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BSU “Mini-doc” to be shown at the Granada Theater on Tuesday
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) - An inside look at the Bluefield State University football team’s “rebirth” is set to be shown as a mini-documentary at Bluefield’s Granada Theater on Tuesday.
The showing is set to last from 7 p.m. through 8 p.m., with tickets priced at $7 a piece.
The documentary is titled “Guard the Hill,” and the university’s Director of Broadcasting said attendees will get to see a side of players they’ve never seen before.
“They were so open,” said Zach Helton. “So many student athletes were excited about how football changed not only the landscape of Bluefield State, but their student life in general.”
The university’s football program was disbanded in 1980 before returning for the 2021 season.
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/29/bsu-mini-doc-be-shown-granada-theater-tuesday/ | 2022-08-29T23:32:28Z |
Richlands to transition away from local dispatch center
RICHLANDS, Va. (WVVA) - Following a unanimous Town Council vote last Tuesday, the town of Richlands, Va. is set to eliminate its emergency dispatch center in a transition to Tazewell County’s.
“Town Council unanimously voted to go ahead and start the transition with our dispatch merging into the Tazewell County 911 response center,” said Councilmember Laura Mollo on Saturday.
While council was in full agreement during its latest “Special Workshop Session” however, the town’s former police chief said in a previous interview with WVVA that he was concerned about a loss of local control.
“You’re taking what we call sanctuary away from the citizens of Richlands,” said Jerry Gilbert. “Numerous times we’ve had folks come running through those front doors to seek help. We’ve had medical issues, people pull in front of the PD and [were] able to get inside for medical issues, altercations, stalkings, you name it.”
Gilbert wasn’t alone in his worries either. Morgan Earp, a frequent critic of Richlands’ local government said he believes there are more pressing issues in-need of attention.
“Wait until you can solve the energy problem in town, solve the water problem,” said Earp. “It’s about the safety of citizens.”
Gilbert added in that previous interview that he believes he was forced into retirement from his now-former position on Richlands Chief of Police. He said he believes that situation came to be at least partially due to his strong support of retaining the town’s local dispatch.
There is no timeline in place for the transition as of yet -- WVVA will continue to follow this story as more details emerge.
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/29/richlands-transition-away-local-dispatch-center/ | 2022-08-29T23:32:34Z |
Sheriff’s office accused of religious bias
The Freedom From Religion Foundation takes issue with the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office
TAZEWELL, Va. (WVVA) - The Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office is under fire from the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Sheriff Brian Hieatt recently received a letter form the organization claiming that the Sheriff’s Office violated the separation of church and state by attending several Christian events and posting about them on the Agency’s Facebook page. The Foundation says that this may alienate nonreligious people and discourage them from contacting the police for help.
Christopher Line, Staff Attorney for the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and writer of the letter says,
“They were showing all of those pictures of them in church with the Christian flag in the background. Promoting the national day of prayer, pushing this Christianity. That is not surprising that a local community think that I’m not going to be treated fairly because I’m not a Christian.”
Sheriff Brian Hieatt denies any sort of religious bias and says that it is important for the police to be active in the community, especially in events that they were invited to and says that it is unrealistic that anyone offended by the pictures would feel like they couldn’t contact the police in an emergency.
“...I don’t think that’s true. If someone’s breaking into your house and you feel your life’s in danger, I don’t think you’re going to say I saw on Facebook they attended a special church dinner, I’m not going to call 911 for help. That’s not going to factor in when someone needs help and they call us.”
Hieatt also mentioned that this was not the first time the Freedom from Religion Foundation had taken issue with the Tazewell Sheriff’s Office. The Foundation had previously taken issue with the ‘In God We Trust’ stickers on the Office’s cars. However, the Sheriff’s Office stood their ground on this issue, and left the stickers on.
Hieatt gave no indication that this issue would be any different.
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/29/sheriffs-office-accused-religious-bias/ | 2022-08-29T23:32:40Z |
KONA, Hawaii (KITV4) -- A Kailua-Kona man has been charged with kidnapping of minor and several other charges following an incident at Honaunau Elementary School on Wednesday, Aug. 24.
Investigators say 29-year-old Christopher Estoy walked onto campus at the school and followed a student into the restroom. Estoy, who police say was armed with a knife, closed the restroom door and kept the student from leaving.
Shortly after, an adult who was in the immediate area heard a commotion and was able to open the restroom door, allowing the child to escape.
Police were called and Estoy was arrested for unlawful imprisonment. He was taken to the Kealakehe Police Station while officers continued to investigate.
On Monday, Estoy was charged with kidnapping, custodial interference, unlawful imprisonment, and terroristic threatening in relation to the incident, according to the Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office
Estoy’s bond was set at $125,000. He is scheduled to appear in Kona District Court on Monday. If convicted of the kidnapping complaint alone, Estoy faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
This case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call Big Island Crime Stoppers at 808-961-8300.
Prosecutors also charged Estoy with burglary for a separate incident earlier in August at the Dolphin Bay Hotel in Hilo, as well as an outstanding bench warrant.
Matthew has been the digital content manager for KITV4 since September 2021. Matthew is a prolific writer, editor, and self-described "newsie" who's worked in television markets in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii. | https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/kona-man-facing-multiple-charges-after-allegedly-trapping-girl-inside-school-bathroom/article_a9655288-27e6-11ed-aee1-0f2cf0121f90.html | 2022-08-29T23:52:21Z |
HILO, Hawaii (KITV4) -- A Mountain View man who was shot by police in downtown Hilo on Aug. 23 has been identified and charged for the incident.
Jordan Cacatian, 41, was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening, first-degree attempted assault on a police officer and second-degree attempted assault, according to the Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
The incident happened just after 4 p.m. on Keawe Street in downtown Hilo. Authorities say officers were initially called out to a report of a man cutting himself with a knife. When officers arrived they found Cacatian sitting on a curb holding the knife. However, when officers ordered him to drop it, Cacatian ignored the command and began to walk toward the officer.
"The suspect ignored the officer’s lawful commands, and the officer subsequently discharged his duty weapon, striking the suspect in the lower extremities," a Big Island police spokesperson wrote on the day of the incident.
Body camera video was released by Hawaii Island Police the day after the incident. The video showed the officer firing his weapon and hitting Cacatian. Officers also deployed an electric gun to complete the arrest.
Paramedics took Cacatian to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He is expected to make a full recovery. No officers or bystanders were injured.
Cacatian is scheduled to appear in Hilo District Court, Monday afternoon.
This incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to Big Island Crime Stoppers at 808-961-8300.
The officer who fired his weapon is a 14-year veteran of the department, and will be placed on administrative leave pending the internal review.
Matthew has been the digital content manager for KITV4 since September 2021. Matthew is a prolific writer, editor, and self-described "newsie" who's worked in television markets in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii. | https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/man-shot-by-big-island-police-in-downtown-hilo-charged/article_f59f1418-27d7-11ed-ac40-0bd10503fa87.html | 2022-08-29T23:52:27Z |
KAPAAU, Hawaii (KITV4) -- Police on the Big Island are investigating after a child was killed in an apparent shooting accident at Camp Honokaia Boy Scout Camp, near Honokaa, Sunday afternoon.
Officers were sent out to the camp just before 2:30 p.m. on a report of an unconscious child following a “shooting incident.” Investigators say they found the child “lifeless,” suffering from a single gunshot wound near the rifle range.
Due to the extent of his injuries, the child was not transported for rescue. He was instead taken to Hilo Medical Center where he was pronounced dead around 8 p.m.
The victim’s age and identity are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Police say they are interviewing all of the children and adults that were present at the camp. Foul play is not suspected, authorities said.
This incident remains under investigation and is classified as a coroner’s inquest. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday to determine the exact cause of death.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police department’s non-emergency number at 808-935-3311, or Detective Jeremy Kubojiri of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section, at 808-961-2378 or email him at Jeremy.Kubojiri@hawaiicounty.gov.
Matthew has been the digital content manager for KITV4 since September 2021. Matthew is a prolific writer, editor, and self-described "newsie" who's worked in television markets in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii. | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/child-killed-in-apparent-shooting-accident-at-big-island-boy-scout-camp/article_e82449da-27e5-11ed-aef8-17eb3262ee8d.html | 2022-08-29T23:52:33Z |
President Joe Biden, seen here on August 25, will travel to Philadelphia on September 1 for a primetime speech on "the continued battle for the soul of the nation" in front of Independence Hall.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
President Joe Biden will travel to Philadelphia on Thursday for a primetime speech on "the continued battle for the soul of the nation" in front of Independence Hall, the White House said Monday.
The speech will come a week after the President returned to the campaign trail with a fiery speech in which he offered one of his sharpest rebukes of Republicans who have stuck to the credo of his predecessor, labeling it "semi-fascism" and predicting it has gone too far for most of the country. NBC News was first to report on the Philadelphia speech.
In that speech last week, Biden test-ran the message he is expected to tout aggressively for Democrats this fall. It also showed how his attacks on Trump, and Republicans who have remained loyal to him, have grown distinctly sharper as November's midterm elections approach.
"What we're seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy," Biden told a group of Democratic donors at a private home in Maryland ahead of the rally.
"It's not just Trump," he went on, "it's the entire philosophy that underpins the -- I'm going to say something: It's like semi-fascism."
Labeling Trump's views a type of proto-fascism marked an escalation in Biden's reprimands of his predecessor, and laid the groundwork for a midterm political message designed to paint his opponents as too extreme for most voters.
Biden said throughout the 2020 campaign that he was running to restore the "soul of the nation" and he and his White House have returned to that statement repeatedly throughout his first years in office.
Vice President Kamala Harris also took to the campaign trail Saturday, and issued a stark warning on threats to democracy during a DNC fundraiser in California.
"I was there in Washington, DC, after the election, when we won, and on January 6, I was there in Washington, DC -- I was still a senator and the vice president-elect -- when there was a direct, tangible attack on our democracy," Harris told supporters. "When we talk about what is at stake, in terms of who represents what, we have to understand that this is a moment in time that challenges everyone running for office to state where they stand on preserving and defending our democracy." | https://www.kitv.com/news/national/biden-to-speak-about-the-continued-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-nation-thursday/article_96569d52-9612-56d6-8774-d74a58d675c6.html | 2022-08-29T23:52:39Z |
An aerial view of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is seen, Aug. 10, in Palm Beach, Fla. The Justice Department has identified "a limited set of materials" from its search of documents taken from Mar-a-Lago that potentially contain material covered by attorney-client privilege and is in the process of addressing privilege disputes, it said in a court filing August 29.
The Justice Department has identified "a limited set of materials" from its search of documents taken from Mar-a-Lago that potentially contain material covered by attorney-client privilege and is in the process of addressing privilege disputes, it said in a court filing Monday.
In a court filing last week, Trump, who is requesting a "special master" to oversee the review of evidence recovered from the search, pointed to some additional legal discussion of case law that he said supported his request. One of those cases had to do with his former attorney Rudy Giuliani. Nowhere in the filing did Trump suggest that material dealing with attorney-client privilege was seized in the FBI's search of his resort.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon has put both parties on notice that she had a "preliminary intent" to appoint a special master, a third-party attorney who would filter out privileged material seized in the search.
She has scheduled a hearing for Thursday in Florida.
The FBI used law enforcement personnel who were not part of the investigation to search Trump's office in order to protect against potential attorney-client privilege issues, according to a redacted version of the search warrant affidavit released Friday. The affidavit says that the FBI used a "Privilege Review Team" to search the "45 office," separate from the investigators who searched other areas of Trump's residence authorized by the warrant.
This story has been updated with additional details. | https://www.kitv.com/news/national/limited-set-of-materials-potentially-covered-by-attorney-client-privilege-found-in-mar-a-lago/article_77a84796-984d-506b-b447-0521237060b8.html | 2022-08-29T23:52:45Z |
Alex Youn's sister had taken legal steps to protect herself from her violent estranged husband. She and her mother were killed anyway. Youn used clues she left to change loopholes in Tennessee law.
Copyright 2022 WPLN News
Alex Youn's sister had taken legal steps to protect herself from her violent estranged husband. She and her mother were killed anyway. Youn used clues she left to change loopholes in Tennessee law.
Copyright 2022 WPLN News | https://www.keranews.org/2022-08-29/his-mom-and-sister-were-killed-now-hes-channeling-grief-to-fight-domestic-violence | 2022-08-29T23:53:15Z |
California lawmakers approve landmark fast food workers bill
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers on Monday advanced a nation-leading measure that would give more than a half-million fast food workers more power and protections, over the objections of restaurant owners who warn it would drive up consumers’ costs.
The bill would create a new 10-member Fast Food Council with equal numbers of workers’ delegates and employers’ representatives, along with two state officials, empowered to set minimum standards for wages, hours and working conditions in California.
A late amendment would cap any minimum wage increase for fast food workers at chains with more than 100 restaurants at $22 an hour next year, compared to the statewide minimum of $15.50 an hour, with cost of living increases thereafter.
“We made history today,” said Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay Henry, calling it “a watershed moment.”
“This legislation is a huge step forward for workers in California and all across the country,” she said as advocates offered it as a model for other states.
The Senate approved the measure on a 21-12 vote, with no votes to spare and over bipartisan opposition. That sends it to the Assembly for final action before lawmakers adjourn on Wednesday. Assembly members previously narrowly passed a broader version of the bill.
Debate split along party lines, with Republicans opposed, although three Democrats voted against the measure and several did not vote.
“It’s innovative, it’s bringing industry and workers together at the table,” said Democratic Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, who carried the bill in the Senate. She called it a “very, very well-balanced method of addressing both the employers, the franchisees, as well as the workers.”
Almost every Republican senator spoke in opposition, including Sen. Brian Dahle, who also is the Republican nominee for governor in November.
“This is a steppingstone to unionize all these workers. At the end of the day, it’s going to drive up the cost of the products that they serve,” Dahle said. He added later: “There are no slaves that work for California businesses, period. You can quit any day you want and you can go get a job someplace else if you don’t like your employer.”
Restaurant owners and franchisers cited an analysis they commissioned by the UC Riverside Center for Economic Forecast and Development saying that the legislation would increase consumers’ costs. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration also fears the measure would create “a fragmented regulatory and legal environment.”
The debate has drawn attention nationwide, including on Capitol Hill where Democratic U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna has expressed hope it will trigger similar efforts elsewhere.
It’s “one of the most significant pieces of employment legislation passed in a generation,” said Columbia Law School labor law expert Kate Andrias. She called it “a huge step forward for some of the most vulnerable workers in the country, giving them a collective voice in their working conditions.”
The bill grew out of a union movement to boost the minimum wage and Andrias said it would “work in conjunction with traditional union organizing to give more workers a voice in their working conditions.”
International Franchise Association President and CEO Matthew Haller countered that the legislation “is a discriminatory measure aimed to target the franchise business model to bolster union ranks.”
Organizations representing Asian, Black and LGBTQ businesses sent a letter to senators Monday arguing that the measure would harm minority owners and workers.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/29/california-lawmakers-approve-landmark-fast-food-workers-bill/ | 2022-08-30T00:40:42Z |
WHSV EndZone Game of the Week Announcement: Week 2 - Strasburg at Broadway
Published: Aug. 29, 2022 at 7:08 PM EDT|Updated: 2 hours ago
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - The WHSV EndZone Game of the Week for week two will feature a non-district matchup between a pair of teams from the Shenandoah Valley.
Broadway will host Strasburg Friday night for a 7 p.m. kickoff to headline week two of the high school football season.
The Gobblers are looking to build off an impressive 28-17 road win at Fluvanna County last Friday while the Rams’ season opener last week was canceled due to apparent threats on social media.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/29/whsv-endzone-game-week-announcement-week-2-strasburg-broadway/ | 2022-08-30T00:40:48Z |
More than five decades after the original Star Trek series ended, its beloved communications officer will venture into the unknown for real when Nichelle Nichols' ashes are launched into deep space later this year.
Nichols, the trailblazing actress who played Lt. Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek series in the 1960s and in several of the franchise's feature films, died at age 89 in July. She is remembered as one of the first Black women featured in a major television series, as well as credited with inspiring women and people of color to join NASA.
And now her symbolic journey beyond the stratosphere continues. United Launch Alliance — an American spacecraft launch provider — announced last week that a portion of Nichols' ashes will travel to deep space aboard a Vulcan rocket with Celestis, a private company that sends peoples' cremated remains and DNA into space for memorial flights.
The first Celestis Voyager Service is set to launch later this year and will bear the name Enterprise Flight in honor of its passengers.
It will also carry the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife, actor Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, as well as those of James Doohan, who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the series and films.
"We're very pleased to be fulfilling, with this mission, a promise I made to Majel Barrett Roddenberry in 1997 that one day we would fly her and husband Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry together on a deep space memorial spaceflight," Celestis Co-Founder and CEO Charles M. Chafer said in a press release.
The flight is slated to launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral and travel more than 250 million miles into deep space, beyond the Earth-moon system and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, in what the company calls "a mission that is first of its kind."
Willing participants can pay to send their own DNA or a portion of their loved ones' cremated remains on the journey, with tickets starting at $125,000. Availability is limited, and reservations close on Wednesday.
Fans can also join from a distance by submitting a tribute message to Nichols online, which the company says will be sent into space too. Beam 'em up, Scotty!
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-29/nichelle-nichols-remains-will-go-explore-strange-new-worlds | 2022-08-30T00:47:06Z |
California lawmakers approve landmark fast food workers bill
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers on Monday advanced a nation-leading measure that would give more than a half-million fast food workers more power and protections, over the objections of restaurant owners who warn it would drive up consumers’ costs.
The bill would create a new 10-member Fast Food Council with equal numbers of workers’ delegates and employers’ representatives, along with two state officials, empowered to set minimum standards for wages, hours and working conditions in California.
A late amendment would cap any minimum wage increase for fast food workers at chains with more than 100 restaurants at $22 an hour next year, compared to the statewide minimum of $15.50 an hour, with cost of living increases thereafter.
“We made history today,” said Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay Henry, calling it “a watershed moment.”
“This legislation is a huge step forward for workers in California and all across the country,” she said as advocates offered it as a model for other states.
The Senate approved the measure on a 21-12 vote, with no votes to spare and over bipartisan opposition. That sends it to the Assembly for final action before lawmakers adjourn on Wednesday. Assembly members previously narrowly passed a broader version of the bill.
Debate split along party lines, with Republicans opposed, although three Democrats voted against the measure and several did not vote.
“It’s innovative, it’s bringing industry and workers together at the table,” said Democratic Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, who carried the bill in the Senate. She called it a “very, very well-balanced method of addressing both the employers, the franchisees, as well as the workers.”
Almost every Republican senator spoke in opposition, including Sen. Brian Dahle, who also is the Republican nominee for governor in November.
“This is a steppingstone to unionize all these workers. At the end of the day, it’s going to drive up the cost of the products that they serve,” Dahle said. He added later: “There are no slaves that work for California businesses, period. You can quit any day you want and you can go get a job someplace else if you don’t like your employer.”
Restaurant owners and franchisers cited an analysis they commissioned by the UC Riverside Center for Economic Forecast and Development saying that the legislation would increase consumers’ costs. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration also fears the measure would create “a fragmented regulatory and legal environment.”
The debate has drawn attention nationwide, including on Capitol Hill where Democratic U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna has expressed hope it will trigger similar efforts elsewhere.
It’s “one of the most significant pieces of employment legislation passed in a generation,” said Columbia Law School labor law expert Kate Andrias. She called it “a huge step forward for some of the most vulnerable workers in the country, giving them a collective voice in their working conditions.”
The bill grew out of a union movement to boost the minimum wage and Andrias said it would “work in conjunction with traditional union organizing to give more workers a voice in their working conditions.”
International Franchise Association President and CEO Matthew Haller countered that the legislation “is a discriminatory measure aimed to target the franchise business model to bolster union ranks.”
Organizations representing Asian, Black and LGBTQ businesses sent a letter to senators Monday arguing that the measure would harm minority owners and workers.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/29/california-lawmakers-approve-landmark-fast-food-workers-bill/ | 2022-08-30T01:03:36Z |
Officials: 17-year-old killed, 6 others injured after semi rear-ends bus carrying students
SANDERS, Ariz. (AZFamily/Gray News) – A 17-year-old girl is dead and six others are injured after a school shuttle van carrying 23 people was rear-ended by a semi-truck in Arizona Sunday morning, according to authorities.
State troopers responded to the crash which occurred near Sanders on I-40 around 9:30 a.m.
Investigators said traffic had slowed in the area after a rollover crash that morning. They said the school bus was slowing down when the semi-truck rear-ended it. The bus was pushed into a van directly in front of it and created a three-car pile up, according to AZFamily.
Police identified the teen girl as Kiarra Alma Gordon, a student at Holbrook Indian School, and said she died from her injuries in the crash. Officials said three others on the school van were hurt, but not seriously.
School officials said six students were treated at a hospital in Flagstaff. Three were released Monday while the other three remain hospitalized in stable condition. The school said trauma therapy counselors and chaplains are assisting students and staff.
The students were heading to Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, for a field trip when the accident took place.
The school released a statement on Facebook following the incident which said it was “a very sad day for the Holbrook Indian School community” and that their concerns were now for their parents and families as they all work to grieve the events.
Officials said they are continuing to investigate the crash.
Kiarra’s family has established a memorial fund for her. The details can be found here.
Copyright 2022 AZFamily via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/30/officials-17-year-old-killed-6-others-injured-after-semi-rear-ends-bus-carrying-students/ | 2022-08-30T01:03:43Z |
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CHEYENNE – Two special prosecutors are likely to replace the Laramie County district attorney in a local child murder case.
During a Monday afternoon hearing, Laramie County District Judge Steven Sharpe indicated that attorneys Michael Blonigen and Pat Crank will be allowed to serve as special prosecutors in the case of Wyatt Dean Lamb.
Laramie County DA Leigh Anne Manlove is not running for a second term and will leave office in January, before Lamb's February trial. She has said other attorneys in her office are unable to take on the case.
Lamb, a Cheyenne man, is accused of physically abusing and killing his then-girlfriend's 2-year-old son before putting the boy's body in a dumpster. The alleged incident took place in February 2021.
Manlove filed a motion July 18 to appoint Blonigen and Crank to prosecute the case.
The DA reiterated concerns at Monday's hearing that she's raised previously, including that the matter is "a massive evidentiary case" that needs, "for lack of a better phrase, a succession plan in place."
Manlove said Monday that her office does not "have enough attorneys," and, in reaching out to other prosecutors in the state, no one agreed to take on the case.
"So, I then started just going through a list of either retired or former prosecutors, and, unfortunately for Mr. Blonigen and Mr. Crank, they were on that list. But, fortunately for everyone involved, they agreed," she told the court.
Manlove said she then worked with the state's Department of Administration and Information to create contracts for both attorneys, which "were approved through a lengthy process that included the attorney general," she said.
Sharpe said he likely wouldn't need to sign an order for the two men to serve as special prosecutors in the case, and that each filing an entry of appearance "would suffice."
Blonigen, who was present by video call during the hearing, said Wyoming statute supported Manlove's ability to "appoint such assistance as she finds necessary, as long as the state ... supports that and is able to budget that." Blonigen said he'd served in the same role in Park County in the past.
State Public Defender Diane Lozano did not object to the appointments.
Blonigen filed an entry of appearance as a special prosecutor on Aug. 1. As of Monday afternoon, Crank had not yet filed an entry of appearance in the case, but was directed to do so by Sharpe.
Blonigen retired as the Natrona County district attorney in 2018, later returning to the office to serve as an assistant district attorney. Crank is a Cheyenne attorney who served as Wyoming's attorney general from 2002 to 2007.
Two-year-old Athian Rivera was reported missing by his mother, Kassandra Orona, at around 1 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2021. His body was discovered around 3 p.m. in a dumpster just outside an entrance to Orona’s apartment, located in the 400 block of Desmet Drive.
Lamb was ultimately charged with first-degree murder and 10 felony counts of child abuse. He pleaded not guilty to all counts last August.
Gag order agreement
Also on Monday, Lozano verbalized an agreement reached by the parties in a potential gag order in the case.
Lozano had been seeking to prevent DA Manlove from speaking publicly about Lamb's case after an interview Manlove gave to the WTE in May. The state public defender objected to comments made by Manlove implying that there had been discussions about a plea agreement in the case, and that Manlove would not accept such a deal.
As part of the agreement, Manlove "has agreed not to make any comments about this case to the newspaper," Lozano said in court Monday, which has been in discussion "for some time," the head public defender said. Lozano added that Blonigen had spoken with Manlove "and we're all in agreement in that regard," she said.
Lozano also said there'd been an agreement with Bruce Moats, an attorney representing the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in the case, and WTE Managing Editor Brian Martin, that the newspaper would agree not to repeat the exact statements made by Manlove in future coverage of the case.
Sharpe directed Lozano to draft an order based on the agreement. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/special-prosecutors-to-serve-in-child-murder-case-gag-order-agreement-reached/article_870dc212-27df-11ed-8bc0-e3089bdaf24b.html | 2022-08-30T01:09:57Z |
Illinois defensive back Sydney Brown, left, breaks up a pass intended for University of Wyoming tight end Treyton Welch during the first half Saturday in Champaign, Ill. Associated Press
University of Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley runs for a gain during the first quarter of the Cowboys' 38-6 loss Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. Troy Babbitt/UW athletics
Illinois defensive back Sydney Brown, left, breaks up a pass intended for University of Wyoming tight end Treyton Welch during the first half Saturday in Champaign, Ill. Associated Press
University of Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley runs for a gain during the first quarter of the Cowboys' 38-6 loss Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. Troy Babbitt/UW athletics
LARAMIE – After a rocky start to its 2022 campaign, the University of Wyoming football team knows it has plenty of room to get better ahead of Saturday’s home opener against Tulsa.
The Cowboys were dominated on both sides of the ball during a 38-6 loss at Illinois that highlighted a blatant need for improvement in several areas. Two of the most apparent were the passing game and third-down situations on offense, with UW going 1 of 12 on third downs, and junior quarterback Andrew Peasley completing just 25% of his passes for 30 yards and an interception.
Coach Craig Bohl noted Monday that, while Peasley struggled with accuracy at times, the receivers’ inability to create separation from defenders and a lack of contested catches were also factors. Bohl added that pass blocking wasn’t an issue, with an offensive line that featured three new starters not allowing a sack or quarterback pressure all game.
“The protection was there,” Bohl said. “Between the guys running the routes, their catching ability and Andrew's accuracy, it needs to improve, and it needs to improve significantly. Those numbers are there. I think we were 5 of 20 with 30 yards passing.
"We ran the ball well, but we have to throw the ball and complete the ball better.”
With an emphasis being placed on slowing down UW’s run-heavy attack, Illinois played primarily man coverage throughout the game. Sophomore receiver Joshua Cobbs, who led the Cowboys with two catches for 14 yards, admits that challenged a position group that is light on experience after losing its top two receivers from last season.
Cobbs is confident, though, that the Cowboys will be able to use their recent setback as a positive learning experience.
“After watching the film, I see a few things throughout the whole receiver room that we could've done,” Cobbs said. “There were just things we weren't prepared for, but it is a blessing that we got to go out there and see some guys that are going to play us strong and confident. We were able to see some of the things we have to do a little differently in order to be better next week.”
The loss wasn't entirely on the offense, even if Illinois scored all the points it needed less than a minute into the contest.
UW gave up 477 total yards, including 260 on the ground, while allowing Illinois quarterbacks to complete 75% of their passes. The Pokes held their own at times defensively, forcing a trio of three-and-outs, but big plays came back to bite them on a handful of occasions.
The Illini had six runs of at least 17 yards that accounted for just over 56% of their rushing production, while a 27-yard completion from Tommy DeVito to Pat Bryant late in the third quarter set up a touchdown that served as the final dagger to Wyoming’s comeback hopes.
Substandard tackling was a common theme referenced by both Bohl and sophomore linebacker Shae Suiaunoa in terms of what led to some of these issues.
“It's definitely tough to go back and look at the film, but those are the things we need to look at,” Suiaunoa said. “We need to learn moving forward what we can do better. We definitely need to finish better. Late in the third, we got a little tired mentally and physically, so we need to learn from the tape and move forward.”
Amid a lopsided loss, the Cowboys did find a positive takeaway in their young offensive line’s performance against a Big Ten defensive front. In addition to being sound in pass protection, this group paved the way for a rushing attack that racked up 182 yards with an average of 5.9 per carry.
“I thought we rushed the ball well,” Bohl said. “I was deeply concerned about (us having) a lot of new faces on the offensive line. For us to be able to maintain that line of scrimmage and get people moved back, I thought the offensive line did a good job with that. Our numbers bared that out.
“We would have liked to rush the ball for a little more, but I think we had 180-something yards rushing – and how Illinois deployed themselves defensively was really set up to negate the run. I was pleased with that, and I felt we protected the quarterback well.”
Injury updates
Bohl described junior running back Titus Swen, who left Saturday’s game in the fourth quarter, as “day-to-day” with bruised ribs. However, he was listed atop the depth chart at running back, indicating there isn’t much concern in terms of his availability for this weekend.
Updates were also provided on sophomore defensive end Sabastian Harsh and No. 2 running back Dawaiian McNeely, who missed the season opener with undisclosed injuries. Harsh is expected to miss the rest of the season, while Bohl didn’t rule out the possibility of McNeely returning for Saturday’s game against Tulsa.
Josh Criswell 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. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/university_of_wyoming/uw-looks-to-learn-from-season-opening-shortcomings/article_2e2b2d2c-27e6-11ed-8ece-474d4cc5a350.html | 2022-08-30T01:10:03Z |
Artist opens exhibit ‘The Lost Garden’ at Bridgewater College
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - On Monday, local photographic artist Mary Zompetti spoke at the opening reception of her exhibit The Lost Garden.
Her work explores the concept of chance in the context of nature and the environment. Zompetti created this exhibit by using cameraless photography that involves exposing large-format film to intense weather conditions such as wind and snow.
In one of the photographic series, Zompetti worked with a deceased squirrel to portray its deterioration.
