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Just a year ago, Chukurah Ali had fulfilled a dream of owning her own bakery — Coco's Desserts in St. Louis, Mo. — which specialized in the sort of custom-made ornate wedding cakes often featured in baking show competitions. Ali, a single mom, supported her daughter and mother by baking recipes she learned from her beloved grandmother.
But last February, all that fell apart, after a car accident left Ali hobbled by injury, from head to knee. "I could barely talk, I could barely move," she says, sobbing. "I felt like I was worthless because I could barely provide for my family."
As darkness and depression engulfed Ali, help seemed out of reach; she couldn't find an available therapist, nor could she get there without a car, or pay for it. She had no health insurance, after having to shut down her bakery.
So her orthopedist suggested a mental-health app called Wysa. Its chatbot-only service is free, though it also offers teletherapy services with a human for a fee ranging from $15 to $30 a week; that fee is sometimes covered by insurance. The chatbot, which Wysa co-founder Ramakant Vempati describes as a "friendly" and "empathetic" tool, asks questions like, "How are you feeling?" or "What's bothering you?" The computer then analyzes the words and phrases in the answers to deliver supportive messages, or advice about managing chronic pain, for example, or grief — all served up from a database of responses that have been prewritten by a psychologist trained in cognitive behavioral therapy.
That is how Ali found herself on a new frontier of technology and mental health. Advances in artificial intelligence — such as Chat GPT — are increasingly being looked to as a way to help screen for, or support, people who dealing with isolation, or mild depression or anxiety. Human emotions are tracked, analyzed and responded to, using machine learning that tries to monitor a patient's mood, or mimic a human therapist's interactions with a patient. It's an area garnering lots of interest, in part because of its potential to overcome the common kinds of financial and logistical barriers to care, such as those Ali faced.
Potential pitfalls and risks of chatbot therapy
There is, of course, still plenty of debate and skepticism about the capacity of machines to read or respond accurately to the whole spectrum of human emotion — and the potential pitfalls of when the approach fails. (Controversy flared up on social media recently over a canceled experiment involving chatbot-assisted therapeutic messages.)
My worry is [teens] will turn away from other mental health interventions, saying, 'Oh well, I already tried this and it didn't work.'
"The hype and promise is way ahead of the research that shows its effectiveness," says Serife Tekin, a philosophy professor and researcher in mental health ethics at the University of Texas San Antonio. Algorithms are still not at a point where they can mimic the complexities of human emotion, let alone emulate empathetic care, she says.
Tekin says there's a risk that teenagers, for example, might attempt AI-driven therapy, find it lacking, then refuse the real thing with a human being. "My worry is they will turn away from other mental health interventions saying, 'Oh well, I already tried this and it didn't work,' " she says.
But proponents of chatbot therapy say the approach may also be the only realistic and affordable way to address a gaping worldwide need for more mental health care, at a time when there are simply not enough professionals to help all the people who could benefit.
Someone dealing with stress in a family relationship, for example, might benefit from a reminder to meditate. Or apps that encourage forms of journaling might boost a user's confidence by pointing when out where they make progress.
Proponents call the chatbot a 'guided self-help ally'
It's best thought of as a "guided self-help ally," says Athena Robinson, chief clinical officer for Woebot Health, an AI-driven chatbot service. "Woebot listens to the user's inputs in the moment through text-based messaging to understand if they want to work on a particular problem," Robinson says, then offers a variety of tools to choose from, based on methods scientifically proven to be effective.
Many people will not embrace opening up to a robot.
Chukurah Ali says it felt silly to her too, initially. "I'm like, 'OK, I'm talking to a bot, it's not gonna do nothing; I want to talk to a therapist," Ali says, then adds, as if she still cannot believe it herself: "But that bot helped!"
At a practical level, she says, the chatbot was extremely easy and accessible. Confined to her bed, she could text it at 3 a.m.
"How are you feeling today?" the chatbot would ask.
"I'm not feeling it," Ali says she sometimes would respond.
The chatbot would then suggest things that might soothe her, or take her mind off the pain — like deep breathing, listening to calming music, or trying a simple exercise she could do in bed. Ali says things the chatbot said reminded her of the in-person therapy she did years earlier. "It's not a person, but, it makes you feel like it's a person," she says, "because it's asking you all the right questions."
Technology has gotten good at identifying and labeling emotions fairly accurately, based on motion and facial expressions, a person's online activity, phrasing and vocal tone, says Rosalind Picard, director of MIT's Affective Computing Research Group. "We know we can elicit the feeling that the AI cares for you," she says. But, because all AI systems actually do is respond based on a series of inputs, people interacting with the systems often find that longer conversations ultimately feel empty, sterile and superficial.
While AI may not fully simulate one-on-one individual counseling, its proponents say there are plenty of other existing and future uses where it could be used to support or improve human counseling.
AI might improve mental health services in other ways
"What I'm talking about in terms of the future of AI is not just helping doctors and [health] systems to get better, but helping to do more prevention on the front end," Picard says, by reading early signals of stress, for example, then offering suggestions to bolster a person's resilience. Picard, for example, is looking at various ways technology might flag a patient's worsening mood — using data collected from motion sensors on the body, activity on apps, or posts on social media.
Technology might also help improve the efficacy of treatment by notifying therapists when patients skip medications, or by keeping detailed notes about a patient's tone or behavior during sessions.
Maybe the most controversial applications of AI in the therapy realm are the chatbots that interact directly with patients like Chukurah Ali.
What's the risk?
Chatbots may not appeal to everyone, or could be misused or mistaken. Skeptics point to instances where computers misunderstood users, and generated potentially damaging messages.
But research also shows some people interacting with these chatbots actually prefer the machines; they feel less stigma in asking for help, knowing there's no human at the other end.
Ali says that as odd as it might sound to some people, after nearly a year, she still relies on her chatbot.
"I think the most I talked to that bot was like 7 times a day," she says, laughing. She says that rather than replacing her human health care providers, the chatbot has helped lift her spirits enough so she keeps those appointments. Because of the steady coaching by her chatbot, she says, she's more likely to get up and go to a physical therapy appointment, instead of canceling it because she feels blue.
That's precisely why Ali's doctor, Washington University orthopedist Abby Cheng, suggested she use the app. Cheng treats physical ailments, but says almost always the mental health challenges that accompany those problems hold people back in recovery. Addressing the mental-health challenge, in turn, is complicated because patients often run into a lack of therapists, transportation, insurance, time or money, says Cheng, who is conducting her own studies based on patients' use of the Wysa app.
"In order to address this huge mental health crisis we have in our nation — and even globally — I think digital treatments and AI can play a role in that, and at least fill some of that gap in the shortage of providers and resources that people have," Cheng says.
Not meant for crisis intervention
But getting to such a future will require navigating thorny issues like the need for regulation, protecting patient privacy and issues of legal liability. Who bears responsibility if the technology goes wrong?
Many similar apps on the market, including those from Woebot or Pyx Health, repeatedly warn users that they are not designed to intervene in acute crisis situations. And even AI's proponents argue computers aren't ready, and may never be ready, to replace human therapists — especially for handling people in crisis.
"We have not reached a point where, in an affordable, scalable way, AI can understand every sort of response that a human might give, particularly those in crisis," says Cindy Jordan, CEO of Pyx Health, which has an app designed to communicate with people who feel chronically lonely.
The hype and promise is way ahead of the research that shows its effectiveness.
Jordan says Pyx's goal is to broaden access to care — the service is now offered in 62 U.S. markets and is paid for by Medicaid and Medicare. But she also balances that against worries that the chatbot might respond to a suicidal person, " 'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.' Or worse, 'I don't understand you.' " That makes her nervous, she says, so as a backup, Pyx staffs a call center with people who call users when the system flags them as potentially in crisis.
Woebot, a text-based mental health service, warns users up front about the limitations of its service, and warnings that it should not be used for crisis intervention or management. If a user's text indicates a severe problem, the service will refer patients to other therapeutic or emergency resources.
Cross-cultural research on effectiveness of chatbot therapy is still sparse
Athena Robinson, chief clinical officer for Woebot, says such disclosures are critical. Also, she says, "it is imperative that what's available to the public is clinically and rigorously tested," she says. Data using Woebot, she says, has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. And some of its applications, including for post-partum depression and substance use disorder, are part of ongoing clinical research studies. The company continues to test its products' effectiveness in addressing mental health conditions for things like post-partum depression, or substance use disorder.
But in the U.S. and elsewhere, there is no clear regulatory approval process for such services before they go to market. (Last year Wysa did receive a designation that allows it to work with Food and Drug Administration on the further development of its product.)
It's important that clinical studies — especially those that cut across different countries and ethnicities — continue to be done to hone the technology's intelligence and its ability to read different cultures and personalities, says Aniket Bera, an associate professor of computer science at Purdue.
"Mental-health related problems are heavily individualized problems," Bera says, yet the available data on chatbot therapy is heavily weighted toward white males. That bias, he says, makes the technology more likely to misunderstand cultural cues from people like him, who grew up in India, for example.
"I don't know if it will ever be equal to an empathetic human," Bera says, but "I guess that part of my life's journey is to come close."
And, in the meantime, for people like Chukurah Ali, the technology is already a welcome stand-in. She says she has recommended the Wysa app to many of her friends. She says she also finds herself passing along advice she's picked up from the app, asking friends, "Oh, what you gonna do today to make you feel better? How about you try this today?"
It isn't just the technology that is trying to act human, she says, and laughs. She's now begun mimicking the technology.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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2023-01-19T16:20:10+00:00
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delawarepublic.org
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https://www.delawarepublic.org/npr-headlines/npr-headlines/2023-01-19/therapy-by-chatbot-the-promise-and-challenges-in-using-ai-for-mental-health
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Memorial Day honors those who have died while fighting for our country as a military service member.
The federal holiday is celebrated on the last Monday in May every year.
Memorial Day originated after the Civil War to honor the soldiers who gave their lives — and was formerly known as Decoration Day.
ON MEMORIAL DAY, LEAVE AN EMPTY SEAT THE TABLE FOR THE ‘MISSING HERO’ WHO GAVE SELFLESSLY FOR OUR FREEDOMS
It wasn't until 1971, with President Richard Nixon in office, that Memorial Day was made a federal holiday by Congress.
Celebratory Memorial Day weekend activities happen across the United States and is a day in which Americans beam with pride. Often, Americans will attend a local parade as well as barbecues accompanied by burgers, hot dogs, American made beers and cocktails.
Sipping on a cocktail next to a newly opened swimming pool is also a popular way to spend Memorial Day.
Here are a few refreshing and festive cocktails to enjoy Memorial Day weekend and a special recipe for those who prefer a mocktail.
Ingredients for blue pineapple cocktail:
In a glass, pour in the rum, blue Curaçao, pineapple juice, and lime juice and fill the glass with ice. Here, you’ll want to avoid using soda water for the added sugar. Cue the hangover headaches if you add too much sugar to this drink.
Fill the rest of the glass with plain seltzer water. If tonic water is the only plain carbonated beverage available to you, use that, but seltzer is preferred.
Stir the cocktail and serve with red, white and blue glass accessories.
EVERY DAY IS MEMORIAL DAY AT DOVER AIR FORCE BASE
This recipe serves one. Double this recipe for each guest you intend to serve.
Red slushie ingredients:
1 ounce of vodka
2 ounces of lemonade
1 tablespoon of maraschino cherry juice
Ice
White slushie ingredients:
1 ounce of vodka
2 ounces of lemonade
Ice
Blue slushie ingredients:
1 ounce of vodka
½ ounce of blue Curaçao
2 ounces of lemonade
Ice
Begin by blending the ingredients of the blue slushie and pour it into a glass. Then, blend the ingredients of the white slushie and slowly top the blue slushie with the white. Avoid combining the colors. You’ll want to ensure the mixture is smoothie-like vs liquid to allow the layering.
Lastly, blend the red slushie mixture and slowly top the white slushie creating a red, white and blue cocktail.
MEMORIAL DAY SHOULD BE EVERY DAY IN AMERICA
Start by cutting the stems from the strawberries and washing your fruit well. Rinse the blueberries and set them aside.
In a blender, first add the filtered water and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Next, add the sugar and strawberries. Include as much ice as the blender will allow for now. Blend well until the ingredients are smooth.
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Once blended, you can add more ice as the mixture will become more liquid than frozen mocktail. Blend again until ice is smooth vs chunky.
For serving, a few ways of presenting will work. You can pour the entire blended drink into a pitcher, garnish with blueberries and leave glasses aside for guests to serve themselves. You can also add blueberries to individual glasses and pour as mocktails as desired.
Lastly, feel free to make a "make your own mocktail" station and include glasses, a bowl of blueberries, a bucket of ice just in case and your mocktail mixture.
For an extra garnish, wash whole strawberries with the stems still intact.
Cut a small slice from the bottom of the strawberry up and sit on the edge of each glass or aside for guests to take and apply themselves.
This drink will be more pink than red, so feel free to include Memorial Day-themed drink decorations, including American flag toothpicks or umbrellas, red, white and blue straws — or you can rim the glass with blue-colored sugar.
If you like this recipe, but you want it in cocktail vs. mocktail form, top each glass with 1–2 shots of strawberry infused, citrus or plain vodka.
If you want to blend it for a whole pitcher of cocktails, include 6 cups of water and 2 cups of vodka vs. 8 cups of water.
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2023-05-29T17:33:15+00:00
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foxbangor.com
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https://www.foxbangor.com/news/national/memorial-day-cocktail-and-mocktail-recipes-to-enjoy-in-the-sun-this-holiday-weekend/article_b88bec13-c15a-5546-b5da-5f780ac1eb81.html
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The K-12 future readiness program earns top honor in Primary Education Category
TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Xello, the award-winning K-12 college and career readiness program, was recognized as recipient of the 2022 Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence in the Primary (tools for K-6 grade education) category. This award represents the highest approval rating based on evaluation by teachers using education technology every day.
"It's an honor to be a recipient of the Award of Excellence," said Matt McQuillen, CEO and co-founder, Xello. "We strive to create an exceptional student experience with turnkey educator tools and easy-to-use software. Our Xello for Elementary platform helps young learners develop the building blocks for meaningful life and career development, setting them up for smoother transitions in school and life."
Through the Xello platform, students in grades K-12 can build self-knowledge, explore options, learn and reassess, and create plans beyond high school. Using interest-based assessments, they are matched with careers that best reflect their interests, while educators have visibility into monitoring student progress and college application workflows.
Xello for Elementary is used in thousands of schools across North America to help students spark career curiosity and develop the early connection between academic success and future aspirations. Through story driven lessons and activities, Xello for Elementary enhances critical thinking, problem solving, cooperation, and communication skills. With age-appropriate content and information, students develop greater self-awareness, the ability to self-reflect, and a better understanding of pathways associated with each career. Students are encouraged to produce, upload, and store work that can further enrich their experience and that showcases who they are, their future goals, and their career ambitions.
Tech & Learning's Awards of Excellence program, "The Best Tools for Back to School" is designed to help educators find the most impressive products and solutions that will support their work in any learning environment. Eligible products included: Hardware, software, curriculum, and more.
"As we head into another uncertain year in education, technology will continue to be one of the key drivers for innovation," says Tech & Learning Group Publisher Christine Weiser. "Our judges chose the winning products recognized here for their versatility, compatibility, value, and ability to help schools solve challenges and support continuous instruction. Congratulations to all of our winners."
A complete list of award recipients is listed here.
About Xello
Xello's mission is to help anyone, anywhere in the world create a successful future through self-knowledge, exploration and planning. With more than 20 years in the education software industry, the team at Xello has helped millions of educators and millions of students become future ready with its suite of online platforms. Based in Toronto, Canada, Xello's award-winning future readiness programs are used globally by nearly eight million students and educators. Learn more about Xello at: www.xello.world.
About Tech & Learning
Tech & Learning's award-winning publications, websites, newsletters, and virtual and in-person events provide factual and evaluative information on trends, products, and strategies to education leaders who purchase technology products in their districts and schools.
About the Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence
The Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence recognize products that offer schools versatility, value, and solutions to specific problems to support innovative, effective teaching and learning. These awards celebrate exceptional technology that supports educators by furthering effective teaching and learning practices.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Xello Inc.
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2022-09-20T16:12:42+00:00
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kmvt.com
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https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/09/20/xello-honored-with-2022-tech-amp-learning-award-excellence/
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Early Tuesday morning, House and Senate Appropriations leaders released their proposed fiscal year 2023 omnibus appropriations bill, including more than $2.8 billion in funding increases for core federal early learning and care programs. Notably, Congress included $8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). This represents a 30% increase over the fiscal year 2022 funding level, or $1.85 billion in additional program funding.
The Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC) applauds the leadership of Senate and House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chairs Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Ranking Members Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Tom Cole (R-OK), as well as Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC), for their commitment to children and families, and dedication to securing this critical funding.
During the past two years, the pandemic made clear that there is a direct link between child care and the workforce. Child care providers, teachers, and staff made it possible for parents to go to work, with their children in a safe and nurturing environment. At the same time, the pandemic also exposed how underfunded the child care system is, leaving families without access to care and providers without critical resources. By providing a large increase in federal funding, lawmakers have taken a key step to ensure that existing gaps in the program will be addressed.
The clear bipartisan support for CCDBG reinforces that the program, if robustly funded, is the best way to expand access to high-quality child care and provide critical support the nation's providers and families. We look forward to working with lawmakers on continued improvements to the program to address the needs of working parents.
In addition to CCDBG funding, Congress appropriated $11.996 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start, a $960 million increase over FY22. Included in this funding is a much needed cost-of-living adjustment for Head Start staff and additional quality improvement funding, which programs can use to recruit and retain staff, among other uses. Congress also appropriated $315 million for the Preschool Development Grant program, an increase of $25 million; $420 million for IDEA Part B Preschool Grants, an increase of $10.4 million; and $540 million for IDEA Part C Grants for Infants and Toddlers, an increase of $43.7 million.
ECEC is grateful to the longstanding child care champions on Capitol Hill for their tireless work to get this across the finish line. This year, a record number of "Dear Colleague" letters in support of early learning and care programs were led by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
We now urge the House and Senate to act quickly to pass this important measure before Friday's funding deadline.
About ECEC: The Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC) is a non-profit alliance of the leading multi-state/multi-site child care providers, key state child care associations, and premier educational service providers, representing nearly 7,000 programs in 48 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and select international locations. Our members serve as the unified collective voice for providers of high-quality programs and services that support families and children from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. We are advocates for strong federal and state policies that bring quality to scale.
View original content:
SOURCE Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC)
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2022-12-23T00:14:20+00:00
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kmvt.com
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https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/12/22/ecec-applauds-congresss-bipartisan-commitment-children-amp-families/
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LUXEMBOURG, Oct. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) approved Europrivacy as European Data Protection Seal for certification under art. 42 (5) GDPR. Europrivacy enables companies to assess and formally certify their data processing compliance. Europrivacy certificates will be formally recognised in all E.U. Member States and will be taken into account by data protection supervisory authorities in case of litigation.
Europrivacy is an innovative methodology and certification scheme developed through the European research programme to simplify, enhance, and certify compliance with privacy regulations. It covers the GDPR requirements and is extendable to other non-EU privacy laws. Europrivacy is supervised and continuously updated by an International Board of Experts to address regulatory changes. It is made available for free to selected service providers and is already supported by an ecosystem of qualified law firms, consulting companies, solution providers, and certification bodies, including world leaders in each category (more on https://europrivacy.com).
Europrivacy will start by being applied on the territory of the European Union and will progressively be extended to other countries.
Europrivacy certification enables all stakeholders to identify and select companies that effectively apply personal data protection. It enables companies to identify potential gaps with the regulation and reduce their legal, financial, and reputational risks. They can use it to monitor and document their compliance and to assess third-parties' compliance before transferring data.
Compliance is usually perceived as a burden and a cost by companies. With Europrivacy they can value and communicate their GDPR compliance. It turns compliance into an asset, a source of trust and competitive advantages.
Europrivacy's mission is to make data protection compliance more effective, efficient, and enjoyable. DPOs and auditors can get qualified on the Europrivacy online academy. They benefit from a variety of online tools and resources, including an online community to collaborate and share knowledge with other experts.
Europrivacy was researched and developed through the European research programme. It brings a whole set of innovations to support GDPR compliance and certification:
- A hybrid certification scheme, applicable to all sorts of data processing activities, while addressing domain and technology-specific obligations and risks for the data subjects.
- Applicable to emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Blockchain.
- Extendable to complementary national obligations, including non-EU regulations.
- A ledger-based registry of certificates for authenticating certificates and preventing forgery.
- Innovative criteria format that is both human and machine-readable.
Dr Sébastien Ziegler, President of Europrivacy International Board of Experts: "Europrivacy's ambition is to build trust and confidence in data protection, and to make data protection compliance as easy and natural as breathing air."
David Mudd, Global Head of Digital Trust Assurance at BSI: "With the amount of our working and social life that we conduct digitally growing exponentially and globally across society, data privacy has never been more important than it is today. The work Europrivacy has done in shaping a flexible yet robust certification scheme for Data Privacy is a key milestone in building consumer trust."
Luca Bolognini, President of the Italian Institute of Privacy, Rome, Italy: "Europrivacy has brought together some of the most seasoned European experts in data protection, cybersecurity and certification in order to deliver an efficient and comprehensive certification scheme that fully covers complex obligations."
- Europrivacy website: www.europrivacy.org and https://europrivacy.info
- European Data Protection Board: https://edpb.europa.eu
- EDPB Opinion: https://edpb.europa.eu/system/files/2022-10/edpb_opinion_202228_approval_of_europrivacy_certification_criteria_as_eu_data_protection_seal_en.pdf
View original content:
SOURCE Europrivacy
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2022-10-13T00:07:41+00:00
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kcbd.com
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https://www.kcbd.com/prnewswire/2022/10/12/european-centre-certification-privacy-europrivacy-gdpr-european-data-protection-seal-approved-by-eu-new-era-privacy-data-protection-compliance/
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Three women in Texas are being sued for wrongful death by a man who claims they helped his now-ex-wife obtain medication for an abortion. It’s another test of state-enforced bans since the U.S. Supreme court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.
In a lawsuit filed late Thursday in Galveston County, Marcus Silva alleges assisting in a self-administered abortion is tantamount to aiding a murder. Silva is seeking $1 million in damages.
The woman who took the medication in July — weeks after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion that had been in place since 1973 — is not named in the lawsuit. Texas law protects women who get an abortion from being held liable.
Abortion rights groups condemned the lawsuit, calling it an intimidation tactic.
“This is an outrageous attempt to scare people from getting abortion care and intimidate those who support their friends, family, and community in their time of need,” Autumn Katz, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, said Friday in a statement. “The extremists behind this lawsuit are twisting the law and judicial system to threaten and harass people seeking essential care and those who help them.”
Silva is being represented by Jonathan Mitchell — a former Texas solicitor general who helped create one of the state’s abortion bans — attorneys from conservative legal group Thomas More Society and state Rep. Briscoe Cain, a Houston-area Republican.
“Anyone involved in distributing or manufacturing abortion pills will be sued into oblivion,” Cain said in a statement from the attorneys.
According to the lawsuit, the manufacturer of the pills will also be named as a defendant once it is identified in the discovery process.
The lawsuit claims it has text messages from among the women discussing how to obtain medication that could induce an abortion and how to aid the woman who was pregnant in planning to take the medication.
Lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions have arisen across the U.S. as clinics have shuttered in Republican-dominated states. Earlier this week in Texas — which has one of the strictest bans in the country, outlawing the procedure in nearly every case with the exception of medical emergencies — five women who said they were denied abortions even when pregnancy endangered their lives sued the state.
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2023-03-14T03:54:42+00:00
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cbs4indy.com
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https://cbs4indy.com/news/national-world/ap-us-news/texas-women-sued-for-wrongful-death-after-aiding-in-abortion/
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OPERATING INCOME INCREASES 37.5% AND COMPARABLE RESTAURANT SALES INCREASE 10.1% AS MARGINS EXPAND
NEWPORT BEACH, Calf., July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) today reported financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2022.
Second quarter highlights, year over year:
- Total revenue increased 17.0% to $2.2 billion
- Comparable restaurant sales increased 10.1%
- In-restaurant sales increased 35.9%, while digital sales1 represented 39.0% of food and beverage revenue
- Operating margin was 15.3%, an increase from 13.0%
- Restaurant level operating margin was 25.2% 2, an increase of 70 basis points
- Diluted earnings per share was $9.25, a 40.2% increase from $6.60. Adjusted diluted earnings per share, which excluded a $0.05 after-tax impact from expenses related to certain legal proceedings, expenses related to the 2018 performance share COVID-19 related modification, corporate restructuring costs, restaurant asset impairment and closure costs, offset by an unrealized gain on investments was $9.30, a 24.7% increase from $7.46 2
- Opened 42 new restaurants with 32 locations including a Chipotlane
"We are pleased with our second quarter performance during a period of inflation and consumer uncertainty," said Brian Niccol, Chairman and CEO, Chipotle. "Our pricing power and value proposition remain strong as our culinary and food with integrity commitment continues to be a key point of differentiation."
Results for the three months ended June 30, 2022:
Total revenue in the second quarter was $2.2 billion, an increase of 17.0% compared to the second quarter of 2021. The increase in total revenue was driven by a 10.1% increase in comparable restaurant sales and new restaurant openings. Our in-restaurant sales increased 35.9% in the three months ended June 30, 2022, as compared to the three months ended June 30, 2021, while digital sales represented 39.0% of total food and beverage revenue.
We opened 42 new restaurants during the second quarter with 32 locations including a Chipotlane. These formats continue to perform very well and are helping enhance guest access and convenience, as well as increase new restaurant sales, margins, and returns.
Food, beverage and packaging costs in the second quarter remained flat at 30.4% of total revenue compared to the second quarter of 2021. In the second quarter of 2022 the benefit of menu price increases was offset by inflation across the menu primarily due to higher costs for avocados, packaging, dairy, beef and chicken.
Restaurant level operating margin was 25.2%, an increase from 24.5% in the second quarter of 2021. The increase was primarily due to the benefit of menu price increases and, to a lesser extent, lower delivery fees associated with a lower volume of delivery transactions, partially offset by higher food costs and increases in hourly wages.
General and administrative expenses for the second quarter were $140.8 million on a GAAP basis, or $130.4 million2 on a non-GAAP basis, excluding $6.8 million of certain legal proceedings, $2.8 million for a COVID-19 related modification to our 2018 performance shares made in December 2020, and $0.9 million related to transformation expenses. GAAP and non-GAAP general and administrative expenses for the second quarter of 2022 also include $105.8 million of underlying general and administrative expenses, and $25.0 million of non-cash stock compensation.
The GAAP effective income tax rate was 25.3% for the second quarter, which increased from 23.7% in the second quarter of 2021, primarily due to a decrease in tax benefits related to option exercises and equity vesting.
Net income for the second quarter was $259.9 million, or $9.25 per diluted share, an increase from $188.0 million, or $6.60 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2021. Excluding the after-tax impact of expenses related to certain legal proceedings, modification expenses related to our 2018 performance shares, corporate restructuring, restaurant asset impairment and closure costs, offset by an unrealized gain on investments, adjusted net income was $261.2 million2 and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $9.302.
During the second quarter, our Board of Directors approved the investment of up to an additional $300 million, exclusive of commissions, to repurchase shares of our common stock, subject to market conditions. Including this repurchase authorization, $319.7 million was available as of June 30, 2022. The repurchase authorization may be modified, suspended, or discontinued at any time. We repurchased $261.1 million of stock at an average price per share of $1,350 during the second quarter.
More information will be available in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which will be filed with the SEC by the end of July.
Outlook
For 2022, management is anticipating the following:
- Third quarter comparable restaurant sales growth, including planned price increases in August, in the mid to high-single digits.
- Between 235 to 250 new restaurant openings (including 10 to 15 relocations to add a Chipotlane), which assumes construction, permit and material supply delays don't worsen
- An estimated underlying effective full year tax rate between 25% and 27% before discrete items
Definitions
The following definitions apply to these terms as used throughout this release:
- Comparable restaurant sales, or sales comps, and comparable restaurant transactions, represent the change in period-over-period total revenue or transactions for restaurants in operation for at least 13 full calendar months.
- Average restaurant sales refer to the average trailing 12-month food and beverage revenue for restaurants in operation for at least 12 full calendar months.
- Restaurant level operating margin represents total revenue less direct restaurant operating costs, expressed as a percent of total revenue.
- Digital sales represent food and beverage revenue generated through the Chipotle website, Chipotle app or third-party delivery aggregators. Digital sales includes revenue deferrals associated with Chipotle Rewards.
- In-restaurant sales represent food and beverage revenue generated on-premise. In-restaurant sales includes revenue deferrals associated with Chipotle Rewards.
Conference Call Details
Chipotle will host a conference call on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at 4:30 PM Eastern time to discuss second quarter 2022 financial results as well as provide a business update for the third quarter 2022.
The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing 1-888-317-6003, or for international callers by dialing 1-412-317-6061, and use code: 8631266. The call will be webcast live from the company's website on the investor relations page at ir.chipotle.com/events. An archived webcast will be available approximately one hour after the end of the call.
About Chipotle
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is cultivating a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Chipotle had over 3,000 restaurants as of June 30, 2022, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany and is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants. Chipotle is ranked on the Fortune 500 and is recognized on the 2022 list for Fortune's Most Admired Companies. With over 100,000 employees passionate about providing a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in digital, technology and sustainable business practices. For more information or to place an order online, visit WWW.CHIPOTLE.COM.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release and in the July 26, 2022 conference call are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about our goals for number of future Chipotle restaurants, restaurants with Chipotlanes and rate of expansion, future comparable restaurant sales, future estimated tax rates, future cash flow, and future long-term prospects. We use words such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "should", "may", "approximately", "estimate", "expect", "potential", "intend", "project", "encouraged", "target", and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions, to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information available to us as of the date of this release and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the statements, including but not limited to: uncertainty regarding the duration and severity of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the resurgence of COVID-19 infections, the circulation of novel variants of COVID-19 and its ultimate impact on our business, including supply chain disruptions and difficulties in acquiring restaurant equipment, impact on guest traffic, restaurant sales and operating costs and the ability of our third-party suppliers and business partners to fulfill their responsibilities and commitments; increasing wage inflation and the competitive labor market, which impacts our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and has resulted in occasional staffing shortages; the impact of any union organizing efforts and our responses to such efforts; increasing supply costs (including beef, avocados and packaging); risks of food safety incidents and food-borne illnesses; risks associated with our reliance on certain information technology systems and potential material failures or interruptions; privacy and cyber security risks related to our acceptance of electronic payments or electronic processing of confidential customer or employee information, including through our digital app; the impact of competition, including from sources outside the restaurant industry; the financial impact of increasing our average hourly wages; the impact of federal, state or local government regulations relating to our employees, employment practices, restaurant design and construction, and the sale of food or alcoholic beverages; our ability to achieve our planned growth, such as the availability of suitable new restaurant sites and the availability of construction materials and contractors; increases in ingredient and other operating costs due to our Food With Integrity philosophy, tariffs or trade restrictions and supply shortages; the uncertainty of our ability to achieve expected levels of comparable restaurant sales due to factors such as changes in consumers' perceptions of our brand, including as a result of actual or rumored food safety concerns or other negative publicity, decreased overall consumer spending (including as a result of the increase in inflation and higher gas prices), or the inability to increase menu prices or realize the benefits of menu price increases; risks associated with our increased focus on our digital business, including risks arising from our reliance on third party delivery services; risks relating to litigation, including possible governmental actions related to food safety incidents and potential class action litigation regarding employment laws, advertising claims or other matters; and other risk factors described from time to time in our SEC reports, including our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, all of which are available on the investor relations page of our website at ir.Chipotle.com.
CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL, INC.
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
The following tables provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures presented in the text above to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.
Adjusted net income is net income excluding expenses related to restaurant asset impairment, corporate restructuring, legal proceedings, stock-based compensation modification expense, unrealized gains on equity investments, and certain other costs. Adjusted general and administrative expense is general and administrative expense excluding transformation expenses, legal proceedings, stock-based compensation modification expense, and certain other costs. The adjusted effective income tax rate is the effective income tax rate adjusted to reflect the after tax impact of non-GAAP adjustments. Restaurant Level Operating Margin, a non-GAAP financial measure, is equal to the revenues generated by our restaurants less their direct operating costs which consist of food, beverage and packaging, labor, occupancy and other operating costs. This performance measure primarily includes the costs that restaurant level managers can directly control and excludes other costs that are essential to conduct our business. Management uses restaurant level operating margin as a measure of restaurant performance. Management believes restaurant level operating margin is useful to investors in that it highlights trends in our core business that may not otherwise be apparent to investors when relying solely on GAAP financial measures. We present these non-GAAP measures in order to facilitate meaningful evaluation of our operating performance across periods. These adjustments are intended to provide greater transparency of underlying performance and to allow investors to evaluate our business on the same basis as our management, which uses these non-GAAP measures in evaluating the company's performance. Our adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted general and administrative expenses, adjusted effective income tax rate and restaurant level operating margin measures may not be comparable to other companies' adjusted measures. These adjustments are not necessarily indicative of what our actual financial performance would have been during the periods presented and should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative to, our results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further details regarding these adjustments are included in the tables below.
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SOURCE Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
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2022-07-26T21:24:59+00:00
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wagmtv.com
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https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2022/07/26/chipotle-announces-second-quarter-2022-results/
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Free-spirited fashion and lifestyle brand francesca's® taps local influencer ambassadors for Spring CTV and editorial photo shoot, promoting Fran Club loyalty program and Free To Be You platform
HOUSTON, April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Francesca's Acquisition, LLC, a specialty retailer operating a nationwide chain of francesca's® and franki by francesca's® boutiques providing customers with unique and carefully curated fashion, accessories, jewelry, and lifestyle products, today announced a new campaign to celebrate its Fran Club loyalty program and Free To Be You brand platform, tapping regional brand ambassadors to create custom campaign content for the first time.
The campaign, filmed during francesca's® Miami Fran Club event for customers, brand loyalists, local associates and Fran Club members, was brought to life in partnership with Elevate Pictures, a transmedia entertainment company that produced both the commercial video spot and the live event. With a unique approach to storytelling, the event and commercial spot were intertwined, showcasing francesca's® new Spring product collection and its #FreeToBeYou brand story through the support and involvement of loyalty members, ambassadors, and associates themselves.
"We see incredible value in engaging directly with our community to celebrate self-expression and the unique sense of style the francesca's customer has," said Jann Parish, Chief Marketing Officer. "By working alongside incredible local Miami talent and incorporating our customers and associates, we are building a brand that rewards our best customers and showcases that within this campaign. We are approaching acquisition in a unique way by creating an exclusively, inclusive community that future customers will want to be a part of. It's not just about shop now, it's about building trust and creating a connection."
