Faith-based political parties are hoping religious youths will vote for them in the May 8 elections.
The number two spot on the Al Jama-ah election candidate list is Aisha Nontobeko Mkhwanazi, a second-year student from KwaZulu-Natal.
The party’s leader, Ganief Hendricks, said Mkhwanazi joined the party after criticising it for not taking the concerns of Muslim youths on board in its election manifesto.
Hendricks said Mkhwanazi is the face of the party’s youths and their aspirations, adding that Al Jama-ah hopes to get at least three seats in Parliament.
“We are concerned that young, black, female Muslims feel marginalised,” he said. “Aisha is black, young; she wears the hijab.
Mkhwanazi (23) said the ANC, her former political home, did not “use Islam as the basis of their political ideology”.
In the 2014 election, Al Jama-ah narrowly missed winning a seat in Parliament. It did better in the 2016 local government elections, winning 36 238 votes. It now holds nine seats in six municipalities, including two in Cape Town, one in Johannesburg and one in Ethekwini.
The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) is also going all out to attract young voters, particularly in the Western Cape, where it has one seat in the provincial legislature.
Jobs and unemployment were high on the agenda, Swartz said. “Youth have realised that, with a godly organisation, things will take place. We don’t make promises, we give them our word,” he said.
The new Christian Political Movement is also trying to attract Christian votes. But those votes may be hard to come by. Statistics South Africa’s General Household Survey shows that 86% of South Africans describe themselves as Christians, but the ACDP won only 0.57% of the vote in 2014, which gave it just three seats in the legislature.
At 21, does Y tune into youth?


A plane flies over Mitiga airport following clashes, in Tripoli, Libya, Jan. 15, 2018.
Heavily armed Libyan militias clashed in Tripoli on Monday, killing at least 20 people and forcing the capital's only airport to close, officials said.
The Health Ministry said another 63 people were wounded in the fighting between two militias that are ostensibly allied with the internationally-backed government, underscoring the lingering instability in the country seven years after a popular uprising toppled long-ruling dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Civilians were among the dead, including an airline employee who was trying to get home after Matiga airport shut down. An airport official said staffers were evacuated from Matiga airport and that five flights have been canceled. A picture posted on the airport's Facebook page showed a passenger plane with its roof blown off.
The Special Deterrent Force, a militia which controls the airport, was fighting a rival militia led by local strongman Bashir al-Baqara. Both are allied with the internationally recognized government in Tripoli. A rival government and parliament rule in Libya's east, but across the country real power is held by a dizzying array of armed groups.
The Presidency Council — one of the three ruling bodies in Tripoli — said al-Baqara's men wanted to release suspected al-Qaida and Islamic State members held at a prison near the airport that is also run by the Special Deterrent Force. The government has ordered al-Baqara's men to hand over their weapons and disband.
Special Deterrent Force spokesman Ahmed bin Salem said four of his men were killed. He said the situation is now under control, and that a number of the attackers were arrested while trying to storm the prison. On its Facebook page, the force says the prison houses 2,500 detainees.
The chaos in Libya has made it a major transit point for migrants from across Africa and the Middle East hoping to reach Europe.
On Monday, the coast guard intercepted three boats carrying at least 300 migrants bound for Europe, according to Ayoub Gassim, the spokesman for Libya's navy. The boats departed from different points near Tripoli and the coastal city of Sabratha, he said.


One of the big gripes about the iPad is the fact that typing on a tablet, well, stinks. There's quite a few options coming out to deal with this situation, and one of the most versatile is Zagg's new Zaggmate case.
Offered with or without a built in keyboard, the Zaggmate protects the iPad as well as providing a clip on stand that allows you to view your iPad horizontally or vertically. The full QUERTY keyboard offers full function for easier typing when playing with Pages or typing out your next novel at Starbucks when you forgot your Macbook. No set date for release is out; Zaggmate with keyboard will run $99.99 while the version without a keyboard is "only" $69.99.


Jane Fonda calls off wedding?
Veteran actress Jane Fonda has reportedly called off her wedding with record producer Richard Perry.
The 74-year-old Oscar-winning star, who has been married three times, has told friends that he does not want to jinx her relationship with Perry by making him husband number four, reported the National Enquirer.
"The wedding's off and Jane's attitude right now is, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it," a source said. Since the pair started dating, they seriously considered tying the knot multiple times. "But Jane said she could never find the time. She loves him too much to make him just another husband," the source added.


Dimensions Business Development team in the London and East region are looking for a Referrals and Assessment Manager to join our team. We are looking for an enthusiastic, motivated person to work with commissioners, care management teams and families to develop and design support services for people with learning disabilities and autism. You will be part of an ambitious, positive business development team and you will be integral to the growth of our business.
Dimensions UK have a 100% CQC good or outstanding rating in all of our services, and this role will be an opportunity to join an organisation that is delivering great support, within a role that helps to design and create great new support for people who we are not working with yet.
Working in the London and East region, the successful candidate will be based in our Luton (LU5) office, however there is also scope to work from home as required.
Has strong presentation skills, including writing persuasively.
If you have any questions and would like to discuss the role in more detail, please call 07860 923432.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, will visit Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar from Nov. 8 to 20 to push for peace negotiations with the Afghan Taliban, the State Department said on Thursday.
Khalilzad met Taliban leaders in Qatar last month as part of efforts to find a way to end the 17-year-long war in Afghanistan, according to the Islamist group that was ousted from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001.
The Taliban are fighting the U.S.-backed Kabul government to re-impose strict Islamic law and have stepped up attacks in strategic provinces.
A statement by the U.S. embassy in Kabul about Khalilzad’s diplomatic tour in October did not confirm his meeting with the Taliban.


Miami - A new treatment, using microparticles made from chitosan, may help dairy cattle resist uterine diseases and could help improve food safety for people. New research suggests chitosan microparticles kill bacteria.
Uterine illnesses in cows are a major concern. This is because they can make cows infertile, lower milk production and could potentially pose a risk to consumers.
To find a way to kill bacterial infections in the uteri of cows – especially Escherichia coli – a research team selected chitosan (an antimicrobial material derived from dissolved shrimp shells). To explore this, the team infused chitosan microparticles into diseased cow uteri. The results appeared to be successful with most of the infectious bacteria killed.
New compounds are needed to fight infections, especially because dangerous infections are diminishing the role of some antibiotics, making them less able to treat infections. This is also important in the context of a recent news item on the Digital Journal. Here it was reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked 26 companies to voluntarily stop labeling drugs important for treating human infection as acceptable for animal growth promotion.
Many farmers add antibiotics to animal feed or drinking water of cattle, hogs, poultry and other food-producing animals to help them gain weight faster or use less food to gain weight. One side-issue is that antibiotics can often end up in the environment - for example ending up in streams, being spread to crops as fertilizer, or getting carried around by birds - and so they are potentially a threat to public health. This, according to the Washington Post, relates to health issues with the human body and the accelerated rate of bacteria becoming resistant to the very drugs that are designed to kill them.
The research team hope that someday it will be possible for chitosan microparticles to be used to help humans who have become ill from consuming E. coli contaminated food.
The study was carried out at the University of Florida and led by Kwang Cheol Jeong, an assistant professor in animal sciences and UF's Emerging Pathogens Institute.


MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A long nightmare for dozens of seniors at Madison Tower apartments is finally over.
The heat and hot water is finally back on after nine days in the cold. But while residents are happy now, many say it’s only a matter of time before something else goes wrong.
"It was freezing," said resident Johnny Tharp, who said he had to sleep covered in coats and blankets, and heat up water to put in his bathtub.
The taxpayer-subsidized high-rise is full of seniors, many of them disabled.
The problem started nine days ago, when two main water lines backed up and flooded the basement, damaging the boiler and furnace. Management kept telling tenants they were working on a fix.
A spokesman for the property says it took time to find needed parts. Tharpe believes it.
"You know, this building is too old to be even standing here," he said.
The spokesman also says management is coming up with ways to stop it from happening again, but tenants are skeptical.
"Been happening for the past 10 years that I've been here," Tharpe said.
Tharpe says lots of other things go wrong too.
"I hope it doesn't, but something else is going to break down today, probably."
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development investigated this latest incident, as did city code enforcement, which cited the property for no hot water and heat.
"I'd like to try to move somewhere but my rent is so cheap, I just got to hang here," Tharpe said.
Code Enforcement was supposed to inspect the property Thursday. WREG is waiting on those results and an update concerning the HUD investigation.


