed to hold ice that could be used by future crews.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/nasa-moon-rocket-track-launch-despite-lightning-hits/ | 2022-08-28T16:32:56Z |
Police: Houston tenant kills 3 others, set fire to lure them
HOUSTON (AP) — A man evicted from a Houston apartment building shot five other tenants — killing three of them — Sunday morning after setting fire to the house to lure them out, police said. Officers fatally shot the gunman.
The incident happened at about 1 a.m. Sunday in a mixed industrial-residential neighborhood in southwest Houston. Police and fire crews responded to the apartment house after reports of the fire, police Chief Troy Finner said.
The gunman opened fire on the other tenants as they emerged from the house, possibly with a shotgun, wounding five, Finner said. Two were dead at the scene, and one died at a hospital. Fire teams rescued two other wounded men, who were hospitalized with non-life-threatening wounds, he said.
The man then opened fire as the firefighters battled the fire, forcing them to take cover until police officers spotted the prone gunman and shot him dead, Finner said.
No identities have been released, and no firefighters or officers were wounded, he said.
“I’ve seen things I have not seen before in 32 years, and it has happened time and time again,” Finner said. “We just ask that the community come together.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/police-houston-tenant-kills-3-others-set-fire-lure-them/ | 2022-08-28T16:33:02Z |
HAVE A QUESTION YOU WANT TO ASK DEAR LIFE KIT ANONYMOUSLY? SHARE IT HERE.
When you feel frustrated with a friend, it's easy to keep it inside — mull it over, play it back, rage internally — until, eventually, those feelings affect your relationship. What if you could muster the courage to bring up the issue before your friendship sours?
Celeste Headlee is a journalist and the author of several books, including We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter. She answers your anonymous questions about having difficult conversations with people you love:
There are some people in my circles that talk way too much — mostly about themselves. I'd like to tell them the truth. What can I say? — Tuning out
It's going to be very difficult to give that feedback to them in a way that's going to change their behavior. It's much easier to get them to motivate themselves to change.
One of the ways to do that is by gently redirecting the conversation. When they begin to talk about themselves, you can say: "You know, I'm super interested. I know that you really like to talk about [insert topic here]. Can I tell you about [this other thing]?" Or "Can I tell you about what's happening to me?" Or "Is it OK for me to talk to you about my own family?"
After you've done this a few times, they will begin to realize that they're doing it, if they are at all aware, and they might motivate their own change. That's going to be way more effective than you telling them, "Hey, you talk way too much," which will probably make them defensive — and that rarely motivates change.
How do I stay friends with someone whose choices about COVID safety are very different than mine? My friend wants to visit and doesn't understand why I'm saying no. Can two people with such different views remain friends? — Opposite react
Yes. People with very very different views can remain friends. But only if those friends both respect each other's boundaries.
Now, if you're criticizing their personal decisions, like if you say, "How could you be comfortable with this? That's not what the evidence says," that's telling them that their decisions on COVID are just wrong. Period.
Instead, if you use language about your own choices, such as, 'I totally get that we have different levels of comfort, but this is what I'm comfortable with," they should respect those boundaries. If they don't respect your own personal boundaries and your own personal choices, that's what gets in the way of the friendship — not the difference in views.
My friend sent me a "We need to talk" text. Of course, it freaked me out. But when I tried to set up a time to talk, she left me waiting. Her approach caused me a ton of anxiety. Am I wrong to want an apology? — We DO need to talk
You are not wrong to want an apology. She owes you an apology. But you wanna couch your complaint in your own personal terms. Don't say something like, "Only a jerk would do this to somebody else." Instead, talk about how it made you feel: "This really upset me. In order for me to move forward, I need you to tell me that you're sorry so that I know that you recognize what you did wrong."
What gets in the way of the friendship is not necessarily a mistake. Of course you're gonna make mistakes. It's whether the person recognizes they've made a mistake, because that's what assures you — emotionally and cognitively — that they're at least going to try not to do it again.
When you make yourself vulnerable to someone through any kind of relationship, friendship or otherwise, you can get hurt. So these little checks and balances that we have are how we protect ourselves moving forward. And any friend should understand that.
So, just tell them directly, "This hurt me. Can you apologize?" And then see what happens.
Have a question you want to ask Dear Life Kit? Whether it's about family, friendship, work conflict or something else, share it here.
Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or sign up for our newsletter.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-06-05/dear-life-kit-should-i-tell-my-friend-they-talk-too-much | 2022-08-28T16:37:10Z |
HAVE A QUESTION YOU WANT TO ASK DEAR LIFE KIT ANONYMOUSLY? SHARE IT HERE.
