Abu Dhabi Investment Fund buying 3 Editions from Marriott. What does this mean to Marriott and the Edition brand?
Hotel Lawyer on the reported sale by Marriott of 3 Edition hotels.
Craig Karmin and Alexandra Berzon of the Wall Street Journal broke a big story yesterday evening which appeared in the August 15, 2013 US edition of the paper at page C3. The headline is "Marriott Close to Deal to Sell Three Hotels to Abu Dhabi Fund."
The story, in which I am quoted, describes reports from people close to the deal, that Marriott International is about to close a sale of 3 Edition hotels in London, New York and Miami Beach. The reported buyer is Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, or ADIA.
Other highlights of the article:
Marriott has said that it planned to invest up to $800 million in the 3 hotels
David Loeb of RW Baird estimates that Marriott has already spent about $575 million to buy, convert and upgrade the 3 properties
Marriott is expected to make a profit on the sale
So what does this transaction mean?
Here is what I think this transaction means:
ADIA, a major international investor, has cast a big vote of confidence in the fledgling Edition brand and is putting several hundred million dollars behind its vote. The investment is both in the purchase of the 3-hotel portfolio, and in the new Edition being built in Abu Dhabi.
Although Marriott is an industry giant, the Edition brand has struggled to get going. Its original ambitious plans were crushed by the Great Recession as development partners were unable to get financing, and then by the messy divorce between Marriott and the owner of the first Edition in Waikiki (See M Waikiki's Edition lawsuit against Marriott and Ian Schrager and related articles). Rumors of a split between Marriott and partner Ian Schrager swirled as some labeled Edition a trouble brand.
Marriott still has only 1 Edition Hotel open (in Istanbul), and had to commit $800 million of its own capital to boost the launch of the Edition brand. Marriott's website says that it now has 7 Edition hotels in the pipeline and is on track to have 5 Editions open by 2015 in international centers. This is a nice stabilization, but a far cry from the 5 Editions Marriott said it would have open by the end of 2007 and the 100 it expected to have operating globally by 2017.
The ADIA transactions show that some real smart money is not worried about the nay-sayers and has confidence in the future. ADIA is the kind of player that might well turn out to be a long-term strategic player with Marriott on building and owning more Editions (and possibly other hotels).
One has to admire Marriott's stamina and commitment to the brand to invest up to $800 million of its own capital in Editions. It looks like that bet is paying off, and this transaction could free up that capital for Marriott to do something again to jump start development in key international locations.
This is a positive development for Marriott, the Edition brand and investors in the Edition brand. But everyone should remember the painful lesson of how the JW Marriott brand struggled for more than 20 years before it became well-established to command the rates and recognition among travelers that it deserves today. [We represented a major investor in an early JW Marriott going back to the late 1980s, and the results were not good.]
The lesson? It is essential for the success of the Edition brand that Marriott build the Edition chain to a minimum critical mass as quickly as possible.
Have you ever stayed in a Marriott Edition, had dinner or drinks at one, or asked your assistant to book you into one at a city you are traveling to? Me, neither. But if Marriott stays the course and the river doesn't rise, that could change.
Selecting the right brand and operator
Selecting the right brand and operator for its hotel is one of the most important decisions a hotel owner will make. It is a decision that will affect the profitability and value of the hotel for a very long time. The selection process must be intentional and disciplined and should take into account the owner's needs, the operator's capabilities and the terms of their agreement.
No matter how strongly a brand may court an owner, or how strongly an owner feels about the "perfect" brand for its property, a disciplined approach to selecting an operator is always the best approach. To assist owners in this process, we have developed the proprietary "Hotel Management Agreement Procedure to Recruit an Operator" or HMA PRO™.
JMBM's HMA PRO™ Checklist is a 50-point, detailed list of all the business and legal issues which an owner needs to resolve prior to or during the earliest stages of negotiating the term sheet or letter of intent (LOI) with the operator. All the other matters are more technical items that can be hashed out in the actual negotiation of the Hotel Management Agreement itself, after the term sheet or LOI is finished.
How to get a great hotel operator
The 5 biggest mistakes owners make in pursuing hotel management agreements (and how to avoid them)
Hotel Management Agreements — the HMA Handbook
The Hotel Management Agreement (HMA), which allocates risk between the hotel operator and the hotel owner, is critical to the successful and profitable relationship between the owner and operator. Owners and operators with a well-thought-out and fair agreement can avoid the kind of expensive litigation that surrounds the termination of an operator. We have covered HMA issues extensively in the Hotel Law Blog, and have compiled them in to the HMA Handbook. To register for your free copy, go to HMA Handbook.
Posted in: Hotel Development, Lifestyle Hotels and Outlook and Trends
Updated: August 15, 2013 5:57 pm


BLUE LIGHTS SPECIAL TO NEIL ARMSTRONG AIRPORT
Home News Blue Lights Special to Neil Armstrong Airport – Media Clipping
MEDIA CLIPPING: SELF-CONTAINED SOLAR LIGHTS COULD HELP AIRPORT REDUCE ELECTRICITY COSTS IF FAA APPROVES
ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN OHIO'S WAPAKONETA DAILY NEWS: FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2002
By William Laney, Managing Editor
NEW KNOXVILLE – New blue and red blinking beacons may soon be lighting the way for planes using the airport in New Knoxville. Neil Armstrong Airport Manager Gary Katterheinrich said he likes the solar-powered blinking lights because of the ease in moving them and the cost savings on electricity.
He received approval Tuesday night from members of the Auglaize County Airport Authority to purchase four solar-powered blue lights and four solar-powered red lights from Carmanah Technologies of Canada.
The four blue lights will be added to the airport's main taxiway, bringing the total to eight lights. The four red lights will be placed at the corners of the airport's fueling station for the planes.
With plans being prepared to expand and improve the airport's runway and taxiway, Katterheinrich likes the self-contained lights for another reason.
"The plus side of the new lights is there is no main line to bury," Katterheinrich said. "I figure to do the main taxiway, we would need about 15 on each side. My feeling is we do this taxiway and the taxiway at the old Minster taxiway. We need another 30 lights over there."
The cost for a regulation aviation light is $121, compared to the new solar-powered lights at $159.
The solar-powered lights have not been approved by the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), but the lights have been used along railroad tracks for years. Katterheinrich said the solar-powered lights come with a three-year warranty, but he believes they will outlast the warranty noting the lights for the railroad have lasted 10 years.
The lights don't need to be FAA-approved since the airport is not required to have lights along the taxiway. "If we get a grant to do the runway and taxiway, we might be able to use some of that money to purchase the lights," Airport Authority member Gene Will said Tuesday night. "I agree with Gary (Katterheinrich) that it would be nice to have them along the main taxiway at night. The only way to find the taxiway now is with a yellow line down the center of the taxiway."
"It may not be too bad to buy a few now and try them out to see how they do," said Airport Authority President Todd Kitzmiller. "If we like them, then we can purchase more in the future." Katterheinrich said one advantage is it cuts down on the cost of electricity. The airport spends an average of $300 to $400 each month on electricity, mostly to light the main runway during the night. The solar-powered lights require two to three hours of daylight, not necessarily sunlight, and will be powered up for two to three days.
Another advantage to the airport, Katterheinrich said, is there is no need for electrical wire conduit to be run to each light. The conduit typically has to be run underneath the taxiway—and proposed plans call for widening the taxiway in the near future then new conduit would be needed.
"The good thing about them is they are not made of metal and won't conduct electricity during a storm," the airport manager said. "Plus, they are totally sealed and water can't seep in and short them out."
Katterheinrich also likes the ease in installing the lights.
"The neat thing is we just slip the light into another PVC pipe," Katterheinrich said. "Then we just pull them out and mow. It's that easy."
TODAY'S SOLAR-POWERED RUNWAY AND TAXIWAY LIGHTS ARE FAA AND TRANSPORT CANADA APPROVED. LEARN MORE ABOUT AIRPORT SOLUTIONS.
FIND OUT WHAT CARMANAH CAN DO FOR YOUR AIRPORT NOW.


Editorial - Posted by admin on March 21, 2014
Editorial: Justice
The police have apprehended a suspect in the case of the stolen motorbike and the brave security guard who risked his life defending someone else's property. The suspect is, to be sure, innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But we do hope
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on March 21, 2014
Election Day 2014: Friday, September 5: Regular elections before the summer not possible
St. Maarten – Unconfirmed rumblings suggest that the fall of the third Wescot-Williams cabinet is scheduled for the end of this month but it is unclear whether this is inspired by the wish to bring about elections before the summer or by other poli
Ministry promotes rights of the worker
St. Maarten – Policy advisor Nikima Groeneveldt-Hickinson presented brochures and a poster depicting the rights of the workers in St. Maarten yesterday morning in the A.C. Wathey Legislative Hall, in the presence of Labor Minister Cornelius de Weev
Court mitigates sentence seventh Vesuvius-suspect
St. Maarten – Andrew Davis, the self-proclaimed advisor of gang leader Omar Jones found some sort of relief in the Common Court of Justice yesterday afternoon. Serving a 6-year prison sentence handed to him in the Court in First Instance and faced
Appeal ruling Middle Region stabbing: Court cuts sentence in half
St. Maarten – The Common Court of Justice gave Shanieska Alisia Brooks a significantly milder punishment on appeal for stabbing her former friend Kimberly Illidge to death on March 23 of last year. While the Court in First Instance sentenced Brooks
Opinion - Posted by admin on March 21, 2014
Opinion: The road to Election Day 2014
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Opinion: Political tribalism
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Opinion: A tribute in honor of Mr. J. A. Lambert
Mr. Julius Lambert was born on August 4, 1947, and passed away on March 15, 2014, at the age of 67. We will always remember him as a family man, friend and a true patriarch of St. Maarten. Through his life he was a living testament of what hard
Editorial: Why bother?