One document may contain patent, trademark and copyright protection for different reasons.
1 Are You Required to Put TM Next to a Pending Trademark?
2 "Differences Between a Copyright, Trademark & Registration"
Intellectual property is “imagination made real,” according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Your intellectual property is a business asset and warrants protection from unauthorized use. Three ways to protect your intellectual property are patents, trademarks and copyrights. Each intellectual property type is distinct, and the form of protection depends on the form of your content.
A patent is intellectual property protection for an invention. There are three types of patents according to the Patent Office: utility, design and plant. A utility patent protects the functional aspects of an invention, such as a new machine. A design patent protects the ornamental appearance of an invention, such as the color and shape of a new machine. A plant patent protects the inventor of a new method to asexually reproduce a new variety of plant. The most common business patents are utility and design.
A patent application must be filed with the Patent Office and, if approved, generally lasts for 20 years from the file date. Once filed, the Patent Office will inform you if provisional status has been granted that allows you to use “patent pending” in public documentation. Later, if approved, you will be assigned a specific patent number to replace "patent pending."
A trademark is intellectual property protection for a single word, phrase, symbol, sound or colors that distinguish one company, product or service from another. For example, the name of your company, tagline, product name and color scheme can all be protected by a trademark. A non-registered trademark is one identified by first use in commerce and represented by “TM” in superscript. A registered trademark is represented by an “R” within a circle in superscript and can only be used after an approved filing with the Patent Office. A registered trademark includes several benefits over a non-registered one, including federal legal standing of ownership and a basis to obtain international registration. Registered trademarks can be renewed indefinitely.
Trademarks usually focus on your specific industry rather than general protection. For instance, if you own a sports equipment company and your logo uses purple and orange, you may qualify for registered trademark protection within the sports equipment industry, but a printing company may also use those colors prominently in their logo without infringement.
A copyright is intellectual property protection for a published or non-published original work of authorship in a tangible format. For example, a painting, music, poem, novel and -- in business -- brochure copy, website content and user guide instructions. A copyright is represented by a “c” within a circle and protects the holder from unauthorized use, copying and resale of content. It may be non-registered or registered. Your original work of authorship is automatically protected once you present it in tangible form, such as uploading new content to your website or distributing a printed product brochure. Registration offers the benefit of legal standing if you wish to sue another party for infringement. Copyright registration is done through the U.S. Copyright Office.
You are not required to formally register a patent, trademark or copyright, but doing so provides you with added legal protection. Depending on the nature of your business, you may never face a patent need, but you almost certainly will have trademark and copyright intellectual property; you can choose to register either, neither or both.
For example, if you own a carpet cleaning business, your brochure might include a non-registered trademark next to your business name, a registered trademark next to your Patent Office-approved and registered carpet cleaning machine name, the words “patent pending” under a diagram of your new machine and a copyright notice at the end of your brochure protecting all of your original copy within it.
FindLaw; Patent, Trademark, and Trade Secret; Mark F. Radcliffe, et al.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: What Is Intellectual Property?
Amie Martin has more than 20 years of publishing experience in proofreading, editing, writing, design and layout. She writes for various websites, specializing in branding, marketing and technical communications. Martin has an Associate of Applied Science in merchandising from Bay State College and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Martin, Amie. "Patent Pending vs. Registered Trademark vs. Copyright." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/patent-pending-vs-registered-trademark-vs-copyright-24236.html. Accessed 18 April 2019.
"Intellectual Property, Trademark, Copyright & Patent Law"


It's that time of year again...to buy your tickets to the annual Taste of Arlington! If you buy online before Saturday, a $20 ticket will provide you with 8 Tastes. Tickets will also be sold Sunday at the street festival for $25.
Taste of Arlington is one of the most popular annual events in Arlington that turns the Ballston area into a fun street festival. This year’s Taste of Arlington is this Sunday, May 22 from 12:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.
The street fair will happen rain or shine and will include singing and dancing performances by local artists, games for kids, and tons of food and drink from local vendors. Over local 40 restaurants will be participating, and attendance is expected to be around 15,000 throughout the day.
Catherine Haynes was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. When she received word of the tornados hitting her hometown and surrounding areas, she decided to take action locally.
Soon after hearing about the great losses in her family’s neighborhood, Catherine Haynes was talking to her husband and said, “I feel helpless and I don’t feel like I can help my parents. I feel like we ought to get together and try to help the community as a whole, since I am not there to actually help them get the tree off the house, or get the yard straight."
The couple decided to put the relief effort online and see how many people they could get behind them. The Facebook fan page has grown to over 160 “likes” and is a place where you can find the various drop-off locations, as well as a list of supplies needed. Home goods have become a particular identified need by the aid centers.


Want More on the Common Core?
Education Week can help. You can read all about it in this special report we've put together on the Common Core State Standards.


The process describes a way to move the glass mold in-process in order to change the shape of the glass without cracking or weakening the material.
December 28, 2012, 9:32 a.m.
Is the scene being set for the next mega-battle between Samsung and Apple? Mere days after Samsung announced it will be showing off its flexible, bendable display technology at CES 2013, Apple has been granted a patent for — you guessed it — bending glass.
Apple’s patent doesn’t cover flexible screens, though, and it does not preclude other companies from developing products with curved displays. Instead, it simply details a novel method for bending glass during the “slumping” process of glass manufacturing.
Apple’s process describes a way to move the glass mold in-process in order to dynamically change the shape of the glass without cracking or weakening the material. The patent says the process could be used to create glass covers for portable electronics and larger displays alike.
Does that mean we’ll see crazily curved MacBooks and iPhones before the year is out? Don’t count on it. For one thing, Apple applies for and is granted a dozen-plus patents week in and week out, covering a wide range of applications and device types. Many of these patents are never actually used in consumer products.
This story was originally written for LAPTOP and is republished with permission here. Copyright 2012 LAPTOP.
The process describes a way to move the glass mold in-process in order to change the shape without cracking or weakening the material.


RELATED: DRIVING rain and hail, and blustery winds are no netballer’s concept of ideal conditions, particularly if you happen to be a goal shooter. But if those adverse weather conditions were meant to curtail performance on Saturday, nobody sent Bridgewater’s Olivia Treloar the memo. The Mean Machine’s star young sharpshooter made a mockery of the atrocious conditions at Bridgewater, to deliver an outstanding best on court display in her club’s first A-grade premiership since 2011. Treloar, who shared a LVFNL B-grade best and fairest award win with Mitiamo midcourter Amelia Ludeman in 2015, has steadily become a force to be reckoned with at A-grade level with her precise shooting and formidable presence in the goal circle. Earlier this season she earned inter-league selection in the LVFNL team, which defeated Golden Rivers at the Queen Elizabeth Oval, and this month polled eight votes in the Helen Ward Medal league best and fairest count, won by team-mate Jessey Wilson. Her eight votes contributed to a league-high total of 64 from her Mean Machine team-mates. Had votes been allocated during the finals series, Treloar might well have earned them in her team’s semi-final win against Newbridge and preliminary final win over Mitiamo, and most certainly would have polled three in Saturday’s win against Calivil United. Her own coach Claudia Powell described Treloar’s game as “amazing, especially in the last quarter,” while rival coach Karen Pascoe branded her a difference-maker. “She shot beautifully – as you saw with our goalers and with the weather conditions it wasn’t easy,” Pascoe said. “But Olivia was very composed and shot beautifully through the whole game. “She really deserves that medal.” Treloar was at the peak of her powers when it counted most, scoring eight of her game-high 29 goals in the first quarter to help the Mean Machine to a six goal quarter lead, and 10 in the final quarter after the Demons had pulled within three goals at the final change of end. She was the only player on either side to score double figures in any quarter of the grand final. For her part, a humble Treloar was just pleased to have played her role in a special premiership win, alongside a great bunch of friends, and against a much-respected rival. “It was horrible conditions at the start, but the sun came out right at the end, which was good timing – better late than never,” she said. “I was getting a bit worried there for a while when they came back, but somehow in that last quarter we kept going and were able to finish it off. “We knew they would be tough; we did manage to beat them in the first two games this season, but they really came out firing in our first final and played an amazing game. “We only lost that final by three (goals), which made us that even more determined to give it another huge crack today.” Treloar was adamant the qualifying loss to the Demons had been a driving factor in Saturday’s premiership. “It really gave us motivation and kicked our butts into gear,” she said. “There was a sense ‘we could actually be out of finals’, so when we played (in the next two finals) we fought extra hard to get back here (on grand final day). “Calivil United did an amazing job to beat Mitiamo to get straight into the grand final and really had a great season.” The now premiership player said she had tried to keep her grand final preparation as low key as possible. “I just tried to keep it like every other week and not to think about it too much, but of course there is always going to be nerves coming into a grand final,” Treloar said. She praised first-year coach Claudia Powell as a ‘great inclusion’ and ‘great asset’ to the club.
DRIVING rain and hail, and blustery winds are no netballer’s concept of ideal conditions, particularly if you happen to be a goal shooter.
But if those adverse weather conditions were meant to curtail performance on Saturday, nobody sent Bridgewater’s Olivia Treloar the memo.
The Mean Machine’s star young sharpshooter made a mockery of the atrocious conditions at Bridgewater, to deliver an outstanding best on court display in her club’s first A-grade premiership since 2011.
Treloar, who shared a LVFNL B-grade best and fairest award win with Mitiamo midcourter Amelia Ludeman in 2015, has steadily become a force to be reckoned with at A-grade level with her precise shooting and formidable presence in the goal circle.
Earlier this season she earned inter-league selection in the LVFNL team, which defeated Golden Rivers at the Queen Elizabeth Oval, and this month polled eight votes in the Helen Ward Medal league best and fairest count, won by team-mate Jessey Wilson.
Her eight votes contributed to a league-high total of 64 from her Mean Machine team-mates.
Had votes been allocated during the finals series, Treloar might well have earned them in her team’s semi-final win against Newbridge and preliminary final win over Mitiamo, and most certainly would have polled three in Saturday’s win against Calivil United.
Her own coach Claudia Powell described Treloar’s game as “amazing, especially in the last quarter,” while rival coach Karen Pascoe branded her a difference-maker.
“She shot beautifully – as you saw with our goalers and with the weather conditions it wasn’t easy,” Pascoe said.
“But Olivia was very composed and shot beautifully through the whole game.
Treloar was at the peak of her powers when it counted most, scoring eight of her game-high 29 goals in the first quarter to help the Mean Machine to a six goal quarter lead, and 10 in the final quarter after the Demons had pulled within three goals at the final change of end.
She was the only player on either side to score double figures in any quarter of the grand final.
For her part, a humble Treloar was just pleased to have played her role in a special premiership win, alongside a great bunch of friends, and against a much-respected rival.
“It was horrible conditions at the start, but the sun came out right at the end, which was good timing – better late than never,” she said.
“I was getting a bit worried there for a while when they came back, but somehow in that last quarter we kept going and were able to finish it off.
Olivia Treloar steps up on LVFNL netball's grandest stage.
“We knew they would be tough; we did manage to beat them in the first two games this season, but they really came out firing in our first final and played an amazing game.
Treloar was adamant the qualifying loss to the Demons had been a driving factor in Saturday’s premiership.
“It really gave us motivation and kicked our butts into gear,” she said.
“There was a sense ‘we could actually be out of finals’, so when we played (in the next two finals) we fought extra hard to get back here (on grand final day).
The now premiership player said she had tried to keep her grand final preparation as low key as possible.
“I just tried to keep it like every other week and not to think about it too much, but of course there is always going to be nerves coming into a grand final,” Treloar said.
She praised first-year coach Claudia Powell as a ‘great inclusion’ and ‘great asset’ to the club.