Money is one of the most common reasons couples argue. It's no wonder — money impacts our daily lives and our long-term goals. On top of that, talking about finances can be difficult and emotional — and everyone brings their own perspectives and histories to the conversation.
We asked financial therapist Amanda Clayman to answer some of your anonymous questions on money and relationships, both romantic and familial.
My husband spent thousands of dollars on impulse buys and hid the credit card bill until it was too big to hide. He turned his accounts over to me and our relationship is recovering, but I still feel extremely resentful. How can I move forward? — Begrudging bookkeeper
Moving forward means that you have to begin where you are, and your starting place is resentful. Of course it is — this was a breach of trust. Not only do you have to get your financial accounts in order and pay back this debt, but you also have to deal with the idea that your partner, somebody that you trust, has done something without your knowledge. There's a reason your husband kept his spending hidden from you. He knew it was going to be an issue.
I would say, share where you're coming from. Share your resentment, as hard as it is to talk about. Share how this affects you. And look for solutions in terms of what was driving his impulsivity with money.
Your husband may have very different ideas about managing money, different priorities or a different relationship with his impulses than you do. As the two of you work on this together, you may discover that your husband is more motivated by avoiding damage to your relationship, than by having the same intrinsic motivation as you when it comes to money. This is a really important opportunity to look not just at the safety in your financial lives together, but at how this impacts the intimacy and trust between the two of you.
My 12-year-old has ADHD. We've been working on financial literacy at home but he still loves to spend money as soon as he gets it. Is there a way to take his ADHD into account when we teach him about money? — Feeling spent
All of us have different ways that we relate to money. Some of us are natural savers and some of us want to spend every penny that comes through our fingers. Honestly, it's not always that important to know exactly where this drive or behavior comes from.
One thing that can help and works with your son's ADHD diagnosis, and that also, I think, works for a lot of us regardless of our neurotypical status, is to make a decision ahead of time for where we want our money to go: How much of that is going to be saved? How much of it is going to be invested? How much of it is going to charity? And how much of it is going to be spent? By asking those questions, we put sort of guardrails on our spending ahead of time.
Once you and your son work out how much money is appropriate for spending, then I would encourage you to really let him experience how he's going to spend that money. At least if he's spending it impulsively, he's doing it safely.
My partner and I aren't married, but we're buying a house together. We earn similar salaries, but due to my partner's student loans, I've been able to stash away significantly more and will be covering most of the down payment. What's a fair way to split expenses moving forward? And how should ownership of the house be split between us? — Even Steven
Fair is such a tricky concept. Fair can actually mean different things in different circumstances and to different people. We often think of "fair" as being equal — that both people are able to put in the exact same amount. But in this case, what you're discovering is that you and your partner have different financial obligations, and so that means a proportional split may actually work better for you. Maybe look at what your expenses are, relative to your income and think about splitting the contribution for the house in that respect.
In terms of moving forward and splitting the ownership of the house, that's really up to the two of you. This is one of those great opportunities to really focus on what I call financial intimacy. There's no right answer, but what you should discuss is the idea of vulnerability and safety. You may feel more vulnerable putting in more money than your partner. What would make you feel safe and supported? Talk about what a commitment to this financial partnership looks like and what you envision for the future of your relationship.
Talk through all of the thorny things, so that you know everything has been covered and there are no hidden dark corners when it comes to what it is that you all decide to co-create together, both financially and in terms of your relationship.
Have a question you want to ask Dear Life Kit? Whether it's about family, friendship, work conflict or something else, share it here.
Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or sign up for our newsletter.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-06-26/dear-life-kit-my-husband-secretly-racked-up-our-credit-card-bill-now-what | 2022-08-28T16:37:17Z |
NEW YORK — A mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million Sunday, blasting into the record books as the most ever paid for sports memorabilia in a market that has grown exponentially more lucrative in recent years.
The rare Mantle card eclipsed the record just posted a few months ago — $9.3 million for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the contentious "Hand of God" goal in soccer's 1986 World Cup.
It easily surpassed the $7.25 million for a century-old Honus Wagner baseball card recently sold in a private sale.
And just last month, the heavyweight boxing belt reclaimed by Muhammad Ali during 1974's "Rumble in the Jungle" sold for nearly $6.2 million.
All are part of a booming market for sports collectibles.