To better understand core audience needs, in 2022 francesca's® conducted an in-depth study to develop key customer personas: the always on trendsetter, intentional shopper, and fast fashionista. This campaign speaks to those personas specifically, showcasing key styles and looks as well as regional significance in a core francesca's market.
Francesca's® launched its Fran Club in October 2022 to reward loyal shoppers and create a community through hosted events and engagements. In response to a customer interest in circular fashion, francesca's® brought forever francesca's® to life, allowing consumers to recycle older styles from any brand for store credit.
"We're constantly innovating and adapting to bring francesca's® customers what they want, when they want it. From The Fran Club to forever francesca's®, to this latest campaign, we prioritize what will make the shopping experience more rewarding and how we can continue to earn trust within the brand community we're building – recognizing our best and welcoming new customers." said Parish.
The campaign will be distributed across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and CTV segments based on customer and persona targeting. To learn more about francesca's® and the Fran Club, visit francescas.com/thefranclub.
About francesca's®
francesca's® is a specialty retailer which operates a nationwide chain of francesca's® and franki by francesca's® boutiques providing customers a unique, fun and personalized shopping experience. The merchandise assortment is a diverse and balanced mix of apparel, jewelry, accessories and gifts. Today, francesca's® operates approximately 454 boutiques in 45 states and also serves its customers online. For additional information on francesca's®, please visit www.francescas.com.
Contact: francescas@kwtglobal.com
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SOURCE francesca's
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2023-04-04T12:28:01+00:00
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wagmtv.com
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https://www.wagmtv.com/prnewswire/2023/04/04/francescas-ambassadors-celebrate-free-be-you-fran-club-event/
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INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's high court said it will not immediately consider a challenge to the state's abortion ban that is based on the argument that the law violates some people's religious freedoms, leaving that decision to an appeals court, at least for now.
The state Supreme Court issued an order Monday saying the state Court of Appeals will first consider the case, after a lower court judge in December sided with residents who claim the state's abortion ban infringes on their religious beliefs. The state attorney general's office appealed that decision, asking the high court to take up the case.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the lawsuit in September on behalf of those residents — who hold Muslim, Jewish and other faiths — after Republican state lawmakers enacted the ban last summer.
The ACLU and the state attorney general's office did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Indiana's ban, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, goes against those residents’ religious values regarding when they believe the treatment is acceptable, the lawsuit argues.
Earlier in January, the state Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by abortion clinic operators. The court has maintained a block on the abortion ban while it considers the case, after a county judge in September initially found the law likely violated privacy protections under the state constitution.
While Indiana’s ban is blocked, abortion will remain legal in the state up to 20 weeks post-fertilization.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, religious freedoms lawsuits against states' abortion bans have sprouted across the country, where abortion-rights supporters are aiming to protect access to abortion and defend their beliefs.
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2023-01-31T16:40:27+00:00
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wthr.com
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https://www.wthr.com/article/news/special-reports/indiana-abortion/indiana-justices-wont-hear-2nd-abortion-case-now/531-f7a84af2-9151-423e-9a81-fa02698dbb5a
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins planted a native totara tree Wednesday in Parliament’s grounds to mark the upcoming coronation of Britain’s King Charles III.
The ceremony was an early start to a campaign to plant 100,000 native trees around New Zealand. The government has donated 1 million New Zealand dollars ($613,000) to the effort.
Hipkins said his office liaised with the British palace over the best way to mark the coronation.
“King Charles being an avid environmentalist and a keen gardener, we thought it was appropriate that we recognize his coronation in a way that leaves a lasting legacy that recognizes his passions and his interests,” Hipkins said.
New Zealand is a former British colony and under its constitutional arrangements, Charles remains New Zealand’s king and head of state. However, his role is largely ceremonial.
King Charles’s coronation May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London will mark the official start of the planting campaign. Hipkins said he hoped to get as many New Zealanders as possible planting trees for the effort’s launch.
“A couple of us won’t be here for that, we’re going to be at the coronation, so we wanted to get started,” he said. “The people’s place, Parliament, is the appropriate place for us to really begin these celebrations.”
Hipkins was joined in the tree-planting ceremony by Opposition Leader Christopher Luxon and other dignitaries.
Totara trees have huge trunks and can grow up to 30 meters (100 feet).
___
Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
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2023-04-26T07:35:08+00:00
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seattletimes.com
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https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/new-zealand-plants-tree-to-mark-coronation-of-king-charles/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Police believe the shooting rampage that left five dead in North Carolina’s capital city last week began when the 15-year-old suspect shot his older brother, according to a report released Thursday.
More details about the shootings emerged from the four-page preliminary report that Raleigh’s police chief provided to the city manager. Such summaries are written within five business days of an officer-involved shooting.
Those who died in the Oct. 13 shooting included an off-duty city police officer who lived in the Hedingham neighborhood where the shootings began, according to police. Two others were wounded, one of them another community resident who remains in critical but stable condition, the report said.
Witnesses had described a shooter wearing camouflage clothing, which the report confirmed, and firing a shotgun in the subdivision and along a nearby walking trail.
Police said the suspect — still not named in the report because he is a juvenile but identified by his parents this week as Austin Thompson — was captured in a barnlike structure more than four hours after the first emergency call. The report said the teen had traveled nearly 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from where his brother was found shot and stabbed. Police said they exchanged gunfire with the teen and one officer was injured. The officer was treated at a hospital and released that evening.
The report said officers gave repeated commands for the suspect to surrender and special officers worked to figure out his exact location. Police ultimately decided to advance toward the building where he was found.
When officers arrested the teen, he appeared to have a single gunshot wound and had a handgun in his waistband. A shotgun and shells were lying nearby, according to the report. It didn’t describe how he obtained the weapons or how he was wounded.
The report was released the same day the first memorial service for victims was held at a Raleigh church —- where a basketball jersey and a pair of shorts were placed atop a closed coffin.
James Thompson, 16, the youngest of those killed and the brother of Austin Thompson, was “just getting to that age when the whole world was opening up for him,” Jeff Roberts, senior pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, said during the service.
“And we remember his life — a life filled with joy and laughter and experiences that shaped him and were shaping his future,” the pastor said.
When he was younger, James Thompson was a calm and smiling presence at Sunday school but a fierce player in the church’s basketball program. He was a child who picked up used golf balls at the golf course, cleaned them and resold them.
As he grew older, the teen developed an interest in cooking and would try out new ideas after watching YouTube videos of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. The teen loved deep-sea fishing. And he was starting to think about college, possibly at nearby North Carolina State University.
“We don’t want this moment to define James’s life,” the pastor said. “Part of the events of the past week will be part of his story. But I want you to know it’s not all of his story.”
Roberts also spoke aloud the names of the other victims.
“We are a community who is grieving, grieving with this family and grieving with so many other families as well,” Roberts said.
Meanwhile, Austin Thompson remains in critical condition, the report said. His mother said Wednesday that he was moved to a pediatric ICU unit. The top local prosecutor has said she will seek to charge the youth as an adult.
The teen had a backpack that contained several types of rifle and shotgun ammunition, the report said, and the sheath for a large knife clipped to his belt. A hunting knife was found at the front of the outbuilding where he was captured, police said.
Based on the teen’s estimated direction of travel, police believe James Thompson was shot first, the report said.
“The collective motive for these attacks is still unknown,” the report from Chief Estella Patterson said, adding there doesn’t appear to be any connection between the victims shot by the suspect before he encountered police other than they all lived in close proximity.
According to the report, emergency communications received a 5:09 p.m. call for service based on multiple shots fired near the neighborhood’s golf course.
A few minutes later, a 911 caller reported hearing shots and seeing two shooting victims in front of a house on the same street where the 16-year-old was discovered in a residence. Police believe the teen shot Marcille Lynn Gardner, who was found wounded in the driveway, then fired at Nicole Connors, 52, who lived in the house. Connors was shot on her porch and later died. Gardner, 60, remains hospitalized.
Soon after, off-duty Raleigh police Officer Gabriel Torres was shot inside his car on another street in the neighborhood as he was about to leave for work, the report said. Torres, 29, later died at the hospital.
That’s when the teen fled toward the Neuse River Greenway Trail, the report said, where minutes later a 911 caller found two more victims along the trail who died at the scene. They were Mary Marshall, 34, who was walking her dog, and Susan Karnatz, 49, who was out on a run.
Officers who had swarmed the area located the teen a little over an hour later in an area with two barn-like structures. That’s when police said they believe he fired shots at officers from one of the buildings and multiple officers returned fire. Raleigh police estimated their officers fired 23 rounds. Two city officers who discharged their firearms have been placed on administrative duty.
The parents of the two teenagers released a statement earlier this week saying they are “overcome with grief” and saw no warning signs that “Austin was capable of doing anything like this.” An attorney for the family didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the report.
The Associated Press generally does not name people under 18 who are accused of crimes but is identifying Austin Thompson because of the severity and publicity of the shootings and because his parents voluntarily named him.
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2022-10-21T15:13:01+00:00
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ksn.com
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https://www.ksn.com/news/national-world/ap-us-news/ap-police-north-carolina-rampage-began-when-teen-shot-brother/
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Amidst all her other programs that are part Walkin' in my Shoes, Jo Wynn is creating a café for military veterans and is seeking help from community members.
Wynn, who is the founder and CEO of Walkin' in my Shoes, had a vision to create a café that would provide free breakfasts, lunches, coffee, computer access and assistance to veterans who need help applying for benefits.
"I wanted to do this as a way to create something that I know they will love and appreciate," Wynn said. "It's going to be veterans helping veterans."
Walkin' in my Shoes is a nonprofit organization that aims to serve the underserved homeless populations in Kenosha.
The open house is expected to be held July 8, but there is still work to be done inside. Wynn said she needs help with the flooring, painting and building furniture, as well as needing financial support to buy items such as an office desk.
"They're (veterans) not going to pay for anything," Wynn said. "I want them to come pick out the food that they want not food that I think they should have."
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Wynn founded Walkin' in my Shoes after she was living without a home in Kenosha at age 51.
"I was homeless when I got here, because I lived in Arizona and I was going through some really hard financial problems and it was so bad that I ended up losing my house that I had built from the ground up," Wynn said.
She was staying with a friend for a period of time, but Wynn brought her dog with her and the friend's landlord said she could stay if she did not have her dog.
"I'm like, 'No, that's not gonna work,' and I ended up having nowhere to go," Wynn said. "I mean, I really looked and searched for resources (but) they didn't have anything for seniors."
After receiving her disability checks and finding a home, Wynn dedicated her time to assisting others without homes.
"I listened to people and I suggested Well, what do you what do you want to do? Other than stay out here?" Wynn said. "I started just listening to what they wanted, and it turned into 10 different programs now."
Anyone who is interested in assisting Wynn with the Bunker's Coffeehouse should contact her by phone at 262-220-9819 or email at jwynn@walkininmyshoes.org.
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2022-06-21T22:29:05+00:00
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kenoshanews.com
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https://www.kenoshanews.com/walkin-in-my-shoes-seeks-helping-hands-to-finish-bunkers-coffeehouse-for-vets/article_48888d4a-f19f-11ec-92ef-63a8a09f020b.html
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Hedge Fund Places Target Price at C$0.67 Per Share
VANCOUVER, BC, July 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - PlantX Life Inc. (CSE: VEGA) (Frankfurt: WNT1) (OTCQB: PLTXF) ("PlantX" or the "Company") today announced that Capital Y Management, a New York-based hedge fund, has issued an independent research report on PlantX referring to PlantX as "a market leader with a disruptive business in an emerging industry with long term tailwinds''. Capital Y Management has established a 12-month price target of C$0.67 per common share, which would represent an enterprise value for PlantX of approximately C$68 million.
"The PlantX team is hard at work to make plant-based diets available to everyone, expanding our presence in this rapidly growing market," said PlantX CEO, Lorne Rapkin. "We are encouraged that this independent report has recognized that we are well-positioned. While we are not commenting on the specific projections, we are focused on achieving success similar to Capital Y's outlook."
The full report published in July 2022 and financial model can be viewed and downloaded from the PlantX website under Investors or by clicking here: https://investor.plantx.com/news/capital-y-report/
Any opinions, estimates or forecasts regarding the performance of PlantX and its management made by Capital Y Management are theirs alone and do not represent the opinions, estimates or forecasts of PlantX or its management. PlantX does not by this announcement or otherwise, imply that the Company endorses, analyzes or approves of such information, conclusions, or recommendations.
As the digital face of the plant-based community, PlantX's platform is the one-stop shop for everything plant-based. With its fast-growing category verticals, the Company offers customers across North America more than 5,000 plant-based products. In addition to offering meal and indoor plant deliveries, the Company currently has plans underway to expand its product lines to include a juice and coffee company – but the business is not limited to an e-commerce platform. The Company uses its digital platform to build a community of likeminded consumers and, most importantly, to provide education. Its successful enterprise is being built and fortified on partnerships with the top nutritionists, chefs and brands. The Company eliminates the barriers to entry for anyone interested in living a plant-based lifestyle and thriving in a longer, healthier and happier life.
Connect with PlantX: Email | Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
Forward-looking Information
This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "likely", "should," "would," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "potential," "proposed," "estimate," "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar words, expressions and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" happen, or by discussions of strategy. The forward-looking information contained herein includes, without limitation, statements regarding the valuation and target price of PlantX's common shares and the business and strategic plans of the Company.
By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct, and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. A variety of factors, including known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond our control, could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information in this press release including, without limitation: receiving sufficient demand for the Offering; the Company's ability to comply with all applicable governmental regulations including all applicable food safety laws and regulations; impacts to the business and operations of the Company due to the COVID-19 epidemic; the conflict in eastern Europe; having a limited operating history; the ability of the Company to access capital to meet future financing needs; the Company's reliance on management and key personnel; competition; changes in consumer trends; foreign currency fluctuations; and general economic, market or business conditions.
Additional risk factors can also be found in the Company's continuous disclosure documents, which have been filed on SEDAR and can be accessed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this press release and is based on the beliefs, estimates, expectations and opinions of management on the date such forward-looking information is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.
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SOURCE PlantX Life Inc.
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2022-07-27T13:08:31+00:00
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wymt.com
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https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/07/27/plantx-receives-bullish-research-valuation-capital-y-management/
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Industry-wide initiative aiming to attract Black talent
NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Whether you're recruiting more diverse talent to your company or looking to make your next career move, Advancing Diversity Week: Black Talent Outreach is where you should start. With a focus on Black talent outreach for its second annual Advancing Diversity Week, MediaVillage is connecting eager, qualified candidates to human resources, journalism, advertising, and other professionals in the industry.
From October 17-20, Advancing Diversity Week's main objective is to collect 2,500 resumes from Black talent to add more valuable Black perspectives to the media, marketing, entertainment, and advertising professions. Right now, Black people make up less than 5% of the professionals in the advertising industry.
The media and advertising community has established a free Resume Submission Portal. Candidates can share interests and submit resumes to a host of companies at week.advancingdiversity.org/registration or the MediaVillage.com and AdvancingDiversity.org websites.
The 2022 Advancing Diversity Week: Black Talent Outreach boasts a four-day virtual program featuring storytelling, interviews, and panels with decision-makers at local, national, and global companies and nonprofits. Those interested in attending the virtual program can register at MediaVillage.com. There is also an exclusive, in-person cocktail reception recognizing the 2022 Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors inductees on the evening of October 19. Follow @mediavillagecom and @jackmyersbiz #BlackTalentOutreach #ADW2022 #AdvancingDiversityHonors
Sponsors for Advancing Diversity Week: Black Talent Outreach include 4A's, A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Ampersand, Comcast Advertising, Dentsu, DPAA, FOX, HBCU GO, HBCU Radio / WHUR, IPG Mediabrands, Mower, Nexstar Media Group, Inc., Nielsen, Screenvision, Warner Bros. Discovery. Funds raised through sponsorship for Black Talent Outreach Week will support the organization's 501c3 College Loan Relief Fund and Continuing Education Scholarships. For partnership opportunities, contact Robin Wallace at Robin@MediaVillage.com.
For press inquiries, contact Jazmyne Hankerson at Jazmyne@TJMandCo.com, Tiffany Joy Murchison at TiffanyJoy@TJMandCo.com or Diane Stefani at Diane@MediaVillage.com. Follow @MediaVillageCom @JackMyersBiz; hashtags: #BlackTalentOutreach #Resume #ADW2022 #AdvancingDiversityHonors
ABOUT MEDIAVILLAGE: MediaVillage is an open B2B marketplace where media companies and subject matter experts share thought leadership, business offerings, strategic insights and resources for industry professionals, educators, and job seekers. Underpinned by AvrioB2B SaaS technology, MediaVillage KnowledgeExchange, AdvancingDiversity.org, MeetingPrep.com and The Myers Report enable industry professionals, educators, and job seekers to learn and grow. MediaVillage hosts and manages dedicated destination B2B sites for more than 100 member companies and subject matter experts. In collaboration with our journalists and columnists, members contribute B2B educational resources, market intelligence, content marketing and diverse talent development resources. Become a MediaVillage and AdvancingDiversity.org subscriber here for free. Learn more about us at www.AboutMediaVillage.com; follow @mediavillagecom @jackmyersbiz
ABOUT ADVANCINGDIVERSITY.ORG: Under the AdvancingDiversity.org umbrella, over 10 content sites amplify the voices and best practices of diverse talent in the media, advertising, marketing, and entertainment community. They include: MediaVillage.com, AdvancingDiversity.org, Ask-GenZ.com, BlackLeadersMatter.info, LGBTQAdvancing.com, MulticulturalInSites.com, TheAgeofAging.com, LegendsLeaders.org, WomenAdvancing.org, ThePool.biz. AdvancingDiversity.org organizes and hosts the annual Advancing Diversity Week and the AdvancingDiversity.org Hall of Honors. The MeetingPrep.com content recommendation engine provides easy access to insights, intelligent and guidance for all those seeking knowledge about the advertising supported media business.
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SOURCE MediaVillage
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2022-10-11T14:56:31+00:00
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witn.com
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https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/10/11/media-amp-advertising-communitys-advancing-diversity-week-black-talent-outreach-takes-place-october-17-20/
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Six crew members of a Liberian-flagged tanker held hostage for more than a month by pirates in West Africa have been freed, the Danish shipping company that owns the vessel said Monday.
On March 25, pirates boarded the Monjasa Reformer southwest of Port Pointe-Noire, Congo. The ship was found abandoned five days later by a French navy patrol off the small island nation of Sao Tomé and Principe north of where the attack took place.
The pirates left 10 of the 16 crew members on board, kidnapping the remaining six and taking them to shore in Nigeria.
In a statement, Monjasa company spokesperson Thorstein Andreasen said that the ordeal of the six crew members had ended Monday and they were “now safely recovered from an undisclosed location in Nigeria.”
All “are in a relatively good health condition given the difficult circumstances they have been under in the last more than five weeks,” Andreasen said in the statement. He added that they had received medical checks and were being repatriated to their home countries to reunite with their families.
The Gulf of Guinea is one of the world’s most dangerous places for attacks on ships. This hijacking took place further south in an area that is not typically attacked by pirates.
Anders Ostergaard, the CEO of Monjasa, which is based in Fredericia, western Denmark, thanked those who had helped to “resolve this awful situation.”
After the pirates boarded the tanker, the crew sought refuge in a citadel — a safe area on the ship — in line with the on-board anti-piracy emergency protocol. However, the pirates somehow managed to take some of them hostage.
The nationalities of the crew members has not been announced, nor were details given as to where and how they were held.
No damage to the ship or its cargo has been reported. No further details were given.
The Danish shipper said that the episode “clearly demonstrates the need for joint international political action to face these issues once and for all” and “urges for safe passage routes and safe zones under an international coalition.”
The Monjasa Reformer is used in West Africa as part of Monjasa’s global marine fuels operations. It was carrying marine gas oil, very low sulphur fuel oil and high sulphur fuel oil products on board, the shipper said.
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2023-05-08T19:29:48+00:00
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wnct.com
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https://www.wnct.com/news/international/6-tanker-crew-members-seized-by-pirates-freed-in-w-africa/
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SSC Partners with Wright Commercial Mowers and Greenzie to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Labor Costs for College Campus Grounds Maintenance
BELMONT, N.C., Nov. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SSC Services for Education (SSC), an innovative educational facilities services contractor, announced it is bringing the Autonomous Stander ZK (Autonomous ZK), one of the first autonomous lawnmowers of its kind in the United States, to Belmont Abbey College.
This partnership is another example of how SSC provides hundreds of educational institutions with the highest level of facilities services, which allows schools to reduce their operating costs and maximize tuition fees and tax dollars within their classrooms. The Autonomous ZK's added efficiencies empower groundskeepers to address more technical and skilled landscaping needs, while still providing a standard of high-quality lawncare.
"We're thrilled we were able to make this happen for Belmont Abbey College. They now have one of the first Autonomous ZKs in the nation. It's these types of exciting innovations that allow our grounds teams greater efficiency, so we can focus on enhancing student experiences through improved surroundings," said Seth Ferriell, CEO of SSC Services for Education.
Manufactured by Wright Commercial Mowers and powered by Greenzie, the Autonomous ZK is the first Robotic Ready™ mower equipped with Autonomous Mowing. It uses depth-sensing cameras and GPS to develop a comprehensive view of surrounding land. A safe stopping range is determined based on velocity—meaning that the higher the speed, the greater the distance at which the mower can detect obstacles. In addition, ultrasonic sensors detect objects directly in front of the mower as well as outside of peripheral vision, and a remote control allows the landscaper to cut the power immediately.
In the first week, SSC completed the testing phase to ensure efficiency and safety of the new technology. Geographic Information System (GIS) data was integrated to map the campus and set boundaries for the lawnmower to work within while it operates. Belmont Abbey College is a 37.5-acre campus located in Belmont, North Carolina, with more than 1,700 students and a NCAA Division II athletics program. SSC is also introducing the Autonomous ZK in at more of its locations nationwide, with the next at Jasper, South Carolina, for Jasper County Schools.
As the Autonomous ZK is introduced at Belmont Abbey College, student and community input is welcomed and encouraged. Feedback can be shared at contact@sscserv.com. Safety is the top priority.
SSC Services for Education based in Knoxville, Tennessee, provides customized facility solutions to over 170 educational clients in 26 states. Our 10,000+ employees partner with these educational institutions to further the success and well-being of students, staff, and faculty by delivering quality facilities programs – custodial, grounds, and maintenance. As a trusted and specialized provider, we are committed to enhancing educational settings and creating financial guarantees. With SSC, students and staff flourish in improved surroundings, while partner schools focus on their core objective: educating future generations. Learn more about SSC Services for Education.
Wright Manufacturing is an innovative leader in lawn maintenance technology, dedicated to manufacturing the safest, most durable, and highest quality lawn equipment in the world. Since its inception over thirty years ago, the company has revolutionized commercial lawn maintenance with products such as the industry-leading Grass Gobbler™ and its revolutionary line of stand-on mowers. As a testament to our innovation, Wright's engineering teams have received over 50 U.S. patents with more pending future approval. Learn more about Wright Manufacturing.
Greenzie is a startup based in Atlanta, GA, driven by the mission of freeing humans from repetitive outdoor labor. Greenzie builds software for autonomous robotic commercial lawn mowers. The Greenzie Robotic Ready™ program gives manufacturers the ability to upfit mowers with soon to be industry-standard autonomous mowing functionality. Learn more about Greenzie.
CONTACT: Catherine Merritt, Catherine.Merritt@sscserv.com
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SOURCE SSC Services for Education
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2022-11-09T14:37:10+00:00
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waff.com
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https://www.waff.com/prnewswire/2022/11/09/ssc-services-education-introduces-first-autonomous-lawnmower-belmont-abbey-college/
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CINCINNATI, Dec. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LuckyTruck, the tech-enabled retail agent focused exclusively on trucking, announced today it has collaborated with Great American Insurance Group (GAIG) to launch a fully digital Motor Truck Cargo (MTC) product.
Over the last decade, the commercial insurance industry, especially trucking insurance, has been slow to adopt digital products. Historically, getting motor truck cargo coverage took a trucker between one to three days. Together, LuckyTruck and Great American Insurance Group will enable truckers to obtain a quote, purchase, and bind a policy in 10 minutes or less.
"We are pleased to be working with Great American," said Julie Zimmer, CEO of LuckyTruck. "Their financial strength, competitive coverages, and focus on providing a great customer experience through innovation aligns with what we do at LuckyTruck."
Great American's MTC product is fully digital, eliminating 100+ question applications, back-and-forth phone calls, multiple emails, and manual payment processing. Powered by Ascend's modern payment platform, LuckyTruck allows customers purchasing the GAIG MTC product to pay-in-full or enroll in premium financing instantaneously. After payment, the policy is bound in a matter of microseconds. Instead of sitting on the side of the road waiting days for coverage, truckers can hit the open road in just a few minutes with the coverage they need.
"Truckers are often on the road during their insurance agent's typical business hours, and in the fast-paced world of trucking every minute counts," said Travis Murphy, Assistant Vice President of Business Development, Great American Property & Inland Marine. "We saw an opportunity to connect with our insureds differently, in a way that better meets their needs. Our digital (MTC) product is smart, fast, easy-to-use, and accessible around the clock via the LuckyTruck platform."
LuckyTruck is looking forward to building its relationship with Great American and advancing their shared goal of creating a digital-first approach in the trucking industry.
Learn more about the MTC product here.
Launched in 2019, LuckyTruck is a modern insurance platform for commercial trucking. It is the first all-in-one retail platform exclusively focused on the trucking insurance market. For more information, visit https://www.luckytruck.com/.
Great American Insurance Group's roots go back to 1872 with the founding of its flagship company, Great American Insurance Company. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the operations of Great American Insurance Group are engaged primarily in property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialized commercial products for businesses. Great American Insurance Company has received an "A" (Excellent) or higher rating from the A.M. Best Company for more than 110 years (most recent rating evaluation of "A+" (Superior) affirmed December 3, 2021). The members of Great American Insurance Group are subsidiaries of American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG), also based in Cincinnati, Ohio. AFG's common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFG. Policies are underwritten by Great American Insurance Company, Great American Assurance Company, Great American Alliance Insurance Company and Great American Insurance Company of New York, authorized insurers in all 50 states and the DC.
Media Contact:
Lara McKeithan
contact@luckytruck.com
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SOURCE LuckyTruck, Inc.
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2022-12-01T18:29:25+00:00
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kwtx.com
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https://www.kwtx.com/prnewswire/2022/12/01/luckytruck-strategizes-with-great-american-insurance-group-launch-fully-digital-motor-truck-cargo-insurance-product/
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Niagara University and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center will partner in a new workforce development program that will provide paid internships and the opportunity for full-time employment.
The program announced on Tuesday will be funded through a grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation. It will provide the funding for the paid internships for NU students at Memorial in the fields of nursing, social work, finance and technology. NFMMC President & CEO Joseph Ruffolo said the hospital will take on eight NU nursing students and that the paid internships will offer them more opportunities than they could access through regular clinical programs.
“They will actually do procedures, under the supervision of a registered nurse,” Ruffolo said. “So that when they get to their board (examinations), they’ll have real world experience. It won’t just be academic for them. They’ll have the real life experience (of a nurse).”
Ruffolo said the ultimate goal of the program is to be able to offer the interns full-time employment at Memorial after they graduate from NU.
“Niagara students benefit from real-world experiences that enhance their overall education, and in doing so, they will potentially begin their careers at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center – and strengthen the workforce for the hospital and our community,” added the Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., president of Niagara University.
Maher said the new program will allow NU to continue to build on its “long-standing relationship” with Memorial.
“It is great to build on that legacy with this working agreement,” he said. “Niagara Falls Memorial provides a critical resource in our community and the opportunity to leverage the resources of the university, the currency of our curriculum, and our commitment to Niagara Falls, is central to this partnership.”
In addition to the nursing internships, Memorial said it have two intern positions in its Social Work, Finance and IT departments. NU officials praised the opportunity for their students to “gain work experiences and establish a career pathway for them after graduation.”
“This program marks yet another important initiative in our long-standing relationship with Niagara University,” Ruffolo said. “It is a win-win for Memorial, and as importantly, for university student participants. As is the case at many medical centers, university interns play an invaluable role at Memorial, supplementing our staffing needs with bright young talent, and providing a recruitment pipeline of potential candidates for employment post-graduation. Receiving a stipend gives students an incentive to select Memorial over other offers for their internship experience.”
Each semester, more than a dozen NU students will be able to take advantage of the paid internship program.
“In partnership with Niagara’s College of Nursing and the Holzschuh College of Business Administration, these innovative agreements extend our mutual commitment to the revitalization of Niagara Falls and the engagement of the community,” Maher said. “These experiences for Niagara students are distinctive and provide a robust career pathway that accelerates academic and career success.”
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2023-03-01T11:16:58+00:00
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niagara-gazette.com
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https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/local_news/nu-and-memorial-connect-to-create-career-pathway-program/article_bdffd326-b7c9-11ed-80c1-f37ac7d99e94.html
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A passenger with no flying experience radioed an urgent plea for help when the pilot of a small plane suddenly fell ill off Florida’s Atlantic coast, and was able to land the plane safely with the help of air traffic controllers.
“I’ve got a serious situation here,” the man said Tuesday afternoon, according to audio on LiveATC.net, a website that broadcasts and archives air traffic controller communications. “My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”
An air traffic controller in Fort Pierce responded, asking if he knew the position of the single-engine Cessna 280.
“I have no idea. I can see the coast of Florida in front of me, and I have no idea,” the passenger said.
According to Flight Aware, the plane had taken off earlier Tuesday from Marsh Harbour International Airport in the Bahamas.
As the plane flew over Florida, the controller, speaking very calmly, told the passenger to “maintain wings level and try to follow the coast, either north or southbound.” Twin controls enable a Cessna 280 to be steered from the passenger seat.
Minutes passed before controllers were able to locate the plane, which by then was heading north over Boca Raton.
Then the man’s voice seemed to fade, so the controller in Fort Pierce asked for the passenger’s cellphone number to enable controllers at Palm Beach International Airport to communicate with him more clearly.
Air traffic controller Robert Morgan, a 20-year veteran, took over at that point, talking the passenger down to a safe landing.
“Kudos to the new pilot,” one controller told him after the plane smoothly wheeled down the tarmac.
Morgan told television station WPBF he felt like he was in the right place at the right time.
“I knew the plane was flying like any other plane. I just had to keep him calm, point him to the runway and just tell him how to reduce the power so he could descend to land. It felt really good to help someone,” Morgan said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Rick Breitenfeldt confirmed that the pilot and passenger were the only two people aboard. The agency is investigating, he said in an email. There was no immediate word on the condition of the pilot and authorities did not release their identities.
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2022-05-11T22:57:40+00:00
|
bangordailynews.com
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https://bangordailynews.com/2022/05/11/news/nation/pilot-down-passenger-takes-over-with-no-idea-how-to-fly/
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ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. — A county in California is bringing back its mask mandate for most indoor spaces amid a rise in COVID-19 cases.
Alameda County Health Care Services Agency officials said Thursday it would reinstate the indoor mask policy as officials see a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
The mandate went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
Officials said they had seen a rise in hospitalizations for COVID-19 in recent days, which has now exceeded last summer’s peak.
Under the new mandate, masks will not be required for students and staff at K-12 schools through the end of the current school year, but they are "strongly recommended."
But masks will be required in all other settings for children, including childcare, summer school, and youth programs, the agency said.
On Friday, AC Transit also reinstated the mask mandate.
AC Transit is reinstating the mask mandate, effective Friday, June 3, 2022, due to a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases. Thank you for your support and compliance while we work together to slow, and ultimately eliminate COVID-19 transmission.
Learn more: https://t.co/HGtGRWduC1
— AC Transit (@rideact) June 3, 2022
The agency added that the new mandate does not apply to the city of Berkeley, which is an independent local health jurisdiction.
“Rising COVID cases in Alameda County are now leading to more people being hospitalized and today’s action reflects the seriousness of the moment,” said Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss in a press release. “We cannot ignore the data, and we can’t predict when this wave may end. Putting our masks back on gives us the best opportunity to limit the impact of a prolonged wave on our communities.”
Although Alameda County is the only county in the state currently to require masks indoors, other counties in California are seeing a rise in COVID cases that has federal health officials on high alert.
On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved 13 counties in California to its “high” community level due to a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
The counties include Sacramento, Placer, Mendocino, Monterey, and Yolo.
According to CDC guidelines, if a county is marked "high," it's recommended that people wear masks indoors and on public transportation.
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2022-06-03T21:29:32+00:00
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ktvq.com
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https://www.ktvq.com/news/national/coronavirus/california-county-reinstates-mask-mandate-amid-covid-19-surge
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SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP is investigating potential derivative claims on behalf of shareholders of Blink Charging Company (NASDAQ: BLNK) relating to securities law violations and unlawful business practices.
Blink provides electric vehicle charging equipment and networked charging services. Blink is currently named in a securities class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in which the plaintiffs allege that (a) many of Blink's charging stations were damaged, neglected, non-functional, inaccessible, or non-accessible; (b) Blink's purported partnerships with other companies were overstated; (c) the purported growth of Blink's network was overstated; and (d) accordingly, Blink's positive public statements to the market were materially false and misleading. On August 20, 2020, Blink's stock price fell by 22.4% after a critical analyst report revealed that Blink's revenue growth lagged far behind in the electric vehicle industry due to product quality issues, customer churn, and user experience.
The Schubert Firm is investigating potential breaches of fiduciary duty by Blink's officers and directors in connection with these allegations.
If you own stock in Blink and wish to obtain additional information about your legal rights, please contact us today or visit our website at https://www.classactionlawyers.com/blink.
About Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP
Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe represents shareholders, employees, and consumers in class actions against corporate defendants, as well as shareholders in derivative actions against their officers and directors. The firm is based in San Francisco, and with the help of co-counsel, litigates cases nationwide.
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SOURCE Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP
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2022-12-08T15:24:24+00:00
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kswo.com
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https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/12/08/shareholder-alert-blink-charging-company-blnk-officers-directors-under-investigation-sec-violations-unlawful-conduct/
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BALTIMORE (AP) — Adnan Syed, whose protracted legal odyssey was chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial,” is asking Maryland’s highest court to deny a petition to expand the rights of crime victims in post-conviction proceedings.
Syed, who was convicted in 2000 of killing his high school ex-girlfriend, regained his freedom last year after Baltimore prosecutors found flaws in the evidence presented at trial and a judge agreed to vacate his conviction. But surviving relatives of the victim, Hae Min Lee, appealed the ruling, arguing they didn’t receive sufficient notice to attend the conviction vacatur hearing that set Syed free.
