Bryce Harper appears to wave goodbye to Nationals fans on Instagram, could Bronx hello be next? - New York Daily News Bryce Harper appears to wave goodbye to Nationals fans on Instagram, could Bronx hello be next?
Bryce Harper appears to wave goodbye to Nationals fans on Instagram, could Bronx hello be next?
Did Bryce Harper just kiss D.C. fans goodbye?
The soon-to-be free agent who played his final home game in the nation’s capital Wednesday, took to Instagram Thursday to show his appreciation to the fans for the support he’s received over his seven seasons as a National.
“To the fans and the city of DC thank you,” Harper posted with a series of nine photos that together revealed an image of him waving to fans at Nationals Park.
Harper and the Nats travel to Colorado for a three-game set against the Rockies that will end their season, and likely Harper’s time with the D.C. club.
Still just 25 years old, Harper, along with the Dodgers’ Manny Machado, will be one of the hotly pursued free-agent targets this offseason, with the Yankees one of the teams who could be in the market for the 2015 NL MVP’s services. Other teams that could be in the market for the outfielders services include the Dodgers, Phillies, Cubs and Angels. Of course the Nationals could also look to re-sign Harper.
The Yankees interest in Harper likely has cooled some after trading for Giancarlo Stanton and his $325 million mega contract last season.
The asking price for Harper could reach the $400 million dollar mark, though the star’s struggles over the first half of 2018 may bring that dollar amount back down to earth some.
Harper’s .214 first-half batting average was cause for some concern, but he has since bounced back to hit. .292 on the back nine of the season.


Bill Maher delivered a scathing review of President Donald Trump's Rose Garden speech Friday, branding the appearance "crackers."
"Barack Obama knew about this from day one," diGenova maintained Wednesday on "Hannity." "He authorized it. Brennan and Clapper Informed him. Everybody..


Put it down to weird-word mind glut. I admit to confusion. And if you are like me, Toyota and Nissan have a problem with their blockbuster entries in the luxury-car sweepstakes.
I have immersed myself in the two cars and still have to think twice before I know that Nissan makes Lexus and Toyota makes Infiniti, or vice versa.
Vice versa wins (I stopped to think), but the befuddlement over names may be the only serious difficulty that Toyota has with its new Lexus.
Several weeks ago I was in love with Infiniti and now my fickle heart has been won by the only serious competition. When you get behind the wheel of a Lexus you can pretty much forget everything else in the luxury class.
You can certainly pay more, and you can maybe get a ''better'' car in the BMW 7-series. You can have more oohs and ahhs and fingerprints on the paint with a Rolls or a Bentley Turbo. But nobody else is offering a steal quite like the Toyota Lexus LS 400, which has a base sticker of $35,000 and will cost about $40,000 by the time you get it home.
Yes, that is a lot of money. But these are the days of $20,000 Hondas, $25,000 Fords and $28,000 Oldsmobiles, and the 40 big ones are well spent if you are in the market for an automotive bargain.
First off, there is the technology. The car has an all-aluminum V8 that is so quiet you will try to start it when it is already running. The transmission is a four-speed overdrive automatic that is among the smoothest ever. And then there is Traction Control, which means the rear wheels never spin, despite the engine's oomph.
Traction Control acts like a limited-slip differential, but better. It uses the car's standard antilock brake system, in tandem with an engine computer that closes a throttle valve to reduce power when wheel spin is imminent.
The engine itself is a masterpiece, with four cams and 32 valves. Its 4 liters develop 250 horsepower, a bit less than Nissan's Infiniti, but it moves the 3,759-pound sedan from zero to 60 in about eight seconds, and top speed is rated by the factory at 150 miles an hour.
Even with that kind of performance though, the sophisticated power plant delivers fuel economy on the order of 17 miles a gallon, city, and 23, highway. Because of the V8's high (10-to-1) compression ratio, you'll have to pull up to the premium pump, and a fill-up will take 22.5 gallons. Given the car's range, the good news is that you won't have to make the visit very often.
Two suspension systems are offered, with the option of coil springs or air bladders. The air springs are a version of Toyota's ''FXV-II'' concept-car suspension system, and a change in driving conditions creates an automatic adjustment to minimize roll, dive and squat. The system also compensates for rough roads, reducing bounce and pitch. And it lowers the car at high speeds for better aerodynamics.
Even without that, the aerodynamics are as good as any in the business. The Lexus has a conservatively beautiful body whose rounded contours produce a coefficent of drag of only .29. And the interior is the exterior's equal.
Toyota has taken bits and pieces from hither and yon, and the car has almost everything. What it doesn't have is the four-wheel steering offered by Infiniti, and if you need to turn on a dime then you ought to buy Nissan. Otherwise, Toyota has it all, from power headrests to a flat emergency key for your newly depleted wallet.
Leather costs $1,400, and Traction Control will be another $900. A 140-watt Pioneer sound system, which features a six-disk CD changer in the low-liftover trunk, is the basic audio equipment, but you can get a 220-watt Nakamichi system if you really want to one-up the world.
Another nice interior feature is the computer that memorizes preferred positions for the driver's seat, the sideview mirrors, the adjustable seat-belt anchor and the wheel, which courteously moves up and out of the way when you remove the ignition key.
The leather-wrapped wheel also has power controls to make it tilt and telescope. Maybe the best thing about the wheel, though, is the horn, which is proper and safe. Unlike all the other cars with airbags in the hub of the wheel, there are no tiny and hard-to-find buttons. Toyota has found a way to make the entire hub serve as the button.
And then there is the dashboard, as good looking as any I've seen. The instrument panel uses lighted white needles and white digits behind smoked glass. The analog gauges are complimented by warning lights as usual, but this time the lights are projected onto the smoked glass to catch the driver's attention, a nice piece of technology that imparts a three-dimensional feel.
Among the gauges is a 160-m.p.h. speedometer, and Toyota says each car is tested at something more than 100 m.p.h. before it goes into the showroom. The point, the company adds, is that capability at such speeds translates into superb performance in the low and mid-ranges.
Neither Lexus nor Infiniti has any trouble achieving speeds that will irritate the troopers, but there is a very different feel to the two sedans.
Infiniti is stiffer, more like Mercedes. Lexus is silkier. But both are super cars and the price is much the same. You just have to remember which is which.


Virgin Voyages has released designs and images of its RockStar Suites. The new, adults-only cruise brand says it is striving to bring "Rebellious Luxe" to life at sea with its RockStar Suites, which are designed by Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio.
Highlights of the Massive Suite, the top suite aboard the Scarlet Lady, include its very own guitar-clad music room, views of the ocean from every corner of the suite, and a terrace complete with its own Peek-a-View outdoor shower, hot tub, hammocks and a runway outdoor dining table.
Inspired by mega yachts and rock and roll style icons like Grace Jones, the RockStar Suites feature Tom Dixon’s retro-futurism designs with a palette of deep blues used with iridescent dichroic elements to echo the colors of the sky and sea when sailing. Touches of yacht materiality are sprinkled throughout the suites with real leather finishes, marble-clad bathrooms and Terrazzo flooring. The suite’s design also incorporates nautical nods with a brass glam station and accenting beauty counter and bedhead lighting. Each suite is equipped with a vinyl turntable.
All suites are configured to maximize the view of the ocean. Many of the ship’s suites have a Peek-a-Boo shower, an all-marble shower with a dichroic glass window carved in the center. Rockstars who opt for the ship’s top Mega RockStar Suites, can bathe under the sun or stars with their very own Peek-a-View outdoor shower.
The sea terrace for each suite will have a specially designed champagne table able to fit an ice bucket at the center next to loungers, as well as Yellow Leaf brand, sustainably sourced terrace hammocks.
In terms of perks, RockStar Suites guests will be able to enjoy early access to onboard entertainment, restaurants, Shore Things, a private transfer to and from the ship in Miami and an exclusive express VIP pathway to the ship during embarkation. RockStar Suites Sailors will have their own wardrobe team to help unpack and repack, complimentary pressing service and nightly express swimsuit drying service.
In "Rebellious Luxe" fashion, Virgin Voyages has reimagined the mini-bar for its rock stars; instead, suites will have a full bar and cocktail kit, with the first round on the house.
All RockStar Suite guests will have access to Richard's Rooftop, their very own private members' club.
All suites have mood lighting that automatically adjusts to match the time of day and in-room tablets that allow travelers to adjust the room’s lighting. Travelers will get premium linens and a European king bed in every suite, as well as upgraded bath amenities for pampering.
Sailors can opt for one of the Scarlet Lady’s Mega RockStar Suites on deck 15. Virgin Voyages says Mega RockStar Suites will receive a personalized bar filled with their favorites, and the RockStar Services Crew will tend to their "rockstar rider list," digging up whatever they desire -- all red gummy bears, an electric guitar and beyond. With only 78 RockStar Suites aboard the Scarlet Lady, among them are 15 Mega RockStar Suites, named the Massive Suites, Fab Suites, Posh Suites and Gorgeous Suites.
There are only two Massive Suites aboard the Scarlet Lady, each sitting atop the ship’s bridge. These 2,147-square-foot suites have their own music rooms, which double as an extra bedroom and are stocked with guitars and an amplifier. At the center of the Massive Suite is a circular couch set up for conversation and cocktails from the suite’s adjacent in-room bar. The suite’s bath and dressing room area are complete with a hot tub, vanity area, two full-sized wardrobes and a marble-clad bathroom with a Peek-a-Boo shower area that overlooks the bedroom and out to the ocean. The Massive Suite’s terrace will be where friends and family can experience a private hot tub, a Peek-a-View outdoor shower, a circular conversation pit, a lookout point with loungers and two full-length hammocks. Sailors in the Massive Suite can climb a staircase to the top of the runway outdoor table for dining and dancing.