Before the summer or after the summer? That is the question raging through election land right now. From the presentation by Prime Minister Wescot-Williams we understand that the regular procedure will lead to elections on Friday, September 5.
Recognition for St. Maarten's first social worker: Elaine Gumbs-Vlaun: "Do it with your heart and soul"
St. Maarten – When Elaine Gumbs-Vlaun started her career as a social worker last century in a male-dominated St. Maarten, she had an encounter with a man who refused to pay child support. When he met his social worker, expecting this to be a man, h
MP Heyliger against TelEm/UTS merger: Fears workers will lose jobs
St. Maarten – Last week Thursday the management of Telem Group and the St. Maarten Communication Union (SMCU) had a meeting to discuss several matters. The main topic in the four hour long meeting held was the merger of Telem Group and UTS, the SMC
Uncategorized - Posted by admin on March 19, 2014
Elections in first week of September: Minister De Weever remains loyal to Democratic Party
St. Maarten – Member of parliament Petrus Leroy de Weever will step aside if his nephew, Public Health Minister Cornelius de Weever, becomes a candidate on the list for the Democratic Party for the elections that will be held in the first week of S
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Without any doubt, Elaine Gumbs-Vlaun is The Example of what all human beings ought to be. The lady is – if you'll forgive us the expression – a woman with balls and a heart so big that you cannot help but just love her. The choice to honor
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Calypso Barbara tribute planned
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Opinion: Dogs on chains—why it's not a good idea
Dogs that are chained run a much higher risk of biting and are more likely to be the dogs that run off and don't come back when called. Why? Chaining a dog goes against its natural instincts. Dogs were not meant to be tied up. Most become protecti
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Romare Bearden in profile: African-American soul, Caribbean love
St. Maarten / By Jason Lista – African-American artist and writer Romare Bearden is no longer with us. He died in 1988 after a battle with bone cancer, but not before receiving the prestigious National Medal of Arts from President Ronald Reagan in
Lack of space in Point Blanche prison
St. Maarten - Last week, the Public Prosecution Service had to send home two suspects as a consequence of overcrowding in the prison at Point Blanche. The prison is currently being rebuilt from wing to wing and, as a result, 30 detention places are l
Questions for the weekend
American researchers have discovered something many people already know: your mood affects the mood of others. If you are in a foul mood, you will quickly ruin the mood of people around you. If you smile, people will smile in return. The research
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Editorial: Overcrowding
The news that the Pointe Blanche prison is overcrowded and that some convicts and suspects had to be released is disturbing. It raises important issues and important questions, none of whose answers are comforting. What is the core of the problem?
Editorial, St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on March 17, 2014
Editorial: Arrival of Attorney-General Guus Schram
With the arrival of Guus Schram as the successor of Attorney-General Dick Piar crime fighting in St. Maarten and Curacao has entered a new era. It is obviously too early to assess whether the new man will do a better job than his predecessor, but it
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St. Maarten — For the second consecutive year the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) is forced to cancel the Senior Road March Competition due to lack of cooperation from the singers despite the efforts of the SCDF to wait until Mar
Attorney-General Guus Schram "Embed the Prosecutor's Office in a network with countless others"
St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – "The impression that cases are shelved is something I want to adjust. We will have to work faster and act more boldly." With the arrival of Guus Schram as the successor of Dick Piar as the attorney-general for S
Opinion: Words of wisdom
Sometimes words of wisdom come from far away but they are still very recognizable. Like this report from India where the eldest politician in the world has announced that he is going to retire. Rishang Keushing is 94 and he is a Member of the Parl
Opinion: Water leakage
Dear Editor, Around the world liters of water are lost every day through broken and leaking pipes. Water usually drains downwards to the water table, which is the top layer of saturation in a rock. It is then extracted again from the ground or
Opinion: Serfdom: We have arrived
Below, I'll give some excerpts and interpretations of Friedrich von Hayek's book "The Road to Serfdom". We'll see a direct reflection of how St. Maarten/St. Martin has already arrived. Now, a "Serf" is a person in a condition of servitu


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Devil's Lair Scoops Perth Wine Show
Devil's Lair has strengthened its reputation as one of Australia's finest Cabernet Sauvignon producers with a rare triple-crown win at the Royal Perth Wine Show.
The Margaret River winemaker took out three awards for its 2018 Devil's Lair Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon at the show this month, winning Best Cabernet Sauvignon, Best Red Wine of Show and Best Western Australian Red Wine.
The Perth Royal Wine Awards are Western Australia's premier wine competition, often credited with raising the State's profile as a producer of quality wines to a global audience.
30 Vintages of Devil's Lair
Established in 1981, Devil's Lair has built a reputation for producing some of Australia's finest examples of the varieties Margaret River does best - Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. A wine 50,000 years in the making, it is a combination of geology, geography and climate that allows Devil's Lair to create wines with great clarity, powerful fruit flavours and elegant structure.
A special milestone of 30 years calls for pause, reflection, recognition and appreciation. To mark this special occasion, Senior Winemaker Ben Miller and long-standing viticulturist Simon Robertson (in 2020 he celebrated his 27th vintage at Devil's lair) hosted an intimate retrospective tasting of ~30 chardonnays and 30 cabernets dating back to their very first vintages. Held on location at Devil's lair Winery, in attendance were past and present winemakers and viticultural staff who have passionately contributed their skills and attention over the winery's life span. Notable guests included Stuart Pym, Janice McDonald, Oliver Crawford.
The day was a huge success and incredible opportunity to come together to celebrate the achievements, reflect on the winery's vinous history and let's not forget, taste some exceptional wine!
Dance With The Devil Makes Top 100 List
Wine critic James Halliday has selected Devil's Lair in his annual list of Australia's Top 100 Wins.
One of Australia's most respected wine writers, James included our 2018 Dance With The Devil Chardonnay in his list of 20 wines under $25.
In his list for The Australian, James described the wine as "exceptional", and awarded a score of 95 points out of 100.
"It's length and balance are spot on, the pink grapefruit and white peach add another layer to dance with," he wrote.
You can learn more about our Dance With The Devil Chardonnay here.
Tasting Talent Rewarded
The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) announced this week that Matt Godfrey, winemaker at Devil's Lair in Margaret River, WA, was the dux of the 40th Advanced Wine Assessment Course.
As dux, Matt has accepted a place as an associate judge at the 2019 Royal Adelaide Wine Show, where judging is currently in progress.
After the dux announcement, Matt commented: "Participating in AWAC was a great opportunity to meet some fantastic people from many realms of the wine industry. Assessing and discussing wines alongside such a talented and diverse group was a great way to calibrate my skills and further my knowledge of wine.
"The high diversity of wines judged throughout AWAC is unique and a great challenge for anyone who gets the opportunity to participate. The AWAC gave me confidence in my consistency of wine assessment and the opportunity to learn from the panels of industry leaders."
The selection of the dux of each course is based on statistical scores, verbal skills and group interaction.
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Please note that Devil's Lair does not have a cellar door
Australia: 1300 651 650 | New Zealand: 0800 651 650


Croatia: Major Cabinet Reshuffles To Stifle Progress
June 19, 2014 by inavukic 15 Comments
Zoran Milanovic
These glasses are not rosy-coloured,
but it sure feels like it!
Photo: Goran Mehkek/Cropix
The current Social Democrat (SDP) led government started at the end of 2011 with a huge stick of high ambition for serious reforms; they vowed with their so-called "Plan 21" to rid Croatia of the "bad" effects the previous Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) had according to them inflicted upon Croatia's economy; they vowed that they would turn Croatia's economy around and reduce significantly unemployment rate.
At beginning of June 2014 (referring to its March 2014 paper) the European Commission had handed down its first analysis of Croatian economy, with recommendations, since Croatia became EU member state in July 2013. The Commission's analysis shows that Croatia (its government) has been dragging its feet when it comes to achieving critical reforms and hence, suggests a need to continue monitoring Croatia's performance in areas identified with the frame of EU membership. Around the same time an IMF's assessment said, "Croatia remains stuck in an unusually drawn out recession".
Croatia's seemingly strangely deluded Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, who – as if in a state of a trance – often appears as though talking to himself or trying to convince himself of what he's saying is right, reacted to the Brussels assessment as a "very good" one!