Prices have risen not just for the rarest items, but also for pieces that might have been collecting dust in garages and attics. Many of those items make it onto consumer auction sites like eBay, while others are put up for bidding by auction houses.
Because of its near-perfect condition and its legendary subject, the Mantle card was destined to be a top seller, said Chris Ivy, the director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, which ran the bidding.
Some saw collectibles as a hedge against inflation over the past couple years, he said, while others rekindled childhood passions.
Ivy said savvy investors saw inflation coming down the road — as it has. As a result, sports memorabilia became an alternative to traditional Wall Street investments or real estate — particularly among members of Generation X and older millennials.
"There's only so much Netflix and 'Tiger King' people could watch (during the pandemic). So, you know, they were getting back into hobbies, and clearly sports collecting was a part of that," said Ivy, who noted an uptick in calls among potential sellers.
Add to that interest from wealthy overseas collectors and you have a confluence of factors that made sports collectibles especially attractive, Ivy said.
"We've kind of started seeing some growth and some rise in the prices that led to some media coverage. And I think it all it all just kind of built upon itself," he said. "I would say the beginning of the pandemic really added gasoline to that fire."
Before the pandemic, the sports memorabilia market was estimated at more than $5.4 billion, according to a 2018 Forbes interview with David Yoken, the founder of Collectable.com.
By 2021, that market had grown to $26 billion, according to the research firm Market Decipher, which predicts the market will grow astronomically to $227 billion within a decade — partly fueled by the rise of so-called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are digital collectibles with unique data-encrypted fingerprints.
Sports cards have been especially in demand, as people spent more time at home and an opportunity arose to rummage through potential treasure troves of childhood memories, including old comic books and small stacks of bubble gum cards featuring marquee sports stars.
That lure of making money on something that might be sitting in one's childhood basement has been irresistible, according to Stephen Fishler, founder of ComicConnect, who has watched the growing rise — and profitability — of collectibles being traded across auction houses.
"In a nutshell, the world of modern sports cards has been going bonkers," he said.
The Mantle baseball card dates from 1952 and is widely regarded as one of just a handful of the baseball legend in near-perfect condition.
The auction netted a handsome profit for Anthony Giordano, a New Jersey waste management entrepreneur who bought it for $50,000 at a New York City show in 1991.
The switch-hitting Mantle was a Triple Crown winner in 1956, a three-time American League MVP and a seven-time World Series champion. The Hall of Famer died in 1995.
"Some people might say it's just a baseball card. Who cares? It's just a Picasso. It's just a Rembrandt to other people. It's a thing of art for some people," said John Holden, a professor in sports management law at Oklahoma State and amateur sports card collector.
Like pieces of art that have no intrinsic value, he said, when it comes to sports cards, the worth is in the eye of the beholder — or the pocketbook of the potential bidder.
"The value," Holden said, "is whatever the market's willing to support."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/its-a-new-record-a-mickey-mantle-card-sold-for-12-6-million | 2022-08-28T16:45:52Z |
NASA moon rocket on track for launch despite lightning hits
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new moon rocket remained on track to blast off on a crucial test flight Monday, despite a series of lightning strikes at the launch pad.
The 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA. It’s poised to send an empty crew capsule into lunar orbit, a half-century after NASA’s Apollo program, which landed 12 astronauts on the moon.
Astronauts could return to the moon in a few years, if this six-week test flight goes well. NASA officials caution, however, that the risks are high and the flight could be cut short.
In lieu of astronauts, three test dummies are strapped into the Orion capsule to measure vibration, acceleration and radiation, one of the biggest hazards to humans in deep space. The capsule alone has more than 1,000 sensors.
Officials said Sunday that neither the rocket nor capsule suffered any damage during Saturday’s thunderstorm; ground equipment also was unaffected. Five lightning strikes were confirmed, hitting the 600-foot towers surrounding the rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The strikes weren’t strong enough to warrant major retesting.
“Clearly, the system worked as designed,” said Jeff Spaulding, NASA’s senior test director.
More storms were expected. Although forecasters gave 80 percent odds of acceptable weather Monday morning, conditions were expected to deteriorate during the two-hour launch window.
On the technical side, Spaulding said the team did its best over the past several months to eliminate any lingering fuel leaks. A pair of countdown tests earlier this year prompted repairs to leaking valves and other faulty equipment; engineers won’t know if all the fixes are good until just a few hours before the planned liftoff.
After so many years of delays and setbacks, the launch team was thrilled to finally be so close to the inaugural flight of the Artemis moon-exploration program, named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology.