Asia-Pacific equities struggled for direction Friday, following a lack of movement in most U.S. stocks overnight, as investors seek new drivers after an October to remember.
Australian stocks stood out, hitting fresh 2017 highs on gains in commodity prices. The S&P/ASX 200 was recently up 0.5% at 5,964 -- hitting a 2017 high for the second day in a row -- and moving closer to 2015's peak of 5,996.90. Topping that would put the index at its best level in 10 years.
BHP Billiton (BHP.AU) rose 1.3%, putting the week's gain at 4.2%, while Rio Tinto (RIO) added 1% to hit a six-year high. Higher metals prices were helping Korean steel producers, with Posco (PKX) climbing 0.6%.
But Korea's Kospi was flat and most benchmarks in the region were within 0.2% of Thursday's closing levels. Japanese markets were closed Friday for a holiday.
"This is normal consolidation," said CMC market analyst Margaret Yang Yan. But she added that selling is pretty light "and we don't see a systematic risk. It's just the market needs some time to digest and consolidate a bit."
Some investors have paused ahead of today's U.S. jobs report. After the first monthly drop in seven years in September's -- skewed by hurricanes -- "expectations are quite high for the data," OM Financial client adviser Stuart Ive said. Weekly jobless claims are at 44-year lows.
Metals prices rebounded this week, with steel and iron ore among the leaders. Nickel has been a standout by rising 23% over the past month due to expectations that supply will tighten on demand from electric-vehicle producers.
Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) rose 1.4%, hitting record highs again. That came after Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) reported positive quarterly results. That helped Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gain 0.5%.
Elsewhere, oil futures continued to rise, with the U.S. benchmark joining global standard Brent in reaching levels last seen in mid-2015. Both are up as much as 0.5% in Asian trading.


Tara Reid was reportedly pulled off a flight before takeoff on Monday.
The "Last Sharknado" star, 42, was aboard a Delta flight from LAX to NYC when she complained about being given the wrong seat and not getting a pillow, TMZ reported.
Per the outlet, Reid got upset when she found out she was not given a seat next to the window, as she had expected. Flight attendants reportedly attempted to diffuse the situation, but the pilot announced he was turning the plane around – which had already pushed back from the gate – due to a customer service issue.
A spokesperson for Delta confirmed to Fox News that "Delta flight 613 from Los Angeles to New York JFK-International returned to the gate, prior to takeoff, due to a customer disturbance on board."
"Delta apologizes to the remaining customers for the inconvenience and appreciates their patience as the situation was resolved," the spokesperson continued, noting that "the flight redeparted for New York following a short delay."
In a video obtained by TMZ, a flight attendant was seen talking to a woman identified as Reid, telling her that he'd gather all of her belongings and meet her "right out here with the captain."


It’s a 100,000-Pound Challenge, and no,it’s not a townwide weight-loss promotion, but an endeavor give our community’s neediest neighbors access to some healthy calories.
Organized by the borough-based nonprofit Lunch Break, the 2015 edition of Foodstock brings the community food drive back to Red Bank Middle School Saturday for a morning and afternoon of refreshments, live entertainment and children’s activities.
Scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., the family-friendly event comes equipped this year with the stated collection goal of 100,000 pounds, an ambitious benchmark aimed at helping replenish the in-demand resources of Lunch Break— an organization that acts as the first line of defense for thousands of vulnerable Red Bank-area residents, and serves more and more people each year.
Click the graphic above to enlarge for details on the 2015 Food and Fund Drive, including a list of the most needed items and the 100,000 Pound Challenge matching donations campaign. Then visit the Lunch Break website or e-mail mjeter@lunchbreak.org for more info on Foodstock 2015.
Foodstock donations may be delivered any day from now through June 30, directly to Lunch Break’s donation area at the rear of 121 Drs. James Parker Boulevard in Red Bank. Donations are accepted Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. If you have more than 300 pounds of food, or too much for you to physically handle, call (732) 747-8577, extension 3102, in advance to arrange assistance.
Posted on May 15, 2015 at 6:39 am, filed under Charity, Featured, Fundraisers, red bank, schools, Volunteering and tagged foodbank of monmouth and ocean, foodstock 2015, gwen love, lunch break red bank, Red Bank Middle School, red bank nj. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment. Email this story.


West Ham manager Slaven Bilic felt a sense of "relief" after Diafra Sakho's late goal secured victory over Swansea and eased the pressure on him.
The atmosphere at London Stadium had been tense with fans unhappy about the performance of Bilic's side for the majority of the game.
But Sakho eased some of the scrutiny on Bilic when he got on the end of fellow substitute Arthur Masuaku's cross in the 90th minute and stabbed the ball home from close range.
"It is a relief, a great three points for us," Bilic said. "I know it is shallow when the manager says there is pressure, but that makes a difference.
"To keep the support of the crowd we need to keep producing minute after minute and we did not do that in the first half. The guys on the bench lifted the team and crowd."
Swansea were positive with their approach but a long-range effort from Wilfried Bony, parried by Joe Hart, in the first half was the best they had to show for their endeavour.
Home fans chanted "sacked in the morning" at Bilic when his side trailed 3-0 in a 3-2 defeat by Tottenham last weekend.
For the most of this contest there was little respite for the Croat as his side laboured against a disciplined and organised Swansea side.
Indeed there were jeers and boos for Bilic's double substitution when Masuaku and Sakho were introduced for Javier Hernandez and Andre Ayew.
Ultimately, the 49-year-old's decision to throw on both players made the difference, though, as Masuaku's superb run and cross found Sakho's perfectly timed run.
With West Ham's next three matches against Burnley, Brighton and Crystal Palace, Bilic will hope the confidence from this victory can spur his side on to greater things.
Swansea managed just 10 shots on target before this encounter, which head coach Paul Clement blamed on a hectic end to the transfer window.
Their play was largely tidy and they used the ball intelligently, with Renato Sanches in particular catching the eye for the visitors.
However, there was a stark lack of cutting edge to Swansea's play. Despite the presence of Tammy Abraham, Jordan Ayew and Bony - for the first half at least - they managed just one shot on target in the entire contest.
"A combination of the delivery and the movement need to be better in the final third," Clement said. "We are closer to getting the balance right, but there is still work to be done."
Swansea's first away defeat sent them into the bottom three and, unless Clement gives them more bite in attack, another relegation battle beckons this season.
The powerful striker's partnership with Javier Hernandez never really clicked but he was a menace to the Swansea backline. Carroll seems to be getting sharper and his all-round workrate was unrelenting. He was unfortunate not to score when he struck the corner of the goal with an improvised shot.
This game produced a total of just 15 shots; only Burnley v Huddersfield on 23 September featured fewer in the top flight this season (13).
West Ham have registered three clean sheets in their last four Premier League games, after managing none in the five before that.
Swansea conceded their first away Premier League goal in 495 minutes of action and suffered their first away defeat of the season.
Four of the 10 Premier League games where winning goals have been scored in the 90th minute or later in 2017 so far have been against Swansea.
Diafra Sakho netted his first Premier League goal since November 2016, when he scored against Manchester United.
Six of West Ham's seven league goals this season have come in the second half, which equates to a league-high 86% proportion.
West Ham goalkeeper Joe Hart: "It was a difficult atmosphere in some ways. I'm never going to criticise the fans, they come here and pay their money and have a right to their opinion.
"We have to focus on the win. We have had seven points since the international break [at the beginning of September].
"It is on all of us to take the pressure off. We don't get sucked into the speculation, we just stick together and fight hard."
Swansea head coach Paul Clement: "I think the result was a little harsh in that I don't think that they weren't better than us as such.
"We just did not defend that last attack very well. They created a really good scoring chance, which is what we didn't do.
"We did not stop the cross coming in, did not defend it in the box and if you concede that late you do not give yourself much chance."
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: ""We did not play well in the first half after a good first 10 minutes, making basic mistakes and Swansea were much better on the ball. We have to play better and we can play better.
"The changes were crucial with Manuel Lanzini, Arthur Masuaku and Diafra Sakho coming on.
"We played a very offensive formation in the first half but lacked the link between the defence and attack and that was why Lanzini made a big impact."
West Ham face a tricky trip to Burnley on Saturday, 14 October (15:00 BST), while Swansea host newly promoted Huddersfield at the Liberty Stadium at the same time on the same day.
Match ends, West Ham United 1, Swansea City 0.
Second Half ends, West Ham United 1, Swansea City 0.
Attempt blocked. Andy Carroll (West Ham United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Diafra Sakho with a cross.
Goal! West Ham United 1, Swansea City 0. Diafra Sakho (West Ham United) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Arthur Masuaku with a cross.
Attempt missed. Andy Carroll (West Ham United) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by José Fonte following a set piece situation.
Substitution, Swansea City. Sam Clucas replaces Martin Olsson.
Andy Carroll (West Ham United) hits the bar with a left footed shot from the centre of the box. Assisted by Arthur Masuaku with a cross.
Offside, West Ham United. Michail Antonio tries a through ball, but Diafra Sakho is caught offside.
Alfie Mawson (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, West Ham United. Arthur Masuaku replaces André Ayew.
Attempt missed. Martin Olsson (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Leroy Fer.
Renato Sanches (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Swansea City. Roque Mesa replaces Leon Britton because of an injury.
Delay in match Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea City) because of an injury.
Substitution, West Ham United. Manuel Lanzini replaces Mark Noble.
Attempt missed. Renato Sanches (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.
Andy Carroll (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Renato Sanches (Swansea City) wins a free kick on the right wing.


