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Organization Celebrated for Excellence in Workplace Culture Based on Associate Survey
2022 Marks Year Six of Company Being Great Place to Work Certified
ATLANTA, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackson Healthcare®, a family of highly specialized healthcare staffing, search and technology companies, today announced that it has been named to the newly published "2022 Best Workplaces in Health Care™" list by Fortune®. This marks the fifth consecutive year the organization has been on the nationally recognized list, appearing at number 14 out of the top 80 ranked companies.
Great Place to Work®, a research and consulting firm, compiles the prestigious list using rigorous analytics and confidential employee feedback. Leveraging its proprietary For All® methodology, it evaluates and certifies companies that have created an employee experience that is equal across race, gender, age, disability status, role within the company and any aspect of who an employee is. Companies must be Great Place to Work-Certified to be eligible to appear on a "Best Workplaces" list published annually by Fortune.
This year's ranking involved the analysis of input from nearly 161,000 U.S.-based employees working in healthcare.
"I'm proud that Jackson Healthcare has once again been selected by Fortune and Great Place to Work as one of the nation's best workplaces in the healthcare industry," shares Shane Jackson, president, Jackson Healthcare. "Since our inception, we have focused on creating positive experiences that empower our associates to thrive in all aspects of their lives. This recognition underscores our ongoing commitment to care for and support our people and strong workplace culture."
"It is our honor to spotlight the Best Workplaces in Health Care," says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. "Health care heroes have been on the front lines saving lives, and these organizations dug deep to tailor their support to the rapidly changing demands from the pandemic. We applaud their commitment to inclusive, high-trust cultures."
Jackson Healthcare has been Great Place to Work-Certified for six consecutive years.
About the Best Workplaces in Health Care
Great Place to Work selected the Best Workplaces in Health Care by gathering and analyzing confidential survey responses from more than 161,000 employees at Great Place to Work-Certified™ organizations in the health care industry. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place to Work® Trust Index™ survey. Great Place to Work determines its lists using its proprietary For All™ methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America's largest ongoing annual workforce study, based on over 1 million survey responses and data from companies representing more than 6.1 million employees, this year alone. Read the full methodology. To get on this list next year, start here.
About Great Place to Work
Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work For All™. Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
About Jackson Healthcare
Jackson Healthcare® is a family of highly specialized healthcare staffing, search and technology companies. With a mission to improve the delivery of patient care and the lives of everyone it touches, it helps healthcare facilities across the country serve more than 10 million patients each year. Backed by over 1,700 associates and more than 15,000 clinician providers covering all 50 states, Jackson Healthcare is one of the largest U.S. healthcare staffing companies with over $1.8 billion in annual revenue. In addition to being Great Place to Work certified, it is consistently named an employer of choice, having been nationally recognized as a best workplace in healthcare, a best workplace for women and a best workplace for millennials, as well as being named among the healthiest employers. Learn more at www.jacksonhealthcare.com.
From FORTUNE. ©2022 FORTUNE Media IP Limited All rights reserved. Used under license. FORTUNE and FORTUNE Media IP Limited are not affiliated with and do not endorse products or services of, Jackson Healthcare, LLC.
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SOURCE Jackson Healthcare | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/jackson-healthcare-named-one-best-workplaces-health-care-by-fortune-fifth-consecutive-year/ | 2022-09-07T18:02:10Z |
Guests can register for a drawing to win a James Avery gift card
KERRVILLE, Texas, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- James Avery Artisan Jewelry, a family-owned jewelry retailer based in Texas, announces the opening of its new store in the Plaza at Pearland Village. The new store is located at 8505 S Sam Houston Pkwy, Suite 110 in Houston, TX, 77075.
"We're excited to open an additional location in Houston at the Plaza in Pearland Village," says James Avery CEO John McCullough. "We hope this new location provides additional convenience for our existing customers and allows us the opportunity to introduce our designs to new customers in the Pearland area."
The new store offers classic designs customers know and love, including colorful charms, statement rings and keepsake collections of jewelry to celebrate the special moments of life. Starting today, guests are invited to register for gift card drawings. During the grand opening celebration on Saturday, September 17 there will be drawings for 30 James Avery gift cards valued at $50, $100 and $500. Additionally, the first 100 guests will receive a gift with purchase.
District manager Eddie Clayworth and his team are ready to welcome customers to shop in the new store, use Curbside Pickup, or Buy Online, Pick-up in Store options at JamesAvery.com. Store hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
About James Avery Artisan Jewelry®– James Avery is a vertically integrated, family-owned company located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. We offer finely crafted jewelry designs for men and women in sterling silver, 14K and 18K gold, bronze and gemstones. James Avery jewelry is designed in the Texas Hill Country, with the vast majority of our pieces crafted in Kerrville, Comfort, Hondo and Corpus Christi, Texas using the finest materials sourced worldwide. We are a multi-channel retailer with over 110 James Avery stores in four states. Our jewelry is also available at JamesAvery.com, over 220 Dillard's locations and at Dillards.com and at 10 Von Maur locations and VonMaur.com. You can also find our designs at airport stores in Austin, Houston and Nashville, as well as select Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) locations. Follow us @JamesAvery on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as @JamesAveryJewelry on TikTok for new releases, trends and behind the scenes.
Odds of winning depend on total number of entries received. Thirty James Avery gift cards will be awarded: twenty-four $50 gift cards, three $100 gift cards, and three $500 gift cards. Entries accepted September 7 through September 17. Hourly drawings on September 17 between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the grand opening celebration at the Plaza at Pearland Village James Avery Artisan Jewelry store. No purchase necessary. Must be at least 13 years old to enter. Only one entry per person per day. Winners not eligible to win a subsequent gift card in the same promotion. Winners need not be present to win; however, if prize is not claimed within 14 days of drawing, prize will be awarded to an alternate winner. Associates and immediate family members not eligible for this gift promotion.
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SOURCE James Avery Artisan Jewelry | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/james-avery-artisan-jewelry-now-open-pearland/ | 2022-09-07T18:02:17Z |
Latest step enhances resiliency amidst continued industry-wide global supply chain challenges
NORTHFIELD, Ill., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medline has invested an additional $500 million in incremental medical supply inventory to ensure product availability and timely delivery to the healthcare providers it serves. The investment, completed at the end of the second quarter of 2022, brings the company's total on-hand inventory to more than $4 billion and marks another step taken by Medline to help healthcare run better despite continued industry-wide global supply chain challenges.
"Our inventory management strategy has always been designed with one goal in mind – ensure that the right products are available at the right time to meet the demands of our customers and the patients in their care," said Jim Pigott, group president at Medline. "This latest investment reflects our ongoing pledge to provide reliable, superior service to healthcare systems across the continuum of care."
Medline's commitment to exceptional service is enabled by its intentionally balanced approach to global product and manufacturing diversification, which includes a product footprint spanning over 20 countries worldwide and expansive North American operations. Today, the company:
- Owns and operates over 20 manufacturing facilities across North America – including surgical device reprocessing and production of infection prevention, cardiology diagnostic and incontinence products, cleansing wipes, lotions, and patient plastics.
- As the market leader, manufactures over 200 million healthcare procedure kits annually in North America.
- Owns and operates over 50 distribution centers throughout North America, totaling more than 28 million sq. ft. of medical-grade warehouse space.
- Owns and operates its MedTrans fleet of over 1,300 trucks nationwide, enabling one-day shipping to 99% of the U.S.
Medline continues to invest in the resiliency of the supply chain through its national capital expenditure campaign, the Healthcare Resilience Initiative. Since 2018, the company has invested $2 billion in its U.S. distribution centers, manufacturing capabilities and IT upgrades to further its commitment to delivering superior customer service, with an additional $400M planned for 2022.
"Medline has implemented significant infrastructure expansions to ensure the resiliency of the healthcare supply chain and to help providers activate the clinical and supply chain resources needed to deliver their best care," said Jim Boyle, executive vice president for Medline. "As the operators of the largest U.S. supply chain of any medical-surgical manufacturer and distributor, we continue to explore new solutions for the supply chain challenges our industry faces today while also preparing for tomorrow."
Throughout the pandemic, Medline has focused on implementing new ideas to address the significant increase in demand for medical supplies nationwide, including expanding its U.S. manufacturing capabilities. The company's latest North American manufacturing expansion is the addition of Micro-Kill disinfectant wipes to its Hartland, Wis. facility operations, with production beginning in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Learn how Medline tailors solutions across the entire continuum of care as a manufacturer and distributor by visiting https://www.medline.com/supply-chain/.
About Medline
Medline is a healthcare company; a manufacturer, distributor, and solutions provider focused on improving the overall operating performance of healthcare. Partnering with healthcare systems and facilities across the continuum of care, Medline provides the clinical and supply chain resources required for long-term financial viability in delivering high-quality care. With the scale of one of the country's largest companies and the agility of a family-led business, Medline is able to invest in its customers for the future and rapidly respond to a dynamically changing market with customized solutions. Headquartered in Northfield, Ill., Medline has 30,000+ employees worldwide and does business in more than 125 countries and territories. Learn more about Medline at www.medline.com.
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SOURCE Medline | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/medline-invests-additional-500m-medical-supply-inventory-boost-product-availability/ | 2022-09-07T18:02:24Z |
Consumer preference shows GMOs are not wanted or needed in the innovative plant-based space
BELLINGHAM, Wash., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Last year plant-based food sales grew three times faster than total sales, with market value at an all-time high of $7.4 billion. One of the fastest growing product categories, plant-based foods is expected to reach $162 billion in the next decade. Eaters are drawn to plant-based foods for reasons such as health, climate, and affordability. SPINS reports about 52% of overall plant-based sales are Non-GMO Project Verified. At the same time, new research shows explosive growth of Verified products in the plant-based space – a bellwether signaling consumer demand is headed toward non-GMO plant-based options.
Many companies without the Butterfly mark rely on traditional GMOs such as soybeans and corn. Moreover, significant investment is being made in new GMOs using synthetic biology (synbio), to create a range of ingredients for plant-based products, including non-animal dairy proteins, fats, and blood-like compounds such as "heme." The new products made with GMOs are being marketed directly to natural shoppers and retailers, using unfamiliar terms such as "precision fermentation," "animal free," and "nature identical." These synthetic products are entering the market largely unregulated and unlabeled, compromising the consumer's right to know what's in their food.
"The Non-GMO Project supports appropriate innovation and technology for creating new, wholesome vegan and vegetarian options, but we are seeing synthetic ingredients infiltrating the plant-based space," cautions Megan Westgate, founder and executive director of the Non-GMO Project, North America's most relied-upon non-GMO authority. "Let's keep plant-based foods naturally non-GMO. And if they do contain GMOs, at least label them clearly, so people can choose to avoid them."
Data show that consumers are looking for the Butterfly. In a new case study of growth of sales from 2019-2021, SPINS data found that Non-GMO Project Verified frozen plant-based meat alternatives rose +71.7%, as opposed to only +10.4% for unlabeled products in the same category.
"It's hard to ignore the opportunistic nature of some of the GMO-based companies, targeting plant-seeking consumers. Most people who are looking for animal protein alternatives want real plants; this transition is often cultural and personal," says Alicia Kennedy, food writer, author and veganism expert. "The problem is that many consumers have no idea that some of these products are made from industrial GMOs and synthetic ingredients. Products are largely not labeled. Vegetarianism and veganism have been co-opted by Silicon Valley and venture capitalists, where once they were often a protest against industrial foods. Why is that?"
"We know there is a big and growing movement to embrace sustainable plant-based proteins, and we believe the leading edge of innovation is actually non-GMO and organic. It's important that shoppers have that option and many Non-GMO Project Verified brands are showing how great real food can be," said Nicole Atchison, CEO of PURIS Holdings, which was named Fast Company's Most Innovative Food Company in 2021. "We can make vegan options available and truly sustainable by using natural, non-GMO ingredients — that's what most people want, too."
On September 14 at 9 am PST, the Project will host a live industry seminar Who's Driving the Future of Plant-Based Foods? Non-GMO Innovation in the Fastest Growing Category. Industry experts and thought leaders will discuss the convergence of sustainability, demand for plant-based food, and the need for food sovereignty. What does innovation in plant-based foods look like without GMOs? Are products made with new GMOs even in demand? The seminar will explore these questions and more, plus live audience questions at the end.
The Non-GMO Project is a nonprofit organization committed to preserving and building sources of non-GMO products, educating consumers and providing verified non-GMO choices. As the market leader for GMO avoidance, the Project offers North America's most rigorous and trusted third-party verification for non-GMO food and products.
Contact: Hans Eisenbeis, press@nongmoproject.org , 360-255-7704
Sasha Bernstein Skon, SashaBernstein.PR@gmail.com , 203-536-4987
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SOURCE Non-GMO Project | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/more-than-half-all-plant-based-foods-are-non-gmo-project-verified-growing/ | 2022-09-07T18:02:31Z |
Seamless Deployment With Neosec Delivers Advanced API Security Through Behavioral Analytics and Threat Hunting to Apigee-Managed APIs
PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Neosec, the pioneer in discovering and identifying API threats using behavioral analytics, today announced a seamless, fast integration solution with Apigee, which enables customers to design, secure, analyze, and scale APIs anywhere with visibility and control. The Neosec API security solution leverages the capabilities of Apigee by fully discovering and maintaining an up-to-date inventory of all APIs in use by an organization, whether managed through Apigee or elsewhere, providing information and risk assessments of each. Neosec uses machine learning and behavioral analytics to find fraud and abuse by third parties and attackers.
The Apigee integration from Neosoc supports both Apigee Edge and Apigee X, enabling both communities of users to direct API traffic activity to the Neosec platform to secure their APIs. Neosec augments the native security tools built into the Apigee platform like bot detection and known vulnerability protection by implementing behavioral analytics and addressing the hidden abuse APIs face today.
The Apigee integration is part of an ongoing Neosec initiative to increase the number of user-friendly integrations with leading technology platforms. This platform integration between Neosec and Apigee is robust and scalable for the largest of environments. Deployment is as easy as copy, paste and go. These pre-set, instant integrations direct all relevant API traffic to the Neosec platform. Apigee infrastructure combined with the architecture of the Neosec integration supports auto-scaling for simplified operations.
"The use of APIs in a fast-paced everything-connected business world drives business but also creates new and potentially high-value targets for attackers, insiders and rogue third parties. API Management products like Google's Apigee deliver crucial API activity data to the Neosec platform", said Giora Engel, co-founder and chief executive officer, Neosec. "The integration which has been proven in high traffic environments is a formidable new weapon as we continue to detect more hidden API abuses.
Rather than focusing only on vulnerabilities involved with APIs, the Neosec platform addresses the problem by first automatically and continually identifying all APIs a company has in use. The platform evaluates these APIs for risk posture and monitors for user behavioral anomalies that could indicate data theft or other misuse. Most companies lack a complete and up-to-date API inventory, and fewer understand the nature of normal API usage. Even fewer have the ability to monitor their APIs to mitigate loss or detect abuse of business processes, financial assets and data within their APIs.
For more information about the Neosec platform or the new features:
About Neosec
Neosec is re-inventing application security with a powerful platform that unifies security and development teams to protect modern applications from threats. The foundation of the SaaS platform is built on data and analytics to manage security at scale. Neosec prevents threats from abusing the complex network of APIs that connect today's businesses. The platform helps organizations discover every API and audit risk. Neosec has pioneered the use of behavioral analytics to understand normal versus abnormal API usage and delivers powerful threat hunting capabilities together with a team of expert threat hunters. Neosec prevents threats and stops abuse hiding within APIs and brings new intelligence to application security. Neosec is based in Palo Alto, California with R&D in Tel Aviv, Israel. To learn more, visit Neosec.com.
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SOURCE Neosec | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/neosec-integrates-with-google-cloud-apigee-api-management-prevent-business-api-fraud-abuse/ | 2022-09-07T18:02:37Z |
"VITAVATE™ Encourages You to 'Fill Your Cup First™' with Launch of Premium, Powdered Vitamin Formulas to Support Your On-the-Go Lifestyle - Available on Amazon"
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- VITAVATE™ is a new female-founded, Black-owned premium dietary supplement brand intentionally designed to support heart health, energy, and focus.
With over 30 years of experience in food safety and quality assurance, founder Lori White and her team partnered with industry-leading food scientists to research and develop VITAVATE's high-quality proprietary blend. After several years, VITAVATE was born – produced with effective, easy-to-consume, and flavorful formulas to support 'HEART' health, promote 'FOCUS,' and sustain 'ENERGY.'
VITAVATE's HEART formula was developed in response to the troubling statistics that heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans, notably, 49% of Black women over the age of 20 have heart disease in the US.
VITAVATE's ENERGY and FOCUS formulas were inspired by the women in Lori's life who consistently hold multiple roles. Over the years, Lori and her friends worked to keep all the balls in the air. Thus, a much-needed 'pick-me-up' was developed to better meet the multiple demands they each faced daily.
"As a family venture, VITAVATE has been a labor of love and intention," says Lori. "I wanted to use my professional expertise and network to create a product that would address the challenges I faced in my wellness journey. At VITAVATE, we want to "Fill Your Cup First™" - so you are fully empowered to be your best!"
VITAVATE products are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, contain prebiotics, and sweetened with stevia. Each formula contains various vitamins and minerals in a powdered form.
The strawberry-flavored Energy supplement contains green tea and ginseng extracts, fiber, magnesium, choline, ginger root, grape seed extract, and PABA.
The lemon-flavored Heart supplement is a good source of vitamin B6, vitamin E, magnesium, selenium, taurine, and fiber.
The orange-flavored Focus supplement contains vitamin B6, vitamin E, vitamin A, choline, and fiber.
Each variety of VITAVATE is sold in pouches of 15 packets (6 -7grams of product per packet) for $37.00 USD. VITAVATE products are available for purchase on Amazon and VITAVATE.com. VITAVATE is a proud member of Amazon's Black Business Accelerator and the Fifteen Percent Pledge program supporting Black-owned brands. Connect with VITAVATE here: https://linktr.ee/vitavateofficial
For media inquiries, please contact:
melissa@dunnpelliermedia.com
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SOURCE VITAVATE | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/new-dietary-supplement-brand-looks-elevate-your-wellness-routine/ | 2022-09-07T18:02:43Z |
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ovative Group announced their newest VPs who are changing the marketing industry for the better. Jen Alcott received an internal promotion to Vice President of Client Services, and Troy Neidermire, a 14-year Target Corporation alumni, will serve as the Vice President of Measurement and Enabling Solutions. Both are the latest additions to Ovative's leadership team. They share a relentless focus on driving results and a desire to transform the measure of marketing success. At Ovative, an independent media and measurement firm, they help clients tackle the most complex marketing challenges, using Enterprise Marketing Return (EMR) as their gold standard metric. EMR is a unified optimization metric that aligns business leaders to the metrics that impact their business most.
For the past three years, Alcott has handled defining and executing cross-channel media strategies and driving operational excellence across disciplines with Ovative's leading retail clients, including Tapestry (Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman). Alcott joined Ovative with 16 years of experience at Best Buy and Target including social media and multichannel strategy. She will report to Jesse Grittner, Senior Vice President of Growth.
"As our business continues to grow, we are committed to investing in team development and capabilities to ensure that we have the right structure in place to support current and future scale," said Grittner. "Jen's promotion reflects those commitments, and we are proud of the impact Jen has already had on our team members, our clients, and Ovative as a whole."
At Ovative, 60% of the VP+ leadership team are women, compared to the corporate average of 30%. The strength of Ovative's leadership team reflects the inclusive culture that is intentionally built each day and continued dedication to elevating new perspectives.
Neidermire comes to Ovative with over 15 years of media, marketing, eCommerce, and product experience, developing large high-performing teams, and building new measurement capabilities. Neidermire will lead a newly formed business unit for Ovative, Measurement and Enabling Solutions. This team will bring an operator lens to enhance clients' data feeds, reporting solutions, and testing and analytics capabilities. Deep subject matter expertise and unique perspectives in these areas will unlock the ability for our clients to optimize to EMR and maximize the use of Ovative's technology platform, MAP. Neidermire will report to Beth McKigney, Senior Vice President, Measurement Solutions and Technology.
"To transform the measure of marketing success, we must invest in innovative measurement capabilities, further our team's expertise, and disrupt what marketers have come to expect from their technology providers. To unlock EMR for our teams and our clients – we must raise the bar," said McKigney. "We believe that the power of Ovative is in bringing together talent with different perspectives to bring EMR to life in a real and actionable way. Our team and clients will both benefit from a proven leader like Troy who can motivate, develop, and drive a team towards a common goal."
As Ovative continues to see record growth, team development and emerging capabilities enable team members to make an impact within and outside Ovative's walls. This key new hire and promotion will enable Ovative to continue to build for the future, drive results for clients, and transform the measure of marketing success!
Ovative Group is an independent media and measurement firm that helps clients drive and deliver measurable marketing performance. Founded in 2009 by Dale Nitschke, Ovative brings media, measurement, and consulting together under one roof to measure the holistic impact of marketing on clients' total business using its proprietary metric, Enterprise Marketing Return (EMR). Ovative's team of marketing experts serves as a trusted partner for its national world class client base of marketing leaders across many industries. Ovative is recognized as an industry leader and has received awards including Star Tribune's Top Workplaces, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal's Fast 50, and Inc. 5000. For more information about Ovative, visit ovative.com or follow Ovative on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Media Contact:
Quinn Nystrom
Manager PR & Brand, Ovative Group
218-839-9992, quinn.nystrom@ovative.com
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SOURCE Ovative Group | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/new-ovative-vps-raise-bar-measurement/ | 2022-09-07T18:02:50Z |
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Veronica Southerland, FNP-BC, along with 17 of her Mentor Me nurses announce their newest project A Nurse's Journey To Entrepreneurship. This book is a culmination of decades of work within the nursing industry – from growing up with dreams of nursing to overcoming adversities such as racial disparities, teen pregnancies, and language barriers to see their childhood dreams become a reality. This book will be available for purchase starting September 25, 2022, On Vee The NP Day in Atlanta, Georgia.
In January of 2022, these 17 nurses joined Southerland, also known as Vee The NP, for a six-month intensive business builder program. Throughout this program, these nurses learned high-level business practices plus day-to-day growth tactics. They each are now healthcare business owners in states across the country.
"Creating a business-focused mentorship program for nurses is easy for me, almost a no-brainer," Southerland said. "I'm a serial entrepreneur with quite a few successful businesses in my portfolio. But to me, that doesn't mean much if I'm not teaching my fellow nurses who want options in addition to their bedside role. I've learned A LOT of lessons in my decades of being in business. My calling is to pour out all I've learned."
A Nurse's Journey To Entrepreneurship launch serves as a pinnacle for these nursing professionals. Each of them wrote their own story and allowed it to be woven into the fabric of the story of nurse entrepreneurship.
These nurses will convene on Atlanta September 23-25, 2022. September 23, they will present to the Health Occupations Students of America program at South Atlanta High School. Community service projects will be hosted Saturday.
Sunday, Sept. 25, Atlanta's Vee The NP Day, will be 1-3 pm. at Le Meridien Perimeter Atlanta, 111 Perimeter Center W, Atlanta, GA 30346 and tickets are available by clicking here. Local entrepreneur Yandy Smith will join Southerland for a girlfriend chat followed by each nurse speaking about her experience that led to her success.
- Adriane M. Brown, MHA, BSN, RN – Washington
- Adrienne Cox, RN, BSN – Florida
- Alisha Cruz, ADN, RN – Delaware
- Brenda Parks DNP, APRN, MPH – Florida
- Christella Medozile MSN, LNC, APRN, FNP-BC – New York
- Cynthia Ambroise, RN, MSN, AGPCNP-BC – North Carolina
- Delana Newcoste Charles, RN, MLD-C – Louisiana
- Khadijah Fife Latham, BSN, RN – New York
- Kierra Ward, BSN, RN – Georgia
- LaTesha Dennard, RN, BSN, FNP(s) – Georgia
- Mirabelle Beck, MSN, FNP, NP-C – New York
- Novia Markes, MSN, APRN, FNP-C – Florida
- Paige Munk, ADN, RN – Missouri
- Qiana Brost, MSN, RN – Maryland
- Rakiema Sellars-Pompey, RN, BSN, CEN - California
- Sabrina Willis, MBA-HCA, BSN, RN CCPS, CPHQ – North Carolina
- Shaynae Smith, RN – New York
- Sherry Williams, B.Ed, RN – Texas
- Veronica Southerland, RN, MSN, FNP-BC, DNP(s) – North Carolina
This book can be pre-ordered on Amazon. Each nurse will have events throughout the country as well as their home states to share personal stories.
Media Contact: Arden McLaughlin
pr@veethenp.com
704-941-5564
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SOURCE Veronica Southerland | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/nurse-entrepreneurs-release-new-book-with-goal-empower-impact-healthcare-professionals-throughout-country/ | 2022-09-07T18:02:57Z |
Local Banking Executive and Longtime Charlotte Business Leader
Tim Beck to Serve as Market Leader
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Oakworth Capital Bank (Oakworth) is entering the Central Carolinas market with a new office in the Charlotte area. Oakworth uniquely delivers banking, wealth management and advisory services through a highly coordinated approach.
Tim Beck has been named the group's Central Carolinas market leader and comes to Oakworth after serving as executive vice president and chief credit officer for Aquesta Bank, which was sold to United Community Bank in late 2021. Prior to his role with Aquesta Bank, Beck served a number of banks throughout a long career in Charlotte, making him a perfect fit for cultivating the Oakworth model in the Central Carolinas.
"When we consider expanding to serve more communities, we always start with a culture leader who lives our five core values—Golden Rule, Character, Innovative and Creative Spirit, Professionalism and Work Ethic," said Scott Reed, Oakworth chairman and chief executive officer. "We couldn't be more thrilled to have someone with Tim's local leadership and financial experience to lead Oakworth in this dynamic market."
"I immediately recognized that Oakworth's unique approach would resonate with leaders and businesses in our region," said Beck. "Oakworth's clients consistently praise the company for the quality of its people, its distinctive level of service and its commitment to making financial services easy. Bringing the Oakworth experience to the Carolinas area will be a huge benefit for closely held businesses, professionals and families, and I'm honored to lead this effort."
Beck brings significant experience in the financial services industry, having held positions within commercial and corporate banking as well as credit administration for Bank of America, SouthTrust Bank, Branch Banking and Trust, First Horizon and Silverton Bank.
"Tim's extensive experience and proven leadership in the Charlotte market supports our commitment to an excellent client experience for future clients in the Central Carolinas," said Chief Performance Officer Forest Whatley, who is responsible for the leadership of all Oakworth markets. "We look forward to helping our clients succeed and can't wait to begin."
Named the #1 "Best Bank to Work For" every year for the past four years in an independent survey conducted by American Banker, Oakworth cultivates a culture that appeals to talented professionals who desire to provide the highest level of expertise and responsiveness to their clients. Serving clients in 17 states, Oakworth provides proactive solutions by focusing on predictable needs of growing businesses and families.
The new office location—anticipated to open in the Southern part of the metro Charlotte area—will be announced soon. The grand opening is set to take place in early 2023.
Oakworth Capital Bank provides commercial and private banking, wealth management and advisory services to successful businesses, families and individuals. Oakworth serves its valued clients across the United States from its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, as well as from South Alabama and Middle Tennessee. For more information about Oakworth Capital Bank and its unique approach, please visit www.oakworth.com.
For more information contact:
Sonia Blumstein
Phone: 205-278-2017
Email: sonia.blumstein@oakworthcapital.com
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SOURCE Oakworth Capital Bank | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/oakworth-capital-bank-enters-central-carolinas-market-with-new-charlotte-location/ | 2022-09-07T18:03:03Z |
Onego Bio is a Finnish biotechnology company producing animal-free egg white with precision fermentation. With the new funding granted by Business Finland, the company can accelerate the research and development of Bioalbumen™ production even further. The company's solution rises to the major global challenges of food production and sustainable development.
HELSINKI, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Onego Bio is a biotech spin-off from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The company uses a commercially proven Trichoderma technology to solve environmental problems associated with eggs, one of the world's most used animal proteins. This safe, sustainable and cost-effective precision fermentation method produces ovalbumin, the most abundant egg white protein, and the team believes this chosen technology is superior because of its efficiency and productivity.
Onego raised EUR 10 million seed funding from Agronomics and Maki VC in February, and now Business Finland, a public organization under the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, has awarded a grant of additional EUR 4.5 million for Onego Bio's research and development work. Business Finland's funding makes it possible to increase the project's resourcing and speed up its implementation, which improves its business expectations and positive social and environmental effects.
According to Business Finland, the company's solution rises to the major global challenges and development trends in food production. It has significant international business potential, and promotes sustainable food production, food security and the fight against climate change. The funded project also promotes the commercialization of public research findings into a global competitive advantage and has a significant positive impact on the development of the company's business.
"Since our founding in February 2022, our team has been working hard to launch remarkable development projects, recruiting talented new team members, as well as generating business plans and commercial scenarios. With the help of this amazing additional funding, we can focus on even more complex and ambitious R&D areas and keep our risk appetite and performance requirements high", says Maija Itkonen, CEO and co-founder of Onego Bio.
Cellular agriculture uses microorganisms and bioreactors instead of traditional animal farming and can provide the same beloved food ingredients that are used every day but decoupled from the animal agriculture systems. Because of its unique functional properties, egg white is difficult to replace with alternative ingredients and it's often the last frontier before entirely animal-free products can be manufactured. Onego Bio provides the nutritional and functional upsides of egg white, without the environmental, ethical and safety-related concerns. The company aims to launch its first product Bioalbumen™ as a food ingredient for food industry and later enter the consumer market with its own branded products for baking and cooking.
Laura Toppinen
Head of Brand & Communications
Onego Bio Ltd
laura@onego.bio
Onego Bio Ltd is a game-changing biotech company producing animal-free egg proteins with precision fermentation. When implemented in full scale, this new production method provides significant benefits to the environment, food security, as well as animal welfare. The team believes the chosen technology is superior because of its efficiency and productivity. Based on the anticipatory LCA published in Nature Food, the technology shows potential to significantly reduce most agriculture-associated impacts, such as global warming and land use.
Egg is one of the world's most used animal proteins and difficult to replace with alternative ingredients. Onego Bio will make it possible to manufacture the same delicious foods entirely animal-free. Company aims to launch its first product Bioalbumen™ as a food ingredient for food industry and later enter the consumer market with its own branded products for baking and cooking. Bioalbumen provides the nutritional and functional upsides of egg white, without the environmental, ethical and safety-related concerns.
Founded in 2022 by Maija Itkonen (CEO), Christopher Landowski (CTO) and Jussi Joensuu (COO), Onego Bio is a VTT spin-off that salutes the remarkable work done by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland for the next level cell ag products and applications. Onego Bio's mission is to rethink eggs and give people access to sustainable, delicious and healthy animal-free food. Learn more at www.onego.bio and follow our journey in LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
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SOURCE Onego Bio | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/onego-bio-secures-eur-45m-additional-funding-accelerate-research-development/ | 2022-09-07T18:03:10Z |
BOSTON, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.), the leader in personalized small group and solo-friendly travel for Americans ages 50+, reported a significant increase in travelers who are booking trips as solos for 2023.
According to O.A.T., the number of solo travelers reserving for 2023 is up 24% compared to 2019. In the past month alone, O.A.T. has seen a 27% jump in solo travelers making reservations compared to the previous month.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of all O.A.T. travelers are solo travelers. The majority of solo travelers with O.A.T. are women – eight in ten.
"Women traveling alone are embracing small group travel," said Brian FitzGerald, Chief Executive Officer of O.A.T. "Like other travelers, solos are eager to visit far-flung destinations, interact with local people, and immerse themselves in unique cultures."
Many travelers started traveling internationally again last year, but there is still plenty of pent-up
demand for 2023. Solos are part of that trend.
Popular for 2023
Egypt remains a particularly strong choice in 2023 for solo travelers. Ancient Egypt & the Nile River, a 16-day O.A.T. Small Group Adventure, tops the list of most popular adventures for solo travelers in 2023. Close to half of the travelers reserved for Ancient Egypt in 2023 are solos. Also popular with solos is Japan's Cultural Treasures. The country recently reopened to international travelers. Another in-demand adventure for solo travelers is Ultimate Africa: Botswana, Zambia & Zimbabwe Safari. Nearly 2,400 solo travelers joined O.A.T. on this adventure in the past three years—either independently or sharing a room with a mother, daughter, sister, or friend.
For 2023, O.A.T. has single spaces still available—all with free or low-cost single supplements, which translates into hundreds of dollars in savings.
A personal touch
For solo travelers, the Trip Experience Leaders at O.A.T. make a world of difference. Leading each small group, they are trained to integrate solo travelers from the start of their adventure. Trip Experience Leaders help solo travelers with issues such as someone to share meals with, especially during the all-important first few days of a trip. Shortly before a trip begins, Trip Experience Leaders personally contact every traveler to welcome them and answer any final questions before departure.
O.A.T. is the only travel company to offer the level of personalization and choice it does, letting travelers tailor their trips to meet their needs. For 2023, 87% of O.A.T. travelers are choosing to personalize their experiences in more than 80 countries. More than half of solo travelers are opting to arrive early before a trip or stay later once the tour concludes. By arriving early, a traveler can acclimate before a tour begins. By staying later after the group departs, a traveler can extend the experience and explore a destination independently.
O.A.T. provides travelers over 50 with impactful, intercultural experiences that help change people's lives. O.A.T. fosters an intimate and accessible experience, with groups limited to 16 travelers (average of 13) by land and 25 (average of 22) by sea.
To learn more about O.A.T., please visit www.oattravel.com or call 1-800-955-1925.
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SOURCE Overseas Adventure Travel | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/overseas-adventure-travel-reports-rise-solo-travelers-2023/ | 2022-09-07T18:03:17Z |
Company continues dedication to environmental stewardship with new line of lighter, thinner and stronger cases
SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PITAKA, a technology accessory company pioneering a simplistic, smarter and sustainable product ecosystem, today introduced its new line of iPhone 14 phone cases - the MagEZ Case 3 and MagEZ Case Pro 3. The iPhone 14 case series retains the reliability of PITAKA's previous phone cases, but are even lighter, thinner and more durable - making them a trusted accessory for the new iPhone 14. Packaged in 100% biodegradable materials, and made from hard, lightweight, scratch-resistant, corrosion-resistant, highly-durable aramid fiber - PITAKA's new cases will be available for direct consumer pre-order the same day as the iPhone 14 reveal event on September 7.
PITAKA's growing product ecosystem, and commitment to sustainability is unlike any other brand in the space, allowing users to streamline their technology and optimize productivity through its unique, simplistic design and compatibility with other PITAKA products. The new iPhone 14 case series maintains these features but has significant improvements from the last generation. The MagEZ Case 3 is the thinnest and lightest MagSafe compatible case to date (33% thinner and 27% lighter than the MagEZ Case 2), made from aerospace-grade aramid fiber and fusion weaving technique. The ultra-thin and lightweight features are made possible through the use of PITAKA's MagSafe SlimBoard™ technology which allows the engineering team to make cases with MagSafe magnets that are as thin as 0.95mm and don't show any imprints.
The MagEZ Case Pro 3, part of PITAKA's most popular case collection, is a military grade drop-tested case crafted from 100% renewable thermo aramid fiber to offer all-round protection. In order to do this, the company utilized a new technique, 3D Injection Molding Labeling to create cases with multiple layers and airbags to fully wrap every side of the mobile and provide military-grade protection. PITAKA's fusion weaving technique is also part of the company's unique design philosophy. Leveraging its proprietary technology, PITAKA is able to weave aramid fiber together in a way that creates more vibrant colors and styles available to customers.
"Our long term goal is to implement a sustainable and closed-loop production process which will not only protect our Earth but continue to provide durable and long-lasting products to our customers. We are thrilled to be one step closer to fulfilling that mission with the release of our most sustainable and protective cases yet for the iPhone 14 series," said James Zheng, CEO of PITAKA. "We look forward to getting these cases in the hands of our dedicated users and new customers alike - so they can see firsthand how innovative and durable these state-of-the-art cases are."
MagEZ Case 3 features:
- Lightweight (22.2g max) and slim (1.05mm max).
- Made from 1500D and 600D aramid fiber.
- Vacuum-forming process ensures a unique and comfortable 3D texture.
- MagSafe compatible.
- Raised lip for camera protection
MagEZ Case Pro 3 features:
- Lightweight (36.2g max) and slim (1.6mm max).
- Durable aramid fiber seamlessly integrates with flexible TPU.
- Interior flanked cloth protects your phone from scratches.
- Reinforced bumper and built-in airpockets.
- A lifted camera frame for lens protection.
- 100% reusable thermoplastic aramid fiber.
To learn more about PITAKA and shop for your next phone accessory, please visit https://www.ipitaka.com/.
PITAKA is a technology accessory company pioneering a simplistic, smarter and sustainable product ecosystem. Founded with the mission to simplify and improve everyday life by developing products that can co-exist and work together seamlessly, with a deep connection to protecting our planet, PITAKA creates high-tech magnetic cases, attachable wallets, mounts, chargers, and more designed around a three-step plan: eco-living, eco-production and eco-development. For more information, please visit www.ipitaka.com.
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SOURCE PITAKA | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/pitaka-launches-sustainably-made-aerospace-grade-aramid-fiber-cases-iphone-14-series/ | 2022-09-07T18:03:24Z |
Brandon Lee had all the perks of a privileged childhood, but lacked parental supervision to protect him from sexual predators. From the ages of 7-10, Brandon was repeatedly molested by his piano teacher, a trusted neighbor, and youth soccer coach. The "red flags" were ignored.