US ambassador Ryan Crocker said the US strongly condemned the killing of Ghulam Haidar Hamidi by a suicide bomber in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Mr Hamidi's death comes two weeks after the assassination of the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the same city.
Mr Crocker said the attack was "indication again of both the challenges that Afghanistan faces, but also the extraordinary resilience of the Afghan government and people."
Afghan forces are due to take over full security control by 2014 as foreign troops withdraw. This has given rise to fears this will lead to a resurgence in violence by the Taliban, a prospect the ambassador rejects.
"I would judge that the Taliban is now damaged to the point where they can no longer conduct field operations and they have had to regroup and figure out what they can do and in some cases that has been assassinations,” he said.


Here’s why I support Proposition 112 and the 2,500-foot drilling setbacks.
1. There has been, to my knowledge, no study or statement or information that supports the premise that the affects of oil and gas drilling and residual effects of transportation, water and chemicals, noise, etc. are healthy for humans, animals, communities. There have been some studies that claim that they have not found direct adverse effects within 500 feet of drilling, but no studies showing it is healthy and other studies saying there may be negative health effects. Those living close to drilling pads have had adverse health and living conditions.
2. The opposition and funding against Prop 112 comes primarily from the oil and gas industry. The dire economic effects and the neutral health and livability claims come from the very industry that profits from the 500-foot setback. Should I believe the industry about benign health effects and economic Armageddon? Should we have believed the tobacco industry about the safety of cigarettes, the mining industry about coal dust, the pharma industry about thalidomide, the agra/chemical industry about DDT, the financial industry about mortgage bonds?
3. While Garfield County may be impacted in a negative manner by increased setbacks, much of that impact has already been felt in the past. The oil and gas industry seems to react more to commodity prices than regulation. In recent years, prices have been down and hence drilling and related employment and county revenues have been down, in spite of the current setback rules. While the industry has contributed greatly to our county coffers, it has also been a major cause of unemployment and bankruptcy and unpredictability. The cyclical nature of the business led to the Black Sunday of 1982, as well as other dramatic pull backs and heartbreak in recessions and downturns in oil and gas prices. While we benefit from the industry here in GarCo, we have also paid a high price for that revenue and we need to continue to seek diversity and stability and safety for our residents.
4. According to the reports in September, over $21 million has been spent opposing 112 and about $700,000 for 112. Follow the money. Major donors fighting 112 “include Anadarko, $5.8 million; Noble Energy Inc., $4.5 million; PDC Energy, $3.4 million; and Extraction Oil and Gas, $2.2 million.” I question the motive of profit and revenue over safety and caution. I’ll take David over Goliath.
5. If profitable, the oil and gas industry will find ways to deal with safer setbacks. The technology of directional drilling and horizontal drilling and extraction has continued to improve and will likely continue to do so if prices are right.
All in all, I favor the “underdog” of citizens more concerned about safety and livability than corporate profit. I choose not to endorse the scare tactics and dire predictions of the industry. If legislators, COGCC and the industry had been more responsive to requests and concerns of many citizens, a more flexible solution may have emerged.
Sumner Schachter is a Glenwood Springs resident and identifies as an unaffiliated voter.


Texas native Blake Mycoskie is a man on a mission. The founder of California-based TOMS, the innovative company that shot to success by giving a pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair sold, spent two years scouting for the perfect location for a standalone Austin store. He finally found it.
The new TOMS store, only the company’s second free-standing outpost (the first is in Venice, California), opens March 11 in a renovated Victorian house “with a lot of history to it” at 1401 S. Congress Ave.
“We are trying to create a real space for the community,” Mycoskie says. “I don’t like to even call it a store. It’s more of a community space, a cafe, a meeting place for people who are inspired by what we are doing and doing other great things themselves.” Babies and dogs are welcome too, he adds.
Only half of the 2,400-square-foot property will be devoted to retail; the other half will be for hanging out, with a lot of indoor and outdoor seating and a tree house in the back for private meetings or for customers just looking for some quiet time.
Mycoskie grew up in Arlington, graduated from St. Stephens Episcopal School in Austin and spent two years at SMU before dropping out to start his first business. He founded TOMS in 2006 after a trip to Argentina. He volunteered with a local nonprofit to deliver used shoes to needy children, which inspired the idea to sell an updated version of the alpargata (a shoe made of canvas or cotton, with a sole of rope or rubber material) and donate shoes in a “one for one” business model.
Since then TOMS has donated more than 10 million shoes around the world. Mycoskie has also expanded the product line with a popular series of brogues and other manly styles, as well as limited edition collections to benefit Ben Affleck’s Eastern Congo Initiative and Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project.
For spring, the privately held company collaborated with home furnishings designer Jonathan Adler on a collection of colorful unisex styles.
In 2011, Mycoskie launched TOMS Eyewear; for every pair of glasses sold, people in need receive prescription glasses, sight-saving surgery or medical treatment. The Austin store will feature an array of glasses for sale in addition to shoes.
Mycoskie’s Texas ties run deep. He decided to take a sabbatical in 2012, so he gave up day-to-day control of the business and moved to Austin. He got married and enjoyed the good life.
Mycoskie plans to open more standalone stores, including Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, which he says are some of the best markets for TOMS products.
He and his wife began commuting to Los Angeles last summer and moved there permanently in November, so he could be close to the business, although he says they make regular visits to Austin, and he’s excited to have a place to hang out when the store opens.
On his next trip to Austin for SXSW Interactive, the 37-year-old entrepreneur plans to reveal TOMS’ latest top-secret endeavor (at exactly 3 pm on March 11). He is tightlipped about the new product, referring a questioner to the company’s Instagram and Twitter pages, where a campaign called #Onedecision is underway.
“We’re saying that with this new product, we are going to be asking people to change one decision they have made in their life,” he says. “By changing this one decision, which can seem like a simple decision, it can have a big impact on people.
Mycoskie plans to aggressively open more standalone stores across the country, including Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, which he says are some of the best markets for TOMS products. But he won’t do it without finding the right locations, just as he did in Austin.
“It’s more about having the perfect space. I’m not going to rush it,” he says, adding that he welcomes suggestions for the perfect location for a community-based TOMS store in those cities.


HOUSTON, June 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. unit of Venezuela’s state-run oil producer PDVSA is increasing purchases of crude on the open market because it cannot get sufficient deliveries from its struggling parent company, traders said on Monday.
Citgo Petroleum has been buying crude from multiple countries worldwide as PDVSA has been unable to comply with the contractual volume of heavy crude due to falling output and port congestion slowing deliveries, according to the traders.
Declining oil production, lawsuits by creditors, shortages of spare parts for terminals and executive braindrain have all reduced PDVSA’s ability to export oil. Most recently, U.S.-based ConocoPhillips’ actions to seize PDVSA assets to cash in on a $2 billion arbitration award have added to the firm’s export issues.
Crude exports are Venezuela’s main source of revenue, but the OPEC member has seen deliveries fall sharply in the last few months, dropping to 1.17 million barrels per day (bpd) in May from 1.24 million bpd in April, according to Thomson Reuters trade flows data.
Citgo in recent weeks has been buying Colombian and Ecuadorean heavy crude on the spot market, as well as Azeri Light from the Black Sea region and Arab heavy and medium crudes, according to the Reuters data and traders.
From January through April, Citgo was the customer most affected by PDVSA’s inability to fulfill its contracts, according to the Venezuelan company’s internal data. PDVSA’s oil output this year has fallen to 1.62 million bpd, a 33-year low.
Citgo has a 273,000-bpd contract to import Venezuelan Merey crude from PDVSA, but PDVSA has not sent a single cargo of that grade in over a month, forcing Citgo to buy spot cargoes of diluted crude oil (DCO) from joint ventures, according to the traders and Reuters data.
PDVSA has sent other grades, including Corocoro and Pedernales, but only in small volumes.
“They are mainly looking for Latin American heavy grades,” said a trader who sold two spot crude cargoes to Citgo for June delivery.
Citgo can process up to 749,000 bpd of crude in three U.S. refineries. In the past, PDVSA supplied as much as 40 percent of Citgo’s crude requirements, but volumes have been slowly declining for years.
The subsidiary has a “contingency plan” for diversifying imports if Venezuelan supply declines further, according to a Citgo employee, who declined to be identified as the information was private. The plan has not yet been activated, the person added.
As of June 11, PDVSA had 23 million barrels worth of crude to be shipped from the port of Jose and through new ship-to-ship (STS) transfers off its Paraguana Refining Center (CRP), according to Reuters vessel tracking and trade flows data.
Since early June, PDVSA has been notifying customers about its need to employ STS operations. The backlog has decreased to 72 vessels this week from over 80 tankers last week, according to Reuters data, as PDVSA has focused on loading the largest vessels first and rejected nominations for receiving new tankers in June until it finishes loading those already in line.
Large tankers chartered by Valero Energy, Vitol, Nayara Energy and Reliance Energy of India, and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) were waiting on Monday near Jose port for crude.
ConocoPhillips’ bid to claim $2 billion from arbitration led to a tanker backlog representing nearly a month’s worth of shipments at its main terminal.
Citgo was expecting to receive about 6 million barrels of Venezuelan Merey crude in June, one of the traders said.
Instead, it imported a 516,000-barrel cargo of DCO that discharged last week and several other cargoes of the same grade have set sail to its refineries, according to the Reuters data.
The pressure for Venezuelan oil eased up slightly in early June as Citgo’s 157,500-bpd Corpus Christi refinery halted its fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) due to a fire.
But declining production of upgraded crude at PDVSA’s joint ventures in the Orinoco Belt, the country’s largest producing region, has limited the barrels Citgo normally could access in place of Merey.
Of four crude ventures that process up to 620,000 bpd of oil for exports, two are undergoing maintenance and a third is expected to start major maintenance later this month, according to two sources close to the projects.