Nuance Communications has announced that IP Australia will become the first organisation across the Asia Pacific region to add next generation automated machine learning and human-assisted artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to its widely successful Alex online virtual assistant.
Alex, based upon Nuance’s Nina Virtual Assistant platform, provides AI-powered customer service on the IP Australia web site, engaging with citizens in human-like virtual chats. Launched in August 2016, Alex is achieving 80 per cent first contact resolution through powerful conversational AI and question-answer capabilities.
The latest in machine learning enables the virtual assistant to learn from ingested organisational content and human agent’s responses, enabling Alex to independently handle increasingly complex enquiries over time. This is what Nuance calls the human assisted virtual agent, the latest in supervised AI technology.
Currently, IP Australia’s online virtual assistant powered by Nuance’s Nina technology delivers a dynamic and engaging customer experience that lets customers easily understand trademark, patent, designs and plant breeder’s rights processes. The human elements of dialogue and personalised interaction connect customers to the right information and tools, which translates into immediate, easy and effective self-servicing and increased customer satisfaction. At present, Alex is capable of answering IP rights questions in layman’s terms, minimising customer confusion and maximising successful first-time transactions.
Robert Schwarz, managing director, Nuance, Australia and New Zealand, added: “Successful virtual assistants need to be able to continually evolve to have meaningful conversations with customers. Supervised AI enables Nina to learn from the very best customer service experts, ensuring Nina is ready to serve customers effectively and efficiently,” said Robert Schwarz, managing director, Nuance, Australia and New Zealand.


Haitian earthquake survivors take a break and play soccer at a park that is now a refugee camp in Haiti's capital.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Haiti's capital seemed to spring back to life Wednesday, more than a week after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake flattened many parts of the city and killed tens of thousands.
Electrical power was still out most places, but traffic lights were functioning and chaotic traffic clogged many streets. Aid trucks, some guarded by blue-helmeted United Nations peacekeepers, were seen leaving the airport. Water trucks also were spotted in parts of Port-au-Prince.
"There's energy in the air," said Haitian-born J.B. Diederich, who lives in Miami but returned to Haiti for a few days after the earthquake.
More U.N. convoys were seen moving through the city than in previous days, and so could vehicles for large nongovernmental organizations.
Haitian police seemed to take a more active role, directing traffic and getting out of their vehicles to deal with some problem or other. For several days after the earthquake, heavily armed police officers were often seen speeding by in their trucks but did not seem to stop or do much.
There also seemed to be more street vendors Wednesday.
Some banks and wire-transfer companies plan to open Thursday, as do some stores, Diederich said.
To be certain, Port-au-Prince still has a ways to go. But on Wednesday, the city seemed ready to leave the tragedy behind.
Any U.S. citizen who wants to leave Haiti on a U.S. military transport aircraft can do so simply by going to the airport and applying for voluntary departure at a State Department office placed on the tarmac.
About 5,000 people have left in the past week, an official said.
The service is available to U.S. citizens or anyone escorting a U.S. citizen who is a minor. Although the flights are initially free, the U.S. will try to recoup costs from individual passengers.
The cargo planes would return to the United States empty if they weren't transporting citizens.
A handful of Cuban citizens stood in a line next to the U.S. State Department tent at the airport while about 100 U.S. citizens were processed for a flight Wednesday afternoon.
The Cubans wanted out, too, but there were no waiting planes. There weren't even any indications that a Cuban plane would arrive at all.
"Here everyone resolves their problems, and we don't even have a way to get home," said a woman who did not want to give her name.
None of the three people interviewed by a CNN reporter would give their names. They laughed nervously when first asked and then said it would be too dangerous for them to comment openly.


John Elworthy, editor of sister titles the Wisbech Standard and Cambs Times, takes over as editor of the Ely Standard.
Archant Herts & Cambs said commercial director Amanda Davison-Young said: ‘We thank Debbie for her loyalty and commitment over the past ten years and wish her well for the future.
‘John Elworthy will take editorial responsibility for the titles alongside his current role as editor of the Cambs Times.


Somehow, somewhere, deep down, in the middle of the solar plexus, but maybe deeper, we all knew the famous, and then infamous, "25 Things List" that dominated Facebook a few months back would return, one day.
Like the swallows and the seasons, it was too powerful and eternal of a force to not return.
Even if you didn't participate in the monthlong-ish meme by compiling your own list of "25 Things," you probably delighted in/loathed reading the all-about-me rosters of your pals. Missing those halcyon days?
In recent weeks we've seen the flipside of the "25 Things List" gaining traction on the ol' FB: the "How Well Do You Know *Your Name Here*?" quiz.
In other words, now our friends aren't offering us tidbits of their lives; they are asking us to report back to them on our knowledge of their personal tidbits.
Are we up to the challenge, America? So far, we're seeing scores of 40 to 50 percent coming back as friends take other friends' tests. "Hmm" might sum it up best. Just hmm.
Maybe the questions are too difficult? Too focused on minutia? We'd be surprised if even our nearest and dearest can even exactly pinpoint our hair color or height. So, a recommendation: make the questions less hard. And if you do create a challenging quiz, and your pals who take it score on the low side, it might be time to schedule a few more lunches together.
A positive side effect, perhaps. Facebook creating more face time.


A dramatic suicide bombing at a funeral in Baghdad took the lion’s share of casualties today. However, across the country, gunmen were able to kill several security personnel. At least 40 Iraqis were killed and 67 more were wounded overall.
In Baghdad, a suicide taxi bomber targeted a funeral procession traveling in the Zaafaraniya district. At least 32 people were killed and 65 more were wounded. The funeral was for three victims killed in a shooting yesterday, but many of today’s victims were policemen who had been guarding the mourners. The bombing itself took place near shops, a hospital, and a police station. Afterwards, gunmen killed two policemen at a nearby checkpoint.
Gunmen killed a man who operates a community power generator in Zinjili.
A judge’s assistant was killed in Akbusaif village.
The mutilated body of a Peshmerga guard was discovered in Khanaqin.
In Mosul, an off-duty soldier was gunned down.
A sticky bomb killed a Sahwa leader in Garma.
A bomb wounded a policeman in Mansouriya.
Gunmen shooting at a home in Dali Abbas wounded a Sahwa member there.


What time VSKP-KRPU BI-WEEKLY INTER depart from VISAKHAPATNAM Railway Station?
VSKP-KRPU BI-WEEKLY INTER (18512) departs from VISAKHAPATNAM Railway Station at 13:50.
How much time VSKP-KRPU BI-WEEKLY INTER take to reach KORAPUT Railway Station?
VSKP-KRPU BI-WEEKLY INTER reach on day 1 to KORAPUT Railway Station. The arrival time of VSKP-KRPU BI-WEEKLY INTER at KORAPUT Railway Station is 21:10.
Distance covered by VSKP-KRPU BI-WEEKLY INTER?
VSKP-KRPU BI-WEEKLY INTER covers 358 km to reach KORAPUT Railway Station at average speed of 49 km/hr. VSKP-KRPU BI-WEEKLY INTER passes through 11 stations.


Beautiful 4 bedroom 2 bath Cape Cod style home located in the desirable Northwoods Park neighborhood. This home is within walking distance to neighborhood schools and is within a short commute to Camp Lejeune and New River Air Station. The first-floor features 2 bedrooms, full bathroom, laundry room and a cozy family room with built in shelving. While upstairs you'll find 2 large bedrooms and another full bath. Outside is a spacious fenced back yard that includes a concrete patio and a concrete storage building that is perfect to store lawn equipment and tools.


A Houston-area mother and son are suing activist Quanell X, alleging he passed himself off as a lawyer and took money for legal services he never delivered.
The seeds of the dispute started last year, when Mahalia John paid Quanell - whose real name is Ralph Evans - $2,500 to get her son's criminal record expunged, according to court filings.
Quanell allegedly told the Johns they could get rid of their existing lawyer and let him take over. But then, the family says, Quanell never delivered.
"Mr. Evans wrongfully held himself himself out to be an attorney," the suit alleges. "Mr. Evans provided zero services to Ms. John at anytime, and specifically no services related to the contract and payment for services to him."
"At no time have I ever told anyone that I am an attorney or that I practice law," he said. "Whenever someone brings me onto a case, on the contract it clearly state in bold that I am not an attorney."
The lawsuit, filed in Harris County court Monday, is the second such claim against Quanell in as many months. In June, Latorsha and Wiley Smith filed a lawsuit claiming they'd paid $3,500 for legal representation and also received "zero services."
Attorney Drew Willey is handling both cases, and asking for a $10,000 penalty in addition to at least $100,000 in damages.
Earlier this year, the People's New Black Panther Party parted ways with Quanell amid ongoing allegations he'd failed to deliver services to families he was paid to represent.
"This has been going on for over a decade in the community," Yahcanon Ben Yah, the party's national chairman, said at the time. "He has been in this situation before and what we want to do now is come out and let the people know that we do not condone his actions. He is not a part of us. He is not our leader."
Quanell built a name for himself as an outspoken advocate for victims of police brutality and corruption, helping criminals turn themselves in and garnering media coverage in high-profile cases.
A former drug dealer and erstwhile minister, he found himself the subject of controversy in 2016 when a group of his detractors held a press conference to accuse him of bilking them on agreements.
"We welcome any member of the human family to reach out to us for help but when you do, please tell us the truth and don't leave out any important facts," Quanell said in a statement at the time. "Often, people come to us claiming racism and when we research and investigate the case, we learn that racism has nothing to do with the case. Just because you have retained my office to help you does not mean we will lie for you."
Quanell has not responded in court to either of the recent suits and said he had not yet formally been served.