What a fool!
At the same time his relationship with his finance minister Slavko Linic was brewing into a mighty scandal that had the potential of bringing down the government. Milanovic failed and still fails to see that any political bickering and blame game will only deteriorate the country's perspective to exit from the crisis.
The recent almost manic changes, shuffles and reshuffles within the government, under the guise that these are needed so that the government "can get on with its job, properly" (Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic' words June 2014, Croatia HRT TV news) undoubtedly leads one to scratch one's head in bitter anger and say: What have (!) you been doing all this time while in office?
Despite the huge efforts SDP had been investing in trying to appear unified and focused on the job of implementing its "Plan 21" roses aren't blooming from their court for Croatia or for the Party. Indeed, panic and intolerance started to show especially few months back when relations between Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic and Finance Minister Slavko Linic poked their ugly face out – under a cloud of corruption allegations the latter was May/June finally ousted from his position as minister as well as from his membership in SDP (Slavko Linic was replaced with Boris Lalovac). Then few days later two other major portfolio ministers are ousted and replaced – albeit under a cloud of incompetence as one could conclude nothing less from the reason given by Milanovic "they are replaced due to their large workload"! (Rajko Ostojic minister for Health replaced with Sinisa Varga and Zeljko Jovanovic Education minister replaced with Vedran Mornar). After his dismissal, Ostojic (who is said to have supported Linic rather than Milanovic in the SD Party room) said he did not at all feel tired, on the contrary – he is full of energy and strength!
As Milanovic suddenly pushes an unconvincing line of wanting to be surrounded by experts rather than politicians it is surely unrealistic to expect groundbreaking reforms in the remaining less than two years of this government; besides the fact that the government obviously lacked and still lacks the expertise it boasted about at the very beginning of its mandate, the country will soon again enter an election phase because of the presidential election later this year.
Actually, Social Democrats have proven this week in the Croatian Parliament to be working hard at diverting the public's attention from their party's internal hostilities and visible incompetence at governance to a renewed vigour in pointing the finger of "shame and blame" at the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) as some criminal organisation because its former leader and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was convicted of serious corruption. The current president and a future presidential candidate Ivo Josipovic, an SDP loyal and musician, has labeled this corruption as high treason; playing the tune Social Democrats will undoubtedly dance to during his presidential campaign as well as in regurgitating the mantra from the initial phase of their rise to government, which they hope will get them out of boiling hot waters: it's HDZ that is to blame for everything!
The way things are looking right now is that the Social Democrats will for sure end up as the government that deals mainly with internal party battles, engaging in political bickering and recriminations against HDZ designed to prop-up Josipovic's chances at getting a second presidential mandate, while dragging its feet with needed reforms. Indeed, the last couple of days have seen Josipovic unleash a sharp, rather hateful tongue against HDZ who has put forward a tremendous presidential candidate in Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, whose mere presence seems to rattle Josipovic and have him shaking in his boots.
Were Josipovic a president whose main concern is in the delivery of needed boost to the Croatian economy he would steer away from fueling political bickering between the two major parties (HDZ and SDP) and show a way out of the rut Croatia is in, in more ways than one. But, then again, the Social Democrat led political bickering does camouflage incompetence in governance and I trust that the voters will recognise this in both the presidential and, later, in the general elections. Political bickering does leave a sense of abandonment in voters; a sense that nothing is more important to the government than its personal political survival.
While reshuffles within a cabinet are not uncommon they are usually done to favour progress. And even if Milanovic says he wants experts in his cabinet it is more than clear that his latest string of reshuffles are primarily serving political survival and not real progress in achieving economic and other needed changes. If he were serious about making progress then his reshuffles would have come earlier (it's not as if he hasn't reshuffled before or as if he did not know the job his government was to do before) and would have cast a wider net over available expert talent in the country (and from abroad). Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: cabinet reshuffle, Croatia, Croatian Democratic Union, Croatian economy, European Commission, HDZ, IMF on Croatia, Ivo Josipovic, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, SDP, Social Democrats, Zoran Milanovic
« Croatia: End Of Lukewarm And Incompetent Mandate Era On Horizon As Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic Becomes Presidential Candidate
Appraising Croatia As Nation In Transit From Communism »
If they got things right to begin with as they always claim too, they wouldn't need to reshuffle. It's all tactics with hidden agendas. They pull the same kind of rubbish over here.
I know,Kev, it's become the fashion to blame others or to say changing horses midstream will help etc but it does not work in a well developed democracy because voters soon vote the BSers out 😀
Good thing too! …just not soon enough for my liking, sometimes. 😉
Yep, know what you mean, Kev – often panic sets in closer to elections
Aye, and for some places that is so much worse than for others especially if some are running regimes.
For sure, Kev
Tempus Fugit says:
…no investor in the world will invest in Croatia until these COMMUNISTS (sdp) are booted out!—the quicker, the better
I agree Tempus Fugit- the quicker the better
IdealisticRebel says:
Reblogged this on idealisticrebel.
Wouldn't it be good if governments, including our Congress could be held responsible when they do harm yo a country? Besides losing their power. Hugs, Barbara
I want such a world, Barbara
:). Me too! Hugs, Barbara
Big hugs!
jalal michael sabbagh.http://gravatar.com/jmsabbagh86@gmail.com says:
Hopefully the new cabinet will achieve the best for Croatia.Regards.
I doubt it, Jalal, but, hey, if not then its out 🙂
Leave a Reply to Kev	Cancel reply


kevin bell
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Army vet, Capitol officer who held off mob escorts Harris at inauguration
Non-combat death of Special Forces warrant officer under investigation
Fort Bliss identifies 2 soldiers who died in separate accidents over the weekend
Air Force colonel who called suicide a 'chickensh-t way to go' has been nominated to become a 1-star
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EU, U.S. start second-phase talks on 'open skies' agreement
Brussels (Thomson Financial) - The European Union said it has started negotiations with the U.S. for the second-phase of the 'open skies' air liberalisation agreement. The European Commission said a second-phase agreement "promises a new perspective" on how aviation is structured in the future by "potentially removing restrictions on the foreign ownership of airlines, exchanging access to domestic markets and introducing a more consensual approach to the regulation of the industry".
The second stage could lead to the removal of limits on services operated by carriers or investors within the other's market, the commission said. A EU-U.S. second phase agreement would encompass markets with a combined total of more than 1 billion airline passengers a year and more than 50 percent of global aviation traffic, the EU executive added. The first phase of the EU-U.S. 'open skies' accord was signed at the end of April 2007 and came into force at the end of March this year.


Upper School Principal's Welcome
Home Upper School Principal's Welcome
"At RFS, we believe that our youth is the most precious Palestinian resource and are committed to investing in them for a better future."
—Dr. Riyam Kafri, Principal, RFS Upper School
Welcome to RFS Upper School, previously known as the FBS. I hope you will find our website easy to navigate, informative and interesting. Whatever the reason for your visit, we are happy you are here. I hope that you will catch a little bit of RFS spirit through our website, but just in case, allow me to share with you a taste of it.
The Upper School was originally founded as a boys school in 1901.Today, it is a leading co-educational institution in middle and high school education. We are a licensed International Baccalaureate school with both the Middle Years Program and the Diploma Program making us an IB World School. Currently we house grades six through twelve.
We are proud of our Palestinian and Quaker identities and are constantly trying to merge both together. Our students pursue academics, cultural expression and activity, all while keeping in mind our long-standing Quaker traditions and values.
We are committed to academic excellence. Our teachers are the best in the field in Palestine and many compete with their counterparts both regionally and internationally. Our IB Diploma Program results are internationally ranked and our students attend the best colleges and universities around the world.
Our campus is constantly full of energy, and our students are the heart of school culture and the forefront of academics—and, at RFS, we believe in and practice student centered learning. We also emphasize student governance, and, as a result, our school has one of the most active student councils in the country.
We are home to the first co-curricular sports program where after school sports are directly tied to the physical education curriculum. Our program is both inclusive and highly successful—with our boys football team placing first in the regional tournament and the girls placing second in 2015. We are the first school in Palestine to establish a Model United Nations Club, the club participates in international conferences and helps other Palestinian schools establish chapters.
We are committed to making our students' education fit into the Palestinian context and strive to bring Palestine into the classroom, while encouraging global citezenship. We seek to raise a generation who not only excel academically and professionally, but also serve Palestine, its people and their global community. At RFS, we believe that our youth is the most precious Palestinian resource and are committed to investing in them for a better future. Enjoy your virtual visit and come visit us soon!
Dr. Riyam Kafri
Upper School Principal
Learning Support Policy
Disciplinary Policy (Grades 6th-12th)


NBAWashington Wizards
Third times the charm for Wizards team on St.Patrick's Day against Pacers
Posted March 18, 2018 March 18, 2018 Chelsea T.
WASHINGTON- They certainly say that the "third time's the charm," and that was proven on a memorable St.Patrick's Day as the Washington Wizards closed out their season series with the Indiana Pacers 109-102 at home.