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Teenage Brandon Lee was snorting cocaine and drinking to blackouts while attending Catholic high school. He tried numbing the pain from being a sex worker in Laguna Beach, CA at 16. Growing up gay wasn't something that he could tell anyone, and that trauma followed him into his young adulthood. After NYU he became an overachieving news journalist in New York during the week and a meth-fueled partier on the weekends. Brandon overdosed and was near death twice.
After more than 10 years of Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and traditional talk therapy, Brandon finally found healing by working with a Shaman and implementing psychedelic drug therapy. Retiring from broadcast news, Brandon launched Art of Our Soul, a program that helps heal trauma and addiction (https://artofoursoul.com/).
Post-Traumatic Thriving is a podcast that addresses the toughest issues around trauma and recovery. Unresolved trauma is the #1 problem facing humanity, with 66% to 85% of all college-age people having experienced at least one traumatic event.
Unresolved trauma fuels self-medication, depression, and violent crime. Unprocessed, trauma can lead to suicide, the leading cause of death in the United States according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Post-Traumatic Thriving host, Dr. Randall Bell is a sociologist specializing in disaster recovery projects. "We can tap into trauma and make it the fuel to thrive," says Dr. Randall Bell, author of the bestselling book, POST-TRAUMATIC THRIVING.
Post-Traumatic Thriving co-host, Ms. Tanya Brown, MA, author of FINDING PEACE AMID THE CHAOS. The 1994 death of Tanya's sister Nicole Brown Simpson generated a media frenzy around O.J. Simpson. Today, she is a celebrity author, and a motivational speaker, and life coach. When facing trauma Tanya said, "You need to ask for help."
Core IQ https://www.coreiq.com/ is a non-profit organization that produces the podcast.
Post-Traumatic Thriving is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
Links:
https://www.tiktok.com/@posttraumaticthrivingpod
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ZeUuGqzsYdJmhr2JHD2ag
https://www.instagram.com/coreiq/
https://www.facebook.com/coreiqskills
https://www.linkedin.com/company/coreiqinc/about/?viewAsMember=true
https://twitter.com/coreiq
Mel Levy mel@coreiq.com 949-497-7600
Reviews, photos, and interviews available upon request.
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SOURCE Core IQ, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/post-traumatic-thriving-hosts-5x-emmy-winning-journalist-former-cbs-news-anchor-brandon-lee-who-discusses-trauma-addiction-amp-recovery-tw/ | 2022-09-07T18:03:31Z |
Protiviti is one of 25 large companies recognized for a commitment to an inclusive, high-trust culture
MENLO PARK, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Global consulting firm Protiviti has been named to the Fortune 'Best Workplaces in Consulting & Professional ServicesTM' list for the sixth consecutive year. The 2022 list is based on the analysis of survey responses from more than 104,000 U.S. employees of Great Place to Work-CertifiedTM companies in the consulting and professional services industry. Protiviti is one of 25 organizations recognized in the Large Companies category.
Surveyed employees were asked 60 questions about their experiences of trust, respect, credibility, fairness, pride and camaraderie in their companies. In addition, the companies provided demographic data and information about their culture; diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; innovation efforts; recruiting and training; benefits and recognition programs to demonstrate why they are a great workplace for all.
"We're proud to be consistently recognized for creating a work environment where our people feel included and empowered to collaborate, innovate and deliver excellent results for our clients," said Joseph Tarantino, Protiviti president and CEO. "Our core values of integrity, inclusion, innovation and commitment to success inspire us as we assist our clients with today's business challenges and help them transform to meet the challenges of the future."
"These companies have adapted to the challenges of an ever-changing workplace by their commitment to inclusive, high-trust cultures where employees are treated as human beings first and foremost," said Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. "Congratulations to the Best Workplaces in Consulting & Professional Services."
Protiviti was ranked #15 on the 2022 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list, its eighth consecutive year on this list. The company was also named to the 2022 Best Workplaces for MillennialsTM and Best Workplaces in the Bay Area® lists, and to the 2022 PEOPLE Companies that Care® list, all of which are derived from data provided to Great Place to Work and an annual employee survey.
About Protiviti
Protiviti (www.protiviti.com) is a global consulting firm that delivers deep expertise, objective insights, a tailored approach and unparalleled collaboration to help leaders confidently face the future. Protiviti and its independent and locally owned Member Firms provide clients with consulting and managed solutions in finance, technology, operations, data, digital, legal, governance, risk and internal audit through its network of more than 85 offices in over 25 countries.
Named to the 2022 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list, Protiviti has served more than 80 percent of Fortune 100 and nearly 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies. The firm also works with smaller, growing companies, including those looking to go public, as well as with government agencies. Protiviti is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half (NYSE: RHI). Founded in 1948, Robert Half is a member of the S&P 500 index.
All referenced marks are the property of their respective owners.
Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements or offer attestation services.
Editor's note: photo available upon request.
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SOURCE Protiviti | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/protiviti-named-2022-fortune-best-workplaces-consulting-amp-professional-services-list/ | 2022-09-07T18:03:38Z |
New Report Identifies Potential Medicare Cost Savings by Changing Supervision Requirement; Underscores Critical Role of Therapy Assistants in Rural and Underserved Areas
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The results of a new independent, nonpartisan study, commissioned by a coalition of health care provider groups, including the American Physical Therapy Association, show Medicare could save between $168 million and $242 million over 10 years by reducing administrative burdens on physical therapists and occupational therapists. These savings could help offset urgently needed changes necessary to improve access to therapy services for Medicare beneficiaries and to provide relief to rural and medically underserved areas of the country experiencing therapy workforce shortages. The win-win findings underscore the urgent need for Congress to pass pending legislation that would make those improvements possible.
The study, conducted by Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, looked at the potential financial impact of the Stabilizing Medicare Access to Rehabilitation and Therapy Act, or SMART Act (H.R. 5536), introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo. The bill aims to exempt rural or underserved areas from a 15% Medicare payment cut implemented earlier this year when services are provided by an occupational therapy assistant or physical therapist assistant. That cut was implemented on Jan. 1, 2022, and applies to OTA and PTA services under Medicare Part B.
"Many seniors and Medicare recipients rely on physical and occupational therapy services to maintain their independence and stay healthy and mobile after illness or injury," said Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. "These misguided pay cuts will cause severe harm to older Americans in underserved communities and to physical and occupational therapy assistants — many of whom are people of color."
"Through the SMART Act we can improve access to physical and occupational therapy services while cutting red tape in Washington," said Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo. "I'm proud to co-lead this legislation with Representative Rush that will not only expand seniors' access to treatment, especially in rural and underserved areas, but will also preserve the functional therapy community for future generations of Medicare patients."
In addition, the legislation would bring supervision requirements of OTAs and PTAs under Medicare Part B in private therapist practices in line with state licensure laws, as well as all other settings where Medicare beneficiaries receive therapy services.
The study projects costs and savings associated with both provisions of the SMART Act. Results show that the cost savings generated through the change in supervision for OTAs and PTAs in the outpatient setting could help pay for the elimination of the 15% assistant payment cut in rural or underserved areas, which is estimated to cost CMS from $741 million to $1.58 billion over 10 years.
These provisions of the SMART Act would make therapy services more accessible to millions of Americans experiencing challenges accessing these services in rural or underserved areas, where beneficiaries are 50% more likely to receive therapy from an OTA or PTA. The standardization of general supervision requirements for private practices is cost-effective and would reduce administrative burden while implementing common-sense consistency with state laws and across all other Medicare settings.
The research was commissioned by the American Physical Therapy Association, American Health Care Association, American Occupational Therapy Association, Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation, National Association of Rehabilitation Providers and Agencies, National Association for the Support of Long-Term Care, and APTA Private Practice, a section of the American Physical Therapy Association.
The press release can be access online at: dobson-report-9-7-22.pdf (apta.org)
The report can be accessed online at: Dobson | DaVanzo & Associates, LLC - Health Care Consulting - Publications (dobsondavanzo.com)
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SOURCE American Physical Therapy Association | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/report-bipartisan-therapy-bill-smart-act-paves-way-congressional-action/ | 2022-09-07T18:03:45Z |
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Saputo Dairy USA (SDUSA, Saputo) has been recognized by the World Dairy Championship Expo by winning awards in several categories across the cottage cheese and sour cream divisions. (www.worlddairyexpo.com) Its awarded products include:
- 1st place for Regular Cottage Cheese with Pineapple, scoring 99.75 points of 100
- 1st place for Lite Sour Cream, scoring 99.6 points of 100; and
- 2nd place for All-Natural Sour Cream, scoring 99.7 points of 100
"We're extremely proud of the teams who craft these products with the utmost care," said Christina Fiocchi, SDUSA Director of Category Management. "This recognition is a testament to their hard work and expertise and reflects Saputo's commitment to producing high-quality products."
SDUSA produces a wide assortment of cultured products for the retail, foodservice, and industrial channels. Whether customers need products with superior hold, a cleaner label, or reduced fat, Saputo's rich and delicious products are meant to complement any application.
For more details and information on Saputo Dairy USA products, visit www.saputousafoodservice.com.
About Saputo Dairy USA
Saputo Dairy USA (SDUSA) is part of Saputo Inc., one of the top 10 dairy processors in the world. Through the Dairy Division (USA), Saputo produces, markets and distributes a vast assortment of cheeses. Furthermore, the company converts, markets and sells a broad range of specialty cheeses and holds an important portfolio of import licences for specialty cheeses manufactured abroad. SDUSA also produces a variety of dairy and non-dairy extended shelf-life products. Additionally, Saputo produces, markets and distributes dairy ingredients in the USA, and on the international market. Products are sold under a variety of the company's brand names, as well as under customer brand names. SDUSA is among the top mozzarella, string cheese, and domestic blue and goat cheese producers and is one of the largest producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products in this region.
Media contact:
Jenna Greene
612-375-8597
jenna.greene@clynch.com
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SOURCE Saputo Dairy USA | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/saputo-dairy-usa-wins-big-cultured-category-world-dairy-expo-championship-dairy-product-contest/ | 2022-09-07T18:03:52Z |
Mutual insurance group's 650 ranking based on revenue, continued success
STEVENS POINT, Wis., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In recently released rankings, Sentry Insurance rose another 8 slots to No. 650 on the 2022 Fortune 1000 list. The national magazine bases its annual rankings solely on revenue of the nation's largest companies—Sentry reached $3.5 billion in revenue last year.
Sentry has climbed Fortune's rankings 20 spots since 2020, and 149 spots since 2015.
"Financially, Sentry is stronger today than we were even before the pandemic, and we continue to outpace the insurance industry's overall growth," said Pete McPartland, Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO. "Our significant investment in technology—over $600 million in the past 15 years—has ignited this growth, allowing us to enter new and emerging markets and respond more quickly to the needs of our customers and our business."
In June, AM Best assigned Sentry an A+ (superior) rating for a 31st consecutive year. In doing so, the insurance industry's leading rating authority pointed to Sentry's balance sheet strength, which achieves the authority's highest ranking of "strongest" for risk-adjusted capitalization. AM Best also recognizes Sentry's strong market position as one of the leading commercial casualty writers in the U.S., its well-diversified business mix, and strong management team with a successful track record of executing strategy.
Fewer than 10 percent of U.S.-based property and casualty insurance companies earn the A+ rating—even less have achieved it for three straight decades.
For Fortune rankings, companies are ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years. Included in the survey are companies that are incorporated and operate in the U.S.
Sentry Insurance is a part of one of the largest and most financially secure mutual insurance groups in the United States, holding a Financial Strength Rating of A+ (superior) from AM Best, current as of June 2022. See ambest.com/ratings/guide.pdf for rating information. Sentry and its subsidiaries sell property and casualty insurance, life insurance, annuities, and retirement programs for business and individuals throughout the country. Headquartered in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Sentry employs more than 4,300 associates across the country. See a complete list of underwriting companies at sentry.com.
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SOURCE Sentry Insurance | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/sentry-continues-fortune-1000-climb/ | 2022-09-07T18:03:58Z |
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Halper Sadeh LLP, an investor rights law firm, is investigating the following companies for potential violations of the federal securities laws and/or breaches of fiduciary duties to shareholders relating to:
BBQ Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBQ)'s sale to MTY Food Group Inc. for $17.25 per share. If you are a BBQ shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options.
Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE: PING)'s sale to Thoma Bravo $28.50 per share. If you are a Ping shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options.
iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT)'s sale to Amazon.com, Inc. for $61.00 per share in cash. If you are an iRobot shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options.
Avalara, Inc. (NYSE: AVLR)'s sale to Vista Equity Partners for $93.50 per share. If you are an Avalara shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options.
Halper Sadeh LLP may seek increased consideration for shareholders, additional disclosures and information concerning the proposed transaction, or other relief and benefits on behalf of shareholders.
Shareholders are encouraged to contact the firm free of charge to discuss their legal rights and options. Please call Daniel Sadeh or Zachary Halper at (212) 763-0060 or email sadeh@halpersadeh.com or zhalper@halpersadeh.com.
Halper Sadeh LLP represents investors all over the world who have fallen victim to securities fraud and corporate misconduct. Our attorneys have been instrumental in implementing corporate reforms and recovering millions of dollars on behalf of defrauded investors.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Contact Information:
Halper Sadeh LLP
Daniel Sadeh, Esq.
Zachary Halper, Esq.
(212) 763-0060
sadeh@halpersadeh.com
zhalper@halpersadeh.com
https://www.halpersadeh.com
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SOURCE Halper Sadeh LLP | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/shareholder-notice-halper-sadeh-llp-investigates-bbq-ping-irbt-avlr/ | 2022-09-07T18:04:05Z |
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Halper Sadeh LLP, an investor rights law firm, is investigating the following companies for potential violations of the federal securities laws and/or breaches of fiduciary duties to shareholders relating to:
EVO Payments, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVOP)'s sale to Global Payments Inc. for $34.00 per share. If you are an EVO shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options.
Steel Connect, Inc. (NASDAQ: STCN)'s sale to Steel Partners Holdings L.P. Under the terms of the agreement, Steel Connect shareholders would receive $1.35 per share in cash and one contingent value right to receive their pro rata share of net proceeds, to the extent such net proceeds exceed $80 million plus certain related costs and expenses, if Steel Connect's ModusLink subsidiary is sold during the two-year period following completion of the proposed merger. If you are a Steel Connect shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options.
Hanger, Inc. (NYSE: HNGR)'s sale to Patient Square Capital for $18.75 in cash per share. If you are a Hanger shareholder, click here to learn more about your rights and options.
Halper Sadeh LLP may seek increased consideration for shareholders, additional disclosures and information concerning the proposed transaction, or other relief and benefits on behalf of shareholders.
Shareholders are encouraged to contact the firm free of charge to discuss their legal rights and options. Please call Daniel Sadeh or Zachary Halper at (212) 763-0060 or email sadeh@halpersadeh.com or zhalper@halpersadeh.com.
Halper Sadeh LLP represents investors all over the world who have fallen victim to securities fraud and corporate misconduct. Our attorneys have been instrumental in implementing corporate reforms and recovering millions of dollars on behalf of defrauded investors.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Contact Information:
Halper Sadeh LLP
Daniel Sadeh, Esq.
Zachary Halper, Esq.
(212) 763-0060
sadeh@halpersadeh.com
zhalper@halpersadeh.com
https://www.halpersadeh.com
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SOURCE Halper Sadeh LLP | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/shareholder-notice-halper-sadeh-llp-investigates-evop-stcn-hngr/ | 2022-09-07T18:04:18Z |
NEW BRITAIN, Conn., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) invites investors and the general public to listen to a webcast of a presentation by Don Allan, President and CEO, at the Morgan Stanley 10th Annual Laguna Conference in Dana Point, CA on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 3:15 PM ET.
The live webcast will be available in the "Investors" section of the company's website at www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/investors. A replay of the webcast will be provided on the website and will be available for 30 days.
Headquartered in the USA, Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) is the world's largest tool company operating nearly 50 manufacturing facilities across America and more than 100 worldwide. Guided by its purpose – for those who make the world – the company's approximately 60,000 diverse and high-performing employees produce innovative, award-winning power tools, hand tools, storage, digital tool solutions, lifestyle products, outdoor products, engineered fasteners and other industrial equipment to support the world's makers, creators, tradespeople and builders. The company's iconic brands include DEWALT, BLACK+DECKER, CRAFTSMAN, STANLEY, Cub Cadet, Hustler and Troy-Bilt. Recognized for its leadership in environmental, social and governance (ESG), Stanley Black & Decker strives to be a force for good in support of its communities, employees, customers and other stakeholders. To learn more visit: www.stanleyblackanddecker.com.
Stanley Black & Decker Investor Contacts
Dennis Lange
Vice President, Investor Relations
(860) 827-3833
dennis.lange@sbdinc.com
Cort Kaufman
Senior Director, Investor Relations
(860) 515-2741
cort.kaufman@sbdinc.com
Christina Francis
Director, Investor Relations
(860) 438-3470
christina.francis@sbdinc.com
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SOURCE Stanley Black & Decker | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/stanley-black-amp-decker-present-morgan-stanley-10th-annual-laguna-conference/ | 2022-09-07T18:04:25Z |
The system ranked No. 1 in the nation on the 2022 list
ARLINGTON, Texas, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- For the eighth year in a row, Texas Health Resources has placed No. 1 on Fortune's list of Best Workplaces in Health Care™.
"We are proud to be recognized during our 25th anniversary year for having built an organization where our team members can do their best work," said Carla Dawson, chief people officer, Texas Health. "Teamwork, respect, caring and integrity are all hallmarks of our workplace culture."
The Fortune rankings are based on the responses of more than 800,000 employees working in the healthcare industry across the country. According to the Great Places to Work® survey, 85% of the ranking is centered on employees' work experiences of trust and reaching their full potential within the organization. The remaining 15% is an assessment of employees' daily experiences of innovation, values and effectiveness of leadership.
The Best Workplaces in Health Care™ ranking is among numerous other recognitions Texas Health has earned as a great place to work. In 2022 alone, Texas Health was named to the Companies That Care® list by PEOPLE magazine and Great Place to Work®; ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For®; received the Business Group on Health Best Employers: Excellence in Health & Well-Being Award; and was named to the Best Workplaces in Texas™ list.
Texas Health Resources is a faith-based, nonprofit health system that cares for more patients in North Texas than any other provider. With a service area that consists of 16 counties and more than 7 million people, the system is committed to providing quality, coordinated care through its Texas Health Physicians Group and 29 hospital locations under the banners of Texas Health Presbyterian, Texas Health Arlington Memorial, Texas Health Harris Methodist and Texas Health Huguley. Texas Health access points and services, ranging from acute-care hospitals and trauma centers to outpatient facilities and home health and preventive services, provide the full continuum of care for all stages of life. The system has more than 4,200 licensed hospital beds, 6,400 physicians with active staff privileges and more than 26,000 employees. For more information about Texas Health, call 1-877-THR-WELL, or visit www.TexasHealth.org.
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SOURCE Texas Health Resources | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/texas-health-named-best-workplace-healthcare/ | 2022-09-07T18:04:31Z |
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Since 2020, Google has identified and delisted 2 million websites for launching phishing attacks—an army of nefarious websites that Cisco says have hit 86 percent of all global companies. In today's climate, Integris warns companies to prepare for these three types of new attacks:
Hackers can research your company well enough to play the role of a new potential customer or an existing vendor in your system. They'll ask you to download their RFP or enter their new banking information into your system so that they can pay your latest invoice. With a few clicks, your employees could download a worm into your system or open your bank account to thieves.
Require researching the person or company before fulfilling the request.
Most people know better than to put their contact information and emails on social media accounts set to "public." That information is all a hacker needs to set up an account in your employee's name on damaging websites, like child porn sites. Hackers can use that "proof" to extort employees into giving up their corporate passwords.
Teach employees to only use in-app messaging on social media sites and never give out their personal or professional emails.
Hackers can sample your CEO's voice using AI technology, then use that sample to call up your accounts receivable department. "Add this new vendor to the system, and transfer this money," they may say, sounding precisely like your CEO. When employees realize it wasn't your CEO making that call, the money will be gone without a trace.
Ask for code words, account numbers, or other forms of two-factor verification. No exceptions.
For more information on how to prevent cybersecurity breaches, visit the Integris website at www.integrisit.com/blog.
Integris is a premium, national, managed IT services provider, dedicated to helping our customers stay one step ahead of their IT infrastructure and data safety needs. Integris offers strategic IT consulting services, hardware and software management, networking, a 24/7 service desk, on-site troubleshooting/installations, cybersecurity monitoring, backup solutions, and more. Founded in 2021 from the merger of several like-minded MSPs, Integris offers clients the power of a national network, with the personal service of a nearby, local-market MSP. With 500 employees now serving 1200 clients in 10 states and counting, Integris looks forward to rapid expansion across the US. For a list of current locations, visit: www.integrisit.com.
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SOURCE Integris IT | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/three-social-engineering-hacks-your-company-should-prevent-now/ | 2022-09-07T18:04:39Z |
Unveiled ahead of Groceryshop '22, consumer study underscores the importance of brand and retailer focus on the omnichannel shopper experience
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Acosta, a global integrated sales and marketing services leader, today previewed results of its Online Grocery Landscape Report, a new shopper insights study on the attitudes and preferences surrounding online grocery shopping habits. Conducted this summer through Acosta's proprietary Shopper Community, the research found that nearly 60% of those buying online groceries started in the past two years, and nearly one in five online grocery shoppers intend to do more of their shopping online in the next year.
The new study shows that consumer grocery shopping behavior continues to evolve alongside the ongoing acceleration of digital commerce and innovation in traditional retail. Acosta will share its findings at Groceryshop on Sept. 19-22 in Las Vegas.
"More than half of American households are buying groceries online at least occasionally, compelling the need for retailers to provide more personalized and enhanced experiences around value, convenience, and food discovery in order to increase their share of omnichannel shoppers," said John Carroll, Chief Growth Officer at Acosta. "Since most online grocery consumers shop the same retailers online and in-store, the brands and retailers that offer strong online and in-store shopping solutions are best positioned to win by nurturing even deeper consumer loyalty. And as wallets tighten due to inflation and shoppers do more pre-shop planning online, an omnichannel focus becomes even more critical."
Insights from Acosta's proprietary Shopper Community illustrate the new normal in the online grocery space along with evolving expectations and opportunities in the omnichannel marketplace.
- Consistent with levels observed in fall 2021, half of U.S. shoppers are at least occasionally purchasing grocery items online.
- More than half (57%) of online grocery shoppers say they stick with the retailers they shop in-store, thus providing omnichannel-focused retailers with a big advantage in building loyalty with consumers.
- A significant majority of online pickup shoppers (7 in 10) go into the store when picking up an order, mainly to grab a forgotten item or to pick out something personally. This shopping behavior presents an opportunity to re-engage the shopper in store.
- Top online grocery retailers are getting high marks for shopper satisfaction, but shoppers still desire better ease of finding deals, product availability, and reasonable delivery/pickup fees.
- Consumers are still experimenting and determining their preferred delivery fulfillment options, with only 57% using a single mode. Millennials are utilizing at-home delivery at nearly twice the rate of Baby Boomers.
- Nearly one-third of online grocery shoppers use subscriptions, with pet needs and coffee/tea at the top of the list.
- While 46% of shoppers utilize retailer websites to place orders, there is slow adoption to retailer apps with more than a quarter of respondents declaring that they currently do not use retailer apps.
- Digital coupons are embraced by 80% of online shoppers, with younger shoppers more likely to look for them while they shop.
- The balance between online and brick and mortar continues to evolve, with more online grocery shoppers preferring the in-store experience for discount opportunities and new product discovery.
Acosta conducted the research in June of 2022 through its proprietary Shopper Community with input from more than 750 U.S. online grocery shoppers across a range of age groups, behaviors, and preferences. A summary of the report's key findings is available on Acosta's website. An infographic detailing the report findings can be accessed here.
Groceryshop 2022 in Las Vegas is focused on the rise of eCommerce and the changing consumer behavior reshaping the industry. With a firm grasp on the consumer mindset from a CPG and retailer perspective, Acosta is a leading provider of market insight on omnichannel and digital commerce solutions.
The Acosta leadership team will be onsite at Groceryshop, Booth 247 in Mandalay Bay, to provide further details about the Online Grocery Landscape Report and the company's comprehensive omnichannel solutions and technologies that enable clients to succeed in the grocery space. Acosta's digital commerce solutions include e-commerce insights and analytics, e-account management and retailer.com strategy, demand generation and retail media, full-service Amazon growth, digital shelf monitoring and optimization, and content syndication and management services.
Acosta will be joined by 345, a cloud-based platform changing how retailers and brands manage their businesses, and OeP, an Acosta-owned company with an end-to-end suite of solutions for brands to maximize their business on Amazon. Attendees are invited to book time with Acosta at Groceryshop at this link.
Acosta's suite of progressive, commerce-centric solutions enables today's biggest brands, retailers, and foodservice providers to win in the modern marketplace. Since 1927, Acosta has developed trusted relationships and unmatched scale. In a complex and fast-evolving omnichannel world, Acosta's network of companies allows us to connect with shoppers wherever they are. Through data-backed growth strategies and exceptional customer experiences, we are connecting tomorrow's commerce today. https://www.acosta.com/
345's fully integrated platform is changing how retailers and brands manage their business and plan for the future with the smart integration of store planning, merchandising, sales, and marketing. https://www.345.global
With 20+ years of collective experience, OeP helps brands capitalize on Amazon's growth, using data-driven strategies executed by experts, enabled by technology, and aligned with Amazon's dynamic platform and KPIs. http://www.oepcompany.com
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SOURCE Acosta | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/u-s-consumers-continue-embrace-mix-online-in-store-grocery-shopping-habits-new-acosta-report-shows/ | 2022-09-07T18:04:46Z |
New Orleans-based nonprofit offers high school students a unique alternative to the typical internship program, allowing students to build a house during the school year while developing the soft skills necessary for entering the workforce.
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, unCommon Construction (uCC) announced that it is expanding its footprint into Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 2015, the New Orleans-based nonprofit demonstrates that learning happens everywhere by offering an alternative to typical education programs. unCommon Construction uses an apprenticeship and construction build process to empower youth with the skills, network, resources, and experience to lead the workforce after high school or college.
Since 2020, uCC has partnered with Stand Together Foundation (STF), a national philanthropic organization that partners with social entrepreneurs who empower people to transform their lives and communities. uCC received $150,000 from STF to bring its unique learning approach to more students in Minneapolis.
Traditional education takes a standardized, one-size-fits-all approach that has deemphasized individualized learning, student choice and the trades, while also overemphasizing pathways to four-year degrees. uCC is reimagining student learning and their abilities to discover their own pathway to post-secondary and career success. By incorporating technical and soft skills and the instilling of personal responsibility through work-based learning, uCC challenges the current approach to traditional and top-down K-12 education that leaves students unprepared, unequipped, and unexposed to viable and fulfilling career options after high school.
uCC equips high-school students with hands-on, real-world work experience in the construction field. Through uCC's paid apprenticeships, students build homes, while acquiring and applying soft skills, math, science, and engineering skills. Students experience the discipline of showing up on time, working on a team, and delivering high-quality work on a construction site. Through more than 100 hours each semester, apprentices develop career awareness and exposure to an alternative career path, technical and soft skills, and leadership abilities through a work-based learning experience in a real-world classroom.
In addition to school credit, students earn hourly wages and an "Equity Award" scholarship that is awarded to them without restriction on how the funds are to be spent. These scholarships are funded through sales of the homes that students build. Graduates who achieve at least 75% attendance earn this award and are encouraged to set their own post-graduation goals and utilize the funds to achieve those goals. In this way, uCC's leadership prioritizes their students' choice and demonstrates a belief in people being the best suited to identify their own career and/or post-secondary education pathways.
The following facts illustrate the success of uCC's model:
- 100% of students who complete a semester with uCC graduate from high school on time and have continued their education or landed a job within three months.
- More than 80% of participating apprentices live in low- to moderate-income tract zones or receive free and reduced lunch at school.
- Approximately 40% of participating apprentices identified as female or non-gender conforming and 80% identified as people of color, and 80% of graduates report that they are industry-bound after high school - representing a younger and more diverse workforce in the construction industry
- A typical apprentice's earning potential per semester is $1,000 in pay and $500 in Equity Awards, and approximately 50% of graduates open their first bank account with the money they earned throughout the program.
"When we started building this organization in 2014, we thought there might be a chance our model could be applied beyond New Orleans in locations with similar needs," said Aaron Frumin, Founder and Executive Director of unCommon Construction. "We're thrilled and humbled to begin unCommon's expansion with these first steps in Minneapolis, which is the hometown of our founding Program Manager and a city with whom we share the Mississippi River among so many other things. Over the years, we've received countless inquiries about expansion, and we've questioned and learned a lot about what it could look like to scale unCommon's impact in that way. The support and partnership of Stand Together Foundation have been critical elements in the evolution of our vision for that impact at a larger scale. We're grateful for the way Stand Together Foundation authentically shares that vision and sees the value of unCommon's unique approach to youth and workforce development."
"unCommon Construction's individualized education model proves that empowering young people to learn, including nontraditional pathways, beats a one-size-fits-all approach to education," said Evan Feinberg, Executive Director of Stand Together Foundation. "Young people can and should learn everywhere, and UnCommon Construction offers the communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills needed to flourish in all kinds of work and life beyond high school. We're thrilled to help unCommon bring its innovative program to Minneapolis."
Learn more:
- The Mike Rowe Podcast: People You Should Know – unCommon Construction
- People Magazine: Construction Boss Gives Students Jobs and Builds Houses for No Profit: This 'Changed My Life'
- Stand Together Foundation (VIDEO): An unCommon classroom is building futures and building homes
About uCC: "Building Houses. Framing Character."
unCommon Construction offers a unique alternative to your typical internship for high school students. Its program allows participating students to build a house in a semester, while developing the soft skills necessary for entering the workforce. The internship for high school students not only pays an hourly rate, but a percentage of the proceeds from each sold house is used to award them with an "Equity Award" scholarship for further education and career opportunities. Students learn how to take measurements, read blueprints, and use a variety of tools. They also pick up job-acquisition and retention skills such as communication, responsibility, and critical thinking. Learn more at unCommonConstruction.org.
Stand Together Foundation is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in America by driving change from within communities. We are building a community of social entrepreneurs who believe in people, work from the bottom up, and unite with anyone to do right. Since 2016, we have committed over $120 million and counting to fuel the innovation of nonprofits throughout the country to build stronger, safer communities where all people can learn, contribute, and realize their full potential. Our goal is to help nonprofit leaders maximize their impact to transform more lives out of poverty. Learn more at StandTogetherFoundation.org.
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SOURCE Stand Together Foundation | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/uncommon-construction-launches-new-chapter-empower-high-school-students-minneapolis-with-help-stand-together-foundation/ | 2022-09-07T18:04:53Z |
Partnership will Assist Colombia's Most Vulnerable Youth
MEDELLÍN, Colombia, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Asia Innovations Group's flagship social media platform, Uplive, partnered with Miss Universe Colombia, Maria Fernanda Aristizábal, and Global Child TV to support El Arte De Los Suenos. El Arte De Los Suenos (The Art of Dreaming) was founded by multi-award-winning singer/songwriter Maluma and works tirelessly to positively change the futures of Colombia's most vulnerable children and adolescents by fostering their artistic talents. This partnership works through various successful community-focused programs to aid Colombian youth, which also strengthens communities in Medellín and other areas in which the foundation works.
Last month, Miss Aristizábal and Global Child TV Producer Augusto Valverde visited the foundation in person. During the visit, they met some of the foundation's beneficiaries, participated in the students' day-to-day activities, and shared words of wisdom and encouragement. Beyond just a standard visit to a charity, Uplive broadcast the visit to raise awareness for the program and to foster connection among users interested in activism and community enrichment. The organizations also donated $5,000 to the foundation as part of the collaboration. This is Uplive's & Global Child's second collaboration; the two organizations continue to align their values in the hopes of inspiring and promoting positive community stories worldwide.
Uplive is the largest independent global video social entertainment platform with more than 300 million registered users from over 150 countries. Global Child's "Travel with Purpose" is one of the world's fastest-growing television travel series; its mission is to explore the world through collaborative experiences, sharing positive life lessons and giving back to the communities they visit with the help of celebrity guests. In cooperation with Uplive, Global Child has expanded its audience and provided fans with the opportunity to view behind-the-scenes footage of the filming of "Travel with Purpose" and its celebrity co-hosts via live stream.
About Asia Innovations Group
Asia Innovations Group Limited (Asia Innovations) is a leading live social company with more than 600 million registered users located in over 150 regions worldwide. Asia Innovations has an integrated portfolio of social, gaming and e-commerce platforms designed to foster meaningful human connection. Asia Innovations operates in eighteen offices around the globe that offer deep local market knowledge across all major emerging markets to augment the company's cutting-edge technology and scalable global infrastructure. The company's portfolio includes leading apps such as Uplive, the global live video platform, CuteU and Lamour, the dominant dating apps in global emerging markets. Its e-commerce platform, Hekka Fashion, offers an online shopping experience that brings accessible fashion to users around the world. As champions of creativity, opportunity and inclusivity for all, Asia Innovations leverages its innovative products globally to empower creators, catalyze social impact, and safeguard a positive online environment. For more information, please visit https://www.asiainnovations.com.
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SOURCE Asia Innovations Group | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/uplive-global-child-tv-miss-universe-colombia-partner-support-malumas-arte-de-los-suenos-foundation/ | 2022-09-07T18:04:59Z |
Basketball legend Sue Bird played the last game of her unparalleled 20-year career Tuesday night, stepping off the court to thunderous chants of "Thank you, Sue" despite her team's playoff loss.
The Seattle Storm — for which Bird has played her entire career — fell to the Las Vegas Aces in Game 4 of their semifinal series, in a tearful end to what Bird had previously promised would be her last season.
"I'm proud of everything we've accomplished here," she said after the game, according to ESPN. "Of course I'm sad, but there's happiness too, to be able to have a moment like that with the fans, to have them chant the way they did. I know the tears don't look like happy tears, but there's a lot of happiness."
"THANK YOU SUE!"
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 7, 2022
Sue Bird's final sendoff ❤️ pic.twitter.com/y9HMg8jnjJ
Bird's storied career has redefined basketball in Seattle and nationwide. The WNBA designated her one of the 25 greatest players in league history last year (after naming her one of its 20 greatest-ever players at its 20th-anniversary celebration in 2016, and one of its 15 greatest players five years before that).
Among many highlights: The 2002 No. 1 overall draft pick went on to become WNBA's all-time leader in both assists (over 3,000) and career starts (549), and the only player in the league to have appeared in 500 career games. She's won four WNBA championships and participated in a record 12 All-Star games, and also won five consecutive Olympic gold medals for the U.S. women's basketball team.
As point guard, Bird either scored or assisted on nearly 33% of every Storm basket in her 18 seasons with the team (she took two off due to injuries), and had a hand in 27.6% of every basket scored in the team's history.
"She's going to be one of those Mt. Rushmore, Mt. Everest players who you look to whenever you think about the greatness of the players," sports journalist Howard Bryant told NPR earlier this year. "I mean, male, female — you can't really top what she's done."
Bird is also known for her contributions and activism off the court.
She's an advocate for LGTBQ youth, and launched the "Love Is" campaign and fashion brand with soccer star (and her fiance) Megan Rapinoe. And as vice president of the WNBA players union, she worked with her colleagues to navigate playing during a pandemic and taking a stand against racial injustice.
She spoke to NPR in 2020 about the importance of WNBA players' activism, adding that female athletes are used to being judged on virtually everything.
"When you're a male athlete you're allowed to just play your sport," she said. "But everything about us, regardless of our play on the court, we're judged on. We're judged on what we look like, we're judged on who we love. And it's been that way for many, many years."
In recent years Bird became the first WNBA player (and third American basketball player ever) to win four championships in three different decades, as well as the first WNBA player (and fifth American basketball player) to record at least eight assists in a game after turning 40.
Her retirement doesn't come as a surprise. Bird had indicated at the time that the 2021 season would be her last — but fans' chants of "one more year" helped change her mind and get her back in the game for a final flight, as the league has called it. Now she says she's ready.
"Of course my body feels good," Bird told ESPN on Tuesday, "so that can trick ya, but there's a reason why I felt comfortable and I felt confident in this being my last year. Being able to say that out loud was a big hurdle. Once I kind of jumped over that, I knew I did the right thing because of how I felt afterward."
Bird has said she will miss basketball, and suggested she may not be leaving the sport entirely. In recent years she's gotten involved with other ventures during the off-season, including public speaking, analyzing women's college basketball and launching multimedia and commerce company TOGETHXR with fellow athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim and Simone Manuel.
She has talked about wanting to "do things in a way that grows the pie for everybody," as she told ESPN last month.
"I feel really passionate about that, given my experience as a female athlete fighting for scraps," she said. "I don't want that to be the case for the next generation."
Bryant, the sports journalist, told NPR that he thinks Bird's legacy will be not just in her accolades, but in helping grow basketball and inspiring so many girls to get interested in the game.
Bird is retiring in the same year that several other female greats are stepping back, like tennis' Serena Williams and track and field star Allyson Felix — all of whom have leveraged their time and talent to help make their sports more accessible for the next generation.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/basketball-icon-sue-bird-plays-her-last-game-after-two-legendary-decades-in-the-wnba | 2022-09-07T18:25:32Z |
New York State is charging former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon with fraud related to the We Build the Wall charity. Bannon raised funds from donors and he's accused of skimming funds.
Copyright 2022 NPR
New York State is charging former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon with fraud related to the We Build the Wall charity. Bannon raised funds from donors and he's accused of skimming funds.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/steve-bannon-prepares-to-face-new-york-fraud-charges | 2022-09-07T18:25:38Z |
Updated September 7, 2022 at 12:38 PM ET
Two beloved children's TV shows are adding diverse new characters that reflect real people more fully: Thomas & Friends will have its first autistic train character, and Peppa Pig included a same-sex couple in an episode that aired in the United Kingdom on Tuesday.