In a March decision, the Maryland Appellate Court agreed, reinstating Syed’s conviction and ordering a redo of the hearing. That decision prompted celebration within the crime victims rights movement and criticism from criminal justice reform advocates who warned of a potential chilling effect on existing efforts to fight wrongful convictions and excessive sentences.
After Syed appealed to the state Supreme Court, the Lee family filed their own petition earlier this month asking the court to give victims an even larger role in such hearings — by allowing them to challenge evidence and cross-examine witnesses. The court has yet to rule on either issue.
As the case drags on, Syed will remain free while the appeal is pending. But there is a chance he could ultimately return to prison, depending on the outcome.
In documents filed Wednesday, Syed’s attorneys asked the court to deny the Lee family’s request to expand victims’ rights.
Maryland law grants victims the “right to speak” in certain proceedings, but allowing more active participation in conviction vacatur hearings would “create a sea change in Maryland courts” by effectively letting them play the role of third-party prosecutor, Syed’s attorneys wrote. That is a question the state legislature should decide, not the courts, the attorneys argued.
In most conviction vacatur cases, prosecutors and defense attorneys are in agreement, with shared concerns about potential innocence. Inserting a victim or their representative into the mix would be “wildly impractical, if not disastrous,” according to Syed’s argument.
“There is nothing inherently suspicious or nefarious about an agreed upon resolution to a case, nor does the fact that the parties agree suggest a need for third party intervention,” his attorneys wrote.
Last September, the victim’s brother Young Lee was notified on a Friday afternoon that the vacatur hearing would take place the following Monday. Lee lives in California, and the hearing would take place in Maryland. When the hearing began, an attorney representing the family requested a one-week postponement so Lee could travel to Baltimore. A judge denied the request but allowed Lee to address the court via Zoom.
During brief remarks, Lee said he felt blindsided by the sudden request to vacate Syed’s conviction. He said the family spent decades thinking his sister’s killer was behind bars, only to find out prosecutors no longer had confidence in the evidence used to convict.
Not long after he spoke, the judge ordered Syed unshackled inside the courtroom.
In addition to receiving insufficient notice to attend the hearing in person, Lee’s attorneys later argued, he should have been afforded a more active role in the proceeding itself. But the state’s intermediate appellate court disagreed, saying the law doesn’t guarantee victims any right to be heard in such hearings, let alone present or challenge evidence.
In their March ruling, which found Lee received insufficient notice and reinstated Syed’s conviction, the judges nonetheless warned that expanding the role of victims would “result in a huge shift in practice.”
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2023-06-23T09:51:15+00:00
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mytwintiers.com
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https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/national/adnan-syed-asks-appeals-court-to-deny-request-from-victims-family/
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BALTIMORE (AP) — A shooting in Baltimore on Friday night wounded six people, though all were expected to survive, police said.
Officers who had pulled over a car in the city’s north heard gunshots just before 9 p.m. and went to investigate, Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said.
Officers found three men near the intersection of East Cold Spring Lane and York Road who all had “numerous non-life-threatening gunshot wounds to their bodies,” Eldridge said in an email. Medics transported the three men to area hospitals for treatment.
Police were then informed there were another three victims who had walked into area hospitals with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, Eldridge said.
The victims included an 18-year-old woman, two 22-year-old men, a 26-year-old man and a 17-year-old male, Eldridge said.
Northern District detectives are investigating the shooting.
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2023-06-17T06:28:00+00:00
|
seattletimes.com
|
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/shooting-in-baltimore-wounds-6-people-all-expected-to-survive/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world
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Marcus Semien Player Prop Bets: Rangers vs. Nationals - July 9
Published: Jul. 9, 2023 at 6:26 AM CDT|Updated: 2 hours ago
Marcus Semien -- with a slugging percentage of .231 in his past 10 games (including zero homers) -- will be in action for the Texas Rangers against the Washington Nationals, with Patrick Corbin on the hill, on July 9 at 12:05 PM ET.
He had a hitless showing in his last game (0-for-3) against the Nationals.
Marcus Semien Game Info & Props vs. the Nationals
- Game Day: Sunday, July 9, 2023
- Game Time: 12:05 PM ET
- Stadium: Nationals Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Nationals Starter: Patrick Corbin
- TV Channel: Peacock
- Hits Prop: Over/under 1.5 hits (Over odds: +125)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +290)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +105)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: -175)
Looking to place a prop bet on Marcus Semien? Check out what's available at BetMGM and use bonus code "GNPLAY" when you sign up with this link!
Read More About This Game
Marcus Semien At The Plate
- Semien leads Texas with a slugging percentage of .437, fueled by 39 extra-base hits.
- Among the qualified hitters in baseball, he ranks 45th in batting average, 63rd in on-base percentage, and 67th in slugging.
- In 74.4% of his games this year (67 of 90), Semien has picked up at least one hit, and in 29 of those games (32.2%) he recorded at least two.
- He has gone deep in 12.2% of his games in 2023, and 2.6% of his trips to the plate.
- Semien has had an RBI in 37 games this year (41.1%), including 13 multi-RBI outings (14.4%). He has also driven in three or more of his team's runs in five contests.
- In 53 of 90 games this year, he has scored, and 11 of those games included multiple runs.
Ready to play FanDuel Daily Fantasy? Get in the game using our link.
Marcus Semien Home/Away Batting Splits
Nationals Pitching Rankings
- The 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings compiled by the Nationals pitching staff ranks 29th in MLB.
- The Nationals have the 26th-ranked team ERA among all MLB pitching staffs (4.80).
- Nationals pitchers combine to give up the fourth-most home runs in baseball (124 total, 1.4 per game).
- Corbin makes the start for the Nationals, his 19th of the season. He is 5-10 with a 5.22 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 101 2/3 innings pitched.
- His last time out came on Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds, when the left-hander went five innings, surrendering six earned runs while giving up 10 hits.
- Among qualifying pitchers in MLB action this season, the 33-year-old's 5.22 ERA ranks 62nd, 1.593 WHIP ranks 66th, and 6 K/9 ranks 64th.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved.
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2023-07-09T13:08:40+00:00
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kwtx.com
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https://www.kwtx.com/sports/betting/2023/07/09/marcus-semien-mlb-player-prop-bets/
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WATCH: Deputy uses a rope to free bear trapped inside vehicle
LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (Gray News) – Sheriff’s deputies in California helped free a bear that was trapped in a vehicle.
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office incline patrol said it responded to a home near Lake Tahoe where the owners “discovered a bear stuck inside their vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post.
The sheriff’s office shared video of the event Sunday which shows a deputy tying a piece of rope to the door handle of an SUV with the bear inside.
The rope in the video appears to be made up of multiple lengths of rope tied together to give the deputy enough distance between himself and the vehicle for when the bear is freed.
When the deputy pulls the door open, the bear can be seen looking out of the vehicle before leaping out and running away.
“Spring is an active time for our Tahoe bear population and a good reminder to be bear-aware when enjoying the beautiful outdoors,” the sheriff’s office said.
To avoid encounters with bears, the sheriff’s office urges people to avoid leaving food, wrappers, coolers and any scented items in their vehicles.
It also recommends not leaving garbage outside and to dispose of any waste inside, if possible.
Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. TMX contributed to this report.
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2023-06-01T00:56:36+00:00
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kxii.com
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https://www.kxii.com/2023/06/01/watch-deputy-uses-rope-free-bear-trapped-inside-vehicle/
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Micron will invest $15 billion though the end of the decade on a new semiconductor plant in its hometown that the chipmaker said will create 17,000 American jobs.
Sanjay Mehrotra, president and CEO of Boise, Idaho-based Micron, said his company’s investment was made possible by last month’s passage of the CHIPS and Science ACT of 2022, a $280 billion bill aimed at bolstering U.S. competitiveness against China and avoiding another chip shortage like the one that derailed the auto and tech industries during the pandemic.
The CHIPS law sets aside $52 billion to bolster the semiconductor industry, which due to COVID-related supply chain constraints beginning in 2020, has struggled to manufacture the diminutive chips that power everything from smartphones to computers to automobiles.
“Our new leading-edge memory manufacturing fab will fuel U.S. technology leadership, ensuring a reliable domestic supply of semiconductors that is critical to economic and national security,” Mehrotra said.
Micron said locating the manufacturing plant at the company’s operational headquarter will improve efficiency and help get products to market faster.
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said the partnership will help the city’s economy grow and attract and diverse workforce.
“This is a once in a generation investment in Boise from a home-grown company that is critical to the economic vitality of our community, our state and our nation,” McLean wrote on Twitter.
McLean and Mehrotra last month attended President Biden’s bill signing ceremony for the CHIPS and Science Act. Idaho’s entire congressional delegation, all Republicans, voted against it.
Biden called the Micron announcement “another big win for America.”
Micron is one of Idaho’s largest employers. The company has several chip manufacturing plants around the world, including in Singapore and Taiwan.
Last week, the chipmaker Intel Corp. announced that it would break ground Sept. 9 on its planned $20 billion Ohio semiconductor facilities. The factories, known as fabs, are expected to open in 2025. President Biden is scheduled to attend the groundbreaking.
——
Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho.
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2022-09-02T16:54:06+00:00
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valleycentral.com
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https://www.valleycentral.com/news/tech-news/ap-technology/ap-micron-to-invest-15-billion-on-memory-chip-plant-in-boise/
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(NewsNation) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government introduced legislation Monday that would put a freeze on importing, buying or selling handguns, while its neighboring nation gears up for an intense debate over its own gun laws.
The announcement came on the heels of the deadly mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, and as the debate over U.S. gun laws is intensifying. If passed, the legislation would mark Canada’s strongest gun control measures in more than 40 years.
Any changes to U.S. gun laws aren’t likely to be as stringent as Canada’s, said Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University and the director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.
CANADA’S PROPOSED CHANGES
Trudeau’s plan includes freezing handgun sales nationwide, removing firearm licenses from people involved in domestic violence or criminal harassment, and requiring people who are considered dangerous to surrender their firearms to law enforcement.
A new “red flag” law would allow courts to require that people considered a danger to themselves or others surrender their firearms. According to the Canadian government, the measure would guard the safety of those applying through the process, often women in danger of domestic abuse, by protecting their identities.
In addition to the new legislation, long-gun magazines will need to be permanently altered so they can hold no more than five rounds at a time. The Canadian government will also ban the sale and transfer of large-capacity magazines.
CURRENT CANADIAN LAW
Canada already has plans to ban 1,500 types of military-style firearms and offer a mandatory buyback program that will begin at the end of the year. Anyone set on keeping their assault weapon will have to make them completely inoperable, Trudeau said.
Last year’s budget provided more than $312 million in new funding for increased firearm tracing capacity and stronger border patrol measures to fight gun smuggling.
The Canadian government says agencies seized more than twice the number of firearms at the border in 2021, compared to 2020, which is also the highest number of firearms seized in recent years.
WHAT ABOUT THE U.S.?
The U.S. isn’t likely to see such strict gun laws take effect, NewsNation senior contributor George Will said.
A 2010 Supreme Court decision that established for the first time an individual right to own a gun noted that basic to the Second Amendment is the right to own a gun for self-defense.
“So no, given our Constitution, we could not do what he is proposing in Canada,” Will said.
Beyond the right to bear arms is a sentiment toward gun ownership that is unique to the U.S., Reeher said.
“Whether you’re looking at Western movies or the story of the frontier or the Revolutionary War, where you had civilians who are armed joining up in militias to fight the British — it’s just part of the American story in a way that … is not part of the Canadian story,” Reeher said. “And I think that has political resonance.”
To that end, the nations’ political climates vary.
“Canada is more like a European country in its orientation toward acceptance of the authority of the state, and the scope of the authority of the state and the government,” Reeher said.
There are, however, similarities between the U.S. and Canada’s efforts to curb gun crime. The U.S. has hosted its own gun buyback programs, including a recent event in New York City. The buyback netted dozens of weapons dropped off at a Brooklyn church, no questions asked.
In exchange, people received $200 gift cards—paid for with drug and gambling forfeiture—and iPads donated by the owner of the iconic cheesecake maker Junior’s restaurant.
“One thing to bear in mind is that there’s a little bit of a misnomer in calling what Canada is doing a buyback program,” Reeher said. “What it is, more aptly termed, is compensated confiscation … That’s different from a lot of the buyback programs that you see in the United States.”
The House Judiciary Committee is holding an emergency meeting this week to discuss a gun reform package, but any potential movement in Washington isn’t likely, Will said.
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2022-06-02T18:02:08+00:00
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fox59.com
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https://fox59.com/news/national-world/canadas-gun-reform-laws-would-they-work-in-the-us/
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OPELIKA, Ala. (WIAT) — The Community Foundation of East Alabama has established a relief fund after a shooting in Dadeville late Saturday night left four dead and 28 injured.
According to a release, the Caring for Dadeville Fund will be used to provide resources to organizations that are supporting and addressing the needs of affected families and the community. All of the funds, except for credit card feeds, will be distributed as grants to these organizations.
“We recognize that in this time of need, it is important to support those on the ground directly addressing the needs of the community and the families affected by this needless loss of life,” the release stated. “Through this fundraiser, the CFEA seeks to send love and compassion to the Dadeville community.”
Contributions can be made on the CFEA website. For more information, contact Katie Whittelsey at 334-705-5138 or email info@cfeastalabama.org.
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2023-04-17T01:44:00+00:00
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cbs42.com
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https://www.cbs42.com/alabama-news/community-foundation-of-east-alabama-sets-up-relief-fund-after-dadeville-shooting/
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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Two teens have been killed after a shooting that took place at a graduation party in northeast Wichita late Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday.
According to the Wichita Police Department (WPD), officers were called out to the graduation party, at a banquet hall in the 3100 block of E 25th St N, around 11:20 p.m. for the report of a shooting.
Upon arrival at the scene, officers found 17-year-old Boisy Barefield, of Wichita, with a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
According to the WPD, an investigation revealed that during the party, a disturbance ensued between two groups that led up to the deadly shooting.
The WPD says several people were in attendance.
“I would say anywhere from 50 to 100, just a guestimate,” said Captain Travis Easter.
As people were leaving the scene of the shooting, a 15-year-old girl was hit by a car at the intersection of N Estelle St & E 25th St N.
“There were several cars that were leaving the scene at the same time,” said Easter. “Got reports of several cars leaving at high rates of speed.”
She was brought to an area hospital where she later died from her injuries. Her identity has not been revealed.
According to the WPD, 18-year-old Samara Rockmore has been arrested on suspicion of felony hit and run.
An investigation is ongoing. The WPD says a lack of cooperation has made the investigation difficult to determine all the details of the case.
If anyone has any information, the WPD asks you to call detectives at 316-268-4407, the See Something Say Something hotline at 316-519-2282, or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111. You can also report an anonymous tip online through Crime Stoppers by clicking here.
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2022-05-29T20:43:45+00:00
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ksn.com
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https://www.ksn.com/news/crime/wichita-teen-killed-in-overnight-shooting/
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NEW YORK – Gregg Berhalter remains a candidate to stay on as the U.S. men’s national team coach after a report by a law firm determined he did not improperly withhold information about a 1992 domestic violence allegation involving the woman who later became his wife.
The report, released publicly Monday by the U.S. Soccer Federation, also concluded that Berhalter's conduct “likely constituted the misdemeanor crime of assault on a female.”
Berhalter’s contract as coach expired on Dec. 31 and Anthony Hudson, one of his assistants, was appointed interim coach on Jan. 4. The coaching decision will be made after a new sporting director is hired.
The firm Alston and Bird was retained after former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna and wife Danielle Egan Reyna, the parents of current American midfielder Gio Reyna, informed the USSF of the 1992 incident following the decision by Berhalter to use Gio Reyna sparingly at last year’s World Cup.
The firm concluded the Reynas were not guilty of extortion but said Claudio Reyna’s conduct might have violated provisions of FIFA's code of ethics for conflicts of interest, protection of physical and mental integrity, and abuse of position.
Claudio Reyna resigned as technical director of Major League Soccer’s Austin team on Jan. 26.
The probe included interviews with 16 witnesses, but Claudio Reyna refused to be interviewed. It included details on the incident between Berhalter and the then-Rosalind Santana in January 1992 at a bar and nightclub in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where Berhalter and Santana were students and Santana was a roommate of Danielle Egan, who went on to play for the U.S. women's national team.
“Mr. and Mrs. Berhalter were both 18 years old and drinking alcohol on the night in question; they began to argue inside the bar; they left the bar together and continued to argue,” the report said. “Once outside, Mrs. Berhalter hit Mr. Berhalter in the face; Mr. Berhalter pushed her to the ground and kicked her twice; Mr. Berhalter was tackled by a passerby, not known to either of the Berhalters; and Mrs. Berhalter got up and left. No police report was filed; no complaint or arrest was made; and no medical attention was sought by Mrs. Berhalter.”
The report described the incident as “an isolated event, and we find no evidence to suggest that Mr. Berhalter has engaged in similar misconduct at any other time.”
“Based upon information obtained during the Investigation, we also found nothing to indicate that Mr. Berhalter improperly withheld the fact of the 1992 incident, or any other information, from U.S. Soccer at any time,” the report said. “There is no basis to conclude that employing Mr. Berhalter would create legal risks for an organization.”
The investigators said “Berhalter’s conduct during the 1992 incident likely constituted the misdemeanor crime of assault on a female” but added “Berhalter is not currently at risk of criminal prosecution for the 1992 incident because North Carolina imposes a two-year statute of limitations for misdemeanors."
Claudo Reyna is a former teammate of Berhalter in high school and on the national team. The report said the Reyna parents had attempted to influence USSF decisions on their children as far back as 2016, “ranging from travel arrangements to the impact of on-pitch refereeing decisions.”
Brian McBride, the men's team general manager until leaving Jan. 31, gave the investigators a text he received from Claudio Reyna — a former teammate — on Nov. 21 after Gio Reyna wasn’t used in the Americans’ opening 1-1 draw with Wales at the World Cup.
“Our entire family is disgusted, angry, and done with you guys,” the text said. “Don’t expect nice comments from anyone in our family about US Soccer. I’m being transparent to you not like the political clown show of the federation.”
Earnie Stewart, who was the USSF sporting director until Feb. 15, told the investigators that after a poor performance by Gio Reyna in a pre-World Cup scrimmage on Nov. 17, the 20-year-old “walk(ed) around, and mope(d) around the whole time,” “seemed ticked off” and “did not appear to be trying at all.” Reyna also did not join other players on post-scrimmage sprints.
Berhalter nearly sent Gio Reyna home, instead requiring him to apologize to teammates. Reyna made two substitute appearances during the World Cup, for seven minutes against England and 45 minutes against Iran.
Berhalter referred to the matter without naming the player at a leadership conference in New York on Dec. 6. After the remarks became public and it was clear they referred to Gio Reyna, Claudio and Danielle Reyna called Stewart on Dec. 11 and revealed the 1992 incident. Stewart reported the matter to top USSF executives, who launched the probe.
A person whose name was redacted in the public version of the report, who appeared to be identified as a travel coordinator for the federation's friends and family program, quoted Danielle Reyna as saying the day after the Wales match: “Once this tournament is over, I can make one phone call and give one interview, and his cool sneakers and bounce passes will be gone.”
“Some media reports characterized the Reynas’ actions as ‘blackmail,’” the report said. “As a legal matter, we do not arrive at the same conclusion."
“Blackmail or extortion is the act of obtaining property by compelling or inducing a person to deliver such property by means of instilling in him a fear that, if the property is not so delivered, the actor or another will cause some form of harm to the person,” the report said. "Based on the facts gathered to date, we do not conclude that the Reynas’ actions rise to the level of or would otherwise result in a conviction for extortion.”
The report said Danielle Reyna initially refused to discuss the matter with investigators during a telephone call on Dec. 29, but she called back shortly later and began by saying: “I did it” and detailed what she told Stewart 18 days earlier.
Investigators concluded Claudio Reyna "used his direct line of communication with U.S. Soccer officials in an attempt to gain advantages or preferential treatment for his children" and he complained “about his son’s playing time, penalties and suspensions his son received, and selection decisions for U.S. Soccer camps in an attempt to change those outcomes.”
The USSF said the report “identifies a need to revisit U.S. Soccer’s policies concerning appropriate parental conduct and communications with staff at the national team level. We will be updating those policies.”
Claudio Reyna did not immediately respond to a text seeking comment. Berhalter's new spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik, did not immediately have a comment.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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2023-03-13T21:59:02+00:00
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clickorlando.com
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https://www.clickorlando.com/sports/2023/03/13/us-soccer-berhalter-eligible-to-coach-after-investigation/
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NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Levi & Korsinsky, LLP notifies investors in Enviva Inc. ("Enviva" or the "Company") (NYSE: EVA) of a class action securities lawsuit.
CLASS DEFINITION: The lawsuit seeks to recover losses on behalf of Enviva investors who were adversely affected by alleged securities fraud between February 21, 2019 and October 11, 2022. Follow the link below to get more information and be contacted by a member of our team:
EVA investors may also contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. via email at jlevi@levikorsinsky.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500.
CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that defendants made false statements and/or concealed that: (i) Enviva had misrepresented the environmental sustainability of its wood pellet production and procurement; (ii) Enviva had similarly overstated the true measure of cash flow generated by the Company's platform; (iii) accordingly, Enviva had misrepresented its business model and the Company's ability to achieve the level of growth that defendants had represented to investors; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
WHAT'S NEXT? If you suffered a loss in Enviva during the relevant time frame, you have until January 3, 2023 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.
NO COST TO YOU: If you are a class member, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket costs or fees. There is no cost or obligation to participate.
WHY LEVI & KORSINSKY: Over the past 20 years, the team at Levi & Korsinsky has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders and built a track record of winning high-stakes cases. Our firm has extensive expertise representing investors in complex securities litigation and a team of over 70 employees to serve our clients. For seven years in a row, Levi & Korsinsky has ranked in ISS Securities Class Action Services' Top 50 Report as one of the top securities litigation firms in the United States.
CONTACT:
Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
Joseph E. Levi, Esq.
Ed Korsinsky, Esq.
55 Broadway, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10006
jlevi@levikorsinsky.com
Tel: (212) 363-7500
Fax: (212) 363-7171
www.zlk.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
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2022-11-10T12:33:33+00:00
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wsfa.com
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https://www.wsfa.com/prnewswire/2022/11/10/eva-lawsuit-alert-levi-amp-korsinsky-notifies-enviva-inc-investors-class-action-lawsuit-upcoming-deadline/
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NPR Sports Football great and Hall of Fame punter Ray Guy has died at 72 Published November 4, 2022 at 2:06 AM PDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Often considered the greatest punter in football history, Ray Guy died November 3rd at the age of 72. Copyright 2022 NPR
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2022-11-04T10:29:26+00:00
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klcc.org
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https://www.klcc.org/npr-sports/2022-11-04/football-great-and-hall-of-fame-punter-ray-guy-has-died-at-72
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Which tech gift for artists is best?
If you’re shopping for an artist this year, you may be wondering what to get them. They likely already have the basics, like paint, pencils, sketchbooks and other art supplies, but may not have the latest art technology, such as tablets. Believe it or not, there have been numerous technological advancements for artists over the years, many of which can help the artist in your life take their craft to the next level. When buying tech gifts for an artist, taking the time to consider potential applications for gifts and knowing which are the most popular among artists is an excellent way to begin your search.
Top 10 best tech gifts for artists
Best gifts for digital artists
Wacom Cintiq 22 Drawing Tablet
The 21.5-inch Wacom Cintiq 22 Drawing Tablet features high-end pressure-sensing capabilities that allow artists to create a range of different brush strokes. Although many users reported issues using Adobe Photoshop with the device, the artist in your life will likely love this tablet if they use a different art software. The sizable 1920×1080 full HD screen will make their artwork stand out and look just as bright and vibrant as it does in their imagination.
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This stylus pen is weighted, comfortable to use and features four different tips: a precision disc, a brush, a ballpoint pen and a microfiber point. Users say these tips work well with most tablets. The pen breaks into four different sections, each of which features a unique tip, making it incredibly easy to keep up with all of the included pieces.
Sold by Amazon
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 11-inch Android Tablet
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 includes a stylus that you’re able to store in a hidden compartment on the tablet. This high-end tablet features up to 512GB of storage and an excellent-looking display. The device can be exchanged within 30 days of purchase. Users are sure to love this tablet’s top-notch performance, PC functionality and the ability to use a stylus.
Sold by Amazon
Best tech gifts for artists who love to sketch and paint
This unique product allows artists to draw directly on sketch paper while simultaneously creating a digital version of their sketch. For use, artists simply slide the Repaper ring onto their sketch pencil and attach a piece of sketch paper to the Repaper graphics tablet. The Repaper will copy and record the pencil’s motions on their phone, tablet or PC. Some users have suggested that the device’s accuracy may fade over time. With that said, most celebrate the device as an incredibly accurate tool that eliminates any need for a tablet for digital art.
Sold by Amazon
Some artists may not like the idea of tracing, but with the Artograph EZ Tracer, they can trace their own art on a much larger scale. This projector works with any drawing created on a 4-inch by 4-inch scale and can enlarge it by two to 10 times its original size. Using the Artograph EZ Tracer, artists can sketch whatever they’d like to create and then project it onto a canvas for painting. It’s important to note, the tracer doesn’t include a bulb, but most LED and CFL bulbs should be compatible.
Sold by Amazon
Best tech gifts for photographers
This advanced-level camera features everything a professional photographer would need. The Canon EOS 5D Mark IV shoots up to seven frames per second and features a DIGIC 6+ image processor, which ensures incredibly high image quality for your continuous shots. In addition to being an excellent choice for photography, this camera can be used as an ultra-high-performance webcam for any computer.
Sold by Amazon
This robust studio set is perfect for photographers that do shoots from their home. The StudioPRO Complete Studio features a 10-foot power cord, several backdrops and a carrying bag that makes it easy to carry around. Although there is no arm extension for the overhead light, most users found this set to have more than enough functionality for professional photoshoots.
Sold by Amazon
The Nikon D3500 is compatible with the full range of Nikon and Nikkon lenses. The controls are straightforward to use, and the device’s Bluetooth connectivity gives photographers the freedom to control the camera from their phone or tablet. The Nikon D3500 doesn’t feature built-in image stabilization, but if the user tends to shoot with a tripod, they won’t have any issues with this advanced DSLR camera.
Sold by Amazon
Unique tech gifts for artists
This affordable doodling robot is perfect for young artists that love to both build and draw. The 4M Doodling Robot kit contains everything you need to make your very own robot. Once built, the robot can hold up to three pens, pencils or markers and draw various patterns by rotating its legs and vibrating. If you want to alter the design, simply adjust the angle and height of the pens or adjust the robot’s legs. Some users found that the robot was difficult for their kids to assemble on their own and may require assistance, but if your child has trouble putting the 4M Doodling Robot together, it could make for a fun group project.
Sold by Amazon
The MYNT3D Super 3D Pen gives artists a chance to bring their creations to life. This 3D printing pen has a replaceable nozzle and a dial that allows you to adjust the flow-rate of the material. Some users found that the pen stopped working after a short time, but most were satisfied and reported no longevity issues. The MYNT3D Super 3D Pen can be used to create statues and figurines from scratch, or even repair plastic toys and 3D-printed statues.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2022 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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2022-12-19T17:42:56+00:00
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kfor.com
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https://kfor.com/reviews/br/electronics-br/audio-video-accessories-br/10-best-tech-gifts-for-artists/
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MERIBEL, France (AP) — Amid a whirlwind 48 hours high in the French Alps, Mikaela Shiffrin woke up to the news that LeBron James had broken the NBA scoring record and the American skier immediately drew comparisons to her own record-breaking season.
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Inspired by James’ accomplishment, Shiffrin went out a few hours later and put an end to her uncharacteristically miserable run in major races lately by winning a long-sought after medal, a silver, in the super-G at the world championships on Wednesday.
“My news alert was (about James),” Shiffrin said. “I was thinking, ‘Wow, that’s cool for him.’ I wasn’t sure if it was a dream, though, so it’s good to know that it’s true.
“It’s another example of incredible accomplishments happening in sport that will continue to drive future generations to try to reset the boundaries, reset the records, and keep pushing the level of sports, whether it’s skiing or it’s basketball or it’s anything. It symbolizes this concept that we keep working harder and trying to do better.”
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Shiffrin sure has been working hard and pushing the boundaries in her sport.
Just like every point that James has scored over the past month on the basketball court, so has Shiffrin’s every turn and result on the ski slopes been dissected in great detail as she first broke Lindsey Vonn’s women’s record of 82 World Cup wins. She has since moved within one victory of Ingemar Stenmark’s overall mark of 86 wins.
While races at worlds don't count toward World Cup totals, Shiffrin's nightmarish performance at last year’s Beijing Olympics kept pestering her as soon as she arrived in the posh resort of Meribel — or rather, everyone else kept pestering her about it. Then she threw away what appeared destined to be a gold-medal winning run in the combined event that opened the championships on Monday when she straddled a gate three turns from the finish of her slalom run.
Her experience in Beijing, when she didn’t finish three of her five individual events and didn’t win a medal despite entering as one of the expected stars of the Olympics, came back to haunt her.
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“After the combined, I was like, ‘You have got to be kidding me. My DNF (Did Not Finish) rate now in my entire career, over 50% of it is at the Olympics or world championships. Like, come on,’” Shiffrin recounted. “It’s almost funny. And it’s only funny because I was able to win a medal today.
“So now there’s a sense of the pressure — the pressure is not off — but there’s for sure a little bit of relief.”
The relief didn’t come immediately after her run, though.
On a technical course made more difficult by a shady section midway down between super-sunny conditions on the rest of the hill, Shiffrin appeared disappointed when she crossed the line in second place, a slim 0.11 seconds behind Italian gold medalist Marta Bassino, who had come down right before her.
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While nearly all of the later skiers were faster than Bassino and Shiffrin on the top of the course, none could match the pair in the twisty section in the shadows or on the zig-zag giant slalom-like turns on the bottom, as the sun appeared to start melting the surface and slowing others down.
Cornelia Huetter of Austria and Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway — early starters like Bassino and Shiffrin — shared the bronze, both 0.33 behind Bassino.
“It was just a long wait to see if it stuck to the end of the race. So it’s a lot of emotions,” said Shiffrin, who was reduced to tears in a post-race interview with Austrian broadcaster ORF.
Shiffrin’s 12th medal in 15 career races at worlds put her in sole possession of second place on the all-time list for the most medals won by a woman at the sport’s next biggest event after the Olympics, trailing only German skier Christl Cranz, who won 15 in the 1930s. She also now has a medal of each color in super-G at worlds — not bad for a skier who began as a technical specialist focusing only on slalom and giant slalom.
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Before her Beijing debacle, Shiffrin won medals in all four of her races at the last worlds in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, a year earlier. Which made her performance at the Olympics all the more surprising.
“For a lot of people, that was the main focus,” U.S. ski team Alpine director Patrick Riml said. “I’m glad that Mikaela and her staff, everybody around really focused on her skiing. She proved today that she’s in a good spot. She’s a champion. Even with all the talk about (Beijing) and all the questions she received about that, she put that aside and did a good job today.”
Shiffrin now has more than a week off before her final events of giant slalom and slalom. She’ll likely go to nearby Italy for two or three days of training, while also keeping an eye on how her boyfriend, Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, fares in Thursday’s super-G and Sunday’s men’s downhill. He'll be favored to win both, having led the opening downhill training session Wednesday.
“It’s very busy here,” Riml said. “We want to make sure we have a good, quiet calm set up where she can focus on training and and then should be good coming back for slalom and GS.”
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After worlds, it's back to chasing Stenmark's record on the World Cup circuit. LeBron has his record and Shiffrin is likely to get hers soon enough.
___
Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf
___
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More AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/skiing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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2023-02-08T17:38:13+00:00
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seattlepi.com
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https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/shiffrin-s-silver-at-ski-worlds-inspired-by-17771609.php
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~Iconic Fashion Designer Collaborates with Resort Staff to Develop a Modern Collection Fit for the Caribbean~
WILLEMSTAD, Curaçao, June 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Haute fashion meets hospitality, as Sandals Resorts continues its 40th Anniversary celebrations by commissioning renowned fashion designer Stan Herman to reimagine the uniforms across its illustrious resort portfolio. A tribute to the Team Members forming the soul of the guest experience for four decades and counting, the inaugural "Anniversary Collection" debuted at the June 1 opening of Sandals Royal Curaçao, another fascinating milestone as the brand makes its first venture into the Dutch Caribbean.
"A new island to call home within our sweet Caribbean, along with a next-generation resort reflective of its unique hues and diverse landscapes, is a celebration in and of itself during this landmark year," said Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts, Adam Stewart. "As we commemorate this special moment in time, we are honoring the Team Members at the heart of our operation with a modern collection that is as chic and sharp as it is comfortable for the Caribbean. Most importantly, we want them to feel as much pride in representing Sandals as we do to have them along for the journey. From the moment we met with Stan, introduced him to the team and watched the magic of his ability to turn their ideas into tangible designs, we knew we had found a cherished partner."
With uniforms curated for a wide range of categories and venues – from the guest facing team at the front of house, including bell service and Sandals' iconic butlers, to the all-inclusive resorts' culinary outlets to the heart of house team behind the scenes – Herman spent many hours in destination and in conversation with Sandals Team Members to authentically capture a sense of place while prioritizing comfort and ease of care. Updated fibers and recycled materials are also incorporated throughout several pieces, upholding Sandals' commitment to sustainability in the Caribbean.
"The ensembles are designed to tell a story. From day to evening, from check-in to the beach, they are pieces that guests might even envision in their own personal wardrobes," said Herman, former president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and a three-time Coty award winner at the helm of fashion for many of the world's leading travel brands. "We sought to evolve beyond traditional hospitality looks to reflect today's luxury travel aesthetic, just as Sandals has done in their approach to the brand's own evolution and ingenuity."
The flagship for Herman's first designs for the brand, Sandals Royal Curaçao is nestled within the protected Santa Barbara private estate, seamlessly intertwining the natural wonders of the desert, ocean, mountains, and beaches with the Luxury Included® resort experience that Sandals is known for. The 351-room resort offers more all-inclusive luxury options than ever before, including two new signature suite categories, the Awa Seaside Butler Bungalows and Kurason Island Poolside Butler Bungalows, and amenities like the Dos Awa Pool, a bi-level infinity pool flanked by views of the Spanish Water.
"When you arrive on the island you are driven through an incredible oasis, so we have dressed the bellmen, greeters and front of house staff in light blues, aquas, turquoise, and sand shades, to mirror the magnificent sea setting and to reflect the contemporary, elegant tone of the property," said Herman. "Building on this, the styles will transition across the board at nighttime with rich navys and earth tones to add warmth and elegance. There will be an immediate sense of calm and welcoming upon arrival, regardless of what time of day."