The sport of Rowing is taking off in Cleveland thanks to The Foundry!
Rowing is a popular sport in cities like Boston and Philadelphia but it’s also taking off right here in Cleveland thanks to the Foundry, a relatively new rowing center located on the Cuyahoga River in the Flats that focuses on youth and students. The Foundry’s Rowing Head Coach, Alyssa Trebilcock, sat down with Hollie and Alexa today and shared more.
Can you describe what makes the Foundry special?
If I’m a student or the parent of a student, why should I consider rowing?
What are the benefits of the sport?
Beside fitness, teamwork, and self-esteem – great values for every child to acquire – I also understand that rowing is the sport that provides more college scholarships to girls. Why is that?
I know the Foundry is a relatively new organization, but have you already seen some young women go onto college on scholarship?
What programs do you offer if a student wants to learn to row?
At what ages do you start?
Speaking of scholarships, does the Foundry offer financial aid to families that may not be able to afford the fee?
How do you teach it, especially to students who have never rowed before?
How long does it take to go from your indoor tanks to the rowing on the river?
Do students row alone or as part of a team?
Once a student finishes the Foundry’s Learn to Row program, what’s next?
You’re a coach and I assume also a rower. Can you tell us about other members of your coaching staff? I understand you have an Olympic rower who was Coach of the Year at Stanford University.
So, as an adult, let’s say that I wanted to learn to the row or start rowing for fitness. Do you have programs for someone who want to learn the sport or use it as a fitness exercise?
Lastly, I understand the Foundry actually has a Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) school located directly in its building. That’s amazing! Can you tell us more about it, and do those students row for their gym class?
Do you enjoy rowing? Tweet us @LIVEONLakeside or find us on Facebook/Instagram at LIVE on Lakeside and let us know!


Fleet Treat Fleet Street’s Morgan Hotel has completed a €15 million investment and redesign. Now, with the addition of a fifth floor, the hotel boasts 168 bedrooms, the 10 Fleet Street Restaurant, The Lobby Lounge and 10 Fleet Street Bar with 120 employees now manning the Templebar bolthole. For bookings and more information visit themorgan.com.
Family Affair A Monaghan history buff and his daughter have launched a series of self-guided cycling routes through the county’s drumlin townlands. Paddy and Joanna McQuaid’s tours are packed full of hidden history. Rent a bike from Paddy’s Emyvale-based convenience store for €15 per day for a regular bike or €35 per day for an electric bike to experience the region in a unique way; drumlintrails.com.
Strandhill First Strandhill Tourism, Co Sligo, has launched its first ever campaign this summer in the shape of a new video highlighting all there is to see and do in the vibrant surf village and peninsula along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. It’s a must-see for all. Search #StrandhillMoments and visit gostrandhill.com/family for more.
Delightful Dubrovnik Visit Croatia this summer and experience the best of the city with the Hotel Excelsior Dubrovnik. Stay at the five-star overlooking both the Adriatic and the ancient Old Town, and enjoy two nights’ accommodation with breakfast each morning, a bottle of wine upon arrival, a Dubrovnik Daily Card which grants access to dozens of sights including the Natural History Museum, Dubrovnik City Walls and Art Gallery Dubrovnik, access to hotel’s Wellness & Spa facilities and a late check-out from €381; adriaticluxuryhotels.com.


As a Personal Financial Representative in Rochester, I know many local families. My knowledge and understanding of the people in this community help me provide customers with an outstanding level of service. I look forward to helping families like yours protect the things that are important - your family, home, car and more. I can also help you prepare a strategy to achieve your financial goals.
Posted on May 13, 2014. Brought to you by getfave.


U Myint Kyaw Thu says he wanted to make games since he was a five-year-old playing Nintendo.
But growing up in Burma, now Myanmar, there was no internet and precious few mobile phones.
So when he founded Total Gameplay Studio with his brother in 2005, he had to develop games for international buyers, sometimes living nocturnally to capitalise on Myanmar's limited electricity - the domestic market just wasn't developed enough.
But since the recent liberalisation of Myanmar's telecoms market, millions have embraced mobile in a land where SIM cards used to cost $1,000.
Now he can do what he always wanted to do from the start - develop games for mobile about his own culture.
One enables players to guide a bicycle rickshaw driver through soaking-wet streets during Thingyan - Myanmar's New Year celebration; another involves playing chinlone - the country's traditional sport of highly stylised "keepy-uppy".
"When the government announced new telcos were coming, we believed there would be a lot of mobile users. I thought the Myanmar market would become mature enough to support the local game industry, so we decided to be part of it and try to promote it," he says.
Total Gameplay says it now has about 200,000 players on its platform.
Three years ago, less than 10% of Myanmar's population owned a phone, putting it slightly above Eritrea and North Korea. Now the figure is closer to 40%.
Connectivity is spreading like wildfire, opening up new opportunities for start-ups and established businesses alike.
This rapid change has been achieved by inviting foreign telecoms companies, such as Ooredoo and Telenor, to come in and challenge the state-owned incumbent's monopoly.
The sector has been a foreign investment success story, according to the government, and could generate hundreds of thousands of jobs in years to come.
In its June 2015 report, mobile operator Ericsson said it received five million new subscriptions in its first quarter, putting Myanmar's performance just behind that of China and India.
"Basically, as fast as these telcos can roll out towers and switch on locations, they're hitting capacity," says David Madden, the founder of Myanmar innovation lab and community tech hub, Phandeeyar.
"There's massive pent-up demand, and as soon as people get the opportunity to connect, they do."
This technological flowering is going hand-in-hand with the opening up of the country's political system - in just over a week its people head to the polls in an historic election.
Smartphones have dropped steeply in price - basic models can be bought for $20 (£13) - meaning that first-time buyers will often go straight to smart devices and leapfrog onto the mobile internet.
With around 30 million SIM cards now on the market - the population is about 54 million - Myanmar's new mobile users represent a vast audience hungry for data - one with unmet needs that entrepreneurs are eager to serve.
"One of the things that's really exciting about the Myanmar start-up scene is there's so much more work to be done," says Mr Madden.
"There are literally opportunities everywhere, and it's all happening at once."
Ko Dana's year-old software company, Myantel, launched an Uber-inspired app in February.
Called HoHo-DeDe, the taxi app might seem a mismatch for Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon, where nearly half the cars on the street seem to be cabs and flagging one down is easy.
But transportation is still a huge problem and getting around Yangon frustrates many, says Ko Dana. Cabs trawl for customers and add to the congestion - a search HoHo could help with, he believes.
The app, which links users to drivers and still allows for a bit of bargaining, also establishes accountability, as both driver and passenger information is available in case of legal issues.
Though Ko Dana says drivers who learned about HoHo got excited about it, educating them proved difficult at first. And getting the app onto phones - and then to work perfectly - has been tough for the company.
Indeed, plenty of challenges remain for the country's start-ups, despite the flowering of mobile.
While connectivity has improved somewhat, it's still far from perfect. Ko Dana says connection problems have led his firm's HoHo app to crash, while a complex driver verification system has slowed take-up. He is considering giving out customised smartphones to taxi drivers.
More than 2,000 people had signed up for the app, but for now, it's on hold, he says.
"If the app was in another country, it would be easy. All those little things cause big problems."
Similarly, U Myint Kyaw Thu says that as mobile payment systems are still in their infancy, doing business is difficult for his company.
Total Gameplay makes money from ads and in-game purchases, and has teamed up with others - such as the state-owned telecoms incumbent Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) - to facilitate payments.
But he says: "The market is still not ready. We need to wait at least one more year before it develops and matures."
The problems have led Ko Dana to think he should have stayed studying in Australia for a little longer.
"Everyone expects a lot from the foreign companies, especially Telenor and Ooredoo. When we started, it was nowhere near our expectations."
Despite these challenges, the entrepreneur remains hopeful.
"I'm confident that [the technology] is going to get better, but as of right now it's not very much yet. Most professionals say we are progressing very fast, but since we have high expectations, we're thinking it's slow progress."
That said, it is amazing to think that not long ago, Myanmar had no internet at all.