Cara Simmons, right, and her sister, Glori Nicholson, react to news that she now owns a Cleveland Heights home.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cara Simmons has never liked surprises. But surprises in her lifetime never included the keys and title to a freshly renovated house.
"I'm going to have to change my mind on surprises," she said.
Simmons, of Cleveland Heights, was the "victim" of a "Prank it Forward" prank perpetuated by DEFY media. She was sent by her employer, Maid Brite, to help prepare a client for a party and instead ended up tasting a gourmet meal, getting a new wardrobe and, the kicker, the house she was there to clean was actually hers to keep. Fully furnished and decorated.
Nearly 5 million have watched the episode on DEFY's break.com Web site. Simmons has become a media darling, appearing on "The Queen Latifah Show" among others.
Becoming an instant viral sensation came as a bit of a surprise to Simmons, too.
"I had no idea what was going on. It was the most amazing prank," said Simmons, 36, a Cleveland native and Shaw High School grad.
Her boss at Maid Brite, Mary Jo Dean, answered a query from a DEFY Media producer looking for a deserving prank "victim" in Cleveland. She provided info on all of her employees, asking them for information under the ruse that it was for the company Facebook page. It was narrowed down to three women, all single moms, and the producer recorded video of them, saying it was a company video.
Simmons' sister, Glori Nicholson, who was also in the video praising her and who was "pranked" with a trip with her sister to Mexico, also works at Maid Brite and was one of the finalists. They chose Cara Simmons because of her emotion and her story.
Dean said she didn't know the house was part of the prank until the last minute.
"I was in shock and stunned and crying," she said. "I was hoping for a car."
In the first "Prank it Forward" in April, an LA waitress got "tips" of cash, a trip, a new job offer and a car.
The video of Simmons' big day notes that she had had medical issues. They were severe. Simmons said she suffered from ulcerative colitis, which had gone undiagnosed.
"It's extremely painful and I was battling that and there were times when I had to be out of work without any income. I faced eviction a few times," she said. "I'm blessed to have people in my life to pull me through and hold my hand. It was tough. My kids stay with other people because I couldn't get up and get them to school."
Her condition was diagnosed at MetroHealth hospital and she is now taking medication to manage it.
DEFY agreed with Dean that Simmons was deserving of a prank and partnered with Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland to make it happen.
Lou Tisler, executive director of that organization, said it was imperative to find a home in Cleveland Heights, as Simmons' three children – Cierra-Mia, 17, Kiarah, 16 and St. Gavin, 6 – attend Cleveland Heights schools.
Tisler said Ocwen Financial Corporation donated the Cleveland Heights home and property, which had been in foreclosure. DEFY came up with $65,000 for rehab. Simmons will own the home in a land trust deal, meaning the property is owned by NHS but leased to her (99 years, renewable, no fee.) She can deed it over to her children. If she sells the house, the land-trust deal assures the house stays in the hands of low to moderate income buyers, Tisler said.
Simmons hasn't moved into the home yet. She's still in a rental a few miles away and working to prepare for home ownership.
"I'm kind of taking my time and making sure I understand everything," she said.
"We want to make sure she can actually afford it going forward. To know in Cleveland Heights, with the tax base, what it means to own a home with taxes and maintenance. We're really working with her on a deep level."
Simmons said it's been an education.
"They're doing an amazing job preparing me for the things I need to do and not do. They are walking me through it and holding my hand," she said.
Soon, certainly before Christmas, she'll move in and fulfill a dream.
"I have never owned a home. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever be able to own a home. It was the same chance as walking on the moon, that's how I felt about it," she said.
"But I have always wanted to own a home and I remember being young and having a home with my family, and my parents got a divorce and it changed and we moved, but I remember the happiness there," she said. "I think my family will just create awesome memories in this house."


Although the recently leaked audio of Hillary Clinton speaking to campaign donors back in February about her rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his basement-dwelling millennial supporters is hardly as damning as some have suggested, it does serve as an important reminder of the sharp divisions that surfaced during the Democratic primaries between progressives and Democratic partisans, and why many Sanders supporters remain deeply skeptical of Clinton one month before the presidential election.
Clinton, who admits in one of the soundbites to occupying “the center-left to the center-right” of the political spectrum, comes across as mildly condescending — yet also sympathetic — to Sanders’ millennial base. None of what she says is at all surprising, and most of her commentary is accurate when it comes to understanding why so many millennials supported the democratic socialist.
Clinton, ever the realist, goes on to call Sanders’ entire campaign a “false promise,” and mockingly remarks that she is still trying to figure out what he means by a "political revolution."
Eight months later, many people continue to misconstrue what Sanders meant by calling for a political revolution, and assume — like Clinton — that the senator’s campaign was pie in the sky idealism at best, demagoguery at worst.
Of course, while Sanders had a historic run, he didn't win the nomination — and many of his younger supporters remain bitter about this fact (especially after it was revealed that the DNC has been pulling for Clinton behind the scenes). Recent polling shows that Clinton continues to be very unpopular with millennials, albeit not quite as unpopular as the Donald, whose blatant xenophobia and sexism are repellent to most people under 30. Millennial voters (18-29) dislike both Clinton and Trump so much that only 41 percent of them say that they are certain to vote in November, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll from last week. The survey also found that under-30 voters prefer Clinton over Trump by only 2 points, compared to a 30-point preference for President Obama over Mitt Romney in 2012.
So did the Sanders campaign simply bring about more disillusionment and cynicism among young voters? And was the senator making false promises that he knew he couldn’t keep?
This is essentially what Sanders meant by a political revolution, and it’s a message that has long been espoused by those on the left, from socialists and anarchists to unionists and civil rights activists. Put simply, political and social change is in the hands of the people, and no meaningful or radical reform will happen as long as the populace passively accepts the status quo and assumes that revolving-door bureaucrats and billionaire-backed politicians have their interests at heart.
Hillary Clinton takes more of a top-down approach to politics, and gladly stands in the political center (leaning more toward the left or right depending on who she’s talking to). The former secretary of state considers Sanders’ populism naive and unrealistic, and accepts the technocratic method that has dominated the Democratic Party for the past 30 years.
But what exactly has modern technocratic liberalism achieved? Some of the Democratic Party’s most important achievements — most notably the Affordable Care Act — are also some of the most jumbled, bureaucratic and corporate-friendly pieces of legislation in modern history (Bill Clinton slipped up a few days ago when he called Obamacare the "craziest thing in the world," which he has since walked back). A fine example of the technocratic liberal is MIT professor and Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber, who said in 2014 that "Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” and that “the stupidity of the American voter” was critical for ACA to pass.
Of course, this kind of convoluted legislation, watered down by special interest demands and intentionally opaque, is almost inevitable in the current political system. And this is exactly why Sanders was calling for a popular movement to combat the status quo. It is naive to think that revolving-door bureaucrats and politicians desperate for campaign cash would ever agree to radical reform without a popular movement demanding it from below. With this in mind, is it not more accurate to describe Sanders as a realist than a utopian?


The Air Force Historical Support Division is part of the Air Force History and Museums Program and is located in Washington, DC at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.
AFHSD is primarily the historical research and book writing element of the Air Force History program. Historians at AFHSD also provide historical information, analysis and perspective to Air Force leaders and their staffs to support planning, policy development and decision making.
See the TITLES listing above under "Books" for a full listing of our publications.
The US Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Vietnam War. A Narrative Chronology: Vol. I: The Early Years through 1959. By Kenneth H. Williams, 2019.
The USAAF inserts an OSS team into Vietnam in 1945 to work with the leadership of the Viet Minh, to prepare a guerrilla force to harass Japanese troops in the region. Picture includes Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap.
USAF C-119s taking off from a base in Vietnam in the Spring of 1954. The USAF planes were loaned to the French and had French markings, but were maintained by USAF mechanics.
A loaned USAF plane is being repainted with French markings for use of the French in 1954 Indochina war.
A USAF C-119 undergoes repairs in Vietnam during the Indochina War. The planes were loaned to the French, maintained by USAF personnel, and flown by the French and US civilians.
Principal USAF/VNAF airfields in Vietnam up to 1965.
The story of how the United States became entangled in Southeast Asia is a long and complicated one, and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) was a part of the equation at every step. The USAAF/USAF was flying in the region from 1942 through the collapse of the U.S.-supported government in Saigon in 1975. This chronology seeks to document, and to honor the service and sacrifice of, U.S. airmen for the full span of U.S. involvement. It ranges beyond strictly Air Force topics to provide a framework of context for why U.S. service members deployed to the region. Much of the context is not as far removed from the USAF as it might first appear, as any time senior leaders discussed potential U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia throughout the 1950's, nearly all scenarios prominently featured air assets of the USAF and/or carrier-based U.S. Navy (USN) aircraft.