“Sometimes life doesn’t unfold the way we think it will,” said Zompetti when describing the exhibit. “Sometimes bad things happen and other times we have near misses. We can’t control that. A lot of this work is about lack of control.”
Zompetti currently teaches photography at Hollins University in Roanoke. She received an MFA in visual arts from the Lesley University College of Art and Design in Cambridge, Mass., and a BFA in visual arts from Northern Vermont University.
Her work has been displayed all over the world and is held in several collections, including the artist book libraries at Yale University and the Banff Center for Arts and Creativity.
The Lost Garden is open to the public until September 27 and can be found in the John Kenny Forrer Learning Commons at Bridgewater College. More information on Zompetti and her work can be found here.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/artist-opens-exhibit-lost-garden-bridgewater-college/ | 2022-08-30T02:16:27Z |
First lady Jill Biden tests negative for COVID-19 after rebound
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday and will return to Washington on Tuesday, nearly a week after she came down with a “rebound” case of the coronavirus.
Her communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, announced the negative test in a statement Monday night.
Jill Biden had been isolating at her family’s house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, since testing positive on Aug. 24, and at the time, her spokesperson said she was not experiencing any symptoms. She first tested positive for the virus on Aug. 15, when she and President Joe Biden were vacationing in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
The president, who had his own back-to-back cases of COVID-19, was identified as a close contact of his wife and the White House said he was undergoing more frequent testing for the virus as a precaution. While Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines called for Biden to wear a face covering in close proximity to others indoors, he was seen without a mask hugging and taking selfies with supporters during an indoor rally on Thursday in the Washington suburbs.
Jill Biden, 71, and her husband, 79, have been twice-vaccinated and twice-boosted with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She had been prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which has proven to be highly effective at preventing serious disease and death among those at highest risk from COVID-19. A minority of those prescribed the drug have experienced a rebound case of the virus a few days after their initial recovery.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/first-lady-jill-biden-tests-negative-covid-19-after-rebound/ | 2022-08-30T02:16:35Z |
H.S. Volleyball Scoreboard: Monday, August 29
Published: Aug. 29, 2022 at 10:03 PM EDT|Updated: 12 minutes ago
HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - High school volleyball scores and highlights from Monday, August 29.
High School Volleyball Scoreboard - Monday, August 29
Turner Ashby 3, Wilson Memorial 1
Riverheads 3, Bath County 0
Mountain View at Buffalo Gap - Postponed
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/hs-volleyball-scoreboard-monday-august-29/ | 2022-08-30T02:16:42Z |
Officials: 17-year-old killed, 6 others injured after semi rear-ends bus carrying students
SANDERS, Ariz. (AZFamily/Gray News) – A 17-year-old girl is dead and six others are injured after a school shuttle van carrying 23 people was rear-ended by a semi-truck in Arizona Sunday morning, according to authorities.
State troopers responded to the crash which occurred near Sanders on I-40 around 9:30 a.m.
Investigators said traffic had slowed in the area after a rollover crash that morning. They said the school bus was slowing down when the semi-truck rear-ended it. The bus was pushed into a van directly in front of it and created a three-car pile up, according to AZFamily.
Police identified the teen girl as Kiarra Alma Gordon, a student at Holbrook Indian School, and said she died from her injuries in the crash. Officials said three others on the school van were hurt, but not seriously.
School officials said six students were treated at a hospital in Flagstaff. Three were released Monday while the other three remain hospitalized in stable condition. The school said trauma therapy counselors and chaplains are assisting students and staff.
The students were heading to Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, for a field trip when the accident took place.
The school released a statement on Facebook following the incident which said it was “a very sad day for the Holbrook Indian School community” and that their concerns were now for their parents and families as they all work to grieve the events.
Officials said they are continuing to investigate the crash.
Kiarra’s family has established a memorial fund for her. The details can be found here.
Copyright 2022 AZFamily via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/officials-17-year-old-killed-6-others-injured-after-semi-rear-ends-bus-carrying-students/ | 2022-08-30T02:16:48Z |
First lady Jill Biden tests negative for COVID-19 after rebound
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday and will return to Washington on Tuesday, nearly a week after she came down with a “rebound” case of the coronavirus.
Her communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, announced the negative test in a statement Monday night.
Jill Biden had been isolating at her family’s house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, since testing positive on Aug. 24, and at the time, her spokesperson said she was not experiencing any symptoms. She first tested positive for the virus on Aug. 15, when she and President Joe Biden were vacationing in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
The president, who had his own back-to-back cases of COVID-19, was identified as a close contact of his wife and the White House said he was undergoing more frequent testing for the virus as a precaution. While Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines called for Biden to wear a face covering in close proximity to others indoors, he was seen without a mask hugging and taking selfies with supporters during an indoor rally on Thursday in the Washington suburbs.
Jill Biden, 71, and her husband, 79, have been twice-vaccinated and twice-boosted with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She had been prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which has proven to be highly effective at preventing serious disease and death among those at highest risk from COVID-19. A minority of those prescribed the drug have experienced a rebound case of the virus a few days after their initial recovery.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/30/first-lady-jill-biden-tests-negative-covid-19-after-rebound/ | 2022-08-30T02:34:51Z |
2 more R. Kelly accusers testify at trial in Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) - Two more accusers took the witness stand at R. Kelly’s child pornography and solicitation of minors trial Monday, bringing to three the total number of accusers to have testified to date at the federal trial in Chicago.
The first accuser, who testified two weeks ago under the pseudonym “Jane,” is critical to another of the charges — that the R&B singer successfully rigged his 2008 state child pornography trial by threating witnesses and concealing video evidence.
GRAPHIC WARNING: This story contains details that may be disturbing to some.
Kelly, 55, was handed a 30-year prison sentence by a federal judge in New York in June for convictions on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
In all, the prosecution cited five accusers in pre-trial filings, though it is unclear if both of the remaining accusers will testify before the government rests sometime this week. The trial was expected to last a month, wrapping up in mid-September.
An accuser who used the pseudonym “Pauline,” told jurors Monday she was a middle school classmate of Jane’s and that Jane introduced her to Kelly in 1998 when they were 14 and Kelly was around 30.
When she was at Kelly’s Chicago home later that year, Pauline said she was startled to walk in on Kelly and a naked Jane in a basement area. She said Kelly told her that “we all have secrets” and that this is “our secret.”
Pauline several times told jurors she had loved Kelly. But, as a 37-year-old mom, she said she now had a different perspective.
“If somebody did something to my kids, I’m killing ‘em. Period,” she said.
Kelly sexually abused her over 100 times, starting when she was 14, and they first had intercourse when she was 15, she testified.
Under cross-examination, lead Kelly lawyer Jennifer Bonjean accused Pauline of being imprecise about how many times she had sex with Kelly when she was underage.
“Whether it is once or twice, what’s wrong is wrong,” Pauline shot back.
The second accuser to testify Monday, referred to only as Tracy, said she was introduced to Kelly when she was 16 by a boss at a record company she was interning for in 1998. Tracy told jurors she repeatedly rebuffed Kelly’s advances.
At a room in Kelly’s Chicago studio, she recalled telling him after he began pulling her close to him, “You know I’m 16?” Minutes later, when he “exposed himself… I tried to pull back but he had a hold of my shirt,” Tracy testified.
On another occasion, she described Kelly coming into a hotel room where Tracy was staying and yelling at her for having clothes on under her bathrobe.
“I told him I didn’t want to have sex,” she testified.
But she said Kelly ordered her to get into the bed with him anyway and that at several points used force to sexually abuse her. She said she first had intercourse with Kelly when she was 16, then dozens of times when she was 17 and 18.
Tracy began to cry on the stand Monday as she began to tell jurors about the day Kelly walked into a room where Tracy had been waiting. Kelly arrived with Jane.
“I was really confused and just really angry,” she recalled. “I just didn’t really think there was anyone else but me and Rob.”
Kelly’s 2008 trial revolved around a video that state prosecutors said showed Kelly abusing Jane. But after acquitting Kelly in 2008, jurors said they had no choice because the girl did not take the witness stand at that trial.
Jane did testify at the current trial, saying she was the child in the video and Kelly was the adult man.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/2-more-r-kelly-accusers-testify-trial-chicago/ | 2022-08-30T03:49:10Z |
New Market hopes to build more homes
NEW MARKET, Va. (WHSV) - The town of New Market is hoping to amend its Voluntary Settlement Agreement (VSA) with Shenandoah County to allow for more houses to be built in the area.
The town and county entered into the agreement in 2012 and it set a growth area for New Market across 1,700 acres outside the town limits with zoning requirements for the property.
The town has been approached by a developer looking to build residential homes on a property within the growth area that would require the VSA to be amended. The town brought the request to the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors at its meeting last week where the amendment was tabled.
“Right now we’re not experiencing any growth, especially as housing developments or even single construction. Our last new construction of a new residence was in October of 2020,” said New Market Town Manager Todd Walters.
Nearly two years since the last new home was built in New Market the town is hoping to grow and keep up with the surrounding area.
“That’s not good. Everyone around us has some sort of growth. It might not be 200 or 300 houses, that’s not realistic for us anyway, but we do want to grow,” Walters said. “Our council wants to grow this town. We know that in order for other things to happen you have to have rooftops.”
The town is asking the board of supervisors to support an amendment to the VSA agreement, but it won’t happen overnight.
“This is step one in a 42-step process before any house gets built, so it’s agreeing that we will redo the agreement is step one,” said Karl Roulston, Chairman of the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors.
The developer that has reached out to New Market wants to build up to 300 houses on 100 acres in the designated growth area. While the number of homes is not set, the terms of the VSA don’t have it zoned for a high enough density.
“Based on our comp plan and the agreement the most anything could be done there would be 50 houses on 100 acres, so those numbers just don’t work. Financially it doesn’t work for a developer,” said Walters.
Walters said with no new development or growth in New Market, the town’s revenue will become stagnant.
“You have stuff that needs to be replaced as far as utilities. You have stuff you need to do as a town that costs money. Well if we’re not increasing our revenues by housing or drawing new businesses, that’s going to fall on our existing taxpayers and tax base. That’s not good, nobody wants to pay more,” he said.
Shenandoah County Supervisors will consider the amendment at their next meeting on September 13, and they will consider several factors including concerns over the number of houses that may end up being built.
“The biggest factor is making sure it still aligns with the comprehensive plan of the county which says where the growth area should occur. This proposed addition is within that parameter so it is where there already are public utilities,” said Karl Roulston.
The county’s comp plan requires all such developments to be built where they are connected to the public water and sewer utilities of its towns. Roulston said other factors to consider are potential proffers from a developer to help offset costs to the county and the potential impact on the county’s school system.
“If there were 300 houses and each house had even one child in them, 300 additional kids in the southern campus would certainly up their numbers. so it’s not something that shouldn’t be considered,” he said.
Roulston said he believes it is important to work with the town on potential changes to the VSA and concerns that supervisors have. Todd Walters hopes the supervisors will support the amendment, he believes it would be a big help for the town going forward.
“It will help us get something going here in the town, even if it doesn’t work for these current developers, it would at least allow us a little more flexibility in getting someone to develop here,” said Walters.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/new-market-hopes-build-more-homes/ | 2022-08-30T03:49:16Z |
ShenGo bus system a huge success in first year
WOODSTOCK, Va. (WHSV) - It’s been almost a year since the ShenGo bus system launched in Shenandoah County, and thus far the county’s first-ever public transit system has been a huge success.
The system launched in October and had over 400 riders in its first month, ridership has steadily increased since then.
“Now we’re up to over 1,000 riders a month and that’s not even a year later, so it’s really exceeded our expectations but I just think that the citizens of Shenandoah County were waiting to have some transportation options throughout the county,” said Karen Taylor, ShenGo project manager for the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission.
The regional commission oversees ShenGo and said that feedback from riders has been excellent so far.
“The biggest thing we hear back from our riders is that they feel really secure with all the bus drivers. I think overall it’s dependability on the route, punctuality, and the kindness and respect that our drivers have shown all the riders. That’s the biggest thing that we have heard and we’re so appreciative of our drivers,” said Taylor.
ShenGo has two routes, one for the northern and southern parts of the county. It costs just $1 to ride and anyone under the age of 12 can ride for free. People across the county have used the buses for a variety of reasons.
“Walmart does stick out as the top stop, Food Lion in Strasburg, grocery stores and doctors where people have to get to, but we also have some folks who are older and they don’t want to stay home all day so they’ll just jump on and ride,” said Taylor.
Throughout the first year of ShenGo, no changes have been made to the system but the commission has been monitoring it to determine any tweaks that could be made to improve it heading into year two.
“To see what stops were getting a lot of riders and what stops weren’t getting any riders, so we’re actually in the process of reevaluating certain stops, maybe adding others and dropping ones where there is no one riding ever,” said Taylor.
ShenGo is funded through a demonstration grant that will keep it running through June of 2023, it’s the second grant the program has received.
The regional commission and its other local partners will apply for a different type of grant to receive a mix of federal and state funds to operate the system and keep it running for years to come.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/shengo-bus-system-huge-success-first-year/ | 2022-08-30T03:49:23Z |
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday night that he is declaring a state of emergency after excessive rainfall exacerbated problems in one of Jackson's water-treatment plants and caused low water pressure through much of the capital city.
The low pressure raised concerns about firefighting and about people's ability to take showers or flush toilets.
Reeves said that on Tuesday, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency will start distributing both drinking water and non-potable water in the city of 150,000 residents, and the National Guard will be called in to help. The governor said he understands people in Jackson don't want to have water system problems.
"I get it. I live in the city. It's not news that I want to hear," Reeves said. "But we are going to be there for you."
A swollen Pearl River flooded streets and at least one home in Jackson on Monday, days after storms dumped heavy rain, but water levels were starting to recede. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said the water did not rise as high as expected. Earlier projections showed about 100 to 150 buildings in the Jackson area faced the possibility of flooding.
"We thank the Lord most of all for sparing so many of our residents," Lumumba said Monday, hours before the governor spoke about the water system.
The National Weather Service said the Pearl River had crested at about 35.4 feet (10.8 meters). That is short of the major flood stage level of 36 feet (10.97 meters).
Jackson has two water-treatment plants, and the larger one is near a reservoir that provides most of the city's water supply. The reservoir also has a role in flood control.
Lumumba — a Democrat who was not invited to the Republican governor's news conference — said flooding has created additional problems at the treatment plant, and low water pressure could last a few days.
"What I liken it to is if you were drinking out of a Styrofoam cup, someone puts a hole in the bottom of it, you're steady trying to fill it while it's steady running out at the bottom," Lumumba said.
Jackson has longstanding problems with its water system. A cold snap in 2021 left a significant number of people without running water after pipes froze. Similar problems happened again early this year, on a smaller scale. The city has been under a boil-water notice since late July because tests found a cloudy quality to the water that could lead to health problems.
Legislative leaders reacted with alarm to Jackson's latest water system problems.
"We have grave concerns for citizens' health and safety," Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said in a statement Monday, suggesting the state take a role in trying to solve the issue.
The Republican House speaker, Philip Gunn, said he has been contacted by hospitals, businesses and schools "pleading that something be done to address the water crisis in Jackson."
As the Pearl River started to rise last week, some Jackson residents started moving furniture and appliances out of their homes, and others stocked up on sandbags. Two years ago, torrential rain caused the river to reach 36.7 feet (11.2 meters) and Jackson homes in the hardest-hit neighborhoods were filled with dirty, snake-infested floodwaters.
Suzannah Thames owns a three-bedroom rental home in northeast Jackson that flooded with about 3 feet (0.9 meter) of water in 2020. Thames hired a crew to move appliances, furniture and other belongings out of the home Friday. She said Monday that the home flooded with about 3 to 4 inches inches (7.6 to 10.2 centimeters) of water late Sunday.
"I thought it was going to be a lot worse," Thames said. "I feel very fortunate. I feel very blessed."
Andre Warner, 54, said Monday that his family had put all their furniture up on cinderblocks inside their home to prepare for possible flooding in another northeast Jackson neighborhood.
Warner said the family had to leave home for two weeks during the 2020 flood. Water did not enter their house then, but electricity was off in their neighborhood because other homes were inundated.
"We had to wait for it to drain and dry out for them to cut the grid back on," Warner said.
The Mississippi flooding was less severe than flooding that caused death and destruction in Kentucky last month. Those floods left at least 39 dead and robbed thousands of families of all of their possessions. Nearly a month later, residents are wrestling with whether to rebuild at the place they call home or to start over somewhere else.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-29/governor-declares-water-emergency-for-mississippi-capital | 2022-08-30T03:50:03Z |
Updated August 29, 2022 at 11:17 PM ET
Serena Williams won her first match Monday night in what's anticipated to be her last U.S. Open.
Williams defeated Danka Kovinic 6-3, 6-3 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows in New York City — the site of Williams' first U.S. Open win in 1999, when she was 17.
Earlier this month, Williams, now 40, announced her plans to retire from tennis, after a decades-long career in which she dominated and transformed the women's game and that includes 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
"Just keep supporting me," Williams said after the match, "as long as I'm here."
"With her powerful serve and return of serve and athleticism, she really set that standard in the women's game," NPR's Tom Goldman told Morning Edition.
"Her story of the early years in Compton, California, with sister Venus, under the tutelage of their dad, 'King Richard,' now of movie fame, that all became part of her legend and paved the way for more young people of color to pursue what had traditionally been a white sport," Goldman said. "And she brought more people of color into the stands to watch as well."
As she prepared to take the court Monday, Williams received tributes from fellow athletes and fans, including a spot on the cover of Time magazine.
Williams has won six U.S. Open singles championships, the last in 2014. On paper, she is the overwhelming favorite on Monday night, with a 20-0 record in U.S. Open first-round matches — without dropping a set since 2001, according to the U.S. Open.
But Williams is currently ranked 605th for singles, returning to play only recently after battling injuries. Her opponent, 27-year-old Kovinic of Montenegro, is ranked 80th.
Williams has only played four matches this year, and only won one, sports commentator Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media told Weekend Edition.
"She really is, probably for the first time in her life, an underdog" to win the U.S. Open, Bryant said. "But boy, what a magical fairy tale story if she can come to New York and pull off some magic."
After she retires from tennis, Williams will continue her pioneering ways and focus on developing a venture capital firm she formed eight years ago.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-29/serena-williams-wins-her-first-match-of-her-last-u-s-open | 2022-08-30T03:50:09Z |
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One of the victims fought to disarm the suspected gunman during Sunday's fatal shooting at a Safeway grocery store in Bend, Oregon, according to police spokeswoman Sheila Miller.
Two people were killed, police said. They were identified as Glenn Edward Bennett, 84, a customer who was shot in front of the store, and Safeway employee Donald Ray Surrett Jr., 66, who fought the shooter in the produce section, Miller said.
"This is the Safeway employee who engaged with the shooter, which is to say he attempted to disarm the shooter and attacked this person, and we believe he prevented further deaths in addition to the quick police response," Miller said. "Mr. Surrett acted heroically during this terrible incident."
Gov. Kate Brown released a statement on Facebook Monday honoring Surrett.
"While we are still gathering the facts about last night's shooting, it's clear that far more people could have been killed if not for the heroism of Donald Ray Surrett, Jr., who intervened to help stop the shooter, and the officers who entered while shots were still being fired," Brown's statement said. "In the face of senseless violence, they acted with selfless bravery. Their courage saved lives."
The gunman -- identified by police as Ethan Blair Miller, 20 -- was found dead at the scene and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the police spokeswoman said.
Police found an AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun close to Miller's body, according to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz.
The shooting unfolded shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday at a shopping center, Krantz said. Police initially received reports there may have been more than one shooter, Sheila Miller said, but there is no evidence of a second shooter. There were reports of at least two other people who had injuries that were not life threatening, as well, she said.
The motive remains unclear, but police are aware of online posts that might be relevant, Sheila Miller said.
"We are aware that the shooter may have posted information online regarding his plan. We are investigating this. We have no evidence of previous threats or prior knowledge of the shooter. We received information about the shooter's writings after the incident had taken place and the shooter has no criminal history in the area," Miller said.
Safeway said in a statement the company was saddened by the "senseless violence."
"Our thoughts and actions now are directed toward supporting our associates, customers, and the community affected by this tragedy. We thank the officers at the Bend Police Department for their response and will continue to support the department's investigation over the coming days," the company's statement said.
Sunday's shooting follows a spate of other grocery store shootings across the country in the past year and amid an overall surge in "active shooter" incidents, according to an FBI report.
In May, 10 people were killed in what authorities say was a racially motivated attack in Buffalo, New York. A "hero" security guard and a beloved teacher were among those gunned down.
In March, another 10 people were gunned down at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado. A veteran police officer with seven children was among those killed.
Last September, a gunman shot 15 people -- including one fatally -- at a Kroger in Collierville, Tennessee. Some people hid in freezers to survive.
How the shooting unfolded
Miller said police received multiple calls of shots fired around 7 p.m. at the Forum shopping center in northeast Bend.
The gunman entered from an apartment complex behind the shopping center, Miller said. He moved through the parking lot while firing rounds from an AR-15-style rifle before entering the Safeway.
Once inside, he shot a customer -- Glenn Edward Bennett -- who died while being taken to the hospital, Miller said.
The gunman continued to make his way through the store before having an altercation with and fatally shooting Donald Ray Surrett Jr., Miller said.
"As our officers responded, they entered Safeway while shots were still being fired. They found the apparent shooter dead inside Safeway," Miller said.
An AR-15 and shotgun were found near the gunman's body, Miller said. Bend police did not fire any shots, she said.
How the gunman obtained firearms is under investigation. Because of online postings, Bend police also contacted the Oregon State Police Bomb Squad, who cleared the grocery store and the apartment complex, Miller said.
Police said it's unclear how many people were in the store at the time of the shooting.
Officers were on scene within three minutes of the first 911 call, Miller said. It took four minutes from the time officers were dispatched to the time the shooter's body was found, police said.
Gunman posted plans online
A search warrant was served on the gunman's vehicle and home, Miller said. Investigators found three Molotov cocktails in his car along with a sawed-off shotgun. Police are working with the ATF to learn if the firearms were legal.
In his apartment, authorities found additional ammunition and digital devices that are currently being reviewed.
CNN has identified several blog entries appearing to belong to Ethan Miller which were published on the blogging site "Wattpad" detailing his plan and reasons for the shooting. The posts have since been removed and CNN has reached out to the blogging site.
Miller published his first blog on June 29, when he blamed Covid-19 and quarantine for worsening his mental health.
Initially, Miller planned a shooting inside a high school on September 8, according to the posts.
More than 35 posts were made within the past two months. Most indicated his desires to commit violence.
One post said that he was "partially inspired" by the Columbine High School shooting.
In other posts Miller cited several reasons for turning into a "ticking time bomb," which included his family and his love life, which he detailed in a July 8 post.
He wrote he bought a shotgun and an AR-15 for the shooting and said he hoped to kill over 40 people.
Miller also references other mass shootings throughout his entries.
"I immediately turned to my children and said, 'Run!'"
Customers and employees described a chaotic scene at Safeway, saying they scrambled for safety as bullets flew.
Josh Caba told CNN affiliate KTVZ he and his four children were shopping in the store when the shots broke out.
"We started heading to the front. Then we heard I don't know how many shots out front -- six or seven. I immediately turned to my children and said, 'Run!' People were screaming. ... it was a horrifying experience," Caba told KTVZ.
Caba said he was worried about his wife, who stayed in the car because she wasn't feeling well. But as he and three of his children fled through exit doors by the produce department, he found that his wife had driven to the back of the store and was "sitting in the car, saying 'Get in the car! Get in the car!'" KTVZ reported.
The father was able to rush back into the store and find their fourth child, he told KTVZ.
An employee who identified himself only as Robert told the Central Oregon Daily News that he and other employees were working a closing shift in the deli when they heard loud gunfire.
"Me and three other employees ran into a walk-in refrigerator and closed the door and stayed there and stayed hidden until authorities arrived," he said.
A third person was struck and was in good condition at St. Charles Medical Center, spokesperson Lisa Goodman said.
Residents in the central Oregon city were stunned by the shooting.
"I heard anywhere from five to eight shots. I thought it sounded like backfire," Heather Thompson, who lives across the street, told Central Oregon Daily News.
"Less than a minute later, there were 10 to 20 shots, and then another 10 to 20 shots," she said. "And by that time, I went inside and told my dad to get away from the window. And people were running out of Safeway."
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/victim-fought-gunman-in-oregon-grocery-store-shooting-that-left-2-dead-police-say/article_69d2d6b4-d6a2-5767-b385-ac6dfbc4adc4.html | 2022-08-30T03:51:10Z |
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LIHUE, Maui (KITV4) -- Looking to adopt a furry friend (or two) and want to help clear the shelters? Kauai Humane Society is waiving all adoption fees for all animals now through August 31, to celebrate Clear the Shelters adoption month.
A total of 340 adoptable pets have put the shelter over capacity: they hit maximum kennel space for the second time this summer last week.
“Even after the successful Mission Mainland 2.0, we are still struggling with a large dog population and many kittens returning from foster,” Executive Director Nicole Schafer Crane said. “So, we hope that those returning from their summer travel and getting back to their daily routines are open to bringing a companion into their home.”
“It’s been great partnering with Clear the Shelters this month, and we are so excited to bring the event to a crescendo for these final days by offering waived fees of all of our wonderful cats and dogs, along with the swag bags which were kindly donated by NBCUniversal Local,” Executive Director Nicole Schafer Crane said.
Kauai Humane Society is the only open-intake shelter on Kauai. They have held a no-kill status since 2019.
For more information, and to see all the adoptable pets, visit Kauaihumane.org.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
Kathryn spent the last decade in the Bay Area working in nonprofits, education, and communications consulting. She has a B.A. in English from St. Mary's College of CA and an M.A. in Public Affairs and Politics from the University of San Francisco. | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/kauai-humane-society-waiving-adoption-fees-through-august/article_2daf2356-2806-11ed-b406-47149a4fa54a.html | 2022-08-30T03:51:22Z |
2 more R. Kelly accusers testify at trial in Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) - Two more accusers took the witness stand at R. Kelly’s child pornography and solicitation of minors trial Monday, bringing to three the total number of accusers to have testified to date at the federal trial in Chicago.
The first accuser, who testified two weeks ago under the pseudonym “Jane,” is critical to another of the charges — that the R&B singer successfully rigged his 2008 state child pornography trial by threating witnesses and concealing video evidence.
GRAPHIC WARNING: This story contains details that may be disturbing to some.
Kelly, 55, was handed a 30-year prison sentence by a federal judge in New York in June for convictions on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
In all, the prosecution cited five accusers in pre-trial filings, though it is unclear if both of the remaining accusers will testify before the government rests sometime this week. The trial was expected to last a month, wrapping up in mid-September.
An accuser who used the pseudonym “Pauline,” told jurors Monday she was a middle school classmate of Jane’s and that Jane introduced her to Kelly in 1998 when they were 14 and Kelly was around 30.
When she was at Kelly’s Chicago home later that year, Pauline said she was startled to walk in on Kelly and a naked Jane in a basement area. She said Kelly told her that “we all have secrets” and that this is “our secret.”
Pauline several times told jurors she had loved Kelly. But, as a 37-year-old mom, she said she now had a different perspective.
“If somebody did something to my kids, I’m killing ‘em. Period,” she said.
Kelly sexually abused her over 100 times, starting when she was 14, and they first had intercourse when she was 15, she testified.
Under cross-examination, lead Kelly lawyer Jennifer Bonjean accused Pauline of being imprecise about how many times she had sex with Kelly when she was underage.
“Whether it is once or twice, what’s wrong is wrong,” Pauline shot back.
The second accuser to testify Monday, referred to only as Tracy, said she was introduced to Kelly when she was 16 by a boss at a record company she was interning for in 1998. Tracy told jurors she repeatedly rebuffed Kelly’s advances.
At a room in Kelly’s Chicago studio, she recalled telling him after he began pulling her close to him, “You know I’m 16?” Minutes later, when he “exposed himself… I tried to pull back but he had a hold of my shirt,” Tracy testified.
On another occasion, she described Kelly coming into a hotel room where Tracy was staying and yelling at her for having clothes on under her bathrobe.
“I told him I didn’t want to have sex,” she testified.
But she said Kelly ordered her to get into the bed with him anyway and that at several points used force to sexually abuse her. She said she first had intercourse with Kelly when she was 16, then dozens of times when she was 17 and 18.
Tracy began to cry on the stand Monday as she began to tell jurors about the day Kelly walked into a room where Tracy had been waiting. Kelly arrived with Jane.
“I was really confused and just really angry,” she recalled. “I just didn’t really think there was anyone else but me and Rob.”
Kelly’s 2008 trial revolved around a video that state prosecutors said showed Kelly abusing Jane. But after acquitting Kelly in 2008, jurors said they had no choice because the girl did not take the witness stand at that trial.
Jane did testify at the current trial, saying she was the child in the video and Kelly was the adult man.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/30/2-more-r-kelly-accusers-testify-trial-chicago/ | 2022-08-30T04:06:07Z |
Top 5 Plays: High School Football Week 1
The best plays from Week 1
Published: Aug. 29, 2022 at 11:09 PM EDT|Updated: 56 minutes ago
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) - Check out the Top 5 plays from Week 1
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved.
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) - Check out the Top 5 plays from Week 1
Copyright 2022 WVVA. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/30/top-5-plays-high-school-football-week-1/ | 2022-08-30T04:06:13Z |
One of the recurring plot points in the much-praised and just-ended TV series “Better Call Saul” concerned the stretched resources and minimal pay of public defenders, the attorneys who represent accused criminals who otherwise can’t afford to hire legal help.
The show was set in New Mexico (which does have public defender problems) but the issue is nationwide and has blown up in Oregon. Organizationally at least.
The state Office of Public Defense Services is led by a director and overseen by a commission whose members are appointed by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court. In the last month, Director Steve Singer (who has held the job less than a year) came under critical review by the commission, and Chief Justice Martha Walters said he should be fired. When he wasn’t – the commission deadlocked on the vote – Walters ousted all of the commissioners. Some of them were reappointed, other new members installed, and Singer was given his pink slip.