Bruno the Brake Car — a new character voiced by a child actor with autism— is about to roam the rails on the Island of Sodor, joining Thomas the Tank Engine in the long-running Thomas & Friends.
Bruno is set to debut in his first episode on Monday, Sept. 12, in the U.S., and later this month in Canada and the U.K. The U.S. version of Bruno is voiced by Chuck Smith, a 10-year-old from Toronto, Canada. In the U.K., the role went to Elliott Garcia, a 9-year-old from Reading, in southeast England.
"Bruno is a Brake Car, and he is a new friend for Thomas and his friends, and he's also autistic, like me," Garcia said in a news release sent to NPR. "He is funny, smart, and he's a very relaxed character. He can get really overwhelmed, he can get worried, and he uses comedy to get past situations."
Peppa Pig's friend says she has two mothers
While Bruno's arrival was hailed in joint press releases on both sides of the Atlantic, the producers of Peppa Pig, another U.K. export, took a more low-key approach to adding diversity, with a subtle mention of a same-sex couple.
In an episode titled "Families" that aired on Britain's Channel 5, Peppa's friend Penny Polar Bear is part of a playgroup where young animals such as Suzy Sheep and Freddy Fox share drawings of their families.
"I'm Penny Polar Bear. I live with my mummy and my other mummy," Penny said as she showed off a drawing of herself in the kitchen with her parents, according to Cambridgeshire Live. "One mummy is a doctor and one mummy cooks spaghetti, I love spaghetti."
As the U.K.'s Pink News site notes, an online petition has been urging the show's producers to include same-sex parents for some two years.
"Well what do you know? My kids saw the first same-sex couple on Peppa Pig and the world didn't end," one British commenter said via Twitter.
Well what do you know? My kids saw the first same-sex couple on Peppa Pig and the world didn’t end. Penny Polar Bear said she lives with her ‘mummy and her other mummy’ and the four horsemen of the apocalypse didn’t came storming over the horizon to bring humanity to a close. pic.twitter.com/dtcHMDXJt5
— Simon Harris - #LovelyBitOfSquirrel (@simonharris_mbd) September 7, 2022
On 'Thomas,' Bruno will show his emotions
Thomas & Friends is produced by Mattel Television, which says the Bruno character was developed with the input of autistic writers and advocacy groups, including the Autism Self Advocacy Network, Easterseals Southern California, and the U.K.'s National Autistic Society.
The TV show's train engines often cope with setbacks as they keep up with Sodor's passenger and freight schedule. The show's producers say nuances in how Bruno faces those situations might help autistic kids see themselves in the character, from his sense of humor and attention to detail to his dislike of loud noises.
"He can flap his ladders to tell you if he's upset or if he's really excited, so he can use his items to show you how he's feeling," Garcia said. "His ear defenders, I do relate to, because if there's a really loud noise, I can't cope. I can get quite worried about things, I have to think of new strategies, same as Bruno."
"Bruno is a joyful, pun-making brake car" who helps other trains keep heavy cargo loads stable and likes to stick to schedules, Mattel said as it announced the character.
It's the latest move to add diversity and representation to stories about Thomas the Tank Engine, the plucky train that the Rev. W. Awdry created for his son in 1945. Looking to modernize the show, its producers have in recent years worked toward gender balance and included characters from Asia, Africa and Australia.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/thomas-the-tank-engine-and-peppa-pig-welcome-friends-with-autism-and-2-mommies | 2022-09-07T18:25:45Z |
The Park County Farm Bureau recently hosted the organization's national and state presidents to tour area farms. According to the Cody Enterprise, the Park County chapter was selected for its irrigation techniques. It was the first time a national president had visited the area.
Crook County Natural Resource District recently hosted its annual e-cycling events in Sundance and Hulett, gathering over 7,000 pounds of electronic waste between the two. According to the Sundance Times, the e-waste is brought to Denver for recycling.
The Museum at the Bighorns in Sheridan will be holding a special history cemetery tour this Friday. According to the Sheridan Press, actors will play various people from Sheridan County. Space is limited to 30 people.
And the Wyoming Highway Patrol recently announced an End-of-Watch for retired narcotics detection K-9, Hunter, who passed away on August 11. Hunter worked nine years for the Highway Patrol. According to the Torrington Telegram, he spent his retirement and final days with his partner and handler Trooper Scott Neilson. His last week was spent running around chasing his ball and swimming at the lake with the family. K-9 Hunter passed away peacefully on his favorite bed in the family's home. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/wednesday-september-7 | 2022-09-07T18:25:51Z |
A substantial percentage of people in the Mountain West with student loans will have up to $20,000 in student loan debt forgiven following a recent announcement from the Biden Administration.
Nearly 38 percent of Wyoming borrowers will be completely student loan-free due to this forgiveness initiative, according to a recent analysis by Student Loan Hero, a student loan management company owned by Lending Tree.
That’s the highest share in the country, and Nevada and Utah aren’t far behind.
President Joe Biden said last month that he hopes to make it easier for middle and working class folks to build a career without a massive financial burden.
“The cost of education beyond high school has gone up significantly. The total cost to attend a public four year university has tripled, nearly tripled, in 40 years,” he said.
Most borrowers will get $10,000 forgiven, while recipients of the Pell Grant, which are awarded to low-income students, will get $20,000. Only individuals making less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 for married couples, are eligible.
The analysis shows that most Mountain West states have on average fewer people who take out loans, and those students tend to choose schools that are less costly. Therefore, canceling $10,000 of debt makes a greater impact and leads to more people emerging debt-free.
"That said, even in these top-of-the-list states, the average debt is still significant," Student Loan Hero states. "For example, our analysis of Utah student loans shows average balances among federal and private borrowers of $31,046. Our data on Nevada student loans yields average balances of $32,402."
Several Republican officials in the region have been critical of Biden’s announcement, saying it’s a federal handout that doesn’t solve high education costs.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/education/2022-09-07/student-loan-forgiveness-will-have-an-outsized-impact-in-the-mountain-west | 2022-09-07T18:25:57Z |
“Who She Is” is part of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person (MMIP) Taskforce efforts to spread awareness on the issue in Wyoming. The film hopes to tell a more intimate story about the lives of three Indigenous women who either went missing or were murdered.
Jordan Dresser is the Northern Arapaho Business Council Chairman and director of the film.
“MMIP is a multilayered problem. Poverty is a key thing. Number two is lack of resources. Three, is that some people live in not too good homes, domestic violence is a huge part of it,” he said.
Dresser said too often the media only focuses on the high numbers of those missing or murdered.
“The key thing I saw through the MMIW movement, they would mostly give the persons name and when they went missing. But not really details about the woman. What was her life? Where did she live? What was her favorite color? So, we worked very closely with the families to develop stories about these women,” he said.
In 2021, researchers at the University of Wyoming found coverage of missing Indigenous people is limited in the state, and when there is coverage there are graphic details about the body.
Indigenous individuals covered in the media experience negative ‘character framing,’ which includes negative details unrelated to the coverage of the missing persons. Also, media coverage on white individuals is more comprehensive and less graphic, the study suggests.
The movie is partially animated and is told from a first person perspective. Family members address the viewer from the perspective of the missing and murdered women. It premieres Sep 10 at Central Wyoming College at 4pm, and playing in towns across the state this Fall. The film is supported by the Department of Family Services, where the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person Taskforce gets its support. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/tribal-news/2022-09-07/film-tells-stories-of-indigenous-women-lost-on-the-wind-river-reservation | 2022-09-07T18:26:03Z |
Singer, songwriter and fiddle player Amanda Shires still remembers the moment she fell in love with the fiddle. She'd been learning to play classical music on the violin at school when her music teacher introduced her to some of Frankie McWhorter's fiddle tunes.
"It was love at first listen," Shires says of the fiddle songs. "I was like, 'That's what I want to do,' because you play this song and then you get to improvise ... you just play what you feel within the chord. And I was really into that."
McWhorter, who had played fiddle in Bob Wills' band, became her teacher, and when Shires was just 15, he asked her to join The Texas Playboys.
"It took me a minute to really learn how to improvise," Shires says of those early years. "The players in the band, they took me seriously as a player, but they also understood that I was a kid."
Shires would go on to make a name for herself, both as a solo artist and as the co-founder of the country supergroup The Highwomen, which includes Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby. In 2020, The Highwomen won Album of the Year at the Americana Music Honors and Awards ceremony.
Shires' new album, Take it Like a Man, includes several songs she wrote during a rough period in her marriage to musician Jason Isbell.
"This part of my life and our marriage was difficult and it took me back to the reason I came to writing and doing music in the first place, which is expression," she says. "When I would write the songs, I don't know what's going to come out, but sometimes I was just so down that the only way I could get better was to take it out on writing a song."
Shires sings and plays fiddle throughout this interview. Click the audio link above to get the full experience
Interview highlights
On channeling her feelings about her marriage into writing "Fault Lines" and showing it to Isbell
I went and I sat down in my barn of internal wandering, and this is after some kind of nebulous argument, and I wrote "Fault Lines" and then I texted it to him, just like you'd imagine, I said, "I just wrote this song." And then in my mind I thought, Well, if he couldn't hear the frequency of my voice before, maybe he could hear it through music, you know? And one day we wound up in the studio and we cut the song. And after we recorded it, he said, "That's a really good song." And I said, "That's all you have to say. No more?" But through the process of making the record and all the things that go with that, the hours and the tedium, it got easier for us to have conversations, not because we were doing the work of addressing the problems, but because we found common ground on something again, which has always been music and words."
On being a "disciple" of Leonard Cohen
I've listened to all of his records. I've found and scrounged and continue to for every interview that he's done in any form, in any language. And I save them all and I return to them often ... I own one of his guitars ... My whole left arm is tattoos of Leonard Cohen... I really do feel like he did a lot of work for me that I don't have to do. Like, I know that in all of the searching that he did still believe that there was something bigger out there, so I don't have to go trying to learn all these other things. I could just trust based on how Leonard Cohen did all that work for us.
On forming the all-female country super-group The Highwomen
In 2016 I was going on the road. My daughter was about a year old, and I was getting into my touring van because I hadn't worked my way into a bus yet. And as it happened, eventually the auxiliary cable quit working in the van so I was left to the radio choices of sports ball and Top 40 country music.
Also, during this time when I was leaving, I was thinking about how [my daughter] Mercy picked up a kazoo and she could play a kazoo. And she would dance a little bit to The Beatles and stuff and started seeing the possibility that she might go into music one day. So I started just taking notes on the radio because in 22 songs, [I heard] one woman's voice ... and it was a Carrie Underwood song from six years before that or something. In 2016 there was 13% representation of women to men on country radio, and now it still sits pleasantly at 16% on a good week. But I thought, what am I going to do about that, in the event that she does go into country music? And then I thought about Waylon [Jennings] and Kris [Kristofferson] and them of The Highwaymen, and I was like, "They were kind of speaking about ageism." I said, "It'd be cool if I ... had a band, The Highwomen." Then I told my friend Dave Cobb about my idea and he really liked it and he said, "I'm going to have you meet Brandi Carlile." And we met. While the idea was mine, it wasn't only me that made this Highwomen be a thing. It took Dave Cobb and it took Brandi and then it took Natalie [Hemby] and Maren Morris.
Amy Salit and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Kitty Eisele adapted it for the web.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-09-07/amanda-shires-examines-the-fault-lines-in-her-marriage-on-her-new-album | 2022-09-07T19:02:59Z |
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
There are some intelligence documents so closely guarded that only the president and a handful of top aides ever see them. They detail U.S. operations classified at levels above top secret. Even senior national security officials are denied clearance. FBI agents found such documents in their search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago property last month. And according to new reporting by The Washington Post, some of those documents included information about one foreign country's nuclear capabilities. Carol Leonnig is one of the reporters who broke the story, and she joins us now on the line.
Carol, thanks for being here.
CAROL LEONNIG: Glad to be here, Rachel.
MARTIN: Tell us more about what these documents contained.
LEONNIG: So, you know, one of the quests we've had as reporters is to understand what was - what's the most serious stuff that was seized at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Beach Club? And, you know, what we found, at least - I'm sure we'll learn more. But what we've found so far is that there were two buckets of extraordinarily sensitive records, government secrets that are held very, very close.
One set involves details about a foreign government's nuclear capabilities. Nuclear capabilities is a pretty vague term on purpose because we don't know whether this involved a foreign adversary that is a nuclear power. We don't know if it's a foreign government that's an ally that's trying to develop a nuclear program. We don't know if it's just any foreign government that the U.S. is gathering intel about and its, I guess, ambitions to become a nuclear power. We don't know. All we know is that it detailed this extremely sensitive material. Why is that sensitive? The obvious reasons - nuclear power and how the U.S. gathers information about a company - a country's nuclear readiness is very serious.
MARTIN: And there would be implications for how countries view the U.S. I mean, if that's an ally, then they're going to be distrustful about how their sensitive information is handled.
LEONNIG: That's absolutely right. An ally is going to be very suspicious of us. And if it's an adversary or another country, they're going to be learning how well or how attuned our intelligence-gathering methods - how well they work and might learn the way we obtain information from inside their country. And that could put our gathering methods, including, you know, human covert spies, in danger.
MARTIN: Is there any...
LEONNIG: So...
MARTIN: Yeah, go ahead.
LEONNIG: So the second bucket - forgive me, Rachel.
MARTIN: Yeah.
LEONNIG: The second bucket involves records that involve special access programs. Some of the top-secret material that was so serious, so closely guarded that...
MARTIN: Just a few seconds, Carol.
LEONNIG: ...Some of the most senior national security and intel officials in the current government are not authorized to view it. Why is that shocking? You know, the government said in one of its filings, public filings, that some of the investigators couldn't see this material. But now we know that actually some of the most senior people in the government didn't have clearance for this. If it's sitting around in Mar-a-Lago for 18 months, you can be darn sure there's no one there that has clearance to review any of these records.
MARTIN: We will see the implications of the revelation. Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig broke this story.
Thank you so much. We appreciate it, Carol.
LEONNIG: Of course. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-09-07/mar-a-lago-documents-reveal-nuclear-capabilities-of-foreign-powers | 2022-09-07T19:03:05Z |
A MARTINEZ, HOST:
Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is preparing to face New York state charges that he defrauded donors to the nonprofit group We Build the Wall. The move comes just months after Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena by the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. NPR's Andrea Bernstein joins us now to discuss the new case.
Andrea, so what's this case about?
ANDREA BERNSTEIN, BYLINE: So this case is expected to be similar to a previous federal case that Bannon was indicted on but never tried on because Trump pardoned Bannon before that could happen. That case was involving this nonprofit, We Build the Wall, which was collecting private donations to build a piece of the border wall. And Bannon and others were accused of, basically, skimming money from the donors for personal use for things like travel and credit card debt and the like. In that case, there were three codefendants. Two pleaded guilty. One had a mistrial. A person familiar with the New York case confirms he'll turn himself in tomorrow, which will make him a member of a large and growing group of former top Trump associates in trouble with the law.
MARTINEZ: How did it happen that state prosecutors get the case?
BERNSTEIN: So in the last 24 hours of his presidency, former President Trump pardoned Bannon. Soon after that, the Manhattan DA and the New York attorney general began looking into whether there were victims or criminal activity in Manhattan. We know from past practice they don't bring a case unless they believe they have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. That, of course, would be tested in this case with the jury.
MARTINEZ: And this has me wondering if there's a question of double jeopardy here because of the previous federal indictment that led to Trump's presidential pardon of Steve Bannon.
BERNSTEIN: So Bannon probably will argue that there is an issue of double jeopardy. In a statement that he released last night, he's already accused the DA of bringing, quote, "phony charges." Previously, the Manhattan DA - excuse me. Previously, the Manhattan DA was told he could not prosecute former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, who had his own case. But that was different because he had already been convicted at trial of fraud and pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and money laundering. In this case, Bannon never went to trial, so it's untested.
MARTINEZ: Is there, though, a connection between this case and the contempt of Congress case?
BERNSTEIN: Well, there is in the sense that Bannon has very clearly acted as if the rule of law does not apply to him. And it's concerning because he was seeking a pardon for the fraud case at the same time that he was communicating with the White House privately and publicly, encouraging people to protest what he said was a falsely - was a fraudulent election. So it's all wrapped up together because he was very clearly trying to get a private benefit from Trump at the same time that he was involved in this very public activity, which he refused to testify about and was subsequently convicted of committing a federal crime in Washington, D.C., for refusing to comply with that committee.
MARTINEZ: All right. That's NPR's Andrea Bernstein.
Thanks a lot, Andrea.
BERNSTEIN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.keranews.org/2022-09-07/steve-bannon-prepares-to-face-new-york-fraud-charges | 2022-09-07T19:03:11Z |
Wright was listed in the civil rights organization’s report on members of The Oath Keepers. The group is an antigovernment organization that includes members who were arrested for their involvement in the attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
KERA has reached out to the constable’s office for comment.
The Precinct 4 constable is serving his third term as constable, which ends in 2024. He was first elected in 2012. He joined the oath keepers before he took office, according to the report from the ADL.
Alex Friedfeld, an investigative researcher on extremism with the ADL, said Wright used his campaign email, joe@wrightforconstable.com, to sign up with the Oath Keepers. He said even if Wright has since left the organization, the fact that he joined is still cause for concern.
“There was something in that message that appealed to him,” Friedfeld said.
Precinct 4 includes parts of Frisco, McKinney, Celina and Prosper.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a Report For America corps member for KERA News.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you. | https://www.keranews.org/news/2022-09-07/collin-county-constable-joe-wright-is-identified-as-member-of-the-oath-keepers-extremist-group | 2022-09-07T19:03:18Z |
Bridge over I-81 in Rockingham Co. to be demolished soon
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) - A bridge over Interstate 81 in Rockingham County is scheduled to close on Monday, Sept. 12 ahead of VDOT’s planned demolition of it.
According to VDOT, the Route 720 (Smithland Road/Old Furnace Road) bridge is 62-years-old and will be replaced. It’s part of a project which is expected to continue through autumn of 2023.
During construction, Route 720 will be closed between Old Furnace Road and Buffalo Drive. VDOT reports drivers will use a detour approximately 3.5-miles long.
• On the east side of I-81, traffic will be detoured along Smithland Road turning right onto Linda Lane, right onto Country Club Road, right onto Vine Street, and then right onto
Old Furnace Road to the end of the detour.
• On the west side of I-81, traffic will be detoured along Smithland Road turning right onto Old Furnace Road, left onto Vine Street, left onto Country Club Road, left onto Linda Lane, and then left onto Smithland Road to the end of the detour.
Drivers on I-81 in the area will notice overnight left-lane closures between mile markers 248 and 250 to allow crews to establish a work zone in the median as they build a pier for the new overpass.
Throughout parts of the project, VDOT expects some temporary closures to demolish the existing bridge and placing steel beams for the new bridge. While not yet announced, VDOT plans to provide details and detour information once those temporary closures are scheduled.
When the new bridge is complete, it’ll have two through lanes and five-foot shoulders. It’ll be in the same location but about three feet higher.
You can watch a video showing the bridge replacement project details and traffic restrictions during the construction by clicking here.
More details about the project can be found here.
Work is weather permitting.
Virginia traffic alerts and traveler information are available by dialing 511 or visiting http://www.511Virginia.org.
Copyright 2022 WHSV. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/09/07/bridge-over-i-81-rockingham-co-be-demolished-soon/ | 2022-09-07T19:18:20Z |
Judge strikes down 1931 Michigan law criminalizing abortion
DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Wednesday struck down Michigan’s 1931 anti-abortion law, months after suspending it, the latest development over abortion rights in a state where the issue is being argued in courtrooms and, possibly, at the ballot box.
The law, which was long dormant before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, violates the Michigan Constitution, said Judge Elizabeth Gleicher.
“A law denying safe, routine medical care not only denies women of their ability to control their bodies and their lives — it denies them of their dignity,” Gleicher of the Court of Claims wrote. “Michigan’s Constitution forbids this violation of due process.”
The decision comes as the Michigan Supreme Court still is considering whether to place a proposed amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot that would add abortion rights to the state constitution. A Friday deadline is looming.
Supporters submitted more than 700,000 signatures, easily clearing the threshold. But a tie vote by the Board of State Canvassers over spacing issues on the petition has kept it off the ballot so far.
In the case handled by Gleicher, the 1931 law makes it a crime to perform abortions unless the life of the mother is in danger.
The judge found the law “compels motherhood” and prevents a woman from determining the “shape of her present and future life.”
The law “forces a pregnant woman to forgo her reproductive choices and to instead serve as ‘an involuntary vessel entitled to no more respect than other forms of collectively owned property,’” Gleicher wrote, quoting constitutional scholar Lawrence Tribe.
She suspended the law in May with an injunction. Her latest decision applies to all state and local prosecutors in Michigan.
The lawsuit was filed by Planned Parenthood. Gleicher declined to pass the case to another judge, despite acknowledging that she has been a regular donor to the organization.
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Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
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Find more AP coverage of the abortion issue: https://apnews.com/hub/abortion
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/09/07/judge-strikes-down-1931-michigan-law-criminalizing-abortion/ | 2022-09-07T19:18:26Z |
Officer arrested in prostitution sting while out of town for seminar, sheriff says
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (WGCL/Gray News) - A Georgia man whose job is to protect and serve found himself caught in the middle of a sting operation in late August, authorities say.
Deputy Chief Jason Diprima with the Cartersville Police Department was in Orlando, Florida, in an unmarked DEA government vehicle soliciting prostitution while he was in town for the American Polygraph Association seminar on Aug. 28, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
Grady said Diprima began texting with an undercover detective in Orlando. Eventually, he showed up at a location with alcohol and money in hand with the intention of having sex with the undercover agent. That’s when the police moved in to arrest him, and he allegedly lied about what was going on, WGCL reported.
“You would’ve thought, as a high-ranking police officer, well respected, he would’ve known better … but he didn’t, and now he’s got lots of issues: home issues, work issues, criminal issues. What he’s got going on here is a situation, and he’s in the middle of it,” Judd said during a news conference.
Diprima was taken to the Polk County Jail and later released on a $500 bond.
The Cartersville Police Department has been notified of the arrest.
Copyright 2022 WGCL via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.whsv.com/2022/09/07/officer-arrested-prostitution-sting-while-out-town-seminar-sheriff-says/ | 2022-09-07T19:18:33Z |
CHICAGO, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare is facing a set of challenges unlike any the industry has ever experienced, from increased competition and workforce struggles to eroding public trust. At the same time, innovations in science and technology, along with the evolution of care-delivery models, create a host of opportunities for the industry to reshape itself. More than 300 senior healthcare leaders from 150 companies committed to transforming healthcare will convene in Chicago on Sept. 19–21, 2022, to discuss the industry's future at the 10th annual Oliver Wyman Health Innovation Summit.
The invitation-only event, titled New Norms, New Expectations, brings together executives, experts, and influencers from across the globe to explore ways of creating positive change in healthcare. "As an industry, we face bigger challenges — and have greater obligations to society — than ever before." said Sam Glick, partner and global leader of Oliver Wyman's Health and Life Sciences practice. "At the same time, for those of us who are willing to take a hard look in the mirror and think differently about how we understand and engage with those we serve, there is more opportunity than we've ever had before. Understanding, compassion, and community connection are now as important as quality, affordability, and innovation."
Highlights of this year's Summit include:
- Insights from some of the industry's most influential executives including the following speakers:
- An immersive and experiential exhibit, Renaissance 2022, where attendees will dive into the macro societal trends driving disruption to how we do business, how we engage with consumers, and how we build and manage our workforce. The experience is derived from 18+ months of consumer research by the Oliver Wyman Forum which identifies The New People Shaping our Future including The Citizens of the Metaverse, The Digital Boomers, The New Collars, The Virtual Natives, The Wellness Protagonist, The Psychedelic Adventurer and more.
- Chicago's legendary improv group, The Second City, which launched the careers of Tina Fey, Steve Carell, and Stephen Colbert, will give us a humorous preview of the "New Norms" and "New Expectations" that we'll explore over the course of the Summit.
- The MedCity News Insights Lounge will interview speakers and attendees live from the Summit about their strategies and views for the future of healthcare.
- Executive Sessions on topics such as:
The Oliver Wyman Health Innovation Summit would not be possible without the generous support of our partners: Platinum partner, Softheon; Gold partners Navvis and Transcarent; Bronze partner Motive Practicing Wisely Solutions; Sustainability partner, Onlife Health; Innovator partners Amitech, Big Health, Calibrate, Carrot Fertility, Emcara, Spring Health and Tytocare; and Media partner MedCity News.
Individuals not attending the event can access real-time insights and perspectives through Oliver Wyman's social media channels, including Twitter via @OliverWyman, @OWHealthEditor and LinkedIn via Oliver Wyman and Oliver Wyman Health. All content can be found following #OWHIC. Exclusive real-time content will also be available on our blog, Oliver Wyman Health. Executive interviews will be hosted in the MedCity Insights Lounge and shared via Oliver Wyman's YouTube channel.
For more information on this year's event or to speak with Oliver Wyman about the Summit, please contact Francine Minadeo at francine.minadeo@oliverwyman.com. For a complete agenda and roster of speakers, please visit the event website.
Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices in more than 70 cities across 30 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The firm has more than 5,700 professionals around the world who work with clients to optimize their business, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a business of Marsh McLennan [NYSE: MMC].
For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com. Follow Oliver Wyman on Twitter @OliverWyman.
Oliver Wyman launched the Health Innovation Center (OWHIC) in 2011 to accelerate health market transformation. OWHIC champions innovation by disseminating proven innovations; envisioning market-based solutions to today's and tomorrow's challenges; and establishing a cross-industry community of thought-leaders to share and shape ideas.
For the latest on the business of transforming healthcare, visit the Oliver Wyman Health digital platform at health.oliverwyman.com and follow us on Twitter @OWHealthEditor. For more information, visit oliverwyman.com.
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SOURCE Oliver Wyman | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/10th-annual-oliver-wyman-health-innovation-summit-explores-new-norms-new-expectations-healthcare/ | 2022-09-07T19:31:23Z |
Updated guideline offers the latest in evidence-based recommendations including considerations for skeletal maturity and activity level in patients with ACL injuries
ROSEMONT, Ill., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) issued an update to the Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for Management of Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries, which replaces the previous version released in 2014. This CPG provides updates to 12 of the 24 existing evidence-based recommendations and includes two new recommendations to treat patients, both skeletally mature and skeletally immature, who have been diagnosed with an ACL injury of the knee.
ACL tears are one of the most common knee injuries with 200,000 occurring each year in the United States1. Additionally, those who experience ACL injuries are at a higher risk for developing post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) later in life. With an increase of ACL injuries in younger patients, many of these patients now experience PTOA at an earlier age.
"Since 2014, we have better information about ACL injuries, treatment and outcomes," said Kent Jason Lowry, MD, FAAOS, co-chair of the clinical practice guideline workgroup and member of the AAOS Committee on Evidence-Based Quality and Value. "These updates represent key learnings that are better understood through the recent literature and can serve as guidelines to care based on the specific patient and the situation. However, they also highlight gaps where more research is needed to evolve and further define the guidelines to help surgeons and their patients make evidence-based decisions."
Certain recommendations in this edition were updated to account for the specificity and nuances related to skeletal maturity and activity level of the patient. Specifically, the committee recommends using an autograft instead of an allograft to improve patient outcomes and lower graft ruptures or revisions, particularly in young or active patients. The guidelines also include a moderate recommendation that when performing an ACL reconstruction with an autograft for skeletally mature patients, surgeons may favor the bone patellar bone as the tendon source to reduce the risk of graft failure or infection or the hamstring to reduce the risk of anterior or kneeling pain.
"While skeletal maturity and age are related, they are not the same," explained Robert Brophy, MD, FAAOS, co-chair of the clinical practice guideline workgroup and member of the AAOS Committee on Evidence-Based Quality and Value. "Essentially, a patient reaches skeletal maturity when the vast majority, if not all, of their bony growth is complete around the joints in the body including the knee. There's no doubt there are advantages to using autograft, particularly in younger and more active patients, factors which also play a role when selecting which autograft to use."
The updated CPG features two new recommendations including:
- A strong strength recommendation favoring ACL reconstruction over repair due to a lower rate of revision surgery when compared to ACL repair.
- A moderate strength recommendation stating that in select patients Anterolateral Ligament/Lateral Extraarticular Tenodesis could be considered when performing hamstring autograft reconstruction to reduce graft failure and improve short-term function.
"The committee found strong evidence that reconstruction of a midsubstance tear – one of the most common types of ACL tears – has better outcomes over repair," said Dr. Lowry. "The committee also updated the recommendation that ACL reconstruction can be considered in order to lower the risk of future meniscus pathology or procedures, especially in younger and/or more active patients as a way to protect the meniscus and articular cartilage to try to minimize the degree to which that knee has early problems down the road from PTOA or other complications."
Additional updates to the recommendations and options from this CPG include:
- Surgical timing for treatment of an acute isolated ACL tear is now recommended within three months of the injury, reduced from five months as stated in the previous edition, as early reconstruction is preferred because the risk of additional cartilage and meniscal injury starts to increase within three months.
- Training programs designed to prevent injury can be used to reduce the risk of primary ACL injuries in athletes participating in high-risk sports.
- Functional evaluation, such as the "hop" test, may be considered as one factor to determine return to sport after ACL reconstruction.
"There's still a lot to learn when it comes to optimizing the timing of intervention, rehabilitation, the ideal time to return to sport, and interventions to reduce risk of injury, both in people who have never had an ACL injury, as well as those who have already experienced it," said Dr. Brophy. "The evidence in these areas of focus is still very much evolving and we look forward to following future research to provide orthopaedic surgeons and patients with continued guidance for patient care."
Development of this CPG was a collaborative effort between representatives from the AAOS, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American College of Emergency Physicians.
CPGs are not meant to be stand-alone documents, but rather serve as a point of reference and educational tool for both healthcare professionals managing patients with ACL injuries and orthopaedic surgeons. CPGs recommend accepted approaches to treatment and/or diagnosis and are not intended to be a fixed protocol for treatment or diagnosis. Patient care and treatment should always be based on a clinician's independent medical judgment, giving the individual patient's specific clinical circumstances.
The full Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries is intended for reference by orthopaedic surgeons and other physicians, and available through AAOS' OrthoGuidelines website and free mobile app. For more information on the development process for AAOS clinical practice guidelines, please view the Clinical Practice Guideline Methodology.
With more than 38,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is the world's largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. The AAOS is the trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal health. It provides the highest quality, most comprehensive education to help orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals at every career level to best treat patients in their daily practices. The AAOS is the source for information on bone and joint conditions, treatments and related musculoskeletal health care issues and it leads the health care discussion on advancing quality.
Follow the AAOS on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
1 Herzog MM, Marshall SW, Lund JL, Pate V, Mack CD, Spang JT. Trends in Incidence of ACL Reconstruction and Concomitant Procedures Among Commercially Insured Individuals in the United States, 2002-2014. Sports Health. 2018 Nov/Dec;10(6):523-31
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SOURCE American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/aaos-updates-clinical-practice-guideline-management-anterior-cruciate-ligament-injuries/ | 2022-09-07T19:31:31Z |
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent study on Apos®, a medical device that treats chronic knee conditions, could have significant implications on the cost, pain, and quality-of-life problems associated with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The study data was released by Heritage Provider Network (HPN), a nationally recognized physician network that provides care under financial at-risk contracts with its partner health plans, based on its pilot program with Apos®.
The study, published on April 26 in Population Health Management, found that 86% of patients eligible for total knee replacement (TKR) treated with Apos® were able to delay TKR over a two-year period.1 The Apos® System includes a revolutionary combination of proprietary gait data science and proprietary, customized foot-worn device — for the management of knee pain.
Secondary outcomes of the study, at one year, showed a significant reduction in pain and disability, an increase in quality of life, and improved gait patterns.
The findings suggest that the Apos® System is "a viable nonsurgical option" for patients who meet eligibility criteria for TKR, according to authors of the study, "The application of this intervention provides health plans and provider networks managing patient care under financial risk arrangements an opportunity to realize significant cost savings without compromising quality of care.1"
"Apos fulfills the Heritage commitment to stay on the forefront of innovative research to enhance the quality of patient care within a population health management setting," says Heritage Provider Network's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ian Drew MD, FRCP, FACP. "As the lead researcher on this study, we are impressed at how the clinical results of our study reinforce Apos' place in the knee osteoarthritis care pathway by offering patients a non-invasive treatment option."
"The results are remarkable," says Ganit Segal, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at AposHealth. "These findings further validate Apos as a viable way to delay surgery for sufferers of knee osteoarthritis, and a key solution to be added to a patient care plan."
"We're pleased, but not surprised," Segal said of the April 26 study. "Other independent, real-world studies are also showing very similar results. We're excited about these results, but are even more excited about the future considering all of the patients who will benefit from Apos' proven, non-surgical treatment. These studies give us confidence that Apos can have a positive impact from a health economics perspective, and especially in risk-based markets. We are also excited about providing patients with a non-invasive option with consistent results."
AposHealth's cutting-edge gait data science leverages biomechanics to redistribute the body's weight away from painful areas, re-educating muscles and the brain for healthier movement. Patients who wear Apos® for a short period of time each day in the comfort of their homes see a reduction in pain because the treatment addresses and corrects both its biomechanical and neuromuscular causes.
Osteoarthritis (OA) ranks as the fifteenth highest cause of the number of years lived with a disability.2 It is known to negatively impact the quality of life in older adults by causing poor functional ability, pain-related distress, depression, and feelings of social isolation.3 Both aging and rising rates of obesity are contributors to the increase in the prevalence of knee OA.4
"Given the increasing prevalence of knee OA and the additional costs that will be incurred by the health care system, and the expected exponential increase in TKR and revisions surgery and its burden on the healthcare system and society,5,6 there is a critical need to consider potential nonsurgical interventions for knee OA," as indicated by the authors of this latest Apos® study.
At AposHealth®, we are passionate about revolutionizing the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions simply, by addressing peoples' gait to help them move better, live better, and alleviate pain. Our flagship solution, Apos®, is FDA-cleared to temporarily reduce knee pain caused by osteoarthritis and has been used by over 110,000 patients. It can also be used as a general wellness device to help patients live well with chronic lower back and hip pain. With a 96% satisfaction rate,7 and over 40 peer-reviewed clinical studies, this system—consisting of gait analysis, personalized foot-worn device, and a customized treatment plan—has helped patients worldwide move, live, and thrive. For more information, visit https://www.AposHealth.com.
Email: Information@AposHealth.com
Mailing HQ Address: AposHealth® U.S. Office, C/O Studio, 300 Park Ave, 2nd floor, New York, NY 10022
Contact Number: 855-999-2767
- Ian S. Drew, Marc Hoffing, Charles Lim, David Leece, Matt Suess, and Richard Merkin. Avoidance of Total Knee Replacement in a Population Health Setting: Introducing a Noninvasive Biomechanical Intervention for Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis. Population Health Management. ahead of print http://doi.org/10.1089/pop.2021.0336
- Kiadaliri, AA; et al. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901515/
- Wylde, V; et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30237904/
- Hunter, DJ; et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30237904/
- Singh, JA; et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30988126/
- Klug, A; et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32671435/
- Based on data captured at 3rd follow up appointment and is based on the commercial activity with National Health Service patients in the UK treated between 2019-2020 (N=106)
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SOURCE AposHealth | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/apos-non-invasive-knee-treatment-proven-delay-surgery-according-real-world-study/ | 2022-09-07T19:31:38Z |
COLUMBIA, Md., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Space travel to the Moon, Mars, and beyond can expose astronauts to extreme conditions, causing potential health issues. To prepare for future long-duration missions, a team of scientists from NASA and Universities Space Research Association studied how the effects of space – like changes in gravity, radiation, and more – impact "model organisms," or other kinds of life that are biologically similar to humans. New findings from a study using fruit flies on the International Space Station suggest that space travel has an impact on the central nervous system, but that artificial gravity provides partial protection against those changes. The findings were published in Cell Reports.
"Microgravity poses risks to the central nervous system, suggesting that countermeasures may be needed for long-duration space travel," said Dr. Janani Iyer, a Universities Space Research Association (USRA) project scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley and a co-author on the paper published in Cell Reports. "As we venture back to the Moon and on to Mars, reducing the harmful effects of microgravity will be key to keeping future explorers safe. This study is a step in the right direction to explore the protective effects of artificial gravity in space and to understand the adaptation to Earth conditions after returning from space."
Fruit flies are the ideal organism for this kind of research due to their similarities to humans. There's a significant amount of overlap between the cellular and molecular processes of flies and humans. Almost 75% of the genes that cause disease in humans are shared by fruit flies, meaning the more we learn about fruit flies, the more information scientists have to investigate how the space environment may impact human health. Flies also have much shorter lifespans - about two months and reproduce in two weeks.
The three weeks the flies spend in space is equivalent to about three decades of a human's life, giving scientists more biological information in a shorter time span. In this study, scientists sent flies to the space station on a mission in a newly developed piece of hardware called the Multi-use Variable-gravity Platform (MVP), capable of housing flies at different gravity levels.
After the flies returned to Earth, onboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule that splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, the flies were brought back to Ames for further analysis. Upon arrival, scientists at Ames worked around the clock for two days to sort the flies and perform behavioral and biochemical tests.
This study was one of the first of its kind to take an integrated approach to how the space environment impacts the nervous system. Scientists looked at the fly behavior by observing movement of flies as they moved about in their habitat, changes at the cellular level in the fly brain, how gene expression modifications impact the nervous system, and more.