Now the final 19 seconds of their previous matchup left a bad taste in the Wizards' mouth as Bradley Beal missed three potential tying or game winning shots to seal the deal against the Pacers but last night's victory was a collaborative effort on both ends with a surprising spotlight figure in center Marcin Gortat.
Marcin scored 18 points and dished out 4 assists with 8 boards. He shot an impressive 75% from the field and was 6-6 from the free throw line.
When asked on Marcin's performance, head coach Scott Brooks said, "He works hard on his free throws. It's good to see that he made all of six of them. When he sets his screens-and-rolls, they have to make tough decisions and he finished tonight…It was good ball movement. When we move the ball and we share the basketball he gets a lot of easy buckets for us."
Marcin added, "I think we were a little bit quicker than they were. We had a pretty good start to the game and we came out ready to play, focused. We were making shots and that is how we built the lead in the beginning."
Ball movement was on high display last night for the Wizards who's starting five and bench lineup both had the chance to touch the ball and score. It's been proven that if this team continues to show up game after game, they can position themselves in a beneficial position heading into the playoffs.
Bradley Beal led the team in scoring with 19 points and spoke on how important this game was for the Wizards playoff contention, "It was very important for us. We knew what was at stake with this game. We want to make sure that we took care of it and we did that. We did a good job of getting out to a good start on both ends of the floor. We played a good 48."
The Wizards are now fourth (40-30) in the Eastern Conference standings, 12.5 games behind the top seeded Toronto Raptors. Obviously the first seed isn't a top priority for the Wizards who still have 12 games ahead of them and face a hungry San Antonio Spurs team on Wednesday, a team who is also fighting for homecourt advantage in the playoffs.
But the more the Wizards play without All Star guard John Wall, the more this team has to figure out how the offense will work with him in the lineup. Bradley Beal has said that John looks good and he'll be back in no time, but the question that comes into play is how long will it take for this team to get that on the court chemistry going with his absence equating to two months.
I'd rather see John return during the final two games of the season before throwing him into the lineup in the first game of the playoffs.
Only time will tell but let's hope that the St.Patrick spirit will continue to linger onto this Wizards team, especially on Johnny's recovery.
Bradley BealIndiana PacersMarcin Gortat
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Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
Variability of surgical prophyl...
December 2018 , pp. 1480-1483
Variability of surgical prophylaxis in penicillin-allergic children
David F. Butler (a1), Brian R. Lee (a1), Sarah Suppes (a2), Tracy Sandritter (a2), Jason G. Newland (a3), Lory Harte (a2) and Jennifer L. Goldman (a1)...
1Department of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri
2Department of Pharmacy, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri
3Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2018.244
We retrospectively evaluated the effect of penicillin adverse drug reaction (ADR) labeling on surgical antibiotic prophylaxis. Cefazolin was administered in 86% of penicillin ADR-negative (−) and 28% penicillin ADR-positive (+) cases. Broad-spectrum antibiotic use was more common in ADR(+) cases and was more commonly associated with perioperative adverse drug events.
© 2018 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved.
Authors for correspondence: David F. Butler, MD, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Seattle Children's Hospital, University of Washington School of Medicine, FA.2.112, 4800 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle WA 98105. E-mail: david.butler@seattlechildrens.org. Also, Jennifer Goldman MD, MS Divisions of Pediatric Infectious Diseases & Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Hospital, 2401 Gillham Rd, Kansas City, MO 64108. E-mail: jlgoldman@cmh.edu
Present affiliation: Division of Pediatric Critical Care, University of Washington, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington.
Cite this article: Butler DF et al. (2018). Variability of surgical prophylaxis in penicillin-allergic children. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology 2018, 39, 1480–1483. doi: 10.1017/ice.2018.244
1. Kerr, JR. Penicillin allergy: a study of incidence as reported by patients. Brit J Clin Pract 1994;48:5–7.
2. Attia, MS, Stringer, MD, McClean, P, Prasad, KR. The reduced left lateral segment in pediatric liver transplantation: an alternative to the monosegment graft. Pediatr Transplant 2008;12:696–700.
3. MacLaughlin, EJ, Saseen, JJ, Malone, DC. Costs of beta-lactam allergies: selection and costs of antibiotics for patients with a reported beta-lactam allergy. Arch Fam Med 2000;9:722–726.
4. Alsultan, A, Peloquin, CA. Therapeutic drug monitoring in the treatment of tuberculosis: an update. Drugs 2014;74:839–854.
5. Bratzler, DW, Dellinger, EP, Olsen, KM, et al. Clinical practice guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgery. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2013;70:195–283.
6. Sandora, TJ, Fung, M, Melvin, P, Graham, DA, Rangel, SJ. National variability and appropriateness of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in US children's hospitals. JAMA Pediatr 2016;170:570–576.
7. National Expert Panel of the ICD-9-CM Adverse Event Classification, Utah/Missouri Patient Safety Consortium. The ICD-9-CM adverse event classification. Utah Department of Health website. health.utah.gov/psi/icd9.htm. Accessed June 25, 2018.
8. Goldman, JL, Sandritter, TL, Sullins, A, Leeder, JS, Lowry, JA. Pediatric pharmacovigilance: enhancing adverse drug reaction reporting in a tertiary care children's hospital. Ther Innov Regulat Sci 2013;47:566–571.
9. Beltran, RJ, Kako, H, Chovanec, T, Ramesh, A, Bissonnette, B, Tobias, JD. Penicillin allergy and surgical prophylaxis: cephalosporin cross-reactivity risk in a pediatric tertiary care center. J Pediatr Surg 2015;50:856–859.
10. Albertson, TE, Chenoweth, JA, Colby, DK, Sutter, ME. The changing drug culture: use and misuse of appearance- and performance-enhancing drugs. FP Essent 2016;441:30–43.
11. Hougland, P, Nebeker, J, Pickard, S, et al. Using ICD-9-CM codes in hospital claims data to detect adverse events in patient safety surveillance. In: Henriksen K, Battles JB, Keyes MA, et al., editors. Advances in Patient Safety: New Directions and Alternative Approaches, Vol. 1: Assessment. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2008.
12. Hougland, P, Xu, W, Pickard, S, Masheter, C, Williams, SD. Performance of International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification codes as an adverse drug event surveillance system. Med Care 2006;44:629–636.
URL: /core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology


SportBoxing
Muhammad Ali dead: 'The Greatest' who came to define an era in America and beyond
The boxer played many roles during his career - from martyr to champion, hate figure to global hero - all which helped him become as important outside the ring as he was in it
Rupert Cornwell
Saturday 04 June 2016 06:40
Nowhere do sporting heroes shape history and personify eras like America. Jesse Owens shamed Hitler, and Jackie Robinson integrated baseball. Babe Ruth was the Roaring Twenties, while Michael Jordan was the epitome of 90s cool. But none of them can hold a candle to Muhammad Ali.
He was a one-off. He fought against the racial evils of his time, and ended up as a symbol of triumph over them. In the process he staked a claim to being the most famous American of the second half of the 20th century, beloved by blacks, whites and every other shade of human colour. From braggart to champion, from hate figure to martyr, from beloved global hero to the final, wrenchingly sad and Parkinson's-ravaged figure – there was scarcely a role he did not fill.
He started out of course a boxer, one of the finest heavyweights to walk the earth. But magnificent champion that he was, boxing was only a vehicle. Ali's greatest fight, to borrow the title of an enthralling HBO movie in 2013, was not one of his epic battles against Joe Frazier or George Foreman – but the one outside the ring, in the US Supreme Court, against his conviction for refusing the military draft during the Vietnam war.
Muhammad Ali dies aged 74
Read more 'The Greatest' loses his final fight
The Court's unanimous ruling in the summer of 1971 to overturn the conviction was Ali's supreme victory and vindication, and the watershed of his career, both as sportsman and national figure. The boxer that returned to the ring was different. Gone was the electrifying speed of the Ali who was stripped of his titles and licence to box in 1967, replaced by a post-1971 model that relied on grit, courage and wile. As for Ali the citizen, the verdict hastened his metamorphosis from lightning rod for controversy to certified national monument.
It's easy to forget that for most of the 1960s, Ali was anything but universally adored in the US. Obviously, he was fabulously talented at his chosen craft, and hilariously funny besides an unfailing quote machine up there with the likes of Dorothy Parker and Oscar Wilde. But he was also brash, vain, with a penchant for saying things that scared white America stiff.
By the early 1960s it was clear the civil rights movement would not be denied. But while Martin Luther King projected modesty, fraternity and non-violence, Ali ostensibly took another path. Days after he stunned every oddsmaker by winning the title from the fearsome Sonny Liston in 1964, he embraced not King's movement but the Nation of Islam that preached – so it seemed to white America – not just black separatism but black supremacy.
Boxing: Why Muhammad Ali really is the Greatest of all
1/7Boxing: Why Muhammad Ali really is the Greatest of all
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Black men were supposed to have comforting names, evoking spiritual leaders and American heroes. Instead Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, disciple of Elijah Muhammad, the Nation's founder. Typically, Ali revelled in being cocky. "I am America," he famously proclaimed. "I am the part you won't recognise, but get used to me. Black, confident, cocky – my name, not yours. My religion, not yours. My goals, my own. Get used to me."