Fabric colors selected for Sandals Royal Curaçao are meant to feel sun-washed with a soft fade that reflects the natural and weathered appeal of island style. More modern touches are scattered throughout the collection, such as bespoke silver "S" pins, representative of Sandals, that butlers will wear centered on their shirts in lieu of the tie, and paired with a signature printed pocket square with Curaçao's iconic colors and stunning Dutch architecture.
The many world-class restaurants on site each have their own fashion identity, such as Island Crimson, the prominent color of Butch's Island Chop House, the namesake restaurant of founder Gordon "Butch" Stewart. Additional nods include small ruffles featured on the shirts at Latin-themed restaurant Zuka; traditional tunics with navy piping at Greek staple Aolos; and rich aqua jackets at the Japanese-inspired Gatsu Gatsu.
"While each staff member is in a different uniform depending on their location and position, there is a larger sense of inclusion and cohesiveness among the team at Sandals Royal Curaçao with our wearable, contemporary looks," says Herman.
Stewart adds, "The unique way in which Stan has immersed himself into the soul and essence of Sandals to create world-class, stylish designs for our new uniforms – and for the future of our brands – is a work of art in and of itself. They are a thing of beauty."
The Sandals Resorts collection, seen first at Sandals Royal Curaçao, will be unveiled across all SRI hotels through a phased approach over the next two years. Plans are already underway for entirely new designs to be featured at the new Sandals Dunn's River opening in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in 2023. Uniform collections are also coming to the company's family-friendly BeachesÒ Resorts brand, with unique touches inspired by each respective destination.
Acknowledged as the "father of Fashion Week," Stan Herman is a three-time Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards winner and former president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), as well as a recipient of the CFDA's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Herman popularized the designer uniform, creating looks for many of the world's leading brands such as JetBlue, United Airlines, and TWA. His uniforms arguably cover more bodies than any other single designer.
Sandals® Resorts offers two people in love the most romantic, Luxury Included® vacation experience in the Caribbean. With 16 stunning beachfront settings in Jamaica, Antigua, Saint Lucia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, and Curaçao, Sandals Resorts offers more quality inclusions than any other resort company on the planet. Signature Love Nest Butler Suites® for the ultimate in privacy and service; butlers trained by the Guild of Professional English Butlers; the Red Lane Spa®; 5-Star Global Gourmet™ dining, ensuring top-shelf liquor, premium wines, and gourmet specialty restaurants; Aqua Centers with expert PADI® certification and training; fast Wi-Fi from beach to bedroom and Sandals Customizable Weddings are all Sandals Resorts exclusives. Sandals Resorts is part of family-owned Sandals Resorts International (SRI), founded by the late Gordon "Butch" Stewart, which includes Beaches Resorts and is the Caribbean's leading all-inclusive resort company. For more information about the Sandals Resorts Luxury Included® difference, visit www.sandals.com.
Founded in 1981 by the late Jamaican entrepreneur Gordon "Butch" Stewart, Sandals Resorts International (SRI) is the parent company of some of travel's most recognizable vacation brands. The company operates 24 properties throughout the Caribbean under four separate brands including: Sandals® Resorts, the Luxury Included® brand for adult couples with locations in Jamaica, Antigua, the Bahamas, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia and Curaçao; Beaches® Resorts, the Luxury Included® concept designed for everyone but especially families, with properties in Turks & Caicos and Jamaica, and another opening in St. Vincent and the Grenadines; private island Fowl Cay Resort; and the private homes of Your Jamaican Villas. The company's importance in the Caribbean basin, where tourism is the number one earner of foreign capital, cannot be underestimated. Family-owned and operated, Sandals Resorts International is the largest private employer in the region.
For more information about the Sandals Resorts Luxury Included® difference, visit www.sandals.com.
CONTACT: The Decker/Royal Agency, sandals@deckerroyal.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Sandals Resorts International
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2022-06-21T16:56:48+00:00
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kwtx.com
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https://www.kwtx.com/prnewswire/2022/06/21/fashion-forward-sandals-resorts-uniforms-get-stan-herman-touch/
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SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
If a federal law enforcement officer performed what you felt was an unreasonable search or seizure, what recourse would you have? A Supreme Court decision this week appears to prevent you from suing that officer for damages. The case involves the owner of an inn near the Canadian border who said a U.S. Border Patrol agent used excessive force against him. The majority of the court ruled against the innkeeper. It was a 6-to-3 decision, and it stopped just short of overturning a 1971 Supreme Court decision that established the ability to sue a federal agent for damages.
We asked Howard Wasserman to help us understand this new case. He's a contributing writer to SCOTUSblog and a professor of law at Florida International University. Howard, thanks for coming on the program.
HOWARD WASSERMAN: Thank you for having me.
PFEIFFER: I think the details of this case are extremely interesting. In fact, one legal analyst described this innkeeper as a, quote, "somewhat shady figure." Would you, as briefly as possible, explain the details of this case to us?
WASSERMAN: Sure. And he is a character. So he runs an inn called the Smugglers Inn on the border of the United States and Canada in Washington state. And there's a lot of sort of shady activity of drug and human trafficking back and forth across the border in that town. And he also served as a paid government informant, including sometimes, according to the court, on the people who were staying in his inn.
PFEIFFER: So the innkeeper had a confrontation with a border control (ph) agent. He said that agent used excessive force. He sued. In the end, the court ruled 6 to 3 against the innkeeper, with all the conservative justices in the majority. Break down simply what the opinion says.
WASSERMAN: So the majority opinion narrowed but didn't eliminate the ability to sue a federal official for damages for a constitutional violation. What they did say was that considerations of national security and foreign affairs that are endemic to immigration enforcement and immigration issues are always going to make it improper for a damages action to go forward.
PFEIFFER: If not the court, who should be allowed to let the damages claim go forward?
WASSERMAN: It should be Congress. Congress can authorize a claim for damages. As they do for violations by state and local law enforcement or state and local government officials, Congress could do the same thing with respect to federal officials. And the fact that it hasn't means the court shouldn't be the one stepping in, at least where something like national security, immigration, foreign affairs are implicated.
PFEIFFER: Some legal analysts are calling this - and this is a quote - "a severe blow to the broader project of police accountability." Do you agree with that?
WASSERMAN: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely - because it severely limits one really good way of deterring law enforcement and governmental misconduct and establishing accountability, which is private suits for damages.
PFEIFFER: I think we need to establish the larger political context here, which is that this involves a Border Patrol agent. Immigration is an enormous political national issue right now, so it feels like this is deeply connected to current-day politics and could play out in so many ways.
WASSERMAN: Oh, absolutely. And the point of departure between the majority and the dissent was the majority said, if it's a Border Patrol officer, regardless of where he is, what he's doing, national security is always implicated with anything that Border Patrol does. The dissent's view was, yeah, he happens to work for the Border Patrol, but what he was doing is the same thing that any FBI agent was doing. He went onto somebody's property. He used excessive force, and the person he encountered was a U.S. citizen on U.S. property. And the majority is like, no, the Border Patrol, by its very nature, regardless of what it's doing and where, is just a different breed of law enforcement animal.
PFEIFFER: That's Howard Wasserman. He wrote about this case for SCOTUSblog, and he's a professor of law at Florida International University. Thank you.
WASSERMAN: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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2022-06-27T02:51:30+00:00
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wbfo.org
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https://www.wbfo.org/2022-06-10/supreme-court-decision-limits-excessive-force-lawsuits-against-border-patrol-agents
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For Catholics, October is respect life month and the month of the rosary.
I am upset with the way Catholics vote. A poll by EWTN news found that 34% of practicing Catholics are voting based on the economy and 19% of Catholics are voting based on inflation. In other words Catholics are voting their pocketbooks.
Only 10% are voting against abortion. Essentially, 90% of Catholics have other issues more important to them than abortion. Recently Roe vs Wade was overturned and over 200,000 live births have happened in the red states that have abortion bans.
As a Catholic, I was taught abortion is the preeminent issue in any election. The late Mother Teresa of Calcutta warned the world that the “fruit of abortion is nuclear war.”
When will Catholics come to their senses?
Anne Marty, Ohlman
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2022-10-21T02:15:15+00:00
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herald-review.com
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https://herald-review.com/opinion/letters/letter-catholics-need-to-vote-on-right-cause/article_418fab1a-507f-11ed-abcf-e71058b65a7d.html
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I just flew 11 hours to get into Germany so that I can bring you the latest from Mercedes Benz. I was one of the elite that got to drive the all-new all-electric Mercedes Benz Vision EQXX. And I will tell you it is the most anticipated Drive of the Year.
This is probably the most efficient car I have ever seen and is certainly the most efficient car that Mercedes has ever produced. This vehicle is all-electric, and it will do approximately 747 miles on a single charge of electricity, and it’s pretty amazing.
The plan was to have zero impact on the planet. The result was the Mercedes Vision EQXX Mercedes-Benz gave me unprecedented access to the car at the high-security testing facility, 90 minutes from Stuttgart, Germany.
Mercedes started with the idea of creating a vehicle that would do over 1,000 kilometers on a single charge, and they started 18 months before it was first revealed at CES, with a blank sheet of paper, and had to create a vehicle that would do that. And the first time it hit the road was on April 5th. 2022. They drove it from the Stuttgart area all the way to Cassis, and they did it for the first time on public roads ever, with a thousand and eight kilometers in trial number one; they repeated it and got better numbers the second time that they did it. Because we’re not all familiar with Kilometers, the transition of one thousand and eight kilometers into miles is six hundred and twenty-three point three miles.
I spoke with Dr. Julian Pilas, one of the lead engineers on the project. I asked him if he was sad that this was a one-off project, and he replied, “yeah, me personally, I’m in love with the car. From the first moment I drove it with them and Proving Ground, it’s the foundation for product development.”
What Julian and his team have done with the EQXX can be equated to what wireless charging did for electrical devices.
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2022-08-07T20:59:06+00:00
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kxnet.com
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https://www.kxnet.com/automotive/mercedes-vision-eqxx-could-just-be-the-most-efficient-car-ever-made/
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Former Baseball Hall of Fame President Ed Stack dead at 88
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Edward W. Stack, the president of baseball’s Hall of Fame from 1977-93, has died. He was 88. Stack, who had remained with the Hall as a board member after he stepped down as president, died Sunday at Port Washington, New York, the hall announced Wednesday. Born on Feb. 1, 1935, Stack was a 1956 graduate of Pace with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and joined The Clark Estates Inc., the company of the family that owns the hall. He became the hall’s secretary when founding President Stephen C. Clark died in 1961. Stack became president and chairman in 1977.
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2023-06-07T23:44:06+00:00
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localnews8.com
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https://localnews8.com/news/ap-national/2023/06/07/former-baseball-hall-of-fame-president-ed-stack-dead-at-88/
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NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Video captured by a Carnival Cruise passenger shows the moments a group of migrants stranded at sea are rescued.
An announcement went out saying that the ship had to turn around.
A boat carrying 12 migrants believed to be from Cuba had been spotted.
The cruise ship stopped to help, and in one of the videos captured by Marilyn Rivera, passengers cheering on the rescue efforts.
This is one of many attempts by Cuban migrants to make it to south Florida shoreline.
Sunday morning, 21 Cubans were taken into custody in two separate landings in the Florida Keys.
On Saturday, a Coast Guard crew repatriated 83 Cubans to Cuba following several recent interdictions off the Florida Keys.
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2022-07-31T22:06:16+00:00
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local10.com
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https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/07/31/passenger-videos-show-migrants-rescued-at-sea-by-carnival-cruise-ship/
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Hundreds of tips coming in for serial killings linked to Stockton and Oakland
STOCKTON, Calif. - Stockton's police chief on Wednesday answered questions about the serial killer investigation that has linked five deadly shootings in Stockton to the fatal killing of a man in Oakland last year, saying the department is getting about 100 tips a day from around the country.
At a town hall meeting, Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said the FBI and other federal agencies are partnering with his department.
The police chief said he hopes the surveillance video his department released this week showing a person of interest, will help generate tips for investigators.
The chief said although the video doesn't show the man's face, it does show his unusual gait.
"The awkward stride, you can notice it's not smooth," McFadden said,
He also said the suspect is between 5'10" and 6 feet tall.
Toni McNeal, of the nonprofit Faith in the Valley, helped organize the town hall at Victory Praise Church.
"I'm trying to get the people systemic changes. Our children are dying," she said.
The five serial killings in Stockton occurred this year between July and September. Five men were killed; four of them were Latino. One man killed in Oakland in 2021, was the first in the killing spree. Authorities last week announced that five men in Stockton were ambushed and shot to death, alone in the dark. This week, police said the two additional cases last year had been tied to those killings.
They are:
- Juan Miguel Vasquez Serrano, 39, of Oakland, was shot and killed on Harmon Ave. on April 10, 2021. Paul Yaw, 35, killed on July 8. Salvador Debudey Jr., killed on Aug. 11.Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, killed on Aug. 30.Juan Cruz, 52, killed on Sept. 21. Lawrence Lopez, Sr., 54, killed on Sept. 27.
Ballistics tests and some video evidence linked the crimes in Stockton and Oakland, about 70 miles apart, police said. Although police would not say whether all seven shootings had been linked to the same gun, McFadden alluded to a single pistol during the news conference.
"We don’t know what the motive is. What we do believe is that it’s mission-oriented," McFadden said. "This person’s on a mission."
In the fatal Stockton cases, none of the men were robbed or beaten before the killings, and none appeared to have known one another, police said. The shootings also do not appear to be related to gangs or drugs.
In this undated surveillance image released by the Stockton Police Department, a grainy still image of a "person of interest," dressed all in black and wearing a black cap, who appeared in videos from several of the homicide crime scenes in Stockton.
Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln addressed the killings as well.
"My deepest condolences go out to the community of Oakland as well and Mayor Schaaf and the entire city that is now a part of what's happening in the city of Stockton," he said.
Lincoln said there's a $125,000 cash reward for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest of the serial killer or killers.
"We can't do it alone," he said. "The city of Stockton, the city of Oakland, we can't do it alone. If you have any information that can lead to the arrest of the individual or individuals that are responsible for these senseless acts of violence, now's the time to speak up."
Latricia Beasley-Day of Modesto, who grew up in San Francisco, said people throughout the region need to step forward.
"We need to hear from the community and as a community we need to come together whether you're in the Bay Area or whether you're in the Central Valley," she said. "We need to come together and stop this senseless violence."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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2022-10-06T15:38:32+00:00
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fox10phoenix.com
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https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/hundreds-of-tips-coming-in-for-serial-killings-linked-to-stockton-and-oakland
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(The Conversation) – In the days since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had established the constitutional right to an abortion, some Christians have cited the Bible to argue why this decision should either be celebrated or lamented. But here’s the problem: This 2,000-year-old text says nothing about abortion.
As a university professor of biblical studies, I am familiar with faith-based arguments Christians use to back up views of abortion, whether for or against. Many people seem to assume the Bible discusses the topic head-on, which is not the case.
Ancient context
Abortions were known and practiced in biblical times, although the methods differed significantly from modern ones. The second-century Greek physician Soranus, for example, recommended fasting, bloodletting, vigorous jumping and carrying heavy loads as ways to end a pregnancy.
Soranus’ treatise on gynecology acknowledged different schools of thought on the topic. Some medical practitioners forbade the use of any abortive methods. Others permitted them, but not in cases in which they were intended to cover up an adulterous liaison or simply to preserve the mother’s good looks.
In other words, the Bible was written in a world in which abortion was practiced and viewed with nuance. Yet the Hebrew and Greek equivalents of the word “abortion” do not appear in either the Old or New Testament of the Bible. That is, the topic simply is not directly mentioned.
What the Bible says
The absence of an explicit reference to abortion, however, has not stopped its opponents or proponents from looking to the Bible for support of their positions.
Abortion opponents turn to several biblical texts that, taken together, seem to suggest that human life has value before birth. For example, the Bible opens by describing the creation of humans “in the image of God”: a way to explain the value of human life, presumably even before people are born. Likewise, the Bible describes several important figures, including the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah and the Christian Apostle Paul, as having being called to their sacred tasks since their time in the womb. Psalm 139 asserts that God “knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
However, abortion opponents are not the only ones who can appeal to the Bible for support. Supporters can point to other biblical texts that would seem to count as evidence in their favor.
Exodus 21, for example, suggests that a pregnant woman’s life is more valuable than the fetus’s. This text describes a scenario in which men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and cause her to miscarry. A monetary fine is imposed if the woman suffers no other harm beyond the miscarriage. However, if the woman suffers additional harm, the perpetrator’s punishment is to suffer reciprocal harm, up to life for life.
There are other biblical texts that seem to celebrate the choices that women make for their bodies, even in contexts in which such choices would have been socially shunned. The fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, for example, describes a woman with a gynecological ailment that has made her bleed continuously taking a great risk: She reaches out to touch Jesus’ cloak in hopes that it will heal her, even though the touch of a menstruating woman was believed to cause ritual contamination. However, Jesus commends her choice and praises her faith.
Similarly, in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ follower Mary seemingly wastes resources by pouring an entire container of costly ointment on his feet and using her own hair to wipe them – but he defends her decision to break the social taboo around touching an unrelated man so intimately.
Beyond the Bible
In the response to the Supreme Court’s decision, Christians on both sides of the partisan divide have appealed to any number of texts to assert that their particular brand of politics is biblically backed. However, if they claim the Bible specifically condemns or approves of abortion, they are skewing the textual evidence to fit their position.
Of course, Christians can develop their own faith-based arguments about modern political issues, whether or not the Bible speaks directly to them. But it is important to recognize that although the Bible was written at a time when abortion was practiced, it never directly addresses the issue.
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2022-07-24T20:01:56+00:00
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nwahomepage.com
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https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/what-the-bible-actually-says-about-abortion-may-surprise-you/
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BERLIN (AP) — A leading cultural organization in Germany on Thursday criticized climate activists for gluing themselves to the frames of famous paintings in museums to protest what they say is the German government’s failure to act against climate change.
The German Cultural Council, an umbrella group for cultural organizations, accused the activists of endangering important artworks with their latest tactics and warned them not to pit art against the cause of curbing global warming.
“As much as I can understand the despair of the climate activists, I say clearly that the act of gluing themselves to the frames of famous works of art is clearly wrong. The risk of damaging the artworks is very high,” said Olaf Zimmermann, the German Cultural Council’s managing director.
“The works put in danger are part of world cultural heritage and deserve to be protected as well as our climate,” he added.
Members of the group Uprising of the Last Generation glued themselves to the 1504 painting “Rest on the Flight into Egypt” by the Lucas Cranach the Elder at Berlin’s Gemaeldegalerie on Thursday, the dpa news agency reported.
The protest came a day after activists glued themselves to Nicolas Poussin’s 1651 painting “Landscape during a Thunderstorm with Pyramus and Thisbe” at the Staedel Museum in Frankfurt.
Earlier this week, two activists glued their hands to the golden frame of Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna” at the Gemaeldegalerie museum in Dresden. In both cases, police were called to the museums to carefully detach the activists’ hands from the frames.
The activists also blocked dozens of roads across Germany this year by gluing themselves to the asphalt.
With their unusual forms of protest, Last Generation activists say they are trying to make it impossible for people and governments to ignore that the world has only a short time to prevent catastrophic levels of global warming.
“Climate catastrophe is an unprecedented threat of incredible proportions: killer droughts, devastating heat, all-consuming forest fires. These will increase dramatically in the coming years. Not just here in Germany … but worldwide,” said Jakob Beyer, a 28-year-old activist who glued himself to the frame of “Sistine Madonna,” one of the most famous paintings of the Italian Renaissance.
Similar protests have been carried out by activists in other European countries.
In London, climate activists targeted a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at the Royal Academy of Arts last month, gluing themselves to the painting’s frame and spray-painting “No New Oil” next to it.
In Italy, protesters glued themselves to one of the Vatican Museums’ most important ancient sculptures this month. Activists earlier glued their hands to the glass window protecting Sandro Botticelli’s painting “Spring” in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence. In that case, they were detained and ordered to stay out of Florence for three years, Italian media said.
___
Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.
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2022-08-25T16:59:58+00:00
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everythinglubbock.com
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https://www.everythinglubbock.com/entertainment-news/ap-german-cultural-group-criticizes-climate-activists-protest/
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JetBlue has agreed to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion in a deal that would create the nation’s fifth largest airline if approved by U.S. regulators.
The agreement Thursday comes a day after Spirit’s attempt to merge with Frontier Airlines fell apart. Spirit had recommended its shareholders approve a lower offer from Frontier, saying that antitrust regulators are more likely to reject the bid from JetBlue.
“This combination is an exciting opportunity to diversify and expand our network, add jobs and new possibilities for crewmembers, and expand our platform for profitable growth.” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in a statement.
The combined airline, which will be based in New York and led by Hayes, would have a fleet of 458 aircraft. The airlines will continue to operate independently until after the transaction closes.
JetBlue said Thursday that it would pay $33.50 per share in cash for Spirit, including a prepayment of $2.50 per share in cash payable once Spirit stockholders approve the transaction. There’s also a ticking fee of 10 cents per month starting in January 2023 through closing.
If the transaction is completed before December 2023, the deal will be for $33.50 per share, increasing over time to up to $34.15 per share, in the event the transaction closes at the outside date in July 2024.
If the deal doesn’t close due to antitrust reasons, JetBlue will pay Spirit a reverse break-up fee of $70 million and stockholders of Spirit a reverse break-up fee of $400 million less any amounts paid to stockholders of Spirit prior to termination.
JetBlue anticipates $600-700 million in annual savings once the transaction is complete. Annual revenue for the combined company is anticipated to be about $11.9 billion, based on 2019 revenues.
The deal still needs the required regulatory approvals and approval from Spirit’s stockholders. The companies expect to conclude the regulatory process and close the transaction no later than the first half of 2024.
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2022-07-28T11:33:14+00:00
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local10.com
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https://www.local10.com/business/2022/07/28/jetblue-buys-spirit-for-38-billion/
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Plenty of heat with a few storms each day!
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - More heat, more humidity and a few more showers and storms are possible today. We’ll start with a mix of sun and clouds this morning along with the chance of a few spotty showers. Temperatures will climb to near 90° this afternoon and a few storms are possible late this afternoon and this evening. Any storms could produce heavy rain. frequent lightning and gusty winds. Hot weather will be the big story as we head into the weekend with a few showers and storms possible Saturday and Sunday. Even hotter weather is expected next week with highs climbing into the mid 90s starting on Monday!
TODAY: Partly Cloudy. Isolated Rain/Storms. High 91.
FRIDAY: Partly Cloudy. Isolated Rain/Storms. High 92.
SATURDAY: Partly Cloudy. Isolated Rain/Storms. High 90.
SUNDAY: Partly Cloudy. Isolated Rain/Storms. High 92.
Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.
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2022-06-09T10:39:56+00:00
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live5news.com
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https://www.live5news.com/2022/06/09/plenty-heat-with-few-storms-each-day/
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CYPRESS, Texas, Nov. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MedCore Partners, together with ACRON USA, announce the start of construction on Spring Cypress Senior Living, the second phase of an eventual 230-unit senior living community in the northwest Houston MSA. Phase 1 of the project, co-developed with Houston-based The National Realty Group, opened in 2018 and offers 80 units of assisted living and memory care. Phase 2 represents the addition of 138 active adult and independent living residences to include apartments, cottages, and townhomes, plus a Phase 1 memory care expansion of 12 units. At completion, the campus will contain 230 units of luxury senior living on the 19-acre campus.
Completion of the $93 million project is expected by September 2024 with an earlier completion schedule of late 2023 planned for the cottages and townhomes. The lifestyle offering is patterned after the equestrian history of the area, with an upscale lodge feel complete with exclusive club offerings, a wine room, a fireplace feature extending up three stories, an outdoor kitchen, a resort pool and spa, a pet park, and extensive garden spaces and walking trails throughout.
Carlsbad, CA-based Integral Senior Living (ISL), the current operator of Phase 1 who brought the assisted living and memory care community to occupancy stabilization, will manage the new independent living campus addition. ISL will oversee all programs and services for the rental fee-based campus to include concierge living, club valet services and exclusive resident outings.
"With the pandemic delaying our start, this project has been a long time in the making," said Michael Graham, Partner at MedCore. "It's an understatement to say we are excited to bring this level of resort-style independent living to the Cypress market."
Financing was provided by BOK Bank, their third senior living project with MedCore/ACRON. Orcutt Winslow provided the architectural and engineering services, Dallas-based Faulkner Design Group is the interior design firm, and Pacheco Koch designed the landscaping.
The project is the fifth senior living ground-up development for Dallas-based MedCore Partners, four of which are in Texas. MedCore has also acquired sixteen additional senior living communities in Texas, Arizona, Utah, California, Oregon, and Washington State.
ACRON USA, an affiliate of the ACRON Group, based in Zurich, Switzerland, the Swiss leader in first-class U.S. senior living investments, placed its 44th U.S. investment with Spring Cypress Senior Living and will be a member of the asset management team. By October 2022, the transaction volume of the company has reached nearly USD $2.28 billion.
To learn more about this project, please contact us at (214) 443-8300.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE MedCore Partners
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2022-11-02T14:49:30+00:00
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uppermichiganssource.com
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https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/prnewswire/2022/11/02/medcore-partners-acron-usa-announce-start-construction-phase-2-spring-cypress-senior-living-resort-style-community-cypress-texas/
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The body of a Minnesota woman who had been missing for two years was found in a storage unit, and St. Paul police said Friday that her death has been linked to a man who was charged after another woman’s dismembered body was found in a different storage unit in another Minneapolis suburb.
Joseph Jorgenson hasn't yet been charged in Fanta Xayavong's death, but the 40-year-old was charged last week with second-degree murder in the death of Manijeh "Mani" Starren, 33, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Xayavong's body was found Thursday in a Coon Rapids storage unit, while Starren's body was found last month in a storage unit in Woodbury.
St. Paul police Sgt. Mike Ernster said Jorgenson is a “person of interest” in the 33-year-old Xayavong’s death after investigators connected him to the Coon Rapids storage unit. Police are now trying to determine if Jorgenson could be linked to any other missing people.
“It’s nothing short of horrific,” Ernster said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension received a tip in May that Xayavong had been in an abusive relationship with Jorgenson before her disappearance in July 2021. Police have said that Starren and Jorgenson had also been in a relationship before her death.
Police have not determined where or when Xayavong was killed, Ernster said. Investigators searched a home Friday that Jorgenson used to live in until last September.
Jorgenson's attorney didn't return a call from the newspaper Friday.
Police Chief Axel Henry said at a Friday news conference that “cases like this are extremely rare, but they are reminders to all of us that monsters can be real.”
Starren was reported missing May 1. Investigators found her body after Jorgenson barricaded himself in his apartment and started a fire when police tried to search the apartment on June 26. He was arrested after he fought with officers. A review of his cell phone activity led police to the storage unit in Woodbury, where Starren's body was found.
According to court documents, prosecutors believe Jorgenson dismembered Starren’s body and carried her remains out of the apartment in Maplewood in duffel bags and a small suitcase.
Video from the apartment building showed Starren running from Jorgenson on April 21 before he caught her and pushed her back inside. She wasn't seen leaving the apartment again.
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2023-07-09T04:44:31+00:00
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springfieldnewssun.com
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https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/police-link-man-to-two-women-whose-bodies-were-found-in-different-minnesota-storage-units/2M3K3IZMWNB7XNBUHQWW67P6H4/
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Initial Innovations to be Featured at 2022 ASTRO Annual Meeting
MELBOURNE, Fla., Oct. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Nuclear, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mirion Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: MIR) ("Mirion"), today announced that it is developing new Quality Management solutions, in collaboration with Accuray, for the company's Radixact® System with Synchrony®, which enables real-time, personalized adaptive radiation therapy. Initial innovations from the collaboration will be featured in the Sun Nuclear booth (980) at the ASTRO Annual Meeting, October 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
The Enhanced Dynamic Platform, the first release to come from the expanded partnership, is a next-generation design of the Dynamic Platform from CIRS, now part of Sun Nuclear. It enables movement of compatible phantoms with sub-millimeter accuracy and reproducibility, easing quality assurance (QA) and boosting clinical confidence for advanced tumor treatments.
The Enhanced Dynamic Platform allows for precisely controlled inferior-superior motion and features the ability to create an inclined plane for compatible phantom motion in the posterior-anterior direction. An independently controlled smaller platform provides surrogate chest wall motion. CIRS Motion Control Software enables different cycles, amplitudes, and waveforms – as well as the import of patient-specific respiratory waveforms.
The Enhanced Dynamic Platform integrates with the Sun Nuclear Tomo-Phantom HE ("Cheese Phantom"), supporting the Accuray acceptance tests procedure (ATP), as handled by the legacy Dynamic Platform.
Also on display in the Sun Nuclear ASTRO booth will be the work-in-progress MotionCHECK™ 3D System. Designed to support the tumor tracking capabilities of Synchrony®, MotionCHECK 3D is intended to integrate the Enhanced Dynamic Platform with the ArcCHECK® array, the benchmark for 3D pre-treatment patient QA in radiation therapy.
The Radixact Treatment Delivery System provides a fully-integrated platform for treatment planning, data management and treatment delivery, and supports multiple precise treatment techniques, including motion synchronized radiation therapy. For these delivery types, Accuray's Synchrony® real-time motion synchronization technology enables clinics to treat patients without any ITV (Internal Target Volume), with no gating, and with automated tumor tracking. Unique to Synchrony is a sophisticated AI-based predictive modeling of the target position that brings the beam steering in synch with the target motion.
"We are excited to highlight the Enhanced Dynamic Platform and MotionCHECK 3D system at ASTRO," notes Mark Rose, Ph.D., Sun Nuclear Director of Product Management. "For departments using respiratory motion management delivery techniques, the appropriate QA tools are vital to ensuring patient safety. We are confident Sun Nuclear's benchmark ArcCHECK array combined with CIRS' proven motion platform will deliver a strong solution for QA of motion management."
"We have collaborated often with Sun Nuclear on QA solutions specific to the technologies that Accuray produces. Now with their expanded motion management portfolio, we are excited to work with them again on a solution for our Radixact® System with Synchrony® and look forward to collaborating on other motion management QA solutions in the future," said Dylan Casey, Ph.D., Senior Director, Medical Physics and Systems Analysis at Accuray Incorporated.
Sun Nuclear and CIRS are part of Mirion Medical, a group of healthcare-focused brands within Mirion Technologies (NYSE: MIR). We provide innovative solutions for Radiation Therapy and Diagnostic Imaging centers. More than 5,000 cancer centers worldwide rely on us for independent, integrated Quality Management. With a focus on ongoing support, Sun Nuclear aims to ease technology adoption, enhance workflows and improve outcomes – so that healthcare providers can achieve real results for Patient Safety. Visit us: sunnuclear.com and cirsinc.com. Follow us: @sunnuclear.
Contacts
For investor inquiries:
Jerry Estes
ir@mirion.com
For media inquiries:
Kevin O'Malley
komalley@mirion.com
*MotionCHECK™ 3D is a work in progress from Sun Nuclear and CIRS, in partnership with Accuray Incorporated.
Sun Nuclear, ArcCHECK, and MotionCHECK are registered trademarks of Mirion Technologies, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Sun Nuclear Corporation
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2022-10-19T13:45:40+00:00
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kmvt.com
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https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/10/19/sun-nuclear-partners-with-accuray-develop-new-quality-management-solutions-radixact-system-with-synchrony/
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State of the Internet report shows 80 percent of attackers target customers of financial services rather than the institutions
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud company that powers and protects life online, today released a new State of the Internet report that indicates a growing risk to the financial services sector and a shift to more sophisticated techniques. Web application and API attacks in particular are increasing at an alarming rate while also growing in complexity. The new report, Enemy at the Gates, further notes that roughly 80 percent of cyberattackers aim their efforts at customers of financial services in an attempt to find paths of least resistance for monetary gain.
Enemy at the Gates shows that financial services is among the most attacked verticals in several critical areas: web application and API attacks, DDoS, phishing, zero day exploitation and botnet activities. Most concerning is the staggering surge in web application and API attacks — a 257 percent growth in the number of attacks against financial services year over year.
- Within 24 hours, exploitation of newly discovered zero days against financial services reaches multiple thousands of attacks per hour and peaks quickly - affording little time to patch and react.
- DDoS attacks against financial services are up 22 percent year over year.
- A significant increase in Local File Inclusion (LFI) and Cross Site Scripting (XSS) attacks demonstrate how attackers are shifting toward remote code execution attempts that present a larger strain on internal network security.
- Phishing campaigns against financial services customers are introducing techniques that bypass two-factor authentication solutions and increase risk for everyday customers.
- Customer account takeover attempts represent over 40 percent of attack types with another 40 percent focusing on website scraping, which is used to create more convincing phishing scams.
Enemy at the Gates offers a look at the regional trends most impacting financial services. Findings include:
Web application and API attacks in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region grew by 449 percent. This coincides with an increasing number of cyberattacks in the region, primarily resulting in ransomware. The growing number of attacks and increased sophistication coincides with findings which connect web app and API attacks with ransomware. Australia, Japan and India are the countries with the highest number of web application and API attacks in the region.
DDoS attacks against financial services in Europe increased by 73 percent in 2022. This marks a shift of attacks between regions with EMEA taking the lead in the number of these types of attacks. This is interesting to note since the United States is usually the highest in this category. One possible factor impacting this change is the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. The increase in DDoS attacks in Europe might be retaliation against those who support Ukraine — an example of geopolitics spilling into cyberspace.
Digitization and limited cybercrime governance could be factors that contribute to growing cybercriminal activities in Latin America.The region has seen a 419 percent increase in web application and API-related attacks over the past year. Cybercrime costs the region US$90 billion annually and prominent threats include cryptojacking, fraud, banking trojans and ransomware.
"Financial services is one of the most attacked industries when new vulnerabilities are discovered, a favorite target of DDoS attacks and continuously focused on by phishing campaigns, which are aimed at their customers who suffer the brunt of these attacks," said Steve Winterfeld, Advisory CISO for Akamai. "Attackers will always find ways to infiltrate your network or impact your customers. Understanding attack surfaces could provide insights into key risks and therefore allow organizations to devise security controls and mitigation plans to better protect customers."
For additional information, the security community can access, engage with, and learn from Akamai's threat researchers by visiting the new Akamai Security Hub and following the team on Twitter at @Akamai_Research.
Akamai powers and protects life online. Leading companies worldwide choose Akamai to build, deliver, and secure their digital experiences — helping billions of people live, work, and play every day. With the world's most distributed compute platform — from cloud to edge — we make it easy for customers to develop and run applications, while we keep experiences closer to users and threats farther away. Learn more about Akamai's security, compute, and delivery solutions at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Contacts
Jim Lubinskas
Akamai Media Relations
703.907.9103
jlubinsk@akamai.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.
