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Fight Leaves Wayne Simmonds Shirtless | Reed Saxon/AP Images
Kevin Bieksa and Wayne Simmonds dropped the gloves just 95 seconds into last night’s 4-3 Ducks shootout win over the Flyers, and Bieksa immediately yanked his opponent’s jersey over his head, to the delight of the crowd and to grins from Simmonds and the officials.
That’s not supposed to happen. NHL players wear something called a fight strap, which binds the back of the jersey to the pants, preventing the jersey from being pulled off. (Losing a jersey is an advantage in a fight, as it gives the shirtless player’s opponent nothing to grab on to. Sabres enforcer Rob Ray was notorious for losing his gear in a fight, occasionally taking it off himself before clinching.) Any player who engaged in a fight without wearing a fight strap is subject to an automatic game misconduct.
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Simmonds wasn’t ejected, though; at the one-minute mark of the video above, you can see he did have his fight strap properly attached. It just broke, which happens on occasion. |
Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier ditches Trump over Charlottesville silence | Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier resigned from the president’s council on manufacturing Monday in direct protest of President Donald Trump’s lack of condemnation of white nationalist actions in Charlottesville, Va. over the weekend.
In a statement, Frazier, who is African-American, said he believes the country’s strength comes from the diversity of its citizens and that he feels personally compelled to stand up for that diversity and against intolerance.
“America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal,” he wrote. “As CEO of Merck, and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism.”
RELATED: At least one death has been confirmed after a car plowed into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville
Trump immediately fired back at Frazier on Twitter, saying the Merck CEO now “will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!”
Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017
Frazier joined Merck in 1992 and rose through the ranks to become CEO of the company in 2011. He was one of nearly 30 manufacturing and labor leaders named to the President’s Manufacturing Council in January. Made up of CEOs of large American companies including Ford, Dow Chemical, General Electric, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the council is supposed to meet with the president regularly to discuss American manufacturing and job creation.
Frazier is no stranger to controversy, according to a report from The Hill, serving as chairman of the commission that investigated the pedophilia scandal at Penn State University and ultimately found Penn State administrators failed to take action to stop Gerry Sandusky, the football coach eventually convicted of sexual abuse. |
Bacardi Peach Red 50ml - Vodka | Thank you for submitting a review! Your input is very much appreciated. Share it with your friends so they can enjoy it too! |
Lightning's Braydon Coburn: Joining road trip | Coburn (lower body) will travel with the team on its upcoming four-game road trip and is hoping to play at some point in the second half of the trip, Bryan Burns of the Lightning's official site reports.
The veteran blueliner is yet to play in the month of December, having already missed four games. However, the fact that Coburn is traveling with the team and has been given a chance to play at some point within the next week will be music to the ears of fantasy owners who benefited from Coburn's surprising production -- seven points in 25 games -- earlier in the season. Keep an eye out for updates as the trip progresses. |
The LEGO Group appoints Niels B. Christiansen as CEO | Christiansen was most recently CEO of global industrial technology company, Danfoss, a position he held for nine years until end of June 2017. Christiansen replaces Bali Padda, 61, a long-standing LEGO Group executive, who will assume a special advisory role with LEGO Brand Group.
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, Executive Chairman of LEGO Brand Group said, Niels is a great leader who delivered outstanding results while CEO of Danfoss. There, he transformed a traditional industrial company into a technology leader. His experience in digitalisation and globalisation, implementing a transformative strategy, and creating an agile, high performing, international team will benefit the LEGO Group. The Board is confident that under Niels, the LEGO Group will continue to flourish and bring play experiences to more children around the world. Knudstorp said the transition to a new CEO occurred more rapidly than the Board had anticipated.
Bali has been part of the LEGO Group family for the past 15 years. He played an integral role in the turnaround of the LEGO Group and during his time as CEO created a solid foundation from which to continue to transform the company. He is a great friend and a wonderful ambassador for the LEGO® brand, said Knudstorp.
Niels B. Christiansen has spent more than 25 years in business leadership. He began his career at management consultancy, McKinsey and power tools manufacturer, Hilti, and became CEO of GN Netcom aged 33. He joined Danfoss in 2004 and became CEO in 2008. During his tenure, the company doubled in size to 39 billion DKK, increased its global footprint and transformed its portfolio in response to changing customer demands. Danfoss is a family-owned, Danish-based global technology company which specializes in infrastructure, food supply, energy efficiency and climate-friendly technology solutions.
Christiansen said: I am honoured to have the opportunity to join an organisation as iconic and purpose-driven as the LEGO Group. I have loved building with LEGO bricks since I was a child. As I look at the challenges facing this generation of children, the Groups mission, to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow, is more important and urgent than ever. I am looking forward to working with the Board, the family and the LEGO Group team as we embark on the next phase of global growth.
About Niels B. Christiansen
Niels has broad experience leading large, global high-tech companies. He was most recently President & CEO of Danfoss A/S, a position he left in June 2017. Niels joined Danfoss in 2004 as Executive Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee for Danfoss A/S. He became Chief Operating Officer in 2005, Vice-CEO in 2006 and President & CEO in 2008.
Niels began his career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. Following this he joined Hilti Corp as Vice President Corporate Development. In 1997, he joined GN Netcom, moving to the role of President & CEO in 2000. In 2003, he was appointed Group Executive Vice President at GN Store Nord.
He is Chairman of the Board of William Demant Holding A/S and Axcel and a Member of the Board of AP Møller-Maersk A/S and Technical University of Denmark (DTU). |
Winnipeg police confident in Whiteout Street Party security in light of Toronto attack | If you are one of the thousands of Winnipeggers who have gone downtown to take part in the Whiteout Street Party, you may have noticed dump trucks parked at major access points.
That’s one way Winnipeg Police is trying to prevent something similar to what happened in Toronto Monday when a van struck 25 pedestrians, killing 10.
READ MORE: Toronto van attack: What we know and don’t know about the deadly rampage
With close to 16,000 people crammed into tight quarters, police want to do everything possible to ensure people have a safe, good time.
“Part of that is ensuring that there’s no vehicles that will either deliberately or inadvertently get through,” Insp. Dave Dalal said. “The one advantage of a movable barrier versus a cement one is that, if there’s an emergency within that zone, we still have an access route for emergency personnel to get in. It’s a better option for us.”
READ MORE: Jets win game 5; fans erupt at Whiteout Street Party
Dalal, a Special Events Commander, said police don’t want to publicly discuss specific tactics, but noted the unpredictable nature of what happened in Toronto.
“We’ve seen these threats worldwide. The reason that they’re so prolific is because they’re hard to prevent and easy to carry out,” Dalal explained.
“I can tell you that it’s in our minds, we’re mindful of it, and our operational plan reflects our capability to deal with it.”
Dalal indicated their approach to the next street party will not change, stressing that their tactics attempt to deal with every type of threat.
WATCH: Winnipeg Police Insp. Dave Dalal said the Toronto attack is in their minds as they make plans for Street Party security
“People should be concerned that people in the world are doing that. You can’t prevent these attacks everywhere, as you’ve seen. Nobody thought it would happen in Toronto, and we don’t know what will happen locally but we’re doing our best to make sure it doesn’t happen here. We’ve been mindful of this type of threat, and that’s why you’ve seen the large vehicles parked there.”
READ MORE: Winnipeg couple spends first hour of newlywed life at Whiteout Party
He said they re-evaluate their gameplan after each party, making sure they’re prepared for an increased footprint and more people showing up.
Details for the next street party have not been released since the NHL has not yet publicly released the schedule for the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. |
Residents of Bolivar proud to call their friend Mike Parson future governor of Missouri | Please enable Javascript to watch this video
BOLIVAR, Mo. -- Friday will be a big day for the people who live in Bolivar, Missouri, as one of their own is sworn in as the 57th governor of Missouri.
Mike Parson started off decades ago as a gas station owner, where he served his customers by pumping their gas as the children ran in to get treats from the candy counter. The gas station is long gone, but there are plenty of people in the town of just over 10,000 residents who still remember those days.
“I think Mike is the perfect person to be the governor of the state,” Vonna Jones said. “He has a sweet disposition. He is kind. He has common sense.”
Jones has known the future governor for more than 35 years when only a couple thousand people lived in Bolivar.
Mike, as they called him, still owns a cattle farm not too far from town.
“I saw him in church Sunday, and I can’t tell you of a better person to hold that position thank Mike,” Gretchen Pulley said.
She's known Parson ever since his wife worked as a receptionist for Pully’s husband, who owned the radio station in town.
When Parson became a politician and made the 114-mile trip to Jefferson City, he took his friends along with him.
"He asked if I would come to Jefferson City and do some paintings of some areas he liked. I am a watercolor artist,” Pulley said. “I thought, 'Oh, what an honor that would be.'"
Service is a word used a lot to describe Parson. After the gas station, he served as sheriff of Polk County.
Parson hired current Polk County Sheriff Dany Morrison in 2000 when he started his career in law enforcement. Morrison described his first boss as a hands-on leader who knew how to motivate his deputies to do the best job and always had their backs.
“One time I needed backup on a call and was trying to apprehend a suspect,” Morris said. “He actually showed up and helped me out on the situation. It was nice to know that not only did he send his deputies, but he came himself to help me out.”
“This is actually his desk that he sat at was right here, and now he is sitting at the governor’s desk, so I am pretty excited for him," Morrison said.
Bolivar attorney Jay Kirksey lived next to Parson for years. He described Parson as, “Andy Griffith from 'The Andy Griffith Show' because he knew everybody and applied common sense while being tough.”
Kirksey believes Parson’s good-ole-boy attitude has helped him in his career in Jefferson City and will serve the people of Missouri well as governor.
“If you are smart, and you have common sense, and you have a heart, which Mike has, you can’t ask for better,” Kirksey said.
When their Mike becomes Gov. Parson on Friday, it will be an historic moment for the residents of Bolivar, who have a pride that blankets this town with hope.
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Southern Company: Vogtle Or No Vogtle, This Utility Is A Buy | On June 12, Southern Company (NYSE:SO) opened 1% higher on the news that Toshiba's (OTCPK:TOSYY) Westinghouse subsidiary has struck a deal with the utility holding firm to complete the half-built Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia.
Despite the deal, uncertainty still hangs over Vogtle, as a Georgia Public Service Commission consultant told the Wall Street Journal that it was 'not economic' for the Vogtle plant's construction to continue. Nonetheless, the Toshiba deal has allowed Southern Company to rally.
Does this rally make Southern Company a buy at this time? The answer, in my view, is yes, as at the moment the company seems fairly valued and offers shareholders value for money.
Currently, Southern Company is trading in the low-$50 range at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a forward P/E ratio of 16.48 and offers a dividend yield of 4.53%. TheStreet (NASDAQ:TST) rates Southern Company as a buy with an A- rating, stating that its current P/E ratio:
indicates a discount compared to an average of 21.34 for the Electrical Utilities industry and a discount compared to the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY) average of 25.74.
In addition, the 4.53% dividend yield is substantial, and while the 82.60% payout ratio seems high, the dividend seems sustainable due to the revenue and net income figures that Southern Company has reported over the 2012-2016 period.
Year Revenue ($) Net Income ($) 2012 16.54 billion 2.42 billion 2013 17.09 billion 1.71 billion 2014 18.47 billion 2.03 billion 2015 17.49 billion 2.42 billion 2016 19.90 billion 2.49 billion
The stability of the dividend is further ensured by the company's total debt to total capital ratio of 64.18%, as Southern Company holds $109.70 billion in total assets against $47.46 billion in total debt. The high debt is to be expected of a utility, which typically possesses an asset-heavy infrastructure and engages in large-scale projects such as the Vogtle plant. Combine this relatively healthy position with the fact that Southern Company holds $1.98 billion in cash, and the company seems poised to continue paying consecutively rising dividends, as it has been doing since 2002.
Furthermore, Southern Company retain the two key advantages I highlighted about it when I first wrote about it in March last year:
Utilities are government regulated and geographically specific. Building power plants is expensive. So is switching electricity providers. These factors provide Southern Company with a natural monopoly over the markets within which it operates, and the government ensures that price gouging cannot occur. This combination of regulation and monopoly provides Southern Company with great stability. The utility provider is not going anywhere soon, making it a relatively safe long-term bet.
That Southern Company is an excellent long-term holding is not a fact I would dispute, and it seems to currently serve as an example of "a wonderful company at a fair price." After all, Southern Company's five-year average P/E ratio is 19.3 and its five-year average dividend yield is 4.56%. These averages are not far from Southern Company's current P/E ratio of 19.03 and current dividend yield of 4.53%, making the company seem fairly valued at this time.
Some investors may think that what the Georgia Public Service Commission's consultant told the Wall Street Journal about the economic infeasibility of the Vogtle plant means that a cheaper price will be available further down the line, and that could be true. But that does not mean that Southern Company is expensive now. It is trading 6.26% below its 52-week high, 10.87% above its 52-week low, is close to its five-year P/E average and five-year dividend yield average, and offers a sustainable 4.53% dividend. Long-term investors would therefore be well advised to give Southern Company serious consideration at this time.
DISCLAIMER: The author is not a financial professional and accepts no responsibility for any investment decisions a reader makes. This article is presented for information purposes only. Furthermore, the figures cited are the product of the author's own research and may differ from those of other analysts. Always do your own due diligence when researching prospective investments.
Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. |
Taylor Swift Performs ‘Reputation’ Tracks During Six-Song Set | Photo: Sipa / USA Today Network
By Hayden Wright
Taylor Swift has kept a relatively low profile while her sixth studio album Reputation tops the charts and her fans gobble up a holiday helping of confessional new music. Over the weekend, however, Swift made an exception by performing at the Jingle Bell Ball in London.
Related: Taylor Swift Pens New Poem ‘The Trick to Holding On’
Her headlining set included a combination of hits from 1989 and Reputation including “Blank Space” and “Shake It Off” from the former. From the latter, Taylor performed “Gorgeous,” “Look What You Made Me Do” and “…Ready For It?” For good measure, Swift threw in a solo rendition of her duet with Zayn Malik: “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever.”
The performance followed almost a month after her November 11 appearance on Saturday Night Live. Other acts at the Jingle Bell Ball included Ed Sheeran and Liam Payne.
Watch Taylor perform “Ready For It,” “Gorgeous” and “Look What You Made Me Do” below: |
Merger discussions, informal talks: All you need to know about AIADMK’s tussle | This comes after state Finance Minister D. Jayakumar on Monday hinted at the possibility of a merger between the two groups.
Chennai: Rebel All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader O Panneerselvam on Tuesday said the Sasikala faction of the party has formed a committee to conduct talks on merger of the two factions.
NDTV reported that Chief Minister E Palanisamy would be leading a 10-member team to meet Panneerselvam and hold talks.
This comes after state Finance Minister D. Jayakumar on Monday hinted at the possibility of a merger between the two groups.
Jayakumar said all 123 AIADMK lawmakers and party cadres were on the same page and discussed the possibilities of retaining the 'Two Leaves' symbol, which had been frozen by the Election Commission.
On Monday, Panneerselvam, a former Chief Minister of the state, had expressed confidence that the Dhinakaran faction leaders would approach him for merger talks.
"If approached, we are ready to sit and talk and I have confidence that they (leaders) will come (for talks)," he told reporters at the airport here.
"Given the opinion (voiced by OPS), modalities to strengthen the party and to run it with unity were discussed," Jayakumar told reporters, briefing them about the meeting which was attended by most of the ministers of E K Palanisamy government.
According to party sources, MLAs from both factions were holding informal meetings over the issue. An MLA from Sasikala camp, who was on board the INS Chennai, said there are likely to be formal meetings on the matter during the later part of the day.
On Panneerselvam's demand for ending family rule by Sasikala of AIADMK (Amma) and Deputy General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran, her nephew, the MLA said senior leaders would have to decide on any such issue.
However, Finance Minister Jayakumar said there was no such development regarding demands for removal of Sasikala and Dhinakaran from the party posts.
Speculation is rife about a possible pact between Palanisamy and Panneerselvam under which both VK Sasikala, the jailed AIADMK general secretary, and Dhinakaran, her nephew and deputy, would be ousted.
Unconfirmed reports had it that under the arrangement Palanisamy would continue as Chief Minister while Panneerselvam would occupy the coveted post of AIADMK general secretary, which was held by J Jayalalithaa till her death last December. However, Panneerselvam had earlier in the day told journalists nobody had approached him with such a proposal so far.
Asked about speculation in political circles that Sasikala, who is serving a prison term in connection with a disproportionate assets case in which Jayalalithaa was also an accused, was preparing to quit as general secretary, Jayakumar said, "There is no such thing."
The election symbol is seen as part of Jayalalithaa's enduring legacy. The Election Commission had frozen the two-leaves symbol after both Panneerselvam and Sasikala-Dhinakaran factions staked claim to it ahead of the now countermanded April 12 byelection to RK Nagar assembly constituency.
Jayakumar also said the submission of affidavits of district-level party workers to the Election Commission in the symbol dispute was discussed at the meeting. On the possibility of meeting Panneerselvam to take forward the merger proposal, he said "For everything there is a time."
When a reporter pointed out that Panneerselvam had been demanding a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of Jayalalithaa, and if it was to be made a condition for merger, he shot back, asking "Did he (Panneerselvam) spell out this as a condition?"
Another senior Minister and a heavy weight of the party in the western region, S P Velumani said "For sure we will be united, and retrieve the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol."
"Those who exited (Panneerselvam and his followers) are also part of our family. It is like a fight between two brothers. Together we will get back the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol," he said.
There was reportedly unease in Tamil Nadu's ruling party ever since Income Tax officials raided Health Minister Vijayabaskar's premises and seized evidence of bribing voters for the bypoll to R K Nagar assembly seat. The poll, scheduled for April 12, was countermanded by the Election Commission on April 9 amid allegations of rampant inducement and bribing of voters.
Dhinakaran was the candidate of AIADMK (Amma) faction for the seat. He was earlier in the day booked by the Delhi police after it arrested an alleged middleman who, according to police, was purportedly helping the AIADMK leader reach out to an unidentified official in the Election Commission in return for an astounding Rs 50 crore.
No arrest warrant has been issued against Dhinakaran. But police have in their custody Sukesh Chandrasekhar, the alleged middleman who was picked from a 5-star hotel in New Delhi yesterday, a senior police official said.
Sasikala had reinducted Dhinakaran, who was expelled from the AIADMK by Jayalalithaa, and appointed him the party's deputy general secretary just before proceeding to Bengaluru to serve the remnant of her jail term after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction and sentence in February this year. |
Sri Lankan rupee steady on dollar inflow expectations | COLOMBO May 3 The Sri Lankan rupee ended steady on Wednesday as importer dollar demand was offset by exporter sales amid expectations of dollar inflows from a sovereign bond issuance and syndicated loans, dealers said.
The central bank raised the spot rupee reference rate by 20 cents to 152.10.
Sri Lanka expects to raise up to $1.5 billion via a sovereign bond issuance and another $1 billion from two separate syndicated loans.
Rupee forwards were active, with two-week forwards steady at 153.30/25 per dollar.
"The (importer) demand was there. There have been some selling by exporters and banks too," a currency dealer said, asking not to be named.
Dealers expect the rupee to stabilise on higher dollar liquidity after the anticipated inflows.
A government move to double the borrowing limit of development bonds to $3 billion in 2017 is also expected to increase liquidity.
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake had last week blamed "technical difficulties" for a two-month delay in receiving an around $160 million loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund and said the disbursement was expected after June 14.
Sri Lanka has seen a rise in foreign inflows into equities and government securities since early last month, with foreign investors buying shares worth a net 13.7 billion rupees in 26 consecutive sessions through Friday.
Foreign investors also net bought government securities worth 908.9 million rupees ($5.98 million) in the week ended April 26, extending the net inflow to 7.2 billion rupees in four consecutive weeks. But they have net sold 57 billion rupees worth of government bonds so far this year. ($1 = 151.9000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Vyas Mohan) |
Rachel Whetstone, Uber's Top Communications Executive, Is Leaving | And another one bites the dust at Uber.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told employees in an internal email on Tuesday that Rachel Whetstone, who had served as the company's head of public relations, would be stepping down from her position.
It wasn't immediately clear why Whetstone was leaving the company now, at a time when her guidance may be more critical than ever as Uber tries to steady itself after its deep internal issues were brought to light.
Rachel Whetstone in 2005. Andrew Parsons / PA Wire - Press Association Images file
Kalanick seemed to hint the split was amicable, even including a photo of the duo hiking together two weekends ago.
"Rachel was way ahead of the game when it came to many of the changes we needed to make as a company to ensure our future success — from promoting cross-functional teamwork to improving diversity and inclusion," he wrote. "Her commitment to excellence in every way is inspiring and I am looking forward to having her as an adviser for years to come."
Related: Uber's Handling of Susan Fowler Scandal Will Determine Its Fate
In a statement provided to NBC News through an Uber representative, Whetstone said she was "proud of the team that we've built" and that she was happy to have her deputy, Jill Hazelbaker, "a strong and brilliant woman," taking her place.
"I joined Uber because I love the product — and that love is as strong today as it was when I booked my very first ride six years ago," she said.
Whetstone's departure is the latest blow for Uber in what has been a tumultuous start to 2017.
Uber President Jeff Jones departed last month as the company began its search for a chief operating officer. Then there's the video of Kalanick arguing with a driver, which prompted him to issue an apology. And of course, an ongoing investigation led by former attorney general Eric Holder into allegations of harassment at the company after former engineer Susan Fowler shared her experiences in a blog post after leaving Uber. |
Vuzix Corp.'s (VUZI) CEO Paul Travers on Q4 2017 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | Vuzix Corp (NASDAQ:VUZI) Q4 2017 Earnings Conference Call March 19, 2018 8:30 AM ET
Executives
Andrew Haag - Managing Partner, IRTH Communications
Paul Travers - CEO
Grant Russell - CFO
Analysts
Christian Schwab - Craig-Hallum Capital Group
Brian Kinstlinger - Maxim Group
Jim McIlree - Chardan Capital
Operator
Greetings and welcome to the Vuzix Fourth Quarter 2017 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] And as a reminder, this call is being recorded.
Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Andrew Haag, Managing Partner at IRTH Communications. Mr. Haag, you may begin.
Andrew Haag
Greetings, everyone and welcome again to the Vuzix's fourth quarter and full year 2017 financial results and business update conference call. With us today are Vuzix's CEO, Paul Travers; and CFO, Grant Russell.
Before I turn the call over to Paul Travers, I'd like to remind you that on this call management's prepared remarks may contain forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties, and management may make additional forward-looking statements during the question-and-answer session. Therefore, the company claims the protection of the Safe Harbor for forward-looking statements that are contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by any forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors not limited to general economic and business conditions, competitive factors, changes in the business strategy or development plans, the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, as well as changes in legal and regulatory requirements.
In addition, any projections as to the Company's future performance represents management's estimates as of today, March 19, 2018. Vuzix assumes no obligation to update these projections in the future as market conditions may change.
Yesterday afternoon, the company issued a press release containing its financial results and the company filed its 10-Q with the SEC. So, participants in this call who may not have already done so, may wish to look at those documents as the company will provide a summary of the results discussed on today’s call. After the market closed on Friday, March 16, 2018, the company issued a press release announcing it's financial results and filed it's 10-K with the SEC. So participants in this call, who may not have already done so, may wish to look at those documents as the Company will provide a summary of the results we discussed on today's call.
Today's call may include non-GAAP financial measures. When required, reconciliations to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP can be found in the Company's Form 10-K, annual filings at www.sec.gov, which is also available at www.vuzix.com.
I will now turn the call over to Paul Travers, who will give an overview of the Company's fourth quarter 2017 financial results and business outlook for 2018. Paul Travers will then turn the call over to Grant Russell, Vuzix's CFO, who will provide an overview of the Company's fourth quarter and annual operating results. Paul Travers will follow Grant Russell and provide closing remarks. And we will open up the call up for Q&A after managements update.
Paul?
Paul Travers
Thank you, Andrew. Hello everyone, and thank you all for joining our call today to discuss the Company's fourth quarter financial results and business outlook for 2018. I have a lot to share during the call and will start with our activities around our Waveguide Optics and the Vuzix Blade. This is a technology that we feel ultimately will drive much of the future of what we do with Vuzix. After Grant discusses the fourth quarter and year-end results, I will then provide an update on our efforts in the enterprise space and outlook for 2018. CES 2018 marked the beginnings of one of the more significant events in our Company's history for a number of reasons; so I'd like to start the overview here.
Vuzix Blade; we asked folks the blade does as a matter of fact truly support Amazon Alexa was showcased to over 4,000 industry professionals at CES 2018 and the related Pepcom President there. And, then in late February it was shown publicly again at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain with the Pepcom and Showstoppers President in recently at South By Southwest. In mostly all cases that was received by almost everyone with general amazement, as folks felt they were truly "viewing the future." The Vuzix Blade is differentiated from anything in the market and that delivers a highly useful Smart Glasses experience and a form factor that people would actually want to wear; by most measures Vuzix's Witness Blade offering has done what no other company has been able to achieve thus far.
These events drew much attention to Vuzix, that by way of example grew Vuzix's product article page views at January 2019 to 4.1 million views versus 400,000 in January 2017, that's a 900% increase in industry media exposure, all of our external communications firms in Europe and the U.S. did an excellent job at helping to get the message out and coordinated great meetings with the press. The Vuzix's Blade effectively went viral in the press due to the exposure and clearly how well it was received. The headlines were very favorable with just a few examples like from The Verge, they spent almost an hour at the booth the Pepcom by the way, they were just all over the Blade. Anyway "Vuzix played AR Glasses are the next-generation Google Glass we've all been waiting for." And from the quote of Mac; "If I were Tim Cook, I'd take a long hard look through the lenses of Vuzix's Blade. I think you can see the future through them." And then finally, from Gizmodo, "Holy crap, actual working AR Glasses that aren't completely…"
We also received a pile of best of AR Awards at these shows with folks like Tech Radar, The Headline from a piece they wrote said; "Vuzix Blade glasses will undoubtedly blaze the trail towards logical, approachable AR for everyone" with Amazon's Alexa digital assistant steering the wheel.
The Vuzix's Blade Edge Developer Program was also kicked off in January to great success, and we have already made some early shipments of Blade products to participants in this program. We have started our second engineering production batch and sooner after our first 1,000 piece production bill will commence, and we're expecting we'll go to developers and other key customers whose early adoption we can further leverage once the blades more formal release begins by summer and into broader distribution and availability throughout our markets.