That may have been the right move (Walters did have specific complaints) or not, but the drama shouldn’t obscure what should be the larger point: That the whole system is in trouble. Singer was not wrong when he said earlier this year, “We didn’t get to this problem overnight. We got to this problem over the last two or three decades. The hard question is what do you do about the problem? How do you solve the problem?”
This gets into both the resources available and the system the state uses. This makes it a logical job for the next Oregon legislative session. For all the scope of the problem, this one could be legislatively solvable.
When the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright declared that the Constitution’s guarantee of a right to counsel included people who couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer, states that had done little in that area up to then (most of them) had some inventing to do. A long-standing idea about public defense (back to 1893) was that the defense system should mirror the prosecution system, but political sympathy has never aligned with putting that into effect. (Who wants to spend more money than absolutely necessary on a group of people who mostly are, in reality, guilty of crimes?) Nationally, the public policy ethic mainly has been: How little can we get away with?
A 2017 report on defender systems in the states noted, “Oregon is the only statewide system in the country that relies entirely on contracts for the delivery of public defense services. The statewide office lets individual contracts with private not-for-profit law firms (which look and operate much like the public defender agencies of many counties with full time attorneys and substantive support personnel on staff), smaller local law firms, individual private attorneys, and consortia of private attorneys working together. The actual contracts are the enforcement mechanism for the state’s standards, with specific performance criteria written directly into the contracts.”
That suggests a loose system with little opportunity for internal self-correction. The indicators of problems, in fact, have most often come from outside. One report in 2019 (paid for by the state Legislature) found that Oregon’s system is likely “unconstitutional.” (You can see the lawsuit coming.) An American Bar Association study released in January found that the state has only 31% of the defense attorneys it needs, and needs about 1,300 more.
Some of the problem, obviously, is money: More will be needed. But that’s not all. One group that studies how defense counsel systems work well and poorly around the nation last year suggested asking a series of questions: “Does an independent agency oversee public defense in your state? … Does your state shoulder the cost of public defense or leave the burden to local governments? (Oregon is one of 27 states that does.) … Does your state increase public defense funding when demands on public defenders increase? … Does the way attorneys are compensated create perverse incentives? … Are there meaningful, enforceable workload limits for public defenders? … Is counsel appointed before a client’s very first court appearance, or is appointment delayed until later in the process? (In Oregon, some indigents are jailed without access to an attorney.) Does your public defense system provide holistic defense for clients who need other legal (or even non-legal) assistance?” Oregon scores hit and miss.
The structural as well as financial questions point to this system as something the Oregon Legislature should review next session. And they suggest that what’s needed is not just a quick cash infusion or a little tinkering, but something more akin to an overhaul. Maybe the recent hire/fire drama will be the kickstart for that.
Randy Stapilus has researched and written about Northwest politics and issues since 1976 for a long list of newspapers and other publications. A former newspaper reporter and editor, and more recently an author and book publisher, he lives in Carlton. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/members/forum/opinion-oregon-s-public-defense-system-needs-an-overhaul/article_2466f960-27dc-11ed-8d54-4bbc69ce6296.html | 2022-08-30T04:19:09Z |
For most parts of the country, this has been a splendid summer, full of sunshine and sunscreen, the weather a welcome contrast to the political climate. Americans have flocked to the shore and the lakeside, wandered among the hills, lingered well after sunset at the state park or the backyard barbecue grill.
None of us alive can remember what the late historian David Fromkin called “the hot, sun-drenched, gorgeous summer of 1914, the most beautiful within memory.” In “Europe’s Last Summer,” his 2004 masterpiece about the coming of the catastrophe of World War I, he wrote the season “was remembered by many Europeans as a kind of Eden.” The Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig, perhaps the most popular literary figure of his time in all of Europe, said he could hardly remember a summer “more luxuriant, more beautiful, and, I am tempered to say, more summery.”
It turned out that storm clouds were at the far horizon at August’s end in 1914. Are they visible here, in the hot, sun-drenched, gorgeous summer of 2022?
Even the most skilled meteorologists get their forecasts wrong; they’re more adept at analyzing current conditions. It is the same with columnists, whose predictions are notoriously unreliable. So in the next few minutes of reading you won’t find any prognostications (or prescriptions), just some unscientific political and social climatology, subject to the (considerable) limits of atmospheric analysis.
But first let’s distinguish between the climate, which is a long-term condition, and the weather, which is right outside our doorsteps.
The political weather is stormy. Bruce Reinhart, the judge who signed the warrant leading to the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago earlier this month and a member of the board of Temple Beth David in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was targeted with antisemitic remarks and threats, with one person writing, “I see a rope around his neck.”
The phrase “civil war” is in the air, or at least on the internet. These are the two most frightening words in the American lexicon. The real Civil War produced 620,000 deaths, a percentage rate of the population equivalent to the demise of 6 million Americans today – the exact number of deaths in the Holocaust.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, noting the growth of “civil war” references, reported they have observed “an increase in threats to federal law enforcement and, to a lesser extent, other law enforcement and government officials following the FBI’s recent execution of a search warrant in Palm Beach.”
Now the climate. It’s an understatement to say that it is unsettled. There are many barometers, but the most discouraging may come from a study released the day after the Mar-a-Lago raid. Based on a Pew Research Center poll taken in early summer, it found alarming increases in the rate of Americans who say members of the opposing party are more immoral, dishonest, closed-minded than other Americans.
The poll showed that three-quarters of Republicans believe Democrats are more immoral than other Americans, and that two-thirds of Democrats believe the reverse. It found that 83% of Democrats, and 69% of Republicans, believe members of the rival party are more close-minded than other Americans.
One more. The COVID States Project asked 23,000 Americans whether it is “ever justifiable to engage in violent protest against the government.” Nearly a quarter said it was sometimes permissible. A tenth of Americans said violence was justified “right now.”
To paraphrase what Bob Dylan taught us in 1965, you don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.
The most troubling book I’ve read recently is “The Next Civil War” by the Canadian writer Stephen Marche. “One way or another, the United States is coming to an end,” he writes. “The divisions have become intractable. The political parties are irreconcilable. The capacity for government to make policy is diminishing. The icons of national unity are losing their power to represent.”
Toward the end of the book, he writes: “If the American experiment fails, and it is failing, the world will be poorer, more brutal, lesser. The world needs America, the American faith, even if that idea was only ever a half-truth. The rest of the world needs to imagine a place where you can become yourself, where you can shed your past, where contractions that lead to genocide elsewhere flourish into prosperity.”
I believe that the world needs America, and I believe especially that Americans need the conception of America that he envisions from above the northern border. I also believe every word that Abraham Lincoln spoke in his annual message to Congress delivered 160 years ago: “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.”
Now, one question and two truths.
The question that lingers: Did the Great Recession create fissures in our national passage that set in motion our current crisis, deepening the natural divide between elites and working Americans and creating the tinder on which the fires of contemporary contention spread? The historian Richard Overy, writing in “Blood and Ruins,” his magisterial 2021 account of World War II, said that the Great Depression “played the major part in destroying the efforts to reconstruct a global order after 1919” and suggests “the collapse of the world economy was a ... decisive turning point.”
Put simply: Does 2008 explain 2022?
As we march through August and the days grow shorter, two truths are incontestable.
One is that whatever the truth is about Russia’s interference in American elections and American life – whether or not Vladimir Putin actually tried to disrupt American democracy in 2016 and beyond – there is no question that he can only be delighted by the current state of American democracy.
The other is that whatever your view of the causes of the current domestic dystopia, the past several decades in American life – despite the ups and downs of the economy, the crimes and misdemeanors of various politicians, the comings and goings of crises – have been, as Fromkin wrote of pre-World War I Europe, a kind of Eden. The United States was admired around the world, its culture embraced across the globe, its people generally pleased with their circumstances, its rough edges becoming smoothed, its rights being expanded, its blind spots on race and class being subject to the liberating light. Sadly, in this August, it is clear that summer’s over.
David M. Shribman is the former executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/members/forum/opinion-our-national-summer-is-waning/article_7622eb98-27d6-11ed-9709-07ea145b7ff4.html | 2022-08-30T04:19:16Z |
If you find yourself agreeing with people who threaten to kill or harm political opponents, urge you to “arm up” for a coming “civil war” or fail to criticize those who goad others into fanatical frenzies then step away from your television, chat group or bar stool and take a very deep breath.
Our sanctimonious sense of security in the U.S.’s inevitable march toward freedom and opportunity is being threatened by the most unlikely of sources — those who have long claimed to be the most patriotic, the most defense forward, the most emblematic of the red, white and blue and the blood and treasure that’s been spilt to defend it — the Republican Party.
Over the last six years, we have watched as the GOP has become nothing less than a three-ring circus led by the former president, Donald Trump, a red-tied billionaire spinning tales so tall and making leaps of logic so breathtaking they put Cirque du Soleil to shame.
Within hours of learning the FBI had seized confidential government documents from his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, the former president jumped on his social media platform claiming he was being framed by the FBI and that the agency was “destroying our country.” Never mind that Trump and his attorneys had ignored a previous subpoena demanding the documents, or that one of Trump’s attorney’s signed a statement guaranteeing that all the documents Trump had illegally taken from the White House had been returned. The ringmaster called foul and his supplicants followed, taking to the air waves, social media and the blogosphere to echo Trump’s criticisms and grandiose lies, and allowing him, once again, to magically escape responsibility for his actions.
From Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, we read on Twitter: “I think every Republican believes that the FBI and other organizations have lost their mind when it comes to Trump.” From Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, we heard, “The way our federal government has gone, it’s like what we thought about the Gestapo.” And Rep. Paul Goser, R-Arizona, tweeted: “We must destroy the FBI.” Even Oregon’s lone Republican in Congress, Rep. Cliff Bentz, demanded that the FBI be investigated for its action. And then there is all the silent consent. The elected and non-elected politicians and community and business leaders who, with a nod of their head or a shrug of their shoulders, also attempt to escape responsibility as their party tries to torch America.
Overstated? I don’t think so.
Within two days of Trump’s condemnation of the FBI, an armed 42-year-old Iraq War vet tried to breach an FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio. The man, who is believed to have been at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and has connections to the extremist group Proud Boys, was shot after an hours-long standoff with police. His online posts advocated violence and telling people to “Be ready for combat…we must not tolerate this one.” Shortly after that incident, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued a warning about the unprecedented level of threats being made to “federal law enforcement and, to a lesser extent, other law enforcement and government officials following the FBI’s recent execution of a search warrant in Palm Beach, Florida.” Those threats include the planting of a “dirty bomb” (a radioactive device) in front of the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C., and calls for armed rebellion.
As evidence against Trump mounts, and threats of violent rebellion grow, a few Republicans have begun to plead for leaders to tone down their rhetoric. Among this small choir is former Vice President Mike Pence. But at this point, it seems no one has much sway with those trapped in the Trump Trance.
Adolf Hitler once wrote that “the art of leadership… consists in consolidating the attention of the people against a single adversary and taking care that nothing will split up that attention.” Right now in the U.S., the Republican Party has consolidated and embraced the attention of a radicalized group of Americans who believe that the only thing that matters is that Trump remains in power no matter what. His words and actions, and the words, actions and inactions of his party, have divided America into those who support Trump and those who are America’s enemy.
We may never know why Trump did not voluntarily turn over all 300 classified documents when originally subpoenaed this spring. But we do know this: We are not likely to hear the real story from the man whose house was “raided,” nor from the men and women who know the truth but are too weak or afraid to speak it. Trump complains that never in history has a president faced the kind of treatment he has, and he’s right about that. But never in history have we had a former president and a political party who think they are above the rule of law.
Naseem Rakha is a former public radio reporter, news show host and commentator. She is an author of the novel "The Crying Tree," which was inspired by her time covering two executions in Oregon. Naseem spends her time hiking, climbing, rafting and photographing areas throughout the American West. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/members/forum/opinion-u-s-sense-of-security-threatened-by-republican-party/article_ba6ff368-27db-11ed-a5fb-77192fba9814.html | 2022-08-30T04:19:22Z |
The body of a 65-year-old Caucasian man, local to Klamath Falls, was discovered Tuesday, Aug. 23, in the field behind Fred Meyer grocery store, according to Capt. Ryan Brosterhous of the Klamath Falls Police Department (KFPD).
Initially, “unusual circumstances” led officials to suspect foul play and possible involvement of a third party. Further investigation revealed details which took the case in a different direction, he said.
“The investigation is still open,” Brosterhous said, “but all signs point to no foul play.”
After conducting witness interviews and reviewing statements that were made “prior to” the incident, the case is now cautiously presumed to be a suicide.
“Once we really started looking at it and narrowing down the scene and finding witnesses that knew the male subject, the scene started to make more sense as to what actually happened.”
According to Bosterhous, the deceased man was currently “in transition” in terms of housing, frustrating efforts to determine and subsequently notify next of kin.
For this reason, and for the sake of avoiding “pouring salt in wounds” of grieving families, the name of the subject has not yet been released.
The official cause of death will be determined, pending the results of an autopsy. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/body-of-local-man-found-in-klamath-falls-field/article_bb639dba-27ea-11ed-8872-973c8ae1ac32.html | 2022-08-30T04:19:28Z |
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The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week overturned a lower court’s ruling that prohibited the American Farm Bureau Federation and groups representing ranchers from defending a Trump administration decision to take the gray wolf off the list of endangered species.
With the reversal, the Farm Bureau, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Public Lands Council and American Sheep Industry Association will be allowed to appeal a decision from the lower court that vacated the delisting of the gray wolf in February.
Defenders of Wildlife and five other environmental groups filed the lawsuit in January 2021 against the Trump administration’s removal of Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in most of the lower 48 states.
In its ruling last week, the Court of Appeals found the district court abused its discretion by denying Farm Bureau and the ranching groups permissive intervention in the case.
Zippy Duvall, Farm Bureau president, said AFBF appreciates the Court of Appeals for recognizing agriculture’s interest in defending the delisting of the gray wolf.
“Farmers and ranchers share the goal of a healthy and thriving ecosystem and when the gray wolf exceeded recovery goals, it became an Endangered Species Act success story,” he said.
“With populations now thriving, management of the species should be the responsibility of the states, which can more effectively determine the most appropriate actions to manage gray wolf populations,” he said.
Kaitlynn Glover, executive director of PLC and NCBA natural resources, said the gray wolf is clearly recovered.
“Livestock producers are directly impacted by the species management decisions made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, especially when it comes to species with significant federal footprints,” she said.
“The decision to allow the coalition to intervene in this case demonstrates what we have known all along: livestock producers deserve to have their voice heard on delisting the gray wolf,” she said.
Peter Orwick, executive director of the American Sheep Industry Association, said his group is pleased with the decision to allow the agricultural organizations to actively participate and seek a positive legal decision that supports farmers and ranchers. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/court-allows-ranchers-farm-bureau-to-intervene-in-gray-wolf-case/article_21955012-27df-11ed-ac35-2b7ff129135f.html | 2022-08-30T04:19:40Z |
PORTLAND — The environmental group Columbia Riverkeeper announced Aug. 26 it filed a petition challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of the Coyote Springs Cogeneration Project near Boardman, Ore.
According to state and federal energy department documents, the $32.5 million gas pipeline compressor station would operate on a 22-acre site at the Port of Morrow Industrial Park. The plant would have two combustion turbines that would generate 440 average megawatts of energy when complete. The project would be built in phases.
Columbia Riverkeeper seeks a rehearing of the regulatory commission’s approval. Audrey Leonard, staff attorney at Columbia Riverkeeper, said the organization is “taking a stand against another misguided fossil fuel project.”
The regulatory commission issued a license to Gas Transmission Northwest, which the company TC Energy owns, to build new infrastructure to increase the pressure of gas in its pipeline system. Columbia Riverkeeper contended approving new gas infrastructure is inconsistent with Oregon’s and Washington’s climate goals calling for a rapid reduction in fossil fuel use.
“Our communities are already feeling the impacts of climate change,” said Maig Tinnin from community organization Rogue Climate. “The only way to meet our climate goals is to stop building new fossil fuel infrastructure and to transition to clean energy and greater energy efficiency.”
The Coyote Springs station would result “in more annual greenhouse gas pollution than all commercial buildings in the state of Washington,” according to Columbia Riverkeeper.
FERC released its approval of the Coyote Springs compressor station on July 28. The agency has 30 days to respond to Columbia Riverkeeper’s petition for rehearing.
GTN operates a 1,353-mile-long gas pipeline that runs from Kingsgate, British Columbia, through Idaho, Washington and Oregon, to Malin. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/environmental-group-challenges-new-gas-pipeline-generator/article_97308c24-27df-11ed-8275-ef4ebfe2f75d.html | 2022-08-30T04:19:50Z |
Last week, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum received a text from her bank asking if she’d recently spent $750 at Walmart.
She hastily texted back “NO,” and almost immediately her phone rang.
Rosenblum, who’s made consumer protection a priority, spent 10 minutes on the phone.
She grew increasingly suspicious.
The caller, frustrated with her questions, hung up.
The call was typical of fraudsters who have stolen billions of dollars a year from Americans. Rosenblum said she opted to go public with her account to warn Oregonians that if it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone.
“You feel embarrassed, like, how could I not recognize the signs of a scam? And here I am, I actually teach people about how to avoid getting scammed. And initially, it didn’t even cross my mind,” she told the Capital Chronicle. “I just want to get people’s attention.”
First elected in 2012, Rosenblum is involved in several consumer protection initiatives. For years, she and her office’s consumer education director have traveled the state presenting to groups of primarily older Oregonians about how to avoid getting scammed.
In 2019, she formed the Consumer Privacy Task Force to recommend legislation to protect consumer privacy. It is currently devising a bill that would require the registration of data brokers who sell personal information, allowing consumers to opt out.
Rosenblum is optimistic the legislation, which is similar to California’s Consumer Privacy Bill, will gain bipartisan support in the state Legislature.
Rosenblum, 71, says she tries to stay up on the latest swindles.
“I know a lot about scams and frauds, and I gotta tell you, this particular one is really, really devious.”
Last Wednesday, the Department of Justice’s “Scam Alert Network.” posted a notice by Rosenblum urging Oregonians to beware of phony bank scammers. The Oregon Department of Justice has reports from consumers who, like Rosenblum, had received calls and text messages purporting to be from their financial institution.
Several factors set this new scam apart, according to Rosenblum. For one, the text she received asked her to reply back “YES” or “NO,” but it also included another option: text ‘STOP’ to prevent future text messages. That little detail helped the scammer slip past her initial defenses, she said.
There was another factor new to Rosenblum: The scam featured both a text and a phone call. The scammers start with a text. In one version of the scam – the one that targeted Rosenblum – the message asks the victim if they’d made a large purchase on a particular date. In another version, the text says changes have been made to the victim’s bank account. And once on the phone, the scammer tries to extract as much personal information from the victim as possible.
Most scams bear several telltale signs, according to the attorney general’s office. Scammers often try to impart a sense of urgency in their victim, and they ask for information they should already have. The attorney general’s office advises a person who receives suspicious calls or texts claiming to be from a financial institution to call their bank and report what happened.
Rosenblum and her husband, Richard Meeker, who share a bank account, have received new bank cards and PIN numbers. She suspects her scammers acquired her data through a corporate hack.
One red flag that the purported bank representative was not legit was that he kept referring to her as “Mrs. Rosenblum.”
“I cannot stand it when people call me, ‘Mrs. Rosenblum,’ because I kept my birth name and I never go by ‘Mrs. Rosenblum,’” she said. “I kept telling him, ‘Please do not refer to me as ‘Mrs. Rosenblum.’ You can call me ‘Ellen’ if you want.’ And he just couldn’t quite handle that. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.”
To file a complaint or report a scam, visit oregonconsumer.gov or call 877-877-9392. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/oregon-ag-ellen-rosenblum-nearly-falls-for-bank-scam-warns-others-to-beware/article_8217b5f4-27c3-11ed-bb77-ab2e70008db4.html | 2022-08-30T04:19:56Z |
PORTLAND — Though the burdens imposed on transportation workers have eased since the peak of the COVID pandemic, the lingering effects continue to bedevil agricultural shipping, experts say.
Nurseries are among the farm sectors that most depend on a robust U.S. transportation system, since they must quickly deliver plants to consumers across the country.
Apart from dealing with their own labor shortages, nursery producers also face shipping constraints caused by insufficient numbers of transportation workers, including truckers, experts say.
“It will be a long road back until we get enough truckers,” said Dale Parra, nursery specialist with Truck Transportation Services, a freight brokerage firm focused on food and agriculture.
Hardships associated with the coronavirus pandemic convinced many truckers to retire or leave the industry, aggravating a nationwide shortfall that was already significant, experts said Aug. 25 during the Farwest Show, an annual nursery industry conference in Portland, Ore.
“Next time you see a truck driver, thank them for staying in business,” said Jana Jarvis, president of the Oregon Trucking Associations.
Coronavirus restrictions across the country often prevented truck stops from offering anything but fuel, leaving truckers with nowhere to eat, sleep or even use the restroom, she said.
“It was very adverse working conditions,” Jarvis said.
Even before COVID, the U.S. trucking industry had about 60,000 fewer drivers than it needed, she said. Since the start of the pandemic, that deficit has increased to 80,000 drivers.
Some companies exacerbated their shipping problems by mistreating truckers, some of whom remain reluctant to load and unload at those businesses, Parra said.
“Truckers are under-appreciated and without them, we would be in a world of hurt,” he said. “Go out of your way to be real nice.”
As many truckers retire, the industry also has a recruiting problem due to outdated stereotypes about the career, Jarvis said.
Many transportation companies will pay for the training required for a commercial driver’s license, but it’s still difficult for people to find time for this education, she said.
The industry needs to find ways to become more attractive to younger workers, Jarvis said. “I often tell young people there’s more technology now in a truck than in the lunar landing module.”
Financial incentives are part of the answer to the trucker shortage, she said. “How do we solve that? We offer more pay.”
However, higher wages don’t necessarily translate to more readily available labor. Some truckers who’ve received raises have opted to work less often and earn the same income, she said.
Other transportation sectors have also encountered recruitment problems, experts say.
Railroad companies are likewise struggling to fill positions as workers retire, said David Anzur, founder of Anzur Logistics, a freight services company focused on rail.
“That has plagued moving product across the system,” he said.
The Port of Portland, which handles several transportation modes, has about 750 employees and 60 open jobs that it’s competing to fill, said Teresa Carr, its director of business development and commercial properties.
“We operate very much like a small city,” she said.
The port doesn’t directly employ the dock workers who operate its container terminal, which is running again after losing ocean carrier service several years ago, Carr said. The facility is also encountering a wave of retirements among members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Members of ILWU are hired by the Pacific Maritime Association, whose board of directors includes major ocean shipping firms, she said. “We’re trying to convey to them that more labor is needed in this region.”
Inflation has been challenging for the port’s investment in airport upgrades, increasing the cost from about $2 billion to $2.5 billion, due to the rising price of steel and other materials, Carr said.
“The big projects came right online just as COVID was hitting,” she said.
The regional transportation system is affected by the limited capacity of Interstate 5 in Portland, which affects freight moving along the entire West Coast, experts say.
Upgrading that highway near downtown and replacing the bridge connecting Oregon and Washington will be crucial for trucks, as well as the railroads that depend on them, Anzur said.
“All of them have to move through this bottleneck,” he said.
Next month, the federal government is expected to decide whether to fund the Port of Coos Bay’s proposed expansion, which is intended to boost the region’s trade capacity, Anzur said.
Aside from the marine facility, transportation upgrades are needed farther inland, he said. For example, some tunnels need to be enlarged to allow rail containers to be “double-stacked” for efficiency.
Congestion at marine ports along the West Coast has lately been clearing up but it remains a problem, Anzur said. “Things have improved at these ports but there’s still plenty of capacity that could be built.” | https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/pandemics-aftermath-still-hinders-agricultural-shipping-experts-say/article_f21e1ada-27c5-11ed-8555-9f51ac62e896.html | 2022-08-30T04:20:02Z |
Hunter Hoogerwerf scored twice as the Oregon Tech men’s soccer team opened its season with a 2-2 draw against Simpson University on Sunday in Redding, Calif.
The tie for the Owls (0-0-1) extended a school-record unbeaten streak to 15 matches.
Hunter Hoogerwerf scored twice as the Oregon Tech men’s soccer team opened its season with a 2-2 draw against Simpson University on Sunday in Redding, Calif.
The tie for the Owls (0-0-1) extended a school-record unbeaten streak to 15 matches.
The Redhawks (0-0-2) opened the scoring in the 18th minute, as Diego Alvarez headed home a cross into the area from Austin Miller.
Hoogerwerf answered twice in a six-minute span to give OIT the lead. The junior tallied an unassisted goal with less than a minute left in the first half to square the match – and in the 51st minute, collected a ball in the box and found the net to give Tech the 2-1 edge.
SU earned a point with a late goal from Ramirez Cervantes in the 83rd minute.
Simpson held a 9-8 edge in total shots. Four Owls had two shots on the day – Brock Rideout, Andrew Pasang, Rosendo Juarez-Flores and Hoogerwerf – with goalkeeper Joel Witts making three saves.
The contest marked the debut of OIT first-year coach Eric McManamon.
OIT next plays Friday, traveling to La Grande for a neutral site matchup vs. Jamestown.
OIT’s Nakamura honored: Oregon Tech goalkeeper Sydni Nakamura was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference’s women’s defensive player of the week, announced by the league’s information office.
The junior, from Mililani, Hawaii, had a shutout in last Wednesday’s season opener at Simpson University, helping the Lady Owls earn a road draw. Nakamura recorded a career-high seven saves, including a key stop midway through the first half — a leaping deflection of a shot heading to the upper corner of the net.
It was the second shutout of Nakamura’s career.
OIT returns to action Friday, traveling to La Grande for a neutral site match against the University of Jamestown at 12:30 p.m.
Greenville 26, Butte Valley 20: Despite a big game from Kyler Hensley, the host Bulldogs lost their season opener Friday night.
Hensley had 261 all-purpose yards. He rushed 16 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns, made Butte Valley’s only reception of the game for 72 yards and had a 63-yard interception return.
Hensley also made nine tackles, seven of which were solo. Only teammate Joey Cillone had more stops with 13 total (six solo).
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A receipt was sent to your email. | https://www.heraldandnews.com/sports/basin-roundup-oregon-tech-opens-mens-soccer-season-with-draw/article_274d0d86-27e1-11ed-96d1-9f2e6d60951d.html | 2022-08-30T04:20:08Z |
New brewhouse, taproom near riverfront could open this winter
A new brewery and taproom could be on tap with a riverfront view in Port Huron this winter.
Desmond Depot Brewhouse owner Steve Tranzow began interior demolitions at the old train depot at 210 Court St. near Vantage Point in June and hopes to complete renovations in late September or early October.
Port Huron officials green-lit a recommendation to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission for a new on-premises tasting room permit in March.
But Tranzow said he isn’t expecting state approval until closer to the end of the year.
Luckily, the wait hasn’t stopped him from working through recipes and lining up an online beer menu with what he hopes stylistically is “something for everybody’s taste” — be it IPAs, a lager, or what he’s a fan of in red ales.
“I’ll need a good month, month and a half before I open in order to brew beer and have enough that’s fermented and mature and ready to pour,” Tranzow said. “The target is if I can open by Dec. 15, I’ll open in December. If it starts pushing past that, then it would be into January, most likely. That’s why I just kind of put (out) that it’s this winter.”
Most recently from Colorado, where he was involved with another brewing outfit for the last 12 years, Tranzow said his connection to the Port Huron area is his father.
That connection, as well as the view of the St. Clair River, he said, was a big selling point to take on his latest venture.
“I’ve been a number of times. The last time I was here, it was the dedication of the (Blue Water) River Walk,” Tranzow said this week, motioning to the waterfront. “… Looking at that, and at the whole maritime center, just thinking, ‘This is a great place for a restaurant, for a brewery.’”
The 210 Court St. site has been listed with Vantage Point and among the properties marketed by Acheson Ventures in years past. According to the register of deeds, it’s still listed under Acheson.
While demo is ongoing inside the roughly 2,500-square-foot building, the exterior includes a walk and brickwork that Tranzow said could be used for seasonal brewery seating. Still, he admitted that the vegetation around it that’s become overgrown needs some landscaping, too.
Additionally, Tranzow said there’d be enough space outside for cornhole and other games.
Inside, he said he’s turning what was formerly used as a classroom setting into a taproom with a corner bar and seating space to fit 72. He also hopes to open up windows for renewed light exposure.
“I like a real light atmosphere,” Tranzow said. “One of the future (goals that) we’re not doing right now just because of materials and time and costs (is) opening the roof up all the way to the ceiling. It’s an A-frame above. Right now, we’re going to do some fans in here, some lighting, to give it that train station feel.”
Tranzow said he’ll also have a cold room for kegs and tanks for beer to be stored for serving, and that present storage rooms will be turned into the brewhouse space. The space itself, he said, will be a four-barrel brewhouse.
He added he was working with a local food truck to be located on site, as with no space for a kitchen, he won’t have food on the menu.
Once open, Tranzow said he expected to need three to five full-time staffers and a couple part-timers, particularly beer tenders or those who could share knowledge of the beer with customers. He was also looking for another brewer, in addition to himself, as he hoped to have time to interact with visitors in the taproom.
“It was just there’s no way to pass it up,” he added. “I love the old train station. I love the whole feel. In the taproom, we’re going to bring in a floor that back the old mosaic (of) train stations, and I want to get that 1920s feel.
“I’m not going to go overboard with antiques or decorations, but I do want to remind people what it is.”
For more, visit https://desmonddepot.com.
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith. | https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/2022/08/30/new-brewhouse-port-huron-riverfront-desmond-depot-brewhouse/65457923007/ | 2022-08-30T05:27:55Z |
1 dead after seniors served dishwashing liquid at care facility
SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) - A resident of a San Francisco Bay Area senior citizens home died after being mistakenly served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice, the home said.