“We’re within 24 hours of launch right now, which is pretty amazing for where we’ve been on this journey,” Spaulding told reporters.
The follow-on Artemis flight, as early as 2024, would see four astronauts flying around the moon. A landing could follow in 2025. NASA is targeting the moon’s unexplored south pole, where permanently shadowed craters are believed to hold ice that could be used by future crews.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/nasa-moon-rocket-track-launch-despite-lightning-hits/ | 2022-08-28T16:52:35Z |
Police: Houston tenant kills 3 others, set fire to lure them
HOUSTON (AP) — A man evicted from a Houston apartment building shot five other tenants — killing three of them — Sunday morning after setting fire to the house to lure them out, police said. Officers fatally shot the gunman.
The incident happened at about 1 a.m. Sunday in a mixed industrial-residential neighborhood in southwest Houston. Police and fire crews responded to the apartment house after reports of the fire, police Chief Troy Finner said.
The gunman opened fire, possibly with a shotgun, on the other tenants as they emerged from the house, Finner said. Two were dead at the scene, and one died at a hospital. Fire teams rescued two other wounded men, who were hospitalized with non-life-threatening wounds, he said.
The man then opened fire as the firefighters battled the fire, forcing them to take cover until police officers spotted the prone gunman and shot him dead, Finner said.
No identities have been released, and Finner said no firefighters or officers were wounded.
“I’ve seen things I have not seen before in 32 years, and it has happened time and time again,” Finner said. “We just ask that the community come together.”
A neighbor, Robin Ahrens, told the Houston Chronicle that he heard what he initially thought were fireworks as he prepared for work.
“I’m just fortunate that I didn’t go outside because he probably would have shot me too,” he told the newspaper.
He said the shooter, who had colon cancer, was behind on his rent, jobless and was recently notified that he was being evicted.
“Something must have just hit him in the last couple of days really hard to where he just didn’t care,” he said. “And that’s why he did what he did. ... Nothing else you can really do when you are at that point.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/police-houston-tenant-kills-3-others-set-fire-lure-them/ | 2022-08-28T16:52:41Z |
Scary ride: Uber driver says passenger who stabbed her was trying to kill her
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) – An Uber driver and mother in South Florida is thankful to be alive after she said she was stabbed several times by a man she picked up.
Brittany Evans walked out of the hospital Friday morning after a terrifying night.
She said she just made a delivery when Uber gave her a ping to go pick up a person.
Police said the suspect, wearing a hoodie, sat in the back seat around midnight Friday. Like most Uber rides, he began with friendly conversation.
“He was asking me what school I go to,” she said. “He was asking me if I’m a single mom, how many nights do I Uber?”
The single mom who drives for Uber to pay for college and her 8-year-old child said the drive almost killed her.
“He hunched over from the back seat to the front with a steak knife and put it up to my neck and he said that he was going to kill me,” Evans said. “He said that he was going to make my son an orphan, he said that he was going to hijack the car and he said, ‘I only wanted to kill you, that’s all the reason why I got into Uber.’”
The man, she said, became ruthless when he pulled out a steak knife.
“When he put the knife up to … the steak knife up to my neck, he realized it was on the dull side pushing into my neck,” Evans said. “So, when I grabbed it, he kept trying to turn it to actually cut me. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and I was crying and I said … ‘Not today.’”
She said she began to fight back, stopping her car on a federal highway in Pompano Beach.
“Stabbed me so many times,” she said. “You know, I was just like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to die right here.’”
She said people just kept driving past until one woman stopped. Evans said the woman saved her life.
“Whoever she is, I just want to tell her thank you because she’s the only car that stopped from me and she stayed until the police came and I don’t know her name, but I just want to give her the biggest hug and thank you because if she didn’t stop, this guy would definitely, he would have killed me,” she said.
She said she’s grateful for the good Samaritan and grateful she’s alive but unsure of what she’ll do next.
“He basically took my bread and butter away from me, and I don’t know where I’m going to go from here,” Evans said.
Police arrested Jonathan Hartman shortly after the incident. They said he is facing several charges, including battery and carjacking.
Copyright 2022 WSVN via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/scary-ride-uber-driver-says-passenger-who-stabbed-her-was-trying-kill-her/ | 2022-08-28T16:52:48Z |
CDC releases new COVID-19 numbers among young Virginians
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - New numbers from the CDC say the three out of every four kids in Virginia has already had COVID-19, even if their parents never knew it.
Seventy-six percent of children up between the ages of 6 months old and 7 years old display COVID-19 antibodies in their system.