Millions of American workers in their 50s and 60s want, or need, to keep working past the traditional retirement age of 65 — either part-time or full-time. But after attending Columbia University’s 2017 Age Boom Academy program for journalists, Exploring Inequities in Health, Work and Retirement, I’ve learned how difficult (if not impossible) that can be for many of them.
But I also learned from the international Age Boom Academy experts that there are a few things employers, the U.S. government and older workers could do to make staying employed for additional years of our longer lives a more likely reality. The time is right: By 2020, one in four American workers will be over 55.
But just imagine the payoffs if the nation made it easier for people who are physically and mentally able to continue working to do so.
For those staying in the workforce: better health (cognitive and physical) and finances, more social engagement and higher life satisfaction “Early retirement appears to have a significant negative impact on the cognitive ability of people in their early 60s,” wrote Age Boom Academy speakers Susann Rohwedder, associate director of the RAND Center for the Study of Aging and Robert J. Willis, a University of Michigan economics professor, in a 2010 academic article. And “complete retirement leads to a 23% to 29% increase in difficulties associated with mobility and daily activities,” according to a paper by Ursula Staudinger, founding director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center; Age Boom Academy director Ruth Finkelstein and other researchers.
The financial payoff — from additional years of salary and, ideally, retirement plan contributions — is obvious, if sometimes overlooked. “We too often frame the conversation about finding purpose in later life, rather than economic survival,” said Finkelstein, who is associate director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center.
Working longer, said Axel Börsch-Supan of the Munich Center for the Economics of Aging, also may make you happier. He cited research showing that people who retired early wish they’d retired 1.8 years later, on average. “People regret retiring too early,” he noted.
For the U.S. government: more income taxes, Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes and a stronger economy The longer people continue working, the more they provide tax revenues and the more they're likely to spend.
“We have longer lives, so let’s use them,” said Staudinger, a Columbia professor of sociomedical sciences and psychology.
What follows are a few things that would help Americans work longer and delay full-stop retirement, if they want and can, based on research and insights dispensed at Age Boom Academy. In coming weeks, you’ll see more about work, health and retirement from my Next Avenue colleagues Emily Gurnon, Kerry Hannon and Chris Farrell, who also attended the program.
Only 5% of U.S. companies offered a formal phased retirement program, according to the 2016 Society for Human Resource Management survey. Phased retirement is one of the 10 “age smart policies and practices” on Finkelstein’s list of them. “Flexibility” is another.
Make jobs less routine and more interesting for older workers. “Small changes in repetitive jobs can make a big effect in the cognitive health of older workers,” said Staudinger.
“It’s very important for employers to keep motivation up by giving workers interesting jobs. That makes you more productive as you age,” said Börsch-Supan. “Productivity declines for people with routine jobs, like opening letters.” Let the robots do those tasks; increasingly, they can. In Germany’s auto and insurance industries, Börsch-Supan said, employers intentionally retool their workers to keep them current and enthusiastic.
Make workspaces more amenable to older workers, especially blue-collar ones. BMW famously spent just $50,000 to overhaul one of its assembly lines in 2007 and make it more older-worker friendly (adding chairs, enlarging computer screen typefaces, that sort of thing). Productivity rose 7% and absenteeism dropped from 7% to 2%.
“Health and safety protections might make work less odious,” said Finkelstein. Staudinger cited a study where workers in physically strenuous settings were given 20 minutes of daily physical therapy exercises, which resulted in reduced sick days. “The benefit was way more than the investment,” she added.
Begin an end to the time-honored seniority pay structure. Granted, it would be highly controversial not to pay people more for each year they work at an employer. But it may be time to consider this switch, as has been happening in Japan. Perhaps the way to start would be on a pro-rata basis, with older employees who move from full-time to part-time work at their firms or nonprofits.
This change in thinking about pay could help prevent managers from getting rid of otherwise valuable full-time workers in their 50s and 60s merely because they cost more than those in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Change the Medicare rules for people working after 65. Under current law, if an employer has 20 or more employees, its group health plan generally pays health benefits for workers 65 and older first and Medicare kicks in for coverage after that. That’s a strong disincentive for employers to retain or hire workers 65 or older. “I’m an expensive employee,” said Willis, 76, noting that the University of Michigan pays for his health insurance.
Pass age discrimination legislation to prevent employers from getting off the hook so easily. As Age Boom participant and ProPublica reporter Peter Gosselin has written zealously lately, a 2009 Supreme Court ruling (Gross v. FBL Financial Services) has made it near impossible to win an age-discrimination case. The Gross decision said an employee who thinks he was a victim of age discrimination must show he wouldn’t have suffered it “but for” his age.
“Age discrimination remains widespread and difficult to challenge, 50 years after the Age Discrimination in Employment Act,” said Ruth Milkman, a sociology professor at the City University of New York.
Gonzales and his colleagues have created a Workforce Age Discrimination Scale which determined that age discrimination is significantly related to an increased desire to retire among older workers.
Think more entrepreneurial. This doesn’t necessarily mean leaving your employer to start a business, although that could be worth considering. It’s more about reassessing what Staudinger calls your “competency profile” and finding the job that best matches it.


Labour leader Joseph Muscat said this morning that former deputy leader Anglu Farrugia was still 'very relevant' to the PL and he could, if he wished, contest the next election.
Dr Farrugia resigned from PL deputy leader yesterday.
His resignation seems to have been forced on him after an article in The Times about his speech on Sunday revealed the name of a magistrate he accused of political bias.
Magistrate Audrey Demicoli had acquitted a man of vote rigging in the March 2008 election. Her judgment was overturned by an Appeals Court, which found the restaurateur in question guilty of threatening to sack one of his employees if she did not vote for the Nationalist Party. The restaurateur was fined €800.
In his two-page resignation letter (see pdf link below), which Dr Farrugia has now made public, he says that he has lost confidence in Dr Muscat.
He says his speech on Sunday had been well received by Dr Muscat and also the public but following the article in The Times which revealed the magistrate’s name, Dr Muscat contacted him abroad, where he was on a brief his holiday with his family and asked him to resign.
In his letter, Dr Farrugia tells Dr Muscat he felt he should resign as it did not seem that Dr Muscat had understood anything of what he wanted to say.
He also said he did not feel he should contest the next election but would remain an honest and true follower of the party.
Asked by timesofmalta.com about Dr Farrugia's statement that he (Dr Farrugia) had lost confidence in him, Dr Muscat said he understood that Dr Farrugia was hurt but he wanted to assure him that he was still relevant.
The PL's door, he said, remained open to Dr Farrugia and if he wanted, he was welcome to contest the next election.
In a clear jibe about how the PN handled Franco Debono, Dr Muscat said that he still considered Dr Farrugia as “a very relevant person” and “the Labour party’s door will always remain open to him”.
“If Farrugia wants to contest the next election the door is always open to him,” he said.
On who will take Dr Farrugia vacant post, Dr Muscat said that in the coming hours the party will show that it is able to make a good choice which will ensure a real change in the country’s direction.
Dr Farrugia's resignation letter can be read in the pdf link below.


A waitress in Arizona – who is nine months pregnant and is expecting some big medical bills – was touched to the point of tears when she received a massive 1,468 percent tip from two unidentified customers.
Sarah Clark, a waitress at the Pita Jungle in Phoenix, received the $900 gratuity on a $61.30 tab on Dec. 17.
What do YOU think? Are you feeling the holiday spirit yet? Sound off in today’s WND poll!
Clark is expecting to have her baby girl Jan. 8. She says her fiancé, who also works in the restaurant industry and doesn’t receive paid time off, is injured and not working. He is scheduled to undergo surgery soon.
The Christmas gift came at the perfect time for the young mother, who said she would like to spend some time at home with her little bundle of joy.


BURBANK — Granada Hills resident Bob Kalaba found a new best friend in a Labrador mix named Iggy, whom he adopted Saturday at the Burbank Animal Shelter.
Iggy playfully ran to Kalaba, tail wagging.
Kalaba and his family were the first group to adopt an adult dog at the shelter's Annual Summer Adoption Fair that runs until Thursday.
"I wanted to adopt one that was going to be euthanized if nobody took the dog," he said. "That to me is so sad."
Iggy's previous owner turned her over to the shelter because she was "not a good camping dog, so just go ahead and put her to sleep," Kalaba was told.
"We took her because she is a sweet dog, and as long as she likes to go for walks — that's all I want," he said.
Kalaba's children and wife researched and visited various shelters before settling on Burbank.
Adopting a pet Saturday also allowed some owners to take advantage of the Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter's offer to pay 50% of adoption fees for all pets.
If an owner decided to adopt a second pet, the organization offered to pay the entire fee.
"That, to me, was a pretty good idea," Kabala said. "I wouldn't say that tipped the scales, but it is certainly nice."
The organization pays out about $3,000 to $4,000 during the annual adoption, said Molly Stretten, interim kitten foster program manager.
Potential owners began lining up about 9 a.m. for a round inside the shelter.
Officials said summer is the busiest adoption season of the year.
That morning, the shelter received a new litter of seven puppies, all of which were quickly snatched up.
"Most people who come here already know they are going to adopt," said Cecelia Martinez, the organization's kitty foster placement coordinator.
About 96 kittens were available for foster care, which require parents to provide care, food and shelter until the pets are ready for adoption.
"We are looking for someone who could provide a good home for our kittens," Martinez said.


A look at Fremont9, the newest downtown residential project on Fremont Street and 9th Street, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018.
The Downtown Project’s quest to revitalize downtown Las Vegas has always been hampered by a lack of available housing.
Fremont9, a five-story mid-rise that offers 232 residential units and 15,000 square feet of retail space in downtown’s East Village District, could help change that. Amid construction and preparations for this weekend’s Life is Beautiful festival, a group of developers on Tuesday morning cut the ribbon on a new luxury apartment tower.
Rent at Fremont9 ranges from $845 per month for a 395-square-foot studio to $3,961 per month for a 1,330-square-foot three-bedroom apartment. Parking is extra, but residents who fully embrace the Fremont9 ethos won’t be driving that much anyway.
If it seems unusual to have a music festival going up across the street from a housing complex, that’s a feature not a bug of Fremont9. Every resident receives a free pass to the festival. Located at 901 Fremont Street, on the corner of Fremont Street and 9th Street, Fremont9 is built for residents who want to be surrounded by hip downtown bars and restaurants.
Fremont9 came about as a partnership between the Downtown Project, which owned the land, and real estate investors the Wolff Co., which took the lead on bringing the project to fruition. Construction costs were $43 million to $44 million, said Nate Carlson of the Wolff Co.
The roughly 15,000 square feet of retail space is ready and waiting to host those three Cs. On the day of ribbon cutting, expansive floor-to-ceiling windows on the ground floor revealed empty space inside, pure possibility.
“The space can be devised to accommodate different tenants. Currently, it is open so that they do not limit the tenants they can work with,” says Fremont9 spokesperson Megan Fazio, who notes that leasing is still in the early stages because the opening is so recent.
A grocery store would be an ideal tenant. Within walking distance, the Market on 611 Fremont Street has downsized its grocery options to make room for Bronze Cafe. The Family Food Mart on 1102 Fremont Street is also within walking distance, but it is no luxury bodega.
Meanwhile, established local retailers are thrilled about the planned influx of well-heeled residents. Cathy Brooks of Hydrant Club, a dog daycare on 109 N. 9th Street, says she has been eagerly awaiting Fremont9's opening since the groundbreaking. The property allows dogs under a certain weight.
One type of retail that won’t be found at Fremont9 is Airbnb. Just like subleasing, it’s forbidden by property management. This is in contrast with nearby condo tower The Ogden (150 N. Las Vegas Blvd.), which because it is owner-occupied has a variety of units available on Airbnb.
In line with the national trend of builders focusing on the high-end market, which includes the recently opened Lotus LV in Chinatown, Fremont9 offers a host of enviable amenities. There are stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops and built-in blackout shades to match the oversized windows. In addition to a pool and yoga room, the fitness room features a wooden floor reclaimed from a high school gym. Hand-painted murals add an artsy allure to common areas. The Wolff Co.’s Nate Carlson says that the edgy vibe was carefully curated to foster a sense of creativity that aligns with downtown.
Additional amenities include common rooms with a video wall, a music wall, billiards and a TopBrewer brand app-powered espresso machine. There’s an “entertainment kitchen” and “community dining space.” Interior courtyards have bocce ball, ping pong and barbecue grills. Bicycle storage and 24/7 on-demand parcel lockers complete the urban lifestyle.
So much luxury does not come cheap, and the central downtown location comes at an extra price. Luxury apartments elsewhere in the valley are significantly less expensive. A 1,440-sqare-foot unit at Elysian at The District rents for $2,522 per month, which is nearly $1,500 less than a comparable unit at Fremont9. Apartments at The Well in Henderson’s Union Village, which are also owned by The Wolff Group, range from $1,051 for 465 square feet to $1,977 for 1,201 square feet.
Urban living giveth and taketh away. The advantage of living downtown comes in the form of walkability. The disadvantage of high-density living is the loss of free parking. A parking space at Fremont9 will set residents back another $100-$250 per month, depending on whether they choose a garage or carport. Residents who prefer a more budget option are encouraged to rent a space from the nearby municipal “Llama Lot.” Or they can always try their luck finding a free space on the street.
Potential residents have not been deterred. Carlson says that in 30 days of being open, the property has become about 37 to 38 percent occupied.
Downtown Project executive vice president of operations Michael Downs is most proud of the location of Fremont9 and how the property is helping transform the area. In addition to new construction, Downs says that the Downtown Project is working to capitalize on demand for housing by renovating properties they already own.
About a block away from Fremont9 is the 10-unit Nolana, which Downs said became 100 percent occupied within a month of going on the market. DTP is also working on renovations of Fergusons and the Downtowner, which will become mixed-use spaces. The newly renovated Cassia, an 18-unit apartment complex on 9th street and Bridger, will open next week.