Three residents of Atria Park Senior Living Facility in San Mateo, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of San Francisco, were taken to the hospital after they were served the drink on Saturday morning, KRON-TV reported.
“We have been working with local authorities, who have informed us that one resident passed away. Our sincerest condolences are with the family,” Atria told the station in a statement.
The facility has suspended the employees involved while it investigates and the facility also is cooperating with authorities, the statement said.
Other details weren’t immediately released.
However, Marcia Cutchin told KRON-TV that the dead resident was her mother, 93-year-old Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell.
Maxwell arrived at the hospital with “severe blistering of her mouth and throat and esophagus,” Cutchin said.
Atria told the family that the substance was an “alkaline cleaning solution that eats protein,” she said.
Her mother had dementia and was incapable of feeding herself, she said.
Maxwell leaves eight children and 20 grandchildren, her daughter said.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/30/1-dead-after-seniors-served-dishwashing-liquid-care-facility/ | 2022-08-30T05:37:22Z |
1 dead after seniors served dishwashing liquid at care facility
SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) - A resident of a San Francisco Bay Area senior citizens home died after being mistakenly served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice, the home said.
Three residents of Atria Park Senior Living Facility in San Mateo, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of San Francisco, were taken to the hospital after they were served the drink on Saturday morning, KRON-TV reported.
“We have been working with local authorities, who have informed us that one resident passed away. Our sincerest condolences are with the family,” Atria told the station in a statement.
The facility has suspended the employees involved while it investigates and the facility also is cooperating with authorities, the statement said.
Other details weren’t immediately released.
However, Marcia Cutchin told KRON-TV that the dead resident was her mother, 93-year-old Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell.
Maxwell arrived at the hospital with “severe blistering of her mouth and throat and esophagus,” Cutchin said.
Atria told the family that the substance was an “alkaline cleaning solution that eats protein,” she said.
Her mother had dementia and was incapable of feeding herself, she said.
Maxwell leaves eight children and 20 grandchildren, her daughter said.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/1-dead-after-seniors-served-dishwashing-liquid-care-facility/ | 2022-08-30T06:53:58Z |
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HONOLULU (KITV)- No charges for Honolulu police officers in an officer involved shooting case from 2019. Plainclothes officers shot and killed Michael Kahalehoe at a gas station in Kapolei. An independent investigation of the incident ramped up a year ago. The results of that investigation were revealed on Monday.
“The use of deadly force that resulted in the death of Mr. Kahalehoe was justified,” said Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm. He says three officers who opened fire on Kahalehoe at the Shell Gas Station in Kapolei in 2019 did so to protect themselves and others.
That investigation, completed by the prosecutor's office, the Kahalehoe family attorney objects to. “It's biased to start. If they really want an independent investigations, hire some outside expert and have them give their opinion,” said attorney Eric A. Seitz who represents the Kahalehoe family.
According to the investigation report, November 12th, 2019, officers in Makakilo spotted a Subaru that was used in 4 armed robberies. Officers later tracked the vehicle to the gas station where Melvin Spillner, one of the men they were looking for in the robberies, was pumping gas. That's when plainclothes officers rolled into the location.
“Officers tackled and apprehended him no shots were fired,” said Alm. Their attention then turned to Kahalehoe who was in the driver's seat of the Subaru.
“He was revving the engine loudly. Multiple officers gave the command for Kahalehoe to turn the engine off and his hands up. And told them they were Police,” said Alm.
“They were not in uniform and we do not believe they identified themselves properly. Everything that ensued is on them,” said Seitz.
According to security footage from the gas station several officers were wearing bulletproof vests with police on the back. One officer tapped his gun on the front window and said something. The car reversed and then moved forward. Two officers fired into the car missing, while three other officers put 12 shots into Kahalehoe. Five of those shots killed him.
“Several officers shot into the vehicle at the same time. The officers behind the vehicle and to the side of the vehicle all shot into the vehicle at the same time. We're saying because he was turning the car back and driving back toward the officers, they were all justified in taking the shots,” said Alm.
“"Basically to the extent that say the car was about to take off and jeopardize their safety, they are trained to avoid that. They are given absolute training to not to put themselves in jeopardy. If they if they claim they were in danger, they did that to themselves,” said Seitz.
The Kahalehoe family filed a civil lawsuit against the City and County of Honolulu in connection with this case. That lawsuit is still pending.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
Jefferson Tyler joined KITV after a lengthy stint in Reno, Nev. where he covered a variety of subjects. From wildfires to presidential elections, Jefferson takes pride in creating balanced stories that keep viewers’ attentions. | https://www.kitv.com/news/business/investigation-ends-with-no-charges-for-officers-involved-in-2019-shooting-of-michael-kahalehoe/article_fd11e3e8-282b-11ed-b65f-bb55161b95a0.html | 2022-08-30T07:21:27Z |
HONOLULU (KITV4) – Many technicians say the mechanic shortage skyrocketed during the pandemic -- and they hope the uptick in students enrolling in trade schools translates into more mechanics in the field.
“This is the foundation for everything. You need people to fix cars, build buildings, and do plumbing. That was the industry that stayed alive during the pandemic. This is a demanding and secure job for people here,” said Robert Silva, automotive technology professor.
According to a 2021 college and career report conducted by the Hawaii Department of Education and the University of Hawaii, the rate of students going to college decreased from 55% to 51% during the pandemic.
Officials at the Transportation and Trades Department at Honolulu Community College said the number of students are consistent. One automotive technology class currently has 18 students, close to the capacity of 20 students.
"I feel like I have the same amount of skills than people who went to college. I also think I got lucky because compared to them I saved a lot more," said Christian Peebles, a fifth-semester automotive student.
The HCC Automotive Technology program is five semesters long and instructors said their students are guaranteed a job after completion.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com | https://www.kitv.com/news/business/to-fight-mechanic-shortage-some-hope-to-recruit-students-to-the-automotive-industry/article_42470f1a-281d-11ed-b99f-dbdc447e5362.html | 2022-08-30T07:21:33Z |
Revealing the grave realities of the paradise most visitors only see through rose-colored glasses is a mission Kyle Kajihiro takes to heart.
He's hoping to affect social change at a critical time in history as Native Hawaiians are being priced out of their own homes and natural resources are being destroyed by the millions of people each year shuffling through the islands.
"The dangers is Waikiki is underwater. We can't feed ourselves. We have fires and floods, droughts," he said. "We've already seen the symptoms of climate change and it will only get worse. So we really need to take this as an emergency."
He's part of the Hawaii Detour Project -- geared mostly towards college and high school students, community groups and activists -- sharing the stories of the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom and the ways the military is jeopardizing Oahu's water supply at Red Hill.
"The military economy is like an addiction and we keep investing in more and more militarism," Kajihiro said. "We've seen the cost of that disaster at Red Hill. This is an existential threat to our life on this island."
Kajihiro's among a growing movement seeking change before it's too late.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority is also marketing the islands in a different way -- in hopes of getting fewer, but higher-spending tourists here so not to tax our natural resources and to ease overcrowding.
"For over 100 years, Hawaii has been portrayed as a playground and those times are pau," said HTA spokesman Ilihia Gionson. "This is our home. And you'll see that sentiment reflected in a lot of the work of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, and the messaging that we send out to potential visitors."
Activists say social media has made it even easier for visitors to desecrate ancestral lands -- with many tourists feeling entitled because they pay to come here.
"It certainly created some new challenges in terms of managing tourism," he said. "Everybody with a cell phone in their pocket is now a media producer and is able to share things that frankly, are not theirs to share."
HTA is encouraging visitors to learn the concept of aloha and respect for the 'aina by observing rules that are meant to keep people safe and protect the environment.
And Kajihiro's hoping to reverse the Hawaii previously marketed to the world as a place with unrestricted access -- one educational tour at a time.
"You know you don't go to someone's house without an invitation. You don't go empty handed. You don't go there to just kind of use them and then leave," Kajihiro said. "You should adopt that mindset rather than think of it as just I paid my my fees and I can go and play and do anything I want."
Kristen joined KITV4 in March 2021 after working for the past two decades as a newspaper reporter. Kristen's goal is to produce meaningful journalism that educates, enlightens and inspires to affect positive change in society. | https://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii-detour-project-educates-visitors-about-the-realities-of-militarization-overtourism/article_6d3d924a-2816-11ed-98c1-7f6ace9928ab.html | 2022-08-30T07:21:39Z |
The Boys Scouts of America have "confirmed the death of a BSA registered youth in the Aloha Council in the State of Hawaii due to a reportedly accidental discharge of a firearm while involved in a Troop activity at Camp Honokaia," according to a BSA statement.
"The Hawaii Police Department is conducting a coroner’s inquest and the Aloha Council is fully cooperating. The investigation is ongoing. The BSA will have further comment as the investigation confirms details of this tragedy.
The Boy Scouts of America extends its sincere condolences to the family of the victim, Troop members and the Aloha Council."
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ORIGINAL STORY
KAPAAU, Hawaii (KITV4) -- Police on the Big Island are investigating after a child was killed in an apparent shooting accident at Camp Honokaia Boy Scout Camp, near Honokaa, Sunday afternoon.
Officers were sent out to the camp just before 2:30 p.m. on a report of an unconscious child following a “shooting incident.” Investigators say they found the child “lifeless,” suffering from a single gunshot wound near the rifle range.
Due to the extent of his injuries, the child was not transported for rescue. He was instead taken to Hilo Medical Center where he was pronounced dead around 8 p.m.
The victim’s age and identity are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Investigators have only said the victim was a pre-teen boy and a Hilo resident. Investigators say the victim was not carrying a weapon at the time of the shooting.
Police say they are interviewing all of the children and adults that were present at the camp. Foul play is not suspected and no arrests have been made, authorities said.
This incident remains under investigation and is classified as a coroner’s inquest. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday to determine the exact cause of death.
Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth issued the following statement on this incident:
“It was with heavy hearts that we learned of the tragic passing of one of our young Boy Scouts yesterday in Honokaʻa. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family in their time of grieving, as we remain hopeful that they will one day find peace. No family should have to suffer the pain of losing a child, and we hope this incident can help increase firearm safety awareness so that other families will not have to suffer the same tragedy. With that, we’d like to ask all of our residents to keep the young man’s family in their thoughts as they face a new journey ahead.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police department’s non-emergency number at 808-935-3311, or Detective Jeremy Kubojiri of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section, at 808-961-2378 or email him at Jeremy.Kubojiri@hawaiicounty.gov.
Matthew has been the digital content manager for KITV4 since September 2021. Matthew is a prolific writer, editor, and self-described "newsie" who's worked in television markets in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii. | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/update-child-killed-in-apparent-accidental-firearm-discharge-at-big-island-boy-scout-camp/article_e82449da-27e5-11ed-aef8-17eb3262ee8d.html | 2022-08-30T07:21:45Z |
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- Do you know what is covered, if you are hurt on the job? We took a look at Hawaii's workers' compensation law.
In the last year the state issued workers comp data, there were more than 20,000 workers' comp cases reported. Twice that amount were processed because of additional older claims.
All of those cases added up to more than $382,454,127 in workers' compensation costs.
When you think of who needs workers' compensation, you may imagine a construction worker getting injured lifting heavy materials on the job. That is just one of nearly 20 industries that have workers' comp claims, ranging from retail to accommodation and food service along with public administration - which has the highest number of claims.
According to state statistics, back injuries, especially sprains and strains, are the most common injury making up nearly 1/4 of the new claims.
Once someone is injured on the job, What is covered by workers' comp? All medical treatment, including surgical and hospital services and supplies. An injured employee can also choose the treating physician.
That coverage continues until the injured employee recovers. Workers are also entitled to 66.6% of lost wages while they are out of work.
But there is a cap: the average weekly wage of the entire covered workforce. For 2019, that meant the maximum an injured worker would receive was $899 a week.
There are also permanent disability benefits if an employee can't return to work, is disfigured or killed.
Vocational training can also be paid for by the plan, if an employee can work again but not at a prior job and has to be trained with new skills.
If workers are hurt on the job, under Hawaii's workers comp law, employees can't sue their employers.
But workers are able to sue someone else who hurts them while working.
For example, a road construction worker injured by a driver while paving a road can't sue his company, but could sue the driver of the car that hit him.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/what-is-covered-under-hawaiis-workers-compensation-law/article_ff2db72e-2817-11ed-aa42-fbd719b13816.html | 2022-08-30T07:21:51Z |
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As Maui County officials iron out a proposal to charge visitors for parking at certain beach parks, some residents are questioning whether the plan would directly mitigate congestion, which it aims to do.
The first phase of the Park Maui program would roll establish a fee for tourists at popular spots in South Maui, including the Kama'ole Parks and Ulua Beach.
Bud Pikrone, General Manager of the Wailea Community Association, claimed Kama'ole simply does not have enough parking stalls.
Under a partnership with the county, the association maintains and patrols five beach parks in Wailea, including Ulua. According to Pikrone, parking at the park is not much of a problem.
"We very seldom see, even in high periods, that there aren't any spaces. If there is...my patrol tells us there's maybe a five minute wait," Pikrone added.
"I know that this is a key to control or take back the beach, as has been said, and that's what I'm concerned with is, we're going to create a 'us versus them.'"
Others, however, consider the project a much-needed solution to tackle overcrowding due to the high volume of tourists on the island.
"We really need to have our residents' quality of life be a priority and be the most important thing in anything moving forward," Maui resident Kai Nishiki said.
The second phase of the project would charge both tourists and residents in business areas across Lahaina and Wailuku -- but the first two hours would be free for locals.
Some suggested the project should target other areas first.
"I do think that over Wailuku, Pa'ia shuld be a priority because I do think Pa'ia would be a better revenue source with all the tourists in the area," resident Tiare Lawrence said.
Emily Kwatinetz of consulting firm Dixon Resources Unlimited, which is helping to manage the project, responded, "while we would love to get started in all those places, we need to start small and adapt the program over time."
The company is considering to enforce the fees by scanning driver's licenses.
About 65 people attended a public meeting to provide feedback on the project. Most of the attendees believed having a Valley Isle zip code should qualify someone as a resident, while others argued for a Hawai'i zip code.
Revenue would go towards county improvements and Lawrence felt the money should be allocated towards improving and restoring culturally significant sites, such as the Moku'ula fishpond in Lahaina.
"Even just at our county beach parks like with native plantings and just doing more in that sense, I think that this would make Park Maui even more special," Lawrence said.
Project leaders plan to roll out the first phase of the program next year.
'A'ali'i is a reporter with KITV. He was born and raised on the island of Maui and graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. | https://www.kitv.com/news/maui-residents-weigh-in-on-plan-to-charge-visitors-for-parking/article_c6138a66-2800-11ed-82fe-c750440eba68.html | 2022-08-30T07:22:03Z |
Serena Williams, playing in what is likely the final tennis tournament of her storied career, opened singles play with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Danka Kovinić in the first round of the US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Williams will open doubles play with her sister Venus on Wednesday.
Williams will face world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the singles round of 64, also on Wednesday. It will be their first career meeting.
After early struggles with her serve Monday evening, Williams took 10 of the final 13 games against Kovinić, a 27-year-old from Montenegro who is ranked 80th in the world.
After the match, during a ceremony celebrating her tennis career, Williams said she got a boost from the vocal crowd of almost 24,000 people. "The crowd was crazy," she said.
Williams double-faulted twice in the first game but eventually upped her first serve percentage to 66%. She won 33 of 43 first serve points.
A key moment came in the sixth game of the first set when Kovinić appeared on the verge of a 4-2 lead. But a Williams shot that looked long and wide was neither, nipping the back of the baseline and outside edge of the singles sideline. It was the first of 11 straight points for Williams as she coasted the rest of the way.
It was Williams' third match since announcing she will "evolve away from tennis."
"I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn't feel like a modern word to me. I've been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people," Williams said in a Vogue article published earlier this month.
"Maybe the best word to describe what I'm up to is evolution. I'm here to tell you that I'm evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me," she said.
At her post-match news conference, she was asked if this is definitely her last tournament.
"Yeah, I've been pretty vague about it, right?" she said with a smile. "I'm going to stay vague because you never know."
But earlier on the court, Williams, 40, said it was a difficult decision to move on.
"I think when you're passionate about something and you love something so much, it's always hard to walk away," she said. "Sometimes I think it's hard to walk away than to not. That's been the case for me."
When asked by Gayle King what winning will be for her in the future, Williams pointed to her venture capital company and also said she wants to work on her spiritual life.
Williams' singles win was witnessed by her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their daughter, Olympia, with the youngster wearing white beads in her hair, reminiscent of Williams' look when she won the first of her six US Open titles as a teenager in 1999.
"I look forward to waking up and just being like, OK, I don't have to run to the court today," Williams said. "I look forward to just being a mom. She's such a good girl. I just want to be a good mom to her."
Also on Monday, Daria Snigur of Ukraine, who won qualifying matches to get into the tournament, upset No. 7 seed Simona Halep of Romania in three sets 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.
"This match for Ukraine, for my family, for all fans who supported me. I want to say thank you all," an emotional Snigur said.
It was Snigur's first-ever Grand Slam match at this level. She won the Wimbledon girls' singles title in 2019.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.kitv.com/news/national/serena-williams-begins-us-open-with-a-convincing-singles-win/article_33d34bd1-ef82-5e20-97a3-d0fe48166bdc.html | 2022-08-30T07:22:10Z |
Updated August 29, 2022 at 9:23 AM ET
NASA's hopes for a Monday launch of the massive Space Launch System rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on a test flight to the moon are on hold for at least a few days after engineers were unable to resolve an engine problem.
One of the four SLS core-stage engines failed to reach the proper temperature for launch, prompting the Artemis I mission's launch director to scrub the planned Monday morning liftoff.
With just 40 minutes left on the countdown, scheduled as early as 8:33 a.m. ET, flight controllers had called a hold while engineers evaluated the problem.
Engineers were dealing with a series of issues in the runup to the planned launch. First, lightning strikes at the pad on Saturday initially caused some concern, but officials later said there was no damage to the vehicle, the capsule or ground equipment. Then came a 45-minutes weather delay early Monday morning that slowed the procedure for filling the core stage with its hydrogen fuel. A leak was also discovered, but resolved.
"We don't launch until it's right," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said after Monday's decision to scrub.
Putting the flight on hold was "illustrative that this is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work," he said.
"You don't want to light the candle until it's ready to go," Nelson, himself an a former space shuttle astronaut, said.
The next launch opportunity for the uncrewed Artemis I launch is Friday. The flight is meant as an initial step in eventually returning humans to the surface of the moon — a flight that could take place as early as 2025.
The 30-story-tall SLS rocket, topped by an uncrewed Orion spacecraft, was rolled out earlier this month to the same historic launch complex used by the mighty Saturn V during the Apollo moonshots that ended in 1972.
This first mission of Artemis — named after the twin sister of Apollo — is a trial run of hardware needed to go back to the moon for longer stays and more science.
"It is an incredible step for all of humankind," NASA astronaut Nicole Mann told NPR's All Things Considered. "This time going to the moon to stay. And it's really the building blocks for our exploration to Mars."
The Artemis program, expected to have an ultimate price tag of $93 billion, promises to refocus NASA's long-term human space-flight goals, paving the way for eventually establishing a crewed base near the moon's south pole and crewed missions to Mars.
But one key piece of the program — the vehicle that will actually land on the moon's surface — will not be part of the first Artemis mission. Elon Musk's SpaceX has been contracted to build a lunar variant of its Starship to take astronauts to the surface. The vehicle has yet to be tested in orbit. Another component of the original Artemis program, Gateway, a sort of deep-space way station for astronauts to and from a future moon base, is also still under development.
It's a modern mission with a retro look
The SLS sports stretched versions of the solid-rocket boosters used by the space shuttle, which last flew more than a decade ago, as well as four RS-25 engines that were refurbished and are being reused after previously flying on shuttle missions. The rocket's upper stage will be powered by a type of engine first developed in the late 1950s.
Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage and upper stage. Boeing's chief engineer for the SLS program, Noelle Zietsman, says that in building the giant rocket, engineers drew from the "foundations and fundamentals" of the Saturn V and space shuttle years.
"We've got our missions that we're focused on right now to the moon," she says. "But [the SLS] is for deep space exploration. ... So, the capability is much greater and larger beyond just the moon landing."
The cone-shaped Orion spacecraft, which will take up to four astronauts into lunar orbit on future missions, resembles the Apollo-era "command module." Finally, a European service module, attached to Orion, is comparable in function to Apollo's service module and will provide propulsion, electricity, water, oxygen and climate control to future crews.
The six-week Artemis I test flight will send Orion into what is known as a distant retrograde orbit, an oblong circuit that will take it just 62 miles from the moon's surface at one point and well beyond the moon at another.
Artemis I's Orion will fly without some life support systems and crew support items or a docking system, which won't be needed on the first flight, says Mike Hawes, Orion program manager for Lockheed Martin, which is building the capsule.
Instead, three mannequins equipped with radiation and vibration sensors will sit in. "Getting the radiation profile and having a long exposure in this unique lunar orbit is really important to us as we get ready to fly crew," Hawes says.
NASA is planning to fly four astronauts aboard Artemis II in 2024, with Artemis III set for the program's first landing a year later. The space agency says the program will eventually put the first woman and first person of color on the moon.
But delays and cost overruns have plagued Artemis, and its predecessor, Constellation, for years. A NASA Inspector General report issued last year predicted that the space agency would "exceed its timetable" for the first Artemis moon landing "by several years."
After liftoff, Artemis I will enter low-Earth orbit, where Orion's service module will unfurl solar panels before boosting itself into a higher orbit in preparation for a four-day trip to lunar orbit.
Artemis could be key in getting to Mars
On a future landing, NASA hopes to be able to mine water ice that has been confirmed deep in polar craters that never see sunlight — a critical resource for drinking, breathable oxygen and to eventually produce rocket fuel. A lunar base could prove an invaluable stepping stone for crewed flights to Mars, where the moon's low gravity would make such missions easier to launch.
NASA recently announced 13 sites near the moon's south pole as candidates for the Artemis III surface mission a few years from now. Those locations have been chosen for ease of landing, exposure to sunlight so that a spacecraft can generate solar power, and their nearness to possible permanently shadowed ice deposits.
"The lunar south pole is an absolutely extraordinary geologic terrain," says David Kring, a lunar geologist at the Center for Lunar Science & Exploration in Houston, Texas. "We are going to learn so much about the evolution of the moon."
"When we better understand the evolution of the moon, we are going to be better understanding the evolution of our own planet Earth," he adds.
A polar mission, however, will be something new. It represents a departure from Apollo, which placed a dozen astronauts at sites all nearer the moon's equator.
"The topography looks a bit more remarkable at the south, just because the sun angle is so low," says Bethany Ehlmann, associate director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies at the California Institute of Technology.
Ehlmann leads a team responsible for Lunar Trailblazer, a robotic mission set for next year that will produce detailed maps of those permanently shadowed crater regions that could contain ice.
At the south pole, "the terrain is comparable" to the Apollo landing sites nearer the equator, she says. "And frankly, landing systems are better now than in the 1970s."
Brendan Byrne of member station WMFE, contributed to this story from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-29/after-a-delay-the-next-launch-opportunity-for-nasas-giant-moon-rocket-is-friday | 2022-08-30T08:22:59Z |
Man accused of attacking 3 with machete after trying to buy guns
PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (News 12) - A New York man accused of attacking three people with a machete at Dick’s Sporting Goods now faces attempted murder charges.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office revealed surveillance video of people running out of the store Aug. 12 in Patchogue, New York, after hearing that a man inside was being attacked with a machete. The attack was also caught on camera, though partially blocked by store shelves.
Prosecutors say 22-year-old Treyvius Tunstall can be seen beating the store manager on the head with a machete, fracturing the victim’s skull and severing tendons in his arms and wrist.
“The defendant then stopped…walked away from the manager, then returned and resumed his attack while the victim was still on the floor,” said District Attorney Ray Tierney.
The manager, who is still suffering from his injuries, had nothing to say in court Monday. Prosecutors say his injuries are so severe he may not be able to regain full use of his fingers.
Prosecutors say after Tunstall attacked the manager, he swung the machete at a customer inside the store, then ran out of the store with the machete and attacked a third person in the parking lot.
“Given the nature of this attack and their injuries, they’re doing remarkably well. We hope that continues, and we will continue to support them,” Tierney said.
Detectives say the incident started when Tunstall walked into a Dick’s location in Bay Shore earlier in the day and asked to buy a rifle. Employees told him that store doesn’t carry guns, so instead, he purchased a machete, knife and backpack.
Tunstall then went to the Dick’s location in Patchogue, which does sell guns. The employee there asked for identification, but the suspect quickly took it back when he heard there would be a background check. He walked away from the counter, and that’s when police say he started the attacks, which were random and unprovoked.
Customers at Dick’s were relieved to hear the charges against Tunstall were upgraded to attempted murder.
“You attack someone with a machete, that’s deserving,” said Chris Robinson, of Holtsville.
Tunstall is being held on $1 million cash bail. If convicted of attempted murder, he could be sentenced up to 25 years in prison.
He is scheduled to return to court in September.
Copyright 2022 News 12 Long Island via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/man-accused-attacking-3-with-machete-after-trying-buy-guns/ | 2022-08-30T08:25:23Z |
Man accused of attacking 3 with machete after trying to buy guns
PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (News 12) - A New York man accused of attacking three people with a machete at Dick’s Sporting Goods now faces attempted murder charges.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office revealed surveillance video of people running out of the store Aug. 12 in Patchogue, New York, after hearing that a man inside was being attacked with a machete. The attack was also caught on camera, though partially blocked by store shelves.
Prosecutors say 22-year-old Treyvius Tunstall can be seen beating the store manager on the head with a machete, fracturing the victim’s skull and severing tendons in his arms and wrist.
“The defendant then stopped…walked away from the manager, then returned and resumed his attack while the victim was still on the floor,” said District Attorney Ray Tierney.
The manager, who is still suffering from his injuries, had nothing to say in court Monday. Prosecutors say his injuries are so severe he may not be able to regain full use of his fingers.
Prosecutors say after Tunstall attacked the manager, he swung the machete at a customer inside the store, then ran out of the store with the machete and attacked a third person in the parking lot.
“Given the nature of this attack and their injuries, they’re doing remarkably well. We hope that continues, and we will continue to support them,” Tierney said.
Detectives say the incident started when Tunstall walked into a Dick’s location in Bay Shore earlier in the day and asked to buy a rifle. Employees told him that store doesn’t carry guns, so instead, he purchased a machete, knife and backpack.
Tunstall then went to the Dick’s location in Patchogue, which does sell guns. The employee there asked for identification, but the suspect quickly took it back when he heard there would be a background check. He walked away from the counter, and that’s when police say he started the attacks, which were random and unprovoked.
Customers at Dick’s were relieved to hear the charges against Tunstall were upgraded to attempted murder.
“You attack someone with a machete, that’s deserving,” said Chris Robinson, of Holtsville.
Tunstall is being held on $1 million cash bail. If convicted of attempted murder, he could be sentenced up to 25 years in prison.
He is scheduled to return to court in September.
Copyright 2022 News 12 Long Island via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/30/man-accused-attacking-3-with-machete-after-trying-buy-guns/ | 2022-08-30T08:39:54Z |
An Afghan American naval reservist and non-profit founder reflects on the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, one year later.
Copyright 2022 NPR
An Afghan American naval reservist and non-profit founder reflects on the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, one year later.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/a-former-u-s-special-forces-translator-reflects-on-the-fall-of-kabul | 2022-08-30T09:53:58Z |
A former Syrian official known as the Grave Digger has become an important witness against the regime - but bears the trauma of what he's seen and described in court.
Copyright 2022 NPR
A former Syrian official known as the Grave Digger has become an important witness against the regime - but bears the trauma of what he's seen and described in court.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/an-unnamed-syrian-official-is-a-key-witness-in-proving-war-crimes-of-the-regime | 2022-08-30T09:54:04Z |
Steak prices have decreased as meatpackers processed more beef. But drought-stricken cattle ranchers are having to cut their herds, which is likely to lead to higher beef prices in the future.
Copyright 2022 NPR
Steak prices have decreased as meatpackers processed more beef. But drought-stricken cattle ranchers are having to cut their herds, which is likely to lead to higher beef prices in the future.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/beef-prices-are-down-right-now-but-that-may-not-last | 2022-08-30T09:54:11Z |
A conservative Christian group is forcing public libraries in South Louisiana to remove books about sexuality, race and gender and targeting the state's Librarian of the Year for her opposition.
Copyright 2022 NPR
A conservative Christian group is forcing public libraries in South Louisiana to remove books about sexuality, race and gender and targeting the state's Librarian of the Year for her opposition.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/conservative-christian-groups-are-targeting-louisiana-libraries | 2022-08-30T09:54:17Z |
Although Hispanic Heritage Month doesn't begin until Sept. 15, DC Comics got an early start by revealing several special covers in their attempt to celebrate the upcoming month.
The covers, which were revealed in June, feature several of DC's superheroes surrounded by, holding, or eating a variety of Latin American foods such as tacos, flan, tamales and platanos fritos. Comic book fans on Twitter, specifically Latino fans, aren't too happy with this interpretation of DC's heroes.
Seriously I cannot get over how pathetically uncreative these covers are when it comes to visually representing Hispanic heritage pic.twitter.com/HbGTLEDPfL
— Travis B. Hill (@travisbhill5) August 27, 2022
Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, who is the creator of his own comic book series La Borinqueña and has collaborated with DC Comics in the past, told NPR that he believes these covers are "tasteless."
"I feel that it is incredibly tone-deaf — almost like a parody of our culture when we're reduced down to food, you know? And that, street food," Miranda-Rodriguez said. "It's very, very codified for me. But it also speaks to how unaware they are that this is coded, that this is offensive, that it is tasteless. And it feels very exhausting."
A cover featuring Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern has received more heat than the rest. It shows the hero holding a large green flag in one hand that reads "Viva Mexico!!" while the other holds a shopping bag filled with tamales. This was not, however, the original illustration.