“The study confirms that at a population level, many children have been exposed to COVID and they’ve had some degree of an infection, and that could be either asymptomatic or symptomatic,” said Lisa Thanjan with the Virginia Department of Health.
The survey does not show the total amount of antibodies found in the blood.
“It does not necessarily show if people have enough antibodies to protect them against a reinfection,” Thanjan said. “If an individual was to have a reinfection, having a previous infection does not necessarily guarantee that they won’t have severe outcomes.”
Virginia continues to see fluctuations in COVID-19 levels across all age groups, with more than half of the places in the commonwealth listed as medium or high exposure areas.
“The cases in Virginia right now are declining at a very slow pace, but we kind of started at an elevated level. Basically, that means that there are still a lot of people who are catching COVID,” Thanjan said.
the BA.5 subvariant remains the dominant variant of the coronavirus.
Do you have a story idea? Send us your news tip here.
Copyright 2022 WVIR. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/cdc-releases-new-covid-19-numbers-among-young-virginians/ | 2022-08-28T18:08:42Z |
Famous Winston Churchill portrait swapped with fake, authorities say
Published: Aug. 28, 2022 at 1:51 PM EDT|Updated: 17 minutes ago
(CNN) – Canadian authorities are investigating the theft of a famous portrait of Winston Churchill.
The portrait by Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh is one of the most reproduced photos of the 20th century.
The original was on display in Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier Hotel, but sometime between Christmas and January 6 someone stole the original and replaced it with a reproduction.
Last weekend, hotel employees noticed the frame holding the print was not hung properly, and the frame did not match others in the space.
The value of the stolen portrait is around $100,000.
An expert on art theft is optimistic the original will be recovered but points out that arrests in cases like this are rare.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/famous-winston-churchill-portrait-swapped-with-fake-authorities-say/ | 2022-08-28T18:08:47Z |
Krispy Kreme launches Artemis Moon doughnut
Published: Aug. 28, 2022 at 1:30 PM EDT|Updated: 36 minutes ago
(CNN) - Krispy Kreme is celebrating NASA’s moon mission with a new space-themed doughnut.
NASA is expected to launch a rocket Monday for an uncrewed test flight around the moon.
The Artemis I Mission is the first step in NASA’s plan to land a human on the moon for the first time in 50 years, so Krispy Kreme is launching the Artemis Moon doughnut.
It is a doughnut filled with cheesecake-flavored creme, dipped in cookies and creme icing.
The company says it is designed to look like the moon and will be available at Krispy Kreme locations across the country for just one day on Monday.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/krispy-kreme-launches-artemis-moon-doughnut/ | 2022-08-28T18:08:48Z |
Scary ride: Uber driver says passenger who stabbed her was trying to kill her
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) – An Uber driver and mother in South Florida is thankful to be alive after she said she was stabbed several times by a man she picked up.
Brittany Evans walked out of the hospital Friday morning after a terrifying night.
She said she just made a delivery when Uber gave her a ping to go pick up a person.
Police said the suspect, wearing a hoodie, sat in the back seat around midnight Friday. Like most Uber rides, he began with friendly conversation.
“He was asking me what school I go to,” she said. “He was asking me if I’m a single mom, how many nights do I Uber?”
The single mom who drives for Uber to pay for college and her 8-year-old child said the drive almost killed her.
“He hunched over from the back seat to the front with a steak knife and put it up to my neck and he said that he was going to kill me,” Evans said. “He said that he was going to make my son an orphan, he said that he was going to hijack the car and he said, ‘I only wanted to kill you, that’s all the reason why I got into Uber.’”
The man, she said, became ruthless when he pulled out a steak knife.
“When he put the knife up to … the steak knife up to my neck, he realized it was on the dull side pushing into my neck,” Evans said. “So, when I grabbed it, he kept trying to turn it to actually cut me. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and I was crying and I said … ‘Not today.’”
She said she began to fight back, stopping her car on a federal highway in Pompano Beach.
“Stabbed me so many times,” she said. “You know, I was just like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to die right here.’”
She said people just kept driving past until one woman stopped. Evans said the woman saved her life.
“Whoever she is, I just want to tell her thank you because she’s the only car that stopped from me and she stayed until the police came and I don’t know her name, but I just want to give her the biggest hug and thank you because if she didn’t stop, this guy would definitely, he would have killed me,” she said.
She said she’s grateful for the good Samaritan and grateful she’s alive but unsure of what she’ll do next.
“He basically took my bread and butter away from me, and I don’t know where I’m going to go from here,” Evans said.