A guy spends $1.94 on his prepaid VISA card and receives a bill for $23,148,855,308,184,500. VISA also charged him a $15 overdraft fee.
This tale of IT failure is so extreme as to be a joke, making it the perfect story for a mid-summer Friday.
A guy spends $1.94 on his prepaid VISA card and then receives a bill for $23,148,855,308,184,500. Making things worse, VISA also charged the poor fellow an additional $15 fee.
In a comment titled "Visa deserves glitchslapping?," an anonymous coward pointed out that the incorrect charges, which applied to purchases for cigarettes, gasoline, and sundry other items and services, came to exactly 2,314,885,530,818,450,000 cents, which when converted to binhex comes to 2020202020201250.
"It looks to me like somebody blank-filled a field, plopped the actual charged amount into the end (hex 1250, decimal 4688, likely amount $46.88), and then interpreted the entire field as a hex number," AC wrote. "If so, this is the kind of bug that would have been caught in even the most cursory testing, in which case the 'technical glitch' Visa talks about was not really in the software--bugs happen--but in their own shoddy procedures that allowed untested software to go live."
This still doesn't explain how 13,000 people could all be charged precisely the same amount for purchases whose real-world value were vastly different. Reg reader Stuart McConnachie, who also forwarded the binhex theory, guesses the identical overcharge is the result of a rounding error. When converting to a real number, only the first 15 digits were included, he said. The remainder were converted to zero.
Moral of the story. Check your bill carefully, I suppose. What do you think?


This is great. The geniuses at People Magazine stitched together pictures of celebrities posing with younger versions of themselves. Think Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey was always such a fine actor? You must've forgot about his goofy haircut! Only remember Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale as superbly talented? They were once wide eyed boys too. And what about Jennifer Lawrence? Well, she's still so young so she just looks like she has a twin.
The photoshopping work is great, the younger version of the celebs all look like super excited fans of the hardened actors we know now. Except Meryl Streep, she always looked regal. See them all at People Magazine.


The Fed raised interest rates for the third time this year on Wednesday.
Spot palladium rose 0.9 percent to $1,075.98 an ounce, a fresh eight-month high.
Gold prices edged higher on Thursday as investors largely discounted a U.S. interest rate hike, but gains were limited as the dollar rose following reports of a row in Italy's new government.
"The fact that the Fed didn't come out as overly hawkish meant there was some positivity felt through emerging market currencies. This may be playing in gold being gingerly bought," said Stephen Innes, APAC trading head at OANDA in Singapore.
"We are still big sellers towards $1,200 an ounce and buyers towards $1,190 ... Bargain hunting is definitely coming to the equation at the lower end of the scale."
MSCI's index for emerging market currencies edged up 0.2 percent on Thursday.
"The Fed statement did not have much of an impact on the dollar and so we would venture to guess that the greenback could resume a little lower over the course of the next week or two, possibly giving gold an element of support," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.
However, there is little evidence that gold's tight trading range will change anytime soon, Meir added.
The dollar index gained against a basket of six major currencies, supported by a dip in the euro after Italian daily La Stampa said Economy Minister Giovanni Tria "was ready to leave", before a spokeswoman for the ministry dismissed the report.
"There has been some physical demand below $1,200, which is supporting gold," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.
Among other precious metals, spot palladium rose 0.9 percent to $1,075.98 an ounce, a fresh eight-month high.
Silver climbed 0.8 percent to $14.40 an ounce and platinum gained 0.9 percent to $828.30 per ounce.


Decision made by Agriculture Minister Ariel following Israeli ambassador expulsion from Turkey and Erdoğan statements.
Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel ordered freezing import of agricultural produce from Turkey to Israel this afternoon, following the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Turkey and statements made by President Erdoğan.
"President Erdoğan preaches to the entire world while he funds terrorist organizations like Hamas," said the Minister.
Earlier in the day, Turkey officially declared Israel's ambassador to Ankara Eitan Naeh persona non grata and expelled him from the country.
Turkey has thus stepped up its anti-Israeli moves after last night recalling its ambassadors from Israel and the United States for consultations following IDF fire on Gaza rioters and the US Embassy Jerusalem transfer.
President Erdoğan today tweeted "Netanyahu is the PM of an apartheid state that has occupied a defenseless people's lands for 60+ yrs in violation of UN resolutions.
"He has the blood of Palestinians on his hands and can't cover up crimes by attacking Turkey.
"Want a lesson in humanity? Read the 10 commandments."


FRANKFURT (Reuters) - E.ON expects a planned British retail energy joint venture between Innogy’s npower and SSE to go ahead despite intensifying regulatory scrutiny, Chief Financial Officer Marc Spieker said.
Earlier, British regulators launched an in-depth investigation into the tie-up, saying it may reduce competition and increase prices for some households.
The deal bears significance for E.ON, which last month unveiled plans to acquire Innogy’s European customer businesses as part of a larger asset swap with Innogy’s parent RWE.
Spieker said that deal would be unaffected should regulators eventually decide to block the npower-SSE transaction.


HELENA, Mont. — U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte is pinning his third campaign in two years on Montana residents being better off economically since President Donald Trump took office and that the voters will give him some of the credit.
Gianforte has tied his political fortunes to Trump as he seeks his first full term in Montana's only House seat. He won a special election last year to serve the remainder of Ryan Zinke's term after Zinke resigned to become Interior Department secretary.
Gianforte has had to fend off renewed criticism over his assault on Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs the day before that special election. His Democratic opponent, Kathleen Williams, has made it a campaign issue, and Trump praised him for it during a recent rally.
The entrepreneur-turned-politician initially gave a tepid endorsement of the president during a failed campaign for governor in the same 2016 Montana election that Trump won in a landslide, then found himself on the winning side in the 2017 special election when he became a full-throated Trump supporter.
"Thank God Donald Trump is our president," Gianforte said to cheers during a recent rally in East Helena. "You know why we're doing this. In America, we've always believed that if you work hard, follow the rules and persevere, you can make a better life for yourself. That's the American dream. "
Gianforte has centered his campaign on emphasizing his 16 months in office and telling voters that he's working hand in hand with the president.
He's cited his trips on Air Force One and visits to the Oval Office. His speeches are peppered with "we" and "us" when he talks about the economy, as in, "We've gotten the economy going," and "We now have more jobs open in the country than people looking for work," as he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
Williams, a former state lawmaker and water specialist for state government and a nonprofit organization, said she doesn't believe Gianforte's time in office gives him an advantage.
"He's hiding behind his incumbency. Well — he's barely an incumbent," she told the AP. "He hasn't done that much. So, I don't think it's a disadvantage at all."
Williams was the only woman running in a crowded Democratic primary in June, beating out two better-funded men in a year that has seen a record number of women running for office.
She is seeking to become the first Democrat to hold the House seat since Pat Williams left in 1997. She also would be the first woman to hold the office since Jeannette Rankin left in 1943.
Libertarian Elinor Swanson is also on the ballot.
Williams, 57, has centered her campaign on the themes of improving health care and access to it, along with protecting the environment and Montana's outdoor heritage. In a dig at Trump and Gianforte, she also says restoring civility and integrity to Congress and restoring America's place in the world are among her top priorities.
Gianforte, 57, is a technology entrepreneur who turned to politics after selling his software company, RightNow Technologies, to Oracle for $1.8 billion in 2011. He says his top issues are undoing Obama-era regulations in a bid to promote economic growth, improving community safety by addressing the methamphetamine crisis, protecting gun rights and increasing access to public lands.
Williams has steadily been attacking Gianforte's record. In October, she stepped up those attacks to include the assault against Jacobs last year.
Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for throwing the reporter to the ground when he tried to ask the candidate a question.
Williams released an ad with audio of the assault taken from Jacobs' recorder on the same day that Trump praised Gianforte for the attack, thrusting it back into the spotlight in the final weeks of the campaign.
It received additional attention when Jacobs' lawyer sent Gianforte's lawyer a letter accusing the congressman of lying about the attack and mischaracterizing the terms of a settlement.
Gianforte also ratcheted up his political attacks. His campaign has sent out daily statements that call Williams "extreme" on various issues and released an ad tying her to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, whom Williams said she wouldn't support if elected.
Gianforte says Williams has misrepresented his record, especially when accusing him of not meeting with constituents. He cites telephone conferences with them and regular radio appearances as examples of his accessibility.
"I think it's a false narrative being promoted by my opponent to try and create a wedge, and frankly, it's not true," he said.
Williams said Gianforte has distorted her positions, falsely saying she opposes gun rights, and that Montana voters will be able to see through him.
"Apparently, he's desperate for power," Williams said of the new attacks. "Montanans value truth and integrity and honesty. It's not happening in his campaign."