The results from this study suggest that spaceflight causes stress in the fly's cells that lead to negative behavioral and neurological impacts, as well as changes in gene expression in the fly brain. However, using artificial gravity can provide temporary relief to the difficulties that microgravity in space causes on the nervous system of a fruit fly, even if there are still long-term health complications.
"With the upcoming long-duration deep space missions, where astronauts will be exposed to varying levels of gravity, it is imperative that we understand the impacts of altered gravity on the neurological function," said Dr. Siddhita Mhatre, a KBR Wyle senior scientist at Ames and a co-author of the published paper. "If we can use artificial gravity to delay space-related deficits, maybe we can extend the future mission timelines. And flies in space, alongside the astronauts, will help to further our efforts in keeping astronauts healthy."
Additional Resources: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111279
Founded in 1969, under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences at the request of the U.S. Government, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), is a nonprofit corporation chartered to advance space-related science, technology and engineering. USRA operates scientific institutes and facilities and conducts other major research and educational programs. USRA engages the university community and employs in-house scientific leadership, innovative research and development, and project management expertise. More information about USRA is available at www.usra.edu.
PR Contact:
Suraiya Farukhi, Ph.D.
sfarukhi@usra.edu
443-812-6945
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SOURCE Universities Space Research Association | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/artificial-gravity-partially-protects-space-related-central-nervous-system-deficits-organisms/ | 2022-09-07T19:31:45Z |
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Trailblazer Venture Studio is proud to announce the first nine companies joining the studio to focus on the future of women and sports. Trailblazer is a collaboration between Billie Jean King Enterprises, Elysian Park Ventures, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and R/GA Ventures that is committed to providing unmatched industry access, insight, and strategic advantages to selected companies that are putting women leaders, athletes, and fans first.
The companies selected for this studio are making huge strides in terms of leveling the playing field when it comes to women's leadership, participation, and fandom in the world of sports. Joining from four countries, each one of the selected companies has female leadership and is transforming the space women occupy in the global sports industry, bringing real solutions to hard problems facing women in sports performance and training, media and storytelling, venue experiences, and esports.
"The energy around women and sports is one of the most exciting trends in the sports industry right now. We were thrilled to see so many high-quality companies validating our thesis that one of the biggest growth opportunities in sports is women. The high level of entrepreneurial activity made for a competitive and energizing application process, and we can't wait to get to work with this amazing group of founders and companies," said Cole Van Nice, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Elysian Park Ventures.
Here are the innovative companies joining the Trailblazer Venture Studio portfolio:
- Curastory (New York, NY): Led by former ESPN associate Tiffany Kelly, Curastory allows athletes and creators to shoot and edit high-quality video, monetize their name, image, and likeness in powerful new ways, and distribute their content to their video channels.
- Elysian Park Planning (Los Angeles, CA): Founded by Janet Marie Smith, a designer and urban planner who has led the renovations of some of the world's most legendary sports venues including Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Fenway Park, Dodger Stadium and now Stamford Bridge, EPP is transforming sports venues to create fan experiences rooted in magical spaces and revitalizing iconic landmarks across sports.
- FORTË (New York, NY): Led by former Wall Street executive Lauren Foundos, FORTË's developed the fitness industry's only turnkey, live and on-demand streaming solution, enabling gyms to offer a premium hybrid experience to their members and powering top brands like UFC GYM, YMCA, The Edge, 305 Fitness & the NFLPA.
- HER Galaxy (Tampa Bay, FL): Led by serial entrepreneur Akemi Sue Fisher, Her Galaxy is a division of the global Galaxy Racer platform that seeks to empower women at the intersection of esports, gaming and culture.
- Ida Sports (Perth, Australia and London, England): Co-founded by Laura Youngson, who led a group of women to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro to play a Guinness world record-breaking football match to highlight gender inequalities in sport, IDA Sports exists to prioritize high-performance and comfortable footwear and cleats for female athletes who have traditionally been an afterthought in the sports industry.
- LOVB (Los Angeles, CA) : Led by Katlyn Gao, a deeply experienced female-centric consumer brands executive, League One Volleyball is commercializing volleyball by creating a purpose and profit driven ecosystem rooted in a national network of junior clubs, with the vision to create the first, full-season indoor volleyball pro league in the US.
- Sportsbox AI (Bellevue, WA ): Led by former LPGA professional golfer Jeehae Lee, Sportsbox AI is an AI-powered single-camera 3D-motion capture technology company that brings real-time corrective feedback to help athletes achieve their goals in sports and fitness, starting in golf, using patent-pending 3D Motion Analysis and Kinematic AI technology.
- The GIST (Toronto, Canada): Led by former college friends and sports fans Jacie deHoop, Ellen Hyslop, and Roslyn McLarty, The GIST is a community-driven digital media company, changing the way sports content and storytelling speak to underserved sports fans.
- Togethxr (Los Angeles, CA): Founded by professional athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Sue Bird, and Simone Manuel, and led by Co-founder and Chief Content Officer Jessica Robertson, Togethxr is a media and commerce company curating original content to elevate women's voices in sports.
These nine companies have started a 12-week program in which each company will focus on strategic business development opportunities through relationship capital from Billie Jean King Enterprises, Elysian Park, the LA Dodgers, and R/GA Ventures, and building their brand through creative services from R/GA. Each company will also receive financial investment as part of its selection.
"The Trailblazer Venture Studio is committed to ensuring the next generation of trailblazers are given equal access to opportunities in sports, in business, and in life," said Ilana Kloss, CEO of Billie Jean King Enterprises. "The studio will support these companies with access, services, and connections that will allow them to reach their maximum potential."
This is the third endeavor between Elysian Park Ventures, the LA Dodgers, and R/GA Ventures. The three previously partnered to launch the LA Dodgers Accelerator, the world's first sports tech accelerator, in 2015 and are currently partners in the Global Sports Venture Studio (GSVS), a premier group of sports leaders driving innovation within the sports industry.
Follow along on Twitter as these companies grow and increase their impact at the intersection of women and sports with the help of the Trailblazer Venture Studio team.
Billie Jean King Enterprises is a women-owned and women-led investment, consulting, and marketing firm, founded by Billie Jean King and her partner Ilana Kloss. An investor since 1968, King became an icon for women in sports and beyond during her legendary tennis career and continues to make her mark today. Billie Jean King Enterprises puts King's philosophy and brand value to work and capitalizes on her long-standing advocacy for equality by partnering with companies to challenge the status quo and create a level playing field. Visit bjkenterprises.com for more information.
Elysian Park is a global investment platform created by the ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers that is dedicated to building the future of sports. Operating out of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London, Elysian Park invests where sports intersect with global markets of health, culture, commerce, and technology. Elysian Park invests across stages from seed to growth and provides entrepreneurs with perspective, relationships, and a set of strategic resources that include the Trailblazer Venture Studio, the Global Sports Venture Studio, Robin, Fitt Insider, and EP Golf Ventures in partnership with PGA of America, among others. Visit elysianpark.ventures for more information.
The Los Angeles Dodgers franchise, with seven World Series championships and 24 National League pennants since its beginnings in Brooklyn in 1890, is committed to a tradition of pride and excellence. The Dodgers are dedicated to supporting a culture of winning baseball, providing a first-class, fan-friendly experience at Dodger Stadium, and building a strong partnership with the community. With the highest cumulative fan attendance in Major League Baseball history, and a record of breaking barriers, the Dodgers are one of the most cherished sports franchises in the world. Visit the Dodgers online at www.dodgers.com, follow them on Twitter @Dodgers and like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Dodgers. For media information, visit www.dodgerspressbox.com.
R/GA Ventures works with startups and organizations to create a more human future. We do this by identifying disruptive and inspiring technologies and ideas, and supporting those ideas with the financial, creative, and relationship capital necessary to drive growth and returns. R/GA Ventures has run 31 programs to date, including the LA Dodgers Accelerator and Global Sports Ventures Studio. R/GA Ventures and R/GA are part of the Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG). Learn more at ventures.rga.com and by following @rgaventures.
The Global Sports Venture Studio brings together leaders from the world's leading sports organizations to engage with the sports innovation ecosystem. Our partners – Angel City FC, Dick's Sporting Goods, Fox Sports, the Los Angeles Football Club, the Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, MLS, NASCAR, NBC Sports, UEFA, the USTA, and Verizon – are actively working together to drive growth in the sports industry by identifying, developing, and deploying new athlete and fan-focused innovations through pilots, investments, and the development of new products, services, and technologies. Visit globalsportsventurestudio.com for more details.
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SOURCE R/GA Ventures | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/billie-jean-king-enterprises-elysian-park-ventures-los-angeles-dodgers-rga-ventures-introduce-first-cohort-trailblazer-venture-studio-worlds-first-studio-focused-women-sports/ | 2022-09-07T19:31:51Z |
New Season Kicks off with Discover, Verizon and Nestlé Hot Pockets as Sponsors to Push Inclusivity within Gaming Industry
ATLANTA, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Cxmmunity Media, a Black-owned organization dedicated to future-proofing minority representation and equity in the gaming industry announces the third season of its HBCU Esports League. The new season kicks off on Tuesday, September 13th and invites promising student teams from 16 Historically Black Colleges and Universities to go head-to-head in a series of NBA 2K games. The top two teams will advance to the "Discover Bowl'' finals presented by Discover, for an opportunity to win a cash prize of $20,000.
Verizon, HBCU Esports League's first foundational brand partner, will be returning this year as a title sponsor of the upcoming season along with Nestlé HOT POCKETS®, an essential snack for all gamers, who is making its inaugural debut.
Season three of the HBCU Esports League will air on Twitch.tv/cxmmunity starting Sept. 13, 2022, at 6:00PM EST and run for 22 weeks.
Despite the fact that 83% of Black teens identify as gamers, Black professionals are vastly underrepresented in the gaming category, only comprising 4% of the industry. The HBCU Esports League, one of very few Black-owned sports leagues, is working to change this statistic by providing a unique opportunity to drive equity in gaming through this platform to allow Black colleges and students to gain exposure and resources to monetize in esports. This next series of games follows the momentum and success of the second HBCU Esports season that wrapped in May and sought celebrity attention and participation from rapper T-Pain, actor Brett Gray, professional football Champion Mike Evans and more.
"We are honored to continue our service to the Black community by creating pathways for gamers of color to reach new heights of unprecedented access within the gaming industry," says Cxmmunity Media CEO Ryan Johnson. "As we look ahead to the new season of the HBCU Esports League, we hope to continue building the table for the next generation of diverse gamers to take a seat."
This season's HBCU participation includes: Florida Memorial University, Howard University, North Carolina Central University, Claflin University, Oakwood University, Morris Brown College, Johnson C. Smith University, Wilberforce University, Tennessee State University, Southern University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Fayetteville State University, Benedict College, Albany State University and Bowie State University.
"The illustrious Historically Black College and University community is primed with smart and talented students who we've had the pleasure of engaging and further cultivating their passions for three seasons," says Cxmmunity Co-Founder and CMO Chris Peay. "It's great to see the growth in participants and how more corporate partners are getting on board to support our ambition of bringing much needed equity to the gaming industry."
Launched in 2020, the HBCU Esports League was created to remove barriers of entry for Black students to participate and take advantage of economic opportunities in esports as a part of Cxmmunity Media's broader mission of future-proofing diversity in gaming. Since its inaugural season, the HBCU Esports League has drawn over 130 student participants from 35 Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Cxmmunity Media is a collaborative team of innovative thinkers and doers dedicated to future-proofing diversity and equity in gaming through strategic partnerships, philanthropy, and entertainment. Founded in 2019, Cxmmunity Media is on a mission to increase minority representation in the industry by investing in the education, economic advancement, and visibility of gamers of color. As a pathway to leveling the playing field for Black gamers, Cxmmunity Media created the HBCU Esports League, one of few Black-owned sports leagues, providing students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities a safe space to compete and monetize in esports.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a digital banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company issues the Discover® card, America's cash rewards pioneer, and offers private student loans, personal loans, home loans, checking and savings accounts and certificates of deposit through its banking business. It operates the Discover Global Network® comprised of Discover Network, with millions of merchants and cash access locations; PULSE®, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International®, a global payments network with acceptance around the world. For more information, visit www.discover.com/company.
Nestlé in the United States is committed to unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come. . The company's food and beverage portfolio include some of the most recognizable brands in the United States including Hot Pockets, Coffee Mate and Nestlé Toll House as well as category disruptors such as Sweet Earth, and are in nearly every home in the country. Nestlé USA also boasts the largest coffee portfolio in the U.S. with Nescafé, Nestlé Starbucks Coffee and Chameleon Cold Brew. With 2019 sales of $11 billion, Nestlé USA is part of Nestlé S.A. in Vevey, Switzerland — the world's largest food and beverage company, which has been named among "The World's Most Admired Food Companies" by Fortune magazine for twenty-three consecutive years. For product news and information, visit Nestleusa.com or Facebook.com/NestleUSA.
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SOURCE Cxmmunity | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/black-owned-gaming-collective-cxmmunity-media-launches-season-three-hbcu-esports-league-furthering-mission-future-proof-diversity-gaming/ | 2022-09-07T19:31:58Z |
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The City College of New York and Braven, a national nonprofit organization helping promising college students on a path to economic mobility, partnered for a college-to-career pipeline that will serve 3,750 students over the first five years.
"Our collaboration with Braven is an important step in our efforts to elevate student success at CCNY. Proactive advising linked directly to career preparedness and internship work is clearly where higher education is going these days," said CCNY President Vincent Boudreau. "Braven's work will help us ensure that our students connect the work they do on campus to powerful career trajectories, and that will help them succeed on this campus and beyond."
Supported, in part, by the Foundation for City College, the Braven experience begins with a 3-credit course (The Braven Leadership Accelerator), housed within the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. Students, who Braven calls Fellows, complete weekly online modules on Braven's online platform and then apply that content through weekly virtual Learning Labs in a cohort of 5-8 peers led by a volunteer professional, called a Leadership Coach.
In New York, Braven's partners include Brooks Brothers, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, Montefiore Medical Center, and Salesforce. Fellows complete assignments to grow their leadership in five professional competencies: operating and managing, problem solving, working in teams, networking and communicating, and self-driven leading.
Upon completion, Fellows receive additional opportunities to develop leadership and career-readiness skills, engage in an enduring professional network, and stay on track to securing strong internships and jobs. These optional post-course activities include engagements such as: 1) the Professional Mentor Program, which provides some students a 15-week 1:1 mentor in their desired field as they get closer to the time of the job search; 2) access to Braven's bi-weekly jobs blast which shares internship and job opportunities; and 3) one-off professional development and networking events.
In Spring 2023, about 250 CCNY students are expected to take the course, joining a growing network of over 4,500 Braven alumni nationwide. In a partnership with Lehman College in the Bronx since 2020, CCNY is Braven's second site within the CUNY college system and in New York City, demonstrating the potential for creating a systemic, local solution to the college-to-career pipeline.
"We're so proud to partner with CCNY to complement their career services and help students develop deeper networks and career-readiness skills that are required for the 21st-century workplace," says Kilsys Payamps-Roure, executive director at Braven NYC. "As a lifelong New Yorker, I take pride in this partnership and believe it will help to close the wealth and opportunity gaps right here in our backyard. Braven partners with employers looking to expand networks for students and who want to hire diverse talent, and we are helping to establish those connections."
Nationwide, Braven shows promising results. Braven Fellows outpace the national average for strong job attainment both before and amid the pandemic. Within six months of graduation, 61% of Braven's 2021 graduates secured quality full-time jobs worthy of their bachelor's degree, or enrolled in graduate school compared to 54% of all graduates and 45% of students from similar backgrounds. Furthermore, 62% of Braven college graduates have at least one internship during college compared with 55% of all college graduates and 53% of students from similar backgrounds.
For more information about Braven, visit bebraven.org. If you're interested in getting involved, sign up to be a founding Leadership Coach.
Ashley Arocho
p: 212.650.6460
e: aarocho@ccny.cuny.edu
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SOURCE City College of New York, Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/braven-launches-city-college-new-york/ | 2022-09-07T19:32:05Z |
3 Grand prize winners to get a year's supply of milk and $2,000
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Milk Processor Board (CMPB), creators of the iconic got milk?, are continuing the amplification of the Get Real campaign with a fun and engaging social media giveaway opportunity. The Get Real campaign, which launched August 22, promotes the benefits of being authentically, individually real to themselves in all aspects of life, including drinking real milk.
The Get Real Giveaway opportunity launched on social media on September 6, 2022 at 12:00am PT and runs through September 26, 2022 at 11:59pm PT. California residents have the opportunity to enter the Get Real Giveaway when they follow @gotmilk on instagram, use Instagram or TikTok to post an original video using the Get Real campaign's theme music, and demonstrate their take on living their lives authentically! Participating in this socially-driven giveaway in celebration of authenticity opens up the opportunity to win $2,000 plus a year's supply of milk. Three lucky entrants who tag @gotmilk and use the hashtags #GetRealMilk and #sweepstakes will be selected at random after September 26.
Influencer and chef, My Nguyen of @myhealthydish kicked off the social media challenge to "Get Real" on her TikTok. Watch her TikTok and gain some inspiration on how to show your truth.
To see more of the new campaign and watch the full video click here, check out the website get-real-california.gotmilk.com, and follow us on Instagram at gotmilk or on TikTok at gotmilk.
For more information on the Giveaway rules please visit https://www.gotmilk.com/get-real-giveaway-rules/.
About the CMPB
Since 1993, the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB), creator of the famous 'got milk?' campaign, has been committed to increasing milk consumption throughout California. One recent initiative, "Bones Love Milk," is dedicated to educating youth on the real benefits of milk as "nature's energy drink" in an unconventional way, showcasing how milk is a true nutrient powerhouse, delivering strong bones, energy, hydration and muscle recovery. The CMPB is funded by all California milk processors and administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The 'got milk?' trademark is a federally registered trademark and service mark. For more information, visit www.gotmilk.com.
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SOURCE GOT MILK? | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/california-milk-processor-board-kicks-off-get-real-social-media-giveaway/ | 2022-09-07T19:32:13Z |
Leading mobile accessory brand & trusted Amazon Vendor launches Fall Collection, made for the new iPhone 14
ATLANTA, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Case-Mate, maker of premium, personalized tech accessories, announces its latest collection for the new and highly anticipated Apple iPhone 14 series. The new lineup of cases and accessories are available on Amazon and Case-Mate.com.
"This new collection for the iPhone 14 is an exciting time for us," said Steve Marzio, CEO of Case-Mate. "We've brought back some fan favorites, but we're also thrilled to introduce new designs to suit every personality. We pride ourselves on providing unique designs with industry leading protection, and this new collection delivers on that promise".
Staying true to Case-Mate's roots, the new collection features premium, sustainable materials, stunning designs, plastic-free packaging, 10-foot (or higher) drop protection and antimicrobial technology. The collection includes some of our best-selling, fan-favorites, like Soap Bubble and Karat Marble, with some brand new designs like the 4-in-1 Protection Pack and BLOX Neon cases. Satisfying a huge consumer appetite, almost all products in the collection will have the option for MagSafe compatibility. To highlight a few:
- BLOX : The Square Case. $39.99: Our edgiest case. The BLOX Collection comes in a wide range of stylish shades and features corner bumpers, shock-absorbing material and 10-foot drop protection, all thanks to its unique square design. Available in Clear, Gilded Age Gold, Neon Lemon, Neon Watermelon, Black, Clay Pink, Rainbow Frosting - all are MagSafe compatible.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B994C32V
- Soap Bubble $29.99, $39.99: One of our best sellers, this case's unique iridescent swirl effect highlights your phone's true color, with extra UV protection that keeps your case from yellowing over time. A 10-foot drop protection and shock absorbing corners give you peace of mind. Available with or without MagSafe compatibility.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9CCV4MF
- 4 in 1 Protection Pack $49.99, 3 in 1 Protection Pack $39.99 : Everything you need for your new iPhone 14 in one accessory bundle! This incredible value includes our most protective phone case (15-foot drop protection), a screen protector (ultra high clarity 2X shatter protection), an HD tempered glass lens protector, and an ultra fast 30W power adapter. Available in Clear and Black, with MagSafe compatibility. Also available in a 3 in 1 version with just the case, screen protector and lens protector for $39.99!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BB82SX6M - 4 in 1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B99H552F - 3 in 1
- Pelican Shield Kevlar MagSafe $59.99: In partnership with Pelican Inc., the Shield Kevlar case is built with genuine Kevlar material for the toughest of adventures. This "bulletproof" protection case now has MagSafe compatibility. Better yet, it's dustproof, features 21-foot military grade drop protection (3X Stronger Than Mil-Std 810G Military Testing Mandates), and has 5 layers of extreme Kevlar protection (8X Stronger than Steel Wiring). Includes heavy duty belt clip holster and stand.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9NXKW3D
Case-Mate's new collection ranges from $29 to $70, and is available for purchase at Amazon, Case-Mate.com, select retailers, and all major wireless carrier stores.
Case-Mate is a maker of premium, personalized tech accessories that complement the way you capture the world. Whether it's fast charging, unique designs or durability consumers are looking for, Case-Mate has it all. It's Happiness by Design™". As a trusted Amazon Vendor, Case-Mate provides easy-to-shop and premium, sought-after products, while remaining committed to sustainability. To keep up with the latest, be sure to follow Case-Mate on all social channels (@casemate).
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SOURCE Case-Mate | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/case-mate-unveils-new-lineup-stylish-amp-practical-mobile-accessories-iphone-14/ | 2022-09-07T19:32:23Z |
CCRF's Emerging Scientist Award develops the independent research of highly qualified scientists still early in their careers.
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CCRF recently awarded two promising scientists the Emerging Scientist Award at the University of Minnesota. Each award is worth $100,000 and will be used over a one-year period.
With the funding, Awardee Andrew Marley, Post-Doctoral Fellow, will be exploring the understudied link between maternal obesity and acute lymphoblastic leukemia incidence in children. Understanding if there is a link could help doctors create interventions, screen and identify children who may have pre-leukemia, help counsel parents and provide targets for future immunotherapies.
Awardee Jemma Larson, Post-Doctoral Associate, aims to understand the deadly impact of acute Graft-versus-Host Disease (aGVHD) in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Larson's work is critical for the continued development of safe and effective targeted therapies for children.
At CCRF, we believe early career scientists with inventive approaches can enliven the childhood cancer research field. Scientists just entering the field typically don't have the breadth or quantity of research that could make them stand out against those who are more experienced, making it difficult to earn large grants from the government and other institutions.
We've made it part of our mission to give them the funding to further explore their research so that kids can get treatments informed by fresh, forward-thinking perspectives. With our Emerging Scientist Award, their ideas turn into mature projects that can vie for larger grants.
"We would've never gotten [an R01 grant] without CCRF helping mature the project. The Emerging Scientist Award got the ball rolling, and we got it to snowball into a bigger project." - Beau Webber, PhD, a 2017 Emerging Scientist Award recipient, is on his way to a 5-year, $3.3 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to support his Ewing sarcoma research at the University of Minnesota.
More about the Emerging Scientist Award can be found here.
CCRF invests in groundbreaking research that is leading to better treatments and cures for children with cancer. Since 1981, CCRF donors have funded research that has revolutionized the way childhood cancer is treated worldwide. Visit ChildrensCancer.org or call 888-422-7348 to learn more.
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SOURCE Children's Cancer Research Fund | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/childrens-cancer-research-fund-ccrf-grants-new-local-researchers-emerging-scientist-awards/ | 2022-09-07T19:32:31Z |
CIRCA Scientific's products meet new, strengthened requirements for safety and performance in Europe.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CIRCA Scientific announced that the company has successfully met the requirements for certification of its Quality Management System (QMS) under the new European Union Medical Device Regulation (MDR) as of August 24th, 2022. To earn this certificate, BSI Group, CIRCA Scientific's notified body, completed a comprehensive conformity assessment and confirmed compliance of its QMS with the new, strengthened safety and performance requirements of the MDR. MDR certification allows CIRCA Scientific not only to continue to distribute its existing products in European markets but opens the door to proceed with its plans for new product developments and launches in the EU.
The new Medical Device Regulation went into effect in May of 2021 and replaces the EU's Medical Device Directive. Compared to previous directives, the MDR has more stringent requirements concerning documentation, clinical evidence, and post-market surveillance, as well as more comprehensive QMS requirements for medical device manufacturers. As a result, more than 85% of the products previously certified under the old MDD have yet to receive this certification, and notified bodies are currently taking 13-18 months to issue MDR certification.1
Lee Geist, President and CEO of CIRCA Scientific, said, "This regulatory certification is an important milestone for CIRCA Scientific, and we are proud to count our CIRCA Temperature Monitoring System among the first products to be certified under the new MDR. I'd like to acknowledge the tireless work of our Quality Assurance team who managed all the activities required to establish compliance with the new regulation. This a huge company-wide achievement that will ensure that we are able to continue to supply our valued customers around the globe with our best-in-class esophageal temperature monitoring solutions and to launch our latest developments in this region without delay."
About CIRCA Scientific
For the last 10 years, CIRCA Scientific has been the global leader in Advanced Esophageal Temperature Monitoring Solutions. CIRCA's Esophageal Temperature Monitoring Systems provide physicians with rapid, reliable data to help them avoid excessive heating/cooling of the esophagus during therapeutic procedures performed in the OR or EP Lab. For more information, visit www.circascientific.com and connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
References: 1 https://www.medtechdive.com/news/legacy-devices-lack-mdr-certificates-medtech-europe/627439/
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SOURCE CIRCA Scientific, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/circa-scientifics-quality-management-system-awarded-eu-mdr-certification/ | 2022-09-07T19:32:38Z |
Dr. Terry Gilliland will become Chief Medical Officer and Joe Battle is joining Cogitativo's Leadership as Senior Advisor to the CEO
BERKELEY, Calif. , Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cogitativo announced today the promotion of Terry Gilliland, M.D., to Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and hiring of Joe Battle as Senior Advisor to the CEO.
As CMO, Dr. Gilliland will set direction for the organization's clinical initiatives, oversee quality, and provide leadership in collaboration with federal health systems, including the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
"Dr. Gilliland is an experienced leader in healthcare innovation," said Gary Velasquez, CEO of Cogitativo. "His expertise will play a critical part in rolling out our precision health and wellness strategies."
Dr. Gilliland is the former Chief Science Officer at Cogitativo and Executive Vice President of Health Care Quality and Affordability at Blue Shield of California. During his tenure at the Blue Shield California, Dr. Gilliland oversaw the company's health care services, including healthcare reimagined, network and provider partnerships, pharmacy, medical care solutions, clinical quality, and MindBody medicine teams. Gilliland also spent 18 years in leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente in Maryland and Colorado.
As Senior Advisor to the CEO, Mr. Battle will provide guidance on strategy and operations as Cogitativo looks to expand its work within the federal health system. Mr. Battle brings deep healthcare delivery and management experience to the job.
Prior to joining Cogitativo, Mr. Battle served in various leadership roles for the Veterans Affairs, including Medical Center Director of the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital and Clinics in Tampa, Florida and Acting Interim Director of Veterans Integrated Service Network 7 in Duluth, Ga. Previously, Mr. Battle also served as the director of the VA Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi and prior to that, he served as the Associate Director of the VA Medical Centers in Orlando, Florida, and Dayton, Ohio.
"Mr. Battle is a proven leader in healthcare with an impressive track record of visionary thinking, influence, execution and public service," Gary Velasquez said. "I'm grateful he's taking on this new responsibility."
Cogitativo is a Berkeley-based data science company founded in 2015 with a mission to create and implement innovative, scalable solutions to the most complex challenges facing the healthcare system. Leveraging machine learning, proprietary data sets and expertise from leaders with decades of experience working with public health agencies, Cogitativo is able to deliver actionable insights and save lives. To date, Cogitativo has successfully applied data science solutions to more than 200 unique operational challenges to significantly improve the efficiency of our healthcare systems and protect vulnerable patients and communities. Visit www.cogitativo.com for more information.
Amy Domangue
Amy.Domangue@Cogitativo.com
Phone: (225) 337-6402
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SOURCE Cogitativo, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/cogitativo-announces-strategic-hires-strengthen-its-growth-precision-health-initiatives-us-government/ | 2022-09-07T19:32:44Z |
TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors has approved the hiring of Spirit Consulting to undertake the search for the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County's (ELCHC) next CEO.
Chair of the Board, Aakash Patel, said "On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, with the help of Spirit Consulting, we look forward to finding the next leader who will advance our mission preparing all children for future success by focusing on early learning."
Chris Gomez, CEO of Spirit Consulting said, "We are truly honored to support the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County on the search for their next CEO. The importance of the ELCHC to the more than 22,000 children & families served and the more than 800 child care providers cannot be understated, and it is a privilege to be tasked with upholding such an inspiring mission. We are excited to get to work, and cannot wait to find the ELCHC, as well as the children, families and communities they serve, the leadership they so rightly deserve."
All interested candidates should contact cgomez@spirtimco.com
Established by the State Legislature, the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County (ELCHC) is a 501(c)(3) organization focused on promoting school and life success for young children and their families through quality school readiness services and supports. The ELCHC administers School Readiness and VPK (Voluntary Prekindergarten) programs in Hillsborough County, offers teacher trainings and coaching, and provides Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) along with other services that daily serve more than 22,000 children and their families.
Contact: Alison Fraga
Phone: 813-205-6205
Email: afraga@elchc.org
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SOURCE Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/early-learning-coalition-hillsborough-county-board-directors-approves-hire-spirit-consulting-search-next-chief-executive-officer/ | 2022-09-07T19:32:50Z |
The partnership aims to close opportunity gaps for historically marginalized students and prepare next generation of engineers
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Elizabethtown College was awarded a $1.2 Million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch the Center for Equity and Sustainability in Engineering in partnership with the Greenway Institute, located in Vermont.
"With the help of this grant, we hope to reimagine engineering education around our shared commitments to equity and sustainability. We will expand the participation of historically underrepresented students in engineering, including students of color, women and rural students. And, our innovative program will prepare all students to design and build a more just and sustainable future," Elizabethtown College Dean of the School of Engineering, Math and Science, and grant Principal Investigator Sara Atwood said.
The Greenway Center for Equity and Sustainability (GCES) will be an innovation campus that re-designs and re-centers engineering education around sustainability and core equity practices that empower students from underrepresented groups. The grant will help fund:
- An immersive "sustainability semester" in Vermont where engineering students from around the country engage in hands-on engineering projects that introduce them to principles and practices of sustainability
- A first-year of immersive, team-based, hands-on engineering education for students admitted to Etown's engineering program
- Project-based professional development for K-12 teachers in collaboration with the Etown Masters in Curriculum and Instruction
"The Greenway Center for Equity and Sustainability addresses our two biggest imperatives for engineering education: closing opportunity gaps for historically marginalized students and preparing the next generation of engineers to tackle the complex, multidisciplinary challenge of designing and building a sustainable future. Because historically marginalized groups, including communities of color and rural students, are often the first and most harmed by failures to think sustainably, the challenges of equity and sustainable engineering are one and the same," said grant co-PI Greenway Institute co-founder and former Secretary of Education of Vermont, Rebecca Holcombe.
Elizabethtown College will offer ABET-accredited engineering courses through the GCES at a site in Vermont. The two institutions will partner with a vision to provide the best undergraduate engineering education in the country through a unique hands-on, immersive, sustainability and equity-focused education program that prepares future engineers to imagine, design, and build communities that are better for the people, the environment, and a vibrant economy.
"Elizabethtown College and Greenway Institute have a longstanding relationship based upon past work and faculty engagement," Atwood said. "Both institutions are committed to providing students with hands-on, project-based learning models and to conducting research that addresses the barriers students often encounter in engineering education due to socioeconomic, gender, rural and racial disparities."
Explore more information about Etown's Engineering program. Learn about Greenway Institute.
Elizabethtown College, located in southcentral Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than 50 health, science, engineering, political science business, communications, fine art and music, humanities, and education degrees. Discover more: etown.edu.
Keri Straub
Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications
Elizabethtown College
(717) 725-6907
straubk@etown.edu
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SOURCE Elizabethtown College | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/elizabethtown-college-awarded-12-million-grant-center-equity-sustainability-engineering/ | 2022-09-07T19:32:56Z |
Survey: Only 11% of Americans Believe Influencers Deliver Trustworthy Reviews, While a Majority of Americans (53%) Rely Most on Recommendations From Product Experts
CHICAGO, Sept 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Social media has given influencers the clout and the platform to promote products, but many consumers doubt the credibility of their recommendations. According to initial findings from a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults commissioned by The Desire Company, a vast majority of consumers (87%) say it is likely that influencers don't even use the products they advertise and, furthermore, only 1 in 10 (11%) believe that a social media influencer with millions of followers is a trustworthy source of information.
"Social media influencers have evolved into becoming the billboards of the Internet," says Eric Sheinkop, co-founder and CEO of The Desire Company. "Great at spreading mass awareness but lacking in their ability to properly educate consumers about products. Our experts have dedicated their lives to becoming the best at what they do which is why they are qualified to provide trusted product information to shoppers. Clearly trust takes time to earn, certainly longer than the length of a TikTok."
It doesn't help that many consumers have had a bad experience when purchasing an influencer-promoted product: More than 4 in 5 (82%) consumers who have purchased something based on an influencer's pitch say they have had some sort of negative experience with the product, with the most common being that the product didn't match the influencer's claims (41%).
While a company may make a quick buck when they bring on an influencer to promote their product, poor customer experience has a lasting impact. More than 2 in 5 (42%) consumers who have dealt with the consequences of purchasing an influencer recommended product say they are unlikely to purchase from that company again.
When it comes to a dependable way to cut through the glut of information available, consumers are beginning to look for trusted experts and professionals in their field. The study found that when making purchases, the majority (53%) of Americans rely most on recommendations from product experts in making purchasing decisions. About half (51%) agree that an expert product demonstration is the only review they need to be confident in their purchase decisions.
The Desire Company was founded to provide shoppers with access to experts to help them find the right products for their needs and ensure they know how to use them. Its community of product reviewers is required to meet certain standards to ensure that the reviews provided are authentic and accurate.
"Consumers are weary of sorting through massive amounts of online misinformation when shopping online," continues Sheinkop. "Our study shows that the old approach of 'more is more' is not working for consumers who are being overwhelmed. This study clearly shows a demand from consumers for brands to move away from Influencer Marketing to Expert Marketing."
The study of 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted by independent research firm, Wakefield Research, commissioned by The Desire Company. More about the study can be found here: https://thedesirecompany.com/studies/retail-returns
The Desire Company is the world's only community of Experts who tell the truth about the products they actually use and trust. Our mission is to empower shoppers to make more educated, confident purchase decisions by providing reliable, expert-driven product reviews, how-tos, and classes. The company was created around the passions of accomplished professionals at the top of their game, in order to democratize their knowledge and build a community to share it.
Media Contact
Kristin Loretta
Kristin Joy Public Relations LLC
Kristin@KristinJoyPR.com
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SOURCE The Desire Company | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/end-influencer-most-consumers-doubt-social-media-influencers-use-products-they-promote/ | 2022-09-07T19:33:03Z |
Latest development from ESL planned to break ground in Naples, Fla. in Q4 2022
DENVER, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Experience Senior Living (ESL) is creating communities with purpose across the U.S. and will soon break ground on a new luxury community in Naples, Fla. located at 8480 Rattlesnake Hammock Road. The Gallery at Naples is 169,327 square feet consisting of 158 homes with 125 assisted living apartments and 33 memory care suites for seniors. ESL plans to break ground in Q4 2022.
With more than 50% of the population in the market over 65, it is the ultimate destination for those seeking sugar-sand beaches, warm weather year-round, and Gulf Coast living at its best. Amenities to be offered in the four-story community include a professional beauty salon, fitness room, pickleball court, saltwater outdoor pool, screened-in patios, movie theater, steak house, a full bar as well as multiple other dining venues and activities areas. Our concierge floor will have full kitchens and a dedicated lounge providing a unique offering in the market. 24/7 nursing staff is available on-site as well as services such as moving coordination, concierge assistance and chauffeured transportation. The Gallery collection of communities by ESLD commissions local artists to produce pieces that are unique to the area.
"We are very intentional about the locations we select for Experience Senior Living developments," Phill Barklow, president of ESL, said. "Naples is an ideal retirement community and residents desire to stay in the area. Through our well-suited amenities and services, we allow people to continue to make Naples their home. Our vision is simple, to disrupt the experience of aging. Through this lens, we are proud to bring The Gallery at Naples to market with the very best offerings so our residents and their families can celebrate life together."
For more information about ESL as well as existing and future properties, visit ExperienceSRLiving.com.
Experience Senior Living is a full-service, vertically integrated owner-operator of active adult, independent living, assisted living, and memory care communities. We are reimaging seniors housing based on our extensive experience serving in a variety of areas, implementing strategic, operational, and human objectives. We translate those experiences to create new and inspiring models of care, focused on hospitality, which are responsive to residents' needs, centered around holistic wellness and engagement with a broader community. Experience drives everything we do, and our team of dynamic professionals are fueled by their passion to empower individuals to live a full and well life now and as they grow older. Experience Senior Living is based in Denver, CO with communities either active or under development in six states: California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington.
News Media Contact:
Kirstin Barbour
303.293.0693
pr@esl5280.com
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SOURCE Experience Senior Living | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/experience-senior-living-community-naples-will-meet-need-housing-fast-growing-city/ | 2022-09-07T19:33:10Z |
NAPA VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Firstleaf, America's most personalized wine company, was announced as one of the honorees on Quartz's global ranking of the Best Companies for Remote Workers. Firstleaf was ranked #4 in the best medium-sized company category. The program honors companies providing outstanding benefits and work culture for remote employees around the world and across various industries.