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2022-11-28T12:11:28+00:00
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newschannel10.com
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https://www.newschannel10.com/prnewswire/2022/11/28/financial-services-akamai-research-shows-web-application-api-cyber-attacks-grew-by-257-percent-year-over-year/
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan police said Tuesday that one person died, 31 officers were injured and more than 200 protesters were arrested in anti-government protests led by opposition leader Raila Odinga the previous day.
Odinga announced that the protests will be held twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays — starting next week.
The opposition led thousands of Kenyans in protests on Monday calling for President William Ruto’s resignation and decrying the rising cost of living. A university student was killed in western Kenya after police used live bullets because they had run out of rubber bullets, according to a police report.
The police inspector general, Japhet Koome, said Tuesday that 238 people were arrested in protests in the western city of Kisumu, which is an Odinga stronghold, and the capital, Nairobi.
Monday’s protests turned violent as police used tear gas, water cannons and in some incidents fired live ammunition to disperse protesters, who responded by pelting them with stones.
Odinga said that his car was shot at by the police and his party spokesperson shared a photo of a shattered windshield online.
A civil society group condemned the police for the use of force, intimidation and arbitrary arrests.
The Independent Medico-Legal Unit said that four protesters died and 50 others were injured.
Kenya has in the past seen a series of violent protests that have ended in the loss of lives.
The government is insisting that Monday’s protests were illegal since permission was denied to hold them. But the opposition says the constitution provides a right to peaceful protests and police are only notified in order to provide security.
Kenya’s deputy president, Rigathi Gachagua, said the country lost about 2 billion Kenya shillings ($15 million) because of Monday’s protests. Gachagua urged Odinga to call off the demonstrations and think about the losses to the economy.
Odinga has remained adamant and says protests will continue until the cost of living goes down.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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2023-03-21T15:35:59+00:00
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daytondailynews.com
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https://www.daytondailynews.com/nation-world/kenya-police-say-1-killed-in-opposition-led-protests/Y67JVGTMOBBTRA772W2YKRFIKI/
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Which is better: a treadmill or an exercise bike?
A single piece of decent cardio equipment is all you really need to maintain or improve your fitness at home, but should you buy a treadmill or an exercise bike? For some people, the choice is obvious, but others need to think more carefully.
Treadmills arguably offer a better workout in a shorter time, but require greater levels of fitness to get started. Exercise bikes give a more manageable start to people at a lower fitness level but don’t engage the upper body unless users are mindful about form.
Treadmills
Treadmills are used for running at home. While they offer an excellent form of exercise, they can be off-putting for people building their cardio fitness from scratch because it takes weeks of training to be able to run for a solid 15 to 30 minutes.
You can find treadmills for $300, but they aren’t always of the highest quality. Spending $600-$1,000 for an entry-level model or up to $4,000 for a high-end commercial-quality treadmill may be a better long-term choice.
Treadmill pros
- Running on a treadmill engages core muscles and muscles in the upper body, as well as leg muscles, so it works out more of your body than cycling on an exercise bike.
- You can set a treadmill to a comfortable speed for you, so you can start with walking and gradually increase your pace.
- Treadmills are excellent for runners in training when it isn’t possible to run outdoors because of adverse weather. If you’re training for a big race and live somewhere with harsh winters, a treadmill will let you keep going without interruption.
- Some treadmills offer an incline option for a more intense workout, the equivalent of walking or running uphill outdoors.
- Although calorie-burning isn’t the most important goal of exercising, an hour of running on a treadmill burns significantly more calories than an hour of cycling on an exercise bike.
Treadmill cons
- You can simply walk or run outside without any additional equipment, so some people find buying a treadmill for home use to be unnecessary.
- Treadmills are larger and more expensive than exercise bikes, making them a less practical choice for use at home, especially if you have a smaller home.
Best treadmills
NordicTrack Commercial Series 2950
If you’re looking for a top-of-the-line treadmill and money is no object, you can’t get much better than this one. It runs quietly, features incline control of up to 15%, has cushioning to reduce joint impact and sports a 22-inch screen with live workout options.
Xterra Fitness TR Folding Treadmill
This excellent mid-range treadmill is great for runners of all levels. It features three manual inclines and 12 preset programs, and it has a 5-inch LCD display.
Sunny Health & Fitness Folding Treadmill for Home Exercise
This affordable treadmill might not be as sturdy or feature-rich as higher-end options but it performs well for casual use. What’s more, it’s great for smaller spaces because you can fold it away to store it.
Bikes
Exercise bikes are stationary cycles for home use. They offer an effective cardio workout and are easily accessible for people of all fitness levels, so they’re a great place to start if you’re building fitness from scratch or returning to exercise after a break.
Inexpensive exercise bikes start at less than $100, but you’ll get a much better one if you can stretch to at least $300. High-end studio-quality bikes can cost up to $2,000, but there’s no need for casual users to spend this much.
Bike pros
- Cycling on an exercise bike is a lower impact activity than running on a treadmill. You’re less likely to suffer injuries, especially to the knees, which are often a weak spot for runners.
- Exercise bikes are significantly cheaper than treadmills of comparable quality, so you can expect to spend about half as much as you would on a similar treadmill.
- You can change the resistance on an exercise bike to make your workout harder and it’s possible to really build your leg muscles at higher resistance levels.
- They’re more compact, so it’s easier to find space in your home for an exercise bike than a treadmill.
Bike cons
- You need to make an effort to stay straight and engage your core if you want any impact on your upper body.
- Cycling on an exercise bike burns fewer calories than running on a treadmill for the same length of time.
Best bikes
NordicTrack Commercial S22i Studio Cycle
This studio-quality exercise bike for home use comes with a screen. You can use it to follow live or recorded workouts, so there’s no need to leave the house for that spinning class. With incline control of up to 20%, it gives you the option to make your workout tougher.
This affordable exercise bike is compact yet stable and durable, with a 36-pound flywheel and adjustable friction resistance to tailor your workout. It’s easily height-adjustable to suit adult users of most heights.
If you’d prefer to cycle in a more relaxed recumbent position, this is the exercise bike for you. Don’t let the laid-back position fool you, though. You can get a great workout from it, with 25 levels of resistance.
Should you get a treadmill or an exercise bike?
Both are excellent pieces of exercise equipment with their own strengths and weaknesses, so neither is objectively better than the other. If you’re building a home gym, you might choose to buy both.
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Lauren Corona writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.
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2023-01-31T22:02:27+00:00
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keloland.com
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https://www.keloland.com/reviews/br/sports-fitness-br/fitness-equipment-br/treadmill-vs-bike/
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BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors called Tuesday for a 97-year-old woman who was the secretary to the SS commander of the Stutthof concentration camp to be convicted as an accessory to murder and given a two-year suspended sentence.
Irmgard Furchner has been on trial for over a year at the Itzehoe state court in northern Germany. Prosecutor Maxi Wantzen said in closing arguments that “these proceedings are of outstanding historical significance,” the German news agency dpa reported.
Prosecutors accuse Furchner of being part of the apparatus that helped the Nazis’ Stutthof camp function during World War II.
She is alleged to have “aided and abetted those in charge of the camp in the systematic killing of those imprisoned there between June 1943 and April 1945 in her function as a stenographer and typist in the camp commandant’s office.”
Wantzen said Tuesday the defendant would have been able to see large parts of the camp from her office, including an area where new prisoners arrived. She also must have been able to see and smell smoke from the burning of bodies at the crematorium, the prosecutor added.
Even if the defendant didn’t enter the fenced-in camp herself, “that was not necessary from my point of view to have knowledge of the mass murders,” Wantzen said.
Furchner hasn’t responded to the charges against her during the trial. There are no formal pleas in the German judicial system.
Tens of thousands of people died at Stutthof and its satellite camps, or on so-called death marches at the end of the war.
Furchner is being tried in juvenile court because she was under 21 at the time of the alleged crimes. Closing arguments are to continue on Nov. 29.
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2022-11-22T23:10:49+00:00
|
ktalnews.com
|
https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-prosecutors-seek-conviction-of-ex-nazi-camp-secretary-97/
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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — East Carolina University’s baseball team learned during Monday’s NCAA Selection Show that it will play in the Virginia Regional starting Friday.
Host Virginia (45-12) will welcome Army (38-16), Oklahoma (31-26) and ECU (45-17). ECU and Oklahoma will square off in one of the Friday games.
Eight of the 16 regional hosts selected for the NCAA Tournament are from the Southeastern Conference, the Division I Baseball Committee announced Sunday night.
The hosts have locked up spots in the national tournament. The rest of the feld of 64 teams was announced on Monday.
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Each regional will be made up of four teams playing in a double-elimination format. All are scheduled from Friday through Monday. Regional winners advance to best-of-three super regionals, and those eight winners go on to the College World Series in Omaha beginning June 16.
Wake Forest (47-10), among four Atlantic Coast Conference teams to be named hosts, is the No. 1 overall seed after winning the league’s regular-season championship and leading the nation in wins.
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SEC hosts are Alabama (40-19), Arkansas (41-16), Auburn (34-21-1), Florida (44-14), Kentucky (36-18), LSU (43-15), South Carolina (39-19) and Vanderbilt (41-18).
Joining Wake Forest as ACC hosts are Clemson (43-17), Miami (40-19) and Virginia (45-12).
Oklahoma State (41-18) is the only Big 12 host and Stanford (38-16) is the only one from the Pac-12.
=====
Coastal Carolina (39-19) of the Sun Belt Conference and Indiana State of the Missouri Valley (42-15) are the other hosts. Indiana State is hosting for the first time.
This year marks the first time since 2013 — and second time since the tournament went to its current format in 1999 — that no team from the state of Texas will host.
Miami (29), LSU (27) and Stanford (21) have each hosted regionals at least 20 times.
Auburn, Florida, Miami, Oklahoma St. and Stanford hosted in 2022.
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2023-05-29T18:57:28+00:00
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wnct.com
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https://www.wnct.com/sports/college-sports/ap-sec-lands-8-of-16-regional-host-sites-for-ncaa-baseball-tournament/
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Fight breaks out during BR high school football game
Published: Sep. 25, 2022 at 11:45 AM CDT|Updated: 16 minutes ago
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - School leaders are looking into a fight that broke out during the McKinley High School football homecoming game on Friday, Sept. 23.
The bench-clearing fight happened between the McKinley High and Northside High teams.
According to school leaders in East Baton Rouge Parish, they are unsure as to why the fight started. Until that determination can be made, they are holding off on taking disciplinary action.
The LHSAA is also waiting to make a determination about the ruling of the game.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved.
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2022-09-25T17:03:27+00:00
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wafb.com
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https://www.wafb.com/2022/09/25/fight-breaks-out-during-br-high-school-football-game/
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NEW YORK (AP) — Nick Kyrgios was bothered by what he thought was the smell of marijuana during his U.S. Open match Wednesday.
The Wimbledon runner-up complained during his second-round victory over Benjamin Bonzi about the scent, asking chair umpire Jaume Campistol to warn the crowd inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“You don’t want to remind anyone not to do it or anything?” Kyrgios asked during a changeover in the second set.
Armstrong features concession stands along the concourse level above the court and Campistol appeared to be telling Kyrgios the smell could be coming from their kitchens.
“Obviously, I’m not going to complain about food smells,” Kyrgios responded. “Obviously, not.”
Kyrgios said after his 7-6 (3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory that he is asthmatic.
“When I’m running side to side, I’m struggling to breathe,” he said. “Probably not something I want to be breathing in in between points.”
The No. 23 seed from Australia was his usual animated self during the match, carrying on conversations with himself and people in the seats. He received a warning for using profanity when the target of his anger was somebody in his box who Kyrgios didn’t feel was being supportive enough.
The noise of New York is a challenge for many players, and Kyrgios struggled not only with the chatter of the fans but with the roars of the trains that can be heard from outside the open-air stadium.
“For someone that’s struggled to focus in my career, I’m really trying hard to put my head down and play point by point, try to dig myself out of some certain situations. It’s hard because there’s a lot of distractions,” Kyrgios said. “Obviously, a lot of heckling going on as well. People are saying things. I got to be very careful with what I say these days.”
___
More AP coverage of U.S. Open tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/us-open-tennis-championships and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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2022-09-01T12:30:46+00:00
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wtmj.com
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https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/08/31/kyrgios-complains-of-marijuana-smell-during-us-open-win-3/
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Breakthrough Innovation Boosts Skin's Age-Defying Energy and Optimizes Skin Appearance
DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Revision Skincare®, a leading medical-grade professional skincare brand, today announces the launch of its newest innovation in their D-E-J® Age-Defying Power Regimen: D-E-J Daily Boosting Serum™. Designed to improve the healthy function of the skin's Dermal-Epidermal Junction (DEJ), a critical factor in skin aging, this energizing serum visibly improves radiance and skin firmness while reducing the appearance of fine lines and overall photodamage.
When skin is functioning optimally, it produces all the energy it needs, but over time these levels decline, and due to both intrinsic and extrinsic stressors, skin becomes fatigued. When fatigued skin is unable to behave as it once did, skin can recapture its youthful vitality with the support of an age-defying, cellular energy boost. D-E-J Daily Boosting Serum is formulated with patented Sunflower Sprout Extract Technology that is proven to boost skin's cellular energy, so skin can act younger
"Our unique Sunflower Sprout Extract contains vital molecules that were shown to have an important role in neurobiology. Knowing that the brain and skin develop from the embryonic ectoderm, the Revision Skincare Research and Clinical Development team hypothesized that Sunflower Sprout Extract would be equally important in skin health," explains Dr. Alisar Zahr, Director of Research & Development, Revision Skincare." We performed preclinical studies to test this hypothesis and found that Sunflower Sprout Extract was able to light up genes associated with skin barrier health as well as improving cellular mitochondrial energy."
In addition to Sunflower Sprout Extract, the serum contains a robust antioxidant blend, Acetyl Hexapeptide-1, and other efficacious ingredients to help protect the skin's energy source, support skin's natural collagen and elastin, improve noticeable wrinkles, loss of skin elasticity, rough skin texture and uneven skin tone, all while strengthening the skin barrier*.
D-E-J Daily Boosting Serum works quickly to deliver visible results, with significant improvements in skin appearance over time, according to clinical studies that show:
Immediately after use (within 15 minutes*)
- 83% of study participants agreed their skin looked hydrated
- 75% felt their complexion was vibrant and skin appeared plump
After just 7 days* D-E-J Daily Boosting Serum is clinically proven to increase skin radiance, smooth skin texture, and reduce the appearance of fine lines. Additionally:
- 100% of study participants agreed that their overall skin appearance was improved, and their skin's youthful vitality was boosted
After 12 weeks*, the following average improvements from baseline were seen:
- 41% average improvement in the appearance of skin roughness
- 28% average improvement in the appearance of skin firmness
- 22% average improvement in the appearance of fine lines (crow's feet area)
- 20% average improvement in the appearance of skin tone evenness (redness)
"From our inception, Revision Skincare has been focused on launching industry-first technologies generating clinically-validated results, and D-E-J Daily Boosting Serum is no different," adds Maria Carell, CEO and President, Revision Skincare. "We're excited to continue offering our customers efficacious products that offer results for their overall skin health, both in the short and long term."
D-E-J Daily Boosting Serum joins Revision Skincare's powerhouse D-E-J Age-Defying Power Regimen consisting of D-E-J Eye Cream ®, D-E-J Face Cream ®, and D-E-J Night Face Cream ®. The regimen is available at revisionskincare.com, Dermstore, or your local dermatologist's office.
* Data on file. Results may vary.
About Revision Skincare
Revision Skincare is an industry leader in developing clinically-validated, high potency, transformative skincare products. Our unique formulation philosophy is an integrated approach that delivers maximum efficacy while maintaining long-term skin health. Based in Irving, Texas, Revision Skincare is sold in more than 16 countries.
Media Contact:
revisionpr@mbooth.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Revision Skincare
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2022-11-01T13:33:40+00:00
|
kcrg.com
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https://www.kcrg.com/prnewswire/2022/11/01/revision-skincare-launches-d-e-j-daily-boosting-serum/
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WASHINGTON – Federal regulators and Facebook parent Meta are battling over Meta’s proposed acquisition of virtual-reality company Within Unlimited and its fitness app Supernatural.
In a landmark legal challenge to a Big Tech merger, the Federal Trade Commission is suing to block the deal, asserting it would hurt competition and violate antitrust laws.
Meta struck back Thursday, asking a federal court in San Jose, California, to dismiss the FTC’s July request for an injunction against the acquisition.
The tech giant said in its court filing that the government failed to establish that the virtual-reality market is concentrated with high barriers to entry. The claims in the agency’s lawsuit “are nothing more than the FTC’s speculation about what Meta might have done,” the company says. It asserts that the FTC failed to meet two key legal standards set in previous cases.
In a statement Thursday, the FTC noted that it revised its complaint last week in a way that narrowed the focus of its allegations. In its new form, the statement said, “We are confident that the District Court complaint will not be dismissed and this case will be heard.”
Meta, in its own statement, said “The FTC’s attempt to fix its ill-conceived complaint still ignores the facts and the law, and relies on pure speculation of a hypothetical future state."
It added that it believes the complaint should be dismissed because there is “vibrant competition in the fitness space and across (virtual reality), and our acquisition of Within will be good for people, developers and the VR space."
The FTC’s vote last summer to seek to block the Within acquisition was 3-2, with Chair Lina Khan and the other two Democratic commissioners approving it and the two Republicans opposed.
The FTC's original suit named CEO Mark Zuckerberg as a defendant as well as Meta, but he was dropped in August.
Under Zuckerberg's leadership, Meta began a campaign to conquer virtual reality in 2014 with its acquisition of headset maker Oculus VR. Since then, Meta’s VR headsets have become the cornerstone of its growth in the virtual reality space, the FTC noted in its suit. Fueled by the popularity of its top-selling Quest headsets, Meta’s Quest Store has become a leading U.S. app platform with more than 400 apps available to download, according to the agency.
Meta bought seven of the most successful virtual-reality development studios, and now has one of the largest virtual-reality content catalogs in the world, the FTC says. Its acquisition of the Beat Games studio gave Meta control of the popular app Beat Saber.
In its suit against the Within acquisition, the FTC cited a 2015 email from Zuckerberg to key Facebook executives saying that his vision for “the next wave of computing” was control of apps as well as the platform on which those apps are distributed. The email says a key part of this strategy is for the company to be “completely ubiquitous in killer apps,” which are apps that prove the value of the technology.
Zuckerberg announced ambitious plans a year ago to build the “metaverse” — a virtual-reality construct intended to supplant the internet, merge virtual life with real life and create endless new playgrounds for everyone.
On Tuesday, the company based in Menlo Park, California, unveiled a $1,500 virtual reality headset in the hope that people will soon be using it to work and play in the metaverse.
The action marked a new FTC salvo against Meta — the owner of Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp in addition to Facebook — in the agency’s drive against what it views as anticompetitive conduct in the tech industry.
The FTC filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook in late 2020. With that action, the agency is seeking remedies that could include a forced spinoff of Instagram and WhatsApp, or a restructuring of the company.
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2022-10-13T23:12:19+00:00
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ksat.com
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https://www.ksat.com/news/politics/2022/10/13/meta-hits-back-in-fight-with-ftc-over-vr-company-acquisition/
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TRENTON, Ontario (AP) — Canada is investing $4.9 billion Canadian (US$3.8 billion) over the next six years to modernize North America’s aging defensive systems.
Defense Minister Anita Anand said Monday the funding is the first of an estimated $40 billion Canadian (US$31 billion) that will be spent over the next 20 years to upgrade the joint U.S.-Canadian early warning system known as North American Aerospace Defense Command and purchase other military assets to protect the continent.
The announcement at an Ontario air force base comes amid numerous warnings from U.S. and Canadian military officials and experts that NORAD is badly showing its age.
“As autocratic regimes threaten the rules based international order that has protected for decades, and as our competitors develop new technologies like hypersonic weapons and advanced cruise missiles, there is a pressing need to modernize Canada's NORAD capabilities,” Anand said.
Anand had been promising a robust package of investments for upgrading the system set up in the 1950s, which is responsible for detecting incoming airborne and maritime threats to North America, including missiles and aircraft.
The new funding will include plans to build new radar networks to detect threats coming over the Arctic, as well as command and control systems, advanced air-to-air missiles and others.
“Canada can no longer rely on its geography to protect Canadians," she said.
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2022-06-20T17:40:42+00:00
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ourmidland.com
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https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Canada-investing-billions-to-modernize-North-17253428.php
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NEW YORK (AP) — The historic indictment of former President Donald Trump thrust the 2024 presidential election into uncharted territory, raising the remarkable prospect that the leading contender for the Republican nomination will seek the White House while also facing trial for criminal charges in New York.
In an acknowledgment of the sway the former president holds with the voters who will decide the GOP contest next year, those eyeing a primary challenge to Trump were quick to criticize the indictment. Without naming Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the move “un-American.” Former Vice President Mike Pence, whose life was threatened after Trump incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, told CNN the charges were “outrageous.”
That posture speaks to the short-term incentives for Republicans to avoid anything that might antagonize Trump's loyal base. But the indictment raises profound questions for the GOP's future, particularly as Trump faces the possibility of additional charges soon in Atlanta and Washington. While that might galvanize his supporters, the turmoil could threaten the GOP's standing in the very swing-state suburbs that have abandoned the party in three successive elections, eroding its grip on the White House, Congress and key governorships.
Trump has spent four decades managing to skirt this type of legal jeopardy and expressed confidence again late Thursday, blaming the charges on “Thugs and Radical Left Monsters.”
“THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE,” Trump wrote on his social media site.
Trump is “ready to fight,” his attorney, Joe Tacopina, said on Fox News,
Trump is expected to surrender to authorities next week on charges connected to hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to women who alleged extramarital sexual encounters. For now, it remains unclear how the development will resonate with voters. Polls show Trump remains the undisputed frontrunner for the Republican nomination, and his standing has not faltered, even amid widespread reporting on the expected charges.
Trump's campaign and his allies have long hoped an indictment would serve as a rallying cry for his supporters, angering his “Make America Great Again” base, drawing small dollar donations and forcing Trump's potential rivals into the awkward position of having to defend him — or risk their wrath.
Indeed, Trump’s campaign began fundraising off the news almost immediately after it broke, firing an email to supporters with the all-caps subject line “BREAKING: PRESIDENT TRUMP INDICTED.”
At Trump's first rally of the 2024 campaign, held in Texas over the weekend, supporters expressed widespread disgust with the investigation and insisted the case wouldn't affect his chances.
“It’s a joke,” said Patti Murphy, 63, of Fort Worth. “It’s just another way of them trying to get him out of their way.”
Others in the crowd said their support for Trump had been waning since he left the White House, but the looming indictment made them more likely to support him in 2024 because they felt his anger had been justified.
At the same time, there is little chance a criminal trial will help Trump in a general election, particularly with independents, who have grown tired of his constant chaos. That has provided an opening for alternatives like DeSantis, who are expected to paint themselves as champions of the former president’s policies, but without all his baggage.
But there were no immediate signs the party was ready to use the indictment to move past him. Instead, Republicans, including members of Congress and Trump's rivals, rushed to his defense en masse. In addition to DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has already declared her candidacy, blasted the indictment as “more about revenge than it is about justice.” Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is mulling a run, accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of “undermining America’s confidence in our legal system,” while also sending a fundraising text off the news.
Trump, meanwhile, has tried to turn the public against the case. Early on March 18, amid reports that police in New York were preparing for a possible indictment, he fired off a message on his social media site in which he declared that he expected to be arrested within days.
While that never came to pass (and his aides made clear it had not been based on any inside information), Trump used the time to highlight the case's widely-discussed weaknesses and to attack Bragg with a barrage of deeply personal — and at times racist — attacks.
Trump also sought to project an air of strength. The night of his post, he traveled with aides to a college wrestling championship, where he spent hours greeting supporters and posing for photos. On the way home, the assembled entourage watched mixed martial arts cage fighting aboard his plane.
And last weekend, Trump held a rally in Waco, Texas, where he railed against the case in front of thousands of supporters.
People who have spoken with Trump in recent weeks have described him as both angry and unbothered about the prospect of charges. Freshman Republican Rep. Mark Alford of Missouri said Trump was “upbeat” at a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago the night before he warned of his arrest.
Indeed, Trump has at times appeared in denial about the gravity of the situation. He and his aides were caught off-guard by the news Thursday. And during the plane ride home from his Texas rally, Trump told reporters he believed the case had been dropped.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I can tell you that they have no case. So I think the case is — I think they’ve already dropped the case, from what I understand. I think it’s been dropped,” he said.
Still, Trump responded with anger when pressed, even as he insisted he was not frustrated.
Beyond the Manhattan case, Trump is facing several other investigations, including a Georgia inquiry into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and a federal probe into his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
It remains unclear how the public might respond if Trump ends up facing charges in additional cases, particularly if some lead to convictions and others are dismissed.
An indictment —- or even a conviction — would not bar Trump from running for president or serving as the Republican nominee.
___ Associated Press writers Paul Weber in Waco, Texas, and Lisa Mascaro in Orlando contributed to this report.
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2023-03-31T05:01:59+00:00
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expressnews.com
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https://www.expressnews.com/news/politics/article/trump-indictment-throws-2024-race-into-uncharted-17870419.php
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PARIS (AP) — A United Nations committee is meeting Monday in Paris to work on what is intended to be a landmark treaty to bring an end to global plastic pollution, but there is little agreement yet on what the outcome should be.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Plastics is charged with developing the first international, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. This is the second of five meetings due to take place to complete the negotiations by the end of 2024.
At the first meeting, held six months ago in Uruguay, some countries pressed for global mandates, some for national solutions and others for both.
Humanity produces more than 430 million tons of plastic annually, two-thirds of which are short-lived products that soon become waste, filling the ocean and, often, working their way into the human food chain, the United Nations Environment Program said in April. Plastic waste produced globally is set to almost triple by 2060, with about half ending up in landfill and under a fifth recycled, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Because it’s a short timeline for treaty negotiations, experts say it’s critical decisions are made about the objectives at this meeting.
The treaty could focus on human health and the environment, as desired by the self-named “high ambition coalition” of countries, led by Norway and Rwanda, with limits on plastic production and restrictions on some of the chemicals used in plastics, for example. The coalition is committed to an international, legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution by 2040. It says that this is necessary to protect human health and the environment while helping to restore biodiversity and curb climate change.
Alternatively, the treaty could have a more limited scope to address plastic waste and scale up recycling, as some of the plastic-producing and oil and gas exporters want. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels. Countries supporting this plan include the United States, Saudi Arabia and China. The U.S. delegation in Uruguay said national plans would allow governments to prioritize the most important sources and types of plastic pollution. Many plastics and chemical companies want this approach, too, with a plastic waste treaty that prioritizes recycling.
The International Council of Chemical Associations, the World Plastics Council, the American Chemistry Council and other companies that make, use and recycle plastics say they want an agreement that eliminates plastic pollution while “retaining the societal benefits of plastics.” They’re calling themselves the “global partners for plastics circularity.” They say that modern plastic materials are used around the world to create essential and often life-saving products, many of which are critical to a lower-carbon, more sustainable future.
Björn Beeler is at the meeting as the international coordinator for the International Pollutants Elimination Network, or IPEN. He said countries need to make a plan by the end of this week to write up an initial draft of the treaty text so it can be negotiated at the third meeting.
“If there’s no text to negotiate, you’re just continuing to share ideas,” he said. “Then because of the timeline, we could be looking at an early failure.”
Beeler said the talks are “the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a global conversation to change the trajectory of plastic production growth.” IPEN wants a treaty that restricts chemicals used to make plastic that are harmful to human health and the environment, he added.
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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2023-05-29T12:00:27+00:00
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fox44news.com
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https://www.fox44news.com/news/world-news/ap-un-talks-on-a-treaty-to-end-global-plastic-pollution-open-in-paris/
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The Los Angeles Kings are playoff-bound for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
The Kings (43-27-10, 96 points) punched their postseason ticket Tuesday night when Dallas defeated Vegas in a seven-round shootout. With that, Los Angeles was assured of finishing in third place in the Pacific Division.
The Kings, who will meet Edmonton in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs, still have two regular-season games remaining, starting with Wednesday’s contest in Seattle.
“You work so hard all year to get to the point that we’re in, you give everything for six, seven months and to be on the cusp of what you first strived out for at the beginning of the year is to just get in,” Kings forward Blake Lizotte said after Monday’s practice. “Yeah, I think it’s really exciting to have that come to fruition, that we do have a reality to make the playoffs.”
That reality set in Tuesday night.
Coach Todd McLellan has stressed to the Kings players that they should “worry about your own work.”
“When we look back on the season, and we’ll do that when it’s over, we’ll evaluate from Day 1 through, we’ll look at practices, evolution, ups, downs, strengths, weaknesses,” McLellan said. “Right now, we’re not really doing that, we’re living in the moment and trying to better what we have. I think there’s a difference between the two.”
The Kings, who have won four consecutive games, have had three days off since a 4-2 victory against visiting Anaheim on Saturday.
That allowed the Kings a rare stretch of practice time.
“We’re sharpening up our whole game, the way the schedule has been rolled out for us, we haven’t had many opportunities to practice like that, maybe once in the last three weeks,” McLellan said. “Good or bad, I don’t know, we’ll find out. Our three-day break comes with two games left, a lot of teams had it last week or the week before, so we have to take advantage of that.”
The expansion Kraken (26-47-6, 58 points) played Tuesday night in Vancouver, suffering a 5-2 defeat — their third in a row.
The Canucks, who were still in playoff contention when the game started, bolted to a 3-0 lead in the opening 15:05, outshooting Seattle 12-1 in the process.
“It was very uncharacteristic of us,” said Kraken forward Jared McCann, whose team had taken 2-0 leads in each of the previous two games. “Obviously, they’re a good team and we’ve been playing pretty well as of late. We’re just going to try to move past this one.”
Seattle had chances, but it scored just went 1-for-8 on the power play.
The Kraken, who had been outscored 8-0 in the second period of the previous two defeats, pulled within 3-2 going into the third before allowing two late goals.
“After the start that we had, sometimes you wonder if we can get going — get the legs going — but we did,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “And by far, we had enough chances to get back even.”
Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn missed Tuesday’s game with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day.
–Field Level Media
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2022-04-28T03:12:55+00:00
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krqe.com
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https://www.krqe.com/sports/nhl-hockey/playoff-bound-kings-seek-to-keep-kraken-reeling/
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WASHINGTON, July 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae's (OTCQB: FNMA) June 2023 Monthly Summary is now available. The monthly summary report contains information about Fannie Mae's monthly and year-to-date activities for our gross mortgage portfolio, mortgage-backed securities and other guarantees, interest rate risk measures, and serious delinquency rates.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:
fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Fannie Mae Newsroom
https://www.fanniemae.com/newsroom
Photo of Fannie Mae
https://www.fanniemae.com/resources/img/about-fm/fm-building.tif
Fannie Mae Resource Center
1-800-2FANNIE
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Fannie Mae
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2023-07-26T21:05:06+00:00
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ksla.com
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https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2023/07/26/fannie-mae-releases-june-2023-monthly-summary/
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The Lambo-Less
“Don’t deserve a Lamborghini by simply desiring one” implies somehow one can’t have a place to stay by simply desiring one. This extrapolates to one can’t have food by simply desiring it. Tell that to Joseph looking for a place for Mary to give birth.
Maybe if we give our workers, including those we indirectly hire through our portfolios, a living wage, desire and realization could be better balanced. Then the state wouldn’t have to step in with a safety net, and we could all worry about our property rights.
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2023-04-05T04:26:06+00:00
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independent.com
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https://www.independent.com/2023/04/04/the-lambo-less/
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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels interim manager Phil Nevin was suspended 10 games and Seattle Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker received a seven-game ban from Major League Baseball for their roles in a benches-clearing brawl during the second inning of Sunday’s game.
Nevin and Winker were two of 12 players or coaches suspended between the teams, according to an MLB release Monday night.
Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford received five games, Angels pitchers Ryan Tepera and Andrew Wantz were suspended for three, and Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez, Angels reliever Raisel Iglesias and major league interpreter Manny Del Campo received two games.
Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon, who is out for the rest of the season after undergoing wrist surgery, will be suspended five games when he returns from the injured list. For now, he is prohibited from sitting on the bench for the next seven games.
Nevin received a significant suspension for Angels opener Wantz intentionally throwing at Winker while warnings were in place for both teams. Nevin made the late decision to pitch Wantz instead of scheduled starter Jose Suarez.
Nevin’s suspension began Monday night as the Angels opened a series against the Chicago White Sox. Bench coach Ray Montgomery, who received a two-game suspension, will manage in Nevin’s place. Montgomery and catching coach Bill Haselman (one game) will begin serving their suspensions after assistant pitching coach Dom Chiti returns from his five-game ban.
The punishments were announced within 90 minutes of Los Angeles’ and Seattle’s games Monday night.
Winker was hit by the first pitch of the second inning by Wantz, who had also thrown a pitch behind Rodríguez’s head during in the first inning. Wantz, who is suspended for three games, is the only player not appealing.
The up-and-in pitches appeared to be the Angels’ response to Erik Swanson’s 95 mph fastball near Mike Trout’s head during the ninth inning Saturday night. Trout voiced his frustration about the pitch following the game.
Winker reacted to getting hit by Wantz, angrily yelling and gesturing toward the Angels’ dugout. Winker then charged Los Angeles’ dugout on the third-base side after yelling at Nevin with both benches and bullpens emptying.
The brawl lasted nearly four minutes, with both teams appearing to throw multiple punches.
The game was delayed for 18 minutes. Of the eight who were ejected, Seattle manager Scott Servais is the only one who wasn’t suspended.
Before the bans were announced, Nevin disputed that he used Wantz to throw at Seattle’s players.
“That’s not factual. But I don’t want to get into a war of words with that,” Nevin said. “What’s done is done. Yesterday’s over and done with. We’re focused on the White Sox today.”
Sunday’s brawl may have been the ugliest involving the Angels since one in 1998 in Kansas City after a series of hit batters. Nevin was playing for Los Angeles and received a three-game suspension, while manager Terry Collins was out for eight.
Winker said he expected a lengthy suspension before the Mariners faced Baltimore on Monday night.
“I think it’s a bad look on Phil Nevin and could have been handled differently,” he said. “But they decide to run their mouth and I didn’t like that. It’s that simple. There’s nothing else left to say about that. They’re going to suspend me, they’re going to suspend Crawford and that’s MLB’s decision.”
The AL West rivals play 11 more times this season, but not until the start of a four-game series in Seattle on Aug. 5.
___
This story has been corrected to show Jesse Winker was suspended seven games, not five, and that Angels catching coach Bill Haselman was banned one game, not two.