Police arrested Jonathan Hartman shortly after the incident. They said he is facing several charges, including battery and carjacking.
Copyright 2022 WSVN via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/scary-ride-uber-driver-says-passenger-who-stabbed-her-was-trying-kill-her/ | 2022-08-28T18:08:50Z |
SNAP, EBT outages reported across the country
Published: Aug. 28, 2022 at 1:51 PM EDT|Updated: 15 minutes ago
(Gray News) - An outage affecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been reported across the country, according to Down Detector.
The program, known as SNAP, provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of low-income families so they can purchase healthy food. Electronic Benefits Transfer, known as EBT, is an electronic system similar to a debit card that allows a SNAP participant to pay for food using SNAP benefits.
This story is developing and will be updated.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/snap-ebt-outages-reported-across-country/ | 2022-08-28T18:08:50Z |
Updated August 28, 2022 at 1:11 PM ET
NEW YORK — A mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million Sunday, blasting into the record books as the most ever paid for sports memorabilia in a market that has grown exponentially more lucrative in recent years.
The rare Mantle card eclipsed the record just posted a few months ago — $9.3 million for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the contentious "Hand of God" goal in soccer's 1986 World Cup.
It easily surpassed the $7.25 million for a century-old Honus Wagner baseball card recently sold in a private sale.
And just last month, the heavyweight boxing belt reclaimed by Muhammad Ali during 1974's "Rumble in the Jungle" sold for nearly $6.2 million.
All are part of a booming market for sports collectibles.
Prices have risen not just for the rarest items, but also for pieces that might have been collecting dust in garages and attics. Many of those items make it onto consumer auction sites like eBay, while others are put up for bidding by auction houses.
Because of its near-perfect condition and its legendary subject, the Mantle card was destined to be a top seller, said Chris Ivy, the director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, which ran the bidding.
Some saw collectibles as a hedge against inflation over the past couple years, he said, while others rekindled childhood passions.
Ivy said savvy investors saw inflation coming down the road — as it has. As a result, sports memorabilia became an alternative to traditional Wall Street investments or real estate — particularly among members of Generation X and older millennials.
"There's only so much Netflix and 'Tiger King' people could watch (during the pandemic). So, you know, they were getting back into hobbies, and clearly sports collecting was a part of that," said Ivy, who noted an uptick in calls among potential sellers.
Add to that interest from wealthy overseas collectors and you have a confluence of factors that made sports collectibles especially attractive, Ivy said.
"We've kind of started seeing some growth and some rise in the prices that led to some media coverage. And I think it all it all just kind of built upon itself," he said. "I would say the beginning of the pandemic really added gasoline to that fire."
Before the pandemic, the sports memorabilia market was estimated at more than $5.4 billion, according to a 2018 Forbes interview with David Yoken, the founder of Collectable.com.
By 2021, that market had grown to $26 billion, according to the research firm Market Decipher, which predicts the market will grow astronomically to $227 billion within a decade — partly fueled by the rise of so-called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are digital collectibles with unique data-encrypted fingerprints.
Sports cards have been especially in demand, as people spent more time at home and an opportunity arose to rummage through potential treasure troves of childhood memories, including old comic books and small stacks of bubble gum cards featuring marquee sports stars.
That lure of making money on something that might be sitting in one's childhood basement has been irresistible, according to Stephen Fishler, founder of ComicConnect, who has watched the growing rise — and profitability — of collectibles being traded across auction houses.
"In a nutshell, the world of modern sports cards has been going bonkers," he said.
The Mantle baseball card dates from 1952 and is widely regarded as one of just a handful of the baseball legend in near-perfect condition.
The auction netted a handsome profit for Anthony Giordano, a New Jersey waste management entrepreneur who bought it for $50,000 at a New York City show in 1991.
The switch-hitting Mantle was a Triple Crown winner in 1956, a three-time American League MVP and a seven-time World Series champion. The Hall of Famer died in 1995.
"Some people might say it's just a baseball card. Who cares? It's just a Picasso. It's just a Rembrandt to other people. It's a thing of art for some people," said John Holden, a professor in sports management law at Oklahoma State and amateur sports card collector.
Like pieces of art that have no intrinsic value, he said, when it comes to sports cards, the worth is in the eye of the beholder — or the pocketbook of the potential bidder.