Led by founder and CEO Philip James, Firstleaf has remote employees located in over 80 cities around the world. Firstleaf fosters a strong company culture which is prioritized throughout the organization including weekly company-wide town halls and annual offsites in cities across the U.S. and South America. These events help employees stay connected and attain impactful relationships and team building across various departments within the company.
"We are honored to be recognized as one of the companies for Quartz's Best Companies for Remote Workers award," said CEO and Founder Philip James. "Firstleaf became a fully remote company in 2020, and we pride ourselves on being able to work successfully no matter where we are in the world. Our company culture and employees' work-life balance have been a priority to me since I started this company, and I'm glad that we can continue to offer flexibility to our team. While we all aren't in the same office together, we continue to work seamlessly as a team to bring the best wine to our members."
Quartz's Best Companies for Remote Workers award is an opt-in global ranking that assesses company practices and measures employee satisfaction in areas including leadership, pay and benefits, training and development, corporate culture, communication, and overall engagement. The online surveys were conducted by the Best Companies Group, an independent research firm specializing in identifying and recognizing great places to work.
"Companies at the vanguard of remote work helped show everyone else how to do it. Now we are seeing their best practices replicated across industries, at companies of all sizes," said Quartz executive editor Heather Landy. "The companies on our ranking are putting their remote policies to use as a recruiting and retention play, as a tool for diversifying their talent pool, and as a performance strategy. Our second annual ranking honors businesses that have gone above and beyond in ensuring that their remote workers have the tools they need, from technology stipends to wellness perks, to do their jobs effectively."
Firstleaf brings together proprietary technology, expert winemakers and a WSET-certified concierge team, to build a unique Wine Profile for each member and curate each shipment individually. With no preset packs or boxes, Firstleaf has over 82 million combinations of wines possible and 98% of its monthly boxes are unique. Its team of winemakers sample over 10,000 wines each year across 5 continents and 12 countries to select only the finest bottles. With more than 700,000 12-bottle cases sold last year, Firstleaf is the #1 trusted wine brand in consumer rankings. Nearly one million people have tried Firstleaf since the brand's inception.
Its wines have won over 2,800 awards, including over 300 90+ point scores, and 92% of its wines are award-winning. In 2022, for the second year in a row, Firstleaf appeared on Inc. 5000's list which honors the fastest-growing private companies in America. Firstleaf was also awarded Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies in the data science category and was recognized as one of Wine Business Monthly's 50 Largest Wineries. This came on the heels of being named Wine Company of the Year in Winemaker Challenge International's 2021 wine competition, one of the only U.S. wine competitions judged exclusively by professional winemakers.
To learn more about Firstleaf, including career opportunities, visit www.firstleaf.com.
Quartz is a digitally native news organization with a mission to make business better. Our journalists around the world specialize in analysis of the global economy for an audience of purpose-driven professionals. We help our readers discover new industries, new markets, and new ways of doing business that are more sustainable, innovative, and inclusive. Quartz is the top business publication for global executives ages 25-45, and we have been a pioneer in premium, mobile-first, native advertising experiences since our founding in 2012.
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SOURCE Firstleaf | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/firstleaf-honored-by-quartz-one-best-companies-remote-workers-2022/ | 2022-09-07T19:33:16Z |
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Great Place to Work® and Fortune have honored Level Agency as one of the 2022 Best Workplaces in Advertising & Marketing™. This is Level Agency's third time joining this prestigious list, this year coming in at 33rd place. Earning a spot means that Level Agency is one of the best companies to work for in the country. Level is the only Pittsburgh-based company among those ranked.
The Best Workplaces in Advertising & Marketing award is based on analysis of survey responses from more than over 9,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies in the advertising and marketing industry. In that survey, 98% of Level Agency's employees said Level is a great place to work. This number is 41 points higher than the average U.S. company.
Patrick Van Gorder, President and COO at Level Agency said, "Our emphasis on workplace culture is at the core of our success. Our people are flexible, collaborative, and strategic, with ownership over their piece of the work. As a result, their success and growth ladders up directly to the business results for our clients. When people have a chance to contribute and do their best work every day, we win awards like these."
The Best Workplaces in Advertising and Marketing is highly competitive. Great Place to Work, the global authority on workplace culture, selected the list using rigorous analytics and confidential employee feedback. Companies were only considered if they had been a Great Place to Work-Certified™ organization.
Great Place to Work is the only company culture award in America that selects winners based on how fairly employees are treated. Companies are assessed on how well they are creating a great employee experience that cuts across race, gender, age, disability status, or any aspect of who employees are or their role.
"These companies have adapted to the challenges of an ever-changing workplace by their commitment to inclusive, high-trust cultures where employees are treated as human beings first and foremost," says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work®. "Congratulations to the Best Workplaces in Advertising & Marketing."
Level Agency also ranked #113 on Inc. Magazine's 2022 list of the Northeast Region's Fastest Growing Private Companies and was named one of The Pittsburgh Business Times' Fast 50 fastest growing companies in the region. We are proud to be a diverse workplace and a Military Friendly ® Employer.
Change is the only constant in today's marketing ecosystem. Level Agency designs and executes performance marketing campaigns using its systematic Test. Learn. Grow. framework. This adaptive approach accelerates ROI, reduces waste, and helps our clients win the knowledge and performance race.
To learn more about how this Great Place to Work drives results for clients, read our case studies at level.agency. And be sure to follow along with Level's journey by subscribing to the Test. Learn. Grow. Podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.
Great Place to Work® selected the Best Workplaces in Advertising & Marketing ™ by gathering and analyzing confidential survey responses from over 9,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies in the advertising and marketing industry. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place to Work® Trust Index™ survey. Great Place to Work determines its lists using its proprietary For All™ methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America's largest ongoing annual workforce study, based on over 1 million survey responses and data from companies representing more than 6.1 million employees, this year alone. Read the full methodology.
To get on this list next year, start here.
Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work For All™.
Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Contact: Patrick Van Gorder
Phone: 412-606-0552
Email: pvangorder@level.agency
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SOURCE Level Agency | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/great-place-work-fortune-name-level-agency-one-2022-best-workplaces-advertising-amp-marketing-ranking-33/ | 2022-09-07T19:33:22Z |
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian has been named a Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Center of Excellence (RTCoE) by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), a distinction held by only 17 centers in the U.S., including Stanford Health Care, Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Francisco.
The designation is a recognition of Hoag's leading advancements in the burgeoning field of nuclear medicine research and treatment, according to the SNMMI.
"Radiopharmaceutical therapy represents an exciting new tool in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer, and we are honored to be recognized for our pioneering work in this emerging field," said Hoag CEO and President Robert T. Braithwaite. "This distinction is both an accomplishment and a promise to our patients and community that Hoag will continue to conquer cancer."
As a Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Center of Excellence, Hoag will continue to lead the nation in testing and offering evidence-based therapies to improve patient care at Hoag and throughout the world, said Gary A. Ulaner, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.N.M, James & Pamela Muzzy Endowed Chair in Molecular Imaging and Therapy and director of Molecular Imaging and Therapy for the Hoag Family Cancer Institute.
"Over time, there will likely be improvements in second- and third-generation agents, which will make it important to develop more therapies," Dr. Ulaner said. "Here at Hoag, we are offering the same therapies that are being offered at Memorial Sloan Kettering and other leading cancer institutions worldwide. Patients are often relieved to learn that they have access to these therapies right here in Orange County."
The elite SNMMI designation comes on the heels of the publication of two important peer-reviewed studies coming out of Hoag about the potential for nuclear medicine to change the course of cancer care.
Dr. Ulaner recently published two papers that analyzed molecular imaging in prostate cancer, as well as a separate study studying the effectiveness of imaging in a new targeted breast cancer therapy. His studies appeared in the journals Radiology and Nature Communications, respectively.
"With philanthropic support from the community, Hoag has continuously prioritized providing the best patient care available. With these innovative research programs, Hoag is developing and delivering the future of patient care," said Dr. Ulaner.
Molecular medicine advanced earlier this year when the FDA approved the first targeted radioligand therapy for prostate cancer patients whose tumor cells contain a protein called prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). The therapy, known commercially as Pluvicto, is the first FDA-approved PSMA-targeted radiotherapy for metastatic prostate cancer.
Hoag's Molecular Imaging & Therapy program is the only program in Orange County to offer Pluvicto, as well as several similar radiotherapies that are currently in clinical trials for prostate and other cancers.
In addition to helping determine the effectiveness of Pluvicto, Dr. Ulaner explains that molecular medicine works like a lock and a key. Every cancer cell has a protein on its surface that can be thought of as a lock. Molecular agents designed to bind specifically to those locks are the key. Infused with radiation, those keys can either help detect or destroy the cancer cells wherever they are in the body, leaving neighboring healthy cells unharmed.
"This is a relatively new field," Ulaner said. "We are the only molecular imaging and therapy center in Orange County. We use molecular agents to help detect cancer and to treat cancer through radioactive molecules."
Hoag is offering ongoing clinical trials in molecular imaging and therapy for a number of cancer types. For more information, contact Hoag Family Cancer Institute at 949-7-CANCER.
ABOUT HOAG
Hoag is a nonprofit, regional health care delivery system in Orange County, California. Delivering world-class, comprehensive, personalized care, Hoag consists of 1,800 top physicians, 15 urgent care facilities, 10 health & wellness centers, and two award-winning hospitals. Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes six institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, digestive health, heart and vascular, neurosciences, women's health, and orthopedics through Hoag's affiliate, Hoag Orthopedic Institute, which consists of an orthopedic hospital and four ambulatory surgical centers. Hoag is the highest ranked hospital in Orange County by U.S. News & World Report and the only OC hospital ranked in the Top 10 in California, as well as a designated Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). For more information, visit hoag.org.
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SOURCE Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/hoag-named-radiopharmaceutical-therapy-center-excellence-publishes-results-breast-prostate-cancer-trials/ | 2022-09-07T19:33:29Z |
Pet food brand announces it is now a Certified B Corporation™ (B Corp), a prestigious certification that formalizes its commitment to people, the planet, and pets.
SAN DIEGO, Sept 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Honest Kitchen, a San Diego producer of natural, human grade pet foods, supplements and treats, announced today that it has successfully completed the rigorous evaluation process to become a Certified B Corporation™, the gold standard of social and environmental performance in business. The company re-incorporated as a Public Benefit Corporation in early 2021.
"We've been grounded in the principles of conscientious decision-making, such as sourcing non-GMO produce, numerous organic ingredients, and higher animal welfare meat standards since we first began," stated Lucy Postins, The Honest Kitchen's Founder and Chief Integrity Officer. "We believe it's our responsibility to continue to raise the bar for ourselves and becoming a B Corp is the perfect next step to cement our ongoing commitment to lasting, positive impact by using our business as a force for good."
Certified B Corporations work to reduce inequality and poverty, make a positive impact on the environment and create stronger communities by harnessing the power of business. About 5,000 companies around the world have successfully certified as B Corporations, which balance profit and purpose by meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability. The certification process for a company to become a B Corp is not a light undertaking and requires a meticulous, top-to-bottom audit of policies, procedures and practices in five categories: governance, workers, customers, community and the environment.
Becoming a Certified B Corporation provides The Honest Kitchen with a more formalized framework for its future growth and conscientious decision-making. Policies that the company has implemented as part of its B Corp certification include the prioritization of minority and women-owned and operated suppliers, increased local sourcing, further reductions in environmental impact through packaging and distribution choices, tracking and continual improvement of workforce diversity (especially at leadership levels within the organization), further improved animal welfare standards and integration of even more organic and certified Fair Trade ingredients.
"Formalizing our policies and practices to become a Certified B Corp has really allowed us to define and execute on goals for how we care for our people, such as tracking and increasing diversity and equity across our workforce, increasing paid volunteer time for our team and improving benefits," said The Honest Kitchen's Chief Executive Officer, Michael Greenwell.
The news follows the company's recent announcement of Global Animal Partnership (GAP) certification on the chicken used in several of its recipes. GAP is one of the largest and most comprehensive animal welfare food labeling programs in North America and is an important step in The Honest Kitchen's ongoing commitment to humane animal welfare practices in its supply chain.
"We're thrilled to have a company like The Honest Kitchen join the ranks of Certified B Corporations," said Sarah Silverman, Director of Marketing and Communications, B Lab US/Canada. "This recognition marks the company's continued commitment to sustainable sourcing, animal welfare, thoughtful production methods, and caring for its workers both internally and throughout the supply chain."
The Honest Kitchen was founded by Lucy Postins in 2002 in San Diego, CA, with a mission to help as many pets as possible get on the road to good health through good food. They produce a full line of human grade complete & balanced foods for pets including dry, dehydrated, and wet foods; as well as treats; toppers; hydration boosters; and a best-selling digestive supplement. The Honest Kitchen was the first-ever Human Grade pet food, meaning the finished product meets human food production standards (unlike conventional pet food which is feed grade). Each Honest Kitchen product is made with uncompromising quality & safety standards by a company of pet lovers. For more information, please visit www.thehonestkitchen.com.
B Lab is a nonprofit that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. B Lab's initiatives include B Corp Certification, administration of the B Impact Management programs and software, and advocacy for governance structures like the benefit corporation. B Lab's vision is of an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet. To date, there are over 5,000 Certified B Corps in 150 industries and 70 countries, and over 70,000 companies use the B Impact Assessment. Visit bcorporation.net for more information.
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SOURCE The Honest Kitchen, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/honest-kitchen-human-grade-pet-food-company-achieves-b-corp-certification/ | 2022-09-07T19:33:35Z |
HOUSTON, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys from the Houston-based intellectual property law firm Heim, Payne & Chorush LLP congratulate former firm partner James "Boone" Baxter on being named Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in the Texarkana Division.
Mr. Baxter practiced at Heim, Payne & Chorush LLP for nearly six years before being unanimously selected by the judges in the Eastern District to fill the spot vacated by former Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven, who retired in May after 24 years on the federal bench.
"Everyone at our firm is extremely proud of our former partner, Judge Baxter," says Heim, Payne & Chorush LLP managing partner Michael Heim. "The Eastern District Court, the attorneys who practice there, and the parties who appear before him will immediately benefit from the depth of legal knowledge and attention to detail Judge Baxter brought to the table during our years of work together in private practice."
The national legal publication Law360 published a profile of Judge Baxter during his first days on the bench, where he talked about a series of aptitude and personality tests that spurred him to become an attorney.
"All of the tests told me to be a lawyer," he told Law360 in the article you can read here.
Heim, Payne & Chorush LLP is home to an experienced team of seasoned intellectual property attorneys and some of the brightest young lawyers in the profession. The firm's attorneys are regularly honored on the annual Texas Super Lawyers and Texas Rising Stars lists of the state's leading legal practitioners. Several firm lawyers are additionally recognized on the Chambers USA listing of the country's top attorneys and the exclusive annual guide to The Best Lawyers in America.
Heim, Payne & Chorush LLP represents plaintiffs and defendants in litigation across a broad range of technologies and business sectors. With a wide variety of technical and scientific backgrounds, firm attorneys handle all facets of intellectual property litigation for some of the largest energy and technology firms, as well as individuals and smaller companies. Ranked among the most active and top-performing firms in matters before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board by Patexia Insights, the firm takes pride in its ability to partner with other attorneys and firms to bring the best possible trial team together for the benefit of the client. To learn more about the firm and the work it does, visit www.hpcllp.com.
For more information, please contact Bruce Vincent at 214-763-6226 or bruce.vincent@muselegalpr.com.
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SOURCE Heim, Payne & Chorush | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/houston-intellectual-property-law-firm-heim-payne-amp-chorush-llp-congratulates-james-boone-baxter-federal-judicial-post/ | 2022-09-07T19:33:42Z |
ICEYE's SAR technology will be a key data collector for BAE's multi-domain satellite cluster known as Azalea™
HELSINKI, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ICEYE, the global leader in persistent monitoring with radar satellite imaging, is partnering with BAE Systems to provide advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology as part of BAE Systems' new multi-sensor satellite cluster launching in 2024.
Known as Azalea™, this group of Earth sensing satellites will use a range of instruments to collect visual, radar and radio frequency (RF) data and use on-board machine learning and edge processing to analyze and quickly deliver the resulting intelligence to tactical or strategic users anywhere in the world --directly from low earth orbit.
The Azalea™ cluster will contain four satellites that between them deliver SAR, optical, RF signals and analysis. The cluster will provide high assurance security and resilience through inter-craft space links and allow for the simultaneous execution of multiple customer applications through a fully re-configurable system.
ICEYE's SAR technology provides high resolution imagery of the Earth's surface, day or night and in any weather conditions. This persistent monitoring makes it easier to detect any physical changes, such as the movement of ships or aircraft, quickly and accurately. Timely, clear, actionable intelligence is essential for defense operations which move and change at a rapid pace.
"The Azalea™ satellite cluster will process data in space to provide swathes of digital intelligence wherever it's needed," said Dave Armstrong, Group Managing Director of BAE Systems' Digital Intelligence business. "We understand how important space-based intelligence is to every domain, whether that's informing strategic command, alerting an in area warship, or providing real-time intelligence to forces on the ground. The launch of Azalea™ in 2024 will be a major step forward for the UK's sovereign space capability."
"Bringing various types of high-trust satellite imaging technologies under the operational control of one company, like BAE Systems, means better intelligence delivered quicker than ever," said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-founder of ICEYE. "With the Earth watchable 24/7, Azalea™ will prove that most defense remote sensing requirements can be satisfied by commercial capabilities. BAE Systems became a strategic investor in ICEYE earlier this year and we are now seeing the fruits of this important and growing relationship."
ICEYE owns and operates the world's largest constellation of SAR satellites and the company has successfully launched 21 satellite missions since its first spacecraft was placed into orbit only four years ago. Last May, the company successfully launched two satellite missions for the Brazilian Air Force and in December 2021, ICEYE announced the company will supply a SAR satellite for MDA's next generation commercial Earth observation mission called CHORUS.
ICEYE closed a 136M Series D funding round last February and BAE Systems was included as a new strategic investor. ICEYE has raised a total of $304M in financing since 2015.
ICEYE delivers unmatched persistent monitoring capabilities for any location on earth. Owning the world's largest synthetic-aperture radar constellation, the company enables objective, data-driven decisions for its customers in sectors such as insurance, natural catastrophe response and recovery, security, maritime monitoring and finance. ICEYE's data can be collected day or night, and even through cloud cover. For more information, please visit www.iceye.com.
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SOURCE ICEYE | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/iceye-provide-radar-imaging-satellite-bae-systems-new-multi-sensor-satellite-constellation/ | 2022-09-07T19:33:49Z |
SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- INB, N.A. announces its strategic partnership and entry into the Florida commercial banking market. INB has partnered with a team of well-known, well-rounded bankers who have extensive experience in multiple business sectors across Florida.
INB's Florida Market CEO Allen Brinkman says, "Long-term relationships were instrumental in our entry into the Florida market. We have several board members located in Florida who are significant shareholders of INB."
INB CEO and President Sarah Phalen says, "Everything just fell into place. It was an organic and philosophical conversation at the beginning. As a result, it didn't take long for our Florida team and INB to recognize that we share a common objective to provide service to the client that is customized, professional, and timely."
Brinkman says, "Choosing INB as a partner was an easy decision. When you and your clients are aligned with similar goals and objectives, and you juxtapose that with an institution that is not aligned, you act. This is why our team came together. INB provides a solution to that disconnect." He stated that within the first three weeks with INB, the Florida team has already generated over $146,000,000.00 in loans to Florida customers using the expertise of bankers backed by a first-class institution. "INB's fast turnaround times and customized service are offering customers what the team's former banks were unable to provide," Brinkman adds.
The Florida team will be led by Florida Market CEO Allen Brinkman. Brinkman has been in banking for 25 years and will cover all banking operations in Florida. He will work out of the INB Florida headquarters in Tampa Bay.
Gabriella (Gaby) Cioli has taken the position of South Florida Market President. She is responsible for middle market commercial accounts. She has 28 years of banking experience and will continue to work out of Miami.
Joining the team as Commercial Bankers are:
Robert Frederick has 17 years' banking experience. Rob has a strong credit background and will cover commercial and real-estate banking. Rob will work out of the Tampa Bay office.
Susan Maurer has 30 years in banking and financial services. Susan will cover commercial banking and real-estate. Susan will work out of the Tampa Bay office.
Miranda Kelly has 20 years' banking experience and will cover business and commercial banking. Miranda will work out of the Tampa Bay office.
Bill Williams has 30 years of experience in banking. Bill will cover commercial real estate and will work out of the Tampa Bay office.
About INB, N.A. – INB is a privately held national bank that recently began providing commercial banking products in Florida. Founded in 1999 in Springfield, IL, the bank offers commercial banking services in Illinois and Missouri.
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SOURCE INB, N.A. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/inb-na-enters-florida-commercial-banking-market/ | 2022-09-07T19:33:55Z |
ATLANTA, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- INROADS recently named Niki Allen, an executive for The Boeing Company and INROADS graduate, as the latest member of its National Board of Directors.
Allen is an accomplished technology professional with more than 20 years of extensive experience in digital transformation in the aerospace, defense, and retail sectors. Technology strategy, architectural design, data analytics, large-scale technology implementation, IT operations, and cybersecurity are all areas of expertise for her.
As an undergraduate intern, Allen's time in the INROADS program served as excellent preparation for her current position leading the delivery of technology infrastructure, operations, cloud computing, and workplace solutions to more than 140,000 people across 65 countries, at one of the world's largest aerospace and defense companies.
"I'm proud to be an INROADS alumna and I am honored to give back to the organization as a member of the National Board of Directors," said Allen, Boeing's Chief Information Technology & Operations Officer and Vice President of Enterprise Infrastructure and Operations.
Niki Allen is a huge advocate for INROADS because she sees the exponential impact they make on the lives of everyone they serve. Shown through experience, the effect of INROADS goes well beyond the talented young men and women who participate in them. It extends throughout their families, organizations, and communities.
"We should not pick and choose when best to promote and champion diversity because by then it is too late," she said. "It must be an essential part of our societal and organizational fabric ... an imperative that we simply cannot live without."
In 2021, Blacks in Technology Inc. recognized Allen's contributions and outreach in STEM by including her on their Top 100 in Technology list. She continues to remain a diversity advocate and currently serves as the Executive Sponsor for the Boeing Women in Leadership Program and the Boeing Potomac Region Diversity Council.
"Mrs. Allen is a testament to the impact of the INROADS program," said Forest T. Harper, Jr., President and CEO, INROADS. "Her contributions to the National Board will be immeasurable in our growth and continuing success in cultivating the next generation of leaders."
About INROADS
Founded in 1970, INROADS delivers innovative programs and creative solutions that identify, accelerate, and elevate the development of underrepresented talent throughout their careers. Through this development, students become equipped for corporate and community leadership that affects community renewal, social change and elevates economic status and quality of life. INROADS has more than 30,000 alumni, over 900 interns and serves 4,000+ students and 200 corporate clients. Learn more at INROADS.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn: @INROADSInc.
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SOURCE INROADS | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/inroads-appoints-boeing-executive-inroads-alumna-newest-national-board-directors-member/ | 2022-09-07T19:34:01Z |
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "I've always had a love for fashion and design. I started making my own clothing a year ago from home for friends and clothing salons. I found it difficult doing it all myself and trying to meet the demands of clients. I wanted to come up with a machine that could do it all." said inventor from Murrieta, CA "MIR' is an automated textile product design and manufacturing system where user inputs various types of clothing designs, various types of fabric patterns, and stitch patterns for over 40 different clothing styles."
MIR' would be easy to use, cheap way to manufacture clothes of all kinds. Invention is an automated means to produce textile items in both small and large scale versions to allow both small businesses and large businesses to compete in the textile manufacturing field.
The original design was submitted to the Orange County, CA sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 20-RVS-129, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.
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SOURCE InventHelp | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/inventhelp-inventor-develops-fast-fashion-rvs-129/ | 2022-09-07T19:34:08Z |
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "I thought there could be a convenient device to hold and organize a set of handheld combination wrenches," said an inventor, from Honokaa, Hawaii, "so I invented the BOX WRENCH ORGANIZER. My design would also allow for easy use and transport from a shop to the field. In addition, it can also help organize a wide variety of other tools and objects."
The patent-pending invention provides an improved hanger device for any set of handheld wrench tools. In doing so, it ensures that wrenches are easily accessible when needed. As a result, it increases organization and efficiency. It can also be used with kitchen utensils, hobby implements, etc. The invention features a practical design that is easy to use so it is ideal for tradesmen, contractors, homeowners, etc. Additionally, a prototype is available.
The original design was submitted to the National sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 20-TLP-135, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.
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SOURCE InventHelp | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/inventhelp-inventor-develops-hanger-device-handheld-wrench-tools-tlp-135/ | 2022-09-07T19:34:15Z |
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "Being a rider and driver, I recognized how difficult it was to see motorcyclists and bicyclists when on a roadway," said the inventor from Idyllwild, Calif. "I thought of this idea to help improve visibility and provide safety for all riders on the roadways."
He created WIRELESS INTEGRATED HELMET LIGHTING SYSTEM that enables others to quickly and easily identify a rider or pedestrian from a distance. This would provide enhanced safety and convenience to the user. It could improve motorcycle and bicycle rider awareness and visual communication capabilities. Additionally, this can help keep motorcyclists from being accidentally overlooked to enhance travel safety on busy roadways.
The original design was submitted to the San Diego sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-SDB-1526, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.
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SOURCE InventHelp | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/inventhelp-inventor-develops-motorists-led-safety-apparel-sdb-1526/ | 2022-09-07T19:34:21Z |
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "I had a BBQ and had trouble keeping the flies away from all the food on the table," said the inventor from Manteca, Calif. "I thought of this idea to help create a covering that would protect the food on the entire table from all types of insects."
She created TABLE TOPPER that helps protect foods from insects while eating outdoors. This cover would allow food to be readily available without flies and other insects hovering over and transferring germs. No tools would be required for assembly for this foldable and portable design. Additionally, this could improve sanitary conditions while in the backyard, at a picnic, camping and more.
The original design was submitted to the Sacramento sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-SCO-221, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.
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SOURCE InventHelp | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/inventhelp-inventor-develops-protective-food-cover-sco-221/ | 2022-09-07T19:34:28Z |
LONGUEUIL, QC, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Letenda, a company that is reinventing public transit with clean and sustainable energy technologies, is pleased to announce its first order of electric buses to date in the United States. The Vermont Agency of Transportation will award a contract for 4 Electrip buses, a 30-foot (9-meter) 100% electric bus.
These vehicles will be delivered to Green Mountain Transit (GMT) and Marble Valley Regional Transit District (MVRTD) and will be in service in the cities of Burlington and Rutland. These 4 vehicles are added to the 22 electric buses already in circulation or in the process of being supplied by pursuing the objective of reducing pollution. The Electrip's superior energy efficiency allows it to provide excellent performance in winter conditions, which was a major criterion in Letenda's selection. This decision also reflects the state of Vermont's goal to help companies trying to introduce more electric vehicle options to the U.S. market.
"We believe in the importance of supporting transit companies in their transition to the electrification of public transit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are proud to be part of the solution by supporting our customers: Green Mountain Transit (GMT) and Marble Valley Regional Transit District (MVRTD) as well as the state of Vermont in its efforts towards a zero emissions economy. Québec and the state of Vermont have a similar climate and proximity that invite an exceptional opportunity for collaboration," mentioned Mr. Nicolas Letendre, President and CEO of Letenda.
"Vermont is committed to combatting climate change and electrifying the transportation sector is an important piece of the puzzle. Vermont is proud to become the first recipient in the U.S of Letenda electric busses, which helps show our dedication to these efforts. It is critical that we show our commitment with the investments we choose to make. I want to thank our partners, including Letenda, for their work to build a greener future," said Phil Scott, Governor of Vermont.
"VTrans is excited to add four Letenda electric buses to our fleet, which already has four electric buses in use statewide and another 14 to be delivered soon. Green Mountain Transit and Marble Valley Regional Transit District will work together to procure these vehicles from Letenda, with delivery likely in 2023. We thank the Federal Transit Administration, our public transit providers, the regional utility companies, and Letenda for working toward our shared goals of decreasing pollution, improving the ridership experience, and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels," said Joe Flynn, Secretary of State of Vermont Agency of transportation.
"Congratulations to Québec-based Letenda for this first order in the United States. Vermont and Québec share more than a border, we share a vision for a greener future and a zero-emission transportation system. Thanks to this shared vision, companies in Québec and Vermont can grow together, innovate together and allow communities to prosper on both sides of the border," said Marie-Claude Francoeur, Québec Delegate to New England.
Letenda is a Québec-based zero-emission bus manufacturer founded in 2016 and propelled by its values of sustainability, innovation and collaborative spirit. Letenda works with all industry stakeholders to build a sustainable business and a product that is tailored to the needs of operators and passengers. Letenda's Electrip bus innovates through its superior energy efficiency, its unique geometry specially developed for electric propulsion and its manufacturing concept inspired by the aeronautics industry.
For more information on Letenda, visit www.letenda.com, follow @letenda on Linkedin or Facebook.
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SOURCE Letenda Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/letenda-announces-its-first-order-electric-buses-united-states/ | 2022-09-07T19:34:35Z |
Associates from more than 30 Lowe's stores to participate in nationwide builds, with a goal of building 7,500 bunk beds on Sept. 10
MOORESVILLE, N.C., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This Saturday, Sept. 10, Lowe's is joining Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) and thousands of volunteers for the fourth annual Bunks Across America event to build and deliver quality bunk beds to children and families in need.
More than 175 local Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapters and national partners will unite with a goal of building over 7,500 beds in a single day. Lowe's associates from more than 30 stores will participate in bunk bed builds, with more than two-dozen of those stores hosting parking lot builds. The company is also contributing more than $350,000 of product to support the builds.
"We are committed to making homes better for all, and we're proud of how our associate volunteers help organizations strengthen our communities," said Marvin Ellison, Lowe's chairman and CEO. "Together with Sleep in Heavenly Peace and volunteers across America, we can help address the gap in beds needed for children and make a difference to improve access to safe and affordable housing in our communities."
As a founding partner, Lowe's supported Sleep in Heavenly Peace's initial build event in Twin Falls, Idaho. Since those first 22 beds in 2012, Lowe's has helped SHP build more than 123,000 beds.
"Childhood bedlessness isn't a real word, but it is a real problem. And with the continued support from our partner and national sponsor, Lowe's, SHP has set a goal of providing one million American kids a bed of their very own over the next decade," said Luke Michaelson, founder and executive director of Sleep in Heavenly Peace. "We aim to accomplish such an incredible and ambitious milestone by continuing our work with Lowe's throughout the country, starting with our fourth annual Bunks Across America."
Starting this year, Lowe's support of Sleep in Heavenly Peace was extended to Lowe's 29th annual "Swing for Charity" golf tournament, with the company hosting bunk bed builds at events on March 20-23 in Scottsdale, Ariz., on May 4-5 in Pinehurst, N.C., on Sept. 12-15 in Palm Beach, Fla., and on Oct. 24-27 in Hilton Head, S.C.
To volunteer with a chapter near you, please visit shpbeds.org/bunks-across-america.
About Sleep in Heavenly Peace
At Sleep in Heavenly Peace, we fully believe that a bed is a basic need for the proper physical, emotional, and mental support that a child needs. When it was brought to our attention that the need for beds went far beyond our own neighborhoods, we stepped up and took initiative. We're a national organization answering the call to a national problem. If a child needs a bed, we want to make sure they get one. No kid sleeps on the floor in our town!®
About Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE® 50 home improvement company serving approximately 19 million customer transactions a week in the United States and Canada. With fiscal year 2021 sales of over $96 billion, Lowe's and its related businesses operate or service nearly 2,200 home improvement and hardware stores and employ over 300,000 associates. Based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's supports the communities it serves through programs focused on creating safe, affordable housing and helping to develop the next generation of skilled trade experts. For more information, visit Lowes.com.
Media Contacts:
Candace Gordon
Lowe's Companies, Inc
Candace.Gordon@lowes.com
Mitchell Mathews
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Mitchell.Mathews@shpbeds.org
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SOURCE Lowe's Companies, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/lowes-partnering-with-sleep-heavenly-peace-more-than-10000-volunteers-annual-bunks-across-america-event/ | 2022-09-07T19:34:41Z |
Label-free technique discovered through Texas A&M University research
METAIRIE, La., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A technique used to test THC levels in hemp plants has now been confirmed to also identify the sex of the plant accurately without disrupting the growth cycle. The findings from research at Texas A&M University create a critical expansion point and valuable new use for Mariposa Technology's cutting-edge software and database.
Called PAMAP (for Predictive Analytical Modeling Application for Plants), this innovative digital farming tool has been in an extensive research and development process for the on-farm testing of live hemp plants' THC levels, among other cannabinoids, to ensure plants remain below the federal legal THC limit (0.3%) for industrial hemp.
Mariposa Technology has been using the technique, known as Raman spectroscopy (RS), for rapid, in-field testing of industrial and pharmacological hemp for THC levels. Testing onsite at farms growing hemp crops provides farmers with affordable, accurate and immediate test results and offers the opportunity to supplement the work of testing labs.
Identifying plant sex is critical for hemp growers, as one male or hermaphrodite hemp plant can pollinate an entire farm of female plants and negatively impact the production of cannabinoids. Only female cannabis plants can produce buds (flowers). While male plants can be identified visually around 6-8 weeks of growth, doing so is labor intensive and threatens the investment to date in the crop.
"This discovery will change the game for hemp growers everywhere," said Mickal Adler, co-founder and chief executive officer at Mariposa Technology. "In the past, growers had to be carefully trained to identify the sex of a plant. This can cause problems if a plant is misidentified and is time-consuming. This new technique takes all the guesswork out, allowing farmers to know what they have planted, saving them both time and money." He noted that PAMAP also enables hemp growers to swiftly test THC levels of live plants on the farm, positioning them to harvest before THC levels are considered "hot" and over federal limits.
In the past, growers had to cut samples, send them into a lab and wait days or weeks for results. This proprietary database allows anyone to test plants anywhere in minutes, without damaging the plant, for both gender and THC.
Mariposa Technology spent over a year traveling across the country to gather data on different varieties of hemp and marijuana plants using a hand-held Agilent Raman spectrometer device. That large-scale database is now used in conjunction with proprietary software, allowing an Agilent Resolve device (available through subscription to PAMAP and Mariposa Technology) to test their crop's plant gender and THC levels.
The sex determination technique was discovered by researchers at Texas A&M University and Mariposa Technology and recently announced in a paper published in the academic journal Molecules. The authors found that by using a hand-held Raman spectrometer, they can probe plant biochemistry, allowing them to identify hermaphrodites with 98.7% accuracy and male and female plants with 100% accuracy.
"We recently discovered that we were able to use Raman spectroscopy to differentiate between young male and female plants," said Dr. Dmitry Kurouski, assistant professor of biochemistry, biophysics and biomedical engineering at Texas A&M University. "This innovative optical sensing approach is based on the phenomenon of inelastic light scattering that occurs between incident photons and molecules present in the sample. And the best part is you can test each sample while allowing it to continue growing."
Hemp is a dioecious plant, which means it produces male, female and hermaphroditic plants. Female plants develop appendages which contain cannabinoids, molecules that include delta-9-terahydrocannabinol (delta-9 THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG). Male plants do not develop these appendages, making them of no use to hemp farmers who produce pharmaceutical hemp. Additionally, hermaphroditic plants develop characteristics of both sexes, which can drastically alter the cannabis population due to hermaphrodite-induced cross-fertilization. Therefore, cannabis farmers want to identify and eliminate male and hermaphroditic plants, and industrial hemp farmers want to identify and eliminate female and hermaphroditic plants.
"When we learned about the work Dr. Kurouski was doing with RS and hemp, we realized there was an opportunity to tap into that science to help hemp farmers everywhere," said John Roberts, III, co-founder and President at Mariposa Technology. "Our partnership with Texas A&M allows us to continue to provide farmers with the latest research and a revolutionary tool that puts the power back into their hands so they can improve plant performance year over year"
Following the release of this important research, Roberts indicated the company expects to initiate a new capital raise in the coming weeks to fund additional development and technology deployment.
To learn more about Mariposa Technology, please visit mariposatechnology.com.
Media Contact: katieb@inspireprgroup.com on behalf of Mariposa Technology.
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SOURCE Mariposa Technology | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/mariposa-technologys-groundbreaking-non-invasive-thc-testing-technique-proven-differentiate-between-hemp-plant-sexes/ | 2022-09-07T19:34:48Z |
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bluewater Resort & Casino and Quick Custom Intelligence ("QCI") jointly announced that the property in Parker, Arizona has recently purchased QCI Host and QCI Marketing and will now be using the entire suite of QCI products. Leveraging the entire QCI platform allows the casino to quickly identify revenue opportunities, execute and evaluate campaigns and elevate player development efforts with a single source of the truth.
"We're looking forward to having immediate, real-time access to guest information that doesn't require a programmer or data specialist. The clear and concise information QCI is able to provide ensures that we are making intelligent and data driven decisions within our marketing and player development programs," said Michele Habig, Director of Marketing for Bluewater Resort & Casino.
CEO of QCI, Dr. Ralph Thomas, stated "we are honored that Bluewater Resort & Casino has purchased QCI Marketing and QCI Host and will now be using the entire suite of QCI tools. Through our ongoing weekly meetings, we look forward to partnering with Bluewater Resort & Casino to continue to enhance our product offering."
Opened in 1999, Bluewater Resort & Casino (www.bluewaterfun.com), along the shores of the Colorado River in Parker, Ariz., is fast becoming the entertainment capital of western Arizona. An enterprise of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, each of the 200 Bluewater hotel rooms overlook the river and mountains. The resort offers over 500 slot machines, table games, a poker room and a bingo hall. Nationally renowned celebrities appear regularly at the Bluewater Amphitheater and Show Room. The resort has a marina and several restaurants, along with the Wake Board Island wake board cable park.