Later on, people came to love Ali for his irreverence towards the established order, his taste for saying out loud what others dared not say. In the 1960s though, he was among the most turbulent and polarising figures in the country's most turbulent and polarising decade. And a giant part of the controversy was Vietnam.
When Ali first became famous, people had faith in government and its ability to make the right decisions. Vietnam was no exception. In its early stages the war was widely popular. Count on Ali however not to toe the line – and furthermore, link a distant Asian war with the continuing race war in the American South.
"My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people – some poor hungry people in the mud – for big powerful America," he said. "They never called me n*****."
In those few words, he summed up the turmoil and agony of the 1960s in America.
Indeed, you may ask what would have happened to Ali's reputation (quite apart from the subsequent history of the US) had Vietnam been a success. But as the war grew steadily more unpopular, people came to understand, and agree with, Ali's refusal to fight in it. "I'm not going 10,000 miles from home... to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over." And if he ended up in jail: "So what? We've been in jail for 400 years." The Supreme Court's 8-0 ruling, accepting that he had been a legitimate conscientious objector, sealed his triumph.
By then, it was dawning on Americans that whatever they thought of Ali's convictions, he had the courage of them, and the readiness to pay the price for them. "His power no longer resided in his fists," wrote a biographer, Thomas Hauser. "It came from his conscience." And this realisation extended back to the boxing ring, once the defrocked champion was allowed to resume his chosen sport.
Muhammad Ali: A life in pictures
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Pre-1967, so transcendent were Ali's skills and so complete his domination, that the taunting kid who produced doggerel to predict how many rounds opponents would last was never really put to the test. So fast was he, they could barely lay a glove on him. But the Ali that emerged from his enforced four-year hiatus was a different fighter.
The pride was the same, but he was slower. Now he had to take it as well as dish it out. There was no braver or – as many would say when his physical condition later was so visibly deteriorating – more foolhardy fighter. But you had to admire how Ali withstood the batterings of Frazier and Foreman. In his defeat by the former in 1971, Ali achieved a nobility he never did in those easy earlier wins. He proved he had no fear.
Anniversary of infamous Ali, Foreman boxing match
By this time too, his behaviour, and his politics, were mellowing. He parted ways with Elijah Muhammad, embracing a less threatening, more King-like and universalist approach. His abuse of Frazier as a "gorilla" and an "Uncle Tom" demeaned him. But after their third and climactic battle, the 1975 'Thrilla in Manila' Ali apologised: "I called him names I shouldn't have called him. I apologise for that. I'm sorry. It was all meant to promote the fight."
Then came the final harrowing fights, when Ali's deteriorating condition was only too evident. His friends pleaded for him to retire, and not tarnish the memories, but he didn't listen – even the greatest fighters rarely do, and one thing Ali the showman never lost was faith in his own powers. Yet even that wretched coda to his career somehow only added to his aura.
The final years were pathos. The "Louisville Lip" once never lost for words, could now produce but a slurred mumble. So bad was the Parkinsons that you held your breath praying he would not stumble at the moment of his apotheosis when, unannounced, he emerged to light the Olympic flame at the 1996 Atlanta games. But as always Ali did not disappoint.
The closest parallel to him was perhaps Nelson Mandela. Both were black, both were rebels who took on a system of racial injustice and won, and did not gloat in their triumph. Both had the rare quality of making humanity of every hue feel better about itself. And in the process, America forgave him everything.
Muhammad AliAmerica
1/1Muhammad Ali was a one-off who came to define an era
Muhammad Ali was a one-off who came to define an era


Two new Israeli documentaries explore the moral failure of Zionism
Maureen Clare Murphy The Electronic Intifada 19 July 2005
Two new Israeli films that premiered at this month's Jerusalem Film Festival explore the moral failure that is inherent in Zionism. In the biographical documentary The Diaries of Yossef Nachmany, the Zionist leader largely responsible for the Judaization of the Galilee in the years leading up to the State of Israel is portrayed as conflicted by the ultimate consequence of Zionism — the expulsion and suffering of the indigenous Palestinian population. And in the important documentary Dear Father, Quiet, We're Shooting … , we see that the Zionist enterprise is spiralling so far out of control that Israeli citizens are being made to collectively pay for the ideology of the extreme minority. This was most keenly felt during Israel's twenty-year war with Lebanon during which hundreds of Israelis, and tens of thousands more Palestinians and Lebanese, perished — meriting the war the epithet "Israel's Vietnam" and eliciting protests amongst Israelis that this is "not our war."
The Diaries of Yossef Nachmany
Yossef Nachmany
Nachmany, considered a moderate, wished to acquire Arab land through legal (though not always transparent) means. In the film, Nachmay's growing dichotomy between his Zionist aims and his good relations with the Arabs with whom he is working is immediately apparent. As his forthright son Shimon, who served in the explosives and demolitions unit of the IDF, puts it, "[He] wanted the land but liked the Arabs." And as history has witnessed, those two concepts aren't very compatible.
Settling in the then-mixed city of Tiberias in 1921, Nachmany rose to be a leading figure with the Jewish National Fund, which was acquiring the land that would eventually help Zionism win the ultimate prize — a Jewish state. He is credited with acquiring much of the land that enabled the Haganah military's eventual victory in the north. However, Nachmany's Zionism-with-a-conscience idyll that he so prided himself on evaporated with the Arab uprising in 1936, when he became cut off from his Arab collaborators (many of whom were assassinated when others caught wind of what was going on). Eventually Nachmany himself became a wanted man.
But Nachmany still didn't realize that he couldn't have his cake and feel guilt-free too. In a 1939 diary, he penned his frustration with the protesting Arabs "who didn't see the benefits of our efforts" — whatever those may have been. He delusionally absolved himself of personal responsibility when he wrote, "I must succeed," because he believed that the mission of Zionism was far greater than himself or his conscience.
While the film's rapid-pace narration never describes these "Arabs" as the Palestinians they are — or gives their nationalism any space as well — the film is significant for illustrating the Haganah (the Jewish militia that was the precursor to the Israeli Defense Forces) in stark contrast to its heroic and just Zionist narrative. Much to Nachmany's horror, the Haganah coldly shot Arabs, massacred villages, raped women, and extinguished any possibility for the co-existence Nachmany so loftily dreamt of. The massacre at Deir Yassin made Nachmany particularly "sick," because this tide-turning event meant that "no one will ever trust us to protect Arab rights in this country."
Of course, expropriating a people's land and disallowing them from returning is already a rights violation. (Though Nachmany originally thought that the Arabs should be able to return to Tiberias, he was the one to suggest that its old city be burned and developed, precluding them from doing so.) Nachmany ultimately failed in his original plan to legally acquire the land while maintaining the presence of the Arabs he thought gave it authenticity.
As Zionism gained its legs, Nachmany's moderate methods became irrelevant. In the words of his less than moderate son, "Why should we buy [the land] when we can get it for free?" This latter Zionism is what became the State of Israel, and still perpetuates the settlement construction, and thus protracted conflict, in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. And this moral rift is brought to the forefront in Dear Father, Quiet, We're Shooting … .
Dear Father, Quiet, We're Shooting …
A film still from Dear Father, Quiet, We're Shooting …
Dear Father starts off with an appropriate quotation of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people." Featuring five former military men who at some point in their careers refused military orders, it is revealed that in Israel, conscientious objectors are ostracized and meet with jail time. But it is they who will emerge as right, as one of the refuseniks says, in both the courts of the Hague and of their maker.
The most compelling of the refuseniks is Lt. Col. Yoel Peterberg, who left the old-boy's club of the elite Israeli Air Force when he realized that the whole time he was working to "defend" the state of Israel, he was actually occupying another land. Having been involved in assassination operations in Gaza, Peterberg is no pacifist. But he has come to resent how the army has been used as a tool for the settlement project in the occupied territories, and to fulfil the "cynical whims" of corrupt men in power. Ever since he served in Lebanon, where he says he lost his sense of individuality, Peterberg has had a crisis of conscience. Serving in the occupied territories, Peterberg didn't see even "one [Palestinian] tank," and remarks with awe how Israeli propaganda has spun it so that "Gazans [are] viewed as the terrorists" when Israel drops one-ton bombs on their cities.
An interesting viewpoint held by the five men interviewed in the film is their rejection of the Zionist left's attitude (or excuse for not acting), particularly as embraced by the group Peace Now. They differentiate themselves from the Zionist Left because, as one sergeant general who refused orders after serving in Lebanon, explains: with the "Peace Now Zionist Left you earn the right to protest because of your [military rank]." In other words, protesting the very system and policies one perpetuates through participation.