"The value," Holden said, "is whatever the market's willing to support."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/a-mickey-mantle-baseball-card-is-now-the-most-expensive-piece-of-sports-memorabilia | 2022-08-28T18:17:11Z |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's new moon rocket remained on track to blast off on a crucial test flight Monday, despite a series of lightning strikes at the launch pad.
The 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA. It's poised to send an empty crew capsule into lunar orbit, a half-century after NASA's Apollo program, which landed 12 astronauts on the moon.
Astronauts could return to the moon in a few years, if this six-week test flight goes well. NASA officials caution, however, that the risks are high and the flight could be cut short.
In lieu of astronauts, three test dummies are strapped into the Orion capsule to measure vibration, acceleration and radiation, one of the biggest hazards to humans in deep space. The capsule alone has more than 1,000 sensors.
Officials said Sunday that neither the rocket nor capsule suffered any damage during Saturday's thunderstorm; ground equipment also was unaffected. Five lightning strikes were confirmed, hitting the 600-foot (183-meter) towers surrounding the rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The strikes weren't strong enough to warrant major retesting.
"Clearly, the system worked as designed," said Jeff Spaulding, NASA's senior test director.
More storms were expected. Although forecasters gave 80 percent odds of acceptable weather Monday morning, conditions were expected to deteriorate during the two-hour launch window.
On the technical side, Spaulding said the team did its best over the past several months to eliminate any lingering fuel leaks. A pair of countdown tests earlier this year prompted repairs to leaking valves and other faulty equipment; engineers won't know if all the fixes are good until just a few hours before the planned liftoff.
After so many years of delays and setbacks, the launch team was thrilled to finally be so close to the inaugural flight of the Artemis moon-exploration program, named after Apollo's twin sister in Greek mythology.
"We're within 24 hours of launch right now, which is pretty amazing for where we've been on this journey," Spaulding told reporters.
The follow-on Artemis flight, as early as 2024, would see four astronauts flying around the moon. A landing could follow in 2025. NASA is targeting the moon's unexplored south pole, where permanently shadowed craters are believed to hold ice that could be used by future crews.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/lightning-strikes-arent-stopping-the-planned-artemis-i-launch-yet | 2022-08-28T18:17:17Z |
ISLAMABAD — Deaths from widespread flooding in Pakistan topped 1,000 since mid-June, officials said Sunday, as the country's climate minister called the deadly monsoon season "a serious climate catastrophe."
Flash flooding from the heavy rains has washed away villages and crops as soldiers and rescue workers evacuated stranded residents to the safety of relief camps and provided food to thousands of displaced Pakistanis.
Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority reported the death toll since the monsoon season began earlier than normal this year — in mid- June — reached 1,033 people after new fatalities were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Sindh provinces.
Sherry Rehman, a Pakistani senator and the country's top climate official, said in a video posted on Twitter that Pakistan is experiencing a "serious climate catastrophe, one of the hardest in the decade."
"We are at the moment at the ground zero of the front line of extreme weather events, in an unrelenting cascade of heatwaves, forest fires, flash floods, multiple glacial lake outbursts, flood events and now the monster monsoon of the decade is wreaking non-stop havoc throughout the country," she said. The on-camera statement was retweeted by the country's ambassador to the European Union.
Flooding from the Swat River overnight affected northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where tens of thousands of people — especially in the Charsadda and Nowshehra districts — have been evacuated from their homes to relief camps set up in government buildings. Many have also taken shelter on roadsides, said Kamran Bangash, a spokesperson for the provincial government.
Bangash said some 180,000 people have been evacuated from Charsadda and 150,000 from Nowshehra district villages.
Khaista Rehman, 55, no relation to the climate minister, took shelter with his wife and three children on the side of the Islamabad-Peshawar highway after his home in Charsadda was submerged overnight.
"Thank God we are safe now on this road quite high from the flooded area," he said. "Our crops are gone and our home is destroyed but I am grateful to Allah that we are alive and I will restart life with my sons."
The unprecedented monsoon season has affected all four of the country's provinces. Nearly 300,000 homes have been destroyed, numerous roads rendered impassable and electricity outages have been widespread, affecting millions of people.
Pope Francis on Sunday said he wanted to assure his "closeness to the populations of Pakistan struck by flooding of disastrous proportions.'' Speaking during a pilgrimage to the Italian town of L'Aquila, which was hit by a deadly earthquake in 2009, Francis said he was praying "for the many victims, for the injured and the evacuated, and so that international solidarity will be prompt and generous."
Rehman told Turkish news outlet TRT World that by the time the rains recede, "we could well have one fourth or one third of Pakistan under water."