The QCI Platform aligns player development, marketing and gaming with powerful real-time operational tools developed for the gaming and hospitality industries. QCI has installed their ground-breaking, highly configured software in over 3,200 sites across four continents. QCI products provide tooling for gaming operators managing over $20 billion in annual gross gaming revenue, these products are built on the QCI Platform, a best-in-class on-premises, hybrid or cloud-based technology that enables fully coordinated activities across gaming or hospitality operations. This data-driven software allows for quick, informed decisions in the ever-changing world of the casino industry and assists casinos in their efforts to optimize resources and profits, manage marketing campaigns and increase customer loyalty. QCI was founded by Dr. Ralph Thomas and Mr. Andrew Cardno. Based in San Diego, QCI also has offices in Las Vegas, St. Louis, Dallas & Phoenix. Main phone number: (858) 299.5715 www.QuickCustomIntelligence.com
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SOURCE Quick Custom Intelligence | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/michele-habig-director-marketing-bluewater-resort-amp-casino-has-been-so-pleased-with-qci-slot-tool-that-we-purchased-qci-host-qci-marketing/ | 2022-09-07T19:34:55Z |
To learn more about Herb Kohler's countless contributions, his dynamic life, business impact and well-deserved accolades, visit Kohler Co.'s tribute at CelebrateHerbKohler.com. Information regarding ways to honor his memory will be detailed on the website.
KOHLER, Wis., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynamic leader and Kohler Co. Executive Chairman Herbert Vollrath Kohler, Jr. passed away on September 3, 2022, in Kohler, Wisconsin. He was 83. His bold ideas and hands-on leadership transformed the plumbing products manufacturer founded by his grandfather into a global and diverse family of businesses synonymous with unmatched quality, creativity, and bold innovation. He literally put his beloved home state of Wisconsin on the map as a global golf destination culminating with the Ryder Cup in 2021.
Herb Kohler's personal mission was to create delight. For him, there was no halfway. To warrant the "KOHLER" nameplate, a product had to be more than durable, functional, and attractive. It had to be joyful and memorable.
"His zest for life, adventure and impact inspires all of us. We traveled together, celebrated together, and worked together. He was all in, all the time, leaving an indelible mark on how we live our lives today and carry on his legacy," said his family.
He was admired by many as an accomplished, dynamic leader; independent-minded entrepreneur; courageous innovator; and passionate creative. Herb, more than anyone, lived and breathed Kohler Co.'s mission of providing customers with gracious living each day. He was a big personality who was steadfast in guiding Kohler associates in the relentless pursuit of the company mission, and he took immense joy in witnessing his customers' delight firsthand.
"If I sell you a bathtub, there has to be something about it that gives you pleasure not only at the time of the transaction. Years later, we want you to think this is one of the best buys of your life," he once said in an interview. "The same applies with everything we provide – an engine, generator, toilet, table, hotel room, spa service, golf course, you name it. If you think about it five years later and, inwardly or outwardly, it makes you smile and we can do this consistently, then we're living up to our mission."
Early Life
Herb Kohler – who preferred to use his first name but was so respected by Kohler Co. associates who addressed him as "HVK" or "Mr. Kohler" – was born in Sheboygan on February 20, 1939. His father Herbert V. Kohler, Sr., son of Kohler Co. founder John Michael Kohler, served as Board Chairman and CEO of Kohler Co. from 1940 until his death in 1968. His mother Ruth De Young Kohler was a historian and former women's editor of the Chicago Tribune.
Herb was educated at the Kohler schools in Kohler, Wis., and at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn. As a young man, he spent many summers as a laborer on the Kohler farms and in most of the manufacturing divisions of Kohler Co. After serving with the U.S. Army Reserve, studying at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, and launching a brief acting career at Knox College in Illinois, he completed his education at Yale University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial administration in 1965.
He rejoined Kohler Co. full-time as an R&D technician shortly after graduation. He became a Director of the company in 1967, and when his father died a year later, he became Vice President of Operations. He was named Executive Vice President in 1971, was elected Chairman of the Board and CEO in 1972, and President of the Company in 1974 – at the age of 35. In 2015, he became the company's Executive Chairman, with son David taking the helm as President and CEO. He served Kohler Co. for 61 years.
Creative Passion and THE BOLD LOOK OF KOHLER
In the early 1970s, Herb created a force with THE BOLD LOOK OF KOHLER that forever changed the American bathroom and kitchen, transforming what were once utilitarian spaces into statements of design, style, sophistication, and craftsmanship. During his 43-year span as CEO, he also transformed his family-owned company into a world leader, with more than 40,000 associates and dozens of manufacturing facilities on six continents.
The National Kitchen and Bath Hall of Fame inducted him in its founding year of 1989, followed by the National Housing Hall of Fame in 1993. Ernst & Young named him National Entrepreneur of the Year in Manufacturing in 2002, and Junior Achievement inducted him into its U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2006.
THE BOLD LOOK OF KOHLER began in 1967 as a unique program of beautifully designed toilets, bathtubs, sinks and other fixtures in unique colors supported by imaginative consumer advertising. But under Herb's watch, it went beyond a corporate promotion to become a bold new guiding spirit for the company and its associates. It was a spirit that positioned them on the leading edge of everything they set out to do, while maintaining a single, high level of quality in the company's products, processes, and services.
"We have the people, the products, the focus, the resources, and the passion to pursue our mission and compete successfully," Herb once told associates.
That is exactly where he led them, based on three primary guiding principles. One, live on the leading edge of design and technology of product and process. Two, have a single standard of quality above the norm with everything the company does. And three, invest 90 percent of Kohler Co.'s annual earnings back into the company.
Herb invested in state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies, revitalized the company's tradition of product innovation, and launched bold brand-awareness advertising campaigns geared toward consumers – taking the KOHLER plumbing brand to number one on a global scale and never looking back.
Always a hands-on executive who was full of ideas for improving products and processes, he involved himself in design decisions to a degree that was uncommon among CEOs. He thoroughly enjoyed the creative process – from reviewing 30-second television commercial storyboards to testing new products personally by soaking in a whirlpool bath or sampling a decadent piece of KOHLER chocolate. He designed many of the company's products himself and held more than 200 design and utility patents.
He invested in new designs, products, manufacturing facilities, and distribution strategies. Realizing the opportunity to compete in the changing world marketplace, he gave the company and the KOHLER brand new global perspective and greater presence by adding production, distribution and marketing in Mexico, United Kingdom and Continental Europe, North Africa, India, Middle East, Latin America, Brazil, and the greater Asia Pacific region, including China, Thailand, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
He took the company into new businesses with more than 48 acquisitions over his tenure. This began with Sterling Faucet Co. that joined the Kohler family of businesses in 1984, followed by French plumbing company Jacob Delafon in 1986, and U.K. shower manufacturer Mira in 2001. He formed the Kohler Interiors Group acquiring premium luxury brands Baker Furniture, McGuire Furniture Company, Ann Sacks Tile and Stone, Kallista plumbing, and Robern mirrored cabinets.
Herb invested beyond plumbing products to strengthen the company's other core business – Power – and expanded the portfolio with a series of acquisitions including Italian diesel engine manufacturer Lombardini in 2007 and France-based generator company SDMO in 2005. Today, Kohler Co. is the third largest global power systems organization in the world.
In the late 1970s, Herb convinced skeptical colleagues to develop The American Club – originally built as an immigrant workers' dormitory in 1918 – into a luxury spa and resort. The Board of Directors twice rejected the idea, but he persisted. Today, The American Club is the Midwest's only AAA Five Diamond Resort Hotel, a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Historic Hotels of America program, and among a handful globally to have both the AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five-Star designations. In 2018, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide recognized Herb as the recipient of its annual Steward of History and Historic Preservation award for The American Club.
With The American Club serving as the anchor property, Destination Kohler was formed and today includes the 500-acre wilderness preserve River Wildlife; a second hotel, Inn on Woodlake; the Kohler Waters Spa; multiple casual and fine dining restaurants and pubs; Sports Core health and racquet club; Yoga on the Lake; Bold Cycle; Riverbend private membership club; Kohler Original Recipe Chocolates; the Kohler Design Center and a host of home furnishing and specialty shops. Destination Kohler paved the way for the Hospitality & Real Estate Group. Another hotel called LODGE KOHLER opened in 2017 and is an anchor property within the Green Bay Packers' Titletown entertainment destination.
But it was another of Herb's bold moves that garnered infinitely more international acclaim for the company and opened the floodgates to a new and prosperous expansion of Kohler Co.'s impact – golf.
A Golfer's Dream
The Chicago Tribune once wrote about Sheboygan County, "The likelihood of turning this vast rural farmland into a golf mecca is about the same as making a toilet a work of art. Herbert Kohler can now say he has done both."
During The American Club's early years, guests asked Herb why the resort offered transportation to local golf courses, but no golf course itself. The question ultimately inspired first a partnership and then deep friendship with hall-of-fame golf course designer Pete Dye, and a vision that brought forth what some have called the most spectacular 72 holes of championship golf in America.
Blackwolf Run, the first piece of Destination Kohler's golf portfolio, opened in 1988. Whistling Straits came 10 years later, transforming a polluted, abandoned airfield site into a world-class golf experience evoking the seaside links courses of the British Isles – right down to the flock of Scottish Blackface sheep Herb acquired that still roam the grounds today.
Herb's next golf adventure took him to the game's birthplace in St Andrews, Scotland, where he bought a hotel alongside the legendary Old Course and turned it into the Old Course Hotel Golf Resort and Spa and added The Duke's – a heathland golf course outside of town. His most recent projects are closer to home, including the Straits Chapel, serving as the co-designer of the enjoyable 10-hole, par-3 Baths of Blackwolf Run golf course that debuted in June 2021, as well as plans to build an 18-hole public golf course on company property along more than a mile of Lake Michigan shoreline in southern Sheboygan County.
Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run have been recognized among the best golf courses in the country – in 2000, Golf Digest named Sheboygan County 7th among the top 50 golf destinations in the world – and continue to challenge professional and amateur athletes from across the globe. The Kohler courses have hosted six Major golf championships to date, including one of the most exciting PGA Championships on record at Whistling Straits in 2015. In 2021, in perhaps the culmination of his legacy and passion for golf was hosting the 43rd Ryder Cup – which many golf experts called the best-ever in the 94-year history of the storied competition.
In 2016, Herb earned the Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America; the award recognized his "indelible mark on golf and focus on the importance of environmental stewardship." Then in 2019, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame enshrined Herb as part of its 69th class for transforming Wisconsin into a worldwide golfing destination and bringing six golf Major Championships to Wisconsin and the 43rd Ryder Cup in 2021.
The business of golf sparked a passion within Herb for the sport itself, and he became a serious student of the game in his 50s. He spoke fondly of the values associated with golf and the friendships he made – particularly with his beloved "Gnarly Balls" gang of friends, who played courses all over the world, usually in harsh weather, and always with a friendly wager. Herb recorded his only hole-in-one on the 11th hole of the Old Course at St Andrews in 2007. It was a "postcard moment" he laughingly remembered not only for the achievement, but also for the fact that his golfing companions celebrated by downing expensive shots of scotch – and presenting him with the bill.
A Greater Purpose
Herb Kohler found strong inspiration in the life of his uncle, Walter J. Kohler Sr., who led Kohler Co. from 1905 until his death in 1940. The elder Kohler often quoted a business principle coined by 19th century English critic John Ruskin: "Life without labor is guilt, labor without art is brutality." The quotation resonated with Herb, who saw business as a process that thrived on creativity, provided constant challenges, and offered a means by which to help others. He worked diligently to be a positive influence in his community and was an ardent supporter of the arts, the environment and historic preservation.
Working closely with his sister Ruth and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Herb helped establish an innovative Arts/Industry residency program that invites artists into the Kohler factories to work alongside production associates turning out stunning works of handcrafted sculptures of art made from plumbing product materials, such as vitreous china, cast iron and brass. To date, more than 500 artists have participated in this unique residency that intersects art and manufacturing.
Walter's influence was also evident in Herb's community services. In the early 1900s, Walter hired the pre-eminent landscape architecture firm of the Olmsted Brothers – whose portfolio included New York's Central Park and the U.S. Capitol – to create a 50-year plan for the Village's green spaces. In 1977, Herb worked with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to put together a second 50-year plan for the Village, paving the way for additional development of residential and company properties including the Sports Core, Shops at Woodlake, and the Woodlake Market.
Herb established and chaired the Kohler Trust for the Arts and Education, the Kohler Trust for Preservation, passing the chair role to his daughter Laura in 2015. Herb also established the Kohler Trust for Clean Water in 2019, of which Laura is also chair. Among the beneficiaries of the Trusts are the Wisconsin Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, and recently a major conservation project in the Sheboygan River Watershed.
He served as President of the Kohler Foundation that provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships annually, sponsors a Distinguished Guest Series that brings internationally recognized performers to Sheboygan County and manages the Waelderhaus – a replica of the Austrian home of John Michael Kohler that is open to the public.
The Foundation and Trusts have funded the preservation of significant art environments and collections, as well as the re-creation of a working sawmill and millpond at Wade House State Park in Greenbush, Wisconsin, a state historical site initially preserved by the Kohler Foundation under the leadership of Herb's mother. Herb also served as co-chairman of the successful fundraising effort in support of the creation of Old World Wisconsin, a living ethnic museum built by the Wisconsin State Historical Society in Eagle, Wisconsin.
Herb's interest in the outdoors and environmental preservation led to the creation of River Wildlife, a 500-acre nature preserve along the banks of the Sheboygan River; and the preservation of Eagle Valley, a 1,440-acre eagle preserve along the bluffs of the Mississippi River, which earned a Wisconsin Wildlife Habitat Development Award. Additionally, Herb developed Kohler Co.'s 12 Environmental Principles, allowing the company to meld environmental stewardship with industrial manufacturing. And in September 2022, the KOHLER Center for Marsh Education was opened at the Sheboygan Marsh Wildlife Area to promote the environment, conservation, and stewardship through education, hands-on activities, and advocacy.
In 2012, Herb helped finance and led the design and construction of the Kohler Environmental Center at Choate Rosemary Hall, his alma mater. This LEED-Platinum environmental research and education center is outfitted with three working laboratories, two classrooms, and a greenhouse. It is home to the Environmental Immersion Program, a year-long residential and interdisciplinary program.
Herb was an advocate of youth development and education. He volunteered his time as a board member of Outward Bound USA, a leading provider of experiential and outdoor education programs. He was personally impacted by Outward Bound in 1986 through an Invitational Expedition on North Carolina's Chattooga River. Immediately captured by the adventure and experience, Herb joined the Board of Directors in 1997 on which he served until 2010 and introduced each of his children – and subsequently grandchildren – to the organization, who attended expeditions as youth. A life of service, impact, and commitment to this non-profit earned Herb and daughter Laura the highly coveted Kurt Hahn Award in 2020.
He also served as a trustee at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin; Choate Rosemary Hall; the National Housing Endowment; and Friendship House, a home-based facility for at-risk youth in Sheboygan. He was an active supporter of The First Tee, an initiative to create new golf facilities around the country and make the game more affordable and accessible, especially to youth.
As part of his commitment to education, Herb established the Kohler Scholarship Endowment in Drama at Duke University. He also endowed the Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business Administration at Marquette University, creating a program putting Marquette students in regular contact with established business leaders to study entrepreneurial success. In 2018, the UW-Madison College of Engineering was a benefactor when the Kohler Innovation Visualization Studio was opened, and in 2014 Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wisconsin, was a benefactor when the KOHLER Center for Manufacturing Excellence was unveiled.
In 1997, Herb earned the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for "exemplifying American ideals and preserving an Austrian heritage." In 2018, the University of St Andrews presented Herb with an Honorary degree, Doctor of Laws for demonstrating a lasting commitment to the town and people of St Andrews.
Foundation in Family
Herb Kohler never pushed his three children into the family business, instead encouraging them to follow their own paths. The fact that all three paths eventually led Laura, Rachel, and David to Kohler Co. is testament to their father's steady influence and example. David oversees Kohler Co. in the role of President and CEO, Laura is Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Stewardship and Sustainability, and Rachel formerly served as Group President of Kohler Interiors and now an entrepreneur in her own right, is a member of the company Board of Directors.
Herb married the former Natalie Black in 1988 and together they built a life focused on growing the business on a global scale. Natalie Black Kohler is now retired, having recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for Kohler Co. She is also a member of the company's Board of Directors and President of the Kohler Foundation.
Herb was devoted to his family, often sharing adventurous vacations with them. Close friends say his forceful personality could be tamed within seconds by the smiles of his 10 grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
His marriage to Linda Kohler Anderson ended in divorce in the early 1980s. Linda, the mother of Laura, Rachel, and David, died in 2005. Herb was also preceded in death by his parents, Herbert V., Sr., and Ruth DeYoung; his younger brother, Frederic Kohler; and younger sister, Ruth DeYoung Kohler II.
Herb is survived by his wife, Natalie; two daughters, Laura Kohler (Steve Proudman), and Rachel Kohler (Mark Hoplamazian); and one son, David Kohler (Nina). He is further survived by 10 grandchildren, Lily, Hannah, and Rachel Proudman; Mara, Lena and Leo Hoplamazian; Ashley, Samuel, Jack, and Tait Kohler; and three great grandchildren, Ophelia, Herbert, and Uma Cartwright.
He will be greatly missed by his family, a large circle of friends, tens of thousands of Kohler Co. associates and retirees worldwide, as well as many others who came to know him.
Celebrating Herb's Legacy
The family plans to host a private service. At a date to be determined, Kohler Co. will host a tribute to Herb Kohler for associates, past and present.
To learn more about Herb Kohler's countless contributions, his dynamic life, business impact and well-deserved accolades, visit Kohler Co.'s tribute at CelebrateHerbKohler.com. Information regarding ways to honor his memory will be detailed on the website.
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SOURCE Kohler Co. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/obituary-herbert-v-kohler-jr-1939-2022-an-incomparable-spirit/ | 2022-09-07T19:35:01Z |
SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Exhibit at Jtown, a new mixed-use residential development by LandForge and Triminia Pacific, is hosting an open house on Friday evening, September 9th, to showcase the nexus between contemporary art and the modern residential experience. The Exhibit development now anchors the longstanding Japantown art scene with nearly 10,000 square feet of community-facing mural and sculpture grounds in a parklike setting. Exhibit is also the new headquarters of Empire Seven Studios (E7S), a Bay Area art gallery, creative production house, and curator of San Jose Walls. E7S now adds the distinction of artist-in-residence for the Exhibit at Jtown residential community.
"We're extremely excited about Exhibit – not only as a modern multifamily dwelling in one of our great communities but as a cultural contributor through its visceral art experience," says San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. With its six-story murals, art sculptures, hand-formed experiential lighting elements, and the 40-foot bonsai tree at the entrance, Exhibit at Jtown is an inspiring organic connection to the Japantown neighborhood. Every interactive, experiential touch point at Exhibit was created in collaboration with passionate design professionals, artists, city officials, and production consultants. "The development team's objective was to create a perfect balance between a staged and an organic presentation," says Juan Carlos Araujo of E7S. "Collaborating with them to this end, we have created something special, something stable, and something we are proud to be a part of for this next chapter in our artistic journey."
Arriving home at Exhibit pulls residents through the place-making architectural and innovative public experience. The entry plaza is grounded by a striking crepe myrtle tree, set back from the streetscape, and surrounded by multi-story glass elements offering a glimpse of large format canvas art and active common spaces in the structure's upper levels. The museum-like, naturally lit corridors incorporate future gallery walls for the planned growth of the building's permanent collection. Amenitized circulation spaces provide residents a unique experience of one's home meant to "exhibit" their lifestyle and expressive sensibilities. The 97 total residences at Exhibit include nearly 40 distinctive 1-to-4-bedroom floor plans. Each of these offers layouts blending artistic countenance and modern silicon-valley living. Inside each residence, attention to design is seen in carefully positioned lighting, fixtures, European-inspired finishes, view angles to maximize privacy, and an ever-present connection to natural light. Residential layouts promote not just living, but dwelling for a variety of resident needs frequently overlooked by functional floorplans born of an efficiency above-all-else mentality.
Exhibit responsibly embraces green features as part of its sustainability objectives. Incorporating an advanced solar array feeding a whole building battery backup system, Exhibit can keep key building functions and essential remote fiber optic internet connectivity running throughout planned and unplanned power interruptions. Solar is also used to charge EVs in individual parking spaces and to allow for car retrieval from its state-of-the-art semi-autonomous mechanical parking system. Along with water reuse strategies and a high emphasis on indoor air quality, this dedication to environmentally friendly construction has allowed Exhibit to achieve an elusive LEED Platinum certification, the U.S. Green Building Council's most rigorous, rare, and highest honor. Speaking on the complexities of this project, Darin Zwick, president of Zwick Construction, reflects on Exhibit's challenges and unique aspects and expresses his confidence that "Exhibit will become an icon in the surrounding area built to last and perform at the highest level as an innovative smart building. Zwick appreciates its close working relationship with the development team and is proud to be part of turning their impressive vision for this project into reality."
Residents will benefit from smart integration elements like keyless building-wide access, AI thermostats, residential appliances, and wireless connectivity to monitors and fitness equipment throughout the amenity spaces. Other notable amenities include:
- An indoor/outdoor connected Commons lounge inclusive of user-configurable seating, outdoor cooking and dining, party hosting, viewing, and daily beverage centers
- A Sky Deck with integrated seating and careful sunlight screening to create an ambidextrous work/play environment
- A crafted Work Loft co-working space with private sound booths, a work zone, and a huddle room complete with low-barrier, high-tech peripheral connectivity
- A Fitness Studio and Fitness Loft boasting top-notch strength, plyo, and cardio equipment in dedicated zones in a volume space with expansive floor-to-ceiling glass. Low-barrier, high-tech personal device connectivity enables users to bring their preferred fitness subscription to the studio for a customized exercise experience
- A dedicated top-floor Gallery rotating pieces from Exhibit's permanent collections as well as art curated from Empire Seven Studios and other resident-driven shows
- Ample bike parking, a dog run, and a resident-accessible utility room
- Multiple outdoor fire pits, landscape furnishings, and gathering spaces
The Exhibit team worked closely with the City of San Jose Parks Department, HMH Landscape, the Japantown Art Association, and the broader Jtown community to create its publicly accessible exterior grounds. LandForge President Derek Allen recounts, "Proactively engaging with the community throughout the design and construction process has been key to creating a development which improves the quality of life for residents and visitors alike. We strive to build places people love, and we hope to introduce catalytic design and use elements which enable a better life experience for all who are touched by our developments. Along with development team partners Collin Eckles, Michel Jreissati, and Neal Yung, we certainly believe this to be the case at Exhibit. We collectively hope the community sees this project as a valuable contribution to the Jtown urban fabric." In addition to the art-focused exterior grounds, developers also worked with the Japantown historical community to place commemorative historical benches along the expanded public sidewalk. Developers collaborated early on with the Chinese Historical & Cultural Project to complete a full archeological dig that recovered artifacts and historical items donated to the City. To help commemorate the events of late 19th-century Chinese immigration in what was then known as Highlandville, a historical monument placard has been placed just outside the northmost grounds' Moon Gate to ensure the significance of this site is never forgotten. Additional collaborations include working with local maker Nicolas James to carve furniture from the 100-year-old beams used in the site's previous, dilapidated industrial building.
Building murals, large-scale sculptures, and lighting elements on site, in addition to framed and mounted original art inside the building, feature seminal works by the following artists and studios:
- Juan Carlos Araujo of Empire Seven Studios; www.empiresevenstudios.com
- Andrew Shoultz; www.andrewshoultz.com
- Amy Sol; www.amysol.com
- Roan Victor; www.roanvictor.com
- Gary Vlasic of V. Project; www.v-project.co
- Yoshi 47, www.yoshi47.com
- Taki Kitamura of State of Grace, www.stateofgracetattoo.com
- Nicholaus James Dalton; www.njdart.com
LandForge and Triminia Pacific worked with KTGY Design, HMH, Studio 4D, developURBAN, UMOCA, Zwick Construction, Greystar, and many other critical team members to create the engaging, meaningful, and visually stimulating living experience at Exhibit. Financing commitments were provided in part by Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and the Cherng Family Trust (CFT). "CFT is a long-term holder of real estate that cares deeply about making a difference in the communities in which we invest. We are highly selective when choosing partners and are confident that this meaningful development led by this project team will positively impact the future of this vibrant community." – Steven C. Walton, Managing Director.
Japantown San Jose, a pedestrian-centric neighborhood near downtown San Jose is in the heart of Silicon Valley. Exhibit has immediate access to a rich living experience in this century-old diverse, welcoming, and personable community. The whole of Bay Area living is easily accessed via nearby public light rail and other transit options. Exhibit is less than ten minutes from San Jose Mineta International Airport by car.
All members of the community and public are invited to attend the Open House at 5:30 pm following an invitation-only ceremony. The open house will include an art tour, architectural Q&A, and showings of the development spaces and residences.
For leasing information or to schedule a tour, please visit www.exhibitjtown.com or call 833-680-0889. Exhibit at Jtown is professionally managed by Greystar.
LandForge identifies, acquires, and transitions underutilized properties to their highest potential through full-scale development. This is accomplished through creating physical environments and their associated infrastructure, which provide rich spaces for people to live, work, and play. These places bring together diverse people, foster relationships, and inspire people to become vested in, value, and maintain the space, thereby creating Places People Love. www.LandForgeCP.com
developURBAN obo Triminia Pacific: developURBAN is a real estate development, and investment company focused on trans-formative urban-infill developments in the Western United States. developURBAN develops in downtown locations that have proximity to transit and walkable environments and creates developments that enrich the community. developURBAN believes and creates partnerships that fit each unique opportunity and location. www.developurban.com
Established in 2008, Empire Seven Studios (E7S) is an urban contemporary art gallery and creative studio located just outside the Japantown neighborhood of San Jose, California. E7S has advocated for local/global artists by creating opportunities and providing a place. As an art production firm, we provide end-to-end project management and operations support for various services, including mural production, multi-dimensional mixed media work, digital/analog onsite immersive experiences, and in-person/virtual events that foster team building and community connection. www.empiresevenstudios.com
CFT is the multi-billion dollar single-family office investment firm of the founders of Panda Express. The company makes direct private equity and venture capital investments across all industries and actively invests in real estate. CFT is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.
Zwick Construction: Zwick Construction is a commercial construction company devoted to earning and keeping clients by delivering an exceptional building experience. As a company and individuals, we are committed to living our core values—Passion, Integrity, and Teamwork—since 1969. www.zwickconstruction.com
Founded in 1991 and celebrating 30 years of delivering award-winning communities, KTGY is a full-service architecture, branding, interiors, and planning firm specializing in residential, retail, hospitality, and mixed-use environments. Our firm and our work are guided by a continuous focus on innovation, creativity, collaboration, and a deep responsibility we feel towards enhancing communities and neighborhoods. Our architects, designers, and planners combine big-picture opportunities, leading-edge sustainable practices, and impeccable design standards to create memorable destinations of enduring value. www.ktgy.com
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SOURCE Greystar | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/open-house-showcase-new-epicenter-jtowns-graphic-art-scene-leed-platinum-development-named-exhibit/ | 2022-09-07T19:35:07Z |
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE: OUT) announced today that Jeremy Male, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to present at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 1:45 p.m. Eastern Time. A live and replay audio webcast will be available on the investor relations section of the Company's website at www.OUTFRONTmedia.com.
About OUTFRONT Media Inc.
OUTFRONT leverages the power of technology, location, and creativity to connect brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage audiences on-the-go.
Contacts:
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SOURCE OUTFRONT Media Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/outfront-media-chief-executive-officer-jeremy-male-participate-goldman-sachs-communacopia-technology-conference/ | 2022-09-07T19:35:14Z |
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pilot Wave Holdings ("Pilot Wave"), the world's leading technology-focused acquisition and growth firm, has hired Lisa Belton as Partner. Ms. Belton is joining as Chief of Staff where she will help build out and manage the firm's operational structure, as well as assist in the transformation of portfolio businesses.
Ms. Belton has spent 15+ years as a financial services professional at large firms such as Merrill Lynch, Fidelity, and JP Morgan Chase. She also has deep experience in the start-up space, most notably as Chief Financial Officer where she led the firm through a successful acquisition. At Pilot Wave, Ms. Belton will leverage her vast experience to help grow portfolio businesses with technology and drive operational efficiencies while preserving culture and diversity.
"It's wonderful to work with Lisa again," said Afsheen Afshar, Founder and Managing Partner at Pilot Wave. "She brings a level of energy and professionalism that will help take Pilot Wave to the next level."
Pilot Wave is the first acquisition firm dedicated to bringing modern technology to small businesses. Comprised of hybrid investment professionals, operators, and technologists, the team partners with exceptional management to grow businesses and help them continue to be competitive in the technological age. For further information, please contact: info@PilotWaveHoldings.com
www.PilotWaveHoldings.com
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SOURCE Pilot Wave Holdings Mgmt | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/pilot-wave-holdings-hires-lisa-belton-formerly-jpmorgan-chase-scale-firms-operations/ | 2022-09-07T19:35:20Z |
PARADISE, Texas, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Crushing Equipment Solutions (CES) may be new to Oklahoma and Texas, but they have forty plus years of experience in the industry. CES offers the complete line of METSO-OUTOTEC crushing and screening solutions, ranging from mobile conveyors, crushers and crushing plants to feeders and screens. CES is also a proud distributor of various other brands of crushing and screening equipment.
"The team at CES has decades of experience. We are here to help our customers evaluate their job sites and select the right gear for their application," said CES General Manager Cliff Kelley.
Bruce Wagner, CES President / CEO stated, "At CES we strive to be "One Professional Team Delivering Quality Solutions to Every Customer." CES will be open for business and ready to meet customer needs throughout Oklahoma and Texas on September 15, 2022. In the interim CES is fully capable of providing parts, service, sales, and rental support for its customers.
General questions regarding this press release can be directed to Cliff Kelley, CES General Manager at (720) 582-9876. Customers needing parts should call (833) 399-0240. Please visit cesrock.com to learn more.
Contact: Cliff Kelley
General Manager
Phone (720) 582-9876
ckelley@cesrock.com
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SOURCE Crushing Equipment Solutions | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/providing-parts-service-sales-rental-crushing-screening-equipment-across-oklahoma-texas-effective-september-15-2022/ | 2022-09-07T19:35:27Z |
PENNSAUKEN, N.J., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Puratos Bakery School Foundation and Puratos U.S. today opened their first U.S. Bakery School at Pennsauken High School in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Already award-winning, the school received the top honor in workforce development from the IBIE 2022 Best in Baking Awards. The program, in partnership with Pennsauken High School, introduces students to baking in hopes of creating careers in the industry. This is the first Bakery School in the United States for Puratos and the seventh international location.
Fifty-nine students, the largest Puratos Bakery School class to date, were welcomed by the specially trained faculty into the custom designed, state-of-the-art classroom. During a grand opening celebration, each student received a chef coat in a White Coat Ceremony marking their induction into the school.
Puratos executives and local leaders, including Ingrid Baty, chair of the Bakery School Foundation, Congressman Donald Norcross, and Jessica Rafeh, mayor of Pennsauken joined in the festivities and toured the facility, which provides hands-on training for young people interested in careers in the baking industry.
"We are thrilled to have the next Bakery School located at Pennsauken High School, just steps from our U.S. headquarters," said Andy Brimacombe, president, Puratos U.S. & Pennant Ingredients. "We see a need in skilled talent to fill leadership positions in bakeries and baked goods manufacturing throughout the country. The impact these students can have on our industry and we on their futures is exponential."
The Bakery School Foundation program is a proven path for high schoolers to a career in the baking industry. The new facility and program in Pennsauken High School will provide life-changing opportunities for young people in the region and introduce more skilled baking expertise into an industry that needs a sustainable pipeline of talent.
"Educators across the country are seeing the benefits of skills-based learning programs," said Dr. Ronnie Tarchichi, superintendent, Pennsauken Schools. "We see higher graduation rates in CTE students, and comparable lifetime incomes to students who go on to earn bachelor's degrees. This partnership with Puratos US, and the program they have developed, will create incomparable opportunity for our students."
Seamlessly integrated into the high school curriculum, the four-year program consists of 1,600 hours of classwork in the disciplines of bakery, patisserie and chocolate and equips students with the skills necessary for immediate employment, as well as a Certificate in Baking & Pastry and an industry-recognized certification from the Retail Bakers of America. The program will provide students hands-on experience, both at Puratos sites and at industry partner plants and bakeries. Additionally, industry experts will be invited to give guest lectures, and field trips and work sessions will introduce students to the professional baking world, allowing them to see and explore real-life applications of their learnings.
The Bakery School initiative is part of the company's global commitment to making life changing social contributions that move the planet forward and support future generations. Since launching this initiative in 2016, Puratos has opened six Bakery Schools across the globe. Locations include India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Romania and the Philippines. In 2022, 357 students will be enrolled in a Puratos bakery school, on their way to becoming professional bakers. The bakery schools have graduated 258 students to-date.
By 2030, Puratos hopes to have 1,000 young people in its schools, on the way to achieving their career aspirations.
To find out more about the Bakery School Foundation, please visit www.bakeryschoolfoundation.com
As a non-profit organization driven by the passion to grow kids from an unprivileged background and to make a difference in their communities the Bakery School Foundation builds schools and classrooms, provides equipment and educators, develops curriculum, and establishes relationships with industry leaders to provide learning internship opportunities for students.
The Puratos Bakery School Foundation is committed to make an important impact on the lives of young people interested in futures as Bakers, Patisseries and Chocolatiers. These growing sectors will continue to have a need for skilled labor and provide an excellent future for well-trained students.
Puratos is an international group, which offers a full range of innovative food ingredients and services for the bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors. Serving artisans, retailers, industrial and food service companies in over 100 countries around the world, Puratos headquarters is in Belgium, where the company was founded in 1919. The company's U.S. headquarters are located in Pennsauken, New Jersey where it founded Puratos for Purpose, its local corporate social responsibility program. Puratos aims to help customers be successful with their business, by turning technologies and experiences gathered from food cultures around the world into new opportunities. Together, we move the planet forward by creating innovative food solutions for the health and well-being of people everywhere. For further information, visit www.puratos.com.
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SOURCE Puratos U.S. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/puratos-bakery-school-foundation-puratos-usopen-first-us-bakery-school-pennsauken-high-school/ | 2022-09-07T19:35:35Z |
ATLANTA, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine (SHLI), with support from Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., a leader in mental health, today released the executive summary for The Economic Burden of Mental Health Inequities in the United States Report. SHLI looked at a four-year period (2016-2020) and found, at minimum, nearly 117,000 lives and approximately $278 billion could have been saved. The full report will be released and available for download in the coming days.
"Investing in mental healthcare saves lives and dollars — we have known this for decades, but until now did not fully understand the monumental impacts of neglecting to act," said Daniel Dawes, professor and executive director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine and author of the Political Determinants of Health. "For the first time, there is tangible evidence demonstrating how decades of systemic health inequities have yielded significantly worse outcomes for racial and ethnic minoritized, marginalized, and under resourced populations."
SHLI also found that national estimates chronically underrepresent the actual burden of mental healthcare inequities, which has crippling implications on policies, funding, access to care and resources. To put this into perspective, nearly six million Americans are not accounted for in national reporting estimates regarding mental healthcare.
This comprises individuals who are often most vulnerable to mental illness including the incarcerated, nursing home residents, those living in assisted living facilities, the homeless/unhoused, active military, and those who are institutionalized in psychiatric facilities. Furthermore, SHLI found that excess costs due to mental illness and substance use disorder among the incarcerated and unhoused alone amount to an additional $63 – $92 billion annually.
The Economic Burden of Mental Health Inequities in the United States Report suggests a series of solutions that stem from three key pillars to guide, and ultimately impact, policy decision making:
- Make sustainable, long-term investments into mental and behavioral health systems, including programs, treatments, supports, and interventions that will advance mental health equity
- Develop socio-culturally tailored approaches to mental and behavioral health services and programs
- Address the social and political determinants of health inequities
"The Satcher Health Leadership Institute leads the way in demonstrating the health inequities that minority populations face, which is magnified in The Economic Burden of Mental Health Inequities in the United States Report," said Tarek Rabah, president and CEO, Otsuka North America Pharmaceutical Business. "Otsuka is committed to igniting conversations that will help every stakeholder fully appreciate that mental illness is a chronic, not acute, or temporary condition, and should be resourced and treated as such by policymakers and all stakeholders in the mental health community continuum."
To read the executive summary, please visit: https://satcherinstitute.org/research/ebmhi/
About Satcher Health Leadership Institute
The Satcher Health Leadership Institute (SHLI) aims to be the leading transformational force for health equity in policy, leadership development and research. Rooted in the legacy of its founder, the 16th U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher, SHLI's mission is to create systemic change at the intersection of policy and equity by focusing on three priority areas: the political determinants of health, health system transformation, and mental and behavioral health. In conjunction with key strategic partners, SHLI enhances leadership among diverse learners, conducts forward-thinking research on the drivers of health inequities and advances evidence-based policies, all in an effort to contribute to the achievement of health equity for all population groups. Learn more at https://satcherinstitute.org; https://healthequitynetwork.org.
About Morehouse School of Medicine
Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), located in Atlanta, Ga., exists to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities, increase the diversity of the health professional and scientific workforce and address primary health care through programs in education, research and service, with emphasis on people of color and the underserved urban and rural populations in Georgia, the nation and the world. MSM is among the nation's leading educators of primary care physicians and has twice been recognized as the top institution among U.S. medical schools for its dedication to the social mission of education. The faculty and alumni are noted in their fields for excellence in teaching, research and public policy, and are known in the community for exceptional, culturally appropriate patient care. Morehouse School of Medicine is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctorate and master's degrees.