The former stripper indicted for allegedly extorting Mark Jackson over naked photos the NBA coach sent to her has struck a deal with federal prosecutors to settle a pair of felony charges, records show.
Alexis Adams, who was facing a May 3 trial date, has “reached an agreement in principle” to enter a pretrial diversion program that would allow the 29-year-old’s case to be “resolved short of trial,” according to a U.S. District Court filing.
A stipulation signed by Adams’s lawyer and a federal prosecutor notes that Pretrial Services officials will evaluate Adams for acceptance into the diversion program, a process that takes at least 60 days. If a defendant--usually a first-time offender--successfully completes the diversion program, prosecutors will formally drop charges against them.
Last month, Adams’s codefendant, ex-con Marcus Shaw, pleaded guilty to charges that he conspired with Adams to shake down Jackson over the explicit images. Jackson shared the photos with Adams during the course of an extramarital affair about seven years ago, when Adams (pictured above) danced in a New York gentleman’s club and Jackson did commentary on New Jersey Nets TV broadcasts.
The photos given to Adams show the Golden State Warriors coach (and former NBA star) “without any clothing,” according to an FBI affidavit.
Shaw, a convicted felon who spent several years in prison following a 1996 robbery conviction, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 25 in U.S. District Court in Oakland, California. Court records do not detail the nature of the relationship between the 41-year-old Shaw and fellow Atlanta resident Adams, a licensed esthetician who operates a nail salon.
The deals struck by Adams and Shaw surely come as a relief to Jackson, whose team leads the Denver Nuggets 3-1 in the opening round of the NBA playoffs. A trial in the so-called sextortion case would have included Jackson’s testimony about the six-figure shakedown plot, as well as the married father of four’s prior sexual relationship with Adams. Additionally, the naked photos of Jackson would have been marked as government exhibits and shown to jurors.


They are every mariner’s worst nightmare. A wave twice the height of the average sea state that seemingly comes out of nowhere. Rogue waves have been blamed for countless lost vessels throughout history, but not only are they dangerous to ships and mariners at sea, they can also sweep unsuspecting beachgoers out to sea – often with fatal results.
To get a better understanding of the phenomena, a team of researchers with the University of Southampton set out to study long-term data to investigate how these rare, unexpected and hazardous ocean waves behave. Their findings were published this month in the journal Scientific Reports.
Waves are classed as ‘rogue’ when they are over twice the height of the average sea state around them. From trough to peak, past observations have put some at over 30 meters high – easily capable of damaging or sinking ships. Rogue waves along the west coast of the United States have also been blamed for sweeping people out to sea, including notable fatal incidents at Point Reyes, Maverick’s beach and Arcata, in California and Depoe Bay, Oregon In 2000, the NOAA research vessel R/V Ballena capsized off Point Conception, California, and in 2006, M/V Westwood Pomona encountered a rogue wave off Port of Coos Bay, injuring one person and damaging the vessel.
For the study, a team of engineers and oceanographers from the University of Southampton, together with researchers from The National Oceanography Centre (NOC), examined over 20 years of data from 15 ocean buoys providing surface data along the U.S. western seaboard, stretching from Seattle in the north, to San Diego in the south.
What they discovered was that while ‘rogue’ waves are occurring less often, they are also becoming more extreme.
What the data showed was that instances of rogue waves vary greatly, depending on the area of sea and time period focused on. On average, however, the team found instances of rogue waves fell slightly, but that rogue wave size, relative to the background sea, increased.
Not surprisingly, the scientists showed rogue waves are more prevalent and of greater severity in the winter months. More interestingly, however, they are happening with increasing frequency within calmer background seas.
“The occurrence of rogue waves is difficult to predict, but simply understanding when and how these rare events occur is extremely important for mariners, both in terms of ship safety and economics,” said Alex Cattrell, lead researcher in the study from the University of Southampton.
“Ports along the west coast of America handle almost half of the country’s container trade and, together with shipping connected to the Californian oil industry, there is a high volume of tanker, cargo, fishing and passenger vessel activity in the region,” said Research supervisor, Professor Meric Srokosz, from NOC.


Treating Prisoners For Hepatitis C Could Save Money In The Long Run : Shots - Health News About 15 percent of people in prison are infected with hepatitis C. Screening and treating inmates would save $750 million over 30 years and prevent many new cases in the general public.
Harvoni is one of the new medications for hepatitis C that can cure almost all infections.
Doctors, patients and insurers have been struggling with how to determine who should be treated for hepatitis C now that effective but wildly expensive drugs can all but cure the disease. Treating prison inmates is a good investment that would save money in the long run, a study finds.
The drugs, Harvoni and Sovaldi, cure about 90 percent of patients, but at a hefty price, about $90,000 per patient. The drugs are made by Gilead Sciences and were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the last two years.
More than 15 percent of U.S. prison inmates are infected with hepatitis C. The study, published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, shows that as many as 12,000 lives would be saved if inmates were screened and treated.
And while it would cost a lot of money up front, over time the savings to society at large would be huge.
"We have to invest money either now or we invest later," says Jagpreet Chhatwal, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and senior author of the study. "If we invest now, it would gain us additional lives, it would prevent liver transplants, and it would prevent several thousands of advanced stage liver diseases."
Treating just those in prison would save $750 million over 30 years, the study finds, even including the cost of screening and medication.
Chhatwal acknowledges it's a tall order.
The first year cost of a widespread screening and treatment program in state prisons across the country would cost as much as $1.15 billion. That would require corrections systems to boost their health care budgets by 12.4 percent. The price would plummet over time, however.
The benefits would accrue mostly to people not in prison, the researchers found. That's because inmates would not infect people in the community after they are released.
"It's going to be very cost effective to provide screening and treatment because this would avoid new infections from occurring," Chhatwal added. "The majority of these new infections would occur outside the prison."


And there seems to be a wide expectation that somehow all of this should be free. We could of course legislate so that it was all free, to everyone. We would then have long queues.
Well, your alright jack, I mean Don!
Prior to Medibank, public hospitals were funded by the federal and state governments, privately insured patients, third party insurance and fund raising activities like fetes.
"David Himmelstein and colleagues recently contended that medical problems contribute to 54.5 percent of personal bankruptcies and threaten the solvency of solidly middle-class Americans. They propose comprehensive national health insurance as a solution. A reexamination of their data suggests that medical bills are a contributing factor in just 17 percent of personal bankruptcies"
"Have a brain tumor? The kind of insurance you have might make a difference in your survival "
Wolly B: Prior to Medibank, public hospitals were funded by the federal and state governments, privately insured patients, third party insurance and fund raising activities like fetes.
The Casket paid for the Free Hospitals. Then they took the profits of the Caskets away from the Hospitals & gave the money to Sports. I should say Football & Racing. These two, although they say they are "amateur" are professional Sports. It's time to give the money from Gambling back to the Health Sector, in full.
Someone somewhere pays for it; and wages growth, the reason for bracket creep simply responding to eternally rising costs?
So the average battler loses every which way!
Perhaps conscription as an alternative to the dole would get the indolent up off their, too tired to get up off their R soles and take a crap, bludgers up and having a go?
It might be the most distasteful job on the planet, swilling the pigs, and I've done it; but the money is not only clean but a damn sight more than the dole!
That said, we can mount an irrefutable case for real tax reform, as an entirely unavoidable stand alone expenditure tax!
Firstly, there is no bracket creep in a set and forget expenditure tax.
Foreign nationals simply can't avoid an entirely unavoidable expenditure tax.
And given it is collected via the banking fraternity, as money leaves accounts; even exchanges and remittances ,will finally pay a fair share to treasury!
Yeah sure, continued over reliance on a shrinking cadre of fewer taxpayers ain't fair, nor is the over representation by higher taxpayers!
But just changing the deck chairs on the Titanic via tax breaks for the better off, while retaining an essentially unreformed massively complicated tax system, with more holes than Swiss cheese.
Is hardly the answer, just an even larger deficit going forward as far as the eye can see!
If the total tax take is just 4% of the GNP, and the GNP is just the sum total of our combined expenditure?
Then a 5% unavoidable for any reason, expenditure tax, will raise more revenue!
Moreover, stop the annual bleed of at least 60 billions into tax havens, from which we get 100% of nothing!
Better we just eliminate all tax avoidance; regardless of the screams and obfuscation of the affected; for whom the world owes a living Aidan!
If there's a better more obvious less expensive way?
You make several good points there Don.
It is frustrating that so many people in our society believe they are entitled to completely free health care, but yet still complain if they have to go on a waiting list for operations etc. Yet they willingly cough up the money needed for Fido to be seen at the vet!
Can they imagine how long those waiting lists would be if we didn't have private hospitals and private health insurance that some people are willing to pay for?
It is a good thing that public hospitals provide most services for free, because our society should be able to afford to pay for the health care of those unable to pay for it themselves, for whatever reason. Those on health care cards need to be cared for by the wider society.
However, what really annoys me is those people not on a health care card, or those who just don't want to pay to see a GP, feel they have a right to just wander in to our public hospital 'emergency' departments to have their non-emergency problems seen to for 'free'.
Then they have the nerve to complain about long waiting times while the ED staff rightly attend to the real emergency patients first.
Public hospitals should be reserved for those who really can't afford private health cover, and not for those who would just rather use that money on smokes, alcohol, drugs or gambling etc instead of on their own health care needs.
A well publicized U.S. study, by the medical fraternity, found that it costs over $70,000.00 a year to look after someone in either hospitals or nursing homes, or $40,000.00 a year to keep them comfortable at home and providing enough services to do just that!
Just because two people occupy it doesn't double the service/maintenance costs of a house, its yard, or the no longer doable for any reason, housework!
And preventive medicine saves even more money; as does an affordable mediterranean diet!
Lots of fresh fruit vegetables and unprocessed grain, nuts and dried fruit, fish and a set of stairs to climb at least twice a week!
Fresh fish usually entirely unaffordable at $20.00 a piece by someone living on just 25% of an average male income!
And or, paying a mortgage or the gold plated price of energy needed to cook it?
Snap frozen fresh from the farmer's field, being way more nutritious, than vegetables spending a day in the market and one more on the back of a truck; and then sitting on supermarket shelves for a week or more?
And the best reason for retaining a city encircling green belt full of little labor intensive market gardens, replete with freshly picked farmer's markets!
I mean we hit those who just can't afford to go solar with gold plated energy costs; and then make a healthy diet completely unaffordable; let alone alternative medicine like artery cleansing cheap as chips chelation therapy or hyperbaric oxygen Therapy.
Oxygen being implicated in all healing; particularly things like formerly untreatable diabetic ulcers!
We can prosper the returns for big pharma; or the health prospects of the elderly, the majority of our health budget; just not both!
And guess who has the most political clout in this particular arena; penniless pensioners living in penury, or the trillionaire drug companies, with their almost exclusive reliance on turning the elderly as managed, walking (I've got a pill for that) pharmaceutical receptacles!?