Our message has been consistent over the past several years which is in order for the mass market to start adopting AR Smart Glasses in a meaningful way, the technology must effectively disappear and the Vuzix's Blade demonstrates that it can be accomplished right now. And as good as we believe the Vuzix's Blade is, we're just getting started with AR Smart Glasses. Many folks on the call may be aware of the term Moore's Law and it's promise of the doubling of semiconductor chip performance every 18 months while reducing the size and power by a factor of 2. Well, Moore's Law does not apply to optics, and on top of that much of the conventional optics being used by others in the AR industry today have been around for hundreds of years; optics in the physics of light and it's transmission is extremely complex.
Using this overtech [ph], we believe can be near impossible to be a near impossible challenge in limiter for the design of any AR glasses that don't end up looking like a science project. Some of the world's leading companies despise this point. For example; where outcrashed [ph] a partner, Optical Architect at Microsoft Hollow Lens said, "unlike electronics, optics do not follow Moore's Law, and is proven to be one of the hardest challenges to solve in AR/VR hardware." Tim Cook, CEO of Apple in an interview with The Independent in October 2017 said the following about augmented reality and optical displays; but today I can tell you the technology itself doesn't exist to do that in a quality way, the display technology required, as well as putting in a stuff around your face, there are huge challenges with that; the field of view, the quality of display itself, it's not there yet. Clearly, some folks still haven't seen the Vuzix's Blade yet.
Around the Blade and our waveguides Vuzix's has built an extensive patent portfolio in excess of 100 patents and patents pending in areas of optics, head mounted displays in smart glasses. In addition to developing an extensive patent portfolio, the Company has practically invested north of $100 million to advance, develop and bring the Company's proprietary waveguide optics technology to market. Along the way, we have gained years of manufacturing know-how and developed proprietary processes, trade secret materials, some of our "secret sauce and custom equipment" to allow us to design and manufacture some of the world's highest performance waveguides available. We believe our waveguides are world's best-in-class. A common question from Vuzix's has sometimes been, how will the Company compete against the largest consumer electronic titans in the world when it comes to AR Glasses? I can confidently say to you, that in the enterprise space, we do a fine job of just that today.
And in the consumer space, Vuzix's will have it's own offerings but also we expect to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity to supply and work with a select group of some of the world's largest tech giants as AR Glasses become ubiquitous and replace the smartphone over the next 5 to 10 years. In some cases, like our recent relationship with Toshiba, we are being asked to supply a finished smart glasses product; with others, our venture relationship would be more focused around Vuzix's being a key supplier of our waveguide and associated optics and display engines. The value proposition, an advantage of Vuzix's optics compared to the competition is rooted much deeper than the surface of a couple of millimeter thick waveguide that are nearly indistinguishable from regular eyeglasses.
Our waveguide optics and display engines, and the revolutionary technology path we're on beyond today offer a number of significant advantages over other wearable display optics solutions; including high contrast, true see-through capabilities, a critical spec when the display isn't on which I'll describe a bit more in a minute, less weight, more compact size, and high brightness images for use indoors or outdoors. This gives Vuzix we a substantial advantage over other competitors because it allows us to produce optics that are fully transparent even when they are off; think about it, how many folks put their sunglasses on and take them off and are constantly cleaning them because they don't like the smudge they have to look through. Many of our competitors with the display turned off places stuff in front of you that blocks the view, that makes it look like you're looking through a haze, etcetera etcetera.
When our waveguide are off they are absolutely clear, and when they are on they are absolutely beautiful. High brightness -- they produce the high brightness required for AR and for enterprise Smart Glasses applications, so on and off these babies function perfectly. Put together, our waveguides and optics engines provide what we believe are the smallest packaged solutions available today and provide the most degrees of freedom around the industrial design of a finished pair of AR smart glasses. It's important when you're doing a design that these things don't look like the digital glasses that are 3D shutter glasses that's flat across the front, they really look odd, we can tilt and angle and Chevron -- there is a lot of tech that goes into making that work. In Vuzix, again, it's wrapped around the axle of all of this technology we've built over the years.
But even more important than what I've laid above, Vuzix has technology, equipment and processes in place to manufacture our waveguides in volume and at price points that should enable the mass market today. There is currently not much competition with see-through and optics; some are able to make a handful of devices in an R&D lab demo but lack the ability to scale a manufacturing process consistently and economically to produce hundreds of thousands, if not millions of waveguides. This appears to be a major hurdle for most of Vuzix's competitors on the waveguide front. Our facility in Rochester, New York is already equipped with waveguide automation and replication equipment capable of producing upwards of 400,000 waveguides annually. Our existing facility can profitably accommodate the installation of 6 more production cells which should push our annual capacity to well over 3 million waveguides.
In terms of manufacturing readiness, we believe we can qualify and install an additional 2 million waveguides worth of capacity in less than 6 months. We're prepared and on a path to be able to deliver over a million waveguides in the AR smart glasses space by the end of 2018. Our ability to reliably and cost effectively produce waveguide optics and volume has garnered the attention of many of the industries key players. As a result, Vuzix is seeing a dynamic business opportunity growing around our waveguide optics technology with several distinct go-to-market pass. This is not only as a leading supplier of smart glasses such as the Blade, but also as the go-to-market supplier of high volume waveguide optic systems for a select number of OEM partners.
The amount of interest from major industry leaders in what we are doing here at Vuzix has kept us rather busy since the CES. We believe our ongoing meetings with some of the largest companies in the world is not only validating our unique ability and expertise but it's convincing us to accelerate our waveguide optics go-to-market commercial roadmap and strategy.
Unfortunately, the bulk of these efforts have to be kept highly secret and confidential because most of these players want their product deployment planning kept secret for competitive reasons. The little I can say is that we are now in discussions with over a dozen potential OEM partners, with several of these companies engaged in technology and supplier due diligence related to our waveguide optics and display engines for their AR hardware product roadmaps. We believe Vuzix waveguide technology will help refine our commercial plans around Vuzix as a critical supplier and are optimistic that we'll have multiple new collaboration agreements related to our waveguide optics in 2018.
The capital raises in December and January solidified our balance sheet and provides Vuzix the financial strength to better negotiate and respond to potential large scale customer needs as we scale our waveguide optics manufacturing capacities. This is very opportune for us as it seems company after company is clamoring to devise a product roadmap and participate in the next wave of computing in the form of AR smart glasses. It's truly a horse race of consumer electronics thorough brands that are winning up at gate to create and offer AR solutions. As you can see, this is our exciting stuff for Vuzix and the combination of years of development efforts by our teams.
I'd like to now turn the call over to Grant, and again, I will then follow-up with a review of our enterprise business and future outlook. Grant?
Grant Russell
Thank you, Paul. Before I begin, I'd like to encourage interested listeners to review our 10-K that we filed late Friday with the SEC for more detailed explanation on some of the annual year-over-year variances as I will be highlighting just a few. And as everybody knows, we do file our financial reports in dollars but I'm going to comment on the operating results in millions this time.
For the three months ended December 31, 2017 Vuzix reported $1.6 million in total revenues as compared to $0.6 million for the same period in 2016, an increase of 168% year-over-year. Quarterly sales have now increased 7 consecutive quarter stating back to Q2 2016. The year ended December 31, 2017 Vuzix reported $5.5 million in total revenue as compared to $2.1 million for the prior year, an increase of 160% year-over-year. Overall, quarterly and annual revenues were up primarily as a result of much stronger M300 smart glasses sales, sales of engineering services related to the work we did for Toshiba, and finally a much stronger waveguide component revenues due to increased development activities with our existing OEM engagements.
We reduced our gross loss from sales in 2017 to $0.7 million versus a gross loss of $1.2 million in 2016. The improvement was primarily a result of higher revenues to absorb the overheads and improve the direct product margins which actually improved 5%, and that's even with the fact that we're selling our eye-wear at zero margin currently due to prior rate downs.
Overall, research and development expenses for the 2017 year decreased to $6.7 million as compared to $6.9 million for the 2016 period. This decrease was mainly due to the reclass of internal salary costs from R&D operating costs to engineering services cost of sales related to the Toshiba engineering project, and decreased M300 development cost as compared to 2016. It should be noted that such reduction in R&D expense is not contemplated for the 2018 period and we currently expect R&D expenses for the year to increase but we won't be reclassing internal wages to cost to sales.
Our operating expenses related to sales and marketing increased 5% due to the commercial launch of the M300 and additional staff. G&A expenses for 2017 were $6.1 million as compared to $5.1 million in 2016, with the increase primarily being due to the hiring of new staff during 2017 offset by a reduction of $0.4 million in the R&D and shareholders communications costs. For the full year, the net loss for 2017 after the provision for accrued preferred stock dividends was $21.3 million or $1.02 per share as compared to $20.9 million or a loss of $1.23 per share for the full year of 2016.
Now for some balance sheet highlights; our pro forma cash position as of December 31, 2017 was $43 million and that's inclusive of our common stock offering that closed on January 29, 2018. The company now has clearly enough capital to operate and execute on it's business plan for at least the next 12 months. Cash used in operations including changes in the working capitals operating analysis totaled $16.5 million in 2017 as compared to $14.4 million in 2016. Cash for investing activities was $2.7 million versus $2.2 million. The increase was for IP and related license purchases along with $0.4 million in capitalized software development costs related to the new Vuzix's basic Smart Glass application suite.
To close up my comments with the growing demand for the shipments of the M300, as well as the introduction of our Toshiba and Blade Smart Glasses to the market, we expect to see cash flows improve as our revenues expand in 2018.
With that, I'd like to turn it over to Paul Travers. Paul?
Paul Travers
Thank you very much, Grant. Our enterprise business continues to grow at Vuzix, M300 sales continue to increase in Q4 and we expect the level of business activities around the M300 spend to expand throughout 2018 and beyond delivering enterprise-class smart glasses to businesses increasing their efficiencies, knowledge, capture and service levels. Between Q4 in this call, the underlying market for Vuzix smart glasses has picked up steam and it is represented by an increase with some of our key sales metrics and activities which is a strong indicator for future sales growth. We made further investments in our enterprise business in Q4 including adding top level sales talent and adding to our CRM and marketing tools and enhancing our ERP and supply chain software system, as well as investing in pre-sales and technical support.
We invested in and launched the Vuzix's basics application platform to help accelerate the customer pilot phase and to reach the previous [indiscernible] small business market who couldn't afford a custom solution just yet. We increased our active pilot programs by approximately 150 pilots since the last conference call, an increase of about 40%. We have increased our VIP partner network by 35% and furthered our global reseller network. We have also qualified more sales leads in the last 4 months than we did in all of 2017. Our Top Tier VIPs have been ordering with a significantly higher frequency and in larger quantities.
Orders directly between Vuzix and large enterprise organizations are also increasing including a large order that we delivered to a Top 5 life sciences company for a global deployment. We are in final stages with a large aviation services company for what we expect will be Vuzix's largest deployment of M300's to-date. And our inbound RFPs have also accelerated in 2018 with line of sight to multiple first half deployments that we expect to start deploying in the second quarter; these activities we believe should lead to significant enterprise ales growth in 2018, especially in the second half of the year as the M300 platform continues to be the smart glasses hardware of choice for the enterprise market.
We're also seeing a fair number of companies that may have initially chosen glass or ODG hardware coming back to Vuzix as their company readies itself for larger global deployment of smart glasses. For example, smart glasses hardware has to work for 100% of the workers, we have a large aviation partner leading glasses for the Vuzix's M300 for their large scale deployment because our hardware works for left and right eye users. Diverse wearable platform that the M300 delivers also was pivotal for a large pharma company realizing that Vuzix M300 could support being the one smart glasses device they needed to deploy to 16 different used cases; we were not talking about just one here folks, these guys are using in a lot of different areas and again, with all of the accessories and the way our system is designed, it's so flexible that it seems to fit just about every used case out there.
Another company is coming back to Vuzix with a planned 700 unit roll out at half the price of their ODG pilot hardware shrinking their expected ROI payback period in half. These are just a few of the reason opportunities that exemplify that Vuzix is the first choice in terms of hardware platform and enablement of true large-scale deployments.
On top of this growing success, we're very encouraged with the launch of Vuzix's basics application platform. The first of these applications Vuzix's basics video was launched in Q4 and is the first application in the platform. Vuzix Basics video out-of-the-box allow it's companies to click, connect and collaborate using our M300. We worked with several large enterprise clients including to GE Aviation, ATV, Lifecycle Engineering and Vibco [ph] to trial the application in their real-life operations. With their feedback and success in Q1 2018 Vuzix made this offering downloadable from our Vuzix App Store as an add-on SaaS solution offering that has annual subscription fees. Vuzix Basics video sales continue to gain steam, as evidenced by our increases in pilot programs since Q4.
Vuzix Basics video is enabling pilot and POCs in large enterprises and opens the door to small businesses that are buying this application directly from Vuzix. This is important that small businesses make up a large part of the industrial and field service space from a headcount perspective, and these organizations see immediate value in the Vuzix M300 with Vuzix Basics video solution. This sector we believe is an untapped market for smart glasses, primarily because of the significant efforts to get a quick win with smart glasses, and Vuzix Basics video solves the problem. This is also opens the door for our VIPs as the ability to deliver a smart glasses PLC in hours, days at the very most and the large enterprise gets that quick win on the books much sooner leading the desire to expand to more structured enterprise appointments that the VIPs will drive.