About Otsuka
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a global healthcare company with the corporate philosophy: "Otsuka–people creating new products for better health worldwide." Otsuka researches, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative products, with a focus on pharmaceutical products to meet unmet medical needs and nutraceutical products for the maintenance of everyday health.
In pharmaceuticals, Otsuka is a leader in the challenging areas of mental, renal, and cardiovascular health and has additional research programs in oncology and on several under-addressed diseases including tuberculosis, a significant global public health issue. These commitments illustrate how Otsuka is a "big venture" company at heart, applying a youthful spirit of creativity in everything it does.
Otsuka established a presence in the U.S. in 1973 and today its U.S. affiliates include Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. (OPDC) and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (OAPI). These two companies' 2,000 employees in the U.S. develop and commercialize medicines in the areas of mental health, nephrology, and cardiology, using cutting-edge technology to address unmet healthcare needs.
OPDC and OAPI are indirect subsidiaries of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The Otsuka group of companies employed 47,000 people worldwide and had consolidated sales of approximately USD 13.6 billion in 2021.
All Otsuka stories start by taking the road less traveled. Learn more about Otsuka in the U.S. at www.otsuka-us.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter at @OtsukaUS. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.'s global website is accessible at www.otsuka.co.jp/en.
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SOURCE Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/satcher-health-leadership-institute-morehouse-school-medicine-releases-first-ever-report-demonstrating-devastating-cost-mental-health-inequities/ | 2022-09-07T19:35:42Z |
The SAFe® Fellow Program recognizes a select number of individuals who have the depth and breadth of experience to work at the highest levels of complexity in enterprise digital transformation
BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Scaled Agile, Inc. (SAI) announced the induction of four new Fellows into the SAFe® Fellow Program: Tamara Nation, Timothy Porter, Rami Sirkiä, and Adrienne Wilson.
The SAFe® Fellow Program represents an elite class of experts who are able to help the world's largest organizations accelerate digital transformation and achieve business agility. The SAFe® Fellow achievement is Scaled Agile's most prestigious distinction, recognizing individuals who have exhibited the highest level of mastery and thought leadership in the practice of SAFe.
"With so much riding on how swiftly a business adapts and pivots during this era of radical disruption, it's critical to work within a proven system of practices and mindset," said Dean Leffingwell, creator of SAFe and chief methodologist. "SAFe Fellows are selected and vetted based on a combination of their ongoing contribution to the evolution of the Framework, their demonstrated success in a broad range of SAFe implementations, and their willingness to share their expertise in the public arena through writing and speaking."
Scaled Agile is pleased to welcome the newest members of the program:
Tamara Nation has over 25 years of experience spanning the software life cycle. Nation began her career as a software engineer writing code for unmanned aircraft and later focused on helping software development teams and organizations adopt Lean, iterative approaches to improve their work performance and experience.
From developer to director, Timothy Porter leverages 20 years' experience in software and systems engineering. In 2011, Porter founded Appddiction Studio, providing software development, training, and consulting with an emphasis on scaled Agile Implementations.
In 2010, Rami Sirkiä worked for Nokia Research and Development when he became one of the earliest practitioners of SAFe and created an approach for Agile budgeting. Sirkiä holds an MSc in Economics and Business Administration and is currently focused on enterprise transformations, Lean portfolio, and Lean governance.
Adrienne Wilson is co-author of the best-selling book, "The ART of Avoiding a Train Wreck: Practical Tips and Tricks for Launching and Operating SAFe Agile Release Trains." With over 20 years in technical and management roles, Wilson now provides scaled Agile transformation services to enterprises large and small around the world.
About Scaled Agile, Inc.
Scaled Agile, Inc. is the provider of SAFe®, the world's most trusted system for business agility. Through integrated solutions that help teams unlock better ways of working, Scaled Agile is redefining the way the world's leading organizations identify and deliver customer value, capitalize on emerging opportunities, and improve business outcomes. Over 20,000 businesses and government agencies rely on SAFe and Scaled Agile's Global Partner Network to accelerate digital innovation and compete in a fast-changing marketplace. Scaled Agile is a contributing member of the Pledge 1% corporate philanthropy and community service movement. Learn more at scaledagile.com.
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SOURCE Scaled Agile, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/scaled-agile-inc-inducts-four-thought-leaders-into-safe-fellow-program/ | 2022-09-07T19:35:49Z |
Exclusive collaboration between B Corp™ accounting firm and preeminent ESG assessment tool that aligns with the world's leading ESG and sustainability standards
PLEASANTON, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sensiba San Filippo LLP (SSF), a West Coast accounting and business-consulting firm, and Impakt IQ (IIQ), a leading environmental, social, and governance (ESG) assessment, reporting and intelligence tool, are excited to announce an exclusive deployment partnership to connect the dots between ESG opportunities and risk, and their impacts to an organization's bottom-line performance.
Impakt IQ's approach features a powerful toolset that enables companies to measure and manage their ESG intelligence. It generates an ESG score, ESG statement, and ESG report that are backed by auditable investment-grade data and aligned with the world's leading sustainability and ESG standards, including the Task Force for Climate Change Disclosure (TCFD), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and the SEC. The Impakt IQ approach is a systems-based process that stands on the shoulders of 15+ years of experience, knowledge, and demonstrated profitable results.
The Impakt IQ tool addresses a company's ESG blind spots and provides insight into ESG impacts, allowing executives to leverage this intelligence to make informed business decisions. The approach and toolkit help inform and connect all leaders of an organization, creating cross functional awareness and holistic insight into ESG risks, opportunities, and value creation.
The Impakt IQ report and toolkit is to ESG what a Financial Report is to finance. This tool enables organizations to evaluate and generate their ESG scores internally, giving them insight and control over their ESG management, disclosure, and narrative in a way that aligns with investor-grade standards and is fully auditable. Reporting components include:
- The IIQ ESG Report: reveals and identifies an organization's ESG current state, financial and reputational risks, and value creation opportunities, all organized elegantly into intuitive decision-useful information aimed at helping drive profitability
- The IIQ ESG Scorecard (akin to a financial P&L): benchmarks and rates these financial and reputational risks and value creation opportunities for every industry-specific material key performance indicator (KPI) within an organization
- The IIQ ESG Statement: is derived from company generated due diligence documents, leadership input from across the organization, and industry sector specific data collected from over 1,100 data points
- Additional proprietary tools: a dual materiality assessment, benchmarking analysis, financial risk assessment, reputational risk assessment, and top impact and ESG issues for an organization
"Accounting firms have been measuring and calculating risk from a business's financial data forever," says John Sensiba, managing partner of Sensiba San Filippo. "With ESG issues increasingly taking center stage in today's interconnected economy, it only makes sense that we measure and calculate risk from all the non-financial sustainability data in a standardized way as well."
"I have been developing an ESG Intelligence tool to help business leaders evolve to sustainable business models profitably for over 15 years when I recognized the link between financial and brand performance and sustainable business practices. The missing link to scaling ESG Intelligence and this tool has been the lack of a recognized global ESG standard — that changed in November 2021 with the announcement of the ISSB and subsequently SASB and TCFD rolling up under the ISSB," says Elisa Turner, founder of Impakt IQ. "All the pieces of the puzzle now exist, and we are excited to be scaling the Impakt IQ ESG Intelligence tool 3.0 with SSF. When we looked for an industry partner to team up with SSF and their Sensiba Center for Sustainability was the only logical choice out there, they are aligned in values and the belief that ESG performance today is interconnected to financial performance and integrated reporting is the future."
"The SSF sustainability team has been beta testing this tool for several months on three separate projects; the initial feedback has been really positive as it is offering insights into areas for operational improvement and risk management" says Scott Anderson, SASB and audit partner at Sensiba San Filippo LLP. "The fact that it is aligned with SASB and TCFD, was critical to our decision making and this supports the credibility of the assessment outcomes. This alignment also reinforces that our assessment results will segues nicely into sustainability reporting that stakeholders are increasingly requesting."
As a Certified B Corp™ accounting firm, Sensiba San Filippo LLP (SSF) provides clients with comprehensive assurance, tax, and consulting services while using the power of business to solve social and environmental challenges. SSF ranks among the region's top 20 public accounting firms and utilizes regional and global expertise to serve clients across various industries. The Sensiba Center for Sustainability (SCFS) was launched in 2020 and aims to help measure and benchmark non-financial data alongside financial data and tie ESG and sustainability efforts back to tangible ROI and bottom-line gains. SSF has been a trusted financial advisor for over 40 years, and SCFS is guiding companies in becoming more resilient and leveraging Business as a Force for Good™. Headquartered in Pleasanton, SSF has offices in San Jose, Bend, Portland, and Fresno. For more information, visit ssfllp.com or ssfllp.com/sustainability.
Impakt IQ (IIQ) helps organizations evolve to an impact performance mindset, culture, and framework that creates a material positive impact on society and the environment while building a more resilient and profitable business. IIQ ESG framework and reporting provides insight into what matters most and allows leadership to see "all" impact risks and opportunities relating to each other and their whole organization, backed by auditable investment-grade data and aligned with Task Force for Climate Change Disclosure (TCFD), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and the SEC. For more information, visit impaktiq.com.
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SOURCE Sensiba San Filippo, LLP; Impakt IQ | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/sensiba-san-filippo-impakt-iq-partner-launch-esg-assessment-tool/ | 2022-09-07T19:35:55Z |
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --
If you own shares in any of the companies listed above and
would like to discuss our investigations or have any questions concerning
this notice or your rights or interests, please contact:
Joshua Rubin, Esq.
Weiss Law
305 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10007
(212) 682-3025
(888) 593-4771
stockinfo@weisslawllp.com
Weiss Law is investigating possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law by the board of directors of Forma Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: FMTX), in connection with the proposed acquisition of FMTX by Novo Nordisk A/S via tender offer. Under the terms of the merger agreement, FMTX shareholders will receive $20.00 in cash for each share of FMTX common stock owned. If you own FMTX shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please call us or visit our website: https://www.weisslaw.co/news-and-cases/fmtx
Weiss Law is investigating possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law by the board of directors of Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. (NASDAQ: IEA), in connection with the proposed acquisition of IEA by MasTec, Inc. ("MasTec"). Under the terms of the merger agreement, IEA shareholders will receive $14.00 per share in cash and 0.0483 shares of MasTec common stock for each IEA share owned, representing implied per-share merger consideration of approximately $17.75 based upon MasTec's September 6, 2022 closing price of $77.70. If you own IEA shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please call us or visit our website: https://www.weisslaw.co/news-and-cases/iea
Weiss Law is investigating possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law by the board of directors of Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SHLX), in connection with the proposed acquisition of SHLX by Shell USA, Inc. ("Shell USA"). Under the terms of the merger agreement, SHLX unit holders will receive $15.85 in cash for each Public Common Unit of SHLX common stock owned. A subsidiary of Shell USA currently owns 269,457,304 SHLX common units, or approximately 68.5% of SHLX common units. If you own SHLX shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please call us or visit our website: https://www.weisslaw.co/news-and-cases/shlx
Weiss Law is investigating possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law by the board of directors of Zymergen Inc. (NASDAQ: ZY), connected with the proposed acquisition of ZY by Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. ("Ginkgo"). Under the terms of the merger agreement, ZY shareholders will receive 0.9179 shares of Ginkgo common stock for each ZY share owned, representing implied per-share merger consideration of approximately $2.21 based upon Ginkgo's September 6, 2022 closing price of $2.93. If you own ZY shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please call us or visit our website: https://www.weisslaw.co/news-and-cases/zy
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SOURCE Weiss Law | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/shareholder-alert-weiss-law-reminds-fmtx-iea-shlx-zy-shareholders-about-its-ongoing-investigations/ | 2022-09-07T19:36:02Z |
SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Silex Technology, a global leader in wired and wireless networking solutions, announced the introduction and availability of its new enterprise Wi-Fi bridge, BR-330AC-LP, on September 7, 2022. The BR-330AC-LP is a wireless LAN bridge (station device) that supports the IEEE 802.11ac wireless communication standard and enterprise security. It accelerates IT/OT convergence by wirelessly bridging between legacy wired IP devices and secure enterprise IT network requiring 802.1X authentication. The BR-330AC-LP eliminates the need for copper wiring in building energy management systems and reduces the power consumption required for wireless connectivity in those applications. Silex's broader Ethernet to Wi-Fi bridge product portfolio allows customers to select the optimal solution for each use case
Why 802.1X Authentication Matters:
The convergence of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) has emerged in the industrial IoT deployment. The OT was traditionally separated from IT and had different sets of requirements for security and deployment. In the IT segment, many enterprises rely on 802.1X for device authentication, while OT devices have not been equipped with 802.1X authentication capability. The 802.1X becomes the emerging topic for OT devices to connect with IT using 802.1X authentication. The silex enterprise Wi-Fi bridge allows users to securely connect non-802.1X capable devices to 802.1X IT enabled networks and Wi-Fi infrastructure.
How much power does BR-330AC-LP save:
The BR-330AC-LP reduces the power consumption by about 45% when transmitting the Wi-Fi data compared with another silex's 802.11ac Wi-Fi bridge. The power consumption in its idle state is also reduced by about half. The BR-330AC-LP's low power operation results in longer operation for battery powered and mobile applications.
SD-330AC-LP Features:
- Single or Multi-client mode operations
- Enterprise security
- Low Power Consumption
- Fast-roaming for mobility
- Easy device configuration
- Built-in web portal for device configuration through Ethernet port
Pricing and Availability
The product is now available. Please contact our sales team at sales@silexamerica.com and sales@silexeurope.com for more details on early access.
About Silex Technology America, Inc.
Silex Technology builds on more than 40 years of hardware and software connectivity know-how and IP, custom design development experience, and in-house manufacturing capabilities, bringing value to customers with a foundation of technical expertise. With relentless attention to quality, exclusive access to Qualcomm Atheros expertise, and strategic partnerships with leading semiconductor providers, Silex Technology is the global leader in reliable Wi-Fi connectivity for products ranging from a medical device to a document imaging product to a video or digital display. With Silex Technology, customers get a single vendor that provides hardware and software support from design through manufacturing for successful product after successful product. For more information, please visit www.silextechnology.com.
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SOURCE Silex Technology America, Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/silex-technology-announces-enterprise-wi-fi-bridge-with-lowest-power-consumption-market/ | 2022-09-07T19:36:09Z |
The Society of Presidential Pollsters Founder Will Discuss "American Government in the 21st Century" Annual Poll Results
WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) Chairman and CEO Mark Penn will be a featured speaker at The George Washington (GW) University's "Reinvigorating Democracy" event next Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. The GW Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) Society of Presidential Pollsters will reveal the results of the latest "American Government in the 21st Century" annual survey, that takes the pulse of the American people on a wide range of issues related to how elected officials and public institutions are serving them.
As the society's founder, Penn will discuss his analysis in conversation with GSPM Founding Dean Christopher Arterton, followed by a question-and-answer session. The panel is part of the GSPM's "Reinvigorating Democracy" one-day event on the future of politics from practitioners on the Hill.
The panel will take place 12:30-1:40 p.m. at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. Interested attendees can register here.
To hear more on the latest in political insights, please visit the "Harvard Harris Poll Debrief with Mark Penn and Bob Cusack" podcast, in which Penn and The Hill Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack discuss the latest Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll (Harvard's Center for American Political Studies and Harris Insights and Analytics), released monthly.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world's most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
Media Contact:
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com
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SOURCE Stagwell Inc. | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/stagwell-stgw-chairman-ceo-mark-penn-speak-george-washington-universitys-reinvigorating-democracy/ | 2022-09-07T19:36:15Z |
Gettysburg College launches teletherapy solution, Uwill, to increase capacity and provide after-hour support
GETTYSBURG, Pa., Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Uwill, the leading teletherapy solution for colleges and students, today, announced a partnership with Gettysburg College to support the counseling services available on campus and increase capacity. As the need for mental health support increases nationwide, Uwill's solution utilizes need and preferences to immediately match students with a diverse team of licensed and available counselors.
"Our goal is to provide comprehensive mental health and wellness services campus wide, for all Gettysburg students. We needed to remove barriers such as service hours, and to create an array of opportunities for all students to access quality care. Uwill will help ensure an experience where students can learn, lead, and succeed inside and outside of the classroom," said Krista Dhruv, Executive Director of Counseling and Wellness at Gettysburg College. "By providing the necessary mental health resources, we hope to support each and every student, providing them a sense of balance, and the ability to excel."
Gettysburg College is launching this teletherapy option at a time of increasing mental health challenges reported on campuses nationwide, where 95% of students felt their mental health negatively affected them within the past year. "At a time where mental health support is of paramount importance, Gettysburg's partnership with Uwill shows their dedication to student wellbeing and success," said Michael London, Founder and CEO of Uwill.
Utilizing its proprietary technology and counselor team, Uwill pioneered the first Higher-Ed therapist matching platform and wellness environment. The solution offers an immediate connection to an available licensed counselor based on student preferences, all modalities of teletherapy, 24/7/365 crisis connection, wellness programming, detailed reporting and support. Uwill partners with more than 100 institutions worldwide including the UC Santa Barbara, Berklee Online, Xavier University, and Morgan State University to ensure their mental health and wellness environment meets student needs.
Uwill has become the leading mental health and wellness solution for colleges and students. The most cost-effective way to complement a college's mental health offering, Uwill partners with more than 100 institutions including Boston College, University of Michigan, American Public University System, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Uwill is also the teletherapy education partner for NASPA. For more information, visit uwill.com
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SOURCE Uwill | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/teletherapy-leader-partners-with-16th-liberal-arts-college-2022/ | 2022-09-07T19:36:21Z |
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With the debut of iPhone 14, TORRAS, a leading phone accessory and electronic device brand, has unveiled its new iPhone cases and screen protectors. This time, TORRAS Lab, an integrated center for building iPhone 14 cases with innovative technology and delivering product experiments, brings us several new case series. Let's take a look and see how TORRAS surprises us again.
If you spend a lot of time working or having fun outdoors, you might want something more rugged, like the Guardian, embedded with a wide range of airbags inside to enhance protection. With the 3rd gen X-Shock airbags inside the four corners, the Guardian case protects the parts of your phone that are most likely to break. The X-Shock airbag is shaped like the letter X, to reinforce a cushion against collision.
L-Shock camera lens airbags are patented technology specially designed for the upgrade of the iPhone 14 rear camera, which protects the vital part of the phone.
A clear case can be the best way to show the original design of your phone, But you may be distressed by the fact that the clear case you bought turns yellow within a short period of time. Now TORRAS offers their Diamond Clear series case, which brings an extra long-lasting clear performance, keeping your phone always protective and fresh.
Transternity™ Technology is engineered for TORRAS clear cases with the AYF anti-yellowing standard that they significantly define. They distribute high molecular inert polymers on the surface to prevent discoloration caused by ultraviolet rays, hand sweat or cosmetics. According to their exclusive anti-yellowing standard, all TORRAS clear cases are produced with the AYF 50, which is the highest standard to resist yellowing for even 60 days.
This is a 4-in-1 stand case that supports MagSafe and provides up to 120-degree adjustable angles to prop up your phone. The built-in 2nd gen magnet ring with a magnetic force of up to 5 times, making your phone align perfectly and bringing faster wireless charging than ever.
TORRAS exclusive UPRO™ Kickstand Technology makes UPRO Matte cases more view-friendly even for all users. 3-way viewing angles in landscape or portrait mode enable you to binge-watch your favorite videos or Facetime your family or friends with ease. Designed with a translucent back cover like the Guardian series, this UPRO Matte MagSafe case has ShockMAT 360-degree honeycomb airbags inside to increase cushion. Comprehensive all-around protection is such a breeze!
UPRO Clear series case is especially perfect for those who need a kickstand for entertainment. Like other TORRAS clear cases, the UPRO Clear case is made with Polymer Isolation and Anti-yellowing Technology, ensuring long-lasting clarity during use. To fully cover the phone, the UPRO Clear case is equipped with four-corner X-Shock airbags and patented camera lens airbags.
TORRAS UPRO series cases build on their UPRO™ Kickstand Technology. Integrating golden ratio and ergonomic design, they set the kickstand at the bottom to deliver more stable support for your phone. Focusing on how people interact with the phone screen, they provide the best viewing angle of 52 degrees horizontally and 62 degrees vertically in 3 ways.
When it comes to phone protection, TORRAS will always be on the top of the list. With first-of-its-kind TORRAS Lab testing and creating the product, they care as much about style as they care about protection. This must be a worthwhile investment for your new iPhone. Shop iPhone 14 cases on TORRAS Amazon and TORRAS Website.
About TORRAS
Founded in 2012, TORRAS is an innovative brand with a design philosophy of "Simple but Unique". They now have an R&D laboratory that spans over 2,000 square meters, and have obtained more than 1,100 patents thus far, with 36 of its products winning prestigious international design awards including the German Red Dot Award.
TORRAS Contact: press@torras-global.com
TORRAS PR Manager: echo.huang@torras-global.com
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SOURCE TORRAS | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/torras-unveils-new-case-series-newly-launched-iphone-14/ | 2022-09-07T19:36:28Z |
Better Call Saul and Euphoria Most Searched for Dramas
NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Market intelligence and search startup My Telescope today announced new data highlighting the most searched for Emmy-nominated TV shows by state. With only a week before the awards, premiering on September 12, vampire comedy What We Do In The Shadows has emerged as the most searched for comedy in the last month, leading in 39 out of 50 states.
In the race for Best Drama, Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul and the dreamy coming-of-age drama Euphoria are in a tight race, with Better Call Saul barely taking the lead as the top show in 27 of 50 states. Both shows are predicted to walk away with awards in multiple categories.
Other highlights from the research include:
- One month before the Emmy Awards, What We Do in the Shadows dominates Google search in 39 out of 50 states, Ted Lasso trailing behind with 7 states, freshman comedy Abbott Elementary with three states, and Only Murders In the Building with one state.
- Data shows that in 2022, Euphoria is the most searched for drama in Bible-Belt states like Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas and Texas.
- Despite the recency and viral nature of Netflix's Stranger Things, the show did not appear as a top result in any of the 50 states.
The data highlights a state-by-state breakdown of the top Emmy-nominated comedies and dramas, according to Google search volumes when users search for the show's name and where it is streaming. The programs are then ranked by Share of Search.
Share of Search is a marketing metric that measures the relative interest for a search term in relation to a defined set of search terms. Research has shown that there is a correlation between what we search for and a final outcome, and that Share of Search can often predict shifts in Share of Voice over time.
"Share of search is powerful in that it gives a more accurate measurement of consumer and business purchasing intent and demand," said Rodrigo Graviz, CEO of My Telescope. "Data can be geo-fenced by state or country to accurately reflect searching trends by geography. When combined with specific keywords, Share of Search data can give valuable insights on what people are going to do, what they think, how they feel, and what they're going to buy."
Top Results of Share of Search Study, By State - Emmy Nominated Shows
About Share of Search
Share of Search is a marketing metric that measures the relative interest for a search term in relation to a defined set of search terms. Share of Search Analytics tools such as My Telescope help brands gather market intelligence and forecast business demand by blending search and sentiment analysis to accurately predict purchasing intent and/or business demand.
About MyTelescope
My Telescope is a market intelligence SaaS solution to measure market trends, brand strength, and marketing campaign effectiveness in almost real-time using Share of Search Analytics. My Telescope's AI solution scans, analyzes, and visualizes data from search engines, media monitoring, and social listening to marketers with actionable insights for increased agility. My Telescope is trusted by clients within FMCG, consumer goods, heavy industry, defense, automotive, charity, and many more. For more information, visit https://mytelescope.io.
All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies.
My Telescope Media Contact
Lauren Chouinard
FortyThree, Inc.
lauren@43pr.com
831.888.9011
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SOURCE My Telescope | https://www.whsv.com/prnewswire/2022/09/07/what-we-do-shadows-take-bite-out-emmy-awards-comedy/ | 2022-09-07T19:36:34Z |
A gas leak on Ivinson Avenue resulted in the evacuation of the Buckhorn Bar & Parlor on Wednesday morning.
Around 10:30 a.m., a Coors truck hit a gas meter while turning into the alley next to the bar, prompting the leak.
...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM MDT THIS AFTERNOON... The following message is transmitted on behalf of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Division and the Wyoming Department of Health. WHAT...Air Quality Alert for Wildfire Smoke. WHERE...Portions of southeast Wyoming including Carbon county and Albany county west of the Laramie range. WHEN...through 1PM today. IMPACTS...Heavy smoke from Idaho wildfires. HEALTH INFORMATION...The Wyoming Department of Health recommends the elderly, young children, and individuals with respiratory problems avoid excessive physical exertion and minimize outdoor activities during this time. Wildfire smoke is made up of a variety of pollutants, including particulate matter and ozone, which can cause respiratory health effect. Although these people are most susceptible to health impacts, the Department of Health also advises that everyone should avoid prolonged exposure to poor air quality conditions. CURRENT CONDITIONS...The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Division offers near real-time air quality data for Wyoming's monitoring stations and health effects information to help the public interpret current conditions. Current air quality conditions across the state of Wyoming can be found at http://www.wyvisnet.com/
...RED FLAG WARNING FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING AND A FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE THURSDAY DUE TO GUSTY WEST WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY... ...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 7 PM MDT THURSDAY FOR GUSTY WEST WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONES 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 427, 428, 429, 430, AND 432... The National Weather Service in Cheyenne has issued a Red Flag Warning, which is in effect from 10 AM to 7 PM MDT Thursday. The Fire Weather Watch is no longer in effect. * AFFECTED AREA...Fire weather zones 418 through 425. Fire weather zones 427 through 430. Fire weather zone 432. * WIND...West to northwest winds 15 to 20 mph sustained with gusts to 35 mph possible. * HUMIDITY...7 to 15 percent. * HAINES...5 to 6. * IMPACTS...any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. &&
A gas leak on Ivinson Avenue resulted in the evacuation of the Buckhorn Bar & Parlor on Wednesday morning.
Around 10:30 a.m., a Coors truck hit a gas meter while turning into the alley next to the bar, prompting the leak.
Laramie Police Department and Laramie Fire Department responded to the incident. Black Hills Energy also was at the scene to make repairs and ventilate the building. By 11:45 a.m., crews were still working on repairs and waiting for the building to be ventilated well enough for people to reenter, said LFD company officer Justin.
Others in the area voluntarily evacuated their buildings because of the leak. The gas smelled strong even across the street at The Chocolate Cellar, said owner Carrie Hansen.
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A receipt was sent to your email. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/gas-leak-sparks-evacuation-at-buckhorn-bar/article_91495f2e-2ed4-11ed-980a-a7b9d892abfe.html | 2022-09-07T19:45:05Z |
WyoFile.com Via Wyoming News Exchange
State and federal authorities overseeing oil and gas operations in Wyoming anticipate millions of dollars in federal funding to clean up wells, pipelines, pads and other related facilities left “orphaned” or otherwise unremediated by operators.
There are more than 2,307 orphaned well sites in Wyoming, according to state and federal estimates.
The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which oversees facilities on state and private lands, lists 1,307 well sites in its orphaned well program and is set to receive $25 million from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees facilities that tap federal minerals in Wyoming, estimates there are more than 1,000 orphaned wells in the state. The federal agency will tap into $250 million set aside for federal orphaned well remediation nationwide.
“Orphaned wells are a legacy that we must address, as they can release methane, pollute groundwater, and pose a hazard to people and wildlife alike,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a press release.
Wyoming BLM estimates the cleanup work on federal wells in the state will create or sustain up to 300 industry-related jobs.
The WOGCC expects the federal funds to clean up state and private facilities will support what’s already a robust orphan-well-remediation program. The state has cleaned up more than 4,713 orphaned well sites since 2014, according to the agency. Of those, 186 were converted to water wells for nearby ranchers.
The federal push to clean up more orphaned wells is long overdue and will benefit landowners and others who suffer the environmental risks, according to advocacy groups. They say the cost of cleanup shouldn’t fall to American taxpayers.
“The people who drill the wells and profit from them are responsible for cleaning them up,” said Powder River Basin Resource Council and the Western Organization of Resource Councils’ board member Bob LeResche. The federal government is “doing something good for the environment and surface owners, but they’re doing it with taxpayer money, which is just wrong.”
When it comes to holding operators responsible for cleanup, the state has generally done a better job than the BLM, LeResche said. Of the $32 million the state has spent to remediate orphaned wells since 1997, $21 million was covered by bonds posted by operators, according to the WOGCC. The rest of the expense was covered by a conservation tax applied to all oil and gas operators in the state.
The BLM still allows for a nationwide “blanket bond” of $150,000, a fraction of actual remediation costs for many operators. The federal agency is also slow to add wells that are known to be inactive to its orphaned well list, LeResche said, sometimes waiting more than six years to pursue responsible parties.
The Powder River Basin Resource Council and others are pushing the BLM to revise its bonding rules to increase dollar amounts and speed up the timeline for remediation work, LeResche said.
Coal-bed methane gas wells, primarily in northeast Wyoming, make up most of the orphaned wells in Wyoming, according to state officials. The industry tanked beginning in 2010, mostly due to low natural gas prices and the proliferation of hydraulic fracking that redirected the industry to shale gas plays outside the state.
For a 20-year period before the coal-bed methane boom, the state had documented 500 orphaned wells. After the coal-bed methane bust, it documented 6,020 orphaned wells, according to the state. The CBM bust and the string of bankruptcies that followed added pressure on state officials to revise Wyoming’s bonding and reclamation rules.
The BLM needs to do the same, LeResche said, otherwise continuing to use federal taxpayer dollars “is bailing out the culprits who were leaving these wells unreclaimed and unplugged.”
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/millions-flow-to-wyoming-to-plug-orphaned-oil-and-gas-wells/article_23c8a0ac-2e2c-11ed-be10-af6bfcb25086.html | 2022-09-07T19:45:11Z |
...RED FLAG WARNING FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING AND A FIRE WEATHER
WATCH FOR THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE THURSDAY DUE TO GUSTY WEST WINDS
AND LOW HUMIDITY...
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 7 PM MDT THURSDAY FOR
GUSTY WEST WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONES 418,
419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 427, 428, 429, 430, AND 432...
The National Weather Service in Cheyenne has issued a Red Flag
Warning, which is in effect from 10 AM to 7 PM MDT Thursday. The
Fire Weather Watch is no longer in effect.
* AFFECTED AREA...Fire weather zones 418 through 425. Fire
weather zones 427 through 430. Fire weather zone 432.
* WIND...West to northwest winds 15 to 20 mph sustained with
gusts to 35 mph possible.
* HUMIDITY...7 to 15 percent.
* HAINES...5 to 6.
* IMPACTS...any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly.
Outdoor burning is not recommended.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of
strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can
contribute to extreme fire behavior.
&&
Today in Wyoming history: In 1945, trains were halted west of Green River as a bridge was destroyed by fire.
Tomorrow in Wyoming history: In 1833, Eliza Stewart Boyd was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. She became the first woman in the U.S. to be selected to serve on a jury when she served on a grand jury in Laramie in 1870. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/today-tomorrow/article_004f0038-2ee2-11ed-9f40-07f0f7492f4b.html | 2022-09-07T19:45:17Z |
LARAMIE – Current and former college students in Wyoming report a collective sigh of relief in the wake of President Joe Biden’s move to relieve a portion of student debt.
While Wyoming politicians have nearly unilaterally condemned the decision as unfair and irresponsible, some University of Wyoming students and graduates said in interviews in the past week they see the announcement as a spark of hope after years of financial struggle. For some borrowers, loan forgiveness will offer a path to financial freedom. For others it isn’t nearly enough.
The plan will forgive up to $10,000 for student loan borrowers who make $125,000 or less annually. Those who received a Pell Grant – a piece of financial aid geared to help lower-income families – could receive up to $20,000 in forgiveness.
“This forgiveness is going to be huge for me,” said Sandy Kingsley of Sheridan, who has more than $9,000 in debt left to pay. “I’ve been struggling for years.”
Kingsley earned her degree in family studies and human services online from Kansas State University in her 50s while raising four kids on her own. Despite receiving a Pell Grant and a scholarship, she wasn’t able to make ends meet.
“I didn’t want to borrow money,” Kingsley said, explaining that she took summer classes and did all she could to finish her degree quickly. “I almost had to drop out that summer because of keeping a roof over our heads and food.”
Statistics
Many college students in Wyoming take out loans.
At UW, 43% of undergraduate first-time students take out loans averaging $23,592, according to data from the 2020-21 school year.
In 2021, about 57% of WyoTech’s revenue came from federal money, which includes loans and Pell Grants, said spokesperson Douglas Min.
Nationwide, nearly 32% of undergraduate students take out an average of $32,880 in loans to obtain a bachelor’s degree, according to the Education Data Initiative.
Since Biden announced his plan to forgive some of that debt, students have been calling the UW Scholarships and Financial Aid office in higher volumes than normal, said Anna Terfehr, the office’s director.
Students and graduates are seeking guidance on whether or not they are eligible for the forgiveness and what they need to do to receive it. The forgiveness only extends to borrowers who have had a loan disbursement on or before June 30, meaning not all current students will be eligible.
Terfehr noted the office also is learning about the forgiveness plan.
“We’re learning something that’s still not formally approved, and it is so student specific in the totality of their loan history and loan life,” Terfehr said.
Biden’s plan also will halve required monthly repayment rates and cover unpaid monthly interest rates so long as borrowers continue to make their payments.
Debt snowball
UW graduate Ryan Sedgeley said that while he has $34,000 in debt, some of his friends have seen their debt double or reach $100,000 because of high interest rates.
“In a lot of ways, $10,000 in relief is not nearly enough to help those people,” Sedgeley said, adding it “seems like kind of a joke.”
It took Sedgeley about 10 years to receive his undergraduate degree, in part because he had to drop out multiple times to work to make enough money to go back to school. He said a young person having so much money offered in the form of a loan can find it difficult to understand its implications.
“As someone from a lower-middle-class background, seeing those numbers rise every month was completely terrifying,” Sedgeley said about continuing to take out loans. “It was scary, but I felt like I didn’t really have an option.”
This element of fear influences people in college, and in deciding whether or not to pursue higher education.
After graduating from KSU, Kingsley worked with Upward Bound at UW, a program that encourages and prepares high school students to attend college. One of her tasks was to assess what barriers exist in getting first-generation students to attend college.
“One that came out over and over again is they’re scared to death of debt,” Kingsley said. “I know that that is keeping a lot of kids (in Wyoming) from going to college.”
Resources
At UW, the Scholarships and Financial Aid office works with students to help them determine which loans they should take out and for how much, Terfehr said.
The amount of resources a student needs when navigating college payment largely depends on his or her background and whether or not parents have attended college.
“There’s definitely some that come in and feel like they really know what they’re doing, and others who need extra guidance and help,” the official said.
At WyoTech, most students attend with financial help from their parents, Min said. He predicted that while eligible students were likely happy about the proposed $10,000 forgiveness, loans don’t have a large influence on whether or not they decide to attend the technical school.
Kingsley said that even with scholarships, students who don’t have familial support can struggle to pay for things like food and housing.
“There’s a lot of nontraditional students that out of necessity go back to school and there’s not a second income,” she said. “The only way to get through it is student loans.”
Abby Vander Graaff covers education for the Laramie Boomerang, a website and newspaper affiliated with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. For more, go to WyomingNews.com/users/profile/avandergraaff or WyomingNews.com/laramieboomerang. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/banking_and_finance/breathing-room-uw-student-loan-borrowers-react-to-federal-debt-relief/article_7b1f4cde-2ed6-11ed-87d0-87cf2c30df56.html | 2022-09-07T19:45:23Z |
CHEYENNE – While more than a third of Wyomingites who borrowed federal student loans would have their debt completely wiped out by President Joe Biden’s loan forgiveness plan, Republicans in the state remain critical of the initiative and are weighing alternatives.
Many voiced their concerns with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle this past week that it would be irresponsible spending, discriminatory and could lead to an increase in inflation. They want to find other ways to support Wyoming students through financial literacy classes, encouraging career and technical education, and pointing them toward state scholarship programs.
Forgiving loans for those who have already taken them out is not on the GOP agenda.
“The Biden loan forgiveness plan does not magically make these loans disappear, nor will it bring down the cost of higher education,” said Gov. Mark Gordon in a statement. “Instead, this new and poorly thought-through government handout transfers the debt from borrowers to hardworking taxpayers, some of whom already diligently paid off their loans or chose to forgo higher education. This, among the many other fiscal policy disasters this White House has created, will only exacerbate inflation and continue to increase the costs of everyday goods.”
Biden announced Aug. 24 that $10,000 in student loan relief would be provided to Americans who earn under $125,000 a year, or $250,000 for married couples or heads of households. He said up to $20,000 would be canceled for Pell grant recipients. There will be a final student loan pause extended through Dec. 31, and individuals with undergraduate loans can cap their repayments at 5% of their monthly income.
Biden said nearly 45% of borrowers, or close to 20 million people, would have their debt completely erased. Wyomingites would have a large percentage of its federal student loan borrowers’ debt canceled in the nation if the White House follows through with the announcement.
Lawmakers react
“While Wyoming boasts one of the most affordable post-secondary education systems in the country, half of those who attended colleges and trade schools have student debt,” Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie, told the WTE. “The Biden administration’s move to forgive a portion of student debt is a welcomed and bold gesture.”
She said since the Biden administration has already forgiven loan debt to Wyoming businesses, it makes sense to similarly forgive the debt of the state’s most valuable resource, its people. Connolly said this lets people prioritize meeting today’s bills and savings for the future – and pumps needed money into the Wyoming economy.