A film shot in Suffolk and telling the story of the friendly invasion of US airmen during the Second World War is to receive its world premiere at IWM Duxford.
Independent British drama Magpie has been four years in the making and was filmed on location at former US airbases in Suffolk and Norfolk.
Directed and co-written by Bury St Edmunds based filmmaker Paul Cook and fellow co-writer Carmel Hannant, the film is a labour of love that was partly funded through a Kickstarter campaign and features cast and crew almost all from East Anglia.
A trailer was recently released and now the film is set to be premiered at Duxford Imperial War Museum on September 29.
Paul Cook said: “We are really excited about it. We have already had a fantastic response to the trailer. It has been really humbling to get some of the content of the film out there and to receive messages saying it looks great and that they can’t wait to see it, some from as far afield as Canada, Australia and America.
“It is exciting because it is at the end of a very long four years for us. It has taken a lot personally to get it to this point, not just time but financially as I’ve had to continue the funding of it even after the Kickstarter funding ran out.
The film is set in 1943 as US troops and airmen arrive in the region as part of the so-called ‘friendly invasion’ bringing hitherto known pleasures like chewing gum, peanut butter, Coca-Cola, ‘donuts’ and jitterbugging.
Its protagonist Lily, played by Cambridge-raised actress Hannah Morrish, sees her usually attentive and loyal husband, George, played by Matt Downton from Bury St Edmunds, devastated by his experiences on the front line.
Finding comfort in the companionship of Charlie, played by Mateo Oxley who grew up in Bressingham, an American serviceman with the Eighth Air Force, Lily struggles to make sense of her feelings for both.
Mr Cook said: “We wanted to explore the woman’s perspective in the war trying to get along with life amid this American invasion and having a British soldier as a husband who has come back from war suffering terribly with post-traumatic stress.
Shooting on location added to the historic accuracy. “The entire film was shot within Norfolk and Suffolk,” said Mr Cook.
“The locations include four Eighth Air Force museums, the 100th at Thorpe Abbotts, the 95th Bomb Group at Horham, near Eye, the 390th Bomb Group Museum at Parham, and also the 95th Bomb Group Hospital Museum also near Eye.


"Bloodline" was the first song in a four-song and four music video work entitled Buck Moon Medleys. The single is haunting, sassy, and up-tempo, all in one; moreover, it will make the listener clap along and stomp on their feet. The tune deals with the one photograph of the mother that she never knew, where she is left tracing her "bloodline," and the song's lyrics are conversational. She belts out the high notes, and makes them seem effortless.
Today, Grae made her debut at the 2018 CMA Music Fest, where she performed at the CMA Spotlight Stage inside Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
"Bloodline" is available on iTunes.
Overall, Harper Grae has done a solid job on her latest single "Bloodline," and the music video is well-crafted as well. It showcases her growth and maturity as a singer-songwriter. The song garners two giant thumbs up.
To learn more about Harper Grae and "Bloodline," check out her official website, and follow her on Twitter.


"We are going to be their friend!"
If there's one thing that bugs me, it's the way the media treats celebrities. Self-respecting stars can barely crack a magazine or surf a cable lineup these days without seeing themselves attacked bitterly and without cause. There are the exposis, the "behind-the-scenes" reports. Personal details are bruited about the tabloids; the minutiae of private business negotiations are eagerly stolen and sold on an information black market to be spray-painted across the public consciousness. Many mass media outlets have even been known to try to write about stars completely independently of their having current product to promote -- a complete waste of human and journalistic resources.
Today, however, I feel better, because I just got done reading the New York Times' business section. In it I found two causes for hope.
Angeles seem hard-boiled." There will be lots of celebrity sightings and feature articles about how celebrities accessorize their dogs. "What Channel won't be doing is nasty exposi stories," said exec editor Sue Cameron.
Better news even than that came in a front-page report on Jann Wenner's big new plans. Wenner has published many magazines, but now has only three: Rolling Stone, Men's Journal and Us. That last is a celeb-driven monthly, a poor cousin to People. His current gambit: taking the monthly weekly, and attacking People head on. His strategy, revealed in the article, is essentially the same as Channel's: He's going to beat the craven, lapdog weekly at its own game. "We will be nice to celebrities," Wenner says. "Famous people hate being in People."
His general manager, Kent Browridge, chimes in: "Celebrities are going to like Us Weekly. It is going to be their friend."
So don't fret, pretty, forlorn celebrities. We live in dark times, but there is a dawn on the horizon. Jann Wenner and Sue Cameron feel your pain.


The end game: to be able to combine classic screen monsters King Kong and Godzilla into one cinematic universe.
A Monster Universe is coming together.
Talks are underway between Legendary Entertainment, Warner Bros. and Universal to move Legendary’s Kong: Skull Island from Universal to Warner Bros., sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter.
Godzilla was made by Legendary with Warner Bros. and grossed around $200 million. A sequel is in active development with an eye for a 2018 release.
At the same time, Legendary is making Skull Island, a King Kong movie that is just weeks away from shooting and will star Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson, among others.
When it became clear that all roads led to an eventual crossover with a series of movies on these so-called super species, talks began to move Skull Island. The dealmaking isn’t as complicated as one would think: Universal has no financial stake and was only to distribute the movie.
The move is good for Warner Bros. as it feeds the studio’s insatiable appetite for event movies and gives the studio another universe other than just the one based on the DC characters, which is just in the early stages of being made.
The eventual Kong-Godzilla pairing won’t be cinema’s first, however. The two titans squared off in 1962’s King Kong vs Godzilla.


2. Anyone wishing to speak on an agenda item, please wait to be recognized by the Chair Person.
3. A copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted on the wall in the Council Chambers. It is also available in pamphlet form.


LOUDON, N.H. — Matt Kenseth just might win a championship with a touch of dominance, not dullness.
Kenseth has firmly defended the style of his 2003 championship, stating his one-win season in the final year before NASCAR made the move to the playoff-style Chase format was as meaningful as all the titles collected by Jimmie Johnson or Tony Stewart.
He probably won’t have to justify anything about his Cup run this season. There are plenty of checkered flags.
Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
He followed his win in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship opener at Chicagoland with his series-high seventh victory of the season. Kenseth made his 500th career start and built a 14-point lead over Busch before the series shifts to Dover.
One win or seven, Kenseth will take a title any way he can.
Kenseth was paired with owner Jack Roush for more than a decade and won 22 races, a pair of Daytona 500s and the 2003 championship. He’s having a career year in his first season at JGR, obliterating his previous season best for wins — 5 in 2002.
His gamble to change teams has been a success, and Kenseth’s eyes glistened as tears rolled down his cheeks in Victory Lane. He reached for a big white towel to wipe them away.
Neither side could have expected this kind of run.
“We’ve known Matt for a long time but, in all reality, we wouldn’t have guessed seven wins,” team President J.D. Gibbs said.
Kenseth was anxious heading into New Hampshire because it had long been one of his worst tracks. He might have calmed down had he checked this season’s results from some of the other tracks where he traditionally struggled: Four of his seven wins in 2013 are at tracks where he was winless.
Kenseth and Busch made it a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing and helped the organization win for the fifth time in the last seven races dating to Busch’s win at Watkins Glen in August. Kenseth won at Bristol, Busch took Atlanta and Kenseth won the last two.
Kenseth joins Greg Biffle (2008) and Tony Stewart (2011) as the only drivers to win the first two Chase races. Stewart went on to win the title.
Kenseth moves on in the No. 20 Toyota to Dover, where he’s a two-time winner. He led 29 laps there earlier this year before an engine failure ended his day.
Chase drivers filled six of the top 10 spots. Biffle was third and Johnson fourth. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sixth and Carl Edwards ninth. Jamie McMurray was the highest non-Chase finisher in fifth place.
JGR, with Busch, in the past has dominated the regular season, but dropped off considerably once the Chase began. Now they’ve carried their success into the Chase and are a credible 1-2 threat to give Toyota its first Sprint Cup title.
Busch is nipping at Kenseth and said the 20 “lucked into one” last weekend. He blamed a poor restart for losing at New Hampshire.
While NASCAR has been smacked with scandal, Kenseth has quietly gone under the radar doing what he does best: winning races. He has 31 wins in 500 starts.
He joined Richard Petty as the only NASCAR driver to win in his 500th career start. It was easy to spot Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota — and not just because it was the only car in Victory Lane. JGR slapped an oversized “500th Start” logo on the front of the hood.
Chase drivers took spots 13-17: Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer. Kevin Harvick was 20th and Kasey Kahne slammed the inside wall with 48 laps left and was 37th.
Johnson, a five-time champion, is 18 points behind Kenseth. Edwards, Biffle and Harvick are all within 39 points of the leader.
Johnson has seven wins at Dover and could use an eighth to stay a contender for a sixth championship.
Odds are Kenseth will take it.