Vuzix plans to add more of Vuzix Basics applications over the course of 2018 to expand these business offerings and based on the initial success of VDV begin to more aggressively market to small businesses, similar to the strong interest we received from the largest consumer companies in the world related to our waveguide optics technology, Vuzix has also witnessed an influx of inbound requests for collaboration from some of the largest organizations in the world that want to deploy the Vuzix's Blade and it's waveguide optics technologies in their organization to drive their industry 4.0 initiatives and comprehensive digital transformations.
Companies are putting a focus on how to leverage augmented reality in their products and services in the overwhelming media attention from both CES and Mobile Congress regarding the Blade has opened a whole new series of opportunities for Vuzix and enterprise. Having a comprehensive wearable computing and AR solutions platform will allow a company to enable important parts of their entire value chain, all ideally supported with Vuzix's AR smart glasses devices across the board. Since the launch of our developer program and CES, we have witnessed a jump in requests for NDAs, non-disclosure agreements, as well as master service agreements, MSAs in enterprise. What we are hearing from these organizations is that a lightweight consumer-friendly stylist pair of AR smart glasses like the Vuzix Blade can be embedded into critical, differentiating and proprietary used cases for the businesses.
These large organizations see the Vuzix Blade as an ideal part of their solution and this spans a range of used cases that is amazingly diverse. I wish I could say even more but even described in the used cases is violating any agreements we have in place. Again, there is so much more I'd love to be able to share but what I can say is, we're being told by a large number of customers and prospects that Vuzix solutions have the potential to transform their business and deliver competitive advantage and they are in a race to prove our solutions and afford them across their businesses.
Finally, last week Vuzix announced that we are now producing our M300 type C smart glasses for Toshiba in volume. We coincided with the receipt of the first initial purchase order from Toshiba for just under $1.1 million. This cobranded pair of smart glasses is the first Windows-based smart glasses solution in the market, and we believe this product will be received well by our customers and theirs. The initial purchase order from Toshiba is the first of several orders we expect from Toshiba to satisfy the $5 million purchase order minimum for this products specific exclusivity. Our partner at Toshiba are very excited to start selling the device in volume and we are looking forward to meeting their needs in our beginning discussions on further new collaboration between companies on different products at the same time.
In summation; as you can gather from management's comments there is a tremendous amount of awareness of Vuzix from enterprise customers and strategic partners alike. We feel 2017's tech team established Vuzix as a leader in the enterprise space on many fronts. Vuzix set new records for revenue, added several new OEM partners, chips added significant strength to the Vuzix's team through the addition of talented new employees and broadened our intellectual patent portfolio of 100 patents and patents spending; also importantly, Vuzix now has the financial resources to execute on it's plans for the next 2 to 3 years and greatly grow it's business. 2018 should be fueled by increased M300 enterprise deployments, revenue contributions from the Toshiba M300C, Vuzix Basics video and Vuzix Blade which will enter the market in a big way along with new and growing strategic partnerships, all of which we expect will position the company for stronger growth in 2018 and beyond as Vuzix continues to pace the way in a multi-billion dollar, hundred plus billion industry and that's the leader.
Now let me pass the meaning to Andrew to begin the Q&A session. Andrew?
Andrew Haag
Operator, we will now open the call for question-and-answers, and if you can remind everyone how to prompt for questions, that would be great.
Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Christian Schwab with Craig-Hallum Capital Group. Please proceed with your question.
Christian Schwab
Can you give us an idea of a multi-year timeframe -- what you're kind of thinking in the thousands of units that you anticipate being able to sell in the Blade versus the M300 and categorize which one of those two you think would be bigger than the other?
Paul Travers
Grant, you want to take the numbers part of that one to start?
Grant Russell
Sure. At this stage, I mean -- we're not -- let's go in providing unit sales guidance but I can tell you that we do have the supply chain running to build M300 and 1,000 to 2,000 per month range and we have our planning all the way out for the next 25,000 pieces and that will take -- either take -- could take a year or could take two years. And then for the Blade, we -- our current production plan is for a minimum of 10,000 pieces in 2018 and hopefully that could be a multiple but component lead times for some of the new tactics in these things that can be fairly long. So in the short-term, clearly, we believe the M300 is going to be the leader and but the Blade should rise and the indications as Paul mentioned. Enterprise to the consumer side is looking pretty solid, so we could be pleasantly surprised and see that match or maybe even exceed the M300.
Christian Schwab
And my last question has to do with the waveguide optics and potentially selling those to others. Can you give us an idea in a multi-year timeframe with greater than already a dozen partners -- the opportunity of that product?
Paul Travers
When we first say that Vuzix to be clear is going to be in this business selling finished products. There are select partners that we're talking with right now that would be very synergistic with what Vuzix does and it would be good for Vuzix to be in their products and in those cases, these guys are -- some of them have been in development for a bit now and some of them has sounded consciously, publicly, but odds are this is going to be a 2019 kind of deployment for most of these guys, a lot of them are just getting started although I have to say some of them are really pushing fast into their development programs. And the kinds of numbers, I mean this is -- the guys that we would enable are in sectors of the consumer electronic market that could represent millions of units for Vuzix.
So I would suggest that you hear about development efforts more or so in 2018 from an OEM perspective, and then deployments in 2019.
Operator
Our next question comes from the line of Brian Kinstlinger with Maxim Group. Please proceed with your question.
Brian Kinstlinger
With 1Q almost done, Grant, can you tell us how many pieces have shipped thus far in the first quarter excluding Toshiba?
Grant Russell
Brian as I said, we don't disclose or unit sales currently at this time. So we're tracking ahead of last year's quarter, I can tell you that.
Brian Kinstlinger
I would hope so, right.
Grant Russell
I mean, I really am not prepared to answer that.
Brian Kinstlinger
How about the Toshiba relationship -- you've made an announcement on that one, can you talk about how you expect that to ramp through this year?
Grant Russell
Well, they like I see -- there is going to be sometime between first deliveries to a customer and rollout deployments with their Windows-based product. They are targeting some very large enterprises; so the speed of that -- I mean, we will see but I mean it should be a nice steady increase this year and we -- I can't share forecast with you but it could be a pleasant surprise, we did indicate in the contract there is the $5 million of required purchases for them to maintain their one-year exclusive. We expect that will be achieved and they've shown us indications of multiples of that but time will tell.
Brian Kinstlinger
And do you recognize revenue from Toshiba when you shipped them product or when they ship their product to users?
Grant Russell
When we ship to them because they've brought it and taken title of the product.
Brian Kinstlinger
So will there be revenue in this first quarter?
Grant Russell
It's going to be tight, we picked up production and it can take 2 to 4 weeks to get the product flowing off at the end of the line; if they can do it in a shorter period than yes, otherwise that will be Q2.
Brian Kinstlinger
And then we saw -- as you discussed, negative gross margins, it decreased obviously this year but can you talk about when you'll see a normalized margin? And then, can you talk about how much fixed cost is in gross margin versus the product margin?
Grant Russell
If you refer to the Q, there's -- I mean the K, on -- there is a table we have quarterly and annual tables regarding our composition of cost of goods and you'll see there some of the fixed items are clearly, the manufacturing overhead freight are fairly variable, we have warranty and we've had been having amortization of software development costs and royalties. The amortization of software development cost that was completed at the end of September and that related to the original smart glass OS; now we're investing in software development costs related to Vuzix Basics, so that will start flowing back through cost to sales when we feel all that software is completed. But as I briefly mentioned, the eye wear is currently being sold at cost because we've written that till sums down.
We've got about another $120,000 worth of cost of goods for that -- the flow through the income statement but thereafter then, we should be getting to more normal -- on more normalized basis but the first $1.5 million of gross margin pretty well gets eaten up by our fixed overhead costs. Then after that we have the contribution from the product sales and that's strictly a matter of volume. We would expect -- clearly in 2018 to start going back to a positive overall gross margin.
Brian Kinstlinger
And that's in the first quarter?
Grant Russell
No, I said in 2018, it's not going to be in the first quarter.
Brian Kinstlinger
And then in terms of the M300, can you talk about how many -- what the product margin is? You said it's gone up and then I didn't take a look at the K. And then, can you talk about how many were shipped in the first quarter? I mean, sorry in the fourth quarter, sorry about that.
Grant Russell
As I said previously, we don't really see unit sales; I mean, our average sales price, we've disclosed some of the revenue numbers, you can work back from that. I mean we're still not shipping clearly thousands per quarter but the average selling price is around $1,100 so you can do some math backwards. The margins are improving; as I stated in for the year, they improved by 5%, even with the eyewear. We're expecting those numbers should grow into the mid-50's with our -- once the eyewear is out of the game, so I hope from a product standpoint we still feel we'll be achieving in the mid-50's on the actual smart glass sales.
Brian Kinstlinger
And is that timeframe and by mid-2018 to mid-50s or is that…
Grant Russell
Yes, we should be there by mid-2018 for sure.
Brian Kinstlinger
And then, can you talk about the priorities with the increased capital -- what are your top couple of priorities? And then with that money, how many shares now outstanding and then, options and warrants in addition?
Grant Russell
The front of the 10-K has got our number of shares and I think -- what we've got here -- I think we've got $27.3 million is our current share count. There's about warrants that were issued in the last two financings, so I think they're about a little over $2 million, and then stock options about $1.5 million. Clearly, we still have the Intel-preferred shares outstanding which are convertible, and there is about $25 million worth of those and they converted $5 million to shares; so potentially there is another 5 million shares worth of dilution there. What was the balance of that question?
Brian Kinstlinger
The priorities of your capital; I think you've been capital constrained for a long time now that you're not…
Grant Russell
Yes, I mean -- I see, clearly, general working capital but we do not have any direct plans for any acquisitions or major expenditures other than we want to expand the capacity of our waveguide production, we have some new products where -- that are coming along, we want to do a little more and go faster on R&D because we feel we have some new technology we want to capitalize and get the market a little quicker, and make some strategic hires within the organization to complement all that. But I mean, at this stage we don't expect it to keep it on the balance sheet, invest in the short-term money and have it on-hand when we need it.
Paul Travers
I'd like to add just a little bit of color on the Toshiba effort. So Toshiba actually has been in the market with select accounts for some time now, they're in very short number of units, maybe like -- I can't tell you the exact numbers but 50 to 150 kinds of numbers where they have been sharing already and letting people use and using their software, and they've gotten a great response from those firms and so there has been some seeding already happening.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jim McIlree with Chardan Capital. Please proceed with your question.
Jim McIlree
Can you share with us how many eyewear units you have in inventory; i.e. how much we still have to sell before we get those?
Grant Russell
We've got about 1,700 units.
Jim McIlree
And you think -- if I understood the answer to a previous question correctly, you think you can get rid of them by the middle of the year; did I hear that right or…
Grant Russell
That's our intention, yes.
Jim McIlree
And R&D in Q4, I know there is -- you had some things going on there, $2.3 million, is that a good level going forward or is or that -- they're going to go up or down?
Grant Russell
It probably is going to be at least that level going through 2018 or maybe one at couple of $100,000 markets; there still was some modest re-class of some internal labor from -- on the Toshiba project.
Jim McIlree
And then I was just hoping that I could -- you guys could explain a little more detail on the M300 timeline; pilots -- are they paid pilots, kind of like what the size of these pilots are to-date either -- let's call in terms of units per pilot, just kind of a general number there. And then, what you think the rollouts might look like -- so let's say if a pilot has 10 units, the rollout is going to have -- to make up the number 10x of that. And is there enough experience yet to talk about adoption rates from pilots to production rollouts?
Paul Travers
The pilots really vary; some firms are significant numbers, north of 50 pieces actually; some are 2 or 3 just to get the tests drive going. The rollouts in some cases -- we're talking with folks that are in the thousands of pieces; in other cases it's just smaller, 100 to 500 kinds of numbers. And it really depends a lot upon the form whether using it. In some cases, I mentioned on the call that there is as many as 16 different vertical areas within the firm that they're using these glasses, and these firms are massive, they have hundreds of thousands of employees, not every one of them clearly would be using the glasses but they could get deployed in a pretty significant way. There are other firms that have outlets around the world to the tunes of 4,000 or 5,000 outlets they need to have one or two systems. So really is very, very broad -- the number of units a pilot could turn into.
Folks here in the sales team have a funnel and they work that funnel backwards and there is [indiscernible] in a bunch of different buckets as to where they could end up.
Jim McIlree
And it's obviously very encouraging and bullish that you've increased the number of pilots; I'm just trying to translate that into pilots for a month turns into rollouts 6 months down the road, 9 months down the road; do we have experience yet to really have a firm estimate on timing from pilot to rollout?
Paul Travers
Again, that also is pretty broad because it depends upon -- again, the smaller pilots with smaller firms have a tendency to be in the work faster, the bigger guys take longer and it can take anywhere from several months to almost [indiscernible] 15 to 20 pieces, the best of size of the business in the small firm and then it's a rollout, right on through the many months, 10 or 12 months, even sometimes a 1.5 year plus kind of numbers.
Grant Russell
I'd say 6 to 9 months for the big companies.
Jim McIlree
And then on the Blade; it sounds to me like -- well, I'm confused as to what your initial focus is going to be; is it going to consumer or enterprise? And on the enterprise market, I'm assuming that you're targeting or your channeled market is similar to M300? But if it's consumer, what channel are you contemplating using?