In June, illustrator Jorge Molina revealed on Twitter that he created a Green Lantern cover for DC. The original illustration was supposed to be an homage to La Patria, a famous mural by Mexican painter Jorge González Camarena. In the unfinished illustration, Green Lantern was holding a lantern instead of tamales, had an eagle with a snake perched on his arm, and was holding a Mexican flag sans the coat of arms.
I did this cover for DC for the #hispanicheritagemonth Kyle Reyner having a Mexican background and being Mexican myself, it was a great honor to have the opportunity to pay tribute to my country and roots, that’s why I decided to pay homage to Jorge Gonzales Camerena pic.twitter.com/463HBs8j0U
— Jorge Molina (@jorge_molinam) June 20, 2022
According to Molina, the cover was "not supposed to see the light of day" due to "legal issues," and how it got promoted by DC remained a mystery to him.
DC Comics tells NPR the Green Lantern cover that raised controversy was not going to be released. "It is part of DC's internal creative process to receive and develop multiple versions of comic artwork from our artists. Some are released as variant covers, others are never used," the company said in a statement. It was "incorrectly reported" to be the official cover.
DC says it plans to release Molina's original cover on Sept. 20.
The company didn't address controversy over other planned covers. Fans across Twitter have taken to the platform to call out DC Comics for portraying Latino heroes only in relation to their food.
Miranda-Rodriguez encouraged Latinos to continue mobilizing and "rocking the boat" when it came social issues like this, but was ultimately disappointed with how DC Comics chose to appeal to their Latino readers.
"Their characters will continue to inspire generations to come like they have before, but it's exhausting when you have a situation like this," he said. "They don't just see this as an opportunity to do something to celebrate our heritage, and in essence, turn it around and make a mockery of our heritage and reduce us to menu items."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/dc-comics-reduces-latinos-to-their-food-in-hispanic-heritage-month-covers-fans-say | 2022-08-30T09:54:23Z |
PHOENIX — It's a hot morning in Phoenix and Paul Yager is getting his vital signs checked at a mobile clinic providing care to homeless patients. He's 64, he's HIV positive and on most nights he sleeps in a park nearby. He credits this team with keeping him alive.
"I've got a lot of life to live, and with God's help, maybe I can live another 10 years," Yager said.
But surviving summers in Phoenix without shelter is hard. In July, when temperatures here stayed above 110 for over a week, Yager said he collapsed and couldn't get up for hours.
"I'm not good anyhow, so it's just not good — it's not healthy for me to be out in this kind of weather," Yager said.
No major U.S. city gets more triple-digit days than Phoenix. But that famous desert heat is harming more and more Arizonans each year. The Phoenix metro area averaged 78 heat-associated deaths per year from 2005 to 2015, according to county records. But the death toll has reached a record-breaking high every summer since 2016. Last year, the region saw an unprecedented 339 heat deaths. This year is on track to be the deadliest yet. Advocates say the real concern is not that Arizona has too much hot weather, but that it doesn't have enough homes.
"This is a really bad summer for us," Dr. Kevin Foster, director of the Arizona Burn Center, told reporters in July.
Pavements can heat up to more than 150 degrees in the Phoenix sun. Every summer, Foster treats patients who fall, can't get up and develop severe burns.
The Arizona Burn Center has treated a high volume of patients this year. And Foster said patient demographics are changing. In the past, patients have typically been older adults who struggle with balance. Recently, Foster's patients have been younger. He said that now they are more often homeless and that more of their falls are related to substance abuse.
"They go down and they stay down for a long time. They end up not only getting really bad burns, but they suffer heat prostration and heatstroke. Oftentimes, their temperatures coming in are 108 or 109 degrees Fahrenheit."
County records show similar demographic shifts. Heat deaths are increasingly occurring outdoors among homeless people. About 60% of cases involve substance use.
"Each and every one of these deaths can be prevented," said David Hondula, director of Phoenix's newly launched Office of Heat Response and Mitigation. "My interpretation is the increase [in heat fatalities] is much more related to what's happening with social services than it is related to climate."
Hondula is concerned that the region's already-hot temperatures are rising. The National Weather Service projects Phoenix will average more than 120 days per year with triple-digit heat by the end of this decade.
But Hondula is more troubled by another trend. The unsheltered homeless population of Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, has tripled since 2016.
A construction shortage dating back to the 2008 Great Recession, paired with explosive population growth, has sent housing prices skyrocketing. That's contributing to a growing population of Arizonans without homes. Hondula said that's turning heat into a more critical public health threat.
"Our unsheltered neighbors are absolutely at the highest risk of heat-associated death," Hondula said. "Our best estimate is that the unsheltered community is at about 200 to 300 times higher risk than the rest of the population."
It's not just the long hours spent outdoors. Hondula said people without shelter also have limited access to medical care, increased likelihood of chronic health problems and high rates of addiction, all of which can raise risk.
Dehydration and exhaustion also can be disastrous for mental health, said psychiatric nurse practitioner Nina Gomez, at the mobile medical clinic run by the nonprofit Circle the City.
"The stress from the heat really exacerbates psychosis, and then it becomes so much harder to get people in to engage in any services," Gomez said.
The city of Phoenix is making large investments to address the housing crisis, announcing in June that it was allocating $70.5 million for affordable housing and homelessness programs. But these issues can't be solved overnight. So for now, organizations like Circle the City try to deliver short-term solutions.
"We're trying to intervene early, so get people hydrated, get them some food, see if they need anything before it gets to a full crisis," Gomez said.
And as the summer drags on, Yager and other unsheltered people at the clinic say they'll drink water, keep a hat on and just try to stay cool.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/homelessness-is-aggravating-harm-caused-by-the-phoenix-heat-medical-personnel-say | 2022-08-30T09:54:30Z |
The village of Tewa, Ariz., recently ramped up its skating scene.
Kids living on the Hopi reservation get to drop in on a new halfpipe in the town's first ever skate park thanks to a team of five teens known as Skate264.
"There wasn't really any place to skate down here. Most of the surrounding area is just dirt and rocks," said Quintin Nahsonhoya, one of the skate collective's co-leads.
The group's main goal was to create a safe space to skate. Before the park, Quintin said he and his friends would skate on gravel paths and highway 264, which is the main interstate that runs through the Hopi reservation.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Skate264 (@skate.264)
"We saw a whole bunch of skaters that were just skating on those little makeshift parks at the basketball courts or on the road or at hospitals or schools — anywhere that has concrete, pretty much," Quintin said. "So we thought it would be a good idea to bring a skatepark out to Hopi just because we didn't want anyone getting hurt or in trouble getting into places they shouldn't be, trying to skate."
Skate264 started two years ago when 17-year-old Quintin was taking a trip through Navajo country and noticed a stark difference between there and his home town.
"There's some tribes around Phoenix too who've gotten some pretty good parks," he said. "Whenever I would go to that part of the country, I would see their skate parks and then I would come back to my reservation and there'd be nothing here. I thought that was kind of unfair."
The Hopi community was immediately on board and rallied behind the teens.
Two years later, and with the help of fundraisers, sponsorships and merchandise sales, they were finally able to build the park – complete with a ledge, kicker ramps and a manual pad.
Tewa wants to continue expanding the park, according to Deidra Honyumptewa, chair of the village's board of directors. The skate park currently sits next to a softball field, but they plan to add lights and a basketball court.
Quintin said he's happy to have been able to spread positive change, and help change the negative stereotypes about skaters.
"Skateboarders aren't like how they're perceived in movies, as punks or like people who just want to get into trouble," he said. "It's just a hobby that we have... and the community understood that."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/how-teens-brought-a-skate-park-to-their-native-american-reservation | 2022-08-30T09:54:36Z |
More people in the U.S. are now smoking marijuana than cigarettes, according to a Gallup poll.
Cigarette use has been trending downward during the past decades, with only 11% of Americans saying they smoke them in a poll conducted July 5 to 26, compared to 45% in the mid-1950s.
Sixteen percent of Americans say they smoke marijuana, with 48% saying they have tried it at some point in their lives. In 1969, only 4% of Americans said they smoked marijuana.
Attitudes around both substances have also shifted dramatically.
In 2019, 83% of Americans said they thought cigarettes were "very harmful" to smokers, while 14% said they are "somewhat harmful." Nine out of 10 adults said in 2013 that smoking causes cancer, while 91% of smokers surveyed in 2015 said they wish they never started.
"Smoking cigarettes is clearly on the decline and is most likely to become even more of a rarity in the years ahead," Gallup Senior Scientist Dr. Frank Newport said. "This reflects both public awareness of its negative effects and continuing government efforts at all levels to curtail its use."
Meanwhile, 53% of people said they think marijuana has positive effects on those who use it in a July poll.
Still, alcohol is the most popular substance, and has remained consistent for a while. 67% of Americans in the most recent poll said they are drinkers, compared to 63% in 1939. About a third totally abstain from alcohol.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/marijuana-use-is-outpacing-cigarette-use-for-the-first-time-on-record | 2022-08-30T09:54:42Z |
Morning news brief NPR Published August 30, 2022 at 3:10 AM MDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Flipboard Listen • 11:05 The FDA is expected to authorize boosters for omicron. Serena Williams wins her first U.S. Open match. And, Ukraine asks the EU to ban Russian travel for tourism. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/morning-news-brief | 2022-08-30T09:54:49Z |
New England is experiencing more frequent droughts, which threaten farmers, deplete water supplies, and increase the risk of wildfires. This summer's been a tough one.
Copyright 2022 WBUR
New England is experiencing more frequent droughts, which threaten farmers, deplete water supplies, and increase the risk of wildfires. This summer's been a tough one.
Copyright 2022 WBUR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/new-england-has-been-suffering-from-frequent-droughts-all-summer | 2022-08-30T09:54:55Z |
Voluntary conservation is embraced by some farmers who get payments. But some governors are comparing the Biden administration's new plan to step up conservation goals to a government takeover.
Copyright 2022 Nebraska Public Media
Voluntary conservation is embraced by some farmers who get payments. But some governors are comparing the Biden administration's new plan to step up conservation goals to a government takeover.
Copyright 2022 Nebraska Public Media | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/republican-politicians-are-critical-of-bidens-voluntary-farm-conservation-plans | 2022-08-30T09:55:02Z |
Serena Williams has left an indelible mark on tennis NPR Published August 30, 2022 at 3:10 AM MDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Flipboard Listen • 5:11 NPR's A Martinez speaks with The Atlantic's Jemele Hill about the legacy of tennis phenom Serena Williams. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/serena-williams-has-left-an-indelible-mark-on-tennis | 2022-08-30T09:55:08Z |
In what might be the final tournament of her storied tennis career, Serena Williams won an emotional match in straight sets in the first round of the U.S. Open last night.
Copyright 2022 NPR
In what might be the final tournament of her storied tennis career, Serena Williams won an emotional match in straight sets in the first round of the U.S. Open last night.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/serena-williams-wins-her-first-round-match-of-what-could-be-her-last-u-s-open | 2022-08-30T09:55:14Z |
The Food and Drug Administration is planning to authorize a new generation of COVID-19 boosters this week that for the first time will target the omicron variant.
Copyright 2022 NPR
The Food and Drug Administration is planning to authorize a new generation of COVID-19 boosters this week that for the first time will target the omicron variant.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/the-fda-is-expected-to-authorize-a-new-covid-booster-that-targets-omicron | 2022-08-30T09:55:21Z |
We've got any number of devices we can strap to our bodies to track our footsteps, heart rate, and sleep patterns. Next up, possibly — sweat monitoring for precision rehydration and worker safety.
Copyright 2022 NPR
We've got any number of devices we can strap to our bodies to track our footsteps, heart rate, and sleep patterns. Next up, possibly — sweat monitoring for precision rehydration and worker safety.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/this-massachusetts-startup-wants-to-track-your-sweat | 2022-08-30T09:55:27Z |
Ukraine wants the EU to ban Russian tourists NPR Published August 30, 2022 at 3:10 AM MDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Flipboard The European Union is being asked to join member countries along the Russian border and reject tourist travel by Russians. Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/ukraine-wants-the-eu-to-ban-russian-tourists | 2022-08-30T09:55:33Z |
Despite a massive marketing campaign, Pew research found just 16% of Americans have invested in or used cryptocurrency. Leila Fadel asks Blockchain Foundation's Cleve Mesidor why?
Copyright 2022 NPR
Despite a massive marketing campaign, Pew research found just 16% of Americans have invested in or used cryptocurrency. Leila Fadel asks Blockchain Foundation's Cleve Mesidor why?
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-08-30/why-americans-havent-been-convinced-on-cryptocurrency | 2022-08-30T09:55:40Z |
Eyes on Kherson as Ukraine claims bold move on Russians
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - A surge in fighting on the southern front line and a Ukrainian claim of new attacks on Russian positions fed speculation Tuesday that a long-expected counteroffensive to try to turn the tide of war has started.
Officials in Kyiv, though, warned against excessive optimism in a war that has seen similar expectations of changing fortunes before.
Even though independent verification of battlefield moves has been extremely tough, the British defense ministry said in an intelligence report that, as of early Monday, “several brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces increased the weight of artillery fires in front line sectors across southern Ukraine.”
Attention centered on potential damage Ukraine might have inflicted on Russian positions around the port city of Kherson, a major economic hub close to the Black Sea and one of Moscow’s prized possessions since it started the invasion just over half a year ago.
Ukraine’s presidential office reported Tuesday that “powerful explosions continued during the day and night in the Kherson region. Tough battles are ongoing practically across all” of the strategic area. Ukrainian forces, the report said, have destroyed a number of ammunition depots in the region and all large bridges across the Dnieper that are vital to bring supplies to the Russian troops.
Russian state news agency Tass reported five explosions rocking Kherson on Tuesday morning — blasts likely caused by air defense systems at work.
The Ukrainian military’s Operation Command South also reported destroying a pontoon crossing the Dnieper that the Russian forces were setting up and hitting a dozen command posts in several areaas of the Kherson region with artillery fire.
“The most important thing is Ukrainian artillery’s work on the bridges, which the Russian military can no longer use,” Ukrainian independent military analyst Oleh Zhdanov told The Associated Press.
“Even the barges have been destroyed. The Russians can’t sustain forces near Kherson — this is the most important.”
On Monday, the southern command center’s Nataliya Gumenyuik told Ukrainian news outlet Liga.Net that Kyiv’s forces have launched offensive operations “in many directions in our area of responsibility and have breached the enemy’s first line of defense.” The statement quickly made headlines after weeks of reports that Ukraine forces were preparing an offensive there and as Ukrainian attacks on the Kherson region intensified.
Zhdanov said that Russia has three lines of defense in the Kherson region, and breaching the first one signals only “isolated offensive actions by the Ukrainian army.”
The war has ground to a stalemate over the past months with casualties rising and the local population bearing the brunt of suffering during relentless shelling in the east and also in the wider area around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant which has also been at the heart of fighting in Ukraine.
Amid fears the plant could be damaged, leading to a radioactive leak, a U.N. nuclear watchdog team has arrived in Kyiv and is further preparing a mission to safeguard the Russian-occupied plant from nuclear catastrophe.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for the International Atomic Energy Agency experts, who will visit the plant in a country where the 1986 Chernobyl disaster spewed radiation throughout the region, shocking the world and intensifying a global push away from nuclear energy.
“Without an exaggeration, this mission will be the hardest in the history of IAEA,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Compounding an already complicated task is the inability of both sides in the war to agree on much beyond allowing the team to go there. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling the wider region around the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, time and again.
Nikopol, which is just across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia plant, once again came under a barrage of heavy shelling, local authorities said, with a bus station, stores and a children’s library sustaining damage.
The dangers of an accident are now so high that officials have begun handing out anti-radiation iodine tablets to nearby residents.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to speculation about whether his forces had launched a major counteroffensive by asking in his nightly video address Monday, “Anyone want to know what our plans are? You won’t hear specifics from any truly responsible person. Because this is war.” His adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, cautioned against “super-sensational announcements” about a counteroffensive.
From the other side, the Moscow-appointed regional leader of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, dismissed the Ukrainian assertion of an offensive in the Kherson region as false. He said Ukrainian forces have suffered heavy losses in the area. And For its part, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had inflicted heavy personnel and military equipment losses on Ukrainian troops.
The Kherson region is just north of the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 to set off a conflict that was frozen until the Feb. 24 invasion.
___
Yuras Karmanau contributed from Tallinn, Estonia.
___
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/2022/08/30/eyes-kherson-ukraine-claims-bold-move-russians/ | 2022-08-30T09:56:46Z |
Cookies sold at Target recalled due to possible wire pieces
(CNN) - A popular snack item sold at Target is being pulled from store shelves for safety-related concerns.
D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Co., Inc. announced a voluntary recall of its 44-ounce Market Pantry White Fudge Animal Cookies. The cookies come in a clear plastic container shaped like a bear and were sold nationally in Target stores.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, the products in question might contain small metal fragments.
The recall only affects products with a specific best by date, lot numbers and time stamps. This information can be found printed on the back side of the jug on the product label, below the nutritional panel.
The best by date in question is 21FEB2023 with jug and case lot numbers of Y052722 and a time stamp between 15:00 to 23:00. The UPC code is 085239817698.
Consumers who bought these cookies are advised to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. Gray News contributed to this report. | https://www.wvva.com/2022/08/30/cookies-sold-target-recalled-due-possible-wire-pieces/ | 2022-08-30T10:11:10Z |
Eyes on Kherson as Ukraine claims bold move on Russians
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - A surge in fighting on the southern front line and a Ukrainian claim of new attacks on Russian positions fed speculation Tuesday that a long-expected counteroffensive to try to turn the tide of war has started.
Officials in Kyiv, though, warned against excessive optimism in a war that has seen similar expectations of changing fortunes before.
Even though independent verification of battlefield moves has been extremely tough, the British defense ministry said in an intelligence report that, as of early Monday, “several brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces increased the weight of artillery fires in front line sectors across southern Ukraine.”
Attention centered on potential damage Ukraine might have inflicted on Russian positions around the port city of Kherson, a major economic hub close to the Black Sea and one of Moscow’s prized possessions since it started the invasion just over half a year ago.
Ukraine’s presidential office reported Tuesday that “powerful explosions continued during the day and night in the Kherson region. Tough battles are ongoing practically across all” of the strategic area. Ukrainian forces, the report said, have destroyed a number of ammunition depots in the region and all large bridges across the Dnieper that are vital to bring supplies to the Russian troops.
Russian state news agency Tass reported five explosions rocking Kherson on Tuesday morning — blasts likely caused by air defense systems at work.
The Ukrainian military’s Operation Command South also reported destroying a pontoon crossing the Dnieper that the Russian forces were setting up and hitting a dozen command posts in several areaas of the Kherson region with artillery fire.
“The most important thing is Ukrainian artillery’s work on the bridges, which the Russian military can no longer use,” Ukrainian independent military analyst Oleh Zhdanov told The Associated Press.
“Even the barges have been destroyed. The Russians can’t sustain forces near Kherson — this is the most important.”
On Monday, the southern command center’s Nataliya Gumenyuik told Ukrainian news outlet Liga.Net that Kyiv’s forces have launched offensive operations “in many directions in our area of responsibility and have breached the enemy’s first line of defense.” The statement quickly made headlines after weeks of reports that Ukraine forces were preparing an offensive there and as Ukrainian attacks on the Kherson region intensified.
Zhdanov said that Russia has three lines of defense in the Kherson region, and breaching the first one signals only “isolated offensive actions by the Ukrainian army.”
The war has ground to a stalemate over the past months with casualties rising and the local population bearing the brunt of suffering during relentless shelling in the east and also in the wider area around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant which has also been at the heart of fighting in Ukraine.
Amid fears the plant could be damaged, leading to a radioactive leak, a U.N. nuclear watchdog team has arrived in Kyiv and is further preparing a mission to safeguard the Russian-occupied plant from nuclear catastrophe.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for the International Atomic Energy Agency experts, who will visit the plant in a country where the 1986 Chernobyl disaster spewed radiation throughout the region, shocking the world and intensifying a global push away from nuclear energy.
“Without an exaggeration, this mission will be the hardest in the history of IAEA,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Compounding an already complicated task is the inability of both sides in the war to agree on much beyond allowing the team to go there. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling the wider region around the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, time and again.
Nikopol, which is just across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia plant, once again came under a barrage of heavy shelling, local authorities said, with a bus station, stores and a children’s library sustaining damage.
The dangers of an accident are now so high that officials have begun handing out anti-radiation iodine tablets to nearby residents.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to speculation about whether his forces had launched a major counteroffensive by asking in his nightly video address Monday, “Anyone want to know what our plans are? You won’t hear specifics from any truly responsible person. Because this is war.” His adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, cautioned against “super-sensational announcements” about a counteroffensive.
From the other side, the Moscow-appointed regional leader of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, dismissed the Ukrainian assertion of an offensive in the Kherson region as false. He said Ukrainian forces have suffered heavy losses in the area. And For its part, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had inflicted heavy personnel and military equipment losses on Ukrainian troops.
The Kherson region is just north of the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 to set off a conflict that was frozen until the Feb. 24 invasion.
___
Yuras Karmanau contributed from Tallinn, Estonia.
___
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/2022/08/30/eyes-kherson-ukraine-claims-bold-move-russians/ | 2022-08-30T10:11:16Z |
HONOLULU (KITV)- The score may not have been what fans wanted, but hometown fans who stood in the stands and cheered for the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team were still fired up about the first game of the season. There's something special about seeing it firsthand, you can't experience any other way.
The ring of the ticket scanner is music to some people's ears. “Some great new fans. Old or brand new, it's a great time to be alive out here,” said UH fan Joey who is attending the first home game of the season. “Oh my goodness, this is such a relief. Last season we had to do social distancing and the mask mandate. It was hard to cheer,” said Christopher Cheek who is attending the game.
Cheek is excited to be in a stadium cheering on the Rainbow Warriors, without having to deal with COVID restrictions. He's even brought a little bit of football tradition with him, Ti leaves. “We use it to bless our players. And give them good luck as well. So what we do is we bring it from home. Pass it out to all the UH fans. So we can cheer our team on,” said Cheek.
Cheek's Shaka hand gesture says it all. Hang loose. Win or lose. Fans continue to cheer the team on. “You got to come out and support the local people. Always no matter what. Home town, boy let's go,” said Cory Aliimanouki who is at the game.
HONOLULU (KITV)- The stadium experience adds another level to Hawaii Aloha for the team. It's something even the opposing team's fans can appreciate. The energy from the crowd. You feel that spirit come alive. See warriors on the field. That's going to be incredible,” said one Vanderbilt fan who has come to Oahu to see the game.
Some come for the family experience. “I'm here for the band. Because it's my son's first time playing with the marching band this year,” said Megan Hayashi.
Others come for the music or the food. Being at the game in person has that rainbow magic. “It's the atmosphere. The band and music and the game all together. It's a lot of fun,” said Hayashi.
Jefferson Tyler joined KITV after a lengthy stint in Reno, Nev. where he covered a variety of subjects. From wildfires to presidential elections, Jefferson takes pride in creating balanced stories that keep viewers’ attentions. | https://www.kitv.com/news/business/first-home-game-has-fans-fired-up-even-with-the-first-loss-of-the-season/article_d9dd41d8-2830-11ed-9425-970f005bd4b5.html | 2022-08-30T10:23:35Z |
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- Hawaii residents who want to build or renovate their home wait three times longer for permits, on average, than those in other states, according to a University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization Brief.
That's why a Honolulu City Council member is requesting an investigation into the City Department of Planning and Permitting's backlog of permits.
The investigation follows a townhall meeting with the City Department of Planning and Permitting plus local builders. Council member Andria Tupola held the townhall meeting to address frustrations with residential and commercial permit wait times, which are said to take up to 24 months.
Following the meeting, the DPP released this requested report of permits. About 35-hundred applications are in the pre-screening phase, almost 48-hundred permits are in planning review .. and more than 11-hundred permits have been approved.
"Every week, I get calls from people who have a permit stuck in the permitting process," says Andria Tupola, City Council Member District 1. "These are people building affordable housing; doing renovations on their home; who own restaurants. These are people frustrated that businesses are operating without a permit. So there is not a day we don't have to deal with a permit issue.
Compounding its image as an agency mired in bureaucratic inefficiency: nearly 2 years ago, five DPP employees were arrested on federal bribery charges.
"Since that happened and the audits happened, things have really slowed down dramatically.. but obviously COVID is probably a big factor as well. Those two things weighing out, permits are taking 12 months to 16 to 18 months now for our projects. Still not only challenging in itself but a lot of those time frames are in the dark, " says Richie Breaux of ATN Construction.
Builders say, the process needs to be streamlined to make it easier for small construction companies versus big construction projects.
Ryan Awong, Elite Auto Detail HI explains: "I shouldn't be standing in line with a guy who is trying to build a 40-story building. Those guys should have their own area. I think that will take care of a majority of the back log. You got to give the big boys their stuff -- they get the economy going and we understand that."
D.P.P. says it is suffering from a 30% vacancy rate. The 2023 City Budget includes filling 80 vacancies plus hiring 80 new people, so the city hopes to fill 160 positions at D.P.P. within the next 3 years.
"We're trying to build capacity within the department -- so we can process permits faster, " says Dean Uchida, Dept. of Planning & Permitting. "It's just a staffing and resource issue right now. The budget reflects where our focus is going to be going forward trying to eliminate the problem once and for all. "
D.P.P. is proposing a 15 million dollar software upgrade to help with streamlining the process. Councilmember Tupola says, the budget for the software has not yet been approved.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to Cyip@kitv.com
Cynthia is an award-winning journalist who returned to Hawaii as an Anchor/Reporter/MMJ from Houston. She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a B.A. and M.B.A. DM her on IG @CynthiaYipTV to share stories. | https://www.kitv.com/news/local/building-permit-backlogs-create-problems-for-homeowners-renovation-plans/article_2d3c6d86-281d-11ed-9ce4-6f6d31a2dcef.html | 2022-08-30T10:23:41Z |
Deadly floods that threaten to engulf up to a third of Pakistan by the end of the monsoon season have caused more than $10 billion in damages, according to officials, as the international community responds to the crisis-hit country's pleas for help.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal revealed the estimated cost Monday, telling CNN: "The world needs to come to Pakistan's assistance to deal with the effects of climate change."
In a statement Tuesday, Pakistan's military said rescue missions were ongoing and international aid was beginning to arrive in the country, including seven military aircraft from Turkey and three from the United Arab Emirates.
Helicopters had evacuated more than 300 stranded people and distributed over 23 metric tons of relief items, while more than 50 medical camps have been established with over 33,000 patients being treated, the statement said.
Also on Tuesday, China will send two aircraft carrying 3,000 tents and Japan will send tarpaulins and shelters, the statement said, adding that the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Azerbaijan have announced financial assistance.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided another lifeline Monday, releasing $1.17 billion in bailout funds to avert a default on the South Asian nation's debt obligations as it grapples with political and economic turmoil worsened by the unprecedented floods.
Peter Ophoff, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Pakistan told CNN he had not seen anything on the scale of the floods in nearly three decades working for the aid agency.
"Pakistan is in dire need and the damages are here and we will be in this a very long time," he said. "It's not months but years we are talking about."
About 33 million people -- or 15% of the population -- have been affected by the flooding and severe rains, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
At least 1,136 people, including 386 children, have been killed and 1,634 injured since mid-June, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said Monday, as the unrelenting rain raised fears of more fatalities to come. The floods have also destroyed key infrastructure including more than 130 bridges and nearly half a million homes, according to NDMA.
"By the time this is over, we could well have one quarter or one third of Pakistan under water," Pakistan's climate change minister Sherry Rehman told Turkish news outlet TRT World last week.
'Water gushed in'
Dramatic scenes of disaster have unfolded in Pakistan as floods inundated the country.
It was raining but not heavily, Ali Jan told Reuters Monday, as he stood surrounded by water in Chadsadda in northern Pakistan. But that quickly changed.
"Suddenly the outer wall of the compound collapsed and water gushed in," Jan said. "We barely managed to save ourselves. By the time the women were leaving the house, the water had become almost waist-deep. We evacuated the women and the cattle. The rest is there for you to see. Crops have also been destroyed."
In videos shared by the Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan, its volunteers used a bed frame and makeshift pulley system to help a child and elderly man cross rushing floodwaters, according to the NGO's digital media manager Ihtisham Khaliq Waseer.
More than 3,000 volunteers from the NGO are distributing aid across the country, he said.
"We are getting aid but it's not enough with what we need on the ground, because the damages are very much higher than expected," he said, adding that volunteer teams have been stretched thin delivering supplies to hard-to-reach areas for weeks.
Waseer said he hopes that as rains weaken and flood waters recede in the coming week based on weather forecasts, his team would be able to deliver food rations and set up medical centers in remote areas.
Climate crisis
Even before the floods, Pakistan had disproportionately suffered from the climate crisis, according to researchers and aid groups. Last year, Pakistan ranked the eighth most affected nation by climate change from 2000 to 2019, in the Global Climate Risk Index by non-profit group Germanwatch.
"This is a climate crisis," Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF's representative in Pakistan told CNN. "A climate that has been mostly done by richer countries, contributing to the crisis, and I think it is time that the world responded to support Pakistan in this time of need."
In a statement Monday, IRC's Pakistan country director Shabnam Baloch said the country is "suffering the consequences of the world's inaction" on climate change "despite producing less than 1% of the world's carbon footprint."
A lack of hygiene facilities and clean drinking water has exacerbated the risk of diseases spreading in flooded areas, with nearly 20,000 people in need of critical food supplies and medical support, Baloch added.
"Our needs assessment showed that we are already seeing a major increase in cases of diarrhea, skin infections, malaria and other illnesses," she said. "We are urgently requesting donors to step up their support and help us save lives."
IMF bailout
The funds earmarked for release by the IMF on Monday are part of a 2019 bailout agreement to "put Pakistan's economy on the path of sustainable and balanced growth," according to the IMF.
"Pakistan's economy has been buffeted by adverse external conditions, due to spillovers from the war in Ukraine, and domestic challenges," Antoinette Sayeh, IMF deputy managing director and acting chair said in a statement Monday.