One of the refuseniks points out that during the controversy that was Israel's protracted war in Lebanon, the "bleeding-heart kibbutzniks" shouting that Ariel Sharon was a war criminal for his responsibility for the 1982 Sabra and Chatila massacres, during which hundreds of Palestinian refugees were mercilessly slaughtered, "ended up being the ones who carried out Sharon's orders." Risking their social status and membership in Israeli society, which is partly defined by its "security fetish," these men removed themselves from this system that they felt was conducting action that could not be morally justified.
Though not a popular question, Peterberg poses it anyway: "You should ask, what brings about terror?" He adds, "[Terror] is not justified, but you have to deal with it" — but not through means that further the cycle. And in a statement that mirrors the fears Nachmany's held during the expulsion of the Palestinians from their land for the creation of the State of Israel, he adds, "one day we'll have to answer for the things we did."
Reflecting on the psychology of a society that allows for the war crimes Israel has committed in Lebanon, as well as the occupied Palestinian territories, one of the refuseniks identifies the brainwashing of young children —Israelis are conscripted into the army at the age of 18 — as one of the factors that perpetuates Israel's cycle of defense-justified aggression. And partly because of these five men's courageous leadership, over a thousand young Israelis have refused to even enter the military system, which is quite significant in a society where so much is based upon the common experience of serving in the military.
The illusory lesson in Israeli society that has been derived from the Holocaust, namely that Israel has to rule with an iron fist there are no limits as to what could be inflicted upon the Jewish people, is also given as a problematic justification for Israel's criminal military actions. These five brave men, who have succeeded where Nachmany failed (in terms of recognizing personal responsibility), take another lesson from the Holocuast, and "do what people in Europe didn't do when Fascism rose to power" — speak out and refuse to participate in the system.
BY TOPIC: Films
Currently based in Ramallah, Maureen Clare Murphy is Arts, Music and Culture Editor for The Electronic Intifada
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U.K. Shuts Pubs, Restaurants And Other Locales To Curb Coronavirus Spread
By Sophie Eastaugh
Published March 20, 2020 at 3:32 PM MST
Peter Summers
An empty pub in London. On Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the country's bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes must close to curb the spread of COVID-19, which has killed more than 100 people in the U.K.
The British government has told pubs and restaurants to shut by Friday night. Gyms, movie theaters and clubs have also been ordered to close, in the United Kingdom's most sweeping measures yet designed to flatten the curve of coronavirus cases.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people thinking of enjoying one last Friday night out, "Please don't. You may think that you're invincible, but there is no guarantee that you will get mild symptoms and you can still be a carrier of the disease and pass it on to others. We want you to stay at home."
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, announced that for the first time in history, the government will pay 80% of a furloughed employee's wages. That move follows angry cries from the hospitality sector demanding government support.
The new measures came as the coronavirus has risen quickly across much of Europe. On Friday morning, health officials said 3,983 people have tested positive in the U.K. and 177 have died.
Despite the rising numbers, the U.K. has not yet gone on lockdown. Although public transportation has been reduced, people are still allowed to leave their homes.
In fact, British people have been told to avoid pubs since Monday, but not everyone was listening, prompting calls for firmer action.
In a near-deserted pub on Thursday in East London, three friends met for a pint after seeing beer advertised for the equivalent of just over $2 — and after several days bored at home.
"I don't know if this is safe. Is it?" said Harris Allen, an actor. "But, like, this is the only interaction I've had in a week. Also, I work in a pub. If no one comes in and drinks, I won't have a job. I won't get paid."
Rory Thomas-Howes, who owns a theater company and juggles several freelance jobs that have all been canceled, agreed. "We were shut in for like three days. Then I went out and there were so many people out here. And it's kind of like, well, if everybody's out, am I helping? I don't know what I'm doing."
"I don't think anyone does," answered Josh Tucker, another actor and kindergarten teacher. "I think we just need to be told what to do."
Sophie Eastaugh
See stories by Sophie Eastaugh


FHA guidelines have been set requiring borrowers to qualify according to established debt-to-income ratios. In most cases, the highest debt-to-income ratio acceptable to qualify for a mortgage is 43%, although many larger lenders may look past that figure.
Debt-to-Income Ratio Guidelines
In order to prevent homebuyers from getting into a home they cannot afford, FHA requirements and guidelines have been set in place requiring borrowers and/or their spouse to qualify according to set debt to income ratios. These ratios are used to calculate whether or not the potential borrower is in a financial position that would allow them to meet the demands that are often included in owning a home.
The two ratios are as follows:
1) Mortgage Payment Expense to Effective Income
Add up the total mortgage payment (principal and interest, escrow deposits for taxes, hazard insurance, mortgage insurance premium, homeowners' dues, etc.). Then, take that amount and divide it by the gross monthly income. The maximum ratio to qualify is 31%.
See the following example:
Total amount of new house payment:
Borrower's gross monthly income (including spouse, if married):
Divide total house payment by gross monthly income:
$750/$2,850
Debt to income ratio:
2) Total Fixed Payment to Effective Income
Add up the total mortgage payment (principal and interest, escrow deposits for taxes, hazard insurance, mortgage insurance premium, homeowners' dues, etc.) and all recurring monthly revolving and installment debt (car loans, personal loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.). Then, take that amount and divide it by the gross monthly income. The maximum ratio to qualify is 43%.
Total amount of monthly recurring debt:
Total amount of monthly debt:
Borrower's gross monthly income (including spouse, if married)
Divide total monthly debt by gross monthly income:
$1,150/$2,850
Please note that the above indicators do not exclusively determine whether or not a candidate will qualify for an FHA loan. Other factors will be considered, including credit history and job stability.
FHA Loan Requirements
FHA Mortgage Insurance
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January 30, 2023 - Do you want to build a home from the ground up? You can do this with low down payment requirements with an FHA One-Time Close Construction Loan. And construction loan borrowing power has increased in 2023 because FHA loan limits have increased from the previous year.
FHA Loan Mistakes to Avoid in 2023
January 25, 2023 - No matter what the condition of the housing market, there are some important things to remember when buying a home with an FHA mortgage. Are you anticipating some of the most common home buying mistakes? Here are some things to look out for.
Are Interest Rate Buydowns a Good Idea?
January 23, 2023 - An interest rate buydown can temporarily lower the interest rate on a home loan; the USA Today example shows how a borrower could save $250 a month in the first year of home ownership using an interest rate buydown.
Choices to Make When Renovating Your Home
January 21, 2023 - Thinking about buying a fixer-upper with an FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation Loan? Or are you considering a home improvement project financed with an FHA Cash-Out Refinance? You have a set of choices to make far beyond selecting a lender, deciding on the loan type and term, etc.
HUD Announces Proposed FHA Appraisal Reform
January 20, 2023 - HUD wants to give FHA borrowers a way to formally complain about appraisal bias when purchasing a home with an FHA mortgage. It's called a Reconsideration of Valuation, and it's part of a larger effort to end racial bias in the housing industry.
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Managing Mercury Thermostats
New York State Mercury Thermostat Collection Act of 2013
On December 18, 2013 the Governor signed the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act of 2013 (PDF) (31 KB) into law. This legislation adds a new Title 29 to Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) Article 27, "Mercury Thermostat Collection Act" and provides for the mandatory collection and environmentally sound management of mercury thermostats. Homeowners will now have more convenient opportunities for the safe drop-off and recycling of out-of-service mercury thermostats, thereby diverting them from being improperly disposed of in the trash, ultimately ending up in landfills and at municipal waste combustion facilities. It is illegal to throw mercury thermostats in the trash, as New York State has had a disposal ban in place since 2005.
The Act requires thermostat manufacturers, individually or collectively with other manufacturers, to establish and maintain a program for the collection, transportation, recycling, and proper management of out-of-service mercury thermostats at no cost to the consumer or other persons participating in the program. Manufacturers were required to:
As of July 1, 2014, compile a list of thermostat wholesalers in the state, offer them collection containers and make collection containers available to all qualified contractors, thermostat wholesalers, retailers, and local governments that request containers.
As of July 1, 2014, conduct education and outreach efforts, including establishment of a website that provides for the identification of collection sites and the development of materials for distribution by wholesalers, retailers, contractors and local governments.
Collection Goals
The Act establishes a collection goal of no less than 15,500 out-of-service mercury thermostats for the calendar year 2015. By October 1, 2015, the Department of Environmental Conversation (the Department) will establish the collection goals for calendar years 2016 through 2023. In setting the collection goals, the Department must take into account: the effectiveness of the program in the state and of similar programs in other states; collection requirements of other states; available reports and studies; and other relevant factors. The Department will also be required to consult with stakeholder groups, including industry representatives, municipal recyclers, wholesalers, retailers and environmental groups, prior to setting these goals. Manufacturers would have to implement any changes to collection programs approved by the Department within 90 days. If the collection programs fail to achieve collection goals, the Department, following stakeholder consultations, could require changes to a program including improvement in education and outreach efforts, expansion of the number and location of collection sites and mandate that manufacturers to provide a $5 incentive, in the form of either cash or coupon.