DJG staff celebrating for raising $800 for CHKD's New Mental Health Facility.
This year, DJG staff showed their Halloween spirit by dressing in costume to raise money for CHKD. We had a little bit of everything this year: pink flamingo, military service, construction workers, and several animals…bears, wolves, and a deer and just when you thought you had seen everything the performer formerly known as "Prince" and the Queen of Hearts show up! DJG and staff raised $800 to CHKD's New Mental Health Hospital for Children.
DJG, Inc. is an award-winning full-service engineering, architecture and planning firm who delivers services to Clients from federal, state and local governments, as well as private companies. Founded in 1978 and based in Williamsburg, VA, DJG offers design expertise to Clients throughout Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic. To learn more about DJG, visit www.djginc.com.


Robin Lynn Miller, 36, of New Galilee, Pa., formerly of Erie, went to see her Lord on Saturday January 15, 2011.
Born June 15, 1974 in Erie, Pa., she was the daughter of JoAnn Taylor, Erie, Pa. Robin attended East High School, Erie. She enjoyed spending time with all her family and watching her favorite TV shows, "Ghost Hunters" and "Creep Show". Go figure, her favorite color was black.
In addition to her mother, she is survived by her husband, Richard Miller Sr.; two children, Katylynn and Richard Jr. "Bubba"; two brothers, Jesse Miles, Smithfield Pa; formerly of Erie and Marvin Lee Miles, LaBelle, Pa.; one sister, Tammi Jo (Miles) Williams, Erie, Pa. and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews who all loved her and will miss her very much. Her other two loves in her life were her dogs, Buckie and Meca.
A celebration of Robin's life will be celebrated at a later date.
Arrangements were handled by the J&J SPRATT FUNERAL HOME, 1612 Third Ave., New Brighton, www.jjsprattfh.com.


I recently attended the Greeley Planning Commission meeting regarding Extraction Oil and Gas plans to drill the Triple Creek prospect.
In my opinion, Extraction Oil and Gas put forth a very weak presentation. Although Mr. Thingelstad spoke about noise abatement, berms and sound barriers, he neglected to inform the commission about the continual squealing of the brake on the drilling rig while drilling. While living in St. Michaels, we experienced this continual noise from a well that was drilled on the north side of St. Michaels’ and also a well that was drilled to the west of us. Secondly, Extraction Oil & Gas failed to point out that when doing the fracking operation, a number of pump trucks and ancillary equipment will be on their location, the noise from this equipment will impact residents during the whole fracking operation. Mr. Thingelstad also commented that the Triple Creek project was a secondary choice because their primary choice did not work out? I wonder why.
In my 45 years working in the oil and gas industry (primarily drilling operations), I have seen firsthand how projects have to be moved due to any number of reasons whether it is state, federal, or landowner opposition. Generally oil companies pick locations based solely upon their economics. I personally believe that Extraction Oil & Gas has “cherry picked” certain leases that large companies such as Noble and Anadarko were not interested in. Noble and Anadarko likely don’t care to have the negative public relations associated with such projects.
I encourage the planning commission to reject Extraction’s proposal for the Triple Creek project.
We all have a job to do and reporting local news is important to the citizens of Greeley and Weld County.
I’m not sure the reporter understood how devastating and hurtful those comments were to Ben’s friends and family. Of course the Helzer’s were not available for comment on Monday; they were at the hospital with their son who was fighting to stay alive. There is a time for speculation and discussion regarding “what went wrong” but I suggest this is not the time. Now is the time to gather together in support of the Helzer family, which is just what the community has done. I would urge those who report the news to consider the affect their words have on the families of individuals involved in a tragedy. And just for the record, Ben’s loving and devoted father is Rich Helzer.


Click here to read who won the Flat Rock Playhouse's playwriting contest for middle and high school students.
FLAT ROCK -- Flat Rock Playhouse announces the winners of this year's Playwriting Contest. The contest was comprised of a middle school and a high school division.
Each division-winning play was produced as a reading by the YouTheatre at Flat Rock Playhouse.
The winners also received a $200 award, a season pass to the Playhouse 2007 Season, and have had their names engraved on a permanent plaque.
The runners-up received a $50 award and a presentation of their play as a reading.
The high school division winner was Good Night, Pete by Jesse Siak of East Henderson High School.
Runner-up was The Nothing Box by Brian Rose of West Henderson High School.
In the Middle School Division the winner was Crime in the Emerald City by Katie O'Shea of Rugby Middle School. The Runner-up was Where's the Ruby by Meredith Cole of Rugby Middle School.
High School Division -- East Henderson High School: Jesse Siak (two plays); West Henderson High School: Tori Duval, Jade Onken, Brian Rose, Emily Strain.
Middle School Division -- Apple Valley Middle School: Bailey Dalton, Isaac Dalton, Casey Denham, Miranda Gibbs, Natalie Nock; Flat Rock Middle School: Kimbrell Ann Lee; Rugby Middle School: Meredith Cole, Dylan Donnini, Krista Van Giesen, James Loder, Brandon C. McArthur, Katie O'Shea and Samantha L. Woody.


A molecular pathway that explains the development of acute myeloid leukemia has been discovered by UC Santa Barbara researchers. The discovery may lead to new cancer therapies that reprogram cells instead of killing them. The findings are published in a recent paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
The UCSB research team described how a certain mutation in DNA disrupts cellular function in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The researchers were prompted to study this process by another research team's discovery that AML patients have a mutation in a certain enzyme, which was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. The enzyme is a protein called DNMT3A, which leads to changes in how the DNA of AML patients is methylated, or "tagged." Norbert Reich, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSB, was already studying that particular enzyme with his research group, so they began to study the disease process of AML at the cellular level.
Reich explained that tagging is a way of reading DNA at the cellular level. This falls within an area of study called epigenetics, a process that occurs "on top" of genetics. Each person has approximately 200 types of cells, all with the same DNA, and these must be controlled in different ways. "There is an enzyme -- a protein -- that tags DNA and controls which of the genes in your cells, your DNA, gets turned on and off," said Reich. "So you have 20,000 genes, and you have to control them differently in your brain than in your liver."
Reich explained that there is current interest in this broader field of epigenetics as a direction for the treatment of cancer. "There's definitely the idea that this may be a new way of developing therapeutics, because you don't have to kill the cancer cell," said Reich. "Almost every cancer therapy that's out there works on the principle that a cancer cell needs to be killed."
With epigenetics, instead of only having DNA sequence coding for certain genes, there is an epigenetic process, with another layer of information on top of the genetic process. In this case, that information is the tagging by the methyl groups.
Despite accomplishing significant progress in treating chronic myeloid leukemia, the disease cannot yet be eradicated in all patients hence must be addressed, states CMAJ .