The IMF has been criticized in the past for imposing strict austerity on receiver nations, forcing governments to cut social programs and privatize national industries.
Conditions set by the IMF have forced Pakistan's government to make unpopular decisions such as raising electricity tariffs and doubling the cost of fuel amid skyrocketing inflation.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. | https://www.kitv.com/news/national/damage-caused-by-pakistan-floods-totals-more-than-10-billion-minister-says/article_544637d2-f572-5a3a-bc35-a09f73f41fca.html | 2022-08-30T10:23:47Z |
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Biden to talk crime, gun control in swing state Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is ready to talk up his crime prevention plans during a visit to Pennsylvania, where Democrats and Republicans are looking for ways to gain leverage on the issue ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The White House said Biden will use his Tuesday visit to call out Republicans for opposing his proposal to restore a ban on assault-style weapons.
Both parties worked together in a rare effort to pass bipartisan gun safety legislation earlier this year after massacres in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, but Biden has repeatedly said more needs to be done.
As a U.S. senator, Biden played a leading role in temporarily banning assault-style weapons, including firearms similar to the AR-15 that have exploded in popularity in recent years, and he wants to put the law back into place.
“A majority of Americans support this ... the NRA opposes it,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. “So we’re going to hear from the president about the importance of making sure we protect our communities.”
Biden’s speech at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre comes as Democrats try to blunt Republican efforts to use concern about crime to their advantage in the midterms.
It’s a particularly fraught issue in Pennsylvania, a key swing state where a U.S. Senate seat and the governor’s office are up for grabs.
The Republican candidate for governor, Doug Mastriano, accuses Democrat Josh Shapiro of being soft on crime as the state’s twice-elected attorney general, saying at one recent event that crime has gone up on his opponent’s watch and that Shapiro “stands aside” as homicides rise across Pennsylvania.
Homicides have been increasing in Pennsylvania, but overall crime seems to have fallen over the last year, according to state statistics.
As attorney general since 2017, Shapiro has toured the state discussing the need to crack down on gun trafficking and ghost guns, and to recruit more police officers. Last December, he said that state agents and Philadelphia police officers working together had reduced the number of shootings in areas that were confronting gun violence related to drug trafficking.
Shapiro plans to attend Tuesday’s event with Biden.
The Republican U.S. Senate nominee, heart surgeon turned television celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz, has tried to portray the Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, as extreme and reckless on crime policy.
Fetterman has endorsed recommendations that more geriatric and rehabilitated prisoners can be released from state prisons without harming public safety. Oz and Republicans have distorted that into the claim that Fetterman wants to release “dangerous criminals” from prisons or that he’s in favor of “emptying prisons.”
Fetterman does not plan to be in Wilkes-Barre with Biden, but he’s expected to march in Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade when the president visits Monday. Biden also will be in Pennsylvania on Thursday for a prime-time speech that the White House said will address “the continued battle for the soul of the nation” and defending democracy.
It’s unclear whether crime will end up as a pivotal issue in November.
Only 11% of U.S. adults named crime or violence as one of the top five issues they consider most important for the government to work on in the next year, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in June. That’s unchanged since December, and it’s well below the percentage naming many of the other top issues for Americans.
Biden has tried to balance his approach to crime by acknowledging voters’ fears and praising law enforcement, but also urging more accountability for officers.
He’s rejected the activist slogan “defund the police,” which Republicans have used as a cudgel against Democrats in general, by calling for more money for cops.
Jean-Pierre said Monday that Biden will speak in Wilkes-Barre about the “simple basic notion that when it comes to public safety in this nation, the answer isn’t to defund the police, but to fund the police.”
Biden also plans to talk about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the role that law enforcement played in defending Congress. He previously focused on that issue in a virtual address to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives on July 25.
“The police were heroes that day,” he said. “Donald Trump lacked the courage to act. The brave women and men in blue all across this nation should never forget that. You can’t be pro-insurrection and pro-cop.”
Biden’s trip to Wilkes-Barre was originally scheduled for July 21 but was cancelled when the president contracted COVID-19 and went into isolation while he was contagious.
Biden has laid out a $37 billion plan for addressing crime and boosting law enforcement resources. He wants Congress to spend $13 billion to help communities hire and train 100,000 police officers over five years. Another $3 billion would go to clearing court backlogs and resolving cases involving murders and guns, and $5 billion more would go to support programs that could help stop violence before it occurs.
In addition, Biden is looking for $15 billion to provide grants to initiatives for preventing violent crime or creating public health responses to nonviolent incidents.
___
Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pa. Associated Press writer Emily Swanson contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/biden-talk-crime-gun-control-swing-state-pennsylvania/ | 2022-08-30T10:41:58Z |
Cookies sold at Target recalled due to possible wire pieces
(CNN) - A popular snack item sold at Target is being pulled from store shelves for safety-related concerns.
D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Co., Inc. announced a voluntary recall of its 44-ounce Market Pantry White Fudge Animal Cookies. The cookies come in a clear plastic container shaped like a bear and were sold nationally in Target stores.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, the products in question might contain small metal fragments.
The recall only affects products with a specific best by date, lot numbers and time stamps. This information can be found printed on the back side of the jug on the product label, below the nutritional panel.
The best by date in question is 21FEB2023 with jug and case lot numbers of Y052722 and a time stamp between 15:00 to 23:00. The UPC code is 085239817698.
Consumers who bought these cookies are advised to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. Gray News contributed to this report. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/08/30/cookies-sold-target-recalled-due-possible-wire-pieces/ | 2022-08-30T10:42:04Z |
SHENYANG, China, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Spanning a course of three days, the 2022 Northeast Asia Cultural Tourism Creation Expo kicked off in Shenyang on August 26th under the central theme of "joint participation in a cultural tourism gala, sharing of creativity and the future".
This year's exposition comprises five major exhibition zones: the Shenyang and Shenyang Modernized Metropolitan Area Exhibition Zone, Domestic Exhibition Zone, International Exhibition Zone, Creative Science and Technology Exhibition Zone, and Stage Performance Zone. 142 exhibitors from both China and abroad descended on Shenyang with a plethora of exhibitions, a diverse range of shows and performances, and a wide array of information to present to foreign and Chinese travelers a cultural tourism gala unlike any other, according to the Information Office of Shenyang People's Government.
This year's exposition fully showcased some of China's most popular cultural tourism cities (city clusters), and distinct culture and unique tourism resources of key tourist destination countries and cities in Northeast Asia and elsewhere around the globe. Of which, there were plenty of displays of tourism products, cultural creativity products, 5G applications, artificial intelligence and other products and technologies, enabling both citizens and tourists to get first-hand knowledge and experience on the immense possibilities when culture, tourism, science and technology meld, and to personally immerse into the novelty and joys of various exhibiting products.
The exposition specially set up the Shenyang Modernized Metropolitan Area "Seven Cities and One District" Exhibition Zone, which focused on contents such as unique local history and culture, tourist attractions, cultural creativity products, cultural performances, etc. During the span of the expo, the Shenyang Modernized Metropolitan Area "Seven Cities and One District" presented a joint declaration on integrated cultural tourism development with the aim of fully giving play to the region's complementary advantages stemming from cultural tourism resources and endowments, cultivating new business formats and new scenarios that complement each other, and concertedly forging a cultural tourism intellectual property system shared by members of the region.
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Caption: The 2022 Northeast Asia Cultural Tourism Creation Expo
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SOURCE The Information Office of Shenyang People's Government | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/2022-northeast-asia-cultural-tourism-creation-expo-opened-shenyang/ | 2022-08-30T10:42:11Z |
BEIJING, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The 5th Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation (the "Forum"), co-hosted by the National Radio and Television Administration of China, the People's Government of Beijing Municipality and the African Union of Broadcasting, concluded successfully on August 26 in Beijing, China.
The forum themed "New Vision, New Development, and New Cooperation", released cooperative achievements of China-Africa media cooperation in the following four categories:
- Program co-broadcasting: nearly 30 excellent audiovisual productions from 20 African countries will be aired by the provincial/municipal TV stations as well as the internet platforms including Youku and MangoTV.
- Documentary creation: China has produced a series of documentaries centering on Chinese and African cultures and cooperation, including "Lion Heart" and "Chinese Meet Africa," which will be aired soon.
- Program innovation: China has developed special programs and forums for Chinese and African youths that have been launched to explore new opportunities and challenges in cultural and educational exchanges. As an example, iFeng.com has produced programs including "Global Youth" and "Dialogue with the World."
- New media cooperation: a series of video projects have been developed in collaboration with African countries to promote industry exchange and product trade.
Founded in 2012, the Forum has been a key platform for Chinese and African media to facilitate extensive and in-depth cooperation in broadcasting, including key projects such as screening seasons of excellent Chinese TV series in Africa, co-production and co-broadcasting of TV content, installing satellite TV for 10,000 African villages and more. More than 3,000 professional broadcasting talents have received training from the Chinese media.
Centering on the application of advanced audiovisual technologies and digital development integration, the Forum's interactive exhibition of audio-visual technologies featured a number of Chinese content and tech companies to demonstrate the latest products and technologies in IPTV, VR, AR, cloud gaming, immersive audiovisual, smart terminals, ultra HD and more.
During the Forum, iQIYI Inc. showcased QIYU VR, its flagship headset designed and developed with the goal of revolutionizing the best viewing experience. XLOONG's AR convergence media smart glasses system has comprehensively leveraged the advanced technologies of AR, fluoroscopic near-eye optical display, 3D registration and SLAM, AI and image stabilization to achieve convenient and efficient functions like short news video recording, live broadcast, and video link to support production and broadcasting as a supplement to existing media broadcasting equipment. LUSTER LightTech presented its self-developed FZMotion optical motion capture system and LuXR camera tracking system that use motion capture and UAV tracking and positioning in the process of video production, realizing the simulation of virtual digital scenes of the city.
The Forum also published a joint declaration that reviewed and summarized the decade of achievements of China-Africa media cooperation as well as mapped the prospects and expectations for future media development.
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SOURCE The 5th Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/5th-forum-china-africa-media-cooperation-promotes-digital-media-development-strengthens-strategic-partnership/ | 2022-08-30T10:42:18Z |
LYSAKER, Norway, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aker Solutions ASA ("Aker Solutions"), Schlumberger and Subsea 7 have entered into agreements to form a Joint Venture ("JV") to deliver a step change in subsea production economics by helping customers unlock reserves, reduce time to first oil and lower development costs while simultaneously delivering on their decarbonization objectives.
Aker Solutions and Schlumberger will contribute their subsea businesses into the JV which following the transactions will be owned by Schlumberger (70%), Aker Solutions (20%) and Subsea 7 (10%).
This combination brings together deep reservoir domain and engineering design expertise, an extensive field-proven subsea production and processing technology portfolio, world-class manufacturing scale and capabilities, and a comprehensive suite of life-of-field solutions to customers all over the world.
The transactions are interdependent and subject to regulatory approvals, as well as other customary closing conditions, and are expected to close during the second half 2023.
The transaction structure and terms - Aker Solutions will receive USD 700 million in consideration for the sale of a 20% ownership in the JV and retain a 20% ownership in the JV as follows:
- USD 306.5 million in proceeds from Schlumberger which will be settled in the form of shares in Schlumberger. The shares will be settled based on the volume weighted average price for the ten trading days ending on the fifth trading day preceding closing of the transaction and is subject to a lock-up period of minimum 180 days
- USD 306.5 million in proceeds from 10% divestment to Subsea 7 which will be settled in cash. USD 153 million of these will be settled at closing and the remaining USD 153.5 million will be settled, with interest, at the latest on June 30, 2024
- USD 87.5 million in proceeds from a vendor note from the JV to be paid, with interest, to Aker Solutions with minimum 50% one year from closing and the remainder within two years from closing
- Subsea Integration Alliance, currently an unincorporated alliance between Schlumberger and Subsea 7, will continue between the JV and Subsea 7. The alliance will be extended by 10 years from the closing date of the transaction
- The Board of directors of the JV will consist of three representatives from Schlumberger, two from Aker Solutions and one from Subsea 7
- The combined business will have approximately 9,000 highly skilled employees globally. Estimated synergy potential is more than USD 100 million per annum in the medium term, and the JV will have an attractive dividend policy
Each party will operate their businesses independently and in the normal course until closing. Based on a scenario where closing takes place in the fourth quarter of 2023, Aker Solutions will in addition to the value of the transactions retain an estimated USD 300 million of cash generation from its subsea business, for the seven quarters from second quarter of 2022 until end 2023.
"This joint venture will bring together world-class businesses that are uniquely positioned to provide subsea technologies to help our customers improve recovery and reduce overall subsea development costs," said Schlumberger Chief Executive Officer Olivier Le Peuch. "Customers will benefit from enhanced services that leverage digital and technology innovation to drive improved performance while increasing energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions."
"By combining our strong and complementary competence and technologies, this compelling combination will deliver an industry step change that will benefit our customers, employees and significantly increase shareholder value. The offshore market activity is increasing, and this joint venture will drive enhanced offerings both in terms of subsea production economics and low-carbon solutions," said Kjetel Digre, Chief Executive Officer of Aker Solutions.
Subsea Integration Alliance, a nonincorporated alliance between Schlumberger and Subsea 7, will be merged into the new entity with an extended renewal period of 10 years from closing of the transaction. "We are excited to build on our highly successful alliance with Schlumberger and partnership with Aker Solutions. This new joint venture is a critical step as we collaborate on the integrated subsea projects that drive maximum value for our customers," commented John Evans, Subsea 7 Chief Executive Officer.
Following the transactions, Aker Solutions will be better placed to deliver on its strategy to accelerate its transformation to meet global energy needs both within oil and gas and renewables. Enabled by Cognite's data platform and Aize's software applications, Aker Solutions will continue to grow as a digitally empowered engineering and project execution company servicing the energy market.
Aker Solutions continues to expect 2022 revenues at around NOK 38 billion, of which Subsea is expected at around NOK 13 billion. Following the transactions Aker Solutions will hold 20% ownership in the subsea JV and a large and significant business comprising the EMM- and Renewables & Field Development segments. This business alone is expected to deliver revenues of around NOK 25 billion in 2022.
Aker Solutions expects to recognize a gain of around USD 1 billion following the transactions, at closing.
Media Contacts:
Torbjorn Andersen, Vice President of External Communications, Aker Solutions
Tel: +47 928 85 542
torbjorn.andersen@akersolutions.com
Josh Byerly - Vice President of Communications, Schlumberger
Moira Duff - Director of External Communication, Schlumberger
Tel: +1 (713) 375-3407
media@slb.com
Julie Taylor, Head of Group Communications, Subsea 7
Tel +44 1224 526270
julie.taylor@subsea7.com
Investor Contacts:
Fredrik Berge - Vice President of Investor Relations, Aker Solutions
Tel: +47 450 32 090
fredrik.berge@akersolutions.com
Ndubuisi Maduemezia - Vice President of Investor Relations, Schlumberger
Joy V. Domingo - Director of Investor Relations, Schlumberger
Tel: +1 (713) 375-3535
investor-relations@slb.com
Katherine Tonks - Investor Relations Director, Subsea 7
Tel: +44 20 8210 5568
katherine.tonks@subsea7.com
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SOURCE Aker Solutions ASA | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/aker-solutions-schlumberger-subsea-7-create-joint-venture/ | 2022-08-30T10:42:24Z |
NEW YORK, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.
This lawsuit is on behalf of all persons or entities that purchased or otherwise acquired shares of Amazon common stock between July 30, 2021, and April 28, 2022, inclusive.
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 6, 2022
No obligation or cost to you.
Learn more about your recoverable losses in AMZN:
https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/amazon-com-inc-loss-submission-form-2?id=31220&from=4
Amazon.com, Inc. NEWS - AMZN NEWS
CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Amazon.com, Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: 1) defendants knew or recklessly disregarded that the Company's infrastructure and fulfillment network investments substantially outpaced demand; 2) those investments were a massive, self-imposed, undue drain on Amazon's financial condition; 3) contrary to defendants' public statements and undisclosed to investors, defendants had already implemented cutbacks to Amazon's fulfillment capacity by July 2021; and 4) as a result of defendants' misrepresentations and omissions, Amazon's common stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the class period.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Amazon you have until September 6, 2022 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.
NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Amazon securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the AMZN lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/amazon-com-inc-loss-submission-form-2?id=31220&from=4.
J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
J. Klein, Esq.
Empire State Building
350 Fifth Avenue
59th Floor
New York, NY 10118
jk@kleinstocklaw.com
Telephone: (212) 616-4899
www.kleinstocklaw.com
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SOURCE The Klein Law Firm | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/amzn-alert-klein-law-firm-announces-lead-plaintiff-deadline-september-6-2022-class-action-filed-behalf-amazoncom-inc-shareholders/ | 2022-08-30T10:42:31Z |
MUNDRA, India, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jash Energy, Arctech's first joint venture manufacturing base in India, announced its inauguration in Mundra, India. The manufacturing base with a 3 GW annual capacity is the first manufacturing base dedicated to solar trackers in the country, allowing producing all major components for its solar tracker products.
Shail Shah, Director of Jash Energy; Gail Chen, General Manager of East Asia and India at Arctech, Director and CEO of Jash Energy; John Yu, General Manager of Jash Energy in charge of production and Gino Sebastian, Operations Director at Arctech joined the inauguration ceremony.
Located over 16 acres in Mundra, Gujarat, the new factory is modeled after Arctech's existing Chinese manufacturing base in both the automatic production line and world-class manufacturing management system.
Arctech is well-acclaimed for its signature solar tracker with the patented torque tube design and the multi-point drive mechanism. Hence the manufacturing base is particularly facilitated by the industrial advanced automatic production line for Arctech's patented torque tube allowing for better performance in solar trackers' stiffness.
With its long-lasting dedication to deepening the market penetration in India, the official launch of the factory marks that the company is now capable to encompass the full lifecycle of tracker systems including structural, mechanical and electrical design as well as construction, operation and maintenance in the country.
The company also celebrated its historical shipment momentum in the region reaching 3.5GW recently. According to Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, Arctech holds the No. 1 position for solar trackers in India in 2020 and a 45% market share in 2021.
Strategically located in Mundra, the largest private port in India, Jash Energy will have easy access to Western, Middle East, and African markets. Mundra also provides an ideal base for traders due to its relatively short logistics connectivity to the northwestern hinterland. It is easily accessible from all major industrial destinations in Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh for the export of cargo, the company stated.
Arctech has added more than 200 jobs to the local community by setting up this factory. It also plans technical training for local employees. As for raw materials availability, the company is planning to go deeper in vertically integrated production, including using local steel for trackers that are made in India. It plans to work with domestic steel manufacturing partners to develop solar trackers.
The company will host a cocktail party celebrating the grand ceremony of Jash Energy in JW Marriott NEW DELHI AEROCITY in September.
"The opening of the JV factory has marked Arctech's determination on practicing a long-term localization strategy in India, we will continue to enhance our presence to reduce the region's dependence on traditional and costly sources of energy," Remarked Gail.
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SOURCE Arctech | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/arctech-inaugurates-first-manufacturing-base-dedicated-solar-tracker-india/ | 2022-08-30T10:42:37Z |
Atria's Cadaret Grant Welcomes 360° Wealth Management Group, Reflecting Robust Recruiting from Large Wall Street Firms
NEW YORK, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Atria Wealth Solutions, Inc. ("Atria"), a wealth management solutions company, announced the recruitment of a fast-growing team of UBS financial professionals, led by Anthony Mona and Joseph Mansoor. The seasoned wirehouse breakaways bring over $600 million in client assets as they join forces with Michigan-based OSJ Spartan Wealth Management, now a $1.2 billion in assets under administration (AUA) practice affiliated with Atria's subsidiary Cadaret Grant & Co., Inc.
"The onboarding and launch of Anthony Mona and Joseph Mansoor's independent wealth management business from UBS truly reflects where our industry is going and why we founded Atria," said Atria's CEO and Founding Partner Doug Ketterer.
Mr. Ketterer, who before co-founding Atria, previously led Morgan Stanley's entire US financial professional and branch office network as Head of Field Management and its ultra-high-net-worth focused Private Wealth Management business, added, "Our executive team has decades of experience working extensively in the wirehouse segment, so we know how to meet the needs of these financial professionals when transitioning to independence and the ongoing support they demand for themselves and their clients."
Mona said, "Having spent decades as an advisor at leading wirehouse firms, it became clear that independence was a better path for our business and our clients. The technology, service and support structure, and management team at Atria made Cadaret Grant the clear choice for us as we searched for a premium wealth management experience. Our clients' expectations continue to rise. As a firm built by former wirehouse leaders, Atria was clearly the best choice for our firm to partner with in order to meet and exceed those expectations."
Mona, who has been named to the Forbes/SHOOK list of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors in Michigan each year since 2019, Mansoor and Wagner, now have complete access to the full suite of modern tools available through Atria's broker-dealer subsidiaries, including Unio, Atria's award-winning technology platform for financial professionals. Beyond its extensive capabilities, Unio integrates with Contour, a comprehensive fee-based advisory platform, and Clear1, an intuitive client-facing portal and mobile app.
"Like so many other wirehouse advisors, Anthony and Joseph realize that their real value lies in their client relationships — and that the advantages of independence will result in a brighter future for their practices and their clients," said Kevin Beard, Atria's Chief Growth Officer and Founding Partner. "We are thrilled to partner with Anthony and Joseph in helping them achieve their ambitious growth objectives."
Atria Wealth Solutions, Inc. (Atria), headquartered in New York City, is a wealth management solutions holding company focused on delivering a clear path to the future of financial advice for financial professionals, financial institutions and their clients. Atria's broker-dealer subsidiaries, located throughout the U.S., empower financial institutions and independent financial professionals with a sophisticated set of tools, services and capabilities that deepen client relationships and maximize efficiencies in their practices.
Atria has six broker-dealer subsidiaries: Cadaret Grant & Co., Inc., NEXT Financial Group, Inc., Western International Securities, Inc., SCF Securities, Inc., CUSO Financial Services, L.P., and Sorrento Pacific Financial, LLC. Atria's subsidiaries together support nearly 2,500 financial professionals and over $100 billion of assets under administration. For more information, please visit atriawealth.com.
Established in 1985, Cadaret Grant & Co, Inc. is an independent wealth management firm serving over 700 independent financial professionals nationwide from its headquarters in Syracuse, New York.
Founded in 2018 by Brian Mosallam, Steve Nofar, Esq., and Alexander Wagner, Spartan Wealth Management delivers financial planning, investment, wealth management and insurance solutions to high-net-worth individuals. The firm is based in Birmingham, Michigan, and its financial professionals are associated with Cadaret Grant. For more information, visit spartanwealth.com.
Media Contact
Haven Tower Group
Julian Arenzon
424 317 4865
jarenzon@haventower.com
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SOURCE Atria Wealth Solutions | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/atria-wealth-solutions-announces-addition-ubs-team-with-over-600-million-client-assets/ | 2022-08-30T10:42:44Z |
BEIJING, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU and HKEX: 9888) ("Baidu" or the "Company"), a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022.
"Despite a challenging macro environment caused by Covid-19, Baidu Core generated RMB23.2 billion in revenues in the second quarter, while Baidu AI Cloud revenues maintained rapid growth momentum of 31% year over year and 10% quarter over quarter," said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu. "Apollo Go further solidified its position as the world's largest autonomous ride-hailing service provider. Apollo Go completed 287K rides in the second quarter, and accumulated one million rides on July 20, becoming an important alternative means of people's everyday travel in the Yizhuang region of Beijing. Moreover, in a momentous landmark, Apollo Go became the first provider to offer fully driverless ride-hailing services – i.e. completely without human drivers present in the car - on open roads in Chongqing and Wuhan, allowing us to further scale up our operations at an accelerated pace."
"Baidu Core delivered a non-GAAP operating margin of 22% in the second quarter, up from 17% in the first quarter of 2022, as we continued to optimize our costs and enhance operational efficiency," said Rong Luo, CFO of Baidu. "Going forward, we remain committed to quality revenue growth and sustainable business models."
Second Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights[1]
Operational Highlights
Corporate
- Forbes China placed Baidu on its 2022 China ESG 50 list.
AI Cloud
- Baidu AI Cloud was again ranked the No. 1 AI cloud provider, according to IDC's second half of 2021 report on China's public cloud market report, issued in June 2022.
- Baidu ACE smart transportation has been adopted by 51 cities, up from 20 cities a year ago, based on contract value of over RMB10 million, as of the end of the second quarter of 2022.
Intelligent Driving
- Apollo Go, Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing service, continued its solid progress in scaling operations.
- Apollo Go provided 287K rides in the second quarter of 2022. On July 20, 2022, Apollo Go reached one million accumulated rides, serving passengers on open roads.
- Apollo Go started offering fully driverless ride-hailing services on open roads and received the permits to collect fees from the passengers in Chongqing and Wuhan on August 8, 2022. This has made Apollo Go the first and only of its kind in China to provide ride-hailing services completely without human drivers present in the car.
- Apollo Go was granted the permits to charge fees for the driverless ride-hailing services on public roads of the Yizhuang region of Beijing on July 20, 2022.
- Apollo Go expanded into Hefei (Anhui) on July 11, 2022 and Chengdu (Sichuan) on July 22, 2022, and is now available in more than ten cities in China, including all the tier-1 cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen) and other major cities. - Baidu unveiled its 6th generation robotaxi vehicle Apollo RT6 in July 2022. RT6 is the first steering wheel-free, all electric model designed for fully driverless autonomous driving. Apollo RT6 is distinct from the previous generations that had otherwise been retrofitted on conventional vehicles.
Other Growth Initiatives
- Xiaodu continued to be ranked No.1 in smart speaker shipments in China for 1Q22, according to IDC and Canalys.
Mobile Ecosystem
- In June, Baidu App's MAUs reached 628 million, up 8% year over year, and daily logged in users reached 84%.
- Revenue from Managed Page grew by 10% year over year and reached 49% of Baidu Core's online marketing revenue in the second quarter of 2022.
iQIYI
- iQIYI's average daily number of total subscribing members for the quarter was 98 million, compared to 99 million for the second quarter of 2021 and 101 million for the first quarter of 2022.
Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Total revenues were RMB 29.6 billion ($4.43 billion), decreasing 5% year over year.
- Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB 23.2 billion ($3.46 billion), decreasing 4% year over year; online marketing revenue was RMB 17.1 billion ($2.55 billion), decreasing 10% year over year primarily due to the resurgence of Covid-19 in certain cities in China, and non-online marketing revenue was RMB 6.1 billion ($906 million), up 22% year over year, driven by cloud and other AI-powered businesses.
- Revenue from iQIYI was RMB 6.7 billion ($994 million), decreasing 13% year over year.
Cost of revenues was RMB 15.2 billion ($2.27 billion), decreasing 5% year over year, primarily due to the decrease in content costs, partially offset by the increase in personnel related expense and other costs related to new AI business.
Selling, general and administrative expenses were RMB 4.8 billion ($714 million), decreasing 16% year over year, primarily due to a decrease in channel spending and promotional marketing.
Research and development expense was RMB 6.3 billion ($939 million), which was basically flat from last year.
Operating income was RMB 3.4 billion ($508 million). Baidu Core operating income was RMB 3.2 billion ($485 million), and Baidu Core operating margin was 14%. Non-GAAP operating income was RMB 5.5 billion ($820 million). Non-GAAP Baidu Core operating income was RMB 5.1 billion ($765 million), and non-GAAP Baidu Core operating margin was 22%.
Total other income, net was RMB 151 million ($23 million), compared to a total other loss of RMB 2.4 billion last year, which included a fair value loss of RMB 3.1 billion from long-term investments. In the second quarter of 2022, we recognized a fair value gain of RMB 536 million. A significant portion of long-term investments, including but not limited to investments in equity securities of public and private companies, private equity funds and digital assets, is subject to quarterly fair value adjustments, which may contribute to net income volatility in future periods.
Income tax expense was RMB 25 million ($4 million), decreasing 99% year over year, primarily due to the reversal of certain tax expenses accrued for 2021 based on the 2021 tax return filed in the second quarter of 2022 and an increase in deduction on certain expenses that were considered non-deductible in the second quarter of 2021.
Net income attributable to Baidu was RMB 3.6 billion ($543 million), and diluted earnings per ADS was RMB 9.97 ($1.49). Net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB 3.7 billion ($555 million). Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu was RMB 5.5 billion ($827 million). Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS was RMB 15.79 ($2.36). Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB 5.4 billion ($814 million), and non-GAAP net margin for Baidu Core was 24%.
Adjusted EBITDA was RMB 7.1 billion ($1.05 billion) and adjusted EBITDA margin was 24%. Adjusted EBITDA for Baidu Core was RMB 6.6 billion ($985 million) and adjusted EBITDA margin for Baidu Core was 28%.
As of June 30, 2022, cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments were RMB 189.4 billion ($28.28 billion), and cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments excluding iQIYI were RMB 184.5 billion ($27.55 billion). Free cash flow was RMB 5.5 billion ($823 million), and free cash flow excluding iQIYI was RMB 5.5 billion ($826 million).
Conference Call Information
Baidu's management will hold an earnings conference call at 8.00AM on August 30, 2022, U.S. Eastern Time (8.00PM on August 30, 2022, Beijing Time).
Please register in advance of the conference call using the link provided below. It will automatically direct you to the registration page of "Baidu Inc Q2 2022 Earnings Conference Call". Please follow the steps to enter your registration details, then click "Register". Upon registering, you will then be provided with the dial-in number, the passcode, and your unique access PIN. This information will also be emailed to you as a calendar invite.
For pre-registration, please click
https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10024320-jfgv94.html
In the 10 minutes prior to the call start time, you may use the conference access information (including dial-in number(s), the passcode and unique access PIN) provided in the calendar invite that you have received following your pre-registration.
Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at https://ir.baidu.com.
About Baidu
Founded in 2000, Baidu's mission is to make the complicated world simpler through technology. Baidu is a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, trading on NASDAQ under "BIDU" and HKEX under "9888". One Baidu ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.