Paul Travers
It's focused first on enterprise, we have very clear requests in business opportunities there. It's in the mix of M300 activities that we already are doing, the developer community already knows Vuzix, we're in the process of building out an ecosystem around the Blade that ultimately the average Joe [ph] is going to love, but it's going to take more time to get there but there is a plenty of business on the consumer or on the enterprise side right now that we're seeing. Again, as I said in the call -- my comments; there are folks now that are saying I want to use this across -- Vuzix's products across our used cases, so there is places where folks are B2C oriented where they've got an outlet -- where -- kind of like in Amazon where they would have brick-and-mortar store, they need folks in that brick-and-mortar store stacking shelves in the light and smart glasses, although were efficient, you look kind of off wearing them and they really like the Blade for those used cases and due to big opportunities on that side of the house in enterprise.
So that's where the initial focus is but we do have activities happening on the consumer side, the south where the applications that are running, we're building out an ecosystem that is also pointed at the consumer side of the space.
Jim McIlree
And just to clarify on the answer you just gave Paul; you're talking about enterprises potentially deploying the M300 and the Blade but in different used cases. So maybe for some particular users, the Blade would be appropriate but for other users in a different part of the organization maybe the M300 would be appropriate. Is that -- did I understand your answer correctly there?
Paul Travers
You nailed it, that's exactly correct.
Jim McIlree
And I just wanted to again to make sure the channel that you're using for the Blade to the enterprise market, it's similar to the channel for the M300; so you're not recreating denovo a new path market?
Paul Travers
No, that's correct. Although I have to say there's a lot of end customers come into Vuzix surrounding the Blade; so we do use the VIPs of course and they are excited about it also but there's folks that are in large organizations that -- they're willing to put their own effort in around the Blade because it's sees -- they finally have a way to impact a part of their business with a change that could be significant that they haven't before.
Operator
Our next question comes from [indiscernible]. Please proceed with your question. I'm sorry, our next question comes from Christian Schwab with Craig-Hallum Capital Group. Please proceed with your question.
Christian Schwab
I just want to make sure I understand correctly; we don't expect any cannibalization of the M300 and enterprise work cases versus the Blade, right? So the Blade -- we're kind of thinking about -- if I'm correct, correct me if I'm wrong; in retail stocking and picking and light hands free mobile applications type of things versus the M300 workload cases which have typically been warehousing and field services; is that correct?
Paul Travers
100% correct. They are still -- it kind of works across the organization and in certain areas it makes great sense for an M300 and then there's other areas where the blade is a better choice.
Christian Schwab
I just wanted to make sure that I understood that correctly. What do you believe would be a fair price to sell the waveguide optics for?
Paul Travers
We're still working through that detail. We've heard that alternatives -- waveguide is just a few of them out there quite frankly, but some of them are in the $100 an eye kinds of costs; others I think are even more than that because it's so difficult to produce them. So there's a benchmark there, a baseline out there that says they're fairly expensive, it does not cost Vuzix anywhere near that. That said, this is a value proposition, we're bringing something to the table that you can't get elsewhere. We can produce them in volume, so there is a number -- it's less than $100 a piece because it doesn't -- we just don't need to have it that high and that -- that makes it so you can't sell in mass market products. So it will be a mass market price point for the overall system, Vuzix's contribution is not going to be a trivial piece, to get waveguides, it's not -- it's not about $1 a piece, that's for darn sure; it will be in the -- probably less than $50 but we don't go beyond saying stuff like that, but at the end we're not really settled on the final price yet.
Christian Schwab
What type of gross margin are we targeting though?
Paul Travers
It really is a function of volume by the way, if you -- to get that kind of price points that you need for mass market you got to be buying mass market volumes. And Grant, you want to talk to the margin side of it?
Grant Russell
Sure. Well, clearly it will be as much as we can reasonably get but we do understand the sensitivity. The large OEMs, they're going to be pretty demanding; so I would think if we're selling them by the millions to two accounts we would -- we probably wouldn't be achieving 40% margin, so it will be probably closer to mid to high 20s in big, big volumes. That's more of a typical OEM margin, we're not going to get the 40-plus that would normally come from taking a product directly to market, a finished product.
Paul Travers
By the way why we're not enabling everybody, it's only selected accounts that will have the opportunity to work with Vuzix.
Operator
Our next question comes from [indiscernible]. Please proceed with your question.
Unidentified Analyst
Just wanted to ask a question about the 10-K which again mentioned going back to 2016 of November, a loss of a strategic relationship. I know that Grant has said that Intel still has their preferred; was that just a reiteration specific to or can you say whether that was in reference to Intel -- has Intel in anyway shape or form communicated their desire to either convert or otherwise -- and can you made any mention the current ongoing relationship with -- between Vuzix and Intel? Thank you.
Paul Travers
The Intel relationship is just like it was a year or two ago. They still own their preferred shares in Vuzix, we haven't slipped any of them into at this point in time. And what can I say, we buy parts from them and we use them in our products and the relationship status quo effectively.
Grant Russell
Again, they are still a strategic relationship and that they are still providing parts to Vuzix; and -- so there's no certainly animosity or negative to the relationship. I assume a reiteration of that exact release from November 16.
Paul Travers
Yes, it's in our risk factor section and we believe it's prudent to continue on with that. I mean there's other risk factors saying that their preferred shares if converted can't be sold because there's an effective registration statement and so on. It's just making sure that people are potentially aware.
Operator
Thank you. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Travers for any closing remarks.
Paul Travers
I would like to thank for you Vuzix shareholders for their participation on today's call, and their support of the company. This concludes the Vuzix fourth quarter 2017 financial conference call. Thanks again, everybody.
[Call ends abruptly]
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Coronation Street spoiler: Eva Price's frantic labour drama revealed as Toyah DELIVERS the baby | Get soaps updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Eva Price will finally give birth next week in incredibly chaotic scenes that will be choc-a-bloc full of drama.
Toyah, played by Georgia Taylor, will be forced to deliver the baby herself after Eva becomes trapped in the bathroom of the cottage the pair have rented out. But the drama certainly won't be over after the baby is born for Toyah as lies pile up and she is accused of cheating on Peter Barlow.
Over the last six months, they have managed to keep Eva's pregnancy quiet from everyone on the cobbles - including their half-sister Leanne and Toyah's partner Peter.
After Toyah's surrogate miscarried her baby, she managed to get Eva (Catherine Tyldesley) to agree to be her replacement surrogate in an utterly bonkers plan.
Eva discovered that she was pregnant with ex Aidan's baby and planned to abort it, but Toyah convinced her to continue the pregnancy so that she could adopt the child. Despite arousing suspicion along the way, they managed to convince the rest of the family that Eva was leaving to go to a beauty course in America.
In scenes airing next week on Coronation Street , Toyah is left worried when she facetimes Eva and notices she looks unwell. But she is left in even more of a panic when she struggles to find her car keys.
Later, Simon returns with the car after letting his yob friend Tyler take it for a joyride. Toyah fails to reprimand him after he reveals that he has found a receipt for a cottage in Lymm, which is where Eva is staying.
She lies to Simon and tells him that it was a surprise for Peter. However her sister Leanne is suspicious when Toyah covers for Simon yet again.
Finally, Toyah manages to get away and reaches the cottage, only to hear Eva screaming after locking herself in the bathroom and going into labour.
"Toyah hears screams and Eva says she has gone in to labour but unfortunately the door to the bathroom has fallen off with Eva trapped inside," actress Georgia reveals. "Toyah smashes the hell out of that door because she is going to make sure that Eva and her baby are okay.
"Toyah finds herself delivering the baby and what I love about this so much is it reminded me of my days on Casualty because this is the kind of thing happens on those kind of shows all the time, total flashback!"
She adds: "As terrified as she is, she knows that there is nobody else here and she needs to get on with it. Ultimately she is trying to save her child’s life."
Finally, the ambulance arrives and takes Eva, her newborn baby and Toyah to hospital. Eva reminds Toyah that her surrogate is supposed to be in Dubai so the pair come up with a plan. After Toyah decides to tell Peter that the surrogate is in Tamworth and that she will be visiting her, Eva is left alone with the baby.
Left alone with her baby, Eva is forced to pick her daughter up and is in awe.
"When Toyah leaves Eva for the first time with the baby in the hospital, she is on Cloud 9. At this point, she believes this plan is going to work and everything is going to be perfect," Georgia says. "Genuinely, Toyah is not worried about Eva going back on the deal, she is so in love with this baby and thinks all her dreams are going to come true."
Later, Peter is ecstatic when he receives a text from Toyah saying that the surrogate has gone into labour. As Eva hides in another room, Toyah video chats Peter to show him his daughter and they decide to call her Susie.
A beaming Peter reveals the news to everyone in the bar while a jealous Simon grits his teeth.
On Friday, Toyah returns to Weatherfield with the baby and Peter is instantly smitten.
"Everyone is so thrilled for them. Ken is delighted and is one of the first people over to congratulate them and see the baby," Georgia reveals.
"There is a really powerful moment when Peter picks up what he believes to be his child for the first time; she sees the love in his eyes and at that moment she absolutely believes that she has made the right decision for the right reasons."
However Toyah's bubble of happiness quickly bursts when she is confronted by Leanne after Simon tells her he thinks Toyah is having an affair.
A panicked Toyah lies to Leanne and says that she rented a friend who needs to escape from an abusive relationship. She also confides in Leanne that Eva won't be returning to Weatherfield.
The countless lies she has spun begin to weigh on her mind and Aidan notices her awkwardness when he stops to say hi to Susie.
Georgia explains: "By accident, she has become a deceitful person but she doesn’t have the traits of a naturally deceitful person.
"But she does have a conscience so there is always a chance that she won’t be able to contain her guilt forever."
*Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV |
Men's lacrosse drops Ivy League opener to Harvard | Entering the weekend off of a win against a previously undefeated Villanova University squad, the men’s lacrosse team hoped to serve Harvard its second loss of the season. However, strong goalkeeping and a consistent offensive attack allowed the Crimson (5-1, 0-1 Ivy) to narrowly edge out the Bears (2-3, 0-1), 10-8 Saturday.
Harvard opened scoring with 9:45 left in the first quarter. The Crimson struck again less than a minute later and held onto the lead for the duration of the matchup.
Jackson Newsome ’19 notched the first point for the Bears midway through the quarter and scored his initial goal in what would become a hat-trick effort.
The Crimson responded quickly, scoring once more to put the game at 3-1 with just under five minutes remaining in the period. Jake Miller ’18 replied with a goal 10 seconds later and trimmed the deficit to one before the end of the stanza.
The second quarter followed a pattern similar to that of the first, as Harvard posted the opening pair of goals. Carson Song ’19 scored with 4:54 remaining in the second, and Harvard followed with a goal roughly two minutes later. Michael Panepinto ’19 found the back of the net as another 3-2 quarter gave the Crimson a 6-4 lead over the Bears entering halftime.
Newsome got Bruno off to a quick start in the second half by recording a goal in the first 40 seconds of the third period. However, the Crimson widened its lead with three straight goals, and the Bears found themselves at a 9-5 deficit with 8:23 to go in the third quarter.
But Stephen Hudak ’18 ended Harvard’s run by finding the back of the net three minutes later. Newsome then scored his third goal of the afternoon with four seconds left in the period and narrowed Harvard’s advantage to two upon entering the final quarter of play.
The fourth quarter was a low-scoring affair, as the Crimson put away a goal with 6:16 left to play. Panepinto scored again with just over two minutes remaining and set the game at its eventual final score of 10-8.
The Bears finished with a season-high 45 shots on the game, but the team struggled to convert these attempts into points. Only 25 shots were on goal, and Harvard managed to make 17 saves for the afternoon.
“Hats off to that goalie — he played a great game,” said Luke McCaleb ’20. “But the harder you make it for the goalie, the easier it is to win and score goals. So I think the biggest thing is just getting back out there … making sure we’re flowing and finishing our shots.”
Newsome led overall scoring for Brown with three goals. Song paced the team with four assists, and Phil Goss ’20 posted nine saves on the afternoon.
“We worked really hard and played with a lot of heart, but we didn’t execute. Our fundamentals weren’t there most of the game,” wrote Miller in an email to The Herald. “Their settled defense (stifled) us and we missed valuable chances to take the ball away.”
The loss to Harvard marks yet another narrow defeat for Bruno, as all three of the team’s losses on the season have come by a margin of two goals or fewer. According to McCaleb, the team can end up on the right side of close finishes by sticking to the basics.
“It’s the little things that make the biggest difference, whether it’s riding for one more second, … finishing one more shot or coming to and through a pass,” McCaleb said. “Those little things build up, and they turn into big things, which end in wins.”
The Bears will be back in action Tuesday as they travel to Worcester to face the College of the Holy Cross before returning home to host the University of Massachusetts Amherst Saturday. |
Landlord requests policy changes | Nicholas Beery asked city commissioners during a regular meeting Monday evening if they would consider the change in policy.
Start the conversation, or Read more at ParsonsSun.com. |
Woman blames United Airlines for her dog's death after unexpected 20 hour layover | ROMULUS, Mich. (WXYZ) - Kathleen Considine says she and her family would have never put her 7-year-old dog, Jacob, on a plane if they thought it would be risky.