Originally Published: August 13, 2015 8:02 p.m.
A few months ago, a customer asked if we had a book called "Six Who Came To Serve," which he said was about several people who came here to serve the Prescott community, but he did not know who had written it. Then another customer asked about the book. I couldn't find such a book through our normal distributors, but continued to pursue the search since not much has been written about that side of Prescott's history. I finally located the author, Prescott Daily Courier columnist Tom Cantlon, who was able to provide the books and to come to the store to talk about it and about his other book of columns, "Early Essays."
The six, Kathleen Murphy, Brad Newman, Max Bell, Gordon Glau, Don Ostendorf, and John Allen, all began work in the Prescott organizations they were to grow and direct for 30 years in the early 1960s. Cantlon weaves each of their stories together, beginning with their early histories and the effect that had in shaping their passionate desires to help the people in the Prescott community. Then he has each of them tell their stories, recounting just what they were able to accomplish and how they went about doing it.
According to Cantlon, for Brad Newman, putting his exceptional employees into immediate and practical work contributed greatly to success. John Allen, too, found success in putting his staff into immediate practical action, even if it entailed moving into a new building without heat in late November to get the job done. "Today you can't do that," Allen said.
For Kathleen Murphy, among other things, it took pluck, as when she gift-wrapped her dress as a consolation prize for a sexist high-up she had triumphed over.
Working well with other local agencies and innovation were other methods that brought success mentioned by Murphy as well as by Don Ostendorf, Greg Glau and Max Bell.
This review only touches on a few of the things it took for these six dedicated people to have such a profound impact on the Prescott community. Tom Cantlon can tell you about whole a lot more at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at the Peregrine Book Company.


Paradise will see an influx of Beavers today for the Scouts Canada Eastern Avalon 2018 Beaveree.
Some 350 Beaver Scouts from across the region will meet at Paradise Park today for the Jamboree-style event designed for Beavers, boys and girls, ages 5 to 7.
This year’s event has an Olympic theme and Beavers will rotate through a series of activities as they challenge themselves to become Olympic champions.
The event takes place today at Paradise Park from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.


Tributes have been paid to young Teesside mum Laura Hodgson who has lost her fight for life.
Laura, from Billingham , was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer last year.
The mum of two beautiful children died peacefully on Sunday with her "family by her side".
A Go Fund Me page set up to raise money for Laura's treatment raised almost £40,000 from hundreds of well-wishers.
Her family has praised the "overwhelming generosity" of everyone who donated to support Laura and said they planned to donate to the chemotherapy day unit at the University Hospital of North Tees and The Willow Trust.
Laura, who fought the aggressive disease until the end, was described as an "absolute warrior" by her family.
Her sister Michaela posted on social media: "It is with a heavy heart I am writing this.
"I would like to thank every person that donated, shared and supported our fight to support Laura.
"An angel grew its wings Sunday night after Laura had an infection which her body could not recover from.
"Laura died peacefully with her family by her side.
"Please respect this time for Laura's close family."
She continued: "With the overwhelming generosity of everyone who donated, as a family we would like to donate to the chemotherapy day unit at North Tees hospital and the Willow trust.
"Laura made a monthly donation to Cancer Research UK and I know would greatly appreciate some of the donations going towards finding a cure.
"We would like to use some of the money for a memorial to celebrate Laura's life.
"This is something her children, family and friends can treasure.
"If anyone has any objections to this, please request a refund through the gofundme website. Many Thanks, Michaela & Family."
Tributes have poured in for the keen sportswoman, including Laura's "netball family" who have said she will "never be forgotten".
South Durham and Cleveland Netball posted: "Deepest sympathies to all who knew her.
"Could we all please place a black heart and pink heart on our status to show our love and support to both the family and Harriers netball team, which Laura was a much loved member of."


Sometime algorithms just don't cut it.
YouTube says it's hiring more people to help curb videos that violate its policies.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says "some bad actors are exploiting" the Google-owned service to "mislead, manipulate, harass or even harm."
She says Google will have more than 10,000 workers address the problem by next year, though her blog post Monday doesn't say how many the company already has.
Wojcicki says YouTube will also use technology to flag "problematic" videos or comments that show hate speech or harm to children. It's already used to remove violent extremist videos.
YouTube is also taking steps to try to reassure advertisers that their ads won't run next to gross videos.
There have been reports of creepy videos aimed at children and pedophiles posting comments on children's videos in recent weeks.


(entertainmentwise.com) - Beyonce and Jay-Z have reportedly hit a rocky patch in their four-month marriage - because the Bootylicious star wants to put her career before starting a family.The couple tied the knot in a hush-hush ceremony on April 4, amid rumours that Beyonce was already expecting."Jay Z is ready to have children. He [and Beyonce] dated for years, now they're married...and for him - it's time for children," a source close Jay-Z rapper told MediaTakeOut.But it seems that motherhood isn't part of the singer's immediate plans."Beyonce is very career focused. She has another album due this year and a couple of major film projects in the works," the source continues. "Her career is moving at 90 miles per hour and she's not trying to have it slowed down by a baby."[Jay Z and Beyonce] are best friends so it's not like they're fighting over it...but they both feel very strongly about [their positions] - if one of them doesn't relent, I think it could be a big problem."


Robert Dacunto says the "American government is the biggest gangster in the world." Turns out he should know.
Dacunto, 48, is part of a core group of Staten Island Tea Party volunteers known as the "road crew." They organize rallies, confront politicians, fire off letters to editors.
In an interview, Dacunto trashed Social Security as a "massive Ponzi scheme" and said the Founding Fathers would be horrified to see the country they created.
"They'd be looking to cut taxes and entitlements and start a second American Revolution," he said.
What he didn't mention was his June 2000 arrest in a $3.1 million Mafia stock scam.
Federal prosecutors said Dacunto, as a licensed broker, took bribes to tout stock in worthless companies. Gangsters in on the caper sold their insider shares when the value peaked, leaving the victims - many of them senior citizens - penniless.
Prosecutors said he reported to a Genovese crime family associate and pocketed $112,000 in ill-gotten gains. He pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy in 2001.
Asked about his role in this swindle, Dacunto said, "I'm not going to tell you I'm an angel. It was the Wild West on Wall Street. I made stupid mistakes."
He spent 15 months in prison and, along with 60 co-defendants, was ordered to repay the $3.1 million stolen from the victims.
He repeatedly missed payments, records show, and in 2006, Manhattan Federal Judge Gerald Lynch threatened to toss him back in jail.
To date Dacunto has paid $2,171, records show. He's still fuming that the unsatisfied federal judgment tarnished his credit rating.
"It's affecting my life and my finances, and I'm about to sue the federal goverment," he said. "They cannot be allowed to get away with this."
Wave Chan, 42, a real estate agent on the lower East Side and the son of Chinese immigrants, sums up the movement's mantra: "I love my country," he said. "I fear my government."
Chan said he had never voted in his life - until rising anger over the humongous health care bill and bailouts that "robbed the needy to give to the greedy" led him to volunteer for Tea Party 365 in Manhattan.
He says he developed a rigorous work ethic laboring in his family's Chinese restaurant in Poughkeepsie: "I grew up washing dishes and peeling onions when I was 10 years old."
Like many in the movement, he carries a dog-eared copy of the U.S. Constitution at all times, as well as his birth certificate, photo ID and Social Security card.
"I do it to make a point," Chan said. "I don't care if President Obama was born in America or not - or if he was legally elected President or not. I just want to be able to prove I was born in America."
John Kenneth Press, 45, an administrator at an East Side hospital and president of the Brooklyn Tea Party, calls himself a champion of "culturism."
"It's the opposite of multi-culturalism," he explains. "It says we have a Western majority culture in this country - a European Judeo-Christian culture - and the right to protect and promote it."
He came east from L.A., where he taught history for eight years. His start-up Brooklyn chapter now has a Facebook page with 600 members.
After completing his doctorate in the history of education at New York University, Press worked as an adjunct professor at Vaughn College of Aeronautics in Flushing.
Asked where he wanted his picture taken, Press choose the iconic George Washington statue opposite the New York Stock Exchange. "He was one of the first culturists in the new republic," he said.


A hoax Facebook virus is spreading rapidly across the social network.
Many users have been hoodwinked into forwarding an inaccurate warning about the spread of non-existent malware that claims a girl committed suicide over a post her father wrote on her Facebook wall.
No such tragedy has occurred but many are forwarding the wrong-headed message (extract below) creating confusion in the process.
People are passing on the warning in the mistaken belief they are helping Facebook friends to avoid a threat. In reality, they are spreading a hoax about a non-existent virus infection. The bogus warning is arguably causing more of a nuisance than a genuine malware infection, according to net security firm Sophos.
It adds that miscreants have exploited the confusion created by the warning by establishing Facebook pages that supposedly offer pictures from the fictitious girl's Facebook wall, but are really designed to make money by tricking surfers into wasting their time completing online surveys of dubious merit.
Malware hoaxes were part and parcel of net life long before the advent of social networking. Surfers are advised to check out warnings with reputable sources before spreading them along.
Internet rumours suggest a girl called Emma killed herself on Christmas Eve 2008 after being bullied on Facebook. However, supposed extracts of conversations that led up to this "tragic event" show "Like" buttons, a feature Facebook only introduced months later.