Contacts
Investors Relations, Baidu, Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5992-8888
Email: ir@baidu.com Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Among other things, Baidu's and other parties' strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Baidu may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in announcements made on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "Hong Kong Stock Exchange"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about Baidu's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Baidu's growth strategies; its future business development, including development of new products and services; its ability to attract and retain users and customers; competition in the Chinese Internet search and newsfeed market; competition for online marketing customers; changes in the Company's revenues and certain cost or expense items as a percentage of its revenues; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to intellectual property rights; the expected growth of the Chinese-language Internet search and newsfeed market and the number of Internet and broadband users in China; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Internet and Internet search providers, and general economic conditions in China and elsewhere. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and announcements on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Baidu does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of the press release, and Baidu undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement Baidu's consolidated financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, Baidu uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu, non-GAAP net margin, non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and free cash flow. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.
Baidu believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of its recurring core business operating results, such as operating performance excluding non-cash charges or non-operating in nature. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to Baidu's historical performance and liquidity. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. A limitation of using these non-GAAP financial measures is that these non-GAAP measures exclude certain items that have been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant component in the Company's results of operations. These non-GAAP financial measures presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to the Company's data.
Non-GAAP operating income represents operating income excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations and contingent loss pertaining to legal proceeding in relation to former advertising agencies and iQIYI's non-recurring employee severance costs.
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu represents net income attributable to Baidu excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, contingent loss pertaining to legal proceeding in relation to former advertising agencies, iQIYI's non-recurring employee severance costs, disposal gain or loss, impairment of long-term investments, fair value change of long-term investments, charitable donation from Baidu, adjusted for related income tax effects. Baidu's share of equity method investments for these non-GAAP reconciling items, amortization and impairment of intangible assets not on the investees' books, accretion of their redeemable non-controlling interests, and the gain or loss associated with the issuance of shares by the investees at a price higher or lower than the carrying value per shares, adjusted for related income tax effects, are also excluded.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS represents diluted earnings per ADS calculated by dividing non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu, by the weighted average number of ordinary shares expressed in ADS. Adjusted EBITDA represents operating income excluding depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, contingent loss pertaining to legal proceeding in relation to former advertising agencies, iQIYI's non-recurring employee severance costs, and share-based compensation expenses.
For more information on non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measure".
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SOURCE Baidu, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/baidu-announces-second-quarter-2022-results/ | 2022-08-30T10:42:51Z |
Analysts call direct sourcing "hottest trend in contingent workforce management"
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Beeline, the leading technology solution provider for managing the extended workforce, is seeing a growing strategic shift toward direct sourcing as Fortune 500 clients continue selecting Beeline and TalentNet's solution to enhance their contingent workforce strategy. Three of the new Fortune 500 clients include a San Francisco-based financial services company, a leading U.S. aerospace firm, and America's number one consumer electronics retailer. These clients add to the long list of global brands that trust Beeline and TalentNet with their direct sourcing program.
Direct sourcing enables companies to hire contingent workers from their own private talent pools rather than from third parties and saves significant time and costs. Our direct sourcing clients report an average of 16 percent higher quality talent and 15 percent faster fill times, reducing the average time to fill by 7 days. They also report 16 percent cost savings and 99 percent successful candidate completions per assignment.
"Most companies are facing the most serious talent shortage they have experienced in their history," said Colleen Tiner, SVP Product Strategy at Beeline. "Today, with contingent talent comprising nearly half of the workforce, and demand for talent increasingly outpacing supply, direct sourcing has become one of the most effective and essential contingent talent acquisition strategies."
Since 2019, Beeline and TalentNet have offered their seamless, fully integrated direct sourcing solution combining Beeline's industry-leading extended workforce platform technology with TalentNet's mature, AI-powered direct sourcing platform.
"The focus of our partnership has always been to innovate and drive significant value into and across direct source programs, enabling clients to build a curated talent community through their own employer brand," says Johnathan Prothero, Co-Founder of TalentNet. "With thousands of transactions a day shared between our platforms, clients can build their private talent communities without the added burden of introducing additional technology."
Direct sourcing is the hottest trend in the contingent workforce space, according to research commissioned by Staffing Industry Analysts. The Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) Workforce Solutions Buyer Survey reports 78 to 88 percent of buyers expect to put direct sourcing in place or "seriously explore" the solution within two years.
Beeline's cloud-based platform goes beyond the capabilities of a conventional vendor management system (VMS) to optimize the value external talent can deliver to clients. By linking to strategic workforce solutions offered by a growing best-of-breed partner ecosystem that includes TalentNet, Beeline delivers the robust functionality required for today's global, complex external workforce management.
Beeline is the world's largest independent provider of cloud solutions for sourcing and managing the complex world of contingent labor, enabling companies to increase profitability and flexibility by utilizing an agile mix of employee and non-employee talent.
Our software helps procurement, sourcing, and human resources professionals optimize costs, reduce risks, and add value to their services procurement and contingent workforce programs. We have the deepest, most seasoned team of contingent workforce solution professionals. From our locations around the world, we deliver innovative technology, end-to-end global and localized customer engagement services, and value-added capabilities which help many of the world's largest enterprises meet their most critical talent needs. To learn more, visit beeline.com.
TalentNet introduced the world to a better way of sourcing in 2013 with the launch of the TalentNet contingent labor direct sourcing platform. Today, direct sourcing is one of the fastest-growing trends globally in talent acquisition. As the technology pioneer in direct sourcing, TalentNet empowers some of the world's leading brands to provide talent with a seamless hiring experience, while simplifying supply chain complexity and reducing cost. TalentNet's mission is to transform how organizations engage and acquire talent. "We won't stop innovating until all work seekers, regardless of work type or background, are seen equally for what they are...people." For more information, visit www.talentnet.com.
CONTACTS:
Jessica Ashcraft
Vice President of Marketing, Beeline
marketing@beeline.com
Ann Warren
awarren@clearedgemarketing.com
770.328.8384
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SOURCE Beeline | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/beeline-talentnet-celebrate-new-fortune-500-clients-more-contingent-workforce-leaders-embrace-direct-sourcing/ | 2022-08-30T10:42:57Z |
IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) has announced the annual Building Industry Show in-person event this year will be on September 14-15. The event will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.
As one of the best-known building trade shows in Southern California, the Building Industry Show (BIS) offers industry professionals high-valued resources, industry connections and a place to connect with peers. Small and large builders can utilize this conference as well as trades, associate members, BIASC's Governing Board, Chapter Boards and NextGen/Emerging Leaders/Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) members.
BIS day one of the two-day festivities will include a Kick Off party at the House of Blues from 7pm - 12am, with a performance by Sammy Hagar and The Circle. There will be an additional special performance by BIASC former chair and long time member Tom Grable, with his band, The Vinyl Four.
On day two, attendees will have the opportunity to attend the opening breakfast where a discussion on Adult and Independent Living will take place, followed by show floor hours from 9am-5pm. The floor hours will offer networking opportunities, showcase innovative projects on the exhibit floor, provide insight on the current landscape and the future of the industry, and will act as a fun and insightful event for every level and section of the building industry.
A Perfect Storm Forum will be held with Keynote Speakers:
- Chris Thornburg, Founding Partner Beacon Economics
- Brian Probolsky, President Moulton Niguel Water District
- Adam Artunian, Vice President Clarity Real Estate Advisors
- Dan Dunmoyer, CEO CBIA
- Armando Infanzon, Director of Business Development SoCalGas
The Keynote Speakers sponsored by SoCalGas and Sub-Zero Group West Inc., will explore the current threat put on most California home builders' livelihood. The Perfect Storm panel, based on BIASC's Perfect Storm Educational Series, is intended to give builders, associates, and all of their employees an understanding of the building industry regulatory elements and how it could change business and impact staffing. This panel discussion will be followed by a Regional Outlook presentation and breakout Educational Sessions.
"BIS continues to be THE place for industry professionals to come together and network, while also learning about the latest products, industry trends as well as regulatory changes in the industry," said BIASC CEO Jeff Montejano. "This year is especially impactful as we will be highlighting our Perfect Storm series that is on track to wildly disrupt the current state of the building industry. Our incredibly insightful panel experts will educate attendees on the current state of affairs."
For more information and to register, please visit www.buildingindustryshow.com. For registration information please contact llundrigan@biasc.org or lbarber@biasc.org.
The Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) is the voice of the region's building industry, with four chapters offering localized services to building professionals from Ventura to the southern tip of Orange County. Throughout its 90-year history, the association has served its builder and associate members by anticipating, protecting and promoting their common interests through its many programs, services, councils and committees. For more information on the Building Industry Association of Southern California, visit https://biasc.org/.
IMAGE DOWNLOAD - http://www.kcomm.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/BIS-2022-Flyer.png
IMAGE CAPTION - BIS Event Flyer
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SOURCE Building Industry Association of Southern California, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/biasc-host-2022-building-industry-show-anaheim-california/ | 2022-08-30T10:43:04Z |
Comparable sales growth and gross margins in line with guidance
Q2 GAAP EPS loss of $2.91; adjusted EPS loss of $2.28
Inventory reduction efforts on track; reiterating Q4 gross margin normalization
Accelerating initiatives to drive shareholder value
For the Q2 Results Presentation, Please Visit: https://www.biglots.com/corporate/investors
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) today reported a net loss of $84.2 million, or $2.91 per share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 ended July 30, 2022. This result includes an after-tax charge of $18.1 million, or $0.63 per share associated with store asset impairment charges. Excluding this charge, the adjusted net loss was $66.0 million, or $2.28 per share (see non-GAAP table included later in this release). Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 was $37.7 million, or $1.09 per diluted share.
Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 totaled $1.35 billion, a 7.6% decrease compared to $1.46 billion for the same period last year, and an increase of 7.5% compared to the second quarter of 2019. The decline to last year was driven by a comparable sales decrease of 9.2%. The 3-year comparable sales growth rate was 3.6% in the second quarter of fiscal 2022, an acceleration from 1.9% in the first quarter. Net new stores and relocations contributed approximately 160 basis points of sales growth compared to the second quarter of 2021.
Commenting on today's results announcement, Bruce Thorn, President and CEO of Big Lots stated, "We remain laser focused on helping our customers navigate these challenging times by delivering outstanding value across our assortment. We are managing the business prudently, while working hard to build a stronger company and deliver on our commitments to our customers, associates, and shareholders."
Mr. Thorn continued, "I'd like to thank our associates for rising to the challenge in Q2, by continuing to provide an elevated customer shopping experience and again achieving a top-tier Net Promoter Score above 80%. Our outstanding team helped us to deliver results in line with the financial guidance we provided coming into the quarter. We managed costs tightly, made great progress on repositioning our assortment towards better bargains/closeouts and lower price points, and took important steps to enhance our balance sheet and secure our liquidity. We also brought inventories down materially versus Q1, putting us on track to right-size our inventory position by Q4."
"This, in turn, better positions us to bring even more deals to our customers. Consumers are stretched by inflation and starting to trade down more. We are here to help them, with strategically adjusted opening price points and great value throughout our stores. Further, we are making our bargains/closeouts and treasures even easier to find with end-caps and signage that are simpler and more compelling."
"We are moving faster to provide even better deals and assortments for our customers by leveraging our vendor relationships and excellent private label brands. We are also building additional capabilities to grow our ecommerce business. We remain highly confident in the enormous value creation opportunity from Operation North Star, and I've never been more excited about the future."
A summary of adjustments to loss per diluted share is included in the table below.
Inventory and Cash Management
Inventory ended the second quarter of fiscal 2022 at $1,159.0 million compared to $943.8 million for the same period last year, with the 22.8% increase encompassing significantly higher unit costs and a significant increase in in-transit inventory.
The company ended the second quarter of fiscal 2022 with $49.1 million of Cash and Cash Equivalents and $252.6 million of Long-term Debt, compared to $293.3 million of Cash and Cash Equivalents and no Long-term Debt as of the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2021. On July 29th, the company entered into an engagement letter with PNC Capital Markets LLC and PNC Bank, National Association, pursuant to which PNC Capital Markets has agreed to arrange, on a best efforts basis, a 5-year syndicated asset-based revolving credit facility up to $900 million, with an additional uncommitted increase option of up to $300 million. The company expects to enter into the new credit facility during the third fiscal quarter ending October 28, 2022, replacing and refinancing its existing $600 million 5-year unsecured credit facility.
Dividend and Share Repurchases
As announced in a prior release, on August 23, 2022 the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per common share. This dividend payment of approximately $8.7 million will be payable on September 23, 2022, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on September 9, 2022. The company did not execute any share repurchases during the quarter. The company has $159 million remaining under its December 2021 $250 million authorization.
Company Outlook
For the third quarter, the company expects one-year comps to be down in the low double-digit range. Net new stores will add about 140 bps of growth versus 2021. The company expects continued significant promotional activity in Q3, resulting in a quarter gross margin rate into the mid-30s, and that SG&A dollars will grow low single-digits to 2021. Given an atypically wide range of outcomes, the company is not providing EPS guidance at this point. The company expects a share count of approximately 28.9 million for Q3. The company is taking aggressive actions to significantly improve the gross margin rate in Q4, to a rate that is approximately in-line with the prior year quarter. In addition, the company will continue to take actions to reduce expenses.
Conference Call/Webcast
The company will host a conference call today at 8:00 a.m. ET to discuss the financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2022. A webcast of the conference call is available through the Investor Relations section of the company's website http://www.biglots.com. An archive of the call will be available through the Investor Relations section of the company's website http://www.biglots.com/ after 12:00 p.m. ET today and will remain available through midnight ET on Tuesday, September 13, 2022. A replay of this call will also be available beginning today at 12:00 p.m. ET through September 13 by dialing 877.660.6853 (Toll Free) or 201.612.7415 (Toll) and entering Replay Conference ID 13732156.
About Big Lots
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is one of America's largest home discount retailers, operating more than 1,440 stores in 48 states, as well as a best-in-class ecommerce platform with expanded fulfillment and delivery capabilities. The Company's mission is to help customers "Live Big and Save Lots" by offering unique treasures and exceptional bargains on everything for their home, including furniture, seasonal decor, kitchenware, pet supplies, food items, laundry and cleaning essentials and more. Big Lots is the recipient of Home Textiles Today's 2021 Retail Titan Award. For more information about the company or to find the store nearest you, visit biglots.com.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and such statements are intended to qualify for the protection of the safe harbor provided by the Act. The words "anticipate," "estimate," "approximate," "expect," "objective," "goal," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "will," "should," "may," "target," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook" and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. Similarly, descriptions of objectives, strategies, plans, goals or targets are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to the expectations of management as to future occurrences and trends, including statements expressing optimism or pessimism about future operating results or events and projected sales, earnings, capital expenditures and business strategy. Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of assumptions concerning future conditions that may ultimately prove to be inaccurate. Forward-looking statements are and will be based upon management's then-current views and assumptions regarding future events and operating performance and are applicable only as of the dates of such statements. Although the company believes the expectations expressed in forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of knowledge, forward-looking statements, by their nature, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, any one or a combination of which could materially affect business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.
Forward-looking statements that the company makes herein and in other reports and releases are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, developments related to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, current economic and credit conditions, the cost of goods, the inability to successfully execute strategic initiatives, competitive pressures, economic pressures on customers and the company, the availability of brand name closeout merchandise, trade restrictions, freight costs, the risk that the company is unable to refinance or replace its $600 million five-year unsecured credit facility or amend the synthetic lease for its distribution center in Apple Valley, California as contemplated by the consent letters entered into by the company with respect to the credit facility and synthetic lease, the risks discussed in the Risk Factors section of the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other factors discussed from time to time in other filings with the SEC, including Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. This release should be read in conjunction with such filings, and you should consider all of these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in evaluating forward-looking statements.
You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures the company makes on related subjects in public announcements and SEC filings.
BIG LOTS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
The following tables reconcile: selling and administrative expenses, selling and administrative expense rate, operating loss, operating loss rate, income tax benefit, effective income tax rate, net loss, and diluted earnings (loss) per share for the second quarter of 2022 and the year-to-date 2022 (GAAP financial measures) to adjusted selling and administrative expenses, adjusted selling and administrative expense rate, adjusted operating loss, adjusted operating loss rate, adjusted income tax benefit, adjusted effective income tax rate, adjusted net loss, and adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share (non-GAAP financial measures).
The above adjusted selling and administrative expenses, adjusted selling and administrative expense rate, adjusted operating loss, adjusted operating loss rate, adjusted income tax benefit, adjusted effective income tax rate, adjusted net loss, and adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share are "non-GAAP financial measures" as that term is defined by Rule 101 of Regulation G (17 CFR Part 244) and Item 10 of Regulation S-K (17 CFR Part 229). These non-GAAP financial measures exclude from the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") store asset impairment charges of $24,105 ($18,149, net of tax).
The above adjusted selling and administrative expenses, adjusted selling and administrative expense rate, adjusted operating loss, adjusted operating loss rate, adjusted income tax benefit, adjusted effective income tax rate, adjusted net loss, and adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share are "non-GAAP financial measures" as that term is defined by Rule 101 of Regulation G (17 CFR Part 244) and Item 10 of Regulation S-K (17 CFR Part 229). These non-GAAP financial measures exclude from the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP store asset impairment charges of $24,105 ($18,149, net of tax).
Our management believes that the disclosure of these non-GAAP financial measures provides useful information to investors because the non-GAAP financial measures present an alternative and more relevant method for measuring our operating performance, excluding special items included in the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, that management believes is more indicative of our on-going operating results and financial condition. Our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures, along with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, in evaluating our operating performance.
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SOURCE Big Lots, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/big-lots-reports-q2-results/ | 2022-08-30T10:43:11Z |
- The boutique coffee chain will usher in the fall season with a variety of flavorful drinks highlighted by a fan favorite – the Pumpkin Blondie -
PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Rock Coffee Bar, a national boutique coffee chain, will celebrate the fall season with its new lineup of drinks that will be available from September 1 – October 31st in all its more than 100 Black Rock Coffee Bar stores across seven states, including OR, WA, AZ, CA, ID, CO and TX.
Highlighting its fall menu is Black Rock's Pumpkin Blondie (served hot, iced or blended), which combines a pumpkin pie flavor with an iteration of ingredients found in Black Rock Coffee Bar's signature drink, the Caramel Blondie.
Rounding out the fall 2022 drink menu is the Salted Caramel Chai, Candied Cranberry FUEL and the Caramel Apple Smoothie. With this menu, the fast-growing coffee chain aims to provide its customers with a variety of flavorful drinks to choose from.
- Pumpkin Blondie – To get into the spirit of the season, the Pumpkin Blondie is a twist to Black Rock's all-time favorite drink, the Caramel Blondie. The Pumpkin Blondie is made with hints of caramel, white chocolate and pumpkin. For a finishing touch, it is topped with cinnamon + nutmeg. The Pumpkin Blondie can be served hot, iced or blended. The Pumpkin Blondie can also be prepared as a shake without the coffee.
- Salted Caramel Chai – The Salted Caramel Chai combines chai, milk and salted caramel topped with a caramel drizzle. It can be served hot, iced or blended. Its blended version features a refreshing ice cream base mixed with a delicious, salted caramel flavor.
- Candied Cranberry FUEL – The iced Candied Cranberry FUEL features Black Rock's popular energy drink brand, FUEL fused with almond and pomegranate and a splash of cranberry juice on top.
- Caramel Apple Smoothie – Black Rock's Caramel Apple Smoothie features an ice cream and green apple base mixed with caramel, ice, and whipped cream. Topping off the perfect smoothie is a yummy drizzle of caramel on top.
Each drink price will vary depending on modifications to the original receipt including alternative milks, additional flavors or additional shots.
Guided by its three principles - coffee, community and connection, the popular coffee chain was founded in Oregon and is known for its premium roasted coffees, teas, smoothies and flavorful Fuel® energy drinks. Its mission is to be a positive force in the communities it serves. The boutique coffee chain was named the Fastest Growing Private Company in Oregon and SW Washington in 2021 by the Portland Business Journal. Most recently, Inc. Magazine ranked Black Rock Coffee Bar No. 837th on its 2022 Inc. 5000 Annual List, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America.
Black Rock Coffee Bar is a national boutique coffee shop that is known for its premium roasted coffees, teas, smoothies and flavorful blended energy drinks. Founded as a family owned and operated business in Oregon in 2008, Black Rock Coffee Bar has grown to more than 100 retail locations in seven states. The Black Rock culture emphasizes personal and professional growth for each Black Rock employee and ensuring that they provide compassionate customer service towards each person who experiences the store.
For more information, visit https://br.coffee/
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SOURCE Black Rock Coffee Bar | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/black-rock-coffee-bar-announces-its-fall-2022-drink-lineup/ | 2022-08-30T10:43:17Z |
TORONTO, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) (NYSE: BMO) today announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $1.39 per share on paid-up common shares of Bank of Montreal for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022 ("Q4 2022 Dividend"), unchanged from the prior quarter.
The Board of Directors also declared dividends of:
- $0.24075 per share on paid-up Class B Preferred Shares Series 27;
- $0.2265 per share on paid-up Class B Preferred Shares Series 29;
- $0.240688 per share on paid-up Class B Preferred Shares Series 31;
- $0.190875 per share on paid-up Class B Preferred Shares Series 33;
- $0.303125 per share on paid-up Class B Preferred Shares Series 44;
- $0.31875 per share on paid-up Class B Preferred Shares Series 46; and
- $24.644 per share on paid-up Class B Preferred Shares Series 50(1).
The dividend on the common shares is payable on November 28, 2022, to shareholders of record on November 1, 2022. The dividends on the preferred shares, except for Class B Preferred Shares Series 50, are payable on November 25, 2022, to shareholders of record on November 1, 2022. The dividend on the Class B Preferred Shares Series 50 is payable on November 28, 2022, to shareholders of record on November 1, 2022.
The above-mentioned dividends on the common and preferred shares are designated as "eligible" dividends for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and any similar provincial and territorial legislation.
Common shareholders may elect to have their cash dividends reinvested in common shares of the Bank in accordance with the Bank's Shareholder Dividend Reinvestment and Share Purchase Plan (the "Plan").
As previously announced, and until further notice, such additional common shares will be issued from treasury with a two percent discount from the Average Market Price (as defined in the Plan). The discount will not apply to common shares purchased under the "Optional Cash Payment" feature of the Plan.
For existing members of the Plan, the discount will automatically be applied to the reinvestment of the Q4 2022 Dividend. For registered shareholders who wish to participate in the Plan and thereby receive the two percent discount in respect of the Q4 2022 Dividend, Enrolment Forms must be received by the Bank's transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company of Canada, by the close of business on November 3, 2022. Beneficial or non-registered holders must contact their financial institution or broker well in advance of the above date for instructions on how to participate.
More information about the Plan and how to enroll can be found at:
(1) The Class B Preferred Shares Series 50 is not listed on any stock exchanges.
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SOURCE BMO Financial Group | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/bmo-financial-group-declares-dividends/ | 2022-08-30T10:43:24Z |
BMO's Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders, including the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements for the period ended July 31, 2022, is available online at www.bmo.com/investorrelations and at www.sedar.com.
Third Quarter 2022 Compared with Third Quarter 2021:
- Net income of $1,365 million, compared with $2,275 million; adjusted net income1,3 of $2,132 million, compared with $2,292 million
- Reported earnings per share (EPS)2 of $1.95, compared with $3.41; adjusted EPS1,2,3 of $3.09, compared with $3.44
- Provision for credit losses (PCL) of $136 million, compared with a recovery of the provision for credit losses of $70 million
- Return on equity (ROE) of 8.8%, compared with 17.5%; adjusted ROE1,3 of 13.8%, compared with 17.6%
- Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio4 of 15.8%, compared with 13.4%
Year-to-Date 2022 Compared with Year-to-Date 2021:
- Net income of $9,054 million, compared with $5,595 million; adjusted net income1,3 of $6,903 million, compared with $6,425 million
- Reported EPS2 of $13.45, compared with $8.35; adjusted EPS1,2,3 of $10.20, compared with $9.63
- Provision for credit losses of $87 million, compared with a provision of $146 million
- ROE of 21.1%, compared with 14.5%; adjusted ROE1,3 of 16.0%, compared with 16.7%
TORONTO, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - For the third quarter ended July 31, 2022, BMO Financial Group (TSX:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) recorded net income of $1,365 million or $1.95 per share on a reported basis, and net income of $2,132 million or $3.09 per share on an adjusted basis.
"Our performance this quarter continued to demonstrate the strength and quality of our diversified business mix, credit excellence and the resilience of our earnings power. We delivered robust loan growth and margin expansion that drove record revenue in our North American personal and commercial businesses, buffering the impact of challenging market conditions on our capital markets businesses," said Darryl White, CEO BMO Financial Group.
"Our relentless focus on employee engagement and customer satisfaction continues to gain momentum, which we believe will be a sustained differentiator over time. We are committed to providing customers with exceptional experiences and personalized advice in every interaction, and helping them make real financial progress – highlighted by our achievement of highest customer satisfaction for retail banking advice in the J.D. Power 2022 Canada Retail Banking Advice Satisfaction Study, reclaiming the top ranking amongst Canada's largest banks, as well as our recognition by World Finance magazine as the best Commercial, Private and Retail Bank in Canada.
"BMO's proven track record of superior risk management, strong capital and liquidity, and dynamic financial management positions us for success in any economic environment. We continue to execute our disciplined growth strategy, investing in our talent and technology, including the integration of Bank of the West, to deliver long-term returns for our shareholders and progress for a thriving economy, sustainable future and inclusive society," concluded Mr. White.
Concurrent with the release of results, BMO announced a fourth quarter 2022 dividend of $1.39 per common share, unchanged from the prior quarter, and an increase of $0.33 or 31% from the prior year. The quarterly dividend of $1.39 per common share is equivalent to an annual dividend of $5.56 per common share.
The foregoing section contains forward-looking statements. Please refer to the Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.
During the first quarter of 2022, we completed the sale of our EMEA Asset Management business to Ameriprise Financial, Inc., including the transfer of certain U.S. asset management clients, and on April 30, 2021 we completed the sale of our Private Banking business in Hong Kong and Singapore to J. Safra Sarasin Group. Collectively, we refer to these transactions as "divestitures". The divestitures reduced net revenue and expenses by approximately 2% and 4%, respectively, on both a reported and adjusted basis, compared with the prior year.
On December 20, 2021, we announced the signing of a definitive agreement with BNP Paribas to acquire Bank of the West and its subsidiaries. Under the terms of the agreement we will pay a cash purchase price of US$16.3 billion, or US$13.4 billion net of an estimated US$2.9 billion of excess capital (at closing) at Bank of the West. The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of calendar 2022, is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
On closing, the acquisition is expected to add approximately US$94 billion in assets, US$59 billion of loans and US$80 billion of deposits to our consolidated balance sheet. These amounts are based on the financial position and results of Bank of the West as at the period ended June 30, 2022. We expect to fund the transaction primarily with excess capital, reflecting our strong capital position and anticipated capital generation.
On March 29, 2022, we issued 20,843,750 common shares for $3,106 million to finance a portion of the purchase price.
This acquisition aligns with our strategic, financial, and cultural objectives, and meaningfully accelerates our U.S. growth. Building on the strength of our performance and our integrated North American foundation, the acquisition will bring nearly 1.8 million customers to BMO and will further extend our banking presence through an additional 502 branches and commercial and wealth offices in key U.S. growth markets. Post closing, our footprint will expand to 32 states, including an immediate scaled entry into the attractive California market, where we expect to deliver a highly competitive offering to new growth markets, combining the strength of our digital banking platform and our strong banking team to generate good customer growth.
A signature strength of Bank of the West is the deep relationships formed between their employees, their customers, and the communities they have served for over 100 years. As part of this transaction, BMO does not plan to close Bank of the West branches, and is committed to retaining front-line Bank of the West branch employees.
Leveraging our deep integration experience and proven track record for U.S. expansion, we remain confident in achieving annual pre-tax cost synergies of approximately US$670 million (C$860 million) through operational efficiencies across our combined businesses. Integration planning is underway and is being overseen by a dedicated, joint integration management office.
Under IFRS accounting, the purchase price will be allocated to the identifiable assets and liabilities of Bank of the West at close, on the basis of their relative fair values, with the difference recorded as goodwill. The fair value/par value differences, referred to as the fair value mark, will be amortized to income over the estimated life of the underlying asset (liability). Intangible assets identified, including the core deposit intangible related to non-maturity deposits, will be amortized over their estimated life. The fair value of fixed rate loans and deposits is largely dependent on interest rates. If interest rates increase, the fair value of the acquired fixed rate assets (in particular, loans and securities) will decrease, resulting in higher goodwill. If interest rates decrease, the opposite would be true. Conversely, the fair value of floating rate assets (liabilities) and non-maturity deposits approximate par, providing no natural fair value change offset. Changes in goodwill relative to our original assumptions announced on December 20, 2021, will impact capital ratios at close, because goodwill is treated as a deduction from capital under the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) Basel III rules. In addition, given that the purchase price of the acquisition is in U.S. dollars, any change in foreign exchange translation between the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar between the announcement and the close of the acquisition, will result in a change to the Canadian dollar equivalent goodwill.
We are proactively managing exposure to capital from changes in fair value of the assets and liabilities of Bank of the West at close. As part of our fair value management actions, we entered into interest rate swaps that rise in value as interest rates rise, resulting in mark-to-market gains (losses) recorded in trading revenue. These swaps were largely offset from an interest rate risk perspective through the purchase of a portfolio of matched duration U.S. treasuries and other balance sheet instruments that generate net interest income. Together, these transactions aim to mitigate changes in goodwill arising from changes in interest rates between the announcement and closing of the acquisition, with the associated revenue (loss) treated as an adjusting item. In addition, BMO entered into forward contracts, which qualify as accounting hedges, to mitigate changes in the Canadian dollar equivalent of the purchase price on close. Changes in the fair value of these forward contracts are recorded in other comprehensive income (OCI) until close of the transaction.