Considine is blaming United Airlines for her dog's death, which occurred just hours after he arrived in Portland, Oregon.
Considine, who is from Dearborn, Michigan, had recently relocated to Portland. It was time for her beloved Jacob to join her.
Considine says her family was told that Jacob's crate would fit on the two planes that he'd have to be aboard. But when Jacob arrived in Chicago to change planes, they got a phone call because the second plane could not accommodate the size of his cage.
Jacob's one-hour layover turned into a 20-hour layover as the airline waited to put the dog on another plane.
Charlie Hobart, a spokesman for United Airlines, says their agent at Metro Airport in Romulus did make a mistake and they have apologized for that error.
Hobart says, despite the 20-hour layover, they are not responsible for Jacob's death and that the dog did not show any signs of being ill while in their care.
But Considine says that when her boyfriend went to the airport in Portland to pick Jacob up because she was at work, her boyfriend noticed that Jacob didn't seem well at all.
A United worker reportedly told him the dog may have been given some medication and that he would be fine. That was around 4 p.m.
Considine says she was cuddling with Jacob on the bed that night after a veterinarian said to keep an eye on him. But by around 11 p.m., Jacob was in trouble.
Considine and her boyfriend rushed Jacob to an emergency veterinarian where he immediately needed CPR.
Eight minutes later, Jacob was dead.
Considine was told that it appeared Jacob died from Gastric Dilatation and Volvulus Syndrome, which is more commonly called bloat, brought on by stress.
In a Facebook post, Considine wrote:
"Nothing will bring my baby back, but I am asking everyone to please share this post so nobody else has to go through this terrible tragedy.
United Airlines "PetSafe" program is cruel. They treat animals like baggage. They did not care if Jacob had food or water or any time out of his cage. They are incredibly rude and have shown no sympathy for my dog's death. I would have received the same responses if they were to have broken my guitar in baggage.
The airline is ignoring my questions and concerns so I am turning my attention to Facebook in hopes to spread the word."
Read Kathleen Considine's full post below: |
Former BBC Radio presenter in coma 'after being attacked in Benidorm bar' | The video will start in 8 Cancel
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A former BBC Radio presenter is in an induced coma after being attacked in a bar in Benidorm, according to reports.
Comedian Jimmy Carol, 63, is seriously ill in a hospital in Spain with a bleed on the brain and a fractured skull.
According to reports, he was hit so hard he "hit the floor already unconscious".
He is believed to have woken up briefly in order to "murmur some incomprehensible words" shortly before he was put into an induced coma.
Medics rushed Mr Carol into immediate surgery to release pressure and swelling on his brain.
He has been transferred to Alicante Hospital for further CT scans and monitoring.
His son Daniel is believed to be at his bedside.
(Image: Facebook)
(Image: Facebook)
BBC journalist Andy Kershaw said Jimmy's son James confirmed the news on Facebook.
James asked for prayers towards his dad's "full healing and recovery".
The man who allegedly hit Jimmy "ran off immediately afterwards", according to reports. He is believed to be still at large and Spanish police are involved.
On Jimmy's website, he is described as "a man with a social conscience" as well as a "well-established radio presenter and entertainer".
(Image: Facebook)
His biography reads: "From his roots as an entertainer with over thirty years experience both at home and abroad, Jimmy Carol has successfully diversified into other areas of the entertainment sector.
"He is a well-established radio presenter and has interviewed world renowned celebrities for BBC Radio Sheffield’s shows.
"More recently, he has extended his skills into theatre, television and voice over work.
"He has also worked as a Compere and has a good track record as an entertaining after dinner Speaker.
"A man with a social conscience, he actively supports various charities, arranging and performing in benefit shows, often coercing his friends in the entertainment world into working beside him on a voluntary basis.
"In summary, Jimmy is an experienced, talented, all-round professional performer." |
New law prohibits Florida minors from buying cough syrup | TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Minors won’t be able to buy some cough syrup brands over the counter as a new law to curb youth substance abuse took effect.
The News-Journal reports Senate Bill 938 took effect Monday. It’s a measure prohibiting manufacturers, distributors and retailers from selling medicines containing dextromethorphan to those under 18, and requiring anyone who appears under the age of 25 to provide identification upon checkout.
Related: New Florida law will prevent teens from buying cough medicine
The ingredient is a cough suppressant, and is used in many over-the-counter medicines, but has been misused particularly by young people aiming to get high.
Former State Rep. Doug Broxson, who will take office this week as state Senator, sponsored the bill after hearing about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s issues with the ingredient, particularly as it related to deaths of minors.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
Karlins leaving Big Rapids after reassignment to Muskegon | Posted by Candy Allan
Candy is the Pioneer's associate editor. She also coordinates the Family & Friends, Religion and Parenting pages. She can be reached by phone at (231) 592-8386 or by e-mail at callan@pioneergroup.com. |
Water Corporation tweets picture of Sesame Street’s Ernie watering ‘pot’ plant | It appears someone at the Water Corporation believes the waterwise message should be used for all types of flora, including those more questionable plants.
Earlier today, the WA utility sent out a tweet, which has since been deleted, advising West Aussies to embrace the waterwise message by “going easy on water supplies” when tending to their plants such as sunflowers and tea tree.
The important public service announcement was accompanied by a photo featuring Sesame Street’s Ernie watering a pot plant, however the plant was literally pot - marijuana.
Seconds after the tweet went out, it was pounced on by members of the Twittersphere who were quick to point out the unfortunate mistake.
According to the Water Corp, the inclusion of Ernie watering the marjuana plant was an innocent mistake. |
Rafale eyes naval contract for 57 aircraft | After bagging the Euro 8.78 billion deal for 36 fighters to strengthen the fleet, French aircraft manufacturer Aviation is now eying the naval contract of 57 aircraft that is up for grabs.
The navy issued a 'Request for Information' last month seeking response from various manufacturers to equip its aircraft carriers with fighter jets, shelving the original plan to go in for the naval version of the indigenous Tejas.
Eric Trappier, CEO of Aviation, said the French aviation company will pitch for the naval contract."We are the only company to have strictly the same aircraft for our air force and for our navy. Our for the navy and the air force are same," he toldEarly last year, a team from France had given a detailed presentation to senior navy officers on various aspects of the naval version and the benefits it would offer with two arms of defence forces using fighter jets."In case we have the new contract for the navy, we will benefit from the local implementation of the production (for the air force)," Trappier said.The air force is also looking to procure fighter jets to replenish its ageing fleet. has already begun manufacturing an initial lot of the 36 jets for theLike other defence companies vying for the multi-billion dollar contract, too has offered to set up a manufacturing line in India."We started to think seriously about producing in India a long time ago. We will start production of parts of Rafale, which is a part of the existing contract."It will not only be Rafale, but parts of Falcon (fighter jet) will be produced in India. We want to have a serious footprint under the programme."If we get new contract for more jets, it will help us to develop more capabilities and we will have an assembly line in India," Trappier said. |
Man Utd 2-0 Huddersfield: Mourinho | Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho praises Huddersfield Town's organised defence but feels his side's 2-0 win was fully deserved.
MATCH REPORT: Manchester United 2-0 Huddersfield
Watch highlights on Match of the Day, Saturday 3 February at 22:30 GMT on BBC One and the BBC Sport website & app. |
The new AJ Student Prize is open for entries! | All RIBA-accredited schools are invited to submit the final project of one undergraduate and one postgraduate student
The AJ has launched a free-to-enter prize aimed specifically at UK-based architecture schools, open to all students on RIBA-accredited architecture courses.
We are inviting all schools to submit the final-year projects of their two best students – one at undergraduate (Part 1) and one at postgraduate (Part 2) level. The projects must have been completed in the most recent academic season (2017/18). The AJ will publish the two entries received from each school in its annual student issue in July.
The judges – who will be announced next month – will choose two winners, one from each level, who will be announced at a prize-giving event in London this September. The winners’ work will also be covered in a September issue of the AJ.
This prize is a great platform for universities to celebrate the work of their students and their architecture departments in teaching the next generation of skilled architects.
How to enter Entries must be submitted by the school and not by individual students. Head to the AJ Student Prize website Complete the free registration process and entry form. You will be asked to provide general information about the school eg number of students, courses offered. Upload work for each student project. The following must be submitted: Executive summary of the project – maximum of 200 words
Executive summary about why the student should win – maximum of 200 words
5-10 high-resolution jpeg images of the project. Where possible this should include plans, sections etc. We need a range of landscape and portrait images Criteria Only entries from schools based in the UK are valid
Entries must have been produced by students during the most recently completed academic season (2017/18)
Each school can submit a maximum of two entries – one project from an undergraduate student and one from a postgraduate student. If a school submits multiple entries, the AJ’s editorial team will decide on the best entries to put forward for judging – but we would strongly advise that the school makes the decision on whose work to put forward
The submitted projects should be the final project completed either at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Deadline Friday 8 June 2018
The AJ Student Prize is sponsored by |
Harrogate school to unveil Premier League and FA-funded all weather pitch | St John Fisher Catholic High School’s new all-weather pitch will be officially opened this weekend.
The 3G pitch is set to be a key venue for the development of girls’ football participation in the area, with eight brand new female teams planned, including a women’s open-age side.
It will be used by students as well as partner clubs Harrogate Town AFC and Pannal Sports JFC.
The pitch has been funded by a grant from the Premier League and the FA Facilities Fund.
Staff members Max Mills MBE (pictured) and Mike Knowles will officially open the pitch this Saturday (October 7) with MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Andrew Jones.
The grant has enabled the school to replace an existing grass pitch, prone to waterlogging, with a state-of-the-art third generation (3G) artificial grass pitch (AGP).
Both partner clubs previously had to travel for training due to a lack of adequate facilities in the area.
They will now base all of their training at the school pitch.
Partner club Harrogate Town AFC, who sit top of National League North, will also use the pitch to deliver community outreach programmes.
Since 2000, the Football Foundation Funding Partners’ investment has provided 520 grants worth £19.4m towards grassroots sports projects worth over £38.4m across the whole of West Riding.
Founded in 2000, the Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the UK funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government, via Sport England.
It develops new and refurbished grassroots sports facilities in order to improve the quality and experience of playing sport at the grassroots level.
Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 15,000 grants worth more than £580m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £800m – £1.4bn of investment into the grassroots game.
Read more
£1.1m sports facilities approved for Pannal Sports Junior Football Club |
New York teen chokes mom’s ex-boyfriend to death after seeing him beat her: police | Please enable Javascript to watch this video
NEW YORK — A woman's son allegedly choked his mother's ex-boyfriend to death Monday after spotting the man beating her inside their New York City apartment, police said.
The 43-year-old ex-boyfriend showed up at the University Avenue unit in the Bronx around 4:30 a.m. to talk to the mother, police told WPIX. The two argued in the hallway, then he followed her into the apartment.
The man, who police didn't immediately identify Monday, then began beating the 37-year-old woman, officers said. Her 18-year-old son heard what was happening and rushed out of his bedroom.
The teen allegedly fought with his mom's ex-boyfriend, pulling him off of his mother before choking the man to death, police said.
Police sources said the mother, who had briefly passed out, woke up to the sight of her son standing over her ex-boyfriend.
The dead man has 26 prior arrests, two for domestic violence against the teenager's mother, sources told WPIX.
Police took the teen into custody. No charges have been filed as of Monday evening. |
The NL Wild Card Race Should be a Wild Ride in 2018 | Last season saw a rumbling tectonic shift in the battle for the National League’s two Wild Card playoff slots.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies shook up their front offices prior to the start of the 2017 season and saw instant returns as both teams dropped their old school approach to the game and went on to capture the league’s two Wild Card playoff spots.
In 2018 we can expect the battle for the NL Wild Cards to get tougher and even more competitive as the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants join the Rockies and D’Backs in the hunt for Wild Card gold. (Maybe it’s more like Wild Card tungsten or aluminum.)
Let’s go ahead and recklessly stipulate that the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers will likely take their respective divisions in 2018. Which allows us to focus on the predictable winners and possible pretenders in the Wild Card races.
The Two Previously Dominant Teams
I don’t see either Arizona or Colorado taking a step back from their 2017 gains in the upcoming season.
The Diamondbacks (93-6 9) had the third best record in the NL last season, winning one more game than the Cubs.
Colorado smartly focused on further building up their bullpen this offseason (Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, and Jake McGee) and their 824 RS led all National League teams in 2017.
So let’s look at the teams who will push the D’Backs and Rockies for a 2018 Wild Card birth.
The Two Newly Improved Teams
Last year the Milwaukee Brewers (86-76) missed tying Colorado (87-75) for the second Wild Card spot by one game. While the Rockies have improved their bullpen, the Brewers have seriously retooled their offense and defense.
Milwaukee signed free agent CF Lorenzo Cain (5 years/$80m) and picked up OF Christian Yelich in a multi-player deal with the Marlins on January 25th. The Brewers also saw OF Domingo Santana, 25, have a break-out season in 2017 (.875 OPS, 151 games), and have several other viable outfield options on their roster.
But the Brewers need starting pitching. And maybe a lot of starting pitching.
Count on them to sign one of the following free agent starters in the next ten days: Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta, or Alex Cobb. A trade with Tampa Bay for SP Chris Archer is less likely, but that also has to be on the Milwaukee front office’s front burner.