"This is something that is a global crisis and of course we will need better planning and sustainable development on the ground. ... We'll need to have climate resilient crops as well as structures," she said.
In May, Rehman told BBC Newshour that both the country's north and south were witnessing extreme weather events because of rising temperatures. "So in north actually just now we are ... experiencing what is known as glacial lake outburst floods which we have many of because Pakistan is home to the highest number of glaciers outside the polar region."
The government has deployed soldiers to help civilian authorities in rescue and relief operations across the country. The Pakistani army also said in a statement it airlifted a 22 tourists trapped in a valley in the country's north to safety.
Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif visited flooding victims in city of Jafferabad in Baluchistan. He vowed the government would provide housing to all those who lost their homes.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-28/pakistans-floods-have-killed-more-than-1-000-its-been-called-a-climate-catastrophe | 2022-08-28T18:17:23Z |
Famous Winston Churchill portrait swapped with fake, authorities say
Published: Aug. 28, 2022 at 1:51 PM EDT|Updated: 37 minutes ago
(CNN) – Canadian authorities are investigating the theft of a famous portrait of Winston Churchill.
The portrait by Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh is one of the most reproduced photos of the 20th century.
The original was on display in Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier Hotel, but sometime between Christmas and January 6 someone stole the original and replaced it with a reproduction.
Last weekend, hotel employees noticed the frame holding the print was not hung properly, and the frame did not match others in the space.
The value of the stolen portrait is around $100,000.
An expert on art theft is optimistic the original will be recovered but points out that arrests in cases like this are rare.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/famous-winston-churchill-portrait-swapped-with-fake-authorities-say/ | 2022-08-28T18:29:33Z |
Krispy Kreme launches Artemis Moon doughnut
Published: Aug. 28, 2022 at 1:30 PM EDT|Updated: 59 minutes ago
(CNN) - Krispy Kreme is celebrating NASA’s moon mission with a new space-themed doughnut.
NASA is expected to launch a rocket Monday for an uncrewed test flight around the moon.
The Artemis I Mission is the first step in NASA’s plan to land a human on the moon for the first time in 50 years, so Krispy Kreme is launching the Artemis Moon doughnut.
It is a doughnut filled with cheesecake-flavored creme, dipped in cookies and creme icing.
The company says it is designed to look like the moon and will be available at Krispy Kreme locations across the country for just one day on Monday.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/krispy-kreme-launches-artemis-moon-doughnut/ | 2022-08-28T18:29:39Z |
SNAP, EBT outages reported across the country
Published: Aug. 28, 2022 at 1:51 PM EDT|Updated: 38 minutes ago
(Gray News) - An outage affecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been reported across the country, according to Down Detector.
The program, known as SNAP, provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of low-income families so they can purchase healthy food. Electronic Benefits Transfer, known as EBT, is an electronic system similar to a debit card that allows a SNAP participant to pay for food using SNAP benefits.
This story is developing and will be updated.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/28/snap-ebt-outages-reported-across-country/ | 2022-08-28T18:29:46Z |
MTV VMAs ready to host, honor some of music’s biggest acts
NEW YORK (AP) — The MTV Video Music Awards are back Sunday with some of the biggest names in music vying for the network’s fabled Moon Person statue.
Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow and Kendrick Lamar are tied for leading nominees with seven apiece. Harlow and Lil Nas X’s collaboration “Industry Baby” propelled their nominations, landing them in competition for artist of the year along with Drake, Bad Bunny, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and Lizzo.
Closely behind are Harry Styles and Doja Cat, who received six nominations apiece, while Sheeran, Billie Eilish, Drake, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd each have five.
Harlow is pulling double duty, joining LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj as the show’s emcees. The VMAs are being being held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and will air beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Minaj will perform hits from throughout her career and accept the show’s video vanguard award, which MTV has said she’s receiving for her artistry, barrier-breaking hip-hop and status as a global superstar. The honor is named after Michael Jackson.
Eminem, Snoop Dogg, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bad Bunny are also set to perform
Madonna, who is the most awarded artist in MTV history with 20 wins, becomes the only artist to receive a nomination in each of the VMAs’ five decades. She earned her 69th nomination for her 14th studio album “Madame X.”
Lamar returns to the VMAs as a nominee for the first time since 2018, with nods for best hip-hop, direction, visual effects, editing, and a category known as video for good, while his songs “family ties” and “N95″ are competing for best cinematography.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/28/mtv-vmas-ready-host-honor-some-musics-biggest-acts/ | 2022-08-28T19:41:27Z |
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