The impact of the fair value management actions on our results was treated as an adjusting item. The current quarter included a loss of $945 million pre-tax ($694 million after-tax) related to the management of interest rate changes, comprising $983 million of mark-to-market losses on certain interest rate swaps reflecting lower medium and long-term interest rates as at July 31, 2022, compared with April 30, 2022, recorded in non-interest revenue, as well as $38 million interest income on a portfolio of U.S. treasuries and other balance sheet instruments recorded in net interest income. Year-to-date results included $3,172 million pre-tax ($2,331 million after-tax) comprising $2,967 million recorded as non-interest revenue and $205 million recorded as net interest income. The cumulative impact on our Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio was approximately 70 basis points relating to these fair value management actions. In addition, the changes in the fair value of the forward contracts decreased OCI by $4 million in the current quarter and decreased OCI by $68 million year-to-date.
This Significant Events section contains forward-looking statements. Please refer to the Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.
The order in which the impact on net income is discussed in this section follows the order of revenue, expenses and provision for credit losses, regardless of their relative impact.
Adjusted results and ratios in this Third Quarter 2022 Performance Review section are on a non-GAAP basis and discussed in the Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures section.
Reported and adjusted net income decreased from the prior year, as higher net income in our P&C businesses was offset by decreases in BMO Capital Markets and BMO Wealth Management. On a reported basis, Corporate Services recorded a higher net loss compared with the prior year, and on an adjusted basis, Corporate Services recorded net income compared with a net loss in the prior year.
Adjusted results in the current quarter excluded the impact of the announced acquisition of Bank of the West, comprising a loss of $694 million ($945 million pre-tax) related to the management of the impact of interest rate changes between the announcement and closing of the acquisition on its fair value and goodwill, reflecting lower medium and long-term interest rates compared with the prior quarter, as well as acquisition and integration costs of $61 million ($82 million pre-tax). In addition, adjusted results excluded the impact of divestiture costs of $6 million ($7 million pre-tax) in the current quarter. For further information, refer to Note 12 to the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements in our Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders. Adjusted net income also excluded the amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets and other acquisition and integration costs in both the current quarter and the prior year.
Reported and adjusted net income was $965 million, an increase of $137 million or 17%. Results were driven by a 13% increase in revenue, primarily due to higher net interest income, reflecting strong balance growth and higher margins, as well as higher expenses and a lower provision for credit losses compared with the prior year.
Reported net income was $568 million, an increase of $18 million or 3% from the prior year, and adjusted net income was $569 million, an increase of $13 million or 2%. The impact of the stronger U.S. dollar increased net income growth by 3%, revenue growth by 5%, and expense growth by 4%.
On a U.S. dollar basis, reported net income was $445 million, relatively unchanged from the prior year, and adjusted net income was $446 million, a decrease of $4 million or 1%. Reported and adjusted results were driven by a 12% increase in revenue, primarily due to higher net interest income, reflecting strong loan growth and higher margins, as well as higher expenses and a higher provision for credit losses compared with a recovery in the prior year.
Reported net income was $324 million, compared with $379 million in the prior year, and adjusted net income was $325 million, compared with $384 million. Traditional Wealth reported net income was $263 million, a decrease of $37 million or 12% from the prior year, with higher underlying revenue growth of 3% more than offset by higher underlying expenses. Insurance net income was $61 million, a decrease of $18 million from the prior year, primarily due to the impact of unfavourable market movements and a lower benefit from changes in investments to improve asset liability management in the current quarter, relative to the prior year.
Reported net income was $262 million, compared with $553 million in the prior year, and adjusted net income was $266 million, compared with $559 million. Reported and adjusted results were driven by lower revenue in both Global Markets and Investment and Corporate Banking reflecting current market conditions, lower expenses, including lower performance-based compensation partially offset by higher severance costs, and a lower recovery of the provision for credit losses compared with the prior year.
Reported net loss was $754 million, compared with a reported net loss of $35 million in the prior year, and adjusted net income was $7 million, compared with an adjusted net loss of $35 million. Reported results decreased, primarily due to lower revenue reflecting fair value management actions related to the announced acquisition of Bank of the West in the current quarter. Adjusted results increased, primarily due to lower expenses and the impact of a more favourable tax rate in the current quarter.
BMO's Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio was 15.8% as at July 31, 2022, a decrease from 16.0% at the end of the second quarter of 2022, as internal capital generation and common shares issued from treasury under the shareholder dividend reinvestment and share purchase plan were more than offset by higher risk-weighted assets and a reduction in the benefit from fair value management actions related to the announced acquisition of Bank of the West.
Total provision for credit losses was $136 million, compared with a recovery of the provision for credit losses of $70 million in the prior year. The total provision for credit losses as a percentage of average net loans and acceptances ratio was 10 basis points, compared with a recovery of the provision for credit losses ratio of 6 basis points in the prior year. The provision for credit losses on impaired loans was $104 million, an increase of $33 million from the prior year. The provision for credit losses on impaired loans as a percentage of average net loans and acceptances ratio was 8 basis points, compared with 6 basis points in the prior year. There was a $32 million provision for credit losses on performing loans in the current quarter, compared with a $141 million recovery in the prior year. The $32 million provision for credit losses on performing loans in the current quarter reflected a deteriorating economic outlook and balance growth, largely offset by continued reduction in pandemic uncertainty and positive portfolio migration. The $141 million recovery of credit losses in the prior year reflected an improving economic outlook and positive credit migration, partially offset by the impact of the uncertain economic environment on future credit conditions, as well as balance growth.
Refer to the Critical Accounting Estimates section of BMO's 2021 Annual Report and Note 4 of our audited annual consolidated financial statements for further information on the allowance for credit losses as at October 31, 2021.
BMO has a deep sense of purpose – to be a champion for progress and a catalyst for change. We are leveraging our position as a leading financial services provider to create opportunities for our communities and our stakeholders to make positive, sustainable change in the belief that success can and must be mutual. In support of our customers, communities and employees, BMO:
- Enhanced its NewStart Program to help newcomers to Canada, including those displaced from Ukraine, with the support they need to regain their financial footing faster and start building a life in Canada with a suite of personalized, no-fee banking products.
- Announced a further investment in community programs and organizations to support Black-owned businesses and Black entrepreneurs, the expansion of Black cultural programs, and Boys and Girls Clubs skilled trades career opportunities, bringing our commitment in Madison, Wisconsin, to over US$1 million.
- Announced that we entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Radicle Group Inc., a Calgary-based leader in sustainability advisory services and solutions, and technology-driven emissions measurement and management. The acquisition will make BMO a leader in carbon credit development, emissions measurement capabilities, and the environmental commodity market, and supports our Climate Ambition to be our clients' lead partner in the transition to a net-zero world. Completion of the transaction is subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
BMO's leadership continues to be recognized across a number of rankings:
- Awarded the highest customer satisfaction ranking in retail banking advice by J.D. Power in its 2022 Canada Retail Banking Advice Satisfaction Study, the top spot amongst Canada's largest banks, demonstrating our continued commitment to helping customers make real financial progress, including clarity of advice and concern for customer needs.
- Named by World Finance magazine as Best Private Bank, Best Commercial Bank and Best Retail Bank, representing the benchmark of achievement and best practices in a variety of fields. This award reflects our commitment to fostering client-centric relationships, driving digital innovation and transformation, and our comprehensive understanding of evolving client needs and industry development.
- Named to Corporate Knight's ranking of Canada's Best 50 Corporate Citizens, and ranked first among major Canadian banks with top-quartile scores in board gender diversity, executive diversity, and sustainability pay link. In addition, we received a top-quartile Clean Revenue score, driven by our sustainable finance strategy.
The foregoing sections contain forward-looking statements. Please refer to the Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.
BMO's continuous disclosure materials, including interim filings, annual Management's Discussion and Analysis and audited annual consolidated financial statements, Annual Information Form and Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Proxy Circular, are available on our website at www.bmo.com/investorrelations, on the Canadian Securities Administrators' website at www.sedar.com, and on the EDGAR section of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov. Information contained in or otherwise accessible through our website (www.bmo.com), or any third party websites mentioned herein, does not form part of this document.
Results and measures in this document are presented on a GAAP basis. Unless otherwise indicated, all amounts are in Canadian dollars and have been derived from our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). References to GAAP mean IFRS. We use a number of financial measures to assess our performance, as well as the performance of our operating businesses, including measures and ratios that are presented on a non-GAAP basis, as described below. We believe that these non-GAAP amounts, measures and ratios, read together with our GAAP results, provide readers with a better understanding of how management assesses results.
Non-GAAP amounts, measures and ratios do not have standardized meanings under GAAP. They are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies and should not be viewed in isolation from, or as a substitute for, GAAP results.
Certain information contained in BMO's Management's Discussion and Analysis dated August 30, 2022 for the period ended July 31, 2022 (Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders) is incorporated by reference into this document. For further details on the composition of non-GAAP amounts, measures and ratios, including supplementary financial measures, please refer to the Glossary of Financial Terms section in our Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders which is available at www.sedar.com.
Our non-GAAP measures broadly fall into the following categories:
Management considers both reported and adjusted results and measures useful in assessing underlying ongoing business performance. Adjusted results and measures remove certain specified items from revenue, non-interest expense and income taxes, as detailed in the following table. Adjusted results and measures presented in this document are non-GAAP. Presenting results on both a reported basis and an adjusted basis permits readers to assess the impact of certain items on results for the periods presented, and to better assess results excluding those items that may not be reflective of ongoing business performance. As such, the presentation may facilitate readers' analysis of trends. Except as otherwise noted, management's discussion of changes in reported results in this document applies equally to changes in the corresponding adjusted results.
We also present reported and adjusted revenue on a basis that is net of insurance claims, commissions and changes in policy benefit liabilities (CCPB), and our efficiency ratio and operating leverage are calculated on a similar basis, as reconciled in the Revenue section. Measures and ratios presented on a basis net of CCPB are non-GAAP. Insurance revenue can experience variability arising from fluctuations in the fair value of insurance assets, caused by movements in interest rates and equity markets. The investments that support policy benefit liabilities are predominantly fixed income assets recorded at fair value, with changes in fair value recorded in insurance revenue in the Consolidated Statement of Income. These fair value changes are largely offset by changes in the fair value of policy benefit liabilities, the impact of which is reflected in CCPB. The presentation and discussion of revenue, efficiency ratios and operating leverage on a net basis reduces this variability, which allows for a better assessment of operating results. For more information refer to the Insurance Claims, Commissions and Changes in Policy Benefit Liabilities section in our Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders.
We analyze consolidated revenue on a reported basis. In addition, we analyze revenue on a taxable equivalent basis (teb) at the operating group level, consistent with the Canadian peer group. Revenue and the provision for income taxes in BMO Capital Markets and U.S. P&C are increased on tax-exempt securities to an equivalent pre-tax basis. These adjustments are offset in Corporate Services. Presenting results on a teb basis reflects how our operating groups manage their business and is useful to facilitate comparisons of income between taxable and tax-exempt sources. The effective tax rate is also analyzed on a teb basis for consistency of approach, with the offset to operating segment adjustments recorded in Corporate Services.
Tangible common equity is calculated as common shareholders' equity less goodwill and acquisition-related intangible assets, net of related deferred tax liabilities. Return on tangible common equity is commonly used in the North American banking industry and is meaningful because it measures the performance of businesses consistently, whether they were acquired or developed organically.
Capital is allocated to the operating segments based on the amount of regulatory capital required to support business activities. Unallocated capital is reported in Corporate Services. Capital allocation methodologies are reviewed annually.
Bank of Montreal's public communications often include written or oral forward-looking statements. Statements of this type are included in this document, and may be included in other filings with Canadian securities regulators or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or in other communications. All such statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements under, the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements in this document may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to our objectives and priorities for fiscal 2022 and beyond, our strategies or future actions, our targets and commitments (including with respect to net zero emissions), expectations for our financial condition, capital position or share price, the regulatory environment in which we operate, the results of, or outlook for, our operations or for the Canadian, U.S. and international economies, the closing of our proposed acquisition of Bank of the West, including plans for the combined operations of BMO and Bank of the West, the financial, operational and capital impacts of the transaction, and the COVID-19 pandemic, and include statements made by our management. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "will", "would", "should", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "project", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "goal", "commit", "target", "may", "might", "forecast" and "could" or negative or grammatical variations thereof.
By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific in nature. There is significant risk that predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections will not prove to be accurate, that our assumptions may not be correct, and that actual results may differ materially from such predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections. The uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened this risk, given the increased challenge in making assumptions, predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections. We caution readers of this document not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, as a number of factors – many of which are beyond our control and the effects of which can be difficult to predict – could cause actual future results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the targets, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking statements.
The future outcomes that relate to forward-looking statements may be influenced by many factors, including, but not limited to: general economic and market conditions in the countries in which we operate, including labour challenges; the severity, duration and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and possibly other outbreaks of disease or illness, and its impact on local, national or international economies, as well as its heightening of certain risks that may affect our future results; information, privacy and cyber security, including the threat of data breaches, hacking, identity theft and corporate espionage, as well as the possibility of denial of service resulting from efforts targeted at causing system failure and service disruption; benchmark interest rate reforms; technological changes and technology resiliency; political conditions, including changes relating to, or affecting, economic or trade matters; climate change and other environmental and social risk; the Canadian housing market and consumer leverage; inflationary pressures; global supply-chain disruptions; changes in monetary, fiscal, or economic policy; changes in laws, including tax legislation and interpretation, or in supervisory expectations or requirements, including capital, interest rate and liquidity requirements and guidance, and the effect of such changes on funding costs; weak, volatile or illiquid capital or credit markets; the level of competition in the geographic and business areas in which we operate; judicial or regulatory proceedings; the accuracy and completeness of the information we obtain with respect to our customers and counterparties; failure of third parties to comply with their obligations to us; our ability to execute our strategic plans and to complete proposed acquisitions or dispositions, including obtaining regulatory approvals; critical accounting estimates and the effects of changes to accounting standards, rules and interpretations on these estimates; operational and infrastructure risks, including with respect to reliance on third parties; the possibility that our proposed acquisition of Bank of the West does not close when expected or at all because required regulatory approvals and other conditions to closing are not received or satisfied on a timely basis or at all or are received subject to adverse conditions or requirements; the anticipated benefits from the proposed acquisition of Bank of the West, such as it creating synergies and operational efficiencies, are not realized; our ability to perform effective fair value management actions and unforeseen consequences arising from such actions; changes to our credit ratings; global capital markets activities; the possible effects on our business of war or terrorist activities; natural disasters and disruptions to public infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, power or water supply; and our ability to anticipate and effectively manage risks arising from all of the foregoing factors.
We caution that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all possible factors. Other factors and risks could adversely affect our results. For more information, please refer to the discussion in the Risks That May Affect Future Results section, and the sections related to credit and counterparty, market, insurance, liquidity and funding, operational non-financial, legal and regulatory, strategic, environmental and social, and reputation risk, in the Enterprise-Wide Risk Management section of BMO's 2021 Annual Report, and the Risk Management section in our Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders, all of which outline certain key factors and risks that may affect our future results. Investors and others should carefully consider these factors and risks, as well as other uncertainties and potential events, and the inherent uncertainty of forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the organization or on its behalf, except as required by law. The forward-looking information contained in our Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders, is presented for the purpose of assisting shareholders and analysts in understanding our financial position as at and for the periods ended on the dates presented, as well as our strategic priorities and objectives, and may not be appropriate for other purposes.
Material economic assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained in our Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders include those set out in the Economic Developments and Outlook section of BMO's 2021 Annual Report, as updated in the Economic Developments and Outlook section in our Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders, as well as in the Allowance for Credit Losses section of BMO's 2021 Annual Report, as updated in the Allowance for Credit Losses section in our Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders. Assumptions about the performance of the Canadian and U.S. economies, as well as overall market conditions and their combined effect on our business, are material factors we consider when determining our strategic priorities, objectives and expectations for our business. Assumptions about Bank of the West's balance sheet, product mix and margins, and interest rate sensitivity were material factors we considered in estimating the fair value and goodwill and intangibles amounts at closing, and assumptions about our integration plan, the efficiency and duration of integration and the alignment of organizational responsibilities were material factors we considered in estimating pre-tax cost synergies.
In determining our expectations for economic growth, we primarily consider historical economic data, past relationships between economic and financial variables, changes in government policies, and the risks to the domestic and global economy. Please refer to the Economic Developments and Outlook and Allowance for Credit Losses sections in our Third Quarter 2022 Report to Shareholders.
Interested parties are invited to visit BMO's website at www.bmo.com/investorrelations to review the 2021 Annual MD&A and audited annual consolidated financial statements, quarterly presentation materials and supplementary financial and regulatory information package.
Interested parties are also invited to listen to our quarterly conference call on Tuesday, August 30, 2022, at 8.00 a.m. (ET). The call may be accessed by telephone at 416-406-0743 (from within Toronto) or 1-800-898-3989 (toll-free outside Toronto), entering Passcode: 2522858#. A replay of the conference call can be accessed until September 30th, 2022, by calling 905-694-9451 (from within Toronto) or 1-800-408-3053 (toll-free outside Toronto) and entering Passcode: 2979715#.
A live webcast of the call can be accessed on our website at www.bmo.com/investorrelations. A replay can also be accessed on the website.
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SOURCE BMO Financial Group | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/bmo-financial-group-reports-third-quarter-2022-results/ | 2022-08-30T10:43:30Z |
With Thanksgiving less than three months away, Butterball shares what celebrators think about inflation, what they'll compromise to cut costs and what they won't
GARNER, N.C., Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Butterball, which has offered support to home chefs through its Butterball Turkey Talk-Line™ for more than 40 years, today released data from its 2022 Thanksgiving Outlook Report. According to the findings, people are excited for Thanksgiving with nearly 90% of Americans planning to celebrate in 2022 as concerns around COVID-19 shrink. However, concerns around inflation – particularly at the grocery store – are driving the need to get creative with cutting costs all without sacrificing holiday celebrations.
Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9081251-butterball-shares-2022-thanksgiving-outlook-report-holiday-celebrations/
When compared to respondent recollection of 2021, the report reveals a 4% increase in those hosting for the first time and a 4% decrease in those not planning to celebrate; the size of gatherings will remain the same as last year. While hosts are planning to manage cost savings on sides and desserts, turkey will still be at the center of their table and guest lists won't be scaled back.
Key takeaways and trends from the report are revealed below.
Enthusiasm for Thanksgiving: Despite inflation concerns, celebrations to continue
Though most Thanksgiving celebrators say inflation will have an impact on the holiday, they are not anticipating these worries will keep them from celebrating. Here is where hosts will not compromise to save money this Thanksgiving:
- The Celebration: Nearly 90% of people plan to celebrate this year – an increase from 2021.
- The Turkey: Among those celebrating, 85% of hosts are going to have turkey at the center of the table and 90% plan to buy the same size turkey or larger than last year.
- The Guest List: Only 8% of hosts concerned with inflation say they plan to shrink their guest list to control costs.
Managing Costs: Turkey to be at the center of tables but hosts look to cut costs in other ways
While hosts may not be willing to compromise their gathering size or turkey, they do have concerns about inflation. Notably, 44% of Thanksgiving hosts are concerned about rising prices, specifically at the grocery store (87%) and gas pump (75%). The findings reveal multiple ways hosts may mitigate the costs of this year's Thanksgiving meal:
- 55% of hosts concerned about inflation said they would shop for deals for parts of the entire meal. This marks a departure from early in the pandemic when hosts were concerned about minimizing the time in store and number of stores shopped.
- To manage costs, hosts might economize with the sides they prepare (32%), cook more from scratch (24%), look for ways to make the meal less formal (20%) or ask guests to bring a side (15%).
"While people are eager to gather with friends and loved ones this Thanksgiving, we are seeing external factors like inflation that will influence the way people celebrate," said Rebecca Welch, director of retail brand marketing at Butterball. "But we also see celebrators planning to get creative with ways to cut costs that won't compromise a memorable Thanksgiving. We know people want to celebrate with a turkey at the center of the table, and as always, the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line is here to share its 41 years of Thanksgiving expertise."
The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line officially opens for the season Tuesday, November 1 and experts can be reached a variety of ways including phone, text, online chat or Alexa, and will be ready to support consumers through all their Thanksgiving needs. To learn more, visit Butterball.com and stay tuned for more Thanksgiving-related announcements in the coming months.
About the Study
Butterball commissioned an omnibus online survey among a nationally representative sample of 1,005 U.S. adults. The survey was fielded by Ipsos between July 6-7, 2022.
About the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line™
One of the first national, toll-free consumer help lines, the Turkey Talk-Line has helped almost 50 million consumers since its first season in November 1981. Each November and December, professionally trained turkey experts assist more than 4 million cooks through the Turkey Talk-Line, Butterball.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Butterball Skill for Alexa, live chat and emails in the United States and Canada. With more than 50 staff members, the Turkey Talk-Line has the resources to answer questions from both English- and Spanish-speaking callers and respond to questions via email.
About Butterball
Headquartered in Garner, N.C., Butterball is the best known and most loved brand of turkey in the U.S. For more than 60 years, the company has provided foodservice and retail products to customers and consumers around the world. As an industry leader in quality, food safety and animal well-being, the company employs numerous processes to ensure the health of flocks and implements recognized prevention measures to exceed food safety standards. Butterball products are currently distributed throughout the U.S. and in more than 45 countries. Butterball operates six processing plants located in North Carolina, Arkansas and Missouri.
For consumer questions or information, please visit Butterball.com or call 1-800-BUTTERBALL (1-800-288-8372).
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SOURCE Butterball | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/butterball-shares-2022-thanksgiving-outlook-report-hosts-prepare-holiday-celebrations/ | 2022-08-30T10:43:37Z |
CHANGSHA, China, Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a report from China SCIO:
As the demonstration base for integrating culture with science and technology, Changsha has become a bright star of China's media industry.
Charming Changsha: Center of new media
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SOURCE China SCIO | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/charming-changsha-center-new-media/ | 2022-08-30T10:43:44Z |
SINGAPORE, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- China Online Education Group ("51Talk" or the "Company") (NYSE: COE), a global online education platform with core expertise in English education, announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022.
Second Quarter 2022 Financial and Operating Highlights
The Company completed the divesture of its China mainland business on June 30th, 2022. After the divesture, the Company focuses on providing online English tutoring lessons taught by foreign teachers to K-12 and post-secondary students in countries and regions outside of the China mainland.
The Company has announced that an annual general meeting of shareholders will be held on September 30, 2022, to approve the change of the Company's legal name from China Online Education Group to 51Talk Online Education Group.
The audit committee and the board of directors of the Company have approved the engagement of Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP ("MBP") as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm. MBP will be engaged to audit the annual consolidated financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022.
- Net revenues for the second quarter of 2022 were US$3.5 million, and gross margin for the second quarter of 2022 was 79.2%.
- Net loss for the second quarter of 2022 was US$15.0 million, including net loss from continuing operations[1] of US$4.6 million and net loss from discontinued operations[2] of US$10.4 million.
- Non-GAAP net loss[3] for the second quarter of 2022 was US$14.9 million, including non-GAAP net loss from continuing operations of US$4.5 million and non-GAAP net loss from discontinued operations of US$10.4 million.
- Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash balance stood at US$22.1 million as of June 30, 2022.
- Gross billings[4] of continuing operation for the second quarter of 2022 were US$7.8 million.
"In the second quarter of 2022, we successfully completed the divesture of our China mainland business and will solely focus on overseas business going forward. Starting from the third quarter, 100% of the Company's revenues will be derived from overseas markets. Furthermore, to reflect our overseas focus, we will hold an annual general meeting on September 30th to vote on the proposal of changing our legal name from China Online Education Group to 51Talk Online Education Group." said Mr. Jack Jiajia Huang, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 51Talk.
"We are excited to report another quarter marked by continued top-line growth of our overseas business. In the second quarter, our overseas business continued to see healthy and sustainable development. Our second quarter overseas business gross billings reached $7.8 million, representing 46.5% sequential growth. The number of our paying students reached 8.1k, representing 25% sequential growth and the number of our active students with attended lesson consumption reached 14.9k, representing 60% sequential growth in the second quarter. In addition, our overseas business achieved breakeven in cash flow during the two months of May and June. This reflects our strong execution of a healthy growth strategy in overseas business and we are looking forward to the future performance of cash flow." concluded Mr. Huang.
Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results
The Company officially launched its overseas business in July 2021 and plans to focus on the overseas business after its divesture of China mainland business. As the Company began to offer one-on-one course taught by foreign teachers to students in overseas markets from July 2021, there are no comparative data for overseas business for the second quarter of 2021.
Net Revenues and Gross Margin
Net revenues for the second quarter of 2022 were US$3.5 million. The number of active students with attended lesson consumption of continuing operation was 14,900 in the second quarter of 2022.
Cost of revenues for the second quarter of 2022 was US$0.7 million. Gross profit for the second quarter of 2022 was US$2.8 million. Gross margin for the second quarter of 2022 was 79.2%.
Operating Expenses
Total operating expenses for the second quarter of 2022 were US$6.9 million.
Sales and marketing expenses for the second quarter of 2022 were US$3.6 million. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses for the second quarter of 2022 were US$3.6 million.
Product development expenses for the second quarter of 2022 were US$0.7 million. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP product development expenses for the second quarter of 2022 were US$0.7 million.
General and administrative expenses for the second quarter of 2022 were US$2.6 million. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP general and administrative expenses for the second quarter of 2022 were US$2.5 million.
Loss from Operations
Operating loss for the second quarter of 2022 was US$4.1 million.
Non-GAAP operating loss for the second quarter of 2022 was US$4.0 million.
Net loss
Net loss for the second quarter of 2022 was US$15.0 million, including net loss from continuing operations of US$4.6 million and net loss from discontinued operations of US$10.4 million.
Non-GAAP net loss for the second quarter of 2022 was US$14.9 million, including non-GAAP net loss from continuing operations of US$4.5 million and non-GAAP net loss from discontinued operations of US$10.4 million.
Basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter of 2022 was US$0.04.
Non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter of 2022 was US$0.04.
Basic and diluted net loss per American depositary share ("ADS") attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter of 2022 was US$0.67. Each ADS represents 15 Class A ordinary shares.
Non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter of 2022 was US$0.67.
Balance Sheet
As of June 30, 2022, the Company had total cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash of US$22.1 million.
The Company had advances from students[7] (current and non-current) of US$10.2 million as of June 30, 2022.
Outlook
For the third quarter of 2022, the Company currently expects gross billings to be between US$8.0 million and US$8.2 million.
The above outlook is based on current market conditions and reflects the Company's current and preliminary estimates of market and operating conditions and customer demand, which are all subject to change.
Management Change
The Company also announced today that Mr. Min Xu, Chief Financial Officer, has resigned for personal reasons and his last day with the Company will be September 30th, 2022. Ms. Chun Tang, Vice President of Finance of the Company, will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer starting on October 1st, 2022.
Ms. Tang has served in roles of Finance Director, Senior Finance Director, and Vice President of Finance since she joined the Company in 2014 and played an instrumental role in the Company's successful IPO completed in June 2016. Previously, Ms. Tang served as Senior Financial Analyst in Google's Beijing office from 2007 to 2014. Earlier in her career, Ms. Tang served as Senior Financial Analyst with Novo Nordisk, a CSE-listed world leading pharmaceutical manufacturer, Finance Manager with Beijing City International School, and Senior Auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian LLP. Ms. Tang received a Master of Arts degree in western accounting from The Central University of Finance and Economics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from Northeastern University in Shenyang China.
Mr. Jack Jiajia Huang, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, said, "On behalf of the Board of Directors and myself, I would like to thank Min for his service as 51Talk's Chief Financial Officer. Over the course of his four-year tenure, Min led us to achieve profitability by focusing on sustainable growth. We wish him the best in his future endeavors."
Conference Call
The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on August 30, 2022 (8:00 PM Singapore/Beijing/Hong Kong time on August 30, 2022).
Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:
Participants should dial-in at least 5 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "China Online Education Group."
Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.51talk.com.
A replay of the conference call will be accessible until September 6, 2022, by dialing the following telephone numbers:
About China Online Education Group
China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) is a global online education platform with core expertise in English education. The Company's mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company's online and mobile education platforms enable students to take live interactive English lessons, on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In evaluating its business, 51Talk considers and uses the following measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the SEC as supplemental metrics to review and assess its operating performance: non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses, non-GAAP product development expenses, non-GAAP general and administrative expenses, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating income/(loss), non-GAAP net income/(loss), non-GAAP net income/(loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders, and non-GAAP net income/(loss) attributable to ordinary shareholders per share and per ADS. To present each of these non-GAAP measures, the Company excludes share-based compensation expenses. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures" set forth at the end of this press release.
51Talk believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance by excluding share-based compensation expenses that may not be indicative of its operating performance from a cash perspective. 51Talk believes that both management and investors benefit from these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to 51Talk's historical performance. 51Talk computes its non-GAAP financial measures using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter and from period to period. 51Talk believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. A limitation of using non-GAAP measures is that these non-GAAP measures exclude share-based compensation expenses that have been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant recurring expense in the 51Talk's business. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from each non-GAAP measure. The accompanying table at the end of this press release provides more details on the reconciliations between GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "aims", "future", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "likely to" and similar statements. Among other things, 51Talk's quotations from management in this announcement, as well as 51Talk's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. 51Talk may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about 51Talk's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: 51Talk's goals and strategies; 51Talk's expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its brand and platform; 51Talk's ability to retain and increase its student enrollment; 51Talk's ability to offer new courses; 51Talk's ability to engage, train and retain new teachers; 51Talk's future business development, results of operations and financial condition; 51Talk's ability to maintain and improve infrastructure necessary to operate its education platform; competition in the online education industry in its overseas markets; the expected growth of, and trends in, the markets for 51Talk's course offerings in its overseas markets; relevant government policies and regulations relating to 51Talk's corporate structure, business and industry; general economic and business condition in the Philippines, its overseas markets and elsewhere; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in 51Talk's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and 51Talk does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.
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SOURCE China Online Education Group | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/08/30/china-online-education-group-announces-second-quarter-2022-results/ | 2022-08-30T10:43:52Z |
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