Despite the holes in their starting pitching, the Brewers are the number one contender to join Arizona and Colorado in the hunt for the Wild Card. But seriously pushing the Brew Crew to get some National League Wild Card glory are the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cards may have one of the best crop of talented young starters in the game:
– RHP Carlos Martinez, 26
– RHP Alex Reyes, 23
– RHP Jack Flaherty, 22
– RHP Luke Weaver, 24
– LHP Austin Gomber, 24
They will join veteran pitchers Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, and Miles Mikolas to round out the starting rotation and add depth to the bullpen.
The Cards’ offense (7th in the NL with 761 RS) was dramatically strengthened by the acquisition of power-hitting outfielder Marcell Ozuna, picked up in mid-December from the Miami Marlins.
Ozuna (145 OPS+, 191 hits) is one of the top three hitters in the National League and will provide the Cardinals with the additional power bat they needed to get.
With the St. Louis Cardinals joining the Brewers in pursuit of the 2018 NL Wild Card sweepstakes, it means that for the Chicago Cubs to win the NL Central Division title, they’ll have to perform well in the 38 games they have against two greatly improved teams in their own division.
The Two Outlier Teams
And the envelope for the two surprise Wild Card contending teams of 2018? It’s the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants.
The Mets have two factors playing in their favor this season. First, their starting pitching has the potential to bounce back from a terrible 2017—a 5.01 team ERA that pushed them to 14th among NL pitching staffs.
Few Major League teams have the opening power punch of 25-year-old RHP Noah Syndergaard and 29-year-old RHP Jacob deGrom in their rotations. Add to that the usual crowd of (admittedly) often-injured young starters, any of whom could make 2018 a breakout year.
The second factor in the Mets’ favor this season is the deconstructed Miami Marlins and the not-quite-there-yet rebuilding Atlanta Braves. That’s 38 total games against one floundering team and one rebuilding team— which should give the New York Mets a good opportunity to snag a bunch of potential wins.
The San Francisco Giants have a more difficult path to the land of the Wild Cards.
The Giants are built, in a sense, not to last. Unlike teams with built-in depth, when predictable injuries hit key San Francisco starting players this season there’s a precipitous drop-off in offense and pitching.
San Francisco has certainly improved last season’s historically bad offense (29th in MLB with 639 RS and a -137 run differential). But the upgrades (3B Evan Longoria, RF Andrew McCutchen) are older and don’t bring a lot of additional power to the table.
Starting pitching starts out strong with LHP Madison Bumgarner and RHP Johnny Cueto, but drops off with 33-year-old Jeff Samardzija (4.42 ERA in 32 GS) and several untested younger arms.
It remains to be seen if the Giants’ bullpen (4.34 ERA, 19th out of 30 MLB teams) will be improved enough with the return of soft-tossing closer Mark Melancon from injuries.
The 2018 season should bring an intense second-tier battle for the two NL Wild Card slots. And the prediction here is that Milwaukee and St. Louis will have a lot to say about which teams travel to the postseason via the Wild Card train. |
Environmental Law: Trump reverses past climate change policies with energy independence order | Login E-mail: Password: Already a paid subscriber but not registered for online access yet? For instructions on how to get premium web access, click here. Forgot your password?
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On March 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dramatically shift course from the climate change focus of the Obama administration. The order has several components which will affect United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) climate regulations along with energy production activities. A key aspect is the revocation of the Clean Power Plan ... |
BRIEF-momo.com to pay cash dividend of T$8 per share for 2016 | UPDATE 3-Nestle takes food price rises in its stride
ZURICH, Aug 9 Nestle expects pressure from the rising price of ingredients for its products such as chocolate bars, coffee and soup to ease, helping it meet its target for increasing sales despite tough markets. |
Work Can Be Stressful, Dangerous And Sometimes Great | If you think your job is more stressful than it should be, you're not alone.
Americans work hard, and it takes a physical and mental toll, not to mention that it frequently cuts into personal time, according to a comprehensive survey on working conditions the nonpartisan RAND Corporation published Monday. But having a good boss and good friends on the job can make work feel less taxing.
In 2015, RAND researchers, along with Harvard Medical School and the University of California, Los Angeles, began collecting data from over 3,000 people from all income and education levels who work or have worked in all types of jobs. What they discovered about how we work may help inform policymakers looking to grow the economy and employers looking to retain the best workers.
This kind of data, examining workplace conditions in the U.S., has not been collected for decades. "We have excellent data on wages, on training ... but we don't know much about the conditions of work," says Nicole Maestas, an economist and associate health care policy professor at Harvard Medical School who is the lead researcher on this study.
What the researchers found was that more than 1 in 4 Americans surveyed say they don't have enough time to do their jobs, with about half of Americans reporting that they do some work in their free time. This was most prevalent among white-collar workers. Two-thirds of all workers say they frequently work under tight deadlines or at high speed.
In addition, 1 in 5 reported experiencing verbal abuse, threats, humiliating behavior or unwanted sexual attention at work in the past month; or they experienced bullying, harassment or sexual harassment in the past year.
"One thing that really struck me was the high prevalence of hostile social interactions at work," says Maestas. Her survey found that while such interactions were seen across the board, verbal abuse was much more common in customer service jobs and experienced at the highest rates among men who did not graduate from college. Younger women and women of "prime age," defined in the survey as ages 35-49, experienced the most unwanted sexual attention.
But people who have "good" bosses — or bosses who respect them, praise them, work with them and give feedback — were less likely to have workers who reported verbal or physical threats, Maestra notes.
"Maybe bad bosses are part of the problem," she says, when it comes to a hostile work environment.
American workers feel, by and large, that they have a reasonable amount of autonomy on the job and are confident in their skills. Still, many workers, particularly those in service jobs and without a college degree, have little control over their work schedules. Some experience schedule changes the day of work or the day before.
New York and San Francisco have passed laws requiring employers to make schedules more predictable, and Oregon may become the first state to require at least a week's notice of duty hours for certain service jobs so employees can plan doctors' appointments and child care and get to their second jobs.
Despite multiple studies showing the benefits of telecommuting, it is still a rare option for many workers. The RAND survey found that 78 percent of employees are required to show up at their workplaces during regular business hours.
No matter where we work, friendships play an important role in how we perceive our jobs. Sixty-one percent of women agree with the statement "I have very good friends at work," while 53 percent of men agreed.
While the emotional support helps, many jobs are simply tough on the body. Seventy-five percent of people surveyed report intense or repetitive physical exertion on the job at least 25 percent of the time. While workers who don't have a college education report greater physical challenges on the job — think health care aides and construction workers — college-educated and older workers face significant physical challenges as well, particularly in the medical and sales fields where they are lifting heavy items and on their feet most of the day.
The physical exertion of their jobs may be why some older Americans retire early. It's also a prime consideration for many seniors who say they would consider going back to work for the "right" job, Maestas says.
"We've got more people retiring than ever, and there just aren't enough younger workers to both release retirees and grow the economy," she says, so employers should take notice of workplace conditions if they want to retain older, experienced workers.
Additionally, 55 percent of workers report they are exposed to physical risks like smoke, fumes, infectious materials, extreme temperatures and vibrations from hand tools about 25 percent of the time. "That was strikingly high," Maestas says.
Saba Waheed, the research director at UCLA's Labor Center who was not involved in the study, says she was also surprised by the extent of the health and safety challenges revealed in the survey.
"We have a lot of great laws, but we need better enforcement," she says.
While she largely praises the survey's comprehensiveness, Waheed says she would have like to see how workers fared along hourly versus non-hourly lines, as well as the experiences reported by part-time versus full-time workers. "I would really love to see race in here," she says, as well.
Maestas says that the survey did not break down workers by race because doing so would have resulted in numbers too small to be statistically significant.
The American Working Conditions Survey is based on a European workplace survey conducted every five years. Maestas and her team plan to compare the U.S. data with European data in 2018.
The survey was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Social Security Administration. |
Record rise in hate crime after Brexit vote | Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Record levels of hate crime were reported by three-quarters of police forces in England and Wales in the aftermath of last year’s EU referendum with Cambridgeshire seeing a nine per cent increase.
New analysis has shown that in the county there was a total of 179 hate crimes in July to September last year, up nine per cent on the previous quarter, April to June 2016.
Hertfordshire police recorded 266 offences up 30 per cent, Suffolk 123 crimes up 37 per cent and Essex police recorded 376 offences up 41 per cent.
Detective Inspector Dean Wiffin, of the Cambridgeshire force, said world events, such as the Orlando shooting and the murder of a Catholic priest in France, together with the reported increase in hate crimes following the EU Referendum may have left people feeling more vulnerable.
He said: “Although a rise in hate crime is always concerning, if these events have raised awareness and resulted in people reporting when they maybe wouldn’t have done so before, then it’s a good thing.
“Under-reporting is a factor we’re focusing on because, more often than not, those affected by hate crime are too frightened or intimidated to come forward or do not recognise they are victims.
“I would encourage victims, family members, carers and the public to help us tackle the problem by reporting incidents to the police or our partners. Everyone has the right to live without harassment or fear of crime.”
In some areas the number of incidents jumped by more than 50 per cent.
A human rights organisation has said the country should prepare for the possibility of further spikes in offences once the Brexit process has begun.
The figures, compiled by the Press Association, provide the first complete picture of hate crime recorded by police in England and Wales following the referendum on June 23.
They show that in the three months ending September 2016, 33 out of 44 forces recorded the highest quarterly number of hate crimes since comparable records began in April 2012
Three forces each recorded more than 1,000 hate crimes - the Metropolitan Police (3,356), Greater Manchester (1,033) and West Yorkshire (1,013).
Only four forces reported a decrease on the previous three months.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the findings suggested a small number of people used the Brexit vote “to legitimise inexcusable racism and prejudice”, while the charity Victim Support said that more needed to be done to encourage victims to come forward.
Provisional figures on hate crimes published by the Home Office in October 2016 suggested that offences in July 2016 were 41 per cent higher than in July 2015.
The new analysis shows that a rise in incidents was seen in almost every force in England and Wales, both year-on-year and when comparing the three months either side of the referendum.
The Press Association also cross-referenced data on offences with the results of the EU referendum to see if there was any pattern to the level of hate crime.
In 36 police force areas, a majority of voters backed Leave in the referendum - and the quarterly hate crime figure rose in all of them except two.
The area with the biggest Leave vote, Lincolnshire, saw hate crimes jump by 59 per cent.
But the figures do not suggest a trend across the country. Two forces that covered areas with a large Remain vote - Merseyside and Thames Valley - recorded rises in hate crime of 19 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.
In Cambridgeshire, Cambridge voted overwhelmingly for Remain, as did South Cambridgeshire. Fenland was 71.4 per cent Leave. The other three districts in Cambridgeshire had Leave majorities.
David Isaac, chair of the EHRC, said it “must be sensible to prepare for any possible spikes” in hate crime once Brexit negotiations got under way.
“The vast majority of people who voted to leave the European Union did so because they believed it was best for Britain and not because they are intolerant of others,” he said.
“It is clear, however, that a small minority of people used the Brexit vote to legitimise inexcusable racism and prejudice. We cannot allow such intolerable acts of hate to be condoned or repeated.
“The triggering of Article 50 is the next major milestone and we must do all we can to discourage hate attacks and to support people who feel at risk.”
Lucy Hastings, director at Victim Support, revealed the charity last year supported 16,000 victims of hate crime in England and Wales and confirmed a spike in referrals in the immediate aftermath of the referendum.
She said the rise could be linked to increased publicity about hate crimes, which “encouraged more people to report or seek support”.
She added: “Hate crime has no place in our society and every victim of this crime is one too many.
“We believe that more needs to be done to further encourage reporting. This includes making third-party hate crime units more accessible to the public.” |
Reputable Vendors For Solar Eclipse Glasses - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | | NASA and the American Astronomical Society (AAS) have created a list of reputable vendors for customers seeking to purchase solar eclipse glasses. Customers should avoid knock-offs because they do not provide adequate protection.
The following telescope and solar-filter companies have been verified by NASA and AAS.
American Paper Optics (Eclipser) / EclipseGlasses.com
APM Telescopes (Sunfilter Glasses)
Baadar Planetarium (AstroSolar Silver/Gold Film)
Celestron (EclipSmart Glasses & Viewers)
DayStar (Solar Glasses)
Halo Solar Eclipse Spectacles
Lunt Solar Systems (SUNsafe SUNglasses) (unique kid-sized glasses)
Rainbow Symphony (Eclipse Shades)
Thousand Oaks Optical (Silver-Black Polymer & SolarLite)
TSE 17 / 110th.de (Solar Filter Foil) |
Cornelius ready to replace Rudolph as Oklahoma State QB | For the first time in more than three years, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy will have a new starting quarterback.
Mason Rudolph started 41 games for the Cowboys and left with many of the most significant school records.
Taylor Cornelius appears ready to step in. The 6-foot-6, 232-pound senior has taken control of the position during the spring.
"He's doing really well," Gundy said. "He's been around here forever and his strength is his knowledge of our offence. He throws the ball around pretty well and he has nice size. The only thing we don't know is how well he'll handle playing in games."
Though Cornelius has only passed for 220 yards and rushed for 108 in his career, the transition has been seamless. He knows much of his work will go beyond throwing the ball.
"I am trying to be a bigger role model and a leader for this group because I am the older guy," he said. "So those have been big things for me this spring."