about the time that artificial intelligence becomes smarter than we are.
Despite my optimism about learning innovations, no one can predict the future. Few predicted the 10% stock market correction in January, nobody predicted the 70% drop in the price of oil (from $94 per barrel on 6/30/14 to $27 per barrel last week). Nobody saw September 11... or ISIS coming (or the unfortunate link between the two). Nobody saw World War I, or the Internet, or the collapse of the Soviet Union.
These unexpected high-profile Black Swan events are important developments that are way outside anyone's forecast. They seem to be happening more frequently given the collision of complex human systems, exponential technology ( Moore's Law etc.), and the climate that we've increasingly messed with. What makes these unexpected events more worrisome is the concomitant loss of civic capacity and collective problem solving ability (as evidenced by the early U.S. presidential campaigns).
Tech: We're living on an exponential curve but our brains make linear projections. When it comes to new technology, almost everything is closer than it appears.
Smart AI: Artificial intelligence, the new infrastructure for everything, will progress rapidly and in the next decade will be better at a lot of things than we are.
Cities: People are moving to cities and, according to Harvard's Ed Glaeser they make us richer, smarter, greener, healthier, and happier . We think that will require a pretty thick layer of intermediation.
Careers: It's a project-based world; the influence of the freelancing and the gig economy will rise.
Relationships: The first 20 years of digital learning suggest that most human beings learn and grow in relationship; technology can help but our brains value face-to-face interaction.
With those caveats and assumptions, here are 40 predictions (more projections of possible futures with a dose of optimistic thinking) about learning in 2035. Many of these things will be common in U.S. and developed countries by 2025, politically challenging items will take longer in some places. Add smart AI in the 2030s and things get murky.
Early learning opportunities will be available on a means-tested basis for every three and four year old.
5 screen days will be common for most learners including wearable tech, mobile tech, production tech, visualization tech, and presentation tech (and they'll all work together seamlessly).
Broadband will be nearly ubiquitous even in rural and urban environments.
Inputs will be visual, gestural, and via next gen keyboards while handwriting will join calligraphy in art class (listen to a Freakonomics podcast on handwriting). Many of the things we wear and interact with will also be providing inputs to our smart assistants.
Virtual reality will be a daily part of world exploration and career awareness.
Open learning experiences will be widely available from many sources most tagged in common ways, many with embedded assessments that contribute evidence to competency-based systems that mark progress.
Neurobiology will present opportunities and controversies around pharmacology, augmentation, and implantation.
Weighted, portable, flexible funding will support a variety of pre-career (now primary and secondary) education programs ( read more). Portability will support a wide range of community learning experiences (and weighting means that low income families will have more to spend on rich learning experiences).
Learning platforms will use recommendation engines and dynamic scheduling to suggest personalized customized digital learning playlists and team-based community connected projects.
Learner profiles will capture keystroke data and provide instant feedback in simple data visualizations.
Progress will be marked by demonstrated mastery on multiple assessments (some from formal settings, some from informal self-directed or community-based learning).
Portfolios will capture artifacts of student work with associated references (i.e., a proctor or collaborator).
Time and place of learning will be far more diverse than today. Learning hubs will replacing factory-like buildings with big open spaces that point students to community, virtual, and collaborative environments.
Learning options will continue to increase; most secondary learners will concurrently engage with multiple providers (formal and informal) including online schools, learning differences specialist, travel and work-based experiences, and more.
Success skills including self-management, wellness, project management, civic engagement and collaboration will be core developmental outcomes with common metrics and visualization techniques ( read more).
Dual language (and multilanguage) immersion and fluency will be a common expectation.
Data science (including data wrangling, analysis and visualization) will be a required success skill and more important than coding (which will often be done by machines).
Enterprise, how to create and change organizations, build sustainable business models, and innovate to create value, will be a commonly sought certificate.
Expression, the ability to create and share music, art, and language, will be supported by a wide range of blended opportunities.
Parent-managed learner profiles will protect student privacy and promote personalization as they are shared in whole or in part with learning providers (read more).
Advisors or learning coaches will be available for every learner and family to help navigate all the learning options, create postsecondary plans, and make connections to youth and family services. Virtual mentoring will be frequent and powerful.
Learner relationship management systems will connect learners advisors, teachers, and parents ( read more).
Smart assistants (like Zuckerberg's robot) will make learning and experience recommendations, make connections, schedule events, and help collect artifacts of learning.
Businesses and impact organizations will provide short term project-based work experiences to young people (facilitated by a geo-profile matching system). Demonstrated knowledge and skills will contribute to competency-based progress (i.e., learning can happen on the job as well as home and school) as well a portfolios and references.
Facilities development and management in many geographies will be done by private developers or public trusts rather than learning providers in facilities-as-a-service transactions (read more).
Custodial services will remain popular. Most students from age 4-16 will spend most of their time at an educational facility. Despite the shift from school-as-a-place to learning- as-a-service, most parents will value a safe and supportive place to send junior most days.
Big open spaces that are flexible and reconfigurable will characterize most education facilities (read more). As Elliot Washer would say, "More outside in, more inside out."
Friday Night Lights will continue to be the most important secondary school consideration for ten years but health concerns and the pull of employability will begin to win out by 2035 when small community connected facilities become more prevalent.
Selective athletics, in many communities, will shift to club-based sports, and educational facilities will provide more participation-based fitness activities.
Performance contracting will be used to provision public education in many states. However, there will still be school boards in a few states adopting social studies textbooks three decades after that made any sense.
Local councils will (as Paul Hill suggested 20 years ago) will guide decisions about what kinds of service providers their children need but they won't operate schools.
Multiple providers will support the blended and online learning plans of individual teenage learners.
High school diplomas and college degrees will still be around but they will be part of a competency-based system of stackable credentials.
Free, low cost, and means-tested higher education options will be widely available.
Market signaling will be augmented by portfolios of work and references (i.e., a degree as a proxy for competence will be replaced by credentials+portfolio+references in most fields).
Micro-credentialing, sequences of demonstrated competence, will replace licensure systems in education, engineering, medicine, law, and accounting. Dynamic job clusters will place more value on measures of demonstrated competence.
Lifelong learning will be the mission of most universities where initial certificates and degrees are just the beginning of a long term developmental partnership where a mobile application powers a personal learning plan.
Community capacity to incubate tools, talent, and learning environments will exist in most metro areas.
Portable pensions, reciprocity agreements, and common professional recognition systems will allow educators to support multiple providers and move from one region to another seamlessly.
Youth and family services will be widely available and well coordinated supported, in part by portable weighted funding (i.e., kids that need more help get more funding).
We don't know what learning will look like in 2035 but we can predict a wider variety of approaches and options; instead of school choice, it will be experience choice; instead of a focus on coherent school models, we'll focus on coherent learning pathways. Education 2035 won't cost more (in real terms) and will work better for more learners. But progress over the next two decades will be uneven improving rapidly where innovators collaborate.


Ashley Tattersley helped Lower Hopton qualify for the World Championship finals.
Lower Hopton booked their place in the World Bowls Club Championships finals following two impressive displays in their qualifying round at Spen Victoria last Sunday.
Hopton overcame Shropshire outfit Castlefield BC in their first round match, winning 142-131, before edging a cracking contest against Tixall, from Cheshire, 146-142 to reach finals day, which takes place on Sunday April 14.
Hopton will be joined at finals day by Pudsey, who made it a double success for Yorkshire sides last Sunday.
British Parks qualifiers Pudsey — who included local bowler Chris Mordue in their side — swept aside Staffordshire M&B Cheslyn Hay 161-95 in their first round match.
Pudsey then defeated another Welsh qualifier, Min Y Don, 148-135 to reach finals day.
Min Y Don had earlier accounted for Cheshire side King Alfred 149-120 but were unable to overcome Pudsey as they bowed out.
It means there will be at least three Yorkshire side represented at finals day after Thongsbridge progressed from the opening qualifying round, along with The Grapes from Greater Manchester.
The third qualifying round continues this Sunday (start 11am).
Quality bowling sides from Warwick and Worcester, Derbyshire, The Potteries, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Merseyside and Lancashire will descend on Spen Victoria bidding to book a place at finals day in a fortnight’s time.
Green 1, round 1: Castlefields BC (Shropshire) 131, Lower Hopton (Yorkshire) 142; Tixall (Cheshire) 154, Esclusham (Wales) 136. Green 2, round 1: King Alfred (Cheshire) 120, Min Y Don (Wales) 149; Pudsey (British Parks) 161, M&B Cheslyn Hay (Staffordshire) 95.
Green 1, round 2: Min Y Don 135, Pudsey 148. Green 2, round 2: Lower Hopton 146, Tixall 142.
Green 1 : The George (Warwick & Worcester) v Marehay (Derbyshire), Woolstanton (Potteries) v Queens Park (Cheshire).


Ciera Kelly, a 2015 Juneau-Douglas High School graduate, was named Washington State University’s 2019 School of Biological Sciences Outstanding Senior for Zoology.
Kelly will be recognized and honored at a reception on May 3. The award honors outstanding undergraduate senior students who have excelled in academic performance and services to the department/school/program, the university and/or community during their academic degree in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Kelly was recently accepted into a study abroad program by nonprofit organization “Hearts in Motion.” She is currently in Guatemala with Washington State University staff and faculty as a student volunteer to help provide medical and dental care.
Kelly was a former swimmer for the Cougar women’s swim team. She was named to the PAC-12 conference swimming and diving all-academic first team in her sophomore and junior year. Kelly was also the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Award in 2018 and President’s Award for four years for her outstanding academic work.


Nominations are open for this year's Inspiring Fifty South Africa, a non-profit initiative that benchmarks and awards the 50 most inspiring women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
Now in its third year, the initiative recognises the positive impact that increased diversity has on business growth, innovation, culture and productivity.
A nominee has to be a founder of a technology company; or hold a position in a C-Level position in a technology company; or be an influencer, academic or politician in the technology or innovation space.
"Inspiring Fifty has proven to be a wonderful, interactive platform for professional women to engage, share opportunities, and form collaborations in their professional activities," says Ellen Fischat, ambassador for Inspiring Fifty SA and co-founder of Innocircle.
"I look forward to expanding the reach of Inspiring Fifty with not only the support of the winners, but the generous support shown by #cocreateSA, an initiative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in South Africa."
"It is an honour being part of Inspiring Fifty. It has provided me with a platform to meet and connect with like-minded women, who are all working towards helping young women in the STEM space," notes Maureen Grosvenor, director and head of custom applications at Appsolve and 2018 winner.
"It does come with the responsibility of each doing their part in improving the lives of others and in that way contributing to South Africa's future."
Dr Fanelwa Ngece-Ajayi, founder of AmaQawe ngeFundo and 2018 winner, states: "Through the initiative I met and became close to two wonderful women, Dr Mmaki Jantjies and Dr Carolina Odman, who have been a source of strength and encouragement for me in all that I do.
"We are passionate about community work and education and this keeps us focused at all times to remain humble and continue working hard."
To nominate an inspiring woman in tech, click here.


Irreverent, offensive and funny... that’s the way to do it!
Blackpool, you could say, has history when it comes to risqué puppet shows.
But even Mr Punch and his less than politically correct comrades might have had to watch the antics of the Avenue Q gang through their fingers.
This one-time off-Broadway show turned sensational touring hit might offer more than a little nod to the gentile fun dished out on Sesame Street.
And sure, it’s educational – just not in the same kind of way.
Satirical, irreverent, boundary-pushingly offensive and at times downright rude, it’s a bold step to let the puppets and their masters take over the Opera House for a week-long run.
The catchy tunes and bright colours might scream family entertainment but the themes are decidedly adult and there aren’t many topics Kate Monster, Princeton and the gang shy away from. Being cute and furry is a license for mischief on a grand scale with very little, if anything at all, left to the imagination.
The result is a triumph against bland, the knowing winks and oh-so shocked reactions from the puppeteers all adding to the cheeky yet ever so clever fun of it all. Those of a sensitive disposition might be best giving it a miss, the rest, well be prepared to crease up and cringe. Puppet fun? This is the way to do it.