The Act requires thermostat manufacturers to submit an annual report to the Department. The report will include:
The number of thermostats collected during the previous calendar year and the estimated amount of mercury contained in the thermostats collected;
A list of the all of the wholesalers, contractors, local governments, and retailers participating as collection sites;
An accounting of the administrative costs of the program;
A description of outreach strategies and examples of outreach and educational materials;
The address of the website where the annual report may be viewed;
A description of how the thermostats were managed; and
Any modifications the manufacturer is planning to make to the program.
Thermostat wholesalers are prohibited from selling thermostats unless they participate as collection sites and wholesalers and retailers are prohibited from offering for sale or distributing thermostats unless the manufacturer of such thermostats is listed on the Department's website. The Act also prohibits transporters from knowingly comingling mercury-added thermostats with recyclable materials, or transporting or knowingly delivering mercury thermostats to incinerators, landfills, transfer stations, or to anyone the transporter knows might comingle materials or make such unlawful deliveries. Contractors who replace mercury thermostats or demolish buildings, including those which receive state funding to do so, are required to bring mercury thermostats to collection programs, and any department or authority which provides funding for such purpose would have to notify contractors of these obligations.
The Department issued a letter to various agencies/authorities (PDF) (31 KB) on February 21, 2014 regarding their mandated responsibilities to properly manage out-of-service mercury thermostats.
The Department is required to post information regarding the proper collection and management of out-of-service mercury thermostats on its website by June 1, 2015, and submit a report to the Governor and Legislature regarding the effectiveness of the collection program by November 1, 2018. The Act takes effect immediately and will expire and be deemed repealed January 1, 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions regarding mercury thermostats:
Q: What is a mercury thermostat and how does it work?
A: Many older wall-mounted thermostats, sold prior to 2006, contain a switch with a small glass ampoule containing a silvery liquid called elemental mercury. This is called a mercury switch. Elemental mercury's excellent conductivity and high surface tension make it extremely effective for use in a switch. The mercury moves freely within the glass ampoule, opening and closing an electrical circuit which controls a furnace or air conditioner to maintain a desired room temperature. Most mercury thermostats contain from three to five grams of elemental mercury.
Q: Why do I need to properly recycle my mercury thermostat?
A: Mercury is a persistent and toxic pollutant. Elemental mercury can cause adverse health effects when it is breathed as a vapor and is absorbed through the lungs or absorbed through the skin. These exposures can occur when thermostats that contain elemental mercury break and release mercury into the air, particularly in warm or poorly ventilated indoor spaces. Exposure can also occur when mercury thermostats are improperly discarded into the solid waste stream, where the mercury switches can be broken or incinerated, releasing the mercury into the environment. To prevent breakage and mercury releases, mercury thermostats should be managed carefully when being removed or replaced and taken to an appropriate collection site for recycling. More information regarding mercury in the environment is available at "What do you know about mercury?"
Q: Do all thermostats contain mercury?
A: No. There are several thermostat designs that are mercury-free. These include electronic, snap-action, reed switch, and vapor-filled diaphragm thermostats. For the most part, mercury thermostats have been replaced with electronic digital thermostats. Electronic programmable digital thermostats can provide energy savings by allowing for desired temperature settings at pre-set times.
Q: Is it safe to have a mercury thermostat in my home?
A: Mercury thermostats are safe when used as designed. The mercury is sealed inside a glass ampoule. The consumer is not exposed to the mercury unless the ampoule is tampered with and breaks. Mercury thermostats were designed with a sturdy casing to protect the mercury switch. Always handle mercury thermostats with care and recycle properly.
Q: Is it safe to remove the glass ampoule containing mercury from the mercury thermostat?
A: No. Never remove the glass ampoule containing the mercury from the thermostat housing. It is best to keep the thermostat unit whole with the cover attached to the thermostat. Extra care should be taken to prevent accidental breakage and the release of mercury during storage or transport of the mercury thermostat.
Q: What should I do if the mercury switch inside my mercury thermostat breaks and the mercury is released?
A: Mercury is a toxic substance and should be treated with care. If the mercury switch breaks and mercury is released, please visit the NYS Department of Health's webpage on how to clean up a mercury spill under the Links Leaving the DEC's Website section on the right-hand side of this webpage.
Q: Do I have to replace my mercury thermostat with a non-mercury one?
A: New York State law has prohibited the sale of mercury thermostats since January 1, 2012 but there is no requirement that you replace your existing mercury thermostat. If you do decide to remove a mercury thermostat (e.g., you plan to replace it with an energy-efficient programmable model, you are upgrading your heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system, or you plan to demolish the building) you need to manage the unwanted mercury thermostat safely and properly.
Q: Do I have to recycle my mercury thermostat?
A: Yes, New York State has had a disposal ban on mercury thermostats since 2005, it is illegal to throw your mercury thermostat in the trash.
Q: How and where do I recycle my mercury thermostat?
A: Currently, the Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) collects and recycles mercury thermostats under its voluntary program. Be sure your technician or contractor removes and manages your thermostats in accordance with the New York Mercury Thermostat Collection Act. A listing of mercury thermostat collection sites will be made available beginning in July 2014. Until then, please visit the TRC website under the Links Leaving DEC's Website section on the right-hand side of this webpage or check with your local municipality for mercury thermostat recycling locations.
Q: What happens to the old mercury thermostat that my contractor removed?
A: Your HVAC contractor is required to properly manage your mercury thermostat and bring it to a mercury thermostat collection site as it is illegal to dispose of mercury thermostats in the trash. The mercury from your thermostat will be removed and recycled for use in new products.
Q: I administer a government program that results in the removal or replacement of mercury thermostats. What are my requirements under the new law?
A: Any New York State department, authority, instrumentality or municipal corporation which administers a program that involves the removal or replacement of mercury containing thermostats as a result of any statutory requirement, shall inform contractors of their statutory obligations to deliver the mercury-containing thermostats to a collection site and prohibiting the disposal of such thermostats in a solid-waste facility.
Q: I'm a contractor or sub-contractor who removes mercury thermostats as part of a state-administered program. What are my responsibilities under the new law?
A: Any contractor, organization or subcontractor of such organization, who contracts with or receives funding or financing provided in whole or in part by or through any department, agency, instrumentality, or political subdivision of the state for the installation, service, or removal of heating, ventilation, or air-conditioning components resulting in the removal or handling of out-of-service mercury thermostats, shall ensure the collection, transportation and proper management of out-of-service mercury thermostats in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Q: I still have questions on how to properly handle my mercury thermostat. Whom should I contact?
A: Contact the Product Stewardship and Waste Reduction Section at 518-402-8706 or e-mail.
This page will be updated periodically to reflect additional details regarding the new mercury thermostat collection program.
What do you know about mercury?
Mercury Thermostat Collection Act of 2013 (PDF) (31 KB)
Department Letter to Agencies/Authorities regarding the Act. (PDF) (24 KB)
Thermostat Recycling Corporation
How to clean up a small mercury spill.
Product Stewardship & Waste Reduction Section
Division of Materials Management


TG Timeline
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TissueGnostics!
15 years ago, TissueGnostics GmbH was entered in the company register of the Vienna Business Court. A lot has been achieved in those 15 years. TG's trend-setting products products enabled break-through biomedical research in many fields, but especially in cancer research / oncology. The capabilities of our products are amply demonstrated by hundreds of installations in 30 countries on 6 continents could be realised. More than 800 Scientific articles were published by our customers. About 0,8+ Million hours of work was done by TG staff. Seven EU-funded and 15 Austrian national R&D projects have been done or are currently in progress. A global network with customers and research partners was built. The global TG team is working in 4 countries on 3 continents. TG brought people together and continues to bring people together - on the professional as well as on the private level. But most importantly: our mission to PROVIDE TOOLS THAT HELP RESEARCHERS AND DOCTORS TO DEFEAT CANCER AS WELL AS OTHER DISEASES AND IMPROVE PATIENT WELFARE has been successful for 15 years.
18th of April 2018
Foundation of TissueGnostics Asia Pacific Limited
Happy B-Day TG!
We celebrate our 13th Anniversary with our own symposium, "optics, algos & ice @ the very top* the ultimate cryocut", which may also be considered as a major marketing event this year. TG has been achieved over those years: ISO 13485 certificate! Installations in 28 countries on 6 continents! 560+ reference publications! This year we are expanding our activities in Asia (China, Singapore, India), South America (Brazil), South Africa, and Middle East/Gulf (Israel, Kuwait)! HAPPY B-DAY and thank you to the global TG-team!
1st Place in the International Scanner Contest
TG wins first place in the Image Analysis category at the International Scanner Contest 2016. TissueGnostics recently also delivered and validated the first TissueFAXS Confocal system using the Crest Optics X Light V2 Confocal Imager.
EU FUND
CaSR - Biomedicine and ALKATRAS are two EU projects, which are fund by the EU. They are both Marie-Sklodowska-Curie training programs.
TG ALL OVER THE WORLD
Active sales in more than 30 countries world wide.
FOUNDATION TG-USA
Foundation of TissueGnostics USA Inc., product launch HistoFAXS and purchase of TissueGnostics Romania.