Some Republicans say it’s a misguided policy decision, and the challenges with student debt have to do with mismatching the number of academic programs with the actual needs for them in the job market.
Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas, said he believes the nation needs to focus on teaching useful skills in the career and technical field, instead of “doubling down on a failed policy.”
“We have been looking for ways to address this by pushing more career technical education,” he said. “Not only do you spend less time in school, but you also are going to have a useful skill set once you get out of school.”
Boner recommends programs such as Wyoming Works, or educating students on more affordable higher education choices such as community college, trade school or joining the military. The state senator said serving in the military was how he paid for school.
He wants to see reforms on how loans are given out.
“No other type of loan is treated this way, where you effectively get an 18-year-old kid to agree to such a large amount of debt with no ability to really pay it back,” Boner said. “I wish we would treat student loans more like every other type of loan, where there’s a little bit more discernment involved, and that way we can prevent these situations from happening in the future.”
Gov. Gordon backs improving financial literacy, so borrowers have a better understanding of loans’ financial terms.
Michael Pearlman, Gordon’s director of communications, said Wyoming subsidizes higher education in some ways other states do not. He mentioned the Hathaway Scholarship and the new Wyoming’s Tomorrow Scholarship, which was signed into law earlier this year.
Tuition
Scholarship availability was cited by Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne.
He said there’s a place for solutions to the cost of higher education at the state level, and Wyoming has “already done an amazing job at this point of making college very closely affordable.” He said there’s personal responsibility to apply for scholarships, because local colleges are practically begging every year for people to apply.
“Every single year that I’m in the Legislature, I continue to see new and improved ways for college to become more affordable,” he said. “I do think this state has done a very good job, and it’s even in our Constitution to be as nearly free as possible.”
The amount of student loan debt Wyomingites have is 20% lower than the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s data, which Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, applauded. He said he’s glad that the state has an education system that allows debt burdens to be lower, and he’s supports Biden’s initiative.
“If you’re someone who has student debt, it means you aren’t able to buy a house, or you aren’t able to start a business,” he said. “Now those Wyoming citizens are going to be able to take those opportunities and take those risks that they haven’t been able to.”
Yin wants to address the underlying issues in higher education costs. He said $10,000 to $20,000 doesn’t solve the problem of ballooning costs.
For anyone who criticizes the student debt plan, or argues it might contribute to inflation, Yin said he would question whether the tax cuts under former President Donald Trump’s administration were seen in the same light.
Costs
Critics recognize how the student loan relief plan will benefit borrowers, saying they are concerned with the economic repercussions and moral ambiguity.
They warned there is no real plan to pay for the student loan forgiveness, or any real estimation of the cost. Some worry about inflation from higher spending by those who otherwise would use the money to repay student loans.
“This will be a multi-million dollar program, and to my knowledge they have no disclosed how the program will be paid for,” Sen. Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne, said in a statement. “My fear is that this will just add to our already huge national debt, which is already more than $30 trillion. We must quit spending like we have.”
Wyoming Republican U.S. Sens. Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso voiced the same concerns. Lummis sent a statement to WTE, saying that according to the Penn Wharton model, it’s a reckless decision that will add $300 billion to the national debt.
Barrasso is a co-sponsor of the Debt Cancellation Accountability Act. It would require the U.S. Department of Education to obtain a congressional appropriation to pay for any federal student loan debt.
Pappas sees the program as discriminatory, because people who have already paid their loans have no ability to participate. He noted that once program funds are expended, it may be expected in the future, and this could further discriminate against students.
“And what about parents and students who took out personal loans or took it out of their savings? Will they get any relief?” he said. “If we want to be fair, there should be accommodation for those borrowers.”
Rep. Bill Henderson, R-Cheyenne, is among those worried about inflation. He said this may lead to higher fees and tuition.
Jacob Channel, Student Loan Hero senior economist and former Sheridan resident, said inflation is a possibility. He said because federal borrowers have had a pause on their student loan payments for the past two years, the extra money is already being spent or saved. This change, he expects, won’t have as big an impact. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/banking_and_finance/republicans-cite-alternatives-to-student-debt-forgiveness/article_64baadd0-2ed6-11ed-ae85-876dc81b3043.html | 2022-09-07T19:45:29Z |
Frank Eathorne, Wyoming Republican Party chairman, looks on during the Republican National Committee winter meeting Feb. 4 in Salt Lake City. Associated Press File
Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan. Image courtesy of Wyoming Secretary of State Office via its Facebook page.
Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan. Michael Smith/For the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Frank Eathorne, Wyoming Republican Party chairman, looks on during the Republican National Committee winter meeting Feb. 4 in Salt Lake City. Associated Press File
CHEYENNE – Key leaders of the Wyoming Republican Party asked the outgoing secretary of state, Ed Buchanan, to stay in the job longer than he intended. Buchanan responded that he is sticking with his plan to leave the office on Sept. 15 and become a state judge on Sept. 19.
Chairman Frank Eathorne and other Wyoming GOP leaders wrote Buchanan to ask him to remain in his current post through the Nov. 8 general election. As things have stood, Buchanan plans to leave this month. This is so that he can begin a job he was appointed to in July by Gov. Mark Gordon, in Goshen County as a district court judge in the state's Eighth Judicial District.
Buchanan's term, should he decide to remain for all of it, would last through the election and into early next year. In a recent interview with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Buchanan expressed confidence in the state’s election process, even without him running the Wyoming Secretary of State's Office.
Wyoming Republican leaders do not appear to agree with this sentiment, however. They worry that having a new secretary of state for only a short time, before the next permanent one would take over after the general election, could affect the office.
In its letter dated Friday, the political party asked Buchanan to "remain in office until after the general election process is complete." Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, has won the GOP primary to become the next secretary of state and is generally expected to also prevail on Nov. 8.
Leaving in mid-September, as Buchanan plans, "may be setting your appointed successor up to fail," wrote Eathorne and colleagues Nina Webber and Corey Steinmetz, who are both Wyoming Republican Party national committee people, in their letter. Any replacement "would not take office until 4 weeks before election day and does not know your team members," the letter said. "It is difficult to imagine who would want to assume the role on such short notice."
"I am flattered to have the Party request me to stay on through the general election," Buchanan responded via an emailed statement. "However, it is Wyoming's 23 county clerks and the Secretary of State staff that do the heavy lifting for elections. Upon my departure, it will be business as usual in the Secretary of State's Office throughout the general election and through the end of the year."
Buchanan has apparently not started the official clock for a replacement to be named. On Tuesday morning, Gov. Gordon's spokesperson wrote in an email to the WTE that the governor "has not yet received a letter of resignation from the Secretary."
In their letter, the Wyoming GOP leaders noted that when Gordon picked Buchanan to be a judge, the governor "knew you held one of the most important jobs in the State. That is often the case with filling any position – the best candidates have a job they must wrap up." Eathorne and the others said that "the courts will manage if you need to remain in your current role until general election canvassing is complete."
Once Buchanan officially declares his intent to resign, the Wyoming GOP must solicit interest in the position, then forward three names to Gordon, who will pick one to fill the position on an interim basis.
The online version of the story has been corrected to reflect the accurate spelling of the last name of Nina Webber, who is a national committeewoman of the Wyoming Republican Party. | https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/government_and_politics/buchanan-sticks-with-plan-to-become-a-judge-on-sept-19-wyoming-gop-wants-him/article_e6731778-2ed5-11ed-ba03-7bf8d839a782.html | 2022-09-07T19:45:36Z |
Singer, songwriter and fiddle player Amanda Shires still remembers the moment she fell in love with the fiddle. She'd been learning to play classical music on the violin at school when her music teacher introduced her to some of Frankie McWhorter's fiddle tunes.
"It was love at first listen," Shires says of the fiddle songs. "I was like, 'That's what I want to do,' because you play this song and then you get to improvise ... you just play what you feel within the chord. And I was really into that."
McWhorter, who had played fiddle in Bob Wills' band, became her teacher, and when Shires was just 15, he asked her to join The Texas Playboys.
"It took me a minute to really learn how to improvise," Shires says of those early years. "The players in the band, they took me seriously as a player, but they also understood that I was a kid."
Shires would go on to make a name for herself, both as a solo artist and as the founder of the country supergroup The Highwomen, which includes Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby. In 2020, The Highwomen won Album of the Year at the Americana Music Honors and Awards ceremony.
Shires' new album, Take it Like a Man, includes several songs she wrote during a rough period in her marriage to musician Jason Isbell.
"This part of my life and our marriage was difficult and it took me back to the reason I came to writing and doing music in the first place, which is expression," she says. "When I would write the songs, I don't know what's going to come out, but sometimes I was just so down that the only way I could get better was to take it out on writing a song."
Shires sings and plays fiddle throughout this interview. Click the audio link above to get the full experience
Interview highlights
On channeling her feelings about her marriage into writing "Fault Lines" and showing it to Isbell
I went and I sat down in my barn of internal wandering, and this is after some kind of nebulous argument, and I wrote "Fault Lines" and then I texted it to him, just like you'd imagine, I said, "I just wrote this song." And then in my mind I thought, Well, if he couldn't hear the frequency of my voice before, maybe he could hear it through music, you know? And one day we wound up in the studio and we cut the song. And after we recorded it, he said, "That's a really good song." And I said, "That's all you have to say. No more?" But through the process of making the record and all the things that go with that, the hours and the tedium, it got easier for us to have conversations, not because we were doing the work of addressing the problems, but because we found common ground on something again, which has always been music and words."
On being a "disciple" of Leonard Cohen
I've listened to all of his records. I've found and scrounged and continue to for every interview that he's done in any form, in any language. And I save them all and I return to them often ... I own one of his guitars ... My whole left arm is tattoos of Leonard Cohen... I really do feel like he did a lot of work for me that I don't have to do. Like, I know that in all of the searching that he did still believe that there was something bigger out there, so I don't have to go trying to learn all these other things. I could just trust based on how Leonard Cohen did all that work for us.
On forming the all-female country super-group The Highwomen
In 2016 I was going on the road. My daughter was about a year old, and I was getting into my touring van because I hadn't worked my way into a bus yet. And as it happened, eventually the auxiliary cable quit working in the van so I was left to the radio choices of sports ball and Top 40 country music.
Also, during this time when I was leaving, I was thinking about how [my daughter] Mercy picked up a kazoo and she could play a kazoo. And she would dance a little bit to The Beatles and stuff and started seeing the possibility that she might go into music one day. So I started just taking notes on the radio because in 22 songs, [I heard] one woman's voice ... and it was a Carrie Underwood song from six years before that or something. In 2016 there was 13% representation of women to men on country radio, and now it still sits pleasantly at 16% on a good week. But I thought, what am I going to do about that, in the event that she does go into country music? And then I thought about Waylon [Jennings] and Kris [Kristofferson] and them of The Highwaymen, and I was like, "They were kind of speaking about ageism." I said, "It'd be cool if I ... had a band, The Highwomen." Then I told my friend Dave Cobb about my idea and he really liked it and he said, "I'm going to have you meet Brandi Carlile." And we met. While the idea was mine, it wasn't only me that made this Highwomen be a thing. It took Dave Cobb and it took Brandi and then it took Natalie [Hemby] and Maren Morris.
Amy Salit and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Kitty Eisele adapted it for the web.
Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/amanda-shires-examines-the-fault-lines-in-her-marriage-on-her-new-album | 2022-09-07T19:57:06Z |
Steve Bannon, a former senior political aide to President Donald Trump, is expected to turn himself into authorities in New York state on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the case.
Bannon will face state charges that he committed fraud by improperly diverting funds donated to an organization called "We Build The Wall."
The charity, launched in 2018, raised more than $25 million after promising to help build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to curb illegal immigration.
In a statement Tuesday night, Bannon described the state-level prosecution as a part of a wider "weaponization of the criminal justice system" against conservatives.
The office of Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg didn't respond Wednesday to NPR's request for comment.
Bannon previously faced federal charges linked to his involvement with the charity.
In August 2020, a Justice Department probe alleged he helped orchestrate "a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors" including some in New York state.
The DOJ contended Bannon and others lied to contributors and then created sham invoices and accounts to "cover up their crimes."
Bannon pleaded not guilty to the charges on Aug. 20, 2020, after being arrested on a yacht off the Connecticut coast.
Five months later, in one of his final acts before leaving office, Trump pardoned Bannon, praising him in a statement as "an important leader in the conservative movement."
That pardon blocked federal charges relating to the Build The Wall Charity, but Manhattan's district attorney soon launched a separate state-level probe of Bannon's activities.
Bannon was a top adviser to Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. He later served as a political strategist in the White House.
He now hosts a right-wing podcast called War Room that often broadcasts and amplifies conspiracy theories.
In his Tuesday night statement, Bannon claimed the criminal charges are part of an effort to silence him ahead of the midterm election.
"I have not yet begun to fight," Bannon said. "They will have to kill me first."
Two other prominent conservatives involved in the Build The Wall charity were not pardoned by Trump.
In April, Brian Kolfage and Andew Badolato pleaded guilty to one charge each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their roles in the organization.
Kolfage also pled guilty to separate tax and wire fraud charges.
In a separate case, a federal jury found Bannon guilty in July on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for not complying with a subpoena to testify in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/facing-state-fraud-charges-in-n-y-bannon-is-expected-to-turn-himself-in-thursday | 2022-09-07T19:57:13Z |
When the government made school meals temporarily free to virtually all public school students in 2020, the intent was to buffer children and families from the spike in hunger and economic hardship caused by the pandemic. It also inadvertently turned out to be a pilot project for something anti-hunger groups had been pushing for years: making school food free, permanently, for all public school students, regardless of income.
Once free meals were in place, albeit temporarily, many advocates thought that they would at least remain that way for the rest of the pandemic—if not longer. That didn't turn out to be the case; this spring, Republicans blocked an extension of the waivers that allowed schools to serve free meals to all, which made the prospect of legislation establishing universal school meals remote.
This fall, schools are once again charging for lunch and breakfast, and people who run school food programs are back to the familiar scramble to get students signed up for free and reduced-price meals — and to the familiar worry that some kids will feel stigmatized for getting free meals, end up in lunch debt or go hungry.
Those arguing for universal free meals say that it would put an end to that stigma and to administrative hurdles that can prevent parents from signing their kids up.
While advocates say Republican opposition to expanding school feeding programs is daunting, they haven't given up on the idea of making school meals free for all. Instead, they're trying to keep the momentum going by backing state-level efforts that could eventually lay the groundwork for federal action.
States move to free school meals for all kids
This year, California, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Nevada will offer free meals to all public school students, regardless of their family's income. Connecticut has also funded free meals for part of this year, and Colorado voters will decide in November whether to make school meals free to all. Universal meals legislation has been introduced in a number of other states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Maryland and North Carolina.
A state-by-state approach isn't ideal, says Clarissa Hayes, deputy director of school and out-of-school time programs at the Food Research & Action Center, but it's still an important step — one that never would have happened if the pandemic hadn't hit.
"It really moved the needle," she says. "We are excited to see what's happening in the states, and in most cases, it is a bipartisan effort and there are a lot of partners at the table."
But whether action at the state level will translate into more support for federal universal school meals legislation is unclear, says Katie Wilson, the executive director of the Urban School Food Alliance. "You can roll the dice," she says.
While state initiatives could help popularize the idea of universal meals, they could also give federal lawmakers cover to argue that the question of whether to make meals universally free is best left to state legislatures, she says. That would sell kids short, Wilson says, noting that children's access to healthy food should not depend on their zip codes.
No matter how much support universal school meals have at the state level, Republican opposition in Congress is formidable, she says.
"Right now, there is just not the desire to do universal school meals at a national level from one side of the aisle," she says. "So how do you change that? We don't know. We've been trying for decades."
Federal lawmakers will likely hear from constituents upset that kids' access to school meals has been curtailed at a time when so many families continue to struggle with food insecurity, and high food and fuel prices, says Diane Pratt-Heavner, director of media relations at the School Nutrition Association.
But she says that passing universal meals legislation, of the sort that Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Ilhan Omar and other Democrats have introduced in recent years, is going to be "an uphill climb."
Another workaround to help hungry kids
Pratt-Heavner and other advocates point to an upcoming opportunity to increase kids' access to free school meals in a less sweeping, but still significant way — the child nutrition reauthorization process. Every five years, Congress is required to reauthorize school feeding programs, and it's a critical chance to strengthen them, advocates say.
Congress is overdue to reauthorize the program, but there was finally some movement in July when House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, introduced a childhood nutrition reauthorization bill that was praised by anti-hunger advocates.
The bill, if enacted as written, would alter the rules governing the Community Eligibility Provision. In its current form, the provision allows schools where at least 40% of students are "directly certified" — that is, enrolled in federal safety net programs like SNAP or TANF or are in the foster care system — to offer free meals to all students at the school, regardless of need.
In the 2021-22 school year, 33,300 schools serving 16.2 million children used the provision, according to a USDA spokesperson — that's nearly a third of the nation's 49.5 million public school students.
But advocates say that the program isn't reaching as far as it could. That's because under the current rules, schools that have between 40% and 62.5% of their students directly certified still have to pay for a portion of the meals they serve, which not all schools or districts can afford or want to do. It's only when 62.5% or more of the student body is directly certified that the federal government pays the entire amount.
The Scott bill would change reimbursement rates so that schools would only have to have 40% directly certified students to be fully reimbursed for all meals served. And it would allow schools or districts in which 25% of students are directly certified to participate in the program if they were willing to cover a portion of the cost.
Pratt-Heavner says the bill's provisions would help many more schools in high poverty communities offer meals to all students. But she says that it still wouldn't help the economically-stressed families who live in wealthier communities.
"At the end of the day, these meals are important to all students," she says. "And that's why it's important to just offer meals to all students, without an application, just like we offer them textbooks and bus service."
This story was produced by Ag Insider, a publication of the Food & Environment Reporting Network . FERN is an independent, nonprofit news organization, where Bridget Huber is a staff writer.
Copyright 2022 . To see more, visit . | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/hunger-advocates-want-free-school-meals-for-all-kids-its-tough-sell-in-congress | 2022-09-07T19:57:19Z |
It might be unfair to say that Merriam-Webster is out of touch (added in 2016). Its editors aren't the only ones trying to keep up with the ever-changing English language. Still, kinda cringey they just embraced it as an adjective, as in a cringe moment. On the other hand, Oxford just added it last June.
And pumpkin spice seems like it's been around long enough to have drawn the publisher's attention before now.
Other terms Merriam-Webster added this year:
janky : of very poor quality
virtue signaling : conspicuously displaying one's awareness of and attentiveness to political issues
shrinkflation : the practice of reducing a product's amount or volume per unit while continuing to offer it at the same price
sponcon : content posted usually by an influencer on social media that looks like a typical post but for which the poster has been paid to advertise a product or service
dumbphone : a device lacking advanced features
plushie : a toy covered in plush fabric and filled with soft material
"Some of these words will amuse or inspire, others may provoke debate. Our job is to capture the language as it is used," says Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster in a statement. "Words offer a window into our ever-changing language and culture, and are only added to the dictionary when there is clear and sustained evidence of use."
Yeet's a pretty good example of that window, as well as the lag time it takes for a word that's hot on social media to make its way to a legacy repository like Merriam-Webster.
Back in 2015 — seven years ago — Bustle ran with the headline "Here's Why People Are Suddenly Saying 'Yeet' " for an article exploring the word's origins. Yeet has moved from its beginnings as a dance Vine to an exclamation of excitement to the act of throwing something with force.
Copyright 2022 . To see more, visit . | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/is-it-sus-that-merriam-webster-just-added-pumpkin-spice | 2022-09-07T19:57:26Z |
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
There are some intelligence documents so closely guarded that only the president and a handful of top aides ever see them. They detail U.S. operations classified at levels above top secret. Even senior national security officials are denied clearance. FBI agents found such documents in their search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago property last month. And according to new reporting by The Washington Post, some of those documents included information about one foreign country's nuclear capabilities. Carol Leonnig is one of the reporters who broke the story, and she joins us now on the line.
Carol, thanks for being here.
CAROL LEONNIG: Glad to be here, Rachel.
MARTIN: Tell us more about what these documents contained.
LEONNIG: So, you know, one of the quests we've had as reporters is to understand what was - what's the most serious stuff that was seized at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Beach Club? And, you know, what we found, at least - I'm sure we'll learn more. But what we've found so far is that there were two buckets of extraordinarily sensitive records, government secrets that are held very, very close.
One set involves details about a foreign government's nuclear capabilities. Nuclear capabilities is a pretty vague term on purpose because we don't know whether this involved a foreign adversary that is a nuclear power. We don't know if it's a foreign government that's an ally that's trying to develop a nuclear program. We don't know if it's just any foreign government that the U.S. is gathering intel about and its, I guess, ambitions to become a nuclear power. We don't know. All we know is that it detailed this extremely sensitive material. Why is that sensitive? The obvious reasons - nuclear power and how the U.S. gathers information about a company - a country's nuclear readiness is very serious.
MARTIN: And there would be implications for how countries view the U.S. I mean, if that's an ally, then they're going to be distrustful about how their sensitive information is handled.
LEONNIG: That's absolutely right. An ally is going to be very suspicious of us. And if it's an adversary or another country, they're going to be learning how well or how attuned our intelligence-gathering methods - how well they work and might learn the way we obtain information from inside their country. And that could put our gathering methods, including, you know, human covert spies, in danger.
MARTIN: Is there any...
LEONNIG: So...
MARTIN: Yeah, go ahead.
LEONNIG: So the second bucket - forgive me, Rachel.
MARTIN: Yeah.
LEONNIG: The second bucket involves records that involve special access programs. Some of the top-secret material that was so serious, so closely guarded that...
MARTIN: Just a few seconds, Carol.
LEONNIG: ...Some of the most senior national security and intel officials in the current government are not authorized to view it. Why is that shocking? You know, the government said in one of its filings, public filings, that some of the investigators couldn't see this material. But now we know that actually some of the most senior people in the government didn't have clearance for this. If it's sitting around in Mar-a-Lago for 18 months, you can be darn sure there's no one there that has clearance to review any of these records.
MARTIN: We will see the implications of the revelation. Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig broke this story.
Thank you so much. We appreciate it, Carol.
LEONNIG: Of course. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/mar-a-lago-documents-reveal-nuclear-capabilities-of-foreign-powers | 2022-09-07T19:57:32Z |
During one of my last reporting trips in China, I booked my plane tickets on the drive to the airport. Instead of checking into a hotel, which in China requires turning in a passport scan that is sent straight to the local police, I decided to fly in as early as possible, finish all my reporting in the same day, and return that very night.
I randomly found a driver outside the airport — she even helpfully jumped into translate the beguiling local dialect for me. By nightfall, I was on a flight back to Beijing with all of my reporting safely stored on several microSD cards. Success, I thought.
The next morning, my contact called me in a panic. Several local officials had visited his home after our meeting and threatened him. I was disappointed, but also confused: How had China's security apparatus managed to track down my whereabouts so quickly?
Josh Chin's and Liza Lin's new book, Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control, attempts to answer that question. The two veteran Wall Street Journal reporters spent years covering China's political and technological rise. They draw on that experience to untangle how China built its formidable digital surveillance apparatus (plot spoiler: in conjunction with American companies) and the often-erroneous assumptions that underpin its application, with disastrous consequences.
Chin and Lin describe how authorities utilize a sophisticated national database linking identification documents, facial recognition data, fingerprints, and travel history (including, most likely, mine). A second, more powerful layer of scrutiny is China's vast network of CCTV cameras, whose footage is analyzed in real time by artificial intelligence software sold by a host of Chinese companies like Huawei, Sensetime, Megvii, and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). Unconstrained by China's weak legal system and a nascent digital privacy code, China's tech giants and security apparatus are able to track phones, monitor online purchases, and decrypt messages.
The idea — pioneered by foundational Chinese scientific thinkers like Qian Xuesen — is that harnessing vast inputs of behavioral data can create predictive policing and safe, stable societies. With the reams of big data generated by China's more than one billion mobile internet users, that vision is now reality. The founder and chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba, Jack Ma, is quoted in Surveillance State as saying during a 2015 talk attended by high-level security officials, "Whoever owns enough data and computing ability can predict problems, predict the future, and judge the future."
Government surveillance is difficult to uncover and understand because it is by nature secretive. In the absence of concrete facts (and add a tense geopolitical relationship between the U.S. and China to boot), less knowledgeable reporters might insert hyperbole or speculation. Chin and Lin do none of that, preferring instead to use real-world examples to illustrate both the mundane and dystopian applications of China's surveillance might.
One of the book's strongest traits is its unflinching analysis of how such big data approaches are being utilized not just by China, but by governments all around the world, including in the United States. China, the authors make clear, is not an exception in its embrace of a policing system fortified by video surveillance and artificial intelligence. Western companies including Intel, IBM, Seagate, Cisco and Sun Technologies are among those Chin and Lin examine the commercial relationships that helped make China's surveillance state technologically and financially viable.
China has undoubtedly unlocked an impressive, if chilling, achievement: absolute social control with relatively little of the unseemly and highly visible physical oppression seen in lower-tech authoritarian countries, such as Iran or Russia.
However, such control masks a disturbing level of systemic bias and outright inaccuracy baked into China's deeply penetrating digital surveillance systems. Some of the anecdotes Chin and Lin include are laughable. In one, a noted political dissident is visited by police after, out of boredom, he purchases a slingshot online; the officers suspect he has purchased the toy to take out the numerous CCTV cameras trained on his home.
Others stories are far more troubling. Chin and Lin tell the haunting tale of a Uyghur poet and filmmaker named Tahir Hamut Izgil, who now lives in the U.S. Hamut and his family describe having their blood, iris, fingerprints, and voice recordings collected by Xinjiang police, to be input into a biometric database. At least hundreds of thousands of their fellow Uyghurs have been detained or imprisoned, often on the basis of seemingly flimsy evidence such as usage of chat apps like Whatsapp; surveys filed by cadres sent to live with and report on Uyghur families; or are determined by blanket algorithms to indicate religious extremism.
Surveillance State was largely reported in the years before the global coronavirus pandemic, and both reporters were not based in China as the country locked down its borders and erected a raft of digital Covid-tracking tools. (Chin was expelled from China by authorities in 2020, one of more than a dozen journalists working for U.S. outlets to be kicked out that year.)
Conveniently, such Covid-tracking tools are precisely suited for tracking peoples' movements as well. Everyone in China must now submit location data and recent travel data to maintain digital QR codes on their smartphones. To travel or even enter a store, a person's code must stay a healthy green; it will turn a dangerous red color mandating immediate quarantine if a person is infected or deemed a close contact.
The power to track and control a person's daily movements is unsurprisingly ripe for abuse. Shortly before Surveillance State was published, local authorities in the city of Zhengzhou were reprimanded after they deliberately turned red the digital health codes of hundreds of protestors defrauded by a local bank of their life savings. Should Chin and Lin write a follow-up, they would find rich material further plumbing the dual-use nature of China's digital public health apparatus.
Surveillance State is a cautionary book. It is fairhanded in detailing the rapacious speed at which China has constructed a model of digital authoritarianism other countries are no doubt eager to learn from. Its value is in showing how such surveillance systems are only as good (or bad) as the people who build them.
Copyright 2022 . To see more, visit . | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/surveillance-state-explores-chinas-tech-and-social-media-control-systems | 2022-09-07T19:57:38Z |
Updated September 7, 2022 at 2:55 PM ET
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama headed to the White House Wednesday for the unveiling of the couple's official portraits.
It marked the first time in 10 years since a sitting president has invited former leadership back for a revealing of the portraits — a tradition that stalled when an unveiling did not take place during the Trump years.
Tapped for the assignment of a lifetime were artists Robert McCurdy, for the president, and Sharon Sprung, for the first lady.
"These portraits have a special significance, Obama said, adding that "it was important to find the right people to paint them."
Obama thanked Sprung for capturing Michelle Obama, "Her grace, her intelligence – and the fact that's she's fine," Obama said, as the former first lady rolled her eyes, later thanking him for his "spicy remarks." Obama said McCurdy captured all his flaws – his grey hair, his large ears – and quipped that he had talked him out of wearing a tan suit for the image.
"His work is so precise that at first glance it feels like a photograph," Obama said, explaining that the style helps viewers connect with the subject, and get an "honest sense" of who he is.
"When future generations walk these halls and look up at these portraits, I hope they get a better honest sense of who Michelle and I were. And I hope they leave with a deeper understanding that if we could make it here, maybe they can, too. They can do remarkable things, too," he said.
The former first lady spoke about how the tradition of unveiling the portraits matters as part of the peaceful transition of power in America – and as a representation of the American Dream.
"If the two of us can end up on the walls of the most famous address in the world, then again it is so important for every young kid who is doubting themselves to believe that they can, too. That is what this country is about," she said.
The president of the White House Historical Association described the paintings as nontraditional and unconventional
In a video with the Obama Foundation, Sprung and McCurdy discuss the approach they took to painting the couple.
"I wanted people to pass by the painting and recognize her, or be more curious about her, or to read more about her, but to get her," Sprung said.
Former first lady Michelle Obama is painted wearing a formal blue dress and is seated on a sofa in the Red Room. The process, Sprung said, took 18 months.
In former President Obama's painting, he's standing in the center of the canvas, dressed in a black suit with a gray tie.
"The subject ultimately for me was the idea of the gaze — two people looking directly at each other with nothing else to load the narrative," McCurdy said. "The painting is not telling the story of Barack Obama. It's telling the story of the relationship of the viewer with this particular person. And that's a two-way street."
Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, described the two paintings as nontraditional, unconventional and different.
"To some people they will be a surprise and different because they are nontraditional. To others, they will be very affirming," McLaurin said.
The artist, he noted, depicted only the former president. There is no background.
"He is the centerpiece," McLaurin said. "The portrait of Mrs. Obama is a little bit different than that. It is a very colorful portrait. It highlights her sense of fashion and style. It is depicted in furniture that is easily recognizable from the White House collection. And so there's a fitting or a nod to a more traditional feel, but in... a style of painting that I think is also very suitable to her interest and her personality."
A look at the artists, Robert McCurdy and Sharon Sprung
McCurdy has a broad portfolio, having done portraits of the Dalai Lama, Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nelson Mandela and Warren Buffett. He is best known for oil paintings that look nearly like photographs.
McCurdy said it usually takes him over a year to paint a portrait, and they start with many different actual photos.
"This is the speech that everybody gets when they sit for me: So to look directly into the lens. To not smile. Not gesture. And just hold into that moment, again where we're trying to extend time rather than slice it like a photograph. We're not looking for a gestural moment. We're looking for a more meditative or transcendent moment. So that's what we do," McCurdy told the White House Historical Association. "The setup is quite elaborate."
Sprung, who began working as an artist at the age of 19, got started by reaching out to and eventually working with Aaron Shikler, who did the portraits of former first ladies Jacqueline Kennedy and Nancy Reagan as well as and former President John Kennedy.
"As that time passed and I got better, people would ask me to do their portrait rather than buy a painting of a different subject," Sprung said. "That was a great way to start, because then I knew that people wanted what I did, not what I could do."
Sprung is currently working on portraits of Patsy Mink, the first woman of color and Asian-American woman elected to Congress. Previously she did a portrait of Jeannette Rankin, another former representative.
The White House Historical Association has organized the presidential portraits since the 1960s, and has since made it a goal to acquire portraits of all presidents and first ladies. These portraits of the Obamas, unlike those commissioned for the National Portrait Gallery and unveiled in 2018, will hang in the White House. According to the association, presidents and first ladies often select their artists before leaving the White House. But the process for completing the paintings can take years.
When was the last White House portrait unveiling?
In 2012, Obama invited George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush to the White House for their unveilings. That event has gone down in history as a comedic affair, with Obama quipping that Bush left him a "really good TV sports package" and Bush dropping jokes about his painting. Bush noted that when the British burned the White House in 1814, Dolley Madison famously saved a portrait "of the first George W."
"Now Michelle, if anything happens," Bush said, gesturing to his portrait, "there's your man."
Although McLaurin said the Obama portraits have been done for some undisclosed period of time, there is no specific protocol or instruction for the timing for the unveiling.
"Perhaps the most classic example was the Kennedy portraits [which] were not revealed until the Nixon presidency, and even so they were done so quietly," said McLaurin.
Before Obama and Bush, Bush hosted the Clintons in 2004 and the Clintons hosted George H.W. and Barbara Bush in 1995, which has led some to believe the tradition was skipped during the Trump administration.
Representatives for Obama and Trump did not respond to requests for comment.
The Trumps, however, have begun conversations with the White House Historical Association regarding their own portraits and an artist have been identified, according to McLaurin, though he is unsure where they are in the process of creating the portraits.
"That takes time. But it will happen eventually, just like they all do," said McLaurin. "And at some point in time, they will be added to the White House collection."
Copyright 2022 . To see more, visit . | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/the-obamas-return-to-the-white-house-for-the-unveiling-of-their-portraits | 2022-09-07T19:57:44Z |
Muslims make up 25% of the global population and Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world — but Muslims only comprise 1% of characters shown on popular televisions series in the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
Those are just two of the findings in a new report issued Wednesday by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. Researchers investigated 200 top-rated television shows from 2018 and 2019 that aired in these four countries, and surveyed 8,885 characters with speaking roles.
Apart from the numbers deficit, the majority of the Muslim characters were depicted as adult Middle Eastern or North African [MENA] men, despite the fact that Muslims are the most racially and ethnically diverse religious group in the world. These characters were also linked to violent acts and behavior. Over 30% of the 98 Muslim characters were perpetrators of violence, while nearly 40% were targets of such attacks. Less than one-third were portrayed as native English speakers, underscoring depictions of Muslims as "foreigners."
Furthermore, the ratio of male Muslim characters to female ones in these television shows is 174 to 1; and when women and girl characters d0 appear, they are typically portrayed as "fearful and endangered." Across the nearly 9,000 characters surveyed as part of the study, only one identified as an LGBTQ Muslim.
"The findings in this study reveal how rarely content creators think about including Muslims in popular storytelling– particularly girls and women," said Stacy L. Smith, founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative in a press release issued alongside the study. "As a result, viewers would have to watch hours and hours of content before seeing even a single portrayal of a Muslim character– with even more time required to find a portrayal that is not linked to violence or extremism."
Copyright 2022 . To see more, visit . | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/there-are-barely-any-muslims-on-popular-tv-series-a-new-study-says | 2022-09-07T19:57:51Z |
Former President Donald Trump continues to heavily suggest he will run for president in 2024, but a new poll out from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist shows voters in the middle overwhelmingly don't want him to give it another go.
Sixty-seven percent of independents said they do not want Trump to run again, while just 28% said they do. In 2020, Trump lost independents and lost the election. In 2016, Trump fared better with the group, but throughout his presidency and afterward he suffered with them and has never regained them.
"I think we need someone who can start uniting the country," said survey participant Mike Helms, 68, of Lincolnton, N.C., an independent who voted for Trump in 2020. "I don't think him or [President] Biden can unite this country."
Trump has continued to be heavily unpopular outside of his base, raising questions about the strength of a Trump 2024 candidacy. People who live in large cities and suburban women continue to be two of the groups most opposed to Trump, while white evangelical Christians, whites without college degrees and those in rural areas are most supportive.
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"I definitely don't want him to run, because he will split the Republican Party and give the vote to the Democrats," said Greg Cox, 54, of New Haven, Mo., another independent who voted for Trump in 2020.
Overall, 61% of survey respondents said they don't want Trump to run again, largely unchanged from just after the 2020 election that Trump lost. A lot has transpired since then, and it shows just how locked in Americans' views are of Trump.
In fact, when respondents were asked if they would want Trump to run again, even if he is charged with a crime, the percentage saying no only increased marginally to 65%. That's within the margin of error.
Republicans looked like they were starting to pull away from Trump, but since the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home, for classified materials, they have reconsolidated around him.
When it comes to the FBI search, a plurality (44%) of respondents said they think Trump did something illegal. Another 17% think he did something unethical, but not illegal. Nearly 30% maintain he did nothing wrong, including 63% of Republicans.
Two-thirds of Republicans said they want Trump to run again, and a whopping 61% of them said they still want him to run even if he's charged with a crime.
Trump is using the FBI search as a rallying cry, calling it an "egregious abuse of the law." That's despite the FBI obtaining a legal search warrant. The Justice Department has said that it began investigating after a referral from the National Archives about classified material being mixed in with other material it received from Trump.
The FBI said it had evidence that Trump's team did not turn over all the documents it was asked for — and the search bore that out. An inventory of the search of Trump's home found dozens of boxes of documents, including some marked with the highest, most sensitive classifications.
On Monday, Trump was granted the right to a "special master" to separate out materials that have attorney-client privilege and even potentially material that could be argued to have "executive privilege," even though Trump is no longer president.
"We're going to take back America," Trump said at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Saturday, where he lambasted the FBI search. "And in 2024, most importantly, we are going to take back our magnificent White House."
But Trump's base alone proved not to be enough in 2020, and likely wouldn't be in 2024, either.
Biden has also struggled with independents, who have largely disapproved of the job he has done so far, so they will be a major question mark and potentially hold the key to a 2024 presidential election, if it is a Biden-Trump rematch.
Helms, for example, said he would vote for Trump over Biden if Trump does run again, but not happily.
Cox said he would "absolutely not" vote for Trump again if there's a next time around, but he emphatically said he is not open to voting for Biden, either.
"Maybe I'd vote Libertarian," Cox said.
Methodology
The survey of 1,236 adults was conducted Aug. 29 through Sept. 1. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points, meaning results could be 4 points higher or lower than what is shown. There are 1,151 registered voters surveyed with a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points.
Copyright 2022 . To see more, visit . | https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2022-09-07/two-thirds-of-independents-say-they-dont-want-trump-to-run-for-president | 2022-09-07T19:57:57Z |
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