___
Sports writer Tim Booth in Seattle contributed to this story.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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2022-06-28T23:41:44+00:00
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cbs4indy.com
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https://cbs4indy.com/sports/ap-sports/angels-nevin-banned-10-games-for-brawl-ms-winker-gets-5/
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(KOIN/NEXSTAR) – An Alaska Airlines flight to San Diego was forced to return to Seattle after a piece of paneling that covered one of its engines began peeling off.
Alaska Airlines Flight 558 experienced an “unusual vibration” shortly after departure on Monday morning, prompting the plane to turn back to Sea-Tac International Airport for an emergency landing, Alaska Airlines wrote in a statement.
“Part of the metal paneling that covers the engine, called the cowling, detached from the aircraft when it landed,” the carrier confirmed.
Video circulating on social media appears to show the paneling flapping in the air and breaking apart after the aircraft touched down at Sea-Tac. Photos shared by a woman who claimed to be a passenger on the flight also showed several tarmac workers surrounding the aircraft after landing, along with what appeared to be a piece of the cowling resting on the plane’s left wing.
Alaska Airlines confirmed the aircraft, a Boeing 737-900ER, was taken out of service amid an investigation. No one on the plane was injured, according to the airline.
The carrier also praised its cockpit crew and flight attendants for facilitating the safe landing and their “tremendous professionalism” during the incident.
All 176 passengers were rebooked on alternate flights to San Diego, according to Alaska Airlines.
“We also greatly appreciated the patience of our guests during this event,” the airline said.
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2022-08-23T18:18:36+00:00
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kfor.com
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https://kfor.com/news/alaska-airlines-plane-loses-engine-paneling-during-emergency-landing/
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Create a cookie cutter, engineer a device to launch snowballs at yetis, and more at San Jose's beloved science center.
SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tech Interactive is helping families make memories and cookie cutters over winter break Dec. 23 to Jan. 8. The science center in downtown San Jose is hosting a series of hands-on holiday activities that will help build STEM skills and encourage quality family time.
"We love seeing kids' faces light up when they discover something new with us," says Katrina Stevens, President and CEO, The Tech Interactive. "We've been a place where families fall in love with STEM and learning for more than 25 years and are looking forward to another joyful season of innovating together."
Holiday Activities
Yeti Snowball Fling
Invent a device that launches snowballs at yetis! Mix up your mechanical design to alter the motion and path of your snowball to wallop our icy abominable friends!
Sponsored by Stanford Medicine Children's Health
DIY Cookie Cutters
Looking to make a sweet treat that's uniquely yours? Design and create your own custom cookie cutter in this fun activity just in time for winter baking. Use new tools and your creativity to make your own shape and design. Take it home and bake up a batch of goodies. Delicious DIY!
Season's Spinnings
Let the wonder and delight of the season inspire you! Create your own optical illusion with a winter-themed thaumatrope.
Get Crafty with BioTinkering
It's a Winter Wonderland of making in our BioTinkering Lab. Make ooey, gooey tinsel with your own colorful algae string or use pigment taken from vegetables to make greeting cards and sustainable masterpieces. Season's (eco-conscious) Greetings!
The Tech Interactive is also home to 10 exhibitions that explore topics like sustainability, biology, cyber security and robotics in fun and engaging ways.
About The Tech Interactive
The Tech Interactive is a family-friendly science and technology center in the heart of downtown San Jose. Our hands-on activities, experimental labs and design challenge experiences empower people to innovate with creativity, curiosity and compassion. The Tech is a world leader in the creation of immersive STEAM education resources to develop the next generation of problem-solvers locally, nationally and globally. We believe that everyone is born an innovator who can change the world for the better.
Inspiring the innovator in everyone. | thetech.org
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE The Tech Interactive
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2022-12-21T22:13:02+00:00
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wlbt.com
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https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/12/21/tech-interactive-announces-holiday-activities-stem-learning-winter-break/
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LOCAL NEWS
17-year-old arrested in shooting death of 14-year-old in Tacoma
On Monday, police announced the arrest of the 17-year-old suspect. He was booked on charges of first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
KIRO 7 caught up with one man who claims to have heard the gunshots.
“A couple of minutes later, I hear bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! About nine shots go off,” the man told KIRO 7.
He said his family and kids in the area heard the shots as well.
“I was trying to tell the kids to hit the ground. You know, I was like, ‘Oh, man. Something’s going on. That’s not a firework,’” he said.
He tells KIRO 7 he ran to the scene right after the shots to see what was going on. He says when he arrived, the boy shot was still alive.
“So, I run over to the bus stop right across the street from 7/11; I see a young boy and a couple of ladies working on him. He had a couple of bullet wounds to the stomach, it looked like,” he said.
Local business owners are also telling KIRO 7 crime and violence are getting out of hand off Portland Avenue.
“I was doing my client’s hair, and I turn and go, ‘Oh, something is wrong,’” Srey Sok of Angkor Salon said.
She believes if it continues, business will hurt for everyone.
“My concern is that it’s going to be more slow. You know, because clients are afraid to come out themselves,” Sok said.
But many say the violence in the area is getting out of hand and believe something needs to change.
“What can stop this? Because there are a lot of weapons on the street and if there is nothing really anyone can do expect address the young people and hopefully parents can teach kids better,” the man said. “Hopefully justice will be served.”
Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards issued the following statement on the shooting:
This is a tragic day for Tacoma. Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of the young male victim who was struck by gunfire this afternoon along Portland Avenue in East Tacoma. We offer our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, as well as others grieving across our entire community. Although any loss of life is unacceptable, it is even more painful when we see a young life cut short. As we have stated in the past, we remain committed to working with our local, regional and national partners to reverse the alarming upward trend of violence that we have seen in recent years. While that may not be comforting in this moment, we must continue our efforts to address the root causes of these issues. The Tacoma Police Department has already begun working to identify, locate and apprehend the shooter, and they will share updates on this evolving situation as they become available.
Tacoma Police Chief Avery L. Moore released the following statement last Friday:
Yesterday, a tragedy struck the City of Tacoma. The death of a child at any age is devastating; losing a child to murder shakes the very foundation of our entire community. As the family and community grieve, we grieve with you and for the family. During this difficult time, we must come together to find a path forward.
The Tacoma Police Department will continue to fight against violent crime. Everyone deserves a safe place to call home, and no child should fear their community, nor should any parent have to bury a child. Be assured that the Tacoma Police Department will not waiver in the pursuit of the apprehension of those responsible for this heinous act.
As a community, please support this family and each other. The Tacoma Police Department will never rest as it is our mission to create a safe and secure environment for each and every member of our community.
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2023-01-17T05:07:49+00:00
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mynorthwest.com
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https://mynorthwest.com/3781758/17-year-old-arrested-shooting-death-14-year-old-tacoma/
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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut's highest court on Friday overturned a man's murder conviction and ordered a new trial, saying a state prosecutor improperly commented during closing arguments on the man exercising his right to remain silent before the trial.
The state Supreme Court, in a 7-0 ruling, threw out Patrick Miles' conviction in connection with the 2017 killing of his estranged wife, Yasheeka Miles, in their New Britain home.
Justice Steven Ecker wrote in the opinion that prosecutor Brett Salafia's repeated emphasis to the jury during closing arguments that Miles remained silent before trial was "fundamentally unfair in violation of the defendant's fourteenth amendment right to due process.”
Salafia declined to comment Friday, saying he had not yet reviewed the entire ruling. A message seeking comment was left for Miles' public defender, Emily Wagner. Miles, who was sentenced to 55 years in prison, remained behind bars Friday.
After the killing, police said Miles fled with their 2-year-old daughter, prompting an Amber Alert. He left the child with relatives in New York City and was arrested a week later in West Springfield, Massachusetts.
When defendants exercise their right to remain silent under Miranda rights or invoke the 5th amendment right against incriminating themselves, courts including the U.S. Supreme Court have ruled they cannot be penalized for invoking those rights.
Miles remained silent about the case until he testified in his defense at trial. He said he found his estranged wife dead in their home, as well as $83,000 in cash and 600 grams of heroin missing. The testimony suggested his wife was killed in a robbery and Miles feared the suspects.
The Supreme Court said Salafia repeatedly sought to cast doubt on Miles' credibility, improperly, by emphasizing his delay in telling his story.
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2022-09-02T21:23:23+00:00
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expressnews.com
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https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Top-Connecticut-court-orders-new-trial-for-murder-17416225.php
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There wasn’t much to be learned from this game for the Miami Heat, with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love given the night off.
Except for what comes next.
With Friday night’s 114-108 loss to the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena, the Heat were locked into a seventh-place finish in the Eastern Conference, regardless of the result of Sunday’s home finale against the Orlando Magic. That means a Tuesday night home play-in game at the Kaseya Center, the new name for their arena.
Win that, and it’s on to the playoffs. Lose, and there is a second-chance all-or-nothing home game next Friday night.
Virtually eliminated from any chance of moving up in the standings in light of the Brooklyn Nets’ tiebreaker for the No. 6 seed in the East, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra opted for prudence with his leading men, who assuredly also will sit out Sunday’s regular-season finale against the visiting Orlando Magic.
Against that backdrop, the Heat offered even less than the Wizards, who are in tank mode to the degree that they held out Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma, among others.
In the absence of their stars, the Heat got 30 points from Victor Oladipo, 17 from Cody Zeller and 12 from Jamal Cain.
Daniel Gafford scored 22 for the Wizards.
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Wizards led 26-23 at the end of the first period and 53-51 at halftime, powered by 18 first-half points from Gafford, who was 8 of 8 from the field in the first half.
The Wizards then pushed their lead to 20 midway through the third quarter, with Spoelstra calling time with his team down 79-59.
That’s when Spoelstra inserted Orlando Robinson, the first NBA action for the center on a two-way contract since Feb. 15, prior to the All-Star break. He had spent time with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, in the interim.
The Wizards then went into the fourth up 89-71 and pushed the lead to 23, before Oladipo led a too-little, too-late rally.
Oladipo scored 20 in the fourth.
2. Playoff race: The loss locked the Heat into seventh place in the Eastern Conference, meaning they will play Tuesday night at the Kaseya Center against the eighth-place team in the East, either the Atlanta Hawks or Toronto Raptors.
A victory in that Nos. 7-8 play-in game will give the Heat the No. 7 playoff seed and a best-of-seven first-round series as the road team against the No. 2 Boston Celtics.
A loss Tuesday would drop the Heat into a Friday winner-take-all home game against the winner of the East’s Wednesday night Nos. 9-10 game for the No. 8 playoff seed and a first-round matchup as the road team against the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks.
3. Heat Lite: Actions did not necessarily align with words when it came to the decisions to sit out Butler, Adebayo, Herro, Love and Lowry.
“All things considered,” Spoelstra said, “this is the best place our health has been all season long, and it couldn’t happen at a better time. We feel good about that. The last couple of weeks, we also had a couple days in between several of our games. That has really helped our guys. And that’s where we are.”
And still, out of an abundance of caution, with each listed with an ailment, the heart of the Heat rotation sat out, Adebayo with a strained left quadriceps tendon, Butler with a bruised right hand, Herro with a bruised right quadriceps, Love with a bruised right rib and Lowry with knee soreness.
“These are legit things that we want to take care of on a back-to-back,” Spoelstra said of the set that began with Thursday night’s victory in Philadelphia, “and that’s what our thinking was.”
4. For starters: It was a mixed bag at the outset for the Heat. While Max Strus and Gabe Vincent pushed forward as starters, the opening lineup was rounded out by Zeller, Haywood Highsmith and Duncan Robinson.
Strus played after testing the right second finger he hyperextended early in Thursday’s victory before returning to finish that game. He played Friday with the finger taped.
It was the Heat’s 25th lineup of the season, a quintet that had not played together as a group prior to Friday night’s opening tap.
By Sunday’s season finale, the Heat could well go to an even more streamlined approach when it comes to sitting rotation regulars.
5. In reserve: Among those added into the Heat mix were Oladipo, reserve center Omer Yurtseven and two-way forward Cain.
Yurtseven again found himself in foul trouble, this time with four in his first 10 minutes. He was forced to the bench with that fourth foul with 5:14 left in the second quarter.
Cain energized in his action with 10 points in his first six minutes. He is not eligible to play beyond Sunday while on his two-way deal, with the same the case for Orlando Robinson.
Oladipo again stepped in when Lowry sat, as has been the pattern over the last month.
()
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2023-04-08T01:55:03+00:00
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denverpost.com
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https://www.denverpost.com/2023/04/07/heat-rest-regulars-fall-114-108-to-wizards-to-lock-in-tuesday-home-play-in-game/
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Yvette Heinrichson promoted to Chief Financial Officer
John David Tamas promoted to Director of Underwriting
DALLAS, Oct. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SWK Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SWKH) ("SWK" or the "Company"), a life science focused specialty finance company catering to small- and mid-sized commercial-stage companies, today announced that the company has promoted Yvette Heinrichson to the role of Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Heinrichson was previously SWK's Chief Accounting Officer. SWK has also promoted John David ("J.D.") Tamas to Director of Underwriting, a newly created position at the company, and has hired Joe Moyer as an Associate.
As CFO, Ms. Heinrichson will lead SWK's financial reporting and accounting activities as well as assist President and Interim CEO, Jody Staggs, with capital markets initiatives. Ms. Heinrichson replaces Charles Jacobson, who held the position of Chief Financial Officer on an outsourced basis since 2012.
"Yvette's operational excellence, attention to detail, and accounting knowledge combined with her understanding of financial strategy make her ideally suited to be our new CFO. Bringing the CFO function in-house via a talented executive such as Yvette provides SWK with additional skills and resources to pursue key initiatives, including optimizing our capital structure and streamlining processes required to support financing receivables growth," said Mr. Staggs.
Mr. Staggs continued: "I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to Charles Jacobson for his role in building SWK. He has been a valued member of our leadership team since SWK's inception, and we wish him the best."
"This is a time of great optimism at SWK, as our underlying business fundamentals are strong, and current market conditions are ideal for our tailored financing solutions," stated Ms. Heinrichson. "I am excited and honored to be SWK's new CFO and am eager to work closely with Jody and the Board to lead SWK into its next phase of value creation."
Mr. Staggs commented, "J.D. has an extensive credit background, and his enhanced role will allow SWK to increase underwriting throughput while maintaining strict credit standards. He is a valuable member of our leadership team, and I'm pleased he is being recognized for his contributions to SWK."
Ms. Heinrichson, who joined SWK in 2016 as Controller, has held the position of Chief Accounting Officer since May 2020. Prior to SWK, she provided technical GAAP accounting, SEC financial reporting, SOX implementation and process improvement services for many start-up and multinational public companies in industries including, healthcare/bioscience, technology, real estate and manufacturing. Ms. Heinrichson has participated in multiple initial public offerings and capital raises, as well as M&A due diligence and post-merger integration. She began her career at Deloitte as a tax professional and financial statement auditor of large, accelerated filers. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration from San Francisco State University, as well as the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) certification, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) registered in the state of California.
Mr. Tamas was promoted to Director of Underwriting after joining SWK in February 2022 as a Director. He was previously Vice President at NXT Capital / ORIX Leveraged Finance, where he focused principally on providing stretch and unitranche credit to private equity sponsors in the lower- and middle- markets. Prior to that, Mr. Tamas worked for Cotton Creek Capital, a middle-market private equity firm. He began his career at Wachovia / Wells Fargo Securities within the Leveraged Finance Division. Mr. Tamas earned a BS degree in Finance, with Honors, from the University of Arkansas and an MBA in Finance, with Honors, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Moyer joined SWK as an Associate in September 2022. Prior to joining SWK, he was an Investment Banking Analyst at Cowen & Company in their healthcare group. During his time at Cowen, Mr. Moyer worked on a variety of sell-side transactions, including multiple successful IPOs, follow-ons, private placements, and at-the-market offerings within the biotech and broader healthcare industry. Prior to that, Mr. Moyer interned at Elm Park Capital Management, a middle-market private credit firm. Mr. Moyer earned a B.A. degree in Finance from Southern Methodist University.
SWK Holdings Corporation is a life science focused specialty finance company partnering with small- and mid-sized commercial-stage healthcare companies. SWK provides non-dilutive financing to fuel the development and commercialization of lifesaving and life-enhancing medical technologies and products. SWK's unique financing structures provide flexible financing solutions at an attractive cost of capital to create long-term value for all SWK stakeholders. SWK's solutions include structured debt, traditional royalty monetization, synthetic royalty transactions, and asset purchases, and typically range in size from $5.0 million to $25.0 million. SWK also owns Enteris BioPharma, whose Peptelligence® and ProPerma® drug delivery technologies create oral formulations of peptide-based and BCS class II, III, and IV small molecules. Additional information on the life science finance market is available on the Company's website at www.swkhold.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements including words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," "plan," "will," "may," "look forward," "intend," "guidance," "future" or similar expressions are forward-looking statements. Because these statements reflect SWK's current views, expectations and beliefs concerning future events, these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Investors should note that many factors, as more fully described under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in SWK's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and as otherwise enumerated herein, could affect the Company's future financial results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are qualified by these risk factors. These are factors which, individually or in the aggregate, could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from expected and historical results. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We assume no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
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2022-10-03T21:49:28+00:00
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kcrg.com
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https://www.kcrg.com/prnewswire/2022/10/03/swk-holdings-enhances-executive-management-team-expands-underwriting-team/
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TROY, Mich., May 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) today announced production milestones for its 14Xe™ ePowertrain.
Nearly 300 electric powertrains have now been produced and assembled in Meritor's Asheville and Forest City, North Carolina facilities and approximately 350,000 miles have been logged on commercial vehicles equipped with the company's 14Xe single or tandem electric powertrain.
"Meritor's 14Xe ePowertrain is adaptable to customer application requirements and delivers cutting edge, zero emissions transportation. We're proud of the milestones we're achieving to offer this best-in-class, premium solution to the market as the electric evolution accelerates," said Tim Bowes, senior vice president and president, Electrification, Industrial and North American Aftermarket at Meritor.
The innovative design of Meritor's 14Xe ePowertrain provides efficiency, performance, weight savings and enhanced space utilization when compared to remote mount systems. It is derived from Meritor's proven 14X axle housing and maintains existing axle mounting locations and hardware for ease of OEM integration. Engineered for flexibility it allows selection of key components, including electric motors, transmission, gearing, brakes, wheel ends and housings to adopt to customer specifications. It can be adapted to fit various powertrain needs based on vehicle application and duty cycle spanning Class 6-8 commercial vehicles.
Meritor will showcase the 14Xe electric powertrain in booth No. 2135 at Advanced Clean Transportation Expo May 9-12 in Long Beach, California.
About Meritor
Meritor, Inc. is a leading global supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking, aftermarket and electric powertrain solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets. With more than a 110-year legacy of providing innovative products that offer superior performance, efficiency and reliability, the company serves commercial truck, trailer, off-highway, defense, specialty and aftermarket customers around the world. Meritor is based in Troy, Mich., United States, and is made up of more than 9,600 diverse employees who apply their knowledge and skills in manufacturing facilities, engineering centers, joint ventures, distribution centers and global offices in 19 countries. Meritor common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MTOR. For important information, visit the company's website at www.meritor.com.
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SOURCE Meritor, Inc.
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2022-05-10T02:03:37+00:00
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wlbt.com
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https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2022/05/09/meritor-announces-production-milestones-its-14xe-electric-powertrain/
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7-year-old girl killed by 400-pound stone statue at hotel while on European vacation
Published: Aug. 29, 2022 at 3:56 PM CDT|Updated: 37 minutes ago
BERLIN (AP) — A girl who was on vacation from Italy with her parents has died after a stone statue fell on her at a hotel in Munich, German police said Sunday.
The 7-year-old was hit by the roughly 440-pound statue in the courtyard of the hotel on Friday evening, police said. People at the scene were able to free the child and call emergency services, but she died later at a Munich hospital.
It wasn’t clear why the statue toppled over. Police said an investigation was ongoing.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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2022-08-29T21:34:15+00:00
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wsfa.com
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https://www.wsfa.com/2022/08/29/7-year-old-girl-killed-by-400-pound-stone-statue-hotel-while-european-vacation/
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Shelby American’s wide-body sixth-generation Ford Mustang concept is headed to auction. It’s scheduled to cross the block at Mecum’s auction in Kissimmee, Florida, scheduled for Jan. 4-15.
Unveiled in 2017, the Shelby Super Snake Widebody concept applied for the first time the widened look of previous wide-body Shelbys to the sixth-generation Mustang, which debuted for the 2015 model year and is just now reaching the end of its life span. A new seventh-generation Mustang will replace it for the 2024 model year.
The concept started as a standard 2015 Mustang but received hand-built front fenders (with functional vents), new rear quarter panels and rocker panels, and Shelby-specific front and rear spoilers in carbon fiber. The wide-body kit allowed Shelby to add 4.0 inches to the rear track and 2.5 inches to the front, and served as a template for a production version of the kit offered by Shelby to customers.
Modifications weren’t only made to the styling. Shelby added a Whipple supercharger to Ford’s 5.0-liter V-8, giving the concept 750 hp. That power is channeled through a 6-speed manual transmission to 20-inch wheels wearing Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.
Shelby also installed a fully adjustable coilover suspension kit, tubular control arms, and Brembo brakes with vented rotors.
After its unveiling, the Super Snake Widebody concept was sold to a private owner (the sales contract is included with the car) who kept it until now. The odometer currently shows just 1,350 miles, which makes sense for what was originally conceived as a show car. While classic Shelby Mustangs are popular auction fodder, it’s unclear how well this late-model version will do at auction. Its unique history and wide-body looks might attract more attention than other recent Shelby Mustangs.
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2022-11-26T20:16:58+00:00
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valleycentral.com
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https://www.valleycentral.com/automotive/internet-brands/2017-ford-mustang-shelby-super-snake-widebody-concept-heads-to-auction/
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E-commerce holiday sales projected to grow 12.8% to 14.3%, compared to 2021 season
NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 4% and 6% in 2022, according to Deloitte's annual holiday retail forecast.
Overall, Deloitte's retail and consumer products practice projects holiday sales will total $1.45 to $1.47 trillion during the November to January timeframe. In 2021, holiday sales grew by 15.1% in the same period.
Deloitte also forecasts e-commerce sales will grow by 12.8% to 14.3%, year-over-year, during the 2022-2023 holiday season. This will likely result in e-commerce holiday sales reaching between $260 billion and $264 billion this season.
"The lower projected growth for the 2022 holiday season reflects the slowdown in the economy this year. Retail sales are likely to be further affected by declining demand for durable consumer goods, which had been the centerpiece of pandemic spending. However, we anticipate more spending on consumer services, such as restaurants, as the effects of the pandemic continue to wane," said Daniel Bachman, Deloitte's U.S. economic forecaster. He added "inflation will also help to raise dollar sales, although retailers will see less growth in sales volume."
"As inflation weighs on consumer demand, we can expect consumers to continue to shift how they spend their holiday budget this upcoming season," said Nick Handrinos, vice chair, Deloitte LLP, and U.S. retail, wholesale and distribution and consumer products leader. "Retail sales are set to increase as a result of higher prices, and this dynamic has the potential to further drive e-commerce sales as consumers look for online deals to maximize their spending. Retailers across channels who remain aligned with consumer demand and offer convenient and affordable options can be well positioned for success this season."
Note to editors:
Deloitte is forecasting a 4% to 6% increase in 2022 holiday sales compared with the same period in 2021. Retail sales between November 2021 and January 2022 (seasonally adjusted and excluding automotive and gasoline) grew 15.1% and totaled $1.39 trillion according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Deloitte is forecasting a 12.8% to 14.3% increase in 2022 holiday e-commerce sales compared with the same period in 2021. E-commerce sales between November 2021 and January 2022 (seasonally adjusted and excluding gasoline stations, motor vehicles and parts dealers, and food services) grew 8.4% totaling $231 billion.
Connect with us on Twitter at @DeloitteCB or on LinkedIn @DanielBachman and @NickHandrinos.
About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax, and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500® and more than 7,000 private companies. Our people come together for the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's marketplace—delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Building on more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's more than 345,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.
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SOURCE Deloitte
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2022-09-13T11:51:34+00:00
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wymt.com
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https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2022/09/13/deloitte-holiday-retail-sales-expected-increase-4-6/
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Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly says he’s a victim of the #MeToo movement and wants a New York appeals court to toss his Brooklyn conviction or give him a new trial.
Kelly says his Brooklyn case that resulted in his 30-year sentence should be retried based on jurors who admitted seeing “Surviving R Kelly,” the docuseries that brought rampant sexual abuse allegations to light, among other arguments.
“Galvanized by an influential social movement determined to punish centuries of male misbehavior through symbolic prosecutions of high-profile men, the government brought a [federal racketeering] prosecution against the Defendant that was ‘absurdly remote’ from the drafters’ intent,” reads the brief filed by Kelly’s attorneys.
“This case was not about an enterprise; it was about the conduct of one man who the government sought to punish for his alleged history of mistreating women,” the brief later reads.
A jury convicted Kelly, 56 — who sold over 75 million records at his peak and won three Grammy awards — of one racketeering count and eight Mann Act counts in September 2021 for a decades-long sexual abuse scheme targeting young female fans and some boys. Several were minors.
At sentencing, Judge Ann Donnelly said Kelly mercilessly ruined the lives of young fans he serially raped, abused, and isolated “with regularity for almost 25 years.”
“This case is not about sex. It’s about violence and cruelty and control,” Donnelly said in June. “These victims were disposable to you. You taught them that love is enslavement and violence and humiliation.”
Jurors heard grueling testimony from than 40 witnesses, among them 11 accusers,during the trial about how the once-beloved “I Believe I Can Fly” singer beat girls and women with shoes, cords or his fists and delivered vicious spankings that left bruises when they broke his rules behind the imposing gates of his mansion in the Chicago suburbs.
They also heard how he controlled what his victims said, ate, and wore and about his marriage to late R&B singer Aaliyah when she was 15 and he was 27.
Kelly received another two decades in prison in January, to be served concurrently, after his second conviction last year in Chicago on charges related to child pornography and enticement of minors for sex.
Afternoon Briefing
His lawyers argued Kelly was unfairly “swamped” by a “mountain of bad act evidence” at his Brooklyn trial about his “unusual and graphic sexual activities” and “history of transmitting herpes,” among other arguments.
The singer’s lawyers said it wasn’t fair of prosecutors to show jurors disturbing video footage of a victim “who was naked and crying, walking back and forth, calling herself a ‘slut’ and ‘stupid’ while [Kelly] looked on.”
Kelly said the horrific scenes had nothing to do with proving he ran an ongoing criminal enterprise, as was required to secure his conviction.
“[The] government admitted a video of Anna spreading feces on her naked body and calling [Kelly] ‘daddy’ although [Kelly] was not depicted in the video,” reads the brief.
“This video, like the others, added nothing to the equation as it relates to proving an enterprise and did not thing but breed contempt for ... [Kelly].”
Kelly is demanding an order that he pays $360,000 in restitution to two victims he was accused of infecting with Herpes be vacated and that he be returned $28,000 seized from his inmate trust account.
Kelly’s lawyer declined comment.
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2023-04-21T22:03:58+00:00
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chicagotribune.com
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ny-r-kelly-appeal-brooklyn-sex-trafficking-conviction-20230421-62z43xa2cvapbdcjfd7bqxzlo4-story.html
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Pathbreaking Thinker Has Made Significant Contributions to Modern Philosophy & Political Thinking
TOKYO and LOS ANGELES, Dec. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Berggruen Prize Jury announced its selection of preeminent Japanese philosopher and literary critic Kojin Karatani as the winner of the 2022 Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture. The $1 million award is given annually to thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world. Karatani is the first Asian laureate of the Berggruen Philosophy & Culture Prize, a rare thinker whose ideas move across philosophy, literary theory, aesthetics, linguistics, economics, and politics—East and West; past and present. The Berggruen Prize Jury has selected Kojin Karatani for his "radically original contributions to modern philosophy, the history of philosophy, and political thinking—making Karatani's work particularly valuable in the current era of troubled global capitalism, crisis in democratic states, and resurgent but seldom self-critical nationalism."
"Kojin Karatani is one of the most remarkable philosophers of our time. He has produced new philosophical concepts that delve into the nature of democracy, nationalism, and capitalism in an impressive ensemble where the notions of reciprocity and fairness loom large as the unifying links," said Berggruen Jury Prize Chair Antonio Damasio. "We are pleased to honour and herald the pathbreaking work of Kojin Karatani as someone whose ideas have helped us find direction, wisdom, and improved self-understanding in a world being rapidly transformed by profound social, political, cultural, and economic change."
Initially famed for his studies of literature and aesthetics, Karatani went on to produce strikingly original work in political economy and the history of philosophy—combining literary, philosophical, political, and economic concerns in a heterodox exploration of the connections of language and number to money and aesthetics, for example, and to the simultaneously development of imperialist, capitalist, and philosophical systems. In 2003, Karatani published Transcritique: On Kant and Marx, which gained widespread recognition for his transcritical readings of both thinkers in a re-telling of Immanuel Kant and Karl Marx. His account of Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy, published in 2017, was an influential decentering of Athens as the sole source of both philosophy and democracy, with an emphasis on Ionian thought and on the implications of a different form of society. He is a prolific author of works including the recently published Powers and Modes of Exchange (2022), a sequel to The Structure of World History: From Modes of Production to Modes of Exchange, as well as Marx, Towards the Center of its Possibilities, Nation and Aesthetics Kant and Freud, History and Repetition, Architecture as Metaphor; Language, Number, Money, and Origins of Modern Japanese Literature.
Not surprisingly, Karatani's work became influential across Asia before it was well-known in the West—shaping ways in which Asian scholars took up the challenge of analyzing their national cultures critically, whilst developing responses to capitalism, the nation state, and international relations. A local or regional response which, in time, would prove universally applicable.
Karatani's academic studies all complement deep political engagements and his prior experience working as a journal editor supporting and being informed by a wider intellectual movement of creative, critical scholarship. Perhaps most importantly, he was a key founder of the New Associationist Movement to articulate alternatives to both the neoliberal notion of the inevitability of capitalism and the conventional Left and Right notions that only statism and nationalism could oppose it. In The Structure of World History: From Modes of Production to Modes of Exchange, Karatani both engaged Marxist theory and broke with its orthodoxy, rethinking the historically practiced and possible modes of exchange and arguing for the potential of a global organization of reciprocity rather than either exploitation or plunder.
Kojin Karatani was born in 1941 in Amagasaki, Japan, a city located between Osaka and Kobe. He was educated at Tokyo University, where he received both a B.A. in economics and an M.A. in English literature. While teaching at Hosei University in Tokyo in 1969, Karatani worked actively as a literary critic, and was awarded the Gunzo Literary Prize for his essay on Natsume Soseki. He later taught Japanese literature as a visiting professor at Yale University where he began working formalism. From 1990-2004, he taught regularly at Columbia University as a visiting professor for comparative literature, and he was also a professor at Kinki University and University of California Los Angeles.
"Karatani's reading of Marx flips the idea that the economic mode of production is the 'substructure' that determines all else and postulates instead that it is the ever-shifting 'mode of exchange' among capital, the state and nation which together shapes a society. Not an arm-chair philosopher, Kojin Karatani has actively promoted a modern form of the kind of reciprocity he saw in ancient Ionian culture, which he calls 'associationism,'" said Berggruen Institute Chairman Nicolas Berggruen. "In practical terms in Japan, this has meant a call for the activation of civil society, such as through citizens' assemblies, which would exercise democracy from the bottom up and outside of elected government. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident, Karatani famously called for 'a society where people can demonstrate' that would expand the space of civil society and constrain the power of the state, bureaucratic, and corporate establishment. I am pleased that the Prize Jury has chosen such an original mind—someone whose contributions, straddling both East and West, have pioneered new philosophical concepts and generative political thinking."
Kojin Karatani was selected from hundreds of nominees, including some of the world's most renowned thinkers in the fields of philosophy, social science, economics, human rights and global justice, theoretical physics, and beyond. As the seventh winner, he joins a prestigious group of Berggruen Prize laureates, including Peter Singer (2021), Paul Farmer (2020), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2019), Martha Nussbaum (2018), Onora O'Neill (2017), and Charles Taylor (2016).
Karatani will receive the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture in Spring 2023 in a celebration to be held in Tokyo, Japan. At the event, Kojin Karatani will be interviewed on stage by BBC World Service for a special radio programme exploring his work and ideas to be broadcast globally.
Established by philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen in 2016, the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture was first awarded to Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor for his impact on the humanities, social sciences, and public affairs in deepening understanding among different intellectual traditions and civilization. Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve was the 2017 Berggruen Prize laureate for her work as a citizen philosopher who has elevated the quality of public life and improved the very vocabulary of public discourse. In 2018, public and moral philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum received the award for her framework for thinking about human capabilities, and exploring vulnerability, fear, and anger in moral and political life. In 2019, Former Associate Justice Ginsburg was recognized for her life's work in pioneering gender equality and strengthening the rule of law. During a year marked by the global pandemic, 2020, the Prize was awarded to Paul Farmer for his work advancing global public health equity. In 2021, utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer received the Prize for his ethical framework for animal rights, effective altruism, and the global eradication of poverty.
This year's Berggruen Prize Jury, headed by Antonio Damasio, is an international group of authors and thinkers including Kwame Anthony Appiah, Yuk Hui, Elif Shafak, David Chalmers, Siri Hustvedt, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, and Wang Hui. The winner of the 2022 Berggruen Prize emerged from a list of finalists from diverse fields of research. The Berggruen Institute administers the Prize and welcomes nominations of thinkers whose ideas have both intellectual depth and long-term social and practical value across nations and cultures.
The Berggruen Institute's mission is to develop foundational ideas and shape political, economic, and social institutions for the 21st century. Providing critical analysis using an outwardly expansive and purposeful network, we bring together some of the best minds and most authoritative voices from across cultural and political boundaries to explore fundamental questions of our time. Our objective is enduring impact on the progress and direction of societies around the world. To date, projects inaugurated at the Berggruen Institute have helped develop a youth jobs plan for Europe, fostered a more open and constructive dialogue between Chinese leadership and the West, strengthened the ballot initiative process in California, and launched Noema, a new publication that brings thought leaders from around the world together to share ideas. In addition, the Berggruen Prize, a $1 million award, is conferred annually by an independent jury to a thinker whose ideas are shaping human self-understanding to advance humankind.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rachel Bauch, Berggruen Institute
O: (424)-229-9907; M: (323) 841-4139
rachel@berggruen.org
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SOURCE Berggruen Institute
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2022-12-08T13:11:23+00:00
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kswo.com
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https://www.kswo.com/prnewswire/2022/12/08/annual-berggruen-prize-philosophy-amp-culture-awarded-japanese-philosopher-kojin-karatani/
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MOSCOW (AP) — Jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner on Thursday pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling during her trial in Moscow but said she had no intention of committing a crime, Russian news agencies reported.
The reports quoted Griner as saying through an interpreter at the court hearing that she had acted unintentionally because she was packing in haste.