Be the bearer of good - and delicious - tidings with these gifts.
7. Sweet Love. The Ritz-Carlton's new pastry chef Benjamin Siwek was inspired by his childhood in France to create this "Love" logcake which has dark chocolate mousse, blood orange biscuit, and gelee. The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, $78.


Like the miniskirts and long hair that raised eyebrows in an earlier era, body piercing has emerged as a '90s symbol of teenage rebellion. Pierced cheeks, eyebrows, tongues, navels, and unmentionables are popping up on teenagers across the nation, and the trend shows no signs of ebbing anytime soon.
Parents have complained to lawmakers that they have no say in their fashion-conscious teenagers' decisions to get pierced. Others worry about health risks of piercing--most commonly, treatable skin infections, but also the remote possibility of contracting infectious diseases such as hepatitis or AIDS from unsterilized piercing instruments.
Spurred by these concerns, state legislatures are reining in the trend. More than half of the nation's states have provisions on the books regulating the body-piercing industry, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Oregon, for example, require parental consent for minors seeking to get pierced. Several other states are debating the issue.
"This year was the year for body piercing and tattooing," said Lisa Speissegger, who covers health policy for the NCSL. As the trend spreads, she said, "I expect most legislatures will have looked into this."
Although it is under fire for allegedly misusing state money, the Lawrence, Mass., school district will have its entire $80 million budget for the 1997-1998 school year paid for by the state.
The payment arrangement is the result of the state's 1993 Education Reform Act, which gave a boost in state aid to poorer districts. Lawrence, the only district to be fully funded by the state, is Massachusetts' poorest.
But Education Commissioner Robert V. Antonucci has warned the district to watch its spending, or risk losing its underwriter.
Reports of the 11,650-student district's questionable spending surfaced last fall, and included revelations that reform dollars were being used for $3,000 laptop computers, cut flowers, and bagpipe lessons even as Lawrence High School was being stripped of its accreditation.
In February, Gov. William F. Weld appointed an audit board to investigate how Lawrence and the Bay State's 371 other districts are spending the $1.3 billion each year in additional aid made available by the 1993 law. The state auditor will release a report on school spending later this month.


The latest lawsuit to target the proposed Clippers arena in Inglewood alleges two city-linked boards violated state laws governing open meetings and the environmental impact of construction projects in June when they approved disposing of land connected to the plan.
In a complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the group Inglewood Residents Against Takings and Evictions asked for an injunction preventing the land’s transfer until the boards comply with the Brown Act and California’s Environmental Quality Act.
“The failure to adequately inform the public is consistent with and further evidence of the City of Inglewood’s deliberate attempts to obfuscate the true nature of actions taken to further the Clippers Arena Project,” the 27-page complaint said.
At least four other lawsuits related to the arena have been filed since the privately-financed project became public in June 2017. One of those lawsuits, also filed by the Hermosa Beach law firm Chatten-Brown & Carstens representing Inglewood Residents Against Takings and Evictions, is scheduled for a hearing in December.
The complaint last week accused the Successor Agency to the Inglewood Redevelopment Agency (composed of Butts and Inglewood’s four other City Council members) and the Oversight Board to the Successor Agency to the Inglewood Redevelopment Agency (on which Butts serves) of not informing the public that the disposition of 13 parcels of land was connected to the arena.
Neither meeting notice, required to be issued 72 hours before the gathering, noted the connection between the agenda items and the arena.
“The Oversight Board failed to inform the public that the properties are proposed to be disposed of pursuant to an agreement with extensive potential impacts on thousands of Inglewood residents and businesses,” the complaint said, adding that residents “could not have reasonably understood the nature of the action or the implications of the same” from the agenda language.
Most of the 13 parcels at issue, all vacant, are located along West Century Boulevard between South Prairie Avenue and South Yukon Avenue. Stan Kroenke’s 298-acre sports and entertainment complex that includes a stadium for the Rams and Chargers is under construction across the street.
The arena project is currently in an environmental review process that is expected to take 18 months. Eighty-four percent of the 23 acres that would include the arena, as well as a training facility, team offices, hotel and more, is owned by Inglewood or the two agencies.
Though the Clippers signed an exclusive negotiating agreement with Inglewood last year to explore building the arena, the team’s lease to play at Staples Center runs through 2024.
Developers are expected to release the first renderings for the arena this fall.


Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. CETV, -0.25% said Monday its board has decided to review its strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. The media and entertainment company operates in five Central and Eastern European markets with TV channels in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. AT&T Inc. T, +0.25% the company's biggest shareholder, supports the review, the company said in a statement. U.S.-listed shares were halted premarket for the news, but have fallen 15% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.16% has gained 8%.


Showing no signs of dilution in the rules governing the controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday wrote to chief ministers (CMs) of 10 states to keep the issue above party politics.
Chidambaram in his letter to the CMs said that power to arrest and search was “bare minimum” essential for the anti-terror organisation. This provision has come under strong criticism from the non-Congress ruled states on the ground that it would infringe on the state’s rights.
Chidambaram, who has written identical letters to the CMs opposing this clause, said he has asked Home Secretary R K Singh to convene a meeting of state police chiefs and heads of anti-terror agencies.
Chidambaram, however, rejected the charge that NCTC infringed on the rights of the states and said the agency derives its powers from the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 that was amended in 2008. “When the Bill was introduced in December 2008 to amend the Act, it was passed by both houses of Parliament. There was no demur or opposition,” he said in the letter.
Chief ministers of Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and West Bengal had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh charging that certain provisions of NCTC had trampled on the powers of the states.
Singh wrote back to them on Thursday saying he has asked the home minister to address their concerns. Chidambaram’s letter comes a day after the PM wrote to the agitated CMs.
“The powers conferred under Section 43(A) of the Act must be read with the duty under Section 43 (B) to produce the person or article without unnecessary delay before the nearest police station (which will be under the state government), and the SHO of the police station will take further action in accordance with the provisions of the CrPC,” he said.


The owner of a Lexington Domino's says he expects to do three or four times his normal business on Super Bowl Sunday.
You might be done unwrapping gifts, but what if someone missed the mark?
Nearly two years since Donald Trump took office, signs are mounting the presidency has hit his company hard.
Musk spoke on CBS' show "60 Minutes," broadcast Sunday evening.
The company once dominated the American landscape, but whether a smaller Sears can be viable remains in question.


The Financial Post’s Geoff Zochodne did a sweep of the big banks’ economists on Oct. 1 and found that the received wisdom now is that the Bank of Canada will quicken its march to a more normal policy setting.
Bank of Montreal promptly added an extra quarter-point lift to his outlook for 2019, predicting a benchmark rate of 2.5 per cent within the next 12 months or so, a full percentage point higher than the current setting. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce assumes the Bank of Canada will go ahead with an increase later this month and then follow that move with another one in January, earlier than its previous forecast. Derek Burleton of Toronto-Dominion Bank also said a hike on Oct. 24 was “virtually cemented” and that the smart money now is on three additional increases next year, rather than two.
The reason the professional forecasters pivoted so quickly was because logic was on their side. The central bank had identified trade uncertainty as a drag on business investment. With that anchor removed, Canada’s economy should be able to push through other headwinds with more vigour. Faster growth would spark faster inflation, leaving Canada’s central bank with little choice but to raise interest rates to constrain prices.
“We continue to expect the Bank of Canada to resume monetary policy tightening on Oct. 24 in a context where it is hard to justify keeping interest rates below inflation now that uncertainty surrounding U.S.-Canada trade has dissipated,” Matthieu Arseneau of National Bank Financial said on Oct. 5 after Statistics Canada’s latest hiring survey showed the unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 per cent in September, one of the lowest levels on record.
All that makes sense. Still, let’s pump the brakes a little. It’s too soon to predict with so much certainty that the new NAFTA will alter Canada’s interest-rate path. It’s possible Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump hasn’t changed much of anything.
What was the surprise on Oct. 1? The introduction of a statute that would give Washington influence over Canada’s dealings with China came out of nowhere, that’s for sure. But most, including Stephen Poloz, the Bank of Canada governor, assumed the talks themselves would get sorted.
Before this week, the prevailing assumption was that failure to resolve NAFTA by the Sept. 30 deadline set by the Trump administration would have forced Poloz and his deputies to leave the benchmark rate unchanged on Oct. 24, like they did at the previous policy meeting in September.
Actually, that would have depended on market reaction and feedback from the central bank’s contacts in the real economy. Policymakers have stated explicitly that they intend to raise interest rates gradually, and the data since its pause on Sept. 5 have been fairly strong. The Bank of Canada estimates that a “normal” benchmark interest rate — one that neither encourages borrowing nor impedes it — is between 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent. That’s still a long way from where the benchmark rate is now, so policymakers might have been prepared to raise rates even if negotiations had collapsed.
The NAFTA talks were noise, not signal; the signal will be in indicators of business investment, and we don’t have those yet. The first good look will come when the Bank of Canada releases its next Business Outlook Survey, on Dec. 21. Policymakers put a lot of weight on that report, but it only reveals intentions. Poloz will want to see evidence of actual spending, too, and that will require patience. Consider: David Bensadoun, chief executive of ALDO Group Inc., told me in an interview last month that it would take six to nine months for him to simply shift from one supplier in Asia to another. It will be well into 2019 before the central bank decides if it can stop worrying about business investment.
Unlike most of their counterparts on Bay Street, the economists at RBC Capital Markets were unmoved by the week’s big trade story. Non-energy exports have been slow to catch fire despite a couple of years of strong global demand. Uncertainty is part of the problem, but a bigger one probably is that Canada has been muscled out of its traditional export markets by more aggressive competitors, according to RBC.
A new free-trade agreement that looks a lot like the old free-trade agreement won’t fix Canada’s competitiveness issues. One of the reasons the Bank of Canada has promised to raise interest rates gradually is because the country’s exporters need a crutch. That didn’t change overnight on Sept. 30.