PRODUCT LAUNCH TissueFAXS 1.0
Automated identification and functional characterization of single cells in tissue sections. In contrast to morphometry, which provides values referring to the metric dimensions of cells, the term "tissue cytometry" refers to quantification of molecular parameters. Though methodically different, tissue cytometry exhibits a functional similarity to flow cytometry. While flow cytometer is restricted to cells in suspension (e.g. blood) and cannot be applied to solid tissue, tissue cytometry refers to the cytometric analysis (as opposed to morphometric analysis) of histological sections. TissueGnostics has been the first manufacturer of tissue cytometers offering a flow cytometry-like workflow (but applied to tissue sections).
FOUNDATION & COOPERATION WITH LBI-CR
Foundation of TG-Romania and cooperation with Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research, Vienna, which is focused on basic cancer research to establish molecular insight into the complex disease mechanisms.
START OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Start of TissueQuest and HemoFAXS software-development.
FOUNDATION OF TG-VIENNA, AUSTRIA
TissueGnostics was established in 2003 after nearly a decade of basic research. The goal was to supply scientists with qualitative and observer independent results for cell and tissue analysis in tissue context and this in automated format and significantly less time. Katja Österreicher, Georg Steiner and Dr. Rupert Ecker, the three co-founders of the company, with the aid of a dozen of development partners (Medical University Vienna, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center New York, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research, Vienna; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle; Brighamand Women`s Hospital, Boston; etc.) succeeded in reaching this target by 2005.


Batman: Arkham Knight PC Performance and Problems
Ahead of his upcoming review, Dan takes a look at the widely reported issues with the new Batman: Arkham Knight game.
Dan Le Vannais
This past week the most recent game in the Batman: Arkham series was finally released after several delays, with it originally being due late last year. I'm currently working on a full review of the game, but as with everything that I cover I wait until I've been able to complete at least the bulk of the story mode so I'm not quite ready with that just yet.
I have however been reading with a fair amount of interest the ongoing issues that the PC version is reported as having. I've seen many people complaining of the game straight up not working or regular crashes and given the issues that the last WB Games release, Mortal Kombat X, had within it's first few weeks this certainly sounded well within the realms of possibility.
But after speaking with a number of my colleagues who were also playing the game, it seemed a bit less clear. Currently, there are six of us at CCL who are playing Arkham Knight on the PC (with a couple of others on consoles, but they're not relevant here) and yet none of us were having any major problems. Sure, we're all experiencing the general poor framerate issues that the game has and we're on a range of different hardware specs. Four of my colleagues are on i5/i7 rigs, with GTX 970 graphics cards, another with a Phenom II 940 and HD 7950 graphics while I'm straddling the brands with an A10-7850K and GTX 960. As I've got the lowest end card I naturally tend to get the lowest framerates, and even though I'm generally sticking to the game's built in 30 FPS cap I do still see dips to as low as 15 on occasion, mostly whenever the Batmobile appears. It's been nothing game breaking yet, but a bit annoying (and partially my own fault as I'm reluctant to turn down some of the settings as I want it to be as shiny as possible while still playable) and it does of course lead to the game feeling less polished as a result. I've probably played the game the least with about 11 hours so far, with some of my colleagues already well over 25 hours so plenty of time all around to get a good feel for how the game runs.
The built in benchmark didn't quite match what I was seeing ingame, though. Running at 1920 x 1080, with most settings set to normal (including the textures even though I don't have a 3GB card as the low settings textures has some really ugly low resolution ones) and the Gameworks features turned off as they were having a little too much of an effect on performance for little visual gain I was given the following acceptable if not spectacular results:
The framerate aside however, that was the worst of our woes. None of us had a save game break or got stuck somewhere they couldn't proceed or have the game not launch or crash regularly or anything like that. This led me to thinking that even though we were having issues that if there were massive problems with the game one of us should be experiencing them, surely? With Mortal Kombat X we all experienced some of the problems that game had, and as I mentioned in my review I was hit with the save game deleting bug so what we experienced tallied with what was being reported in the community. And yet with the game at least as far as we could tell much less broken than Mortal Kombat, Batman has now been removed from sale on Steam until the developers have managed to fix it.
Naturally, as we're all computer enthusiasts working for a computer company by and large we're going to have over the average computer specs, so I was thinking that perhaps most of the problems are happening on computers with lower end hardware? Sure, I've read some reports of people with high end i7 chips and Titan cards being unable to play the game but the Steam hardware survey shows that the highest percentage of users have computers with a significantly lower spec.
While others online have benchmarked the game against highest end hardware – and I understand there are some pretty major issues with SLI and Crossfire setups at the moment, but none of us are using one for me to have any direct performance figures for it - I decided to do the opposite and see how well the game handled on lower end systems.
Armed with my trusty test bench, with its powerhouse 2.7GHz Intel Celeron G1820 dual core processor and 4GB of 1333MHz RAM, surely I wasn't going to be able to get the game to play at all. After all, this comes in well below the listed minimum requirements of a first generation i5 quad core and 6GB of RAM. With Batman installed and ready, on a 5400Rpm hard drive to be as consistently low end as possible, I set to work trying out the most basic graphics cards that I could.
The first card that I tried was the GT 730 from my test bench and, well, even at the lowest settings it ran at 1FPS so clearly a no go there. But Nvidia don't market the GT cards as gaming cards, and certainly not for playing high end brand new titles.
GT 730 discarded, I got a little more serious and got my hands on some entry level gaming cards. First up was a new MSI R7 360. AMD's new bottom spec gaming card, this has replaced the R7 250X that I was planning to use. The testing was with a pinch of salt for this one, as I had to use the latest AMD beta driver which I'm not fond of doing but it wasn't properly recognised by the still current driver from December. With all of the settings as low as possible but the resolution set to a half way respectable 1280 x 720 I ran the ingame benchmark which gave me the following results:
It came in a lot higher than I expected, so next I went into the game to see how it actually played. With all the settings to low and in a lower resolution than I'm used to it wasn't exactly pretty and ran at a pretty chuggy 5-15 FPS. Lowering the resolution to 640 x 480 bumped that up to the mid 20s where it became playable if a bit ugly.
Next was an Asus GTX 750, again a fairly low spec but still reasonably recent card. Again, the latest driver was installed to both keep things even and take advantage of the potential performance gains of the driver. This did a bit better in the benchmark:
In gameplay even still at 1280 x 720 it still mostly maintained a reasonable 20 FPS, again not anything to write home about but still fairly playable.
Last up, I decided to see how my old XFX HD 7770 held up. A much older card, it wasn't a new model when I bought it two and a half years ago and I'd already spent most of the last 6 months thinking about replacing until I picked up the GTX 960 I knew it already had performance issues with current games on high settings. On the lower settings I was testing against though?
Already not holding up too well from the benchmark, ingame performance was basically terrible and barely playable even dropped to 640 x 480 it was only averaging around 10 FPS, so I'm quite glad I had already replaced it before the game came out though of course it would perform better coupled with a more powerful processor.
I've ended up confused more than anything else from this testing. How can my test setups, massively below the minimum system spec, have the game playable (if at the expensive of it not looking pretty) when systems several magnitudes of performance higher are reporting the game as not running? Is there some variable that I've somehow missed that's causing problems for a lot of people, something that I'm doing or not doing that is different for all the over seven thousand people who have left negative reviews on Steam so far? I've no doubt at all that it's a poorly optimised game and that it does require more work to increase its performance but I've found no evidence from my testing that it's broken to the point that it just doesn't work.
Rocksteady have now started to roll out patches for the game with the first addressing some minor issues that came out after I'd done my testing but the notes for this patch don't indicate any major performance changes and I didn't notice any difference on my system at home.


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Tracy Baldelli
Major Gifts Officer, WPI
At the beginning [of the Covid 19 pandemic], because the weather was so nice, I really liked it because I used that to get outside and to move. We all had so much time on our hands that it was like, what do you do with all this time? And then of course, we all went through our slump. Overeating, doing your thing watching Netflix all the time, getting takeout. So, I would say it became a rough time. But again, I think from a professional perspective, it helped me realize what I want. I could not be a remote employee, I needed to work with a team, I needed a boss that really didn't have an ego, that was there for their employees.
Current Employer:
Tracy Baldelli was born in Boston, MA in 1993 and grew up with her family in Southborough, a neighboring town to Worcester. She then furthered her education at Assumption College now Assumption University. After Tracy graduated, she became an active member of the Worcester community. She's an active board member at the Boys and Girls Club and joined the Emerald Club. Tracy was first employed at United Way and then at Worcester Polytechnic Institute [WPI] and Providence College. In this interview, we learn about the challenges that Tracy faced and overcame throughout her life, the paths she has taken to become a successful individual, and she shares some great life lessons. Tracy also touches upon the impact and challenges she faces while working straight out of college and later through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Worcester Business Journal named her one of the Forty Under Forty in 2020 and one of the Power 50 in 2021.
Grace Rinaldi, Shadda Cliche
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Baldelli, Tracy - edit.docx_.pdf
Interview Focus:
Politics/Community Involvement, Work
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