Griner was detained in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after vape canisters with cannabis oil allegedly were found in her luggage. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of large-scale transportation of drugs.
The trial of the Phoenix Mercury star and two-time Olympic gold medalist began last week amid a growing chorus of calls for Washington to do more to secure her freedom nearly five months after her arrest.
Before Thursday’s hearing, Russian police escorted Griner, handcuffed and clad in a bright red T-shirt and sports trousers, into the courtroom past a crowd of journalists.
The athlete was detained in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after vape canisters with cannabis oil allegedly were found in her luggage. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of large-scale transportation of drugs.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned Thursday that “attempts by the American side to make noise in public … don’t help the practical settlement of issues.”
The White House said President Joe Biden called Griner’s wife on Wednesday to assure her that he’s doing all he can to obtain the athlete’s release, as soon as possible. They spoke after Biden read a letter from Griner in which she said she feared she’d never return home.
Washington hasn’t made public its strategy in the case and the United States may have little leverage with Moscow because of strong animosity due to Russia’s military actions in Ukraine. The State Department has designated Griner as wrongfully detained, moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s chief hostage negotiator.
Asked about the possibility of Griner being swapped for a Russian jailed in the U.S., Ryabkov, the senior Russian diplomat, noted that until her trial is over “there are no formal or procedural reasons to talk about any further steps.”
He warned that U.S. criticism, including a description of Griner as wrongfully detained and dismissive comments about the Russian judicial system, “makes it difficult to engage in detailed discussion of any possible exchanges.”
“The persistence with which the U.S. administration … describes those who were handed prison sentences for serious criminal articles and those who are awaiting the end of investigation and court verdicts as ‘wrongfully detained’ reflects Washington’s refusal to have a sober view of the outside world,” Ryabkov snapped.
The trial of the Phoenix Mercury star and two-time Olympic gold medalist was adjourned after its start last week because two scheduled witnesses did not appear. Such delays are routine in Russian courts and her detention has been authorized through Dec. 20, suggesting the proceedings could last months.
Although Griner’s supporters initially kept a low profile, calls for the United States to take action spiked after the trial’s first day.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, one of America’s most prominent Black activists, this week called for Biden to arrange a prayer meeting with Griner, saying, “Four months is too long for this to have gone on, and I hope the President acts on her pleas to come home.”
An organization called Win With Black Women sent Biden a letter saying Secretary of State Antony Blinken “has called Cherelle Griner, Brittney’s wife, assuring her and stating publicly that Brittney’s safe return was a matter of personal priority; however, we are concerned that the rhetoric does not appear to align with the actions taken to date. We urge you to make a deal to get Brittney back home swiftly.”
Russian news media have repeatedly speculated that Griner could be swapped for Russian arms trader Viktor Bout, nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. on conviction of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization.
Russia has agitated for Bout’s release for years. But the wide discrepancy between Griner’s alleged offense and Bout’s global dealings in deadly weapons could make such a swap unpalatable to Washington.
Others have suggested that she could be traded along with Paul Whelan, a former Marine and security director serving a 16-year sentence in Russia on an espionage conviction that the U.S. has repeatedly described as a setup.
Russia has shown no signs of backing off.
“This is a serious offense, confirmed by indisputable evidence … Attempts to present the case as if the American was detained illegally do not hold up,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev said Wednesday.
“The law has been violated, and arguments about the innocent nature of Griner’s addiction, which, by the way, is punishable in some U.S. states, are inappropriate in this case,” he said.
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2022-07-07T14:50:39+00:00
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pix11.com
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https://pix11.com/news/russian-media-griner-pleads-guilty-in-russia-drugs-trial/
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NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Tuya Inc. (NYSE: TUYA) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.
This lawsuit is on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased Tuya American Depositary Shares in or traceable to the Company's March 2021 initial public offering.
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: October 11, 2022
No obligation or cost to you.
Learn more about your recoverable losses in TUYA:
https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/tuya-class-action-submission-form?id=31048&from=4
CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Tuya Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (a) a material portion of Tuya's China-based customers were engaged in the widespread and systematic manipulation of reviews and product offerings in violation of Amazon.com's terms of use; (b) prior to the initial public offering, a consumer investigation and data breach had exposed an illicit fake review scheme being perpetrated by many of Tuya's clients, among others, which included, inter alia, the exposure of 13 million records of organized fake review scams linked to over 200,000 Amazon account profiles; (c) as a result of (a) and (b) above, there was a substantial risk that a material portion of Tuya's significant customers would be barred from using Amazon.com's platform, negatively impacting Tuya's business, revenue, earnings, and prospects; and (d) as a result of (a)-(c) above, the registration statement's representations regarding Tuya's historical financial and operational metrics and purported market opportunities and expected growth did not accurately reflect the actual business, operations, financial results, and trajectory of the Company at the time of the initial public offering, and such statements were materially false and misleading and lacked a reasonable factual basis.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Tuya you have until October 11, 2022 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.
NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Tuya securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the TUYA lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/tuya-class-action-submission-form?id=31048&from=4.
ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM
J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
J. Klein, Esq.
Empire State Building
350 Fifth Avenue
59th Floor
New York, NY 10118
jk@kleinstocklaw.com
Telephone: (212) 616-4899
www.kleinstocklaw.com
View original content:
SOURCE The Klein Law Firm
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2022-08-23T10:58:44+00:00
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kmvt.com
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https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2022/08/23/tuya-alert-klein-law-firm-announces-lead-plaintiff-deadline-october-11-2022-class-action-filed-behalf-tuya-inc-shareholders/
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AKRON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man who had snow stuffed into his mouth by a police officer during an arrest in Akron has filed an excessive force lawsuit against the city and several officers, claiming his civil rights were violated.
Charles Hicks II, 28, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit filed this week in federal court. It also alleges malicious prosecution and claims the city failed to properly train officers or conduct a thorough investigation into the Feb. 7, 2021, arrest.
A police spokesperson referred questions to the city's law department. Stephanie Marsh, a city spokesperson, declined comment, noting the city generally does not comment on pending litigation.
Police had gone to an Akron home after Hicks reportedly threatened his girlfriend. Police body-camera footage showed Hicks struggling with officers as they took him to the ground and tried to handcuff him and one officer — John Turnure, who is among those named in the suit — putting snow in Hicks’ face three times as he laid on the ground. Hicks then told officers he could not breathe before they stood him up.
Hicks, who is Black, was charged with domestic violence and resisting arrest. He eventually pleaded no contest to the resisting arrest charge in Akron Municipal Court and city prosecutors dismissed the domestic violence charge and two other unrelated minor charges.
Turnure, who is white, was placed on administrative leave while the police department conducted an internal affairs investigation. He resigned in March 2021, before the probe was completed, and the department took no disciplinary action against him and no criminal charges were filed.
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2023-01-05T16:05:37+00:00
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expressnews.com
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https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Man-who-had-snow-stuffed-in-mouth-during-arrest-17696557.php
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WACO, TX (FOX 44) — No. 8 McLennan Community College women’s basketball coasted to a 74-56 over Weatherford College.
MCC led from start to finish as they improve to 13-1 on the year.
The Highlassies stay home to take on Cisco College on Wednesday, January 18th at 5:00 p.m.
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2023-01-15T05:18:41+00:00
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fox44news.com
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https://www.fox44news.com/sports/mcc/no-8-highlassies-corral-coyotes-in-runaway-win/
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How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region.
100 years ago
Dec. 17, 1922: Genuine winter weather is now the order. The minimum temperature yesterday was five degrees above zero. A couple of days ago, the mercury dropped as low as three degrees above zero, which was the coldest recorded this winter.
75 years ago
Dec. 17, 1947: A total of 130 children from 8 to 12 years old from the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Children's School will be the guests of the Illinois Wesleyan Student Union in the Memorial center. Wesleyan students have been busily preparing for the party all week by decorating the large tree in the student lounge, searching for hidden campus talent for a musical program and purchasing gifts to be presented by Santa Claus, known to Wesleyan as Jack Musselman of Lexington.
50 years ago
Dec. 17, 1972: Bloomington's finest — the 63 employees of the police department — are currently qualifying on the pistol range at the Army National Guard Armory, 1616 S. Main. The qualification rounds are held four times a year and everyone from the newest rookie to Police Chief Harold J. Bosshardt put in a command appearance. The target shooting — labeled "the combat shoot" — utilizes silhouette targets instead of the traditional bullseyes. Officers fire from a variety of positions at 21, 35 and 50 feet.
25 years ago
Dec. 17, 1997: Crews have been busy this week installing new equipment in the library for Atlanta's internet service, which should be up and running by the weekend. The provider, Abe-Link, headquartered in Lincoln, will supply a complete software package, free technical support and training classes if desired. Cost of the service will be $30 per month and provides unlimited access to the World Wide Web, email, Internet Relay Chat, file transfer protocol, newsgroups and telnet.
100 years ago: See vintage Pantagraph ads from 1922
Gerthart's
Union Gas and Electric Co.
Hoover
Dr. J.A. Moore Dentists
Moberly & Klenner
W.P. Garretson
W.H. Roland
Pease's Candy
Thor 32 Electric Washing Machine
The Kaiser's Story of the War
Ike Livingston & Sons
Gossard Corsets
Cat'n Fiddle
'Stolen Moments'
Case Model X
The Johnson Transfer & Fuel Co.
The Pantagraph want ads
Franklin Motor Car Co.
'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'
Calumet Baking Powder
Mayer Livingston & Co. Newsmarket
'The Emperor Jones'
'California Fig Syrup'
Compiled by Pantagraph staff
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2022-12-17T12:42:17+00:00
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pantagraph.com
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https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/50-years-ago-bloomington-police-take-to-shooting-range/article_0c594bd6-7c08-11ed-8d0c-dbf98f210e67.html
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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- California First Leasing Corporation (the "Company" or "CalFirst Leasing", OTCQX: CFNB) today announced the commencement of a tender offer, approved by its Board of Directors, to repurchase up to 375,000 shares of its common stock, or approximately 3.6% of its outstanding shares. CalFirst Leasing shareholders will be given the opportunity to tender part or all of their shares to the Company at a price of $16.00 per share. On November 14, 2022, the last trading day before the offer commenced, the reported last sale price of the common stock was $16.26 per share. The tender offer commenced today and is expected to expire, unless extended, at 5:00 p.m, New York City time, on December 15, 2022.
Patrick Paddon, Chief Executive Officer, noted, "The tender offer represents a mechanism for shareholders (particularly those who, because of the size of their position, might not be able to sell their shares within the limited trading volume for our common stock) to tender all or a portion of their shares and receive a return of some or all of their investment if they so elect. The tender offer also provides shareholders an efficient way to sell their shares without incurring broker's fees or commissions associated with open market sales. Accordingly, a repurchase of shares of common stock represents a prudent use of our available cash and an effective means to provide value to shareholders."
Tenders of the Company's common stock must be made prior to the expiration of the tender offer and may be withdrawn at any time prior to the expiration of the tender offer. All shares accepted in the tender offer will be purchased at the same price of $16.00 per share. If the total number of shares tendered exceeds the number of shares the Company has offered to repurchase, the Company will repurchase shares from shareholders on a pro rata basis (subject to priority for odd lot holders). Subject to certain limitations and legal requirements, in the event that more than 375,000 shares are tendered pursuant to the offer, the Company reserves the right to purchase up to an additional 2% of our outstanding common stock, or additional 205,683 shares, without extending the offer.
Neither CalFirst Leasing, its Board of Directors, the depositary or the information agent is making any recommendation to shareholders as to whether to tender or refrain from tendering their shares. The information agent for the tender offer is Georgeson LLC and the depositary is Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of CalFirst Lease common stock. The solicitation of offers to buy shares of CalFirst Lease common stock will only be made pursuant to the offer to purchase dated November 15, 2022 (as may be amended or supplemented), the related letter of transmittal, and other related documents that CalFirst Lease is sending to its shareholders. The tender offer materials contain important information that should be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the tender offer. Those materials will be distributed by CalFirst Lease to its shareholders at no expense to them. In addition, all of the materials (and other tender offer documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") will be available at no charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and from the information agent.
California First Leasing Corporation registered as an internally managed non-diversified closed-end investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, in February 2022. The Company continues its lease business while using equity investments to maximize current income and generate capital appreciation.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, such as references to commencement, expiration and completion of the tender offer and the payment for shares related thereto. These statements, including their underlying assumptions, are subject to risk and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Results may differ due to various factors, such as the possibility that shareholders may not tender their shares in the tender offer, or the possibility that other conditions to completion of the tender offer are not satisfied. For further details of these risks, you should read our filings with the SEC, including our Schedule TO and the documents referred to therein.
The statements presented in this press release speak only as of the date of the release. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements based on events or circumstances after the date hereof.
View original content:
SOURCE California First Leasing Corporation
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2022-11-16T07:21:28+00:00
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kwch.com
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https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2022/11/16/california-first-leasing-corporation-commences-tender-offer-up-375000-shares/
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CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A pilot in South Africa made a hasty emergency landing after discovering a highly venomous cobra hiding under his seat.
Rudolf Erasmus had four passengers on board the light aircraft during Monday’s flight when he felt “something cold” slide across his lower back. He glanced down to see the head of a fairly large Cape Cobra “receding back under the seat,” he said.
“It was as if my brain didn’t know what was going on,” he told The Associated Press.
After taking a moment to compose himself, he informed his passengers of the slippery stowaway.
“There was a moment of stunned silence,” he said. Everyone stayed cool, especially the pilot.
Erasmus called air traffic control for permission to make an emergency landing in the town of Welkom in central South Africa. He still had to fly for another 10 to 15 minutes and land the plane with the snake by his feet.
“I kept looking down to see where it was. It was happy under the seat,” Erasmus said. “I don’t have a big fear of snakes, but I normally don’t go near them.”
Brian Emmenis, who works at Welkom radio station Gold FM and is also an aviation expert, received a phone call to see if he could help. He called the fire and rescue department, which sent emergency responders and a snake handler to meet the plane at the airport. Emmenis was first at the scene and saw everyone disembark, “visibly shaken,” Emmenis said, but all safe thanks to Erasmus.
“He stayed calm and landed that aircraft with a deadly venomous Cape Cobra curled up underneath his seat,” Emmenis said.
Cape Cobras are one of Africa’s most dangerous cobra species because of the potency of their venom.
The drama wasn’t over for the poor pilot.
Welkom snake handler Johan de Klerk and a team of aviation engineers searched the plane for the best part of two days but still hadn’t found the cobra by Wednesday and were uncertain if it had sneaked out unnoticed.
The engineering company Erasmus works for wanted its plane back in the city of Mbombela in northern South Africa. So, he had to fly it back home, a 90-minute voyage with the possibility that the cobra was still onboard.
Unsurprisingly, his passengers decided to look for another way to get home.
This time, Erasmus took some precautions: He wore a thick winter jacket, he said, wrapped a blanket around his seat, and had a fire extinguisher, a can of insect repellent and a golf club within arm’s reach in the cockpit.
“I would say I was on high alert,” Erasmus said.
The cobra didn’t reappear on that flight and the plane has now been completely stripped, but still no sign of the snake, Erasmus said.
The theory is it found its way on board before Erasmus and his passengers took off at the start of their trip from the town of Worcester in the Western Cape province, where Cape Cobras are usually found in South Africa. It might have got out in Welkom or might still be hiding somewhere deep in the plane.
“I hope it finds somewhere to go,” Erasmus said. “Just not my aircraft.”
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2023-04-06T16:37:01+00:00
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nwahomepage.com
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https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/snnaaake-s-african-pilot-finds-deadly-cobra-under-his-seat-while-inflight/
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In April of last year Green Car Reports went to Vietnam for an early preview of the Vinfast VF 8 prototype. After a quick spin on a test track, it was obvious the mid-size electric SUV needed some serious time in the oven before it might be fully ready for U.S. consumers.
After just over 365 days of additional baking, the knife still isn’t coming out clean.
The first thing I notice when I open the door of the VF 8 is the seating material. It’s a synthetic leather that does a nice job visually of mimicking the real thing, but already the driver’s seat shows creasing and general wear and tear. The odometer is reading less than 1,000 miles and I can’t imagine what these seats will look like at 20,000 miles.
The next thing that draws my attention is the plastic lever to raise and lower my seat. I notice it because it has broken off in my hand.
It goes from bad to worse, as I realize that all the driver-assist safety features on my tester—blind-spot monitors, automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, active lane control—are inoperable and require servicing.
“And these are the production cars,” I think out loud. “The ones that will be delivered to customers?”
Vinfast was founded in 2017 as a traditional ICE automaker, but it pivoted to EVs in 2021. Amazingly, the company had a drivable prototype by 2022. In a world where legacy automakers take five or more years to introduce a new model, that is an insanely quick timeline.
That timeline will be its downfall.
Vinfast VF 8 range, efficiency, and charging
Let’s get some specs out of the way, shall we? The City Edition, which is the first version due to be delivered in significant numbers on U.S. shores, looks just like the standard VF 8—more on that in a minute—and is offered in Eco and Plus trims. The difference is all in the battery and charging abilities. The standard car’s 87.7-kwh (usable) battery is replaced by the City Edition’s slightly smaller 82-kwh pack.
Both trims are all-wheel drive, but the Eco pushes out 348 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque and has 207 miles of EPA range. The Plus trim weighs 132 pounds more, and it goes bigger on power, at 402 hp and 457 lb-ft of twist, clocking in with an EPA range of 191 miles.
The liquid-cooled battery pack contains 1,175 lithium-ion nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA) cylindrical cells from supplier Samsung SDI. It can accept a peak DC fast-charging power of right around 160 kw, according to Vinfast, enough to go from 10-70% state of charge in 24 minutes or so. If you’re charging at home with a 48-amp Vinfast home charger, it will go the full 11 kw or so for what would add up to a full charge in less than eight hours.
VF 8 performance
Thanks to a brisk sport mode, the Plus scoots from zero to 62 miles per hour in 5.5 seconds. The acceleration doesn’t necessarily make my tummy do flip-flops, but it’s satisfying enough. Expect the Eco trim to be a second slower.
Vinfast partnered with Pininfarina to design the VF 8, but don’t expect classic Italian styling. Sure, the rear looks great with its segmented tail lights and swooping light bar that extends the width of the rear hatch, but the front is a whole different story. The headlamps and daytime running lights look like they are from two different vehicles and just plunked on top of each other. They are definitely giving me Nissan Juke vibes.
Good design may be subjective but good materials are not. There are plenty of hard, chintzy plastics inside the VF 8, especially on the door handles, and the gloss black surrounding the cupholders is already showing scratches. However, the door sills are nicely padded, as is the dash. The door pockets are pretty deep and there is a closable storage cubby to the left of the steering wheel. Unfortunately, the seats are as overstuffed as I am on all-you-can-eat cookie day at Mrs. Fields. They are hard and unyielding, refusing to conform to my own contours. A road trip in this would be a chore.
Now that Vinfast has put me in a car with a fully-functioning suite of driver-assist features, I am off. The gear selector is laid out as a column of push-buttons. It’s an odd choice as many EVs put it on the column stalk, but whatever. You do you, Vinfast. There is no gauge cluster, just the center screen and a head-up display. Maxed out on brightness I can see the information on the display through my polarized sunglasses, but just barely.
Vinfast VF 8 driving impressions
Driving the thing isn’t the worst experience I’ve ever had behind the wheel of a car—that will always be reserved for the Fiat 500L—but I’ve definitely had better. The suspension is a bit soft, there is plenty of body roll through the turns and it’s got more squeaks and whistles than a fanboy at a Taylor Swift concert. The brake pedal has at least a half-inch of play at the top and I feel like I don’t know how much pressure I should apply to stop the car appropriately. I’ve never described a braking feel as numb before, but here we are. Over broken pavement the cabin noise, vibration, and harshness hit highs—and a frequency that hurts my admittedly sensitive ears.
The steering, however, passes muster with me. It’s on the heavy side, which I like. There isn’t much feedback but this isn’t supposed to be a sports car and the quick ratio makes up for it.
There is no one-pedal driving here, but there are two levels of brake regen. The strongest setting will slow the car down appreciably, leaving it to creep at 5 mph or so until the brake pedal is applied.
After talking to other journalists, I gain the impression that my first car wasn’t the outlier, and it seems quality control is all over the map. One had a car that pulled deftly to the right. Someone else’s car rolled backwards on a hill. Others talked about finicky turn signals and some complained about climate control systems that were Canada cold or Sahara hot, despite settings. Our tester didn’t have its navigation enabled nor would it load the karaoke feature I was promised in the press release.
And the thing loves to ding. It will ding for any driving infraction, perceived or otherwise. I turn off the active lane control and speed warning, but it still gives an audible for every traffic sign we pass. Some alerts also push a visual cue on the center screen, but they come and go so fast I can’t read them.
I’m almost relieved when this car also throws a fault code, also on all of its active-safety tech.
Yep, I tried two Vinfast V 8 City Edition cars and both bricked their driver-assist systems. Mind you, the cars were both still drivable, but with a big, fat Service Required icon.
Vinfast VF 8 interior and cargo space
The interface is one of the high points of the experience, with an infotainment system that is well-organized and super-easy to use. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are here, and the screen responds quickly with no noticeable lag. Yes, I have to be very precise in tapping those icons, but at least I’m not waiting around for the next screen to appear.
There is plenty of room for folks in the rear seat, even those well over 6 feet tall. The rear seats also recline a bit, taking some pressure off passengers’ rear ends as they tolerate the hard-packed surface.
There is a bit of a problem when it comes to overall utility, however. The VF 8 has 13.2 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats, expanding to 48.4 cubes when those seats are folded down. There is room in the frunk for a backpack and some smaller items. The similarly-sized Ford Mustang Mach-E makes much better use of interior space at right around 30 and 60 cubic feet respectively, with a frunk that’s nearly twice as big. The Kia EV6 does better as well with 24 cubic feet of space, expanding to 50 cubes.
Vinfast offers an excellent warranty of ten years or 125,000 miles for the VF 8 and a 10-year/unlimited mileage warranty for the battery. There is also 24/7 roadside assistance. The company has walked back on its previous promises to lease the battery to consumers, but it says that might still be an option in the future should consumers want it.
The 2023 Vinfast VF 8 City Edition starts at $50,200 including $1,200 for destination. However, it is currently only available as a lease and only in California, starting at $414 per month. That’s a pretty low lease price for sure, but this car is not ready to be delivered to consumers.
During my drive I felt like I was driving a pre-production model. The ride quality needs tuning, some of the electronics systems are a mess, and the materials could use a bit of an upgrade. Why Vinfast is intent on rushing this car to market is beyond me. If it would just slow down a bit, take the time to fix the problems we all experienced, it might actually have a decent car. As it stands now, the VF 8 City Edition will do nothing except earn Vinfast a bad reputation, one that might take decades to shake.
—Emme Hall
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2023-05-31T11:37:15+00:00
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cbs4indy.com
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https://cbs4indy.com/automotive/internet-brands/review-dont-buy-the-2023-vinfast-vf-8-city-edition/
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Rep. Mary Peltola's election to the U.S. House of Representatives made history in several ways.
With her recent swearing-in, it became official for the first time in more than 230 years: A Native American, a Native Alaskan and a Native Hawaiian are all members of the House — fully representing the United States' Indigenous people for the first time, according to Rep. Kaiali'i Kahele of Hawaii. Now, there are six Indigenous Americans who are representatives in the House.
Kahele shared this history-making moment on social media this week with a photograph of him, Peltola, and Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas (a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation).
Peltola, the first Native Alaskan and woman elected to the House for Alaska, is taking over for Rep. Don Young, who died in March.
"It's a historic moment," Lani Teves, an associate professor at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa said.
Indigenous peoples in the United States have been disenfranchised on many levels throughout history, Teves told NPR.
"Having different Indigenous communities represented shows the growing power of Native people across the United States and across the world," she said.
Bringing more Indigenous representation to Congress has been slow-going over the years. Just four years ago, Davids and now-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland became the first two Native American women elected to Congress. Kahele is just the second Native Hawaiian to represent his home state.
Down the road, this representation can have a big impact on the political power of Indigenous communities in the U.S., Teves said.
"People need representation and young people need to see people that look like themselves, that come from their communities," she said.
Beyond that, she noted, having members who come from Indigenous communities can mean issues important to those communities — like climate change and violence against Native women — get more play in Congress.
"I think it represents just a growing movement of Indigenous resurgence and awareness of injustices and a desire to, not just make right on the past, but have our voices be heard," she said.
However, this level of representation may be short-lived. Peltola still needs to win re-election in November, and Kahele will wrap up his final term in Congress in 2023.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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2022-09-20T15:22:48+00:00
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kcbx.org
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https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/2022-09-20/for-the-first-time-in-230-years-congress-has-full-u-s-indigenous-representation
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MIAMI, Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, RECUR, the premier web3 platform known for helping major enterprises launch innovative, multi-chain digital collectible experiences, is excited to introduce RECUR Builder, a new end-to-end, low-code, and enterprise-grade Software as a Service (SaaS) platform.
RECUR Builder enables enterprises to build, launch, and operate web3 experiences at scale, managed entirely through a unified SaaS dashboard.
This new platform unlocks the vast potential of web3 for enterprises. Historically, businesses have struggled with navigating the technical and operational complexities of web3. As a result, most have been unable to harness web3's unique promise - creating next generation commerce experiences, increasing user retention, elevating loyalty programs with new levels of personalization, and more.
RECUR Builder was created to remove the barriers of bringing a company into the web3 space. Notably, RECUR has already provided the web3 infrastructure for iconic brands like Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, Hello Kitty, Care Bears™, Star Trek™, Top Gun: Maverick, emoji™, and more. This SaaS platform is now empowering companies of all sizes to seamlessly integrate web3 into their existing products, marketing stack, video games, and more. Enterprises now have access to the entire web3 stack in one end-to-end software tool.
"RECUR Builder bridges the gap between web2 and web3. With this SaaS tool, marketers and product leaders can enter web3 and focus on what they do best. Now, a marketer focused on loyalty doesn't have to be a web3 expert too. Instead, they can leverage RECUR Builder to integrate web3 seamlessly and enhance their existing loyalty program." said Zach Bruch, RECUR CEO, "For the first time, anyone from marketers running loyalty programs to product managers laying out their roadmaps can capture all the value web3 has to offer with one frictionless SaaS platform."
RECUR Builder is currently in closed beta with its launch cohort of enterprise customers actively developing on the platform. Visit recur.com to learn more.
About RECUR
RECUR is the premier web3 software platform offering all of the tools a business needs to integrate web3. Building the new web3 standard, RECUR empowers customers with the widest range of web3 distribution and utility. RECUR offers a global, flexible, and intuitive institutional-grade software suite that enables everything needed to enter web3 securely, scalably, and seamlessly. RECUR allows developers, marketers, and more to harness the power of web3 from a unified dashboard.
With the newly unveiled RECUR Builder, customers are free to spend more time focusing on their core competencies: delivering novel gameplay, engaging customers with immersive storytelling, and delivering captivating user experiences—all from one flexible, enterprise-grade platform.
RECUR makes web3 simple.
Press Contacts
press@recurforever.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE RECUR
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2023-01-05T16:51:56+00:00
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uppermichiganssource.com
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https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/prnewswire/2023/01/05/recur-introduces-recur-builder-an-all-in-one-software-platform-helping-enterprises-manage-all-aspects-web3-scale/
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URBANA — A Danville man who told police he was carrying out a prank when he pulled on a woman’s pants last week on the University of Illinois campus has been charged with aggravated battery.
Kasey Hollis, 29, was arrested Friday in Urbana in connection with an Aug. 7 incident.
A University of Illinois police report said about 10:30 p.m. that Sunday, a UI student was walking in the 100 block of South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, when she was approached from behind by a man who tried to pull her pants down around her knees, causing her to fall.
He then ran away.
Using security cameras and an automated license-plate reader, police were led to Hollis. On Friday, an automated license-plate reader got an alert that the vehicle used in the Aug. 7 incident was on North Cunningham Avenue. Police stopped it and found Hollis as a passenger.
He admitted his involvement but said that someone “bet him to do it.”
Hollis was arraigned Monday on charges of aggravated battery in a public place, a crime that carries potential penalties ranging from probation to two to five years in prison.
Court records show he has previous convictions for battery, domestic battery, aggravated battery, theft and criminal damage to property.
Hollis posted bond Friday to be released following his arraignment and was told to return to court Sept. 21.
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2022-08-16T20:51:37+00:00
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news-gazette.com
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https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/courts-police-fire/danville-man-facing-charges-for-allegedly-trying-to-pull-down-ui-students-pants/article_5cbdfcec-accd-5ab1-97d9-c3ee8529daad.html
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DOLPHINS (8-4) at CHARGERS (6-6)
Kickoff: 8:25 p.m., Sunday, SoFi Stadium
TV: NBC (Chs. 6 in Miami-Dade, Broward; 5 in Palm Beach); RADIO: Westwood One, WQAM (560 AM), KISS (99.9 FM), WQBA (1140 AM, Spanish)
Coaches: The Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel is 8-4 in his first season as a head coach; Brandon Staley is 15-14 in his second head coaching season overall and with the Chargers.
Series: The Dolphins lead the all-time series with the Chargers, 19-16, including playoffs, and have won 12 of the last 16 meetings.
Weather: 53 degrees, 65 percent humidity, 7 mph winds, 9 percent chance of precipitation.
Line: The Dolphins are 3 1/2-point favorites; the over/under is 53 1/2.
Injuries: Dolphins — Doubtful: WR River Cracraft (calf); Questionable: OT Terron Armstead (pectoral/toe), QB Teddy Bridgewater (knee), TE Durham Smythe (quadriceps/knee), DT Justin Zimmer (back); Reserve/PUP list: CB Byron Jones (lower leg); Injured reserve: OL Austin Jackson (ankle), DE Emmanuel Ogbah (triceps), S Brandon Jones (knee), OL Liam Eichenberg (knee), CB Nik Needham (Achilles), DE Trey Flowers (foot), TE Cethan Carter (concussion), CB Trill Williams (knee), TE Adam Shaheen (knee), FB John Lovett; Chargers — Doubtful: S Derwin James Jr. (quadriceps), CB Bryce Callahan (groin), DL Sebastian Joseph-Day (knee), OT Trey Pipkins III (knee); Questionable: TE Richard Rodgers (knee); Injured reserve: OLB Joey Bosa (groin), CB J.C. Jackson (knee), OT Rashawn Slater (biceps) among 13 players on IR.
Noteworthy: The Dolphins look to rebound after having their five-game winning streak snapped in a 33-17 loss at the San Francisco 49ers. They spent the week in California with back-to-back road games on the West Coast. …
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa also needs to bounce back after his worst performance since returning from concussion with two interceptions and several other errant passes against the 49ers. The comparison between he and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert will be in full force on prime time after they were taken a pick from one another in the 2020 NFL draft. …
Miami can look to take advantage of a Chargers defense that ranks 30th in scoring, 26th in total defense, 29th in rushing defense, 19th in passing defense, 25th in third-down defense and is likely to be out three more key defenders beyond outside linebacker Joey Bosa and cornerback J.C. Jackson. …
Two of Miami’s edge defenders, Melvin Ingram and Jaelan Phillips, have Southern California connections with Ingram spending nine seasons as a San Diego/L.A. Charger and Phillips growing up in the region and attending UCLA, where the Dolphins practiced during the week. …
While Bosa is on injured reserve, the Chargers have fellow St. Thomas Aquinas alum and cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. and former American Heritage standout running back Sony Michel on the roster. Ex-Dolphins outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy plays for Los Angeles.
()
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2022-12-10T14:59:55+00:00
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denverpost.com
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https://www.denverpost.com/2022/12/10/game-time-fast-facts-odds-injury-report-and-key-info-for-dolphins-at-chargers/
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New Kipu Patient Portal delivers real-time treatment and care information to patients, guardians and guarantors
CORAL GABLES, Fla., July 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kipu Health, the technology partner for mental health and addiction service providers, today announced the launch of Kipu Patient Portal, delivering critical patient access to information that improves the quality of care for behavioral health patients.
Kipu Patient Portal delivers treatment and care information in real time to patients and their authorized contacts, resulting in improved patient outcomes and satisfaction. Through a secure online platform, patients can access and exchange clinical and administrative documentation, view appointments and medications, launch telehealth sessions and more – all in the comfort of their own space.
"The patient portal is a game changer for treatment centers and their patients," said Sally Abu-moustafa, executive vice president of product management at Kipu. "With this level of insight and access to treatment plans, patients and their loved ones can easily view and react to key milestones on their care journey. With real-time information and provider access at their fingertips, the portal engages patients in their care plan which is crucial to positive outcomes."
According to Abu-moustafa, the portal has already generated a lot of demand with nearly 10,000 users registered during the beta-launch phase of the portal's development. She attributes this to the portal's ease of use and intuitive design. It also helps alleviate burdens on clinic staff by reducing the back-and-forth of information sharing through its real-time connection to the Kipu Electronic Medical Record (EMR) platform.
"The patient portal is a vital extension of our care experience so we're thrilled to be able to provide this access and convenience for our patients," said Melva Nido, EMR manager at Monte Nido and Affiliates. "By adding the ability for our patients and their caregivers to see their medical information and view appointments, we're delivering the comfort and support they need for a successful recovery."
Kipu Patient Portal empowers Kipu EMR users to easily and securely share treatment-related information to engage patients, guardians and guarantors by linking directly to the Kipu EMR, one of the most widely used platforms in the behavioral health industry. Serving more than 80,000 users at more than 1,600 facilities globally, Kipu's cloud-based platform manages the entire patient life cycle from the very first call through admission, treatment, follow-up and billing.
"With staffing shortages continuing to affect the entire healthcare industry, solutions like our patient portal have become increasingly important," said Paul Joiner, CEO of Kipu. "By giving patients access to information and facilitating communications and action items through the portal, we're bolstering staff with the support and efficiencies they need to concentrate on delivering the best care possible."
To find out more about Kipu Patient Portal, please visit https://kipuhealth.com/lp/kipu-patient-portal/#.
Kipu is the leading enterprise software provider delivering Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) solutions that serve the behavioral health industry. The KipuEMR is a fully configurable electronic health record and integrated billing platform that is the largest and most widely implemented EMR purpose-built for the addiction treatment industry. Used by more than 80,000 users at more than 1,600 facilities, globally, Kipu's cloud-based platform manages the entire patient life cycle from the very first call through admission, treatment, follow-up and billing. To read the latest news on Kipu, please visit https://www.kipuhealth.com/kipu-news/ and connect with us on: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn.
Contact: Julie Callahan
469-579-8045
jcallahan@piquestrategies.com
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE KipuHealth
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2022-07-13T14:24:58+00:00
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waff.com
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https://www.waff.com/prnewswire/2022/07/13/kipu-health-launches-patient-portal-increasing-care-access-oversight-treatment-centers-patients/
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- Exercising your civic duty just got a little bit sweeter!
Krispy Kreme is offering customers an incentive to head to the polls by giving away a free Original Glazed doughnut to voters on November 8.
Stop by any participating U.S. location on your way to or from the polls to take advantage of the deal. You do not need to show proof that you voted.
“A healthy, vibrant democracy depends on engaged citizens who vote. We’re happy to celebrate voters and our democracy by giving everyone a free Original Glazed doughnut on Election Day,” Dave Skena, Global Chief Brand Officer for Krispy Kreme said in a press release. “So cast your vote and stop by; you deserve our sweet thanks.”
The offer is available in-store or in the drive-thru and is limited to one per guest.
Krispy Kreme has been known to give away doughnuts for free before. Recent giveaways have included free Glazed doughnuts for those that donated blood or received their COVID vaccine. In March, Krispy Kreme gave select customers free green Original Glazed doughnuts.
You may want to think twice about bringing doughnuts to share with your fellow voters, though. In some states, it’s illegal to give out food or water at polling places.
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2022-11-08T02:17:12+00:00
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texomashomepage.com
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https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/how-to-get-a-free-doughnut-at-krispy-kreme-on-election-day/
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State Farm Agent Joe Mitchell led the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce 2023 Awards Luncheon, taking Business of the Year during the event held Thursday afternoon at the Helena Regional Airport.
Mitchell said awards that recognize one's work in a community "brings you back to the start."
"When I was told I was nominated for this, it made me think about when my wife and I decided to move here in 2016," he said. "We didn't know anybody. It was just us, and so, we did it, honey."
Mitchell recognized his team as well calling the award theirs.
"Our strategy has always been to love people and care about people and serve the community. That's what we're trying to do, and this award I think exemplifies that work," he said.
Both Discovery Kidzone Childcare Center and Mosaic Architecture were also nominated for the award.
People are also reading…
The child care business did not come away empty-handed as Discovery Kidzone founder and CEO Rachel Supalla was honored as the George D. Anderson Businessperson of the Year.
Helena Area Habitat for Humanity was presented the Nonprofit of the Year Award.
Habitat Executive Director Jacob Kuntz thanked the chamber for its recognition and took the opportunity to remind those in attendance of the dire housing crisis in which Helena is still mired, noting that nearly half of Lewis and Clark County residents qualify for Habitat services.
Helena Tourism Alliance Executive Director Andrea Opitz was presented the Community Champion Award.
Chamber President Callie Aschim called Opitz' attitude and calm demeanor "guide posts" for the various boards on which they serve.
"Her commitment to finding a united voice for the community and her willingness to go above and beyond for Helena's future," Aschim said.
Opitz said it is "a privilege and honor" to receive the award and continue to work alongside the chamber.
Entrepreneur of the Year went to Ten Mile Creek Brewery co-owners Riley Tubbs, Jordan Keltz and Ethan Kohoutek.
"Thank you to the Helena community that's supported us through the eight years we've been in business," Tubbs said.
The Emerging Professional and Driver of Change awards were presented to Amanda Bartsch and Wes Feist, respectively.
Ronda McMillan is serving as the chairwoman of the chamber's board of directors for 2023 and offered words of encouragement to those in attendance.
"One of the main things we're looking at is our membership," McMillan said. "It's going to be a priority for us and a key initiative."
She said the chamber intends to "take a step back" and review "how we approach membership."
McMillan said the chamber wants to "be more of a customer service catalyst."
"We're going to be reaching out more," she said. "One of the things we're really looking at is bringing more value to being a member of the chamber of commerce."
She said she is inspired by Aschim and her team.
"I've seen the enthusiasm that has taken over, and the changes that took place in 2022, and that's exciting," she said. "I'm looking forward to working alongside Callie and the team to see all of our successes."
The chamber's annual awards were again sponsored by PayneWest Insurance.
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2023-02-10T02:56:41+00:00
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helenair.com
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https://helenair.com/news/local/helena-chamber-honors-local-businesses-during-annual-awards-luncheon/article_be63b2df-4a1a-5ed9-8e48-59b1fbe7e4a1.html
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Industry-renowned insurance executive to lead 15,000 employees
SAN ANTONIO, July 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- USAA today announced that Randy Termeer has been named President, Property and Casualty Insurance. Randy joined USAA in 2017 as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Auto Insurance. Most recently, he led USAA's acquisition of Noblr, launched Small Business Insurance and the SafePilot program.
Randy brings more than 20 years of industry experience. Prior to joining USAA, he served as Chief Operating Officer for Chubb's International Accident and Health Division. He also led product management for personal lines for The Hartford.
"With deep insurance industry expertise and a strong track record of innovating to meet the needs of military families, Randy has demonstrated he's the right person to lead the P&C team into our second century," says Wayne Peacock, president and chief executive officer, USAA. "He knows what it means to serve military families well and his passion for our mission, our members and our employees is unmatched."
"Since the moment I walked out of orientation in 2017, I have seen my USAA teammates step up to serve our members through significant challenges time and time again," says Randy. "Whether it's the devastation of a hurricane or an unprecedented pandemic, this team has shown resilience and commitment to our noble mission. There is no team in the world that is comparable to the USAA team, and I am thrilled to lead this team into our second century of service."
Randy sits on several industry boards and is an active volunteer in the San Antonio community. He's also an Honorary Commander for the 37th Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Air Force Base.
USAA
Founded in 1922 by a group of military officers, USAA is among the leading providers of insurance, banking, and investment and retirement solutions to more than 13 million members of the U.S. military, veterans who have honorably served and their families. Headquartered in San Antonio, USAA has offices in eight U.S. cities and three overseas locations and employs more than 38,000 people worldwide. Each year, the company contributes to national and local nonprofits in support of military families and communities where employees live and work. For more information about USAA, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@USAA), or visit usaa.com.
Contact: USAA Media Relations
External_communications@usaa.com
210-498-0940
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE USAA
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2022-07-28T17:52:43+00:00
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kwtx.com
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https://www.kwtx.com/prnewswire/2022/07/28/usaa-names-randy-termeer-president-property-casualty-insurance/
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ROME — When Italy's new right-wing coalition government was sworn in last month, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowed to continue her country's staunch support and military assistance for Ukraine.
Her stance hasn't changed but as Europe braces for its first winter without Russian gas supplies, and thermostats are turned down with households struggling to pay rising utility rates, there is concern that Italians are getting tired of the war, of sending ever-larger quantities of weapons to Ukraine, and would like Ukraine and Russia to settle their differences at the negotiation table rather than the battlefield.
Ukraine says it intends to keep fighting till it wins back all the territory Russia has seized since 2014.
Italian support remains critical to European and NATO support for Ukraine, and any wavering from Europe's third-largest economy could cause fractures in the consensus on helping Ukraine through this conflict, as the continent heads into a trying and difficult winter.
"Italy is by large, it's the most skeptical country in Europe in supporting Ukraine on a military basis," says Stefano Feltri, editor of the daily newspaper Domani. "We are open to Ukrainian migrants and refugees but the military option is very unpopular." He says that's true across the political spectrum, "from left and right."
Italy has taken in more than 171,000 Ukrainians since the Russian invasion this year, according to United Nations figures.
Polls show fewer than 40% of Italians approve of their country supplying weapons to Ukraine, a lower rate than other European Union countries surveyed.
Many Italian businesses, meanwhile, are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, and closure, due to rising energy costs and interest rates. And inflation is at an eye-popping 11.9%.
Nomisma, a research institute, reports that 62% of Italian households currently live on less than $2,000 a month — and many blame the war in Ukraine for their economic woes.
Italian author and journalist Michele Santoro has been one of the most outspoken critics of military aid to Ukraine. "The poorest and weakest here in Italy are paying for this war, those unable to defend themselves," he said on a popular TV talk show last week. "The issue," he added, "is no longer whether to provide military aid to Ukraine. It's now Europe's No. 1 priority to end this war."
Italians want the war to end
This past weekend in Rome, an estimated 100,000 people marched in the biggest peace rally since the war started. The demonstration was organized by trade unions, numerous Catholic associations and peace groups.
Banners carried the words "peace," "no to war" and "stop sending weapons." Many protesters said sending weapons to Ukraine further fuels the conflict.
Stefania Vaziolo came all the way from Venice to proclaim her opposition to assisting Ukraine.
"Europe is very weak now, and subject to American authority," said Vaziolo, who is convinced the United States has a vested interest in prolonging the war in Ukraine.
Another peace marcher, Pietro Vergano, offers his family's history during World War II as reason for why he is opposed to all wars. Born in Sicily, he says his mother was left homeless when the U.S. bombed Palermo in 1943, and a father who was a soldier in the Italian army before he was deported to Germany by the Nazis.
He also believes the only winners are global oil and gas giants. "They're getting richer and richer and they're destroying European and Italian economies," Vergano says. The sanctions on Russia, he adds, "are very harmful to us, the cost of living is rising, businesses are shutting down because they can't handle energy prices."
The majority of marchers who spoke to NPR acknowledged that Russia started the war, but said it's high time for peace talks. Yet most were vague on exactly how the warring parties can be brought to the negotiating table.
Also among the demonstrators, Laura Boldrini, a member of parliament with the left-of-center Democratic Party, says, "We have to get a cease-fire." She wants "an international conference with all the world leaders to impose peace" and pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin so that he has no choice.
A government under pressure
The government is set to approve Italy's sixth package of military aid for Ukraine. During the campaign, Prime Minister Meloni said that "Italy will never be the weak link of the West."
But some analysts are beginning to wonder.
"I think I have doubts that her pro-Ukrainian stance can be consistently maintained in the future," says Federico Fubini, editorialist at Corriere della Sera newspaper.
He believes Meloni faces opposition from within her own ranks.
"To say it bluntly, she's a populist and she perceives that large parts of the Italian public opinion," he says, "especially among, you know, center-right and rightist voters, are not so much for sanctions and not so much for Ukraine."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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2022-11-10T20:02:36+00:00
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wbfo.org
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https://www.wbfo.org/2022-11-10/italy-has-been-a-strong-supporter-of-ukraine-but-that-is-starting-to-change
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Stanford’s NiJaree Canady outlasted Washington’s Ruby Meylan in a battle of Pac-12 freshman pitchers to push the Cardinal into the national semifinals.
“Coach (Jessica) Allister always talks about slowing the game down, especially in this atmosphere, just trying to slow the game down,” Canady said. “I try to take a lot of deep breaths and just throw each pitch the best I can.”
Meylan gave up four hits, struck out five and walked one. No earned runs were scored in the game.
“It’s an old fashioned pitchers’ duel that we don’t see much of, but it was going to be whoever bent first,” Allister said.
Kylie Chung’s RBI single in the sixth scored Taylor Gindlesperger for the game’s only run. It was unearned because it came after a throwing error with two outs.
“I feel like our at-bats got better throughout the game,” Chung said. “I feel like we all had confidence, if we just kept sticking with it, that something was going to fall.”
Chung, a sophomore left fielder, was only starting for the 15th time this season.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Kylie and just her stick-to-itiveness,” Allister said. “It’s easy to think, I’m never really going to hit, but she continued to prepare, continued to prepare, and to see her get paid off now, it’s fun.”
Washington (44-15) had an opportunity in the sixth after two errors by Stanford put runners on first and third with two outs, but a pop-up to center ended the threat.
It will be Stanford’s program’s third trip to the semifinals and first since 2004. The Cardinal got there by scoring three runs in three games.
Stanford (47-14) will play two-time defending champion Oklahoma (58-1) on Monday. It is a double-elimination bracket and Oklahoma is unbeaten while Stanford has a loss, so the Cardinal will need to win twice on Monday while Oklahoma will need to win just once to advance to the best-of-three championship series.
Oklahoma is on a 50-game win streak and leads the nation in scoring, batting average, earned run average and fielding percentage. The Sooners defeated Stanford 2-0 on Thursday.
Stanford had a chance to score in the third against Washington on Sunday. Gindlesperger singled up the middle with Ellee Eck on second, but Washington centerfielder Brooklyn Carter threw Eck out at home to end the inning.
Washington nearly didn’t make it this far. The Huskies scored seven runs in the seventh to beat McNeese State 7-6 in the decisive regional game, then beat a strong Louisiana-Lafayette squad to qualify for the World Series.
Meylan said Washington fans have a lot to look forward to.
“The future is really, really bright,” she said. “We have some amazing, amazing girls, and I know we have a really good class coming in.”
___
Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: twitter.com/CliffBruntAP
___
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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2023-06-04T22:43:55+00:00
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washingtonpost.com
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/2023/06/04/softball-nijaree-canady-stanford-world-series/d0dbcc2a-0323-11ee-b74a-5bdd335d4fa2_story.html
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NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Fulgent Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLGT) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.
Class Period: March 22, 2019 to August 4, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: November 21, 2022
No obligation or cost to you.
Learn more about your recoverable losses in FLGT:
https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/fulgent-genetics-flgt-lawsuit-submission-form?id=33675&from=4
Fulgent Genetics, Inc. NEWS - FLGT NEWS
CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Fulgent Genetics, Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Fulgent had been conducting medically unnecessary laboratory testing, engaging in improper billing practices in relation to laboratory testing, and providing or receiving remuneration in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law; (ii) accordingly, Fulgent was likely to become subject to enhanced legal and regulatory scrutiny; (iii) Fulgent's revenues, to the extent they were derived from the foregoing unlawful conduct, were unsustainable; (iv) the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to subject the Company to significant financial and/or reputational harm; and (v) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Fulgent you have until November 21, 2022 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.
NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Fulgent securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the FLGT lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/fulgent-genetics-flgt-lawsuit-submission-form?id=33675&from=4.
ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM
J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
J. Klein, Esq.
535 Fifth Avenue
4th Floor
New York City, NY 10017
jk@kleinstocklaw.com
Telephone: (212) 616-4899
www.kleinstocklaw.com
View original content:
SOURCE The Klein Law Firm
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2022-11-15T11:26:06+00:00
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kfyrtv.com
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https://www.kfyrtv.com/prnewswire/2022/11/15/flgt-alert-klein-law-firm-announces-lead-plaintiff-deadline-november-21-2022-class-action-filed-behalf-fulgent-genetics-inc-shareholders/
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PITTSBURGH, Oct. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "I thought there could be a better way for individuals with prosthetic legs to wear jeans," said an inventor, from Addison, Ala., "so I invented PROSTHETIC JEANS. My design would offer a stylish and professional alternative to wearing sweat pants or shorts."
The invention provides an improved pair of jeans for individuals with a prosthetic leg. In doing so, it ensures that the wearer has access to their leg/prosthetic. As a result, it enhances comfort and convenience and it eliminates the need to undress. The invention features a stylish design that is easy to position and remove so it is ideal for individuals who have a prosthetic leg. Additionally, it is producible in design variations.
The original design was submitted to the Birmingham sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-BRK-4145, 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
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2022-10-31T19:05:50+00:00
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newschannel10.com
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https://www.newschannel10.com/prnewswire/2022/10/31/inventhelp-inventor-develops-jeans-individuals-with-prosthetic-leg-brk-4145/
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Company enters what it expects to be the final MAD cohort in the first-in-human Phase 1a designed to establish a maximum tolerated dose (MTD)
HOUSTON, Oct. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Moleculin Biotech, Inc., (Nasdaq: MBRX) ("Moleculin" or the "Company"), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company with a broad portfolio of drug candidates targeting highly resistant tumors and viruses, today provided an update on the preliminary results from the second multiple ascending dose (MAD) cohort of the Company's first-in-human Phase 1a study of WP1122. This cohort consisted of an initial 4 subjects, who were scheduled to be dosed daily for 7 days with 64 mg/kg/day of WP1122 or placebo in the dose escalation trial evaluating the safety and pharmacokinetics (PK) of WP1122 in healthy volunteers in the United Kingdom (UK). In conjunction with the study safety review committee, the Company stopped the second MAD cohort when 2 subjects experienced adverse events that, although asymptomatic, met the stoppage criteria in the protocol. The Company has opened MAD cohort 2a, in which a minimum of 8 subjects will receive a daily dose of 48 mg/kg. The Company expects this to be the final dose escalation cohort in this trial, which is designed to establish a maximum tolerated dose (MTD).
This Phase 1a, first-in-human, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, overlapping single ascending dose (SAD) and MAD study is investigating the safety of WP1122 administered as an oral solution in healthy human volunteers. The Company expects to enroll approximately 70 subjects in this Phase 1a clinical trial. It is the first step in a planned investigation of WP1122 for the treatment of COVID-19 and other potentially lethal viral infections. Dose escalation took place in sequential SAD cohorts, with MAD cohorts starting after 3 successfully completed SAD cohorts. This study in healthy volunteers is exploring safety and PK, while subsequent antiviral clinical development is expected to be in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, or other serious viral infections, to further evaluate safety and establish a favorable risk/benefit profile.
Walter Klemp, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Moleculin, commented, "Although we cannot be certain, we believe that 48 mg/kg will be the final dosing cohort tested in this trial. As we progress with this new MAD cohort, we continue to be encouraged by the safety data demonstrated by WP1122 in our first-in-human Phase 1a study. We designed the study to allow us to dial back to an interim step between 32 and 64 mg/kg, so we are hopeful that a daily dose of 48 mg/kg will end up being the maximum tolerated dose or MTD for WP1122. Once this Phase 1a study is completed, we look forward to taking the next step in studying the potential of WP1122 for the treatment of certain viral diseases and cancers. Our aim is to use external funding sources, such as investigator funded clinical trials, for future exploration of WP1122."
As noted, during the SAD portion of this study, dose escalation proceeded to a maximum dose of 64 mg/kg as a single daily dose, all deemed safe and well tolerated, and dosing of WP1122 in the MAD cohorts started at a dose of 16 mg/kg every 12 hours (32 mg/kg/day) for 7 days, which was also deemed safe. Dosing in the second MAD cohort began at 32 mg/kg of WP1122 every 12 hours (64 mg/kg/day) for 7 days, at which time stopping criteria were reached. The expected final cohort of subjects will be dosed at 24 mg/kg every 12 hours (48 mg/kg/day) for 7 days.
For more information about the study, please visit clinicaltrials.gov and reference identifier NCT05195723. Moleculin is also in the process of identifying additional countries where potential future Phase 2 COVID-19 clinical studies could occur.
WP1122 was developed as a 2-DG prodrug to provide a more favorable pharmacological profile and was found to have greater potency than 2-DG alone in preclinical models where tumor cells require higher glycolytic activity than normal cells. WP1122 has also been shown to have a greater antiviral effect than 2-DG against SARS-CoV-2 in MRC-5 cells in culture. The improved pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profile of WP1122 compared to 2-DG was noted in female mice following oral dosing at equimolar (i.e., equivalent levels of 2-DG) doses.
While the Company is in the process of identifying additional countries where potential future Phase 2 COVID-19 clinical studies might occur, the volatility and unpredictability of COVID-19 incidence in various countries may limit the ability to recruit certain subjects and could make it infeasible to conduct a Phase 2 clinical trial in a given country. Additionally, Moleculin recently received IND clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase 1 study of WP1122 for the treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). The Company is seeking collaborators with the intent to commence clinical trials of WP1122 in cancer indications beyond GBM, including pancreatic cancer and others. Recently, the Company announced its WP1096 molecule (a part of its WP1122 portfolio of D-glucose and D-mannose antimetabolites) will be evaluated in animal studies through the preclinical services offered by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. WP1096 is being studied by Moleculin as a novel potential therapy for a broad spectrum of viruses, including arenaviruses.
Moleculin Biotech, Inc. is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of a broad portfolio of drug candidates for the treatment of highly resistant tumors and viruses. The Company's lead program, Annamycin, is a next-generation anthracycline designed to avoid multidrug resistance mechanisms with little to no cardiotoxicity. Annamycin is currently in development for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and soft tissue sarcoma (STS) lung metastases.
Additionally, the Company is developing WP1066, an Immune/Transcription Modulator designed to be capable of inhibiting p-STAT3 and other oncogenic transcription factors while also stimulating a natural immune response, targeting brain tumors, pancreatic and other cancers; and WP1220, an analog to WP1066, for the topical treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Moleculin is also engaged in the development of a portfolio of antimetabolites, including WP1122, for the potential treatment of COVID-19 and other viruses, as well as cancer indications including brain tumors, pancreatic and other cancers.
For more information about the Company, please visit www.moleculin.com and connect on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Some of the statements in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, the amount of the final dosing cohort for the trial, Moleculin's ability to conduct a potential future Phase 2 COVID-19 clinical study, Moleculin's ability to identify and attract collaborators for additional clinical trials of WP1122, and the ability for WP1122 to be shown safe and effective in humans. Although Moleculin believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, expectations may prove to have been materially different from the results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Moleculin has attempted to identify forward-looking statements by terminology including 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'plans,' 'projects,' 'intends,' 'potential,' 'may,' 'could,' 'might,' 'will,' 'should,' 'approximately' or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including those discussed under Item 1A. "Risk Factors" in our most recently filed Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and updated from time to time in our Form 10-Q filings and in our other public filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of its date. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release to reflect events or circumstances occurring after its date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
JTC Team, LLC
Jenene Thomas
(833) 475-8247
MBRX@jtcir.com
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SOURCE Moleculin Biotech, Inc.
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2022-10-14T14:17:52+00:00
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wbrc.com
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https://www.wbrc.com/prnewswire/2022/10/14/moleculin-provides-update-second-multiple-ascending-dose-mad-cohort-phase-1a-clinical-trial-wp1122-uk/
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge is ordering Starbucks to reinstate seven employees in Memphis who were fired earlier this year after leading an effort to unionize their store.
In a decision issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman agreed with the National Labor Relations Board, which had asked the court to intervene in May. The labor board said Starbucks violated U.S. labor law by interfering in workers’ right to organize.
Lipman’s decision requires Starbucks to offer to reinstate the employees within five days. Starbucks will also be required to post the court order in the Memphis store.
Starbucks said Thursday it strongly disagrees with the court order and will appeal. It will also request a stay of the opinion, which would delay the reinstatement of the employees while the appeal is considered.
The case has been among the most closely watched in the unionization effort at Starbucks. Since late last year, more than 220 U.S. Starbucks stores — including the Memphis store — have voted to unionize. Starbucks opposes the unionization effort.
Starbucks fired the seven employees in early February, citing safety. The Seattle coffee giant said the employees violated company policy by reopening a store after closing time and inviting non-employees — including a television crew — to come inside and move throughout the store.
“These individuals violated numerous policies and failed to maintain a secure work environment and safety standards,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “Interest in a union does not exempt partners from following policies that are in place to protect partners, our customers and the communities we serve.”
But the NLRB and the fired workers told the court that Starbucks had routinely tolerated off-duty employees and non-employees remaining in the store after hours to make drinks, collect belongings or assist each other.
“Such tolerance before union activity, but terminations resulting thereafter, supports an inference of discriminatory motive,” the judge wrote.
The NLRB had begun administrative proceedings against Starbucks, saying the company was unlawfully interfering in workers’ right to organize. But those proceedings can take so long that the NLRB asked the federal court for an immediate injunction requiring Starbucks to reinstate the workers.
“Today’s federal court decision ordering Starbucks to reinstate the seven unlawfully fired Starbucks workers in Memphis is a crucial step in ensuring that these workers, and all Starbucks workers, can freely exercise their right to join together to improve their working conditions and form a union,” the labor board’s General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said in a statement. “Starbucks, and other employers, should take note that the NLRB will continue to vigorously protect workers’ right to organize without interference from their employer.”
One of the workers, Beto Sanchez, said he and his colleagues have suffered financial distress since they were fired, and he has had to work several jobs. Sanchez said he was so surprised after receiving a text about the favorable ruling that he dropped his phone.
“We’ve had a lot of tough moments, but we kept fighting each day,” Sanchez said. “It feels like all the hard work has paid off during all those months, and we’re just really happy.”
The NLRB has filed a separate federal court case in New York seeking the reinstatement of seven pro-union workers who were fired from a store in Buffalo. A decision in that case is pending.
The agency lost a similar case in Arizona in June, when a federal judge declined to order Starbucks to reinstate three workers.
___
Durbin reported from Detroit.
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2022-08-19T11:28:37+00:00
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wric.com
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https://www.wric.com/business/us-world-business/starbucks-must-reinstate-fired-workers-federal-judge-rules/
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NEW YORK, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Postal Service today recognized the centennial of American artist Roy Lichtenstein's birth with the dedication of new stamps in his honor at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
The Forever stamps feature five of the artist's bold, eye-catching creations and come in panes of 20. News of the stamps is being shared with the hashtag #RoyLichtensteinStamps.
"The Postal Service uses its stamp program to raise awareness and celebrate the people who represent the very best of our nation," said Thomas Marshall, general counsel and executive vice president of the Postal Service, who served as the stamps' dedicating official. "Roy Lichtenstein certainly deserves this recognition because of the remarkable creativity and innovation he demonstrated throughout his career."
"Altogether, he created more than 5,000 paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, murals and other objects that continue to be celebrated for their wit and invention," he said.
"I have always been a fan of the Post Office. I think it's an amazing organization. It gets mail to everywhere, not just in this country, but around the world, said Dorothy Lichtenstein, the artist's widow, and president of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. "I think it's an honor and more people will find out about Roy. I think he would have really loved it," she said, referring to the new stamps.
Other participants at the ceremony were Jack Cowart, executive director, Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, Anne Helmreich, director of the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, and Rachel Rossin, contemporary artist.
Background
Roy Fox Lichtenstein was born on Oct. 27, 1923, in New York City, and grew up on Manhattan's Upper West Side. As a young child, he explored the museums and other wonders the city offered. Art caught his interest early, and at 13 he started watercolor classes at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later Parsons School of Design).
The summer after graduating from high school, Lichtenstein studied painting at the Art Students League before enrolling at Ohio State University in 1940 to study art, art history and education. The World War II draft interrupted his junior year, and by 1944 he was serving with an engineer battalion in Europe. While stationed in Paris after the war ended, he took classes and visited art museums. Discharged in early 1946, he returned to Ohio State and completed his master of fine arts degree three years later, while also teaching undergraduates.
Lichtenstein admired early 20th-century European masters such as Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and Joan Miró, and some of his early work — depicting medieval imagery, fairy tales and historical scenes—reflected their styles. Eager to make it in the booming New York art world, Lichtenstein carted his paintings from gallery to gallery, and in 1951 met a certain amount of success: two solo shows in Manhattan. In addition, the Brooklyn Museum chose one of his woodcuts for its "Fifth National Print Annual Exhibition" and then purchased it for the permanent collection.
In 1957, a new teaching opportunity arose at the State University of New York at Oswego, where he took up abstract expressionism, a style closely associated with New York City. It was at this time that the cartoon characters that became a hallmark of his work started to appear on his canvases.
In 1960, Lichtenstein made what turned out to be a life-changing move: He accepted a teaching post at Douglass College, the women's branch of Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, NJ. The school's art department was aiming to stand out as a hotbed of experimentation, and Lichtenstein thrived there as his new colleagues introduced him to New York's avant-garde artists and gallery owners. Casting about for something new, in 1961 he painted "Look Mickey," featuring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, plus a dialogue balloon containing the words "LOOK MICKEY, I'VE HOOKED A BIG ONE!!" (Donald Duck catching his fishing hook on the tail end of his coat). For this startling, large oil painting, Lichtenstein drew heavily from an illustration in a popular 1960 children's book. The painting marked Lichtenstein's first attempt at reproducing the Ben-Day dot printing process then used for comic books and magazines.
Despite misgivings about the subject matter, an influential gallery owner agreed to represent Lichtenstein and display a group of his new paintings depicting cartoon characters and consumer products. Some art connoisseurs found them outrageous, but others saw great meaning in them. Lichtenstein's career quickly took off. In 1962, he had solo shows in New York and on the West Coast. That December, he —along with Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, Marcel Duchamp and other artists — attended a symposium at New York's Museum of Modern Art, where speakers chose the name "pop art" for this new artistic movement. Pop art featured advertisements, mass-produced objects and cartoon characters, and often was seen as parodying its subjects or poking fun at consumerism. It contrasted strongly with the abstract expressionism of the late 1940s and 1950s, which emphasized emotion and the act of painting while avoiding the depiction of any recognizable subject.
In late 1962, Lichtenstein was invited to create a mural for the 1964 World's Fair in Queens, NY, and during 1963, he continued to show throughout the United States and enjoyed his first solo exhibition in Europe. He resigned his teaching post in 1964 to make art full-time, experimenting in several fields including printmaking and sculpture. He began a series of landscapes, explored the works of modern masters such as Paul Cézanne, Piet Mondrian and Claude Monet, and continued his series of women pulled from romance comics. The emotional female stereotypes depicted in mass culture fascinated him, as did the male stereotypes — and explosions — he lifted from war comics.
Inevitably, Lichtenstein faced accusations of appropriating other artists' work, but many critics defended the practice. He viewed it as examining the earlier work or genre and borrowing elements from it, then recomposing them into a wholly new work. Over the years, he would explore any number of artists, motifs and styles. He even borrowed from his own earlier work.
Lichtenstein's first "Brushstroke" paintings, which appeared in 1965, referenced a science fiction comic strip but also the abstract expressionist style he had formerly embraced. The modern architecture and design of the 1920s and 1930s also caught his imagination around this time. The decade ended on a high note when the prestigious Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum held Lichtenstein's first retrospective. This exhibition, which included paintings and sculptures, also traveled to four other venues.
In the 1970s, Lichtenstein moved with his second wife to Southampton, NY, a Long Island town popular with artists. In this calmer place, he painted images of artists' studios and dozens of still lifes, often borrowing from Henri Matisse. At the same time, he explored such styles as Cubism, Purism and Futurism. A chance meeting with a collector of German Expressionist art, in 1978, led him to delve deeply into that genre, too. The decade saw him receive commissions as varied as a mural for the University of Düsseldorf, Germany; an exterior design for a race car; and his first public outdoor sculpture, for the Miami Beach Theatre for the Performing Arts. His works figured prominently in the Whitney Museum of American Art's 1978 "Art About Art" exhibition, and in 1979 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, just one in a string of honors he would receive over his lifetime.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Lichtenstein remained as active as ever, traveling and creating several series of works, including geometric abstractions, nudes and Chinese landscapes. Big commissions continued to roll in from around the world, and in 1995 President Bill Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Arts. Lichtenstein had shown no signs of slowing down when he fell ill with pneumonia at age 73; he died on Sept. 29, 1997.
One of his last big commissions became a posthumous gift to his beloved New York City: a 53-foot-long mural for the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority's Times Square subway station. Completed in 1994 and installed in 2002, the artwork depicts a futuristic city while referencing historic subway architecture and innovations presented at two New York World's Fairs.
Stamp Artwork
These eye-catching new stamps honor Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997), the iconic American artist of the mid-20th-century pop art movement, which looked to popular culture for its aesthetic. Each of the five designs in the pane of 20 features one work of art by Lichtenstein.
"Standing Explosion (Red)" (1965) is a porcelain enamel on steel work that is part of the collection of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR.
"Modern Painting I" (1966) is an acrylic, oil and graphite pencil on canvas painting that is part of the collection of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles.
"Still Life With Crystal Bowl" (1972) is an acrylic, oil and graphite pencil on canvas painting that is part of the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
"Still Life With Goldfish" (1972) is an acrylic, oil and graphite pencil on canvas painting that is owned by a private collector.
"Portrait of a Woman" (1979) is an acrylic, oil and graphite pencil on canvas painting that is owned by a private collector.
In the left third of the pane is a photograph by Bob Adelman of Lichtenstein standing in front of one of his dot-pattern paintings. His face is framed by a model of his 1983 sculpture Brushstrokes in Flight.
Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps.
Postal Products
Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide.
The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to nearly 165 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is implementing a 10-year transformation plan, Delivering for America, to modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability, dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories, and maintain the organization as one of America's most valued and trusted brands.
The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
For USPS media resources, including broadcast-quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube channel, like us on Facebook and enjoy our Postal Posts blog. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.
National contact: Albert Ruiz
albert.ruiz@usps.gov
Local contact: Xavier Hernandez
xavier.c.hernandez@usps.gov
usps.com/news
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SOURCE U.S. Postal Service
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2023-04-24T16:26:38+00:00
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wsfa.com
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https://www.wsfa.com/prnewswire/2023/04/24/us-postal-service-honors-roy-lichtensteins-pop-art-new-forever-stamps/
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DENVER, Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- VanWest Partners, a Denver-based commercial real estate investment company, announces the launch of a third fund, VanWest Storage Fund III (Fund III), targeting the acquisition of self storage facilities throughout the continental United States.
The Fund intends to raise $150 million in equity from accredited individuals and institutional investors to acquire self storage properties where an opportunity exists to add value. Fund III will be taking an entrepreneurial approach to acquisitions with a wider variety of deal types specifically targeting existing facilities with strong physical occupancy but are undermanaged, new construction deals that have not yet started leasing, new construction deals that have suffered from insufficient capitalization or have low existing occupancy, and existing facilities that have the opportunity for expansion.
Fund III has closed on three acquisitions representing just over $30,000,000 in total capitalization. "We are pleased with the performance of the Fund's initial acquisitions," says Jacob Vanderslice, Principal at VanWest Partners. "The net income and occupancy growth are already well above forecasted assumptions as the consumer demand for self storage continues to be high. The capital markets and the acquisition environment are dynamic right now, and we remain highly selective in the assets that Fund III will continue to acquire," Vanderslice shares. Targeted returns for Fund III investors are 14-16% IRR, and a 2X-2.25X investor equity multiple over a seven-year hold.
The next round of acquisitions is scheduled to close in Q3 and include one property in Michigan and two properties in Oklahoma. In aggregate, the three acquisitions will represent nearly 300,000 net rentable square feet, 2,000 units, and $26,000,000 in total cost. Pending sourcing suitable acquisition opportunities, VanWest Partners anticipates a 2–3-year deployment period for Fund III.
Fund III succeeds VanWest Storage Funds I and II, with Fund II closing at the end of 2021. Through these Funds and other vehicles, VanWest Partners has acquired over 40 properties, totaling more than 2.5 million square feet and 19,000 units, with total capital deployment of $240 million.
About VanWest Partners
VanWest Partners is an opportunistic real estate investment firm specializing in self storage and urban infill repositioning. We target a full range of investment opportunities from development to fully stabilized assets in primary, secondary, and tertiary markets with strong fundamentals and an opportunity to add value through both revenue and expense optimization. Accredited investors are invited to participate in value-add self storage throughout the continental US. Learn more at www.VanWestPartners.com.
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SOURCE VanWest Partners
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2022-09-19T12:52:50+00:00
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ksla.com
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https://www.ksla.com/prnewswire/2022/09/19/vanwest-partners-launches-third-self-storage-investment-fund/
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