Keondre Wudtee and John Kolar are the other quarterbacks in the mix. But Cornelius has been solid through the spring, which culminates with the April 28 spring game.
REPLACING WASHINGTON
Washington was the Biletnikoff Award winner last season, and Marcell Ateman gained more than 1,100 yards receiving. Though both are gone, the Cowboys are still loaded at that spot, with Jalen McCleskey, Dillon Stoner and Tyron Johnson still around. McCleskey has 152 career receptions and 15 touchdowns. Stoner caught 44 passes as a freshman last season. Johnson, a junior, was a five-star prospect coming out of high school who finally will have the stage.
"We're pretty good," Johnson said. "We're going to fly under the radar. A lot of people will think we're not that good because we lost some big targets to the draft, but that's how it goes. We reloaded and we have a lot of talented receivers that have to get on the same page as the quarterbacks and learn the plays." |
Royal ISD School Board meets 2nd Mondays | Regular meetings of the Royal I.S.D. School Board are held on the second Monday of each month. The time of all regularly scheduled meetings is 6:30 p.m. School Board meetings are held in the Board Room at the Administration Building, 3714 F. M. 359 North, Pattison, TX 77466. The Administration Building is located north of Brookshire. All other meetings and workshops are scheduled on an “as needed” basis. The public is always encouraged to attend all of the Royal I.S.D. board meetings.
To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition. https://etypeservices.com/Brookshire%20Times%20TribuneID495/ |
Michael Jackson estate suing ABC over TV special | The estate of Michael Jackson is suing Disney, saying an ABC television special on the singer’s last days infringed on its intellectual property.
The Associated Press obtained the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in a Los Angeles court against the network and parent company Disney.
It alleges that last week’s special, The Last Days of Michael Jackson, illegally uses significant excerpts of his most valuable songs, including Billie Jean and Bad, and music videos, including Thriller and Black or White.
Estate lawsuit against ABC and Disney
It says the special also used clips from a documentary and feature film belonging to the estate.
ABC representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But when the Jackson camp raised objections last week, the network defended it as a news show that did not violate the estate’s rights. |
Kagame in Djibouti To Further Trade and Investment Deals | President Paul Kagame and the First Lady Jeannette Kagame this morning arrived Djibouti for a two-day State visit, as Rwanda looks to strengthen …
Rwead more |
Inhumane treatment investigated at Effingham Animal Shelter - WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports | Inspectors from the Georgia Department of Agriculture visited the Effingham County Animal Shelter Monday to investigate allegations about inhumane treatment of animals.
According to the inspection report from the department, the complaint "covered many areas of concern" including "Facility offers no heat or blankets, unclean enclosures, no food, diseases not being reported."
"State Department of Agriculture came out and did an inspection, an unannounced inspection," said Steve Davis, Effingham County administrator. "We passed this inspection with no violations."
While there weren't any violations, the inspector did ask for better temperature control in a building without central heating and air. The report requires the shelter to add a thermometer and a heat source to it's building for stay animals and animals on hold.
Heather Holmes, foster lead for Cherokee Humane Society in Acworth, Ga., works to rescue animals from the Effingham County shelter and find the homes across the state. She said she noticed the cold conditions during a visit earlier this year.
"It's freezing cold," Holmes said. "The doors are wide open. The slats in the side of the walls are open. This is for ventilation. I said, 'Well, where are the blankets?' I said, 'It's freezing in here.' She said, 'I don't like putting blankets in there because they pee and poop on them.' I said, 'And you have a washing machine, right?' She said yeah. Then she said, 'Well we didn't know it was going to be this cold last night.'"
Monday's inspection report animals had access to large dog beds and blankets to animals to get off of the concrete floor.
Several other viewers reached out to WTOC with complaints against the shelter, alleging misdiagnoses of illness or as feral as a reason to euthanize, improper disposal of animal bodies and animals being scheduled for euthanasia earlier than required.
None of those complaints were found or addressed in Monday's inspection report, and it's unclear if those complaints led to the state investigation.
A concern for Holmes that isn't cited in the report, the shelter euthanizes animals without sedation.
"It's my understanding that the ferals or the cats they can't handle, they'll stick them in their stomach, wherever they can stick them," Holmes said. "I've heard that the dogs when they're euthanized some of them howl and carry on while they're dying. The cats bounce around in their cages before they die."
According the Department of Agriculture, it's not a violation to not sedate an animal before euthanasia unless an intracardial procedure is used, which the department said is rare.
"There is no inhumane treatment at our facility at all," Davis said. "We're following all state guidelines on all treatment of the animals."
While it's not illegal, Holmes said it doesn't sound humane.
The American Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2013 Edition notes "Sedation and/or anesthesia may assist in achieving the best conditions for euthanasia. It must be recognized that sedatives or anesthetics given at this stage that change circulation may delay the onset of the euthanasia agent." In a section specific to animal control, sheltering and rescue facilities, the guide notes two people should handle well-socialized animals "without pre-euthanasia sedation," but "when euthanizing distressed, dangerous, or fractious animals, a sedative or anesthetic should be administered prior to attempting euthanasia."
The ASPCA End of Life Care guide states, "Your veterinarian has special training to provide your pet with a humane and gentle death. During the procedure, your vet will inject your pet with a sedative followed by a special medication. The animal experiences no awareness of the end of life."
According to records Holmes received from the shelter, 1,974 animals were moved out of the shelter between Jan. 1, 2017 and Oct. 27, 2017. 963 of those were euthanized.
Davis said the shelter has a three-day hold policy on animals before they can be euthanized, and Holmes would like to see that extended.
She would also like the see the shelter do better networking with other rescue groups throughout the state to reduce the number of animals euthanized.
"I know there's no such thing as no kill, but something needs to be done," Holmes said. "These animals need to networked a lot better than what they are."
Davis said the state inspector visit validates the concerns submitted to the Department of Agriculture were legitimate, but said the lack of violation shows the shelter isn't doing anything wrong.
"I absolutely do, and it was good that they came out," Davis said. "They went around it. They took pictures. They inspected it, the areas, for cleanliness and all of the above. Plus they checked our records. We've got professional staff down there, and we document everything we do. We have nothing to hide at all."
Copyright 2017 WTOC. All rights reserved. |
BRIEF-Guangdong Ellington Electronics Technology says FY 2016 dividend payment | Spanish stocks - Factors to watch on Thursday
The following Spanish stocks may be affected by newspaper reports and other factors on Thursday. Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy: |
The Latest: California helicopter crash victims identified | NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on a fatal helicopter crash in Southern California (all times local):
10:07 a.m.
California authorities have released the name of all three people killed when a small helicopter crashed in a Newport Beach neighborhood.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department says the dead are 60-year-old Joseph Anthony Tena of Newport Beach, 45-year-old Kimberly Lynne Watzman of Santa Monica and 56-year-old Brian R. Reichelt of Hollywood.
The crash Wednesday in a neighborhood involved four people in the helicopter and a bystander. Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella says all three people killed were in the helicopter.
There's no information about two people who were injured.
___
11:03 p.m.
Officials say three people were killed and two more injured when a helicopter crashed into a home in a suburban Southern California neighborhood.
Authorities say four people were aboard the Robinson R44 helicopter when it went down in Newport Beach on Tuesday afternoon just a few minutes after taking off from John Wayne Airport.
One person who was outside on the ground was involved in the crash, though officials did not specify who died and who was injured.
Neighbor Marian Michaels says she thought it was an earthquake when the helicopter slammed into the house.
Another neighbor, Roger Johnson, says he heard a scream that sounded like it was from a horror movie before rushing to the scene to try to help. |
British defence spending dipped below NATO target in 2016 -think tank | LONDON Feb 14 Britain's defence spending last year dipped just below the NATO military alliance's target of 2 percent of gross domestic product, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said on Tuesday.
The government disputed the figures, saying NATO's own data showed it had spent 2.21 percent of GDP on defence last year.
Britain has previously met the commitment and during a visit to Washington last month Prime Minister Theresa May discussed the issue with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticised members who do not spend enough on their militaries.
Echoing the rationale behind Trump's criticism, May then warned EU leaders at a summit earlier this month that they must raise their defence spending.
"In 2016, only two European NATO states, Greece and Estonia, met the aim to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defence, down from four European states that met this measure in 2015," said John Chipman, Director General of global security think tank IISS, at the launch of a report on global military capabilities.
"The UK dipped slightly below this at 1.98 percent, as its economy grew faster in 2016 than its defence spending. Nonetheless, the UK remained the only European state in the world's top five defence spenders in 2016."
The British government said the IISS presented its spending figures in U.S. dollars, and so had been impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates.
"These figures are wrong: NATO's own figures clearly show that the UK spends over 2 percent of its GDP on defence," a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
"Our defence budget is the biggest in Europe, the second largest in NATO, and it is growing each year as we invest 178 billion pounds in new equipment and the UK steps up globally, with new ships, submarines and aircraft over the next decade." (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Stephen Addison) |
Best places to travel for Christmas | Anyone who celebrates Christmas will tell you that it's a magical time of year. And while it can be fun to spend the holiday at home, Christmas is also a great time to travel and see how the rest of the world celebrates. We rounded up 18 destinations whose Christmas traditions are worth traveling for. From festive Christmas markets in Europe to incredible light shows in Hong Kong, here are the places that should be on your bucket list during the holiday season. View As: One Page Slides
Strasbourg, France Strasbourg is known as the capital of Christmas — and for good reason. The city's Christmas market is one of Europe's oldest and most popular; it dates back to 1570. Today, its 300 stalls are filled with everything from hand-painted ornaments to beautiful wooden cuckoo clocks to local delicacies and wines. The town itself is a must-see with its quaint cobblestone streets, colorful dwellings, and intriguing mix of both French and German influences.
The Maldives The Maldives are ideal for travelers who are in search of a true getaway far from the holiday bustle. December marks the start of the islands' dry season, so while there might be some rain at the beginning of the month, it usually tapers off at the end, and otherwise temperatures hover in the mid 80s. No matter which island you end up on, you'll encounter bright blue lagoons, stunning coral reefs, and pristine sands.
Quebec City, Canada Quebec City's French speakers and striking colonial architecture will make you feel like you've time traveled back to 17th century France. And while this atmosphere is appealing year round, it's especially alluring around Christmas, when the shops and bistros that line the city's stone streets are adorned with holiday decorations. For outdoorsy types, there's skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing nearby. For a real rush, speed down the icy toboggan run at Château Frontenac on a wooden sled.
Steamboat Springs, Colorado If you're looking for a white Christmas, look no further than Steamboat Springs. Nestled in the Yampa Valley, this resort town might not have the glitz and glamour of other popular resorts like Vail and Aspen, but it does have a proven track record when it comes to snow. ZRankings rated Steamboat the second best place to ski during Christmas, citing the 93% of the resort's terrain that's usually open on the holiday.
Vienna, Austria There are few cities that embody the Christmas spirit as well as Vienna. The smells of bratwurst and gingerbread (or Lebkuchen) waft from the three Christmas markets throughout the city while lights bring the historic architecture to life. Practice your skating skills at the large rink at the Rathausplatz, and if you like to celebrate Christmas in church, book tickets to see the Vienna Boys Choir sing during Christmas Mass at the Hofburgkapelle — you won't be disappointed.
Hong Kong Hong Kong's harbor-front buildings become beacons of light during the holiday season, illuminated by dazzling Christmas lights and the nightly Symphony of Lights Show, a choreographed neon display that's projected against some of the city's most prominent skyscrapers. The best way to view them is a dinner cruise or a walk along the waterfront promenade. For a festive day-time stroll, browse the decorations inside the Landmark Mall.
Lapland, Finland Considered by the Finnish the true home of Santa Claus, Lapland is the largest and northernmost region in the country, sitting just above the Arctic Circle. And although the region contains just 3% of Finland's entire population, it boasts a whole Santa Claus Village, complete with a post office, elves, and of course, the man himself. Adventurous travelers should consider staying at the Arctic SnowHotel — which is carved anew every year from snow and ice — or Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort where guests spend the night snuggled inside a glass igloo.
New York City, New York Despite the crowds, New York City is magical during the holidays. There are plenty of activities that will get you into the holiday spirit: ice skating in Central Park, shopping in Bryant Park, browsing Fifth Avenue's holiday windows, and admiring the larger-than-life Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.
Prague, Czech Republic There's something about the juxtaposition of bright Christmas lights and gothic architecture that makes Prague a prime holiday destination. You'll probably want to spend most of your time wandering the city's two Christmas markets — one in the Old Town Square and the other in Wenceslas Square. Those hoping to indulge in the arts can choose from a performance at the State Opera or the Nutcracker at the National Theater.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates There's arguably nothing that Dubai can't provide Christmas travelers. Snowball fights, Christmas markets, a visit with Santa — all of that and more is at the Dubai Winter Festival at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre. And if you're looking to kick your celebrations up a notch, book a seat at Cirque de Cuisine, a dinner extravaganza that lasts three hours and features top-rated dishes as well as circus performers and elves.
Reykjavik, Iceland We named Iceland the best destination to visit in 2017, so if you haven't made it there yet, now is your chance. You'll only have about four hours of daylight during the month of December, but you just might catch a glimpse of the breathtaking northern lights. Plus, Icelanders love Christmas. Instead of just one Santa Claus, they celebrate with 13 Yule Lads, figures from Icelandic folklore that are found in windows all over the city during the holiday. True Christmas fans won't want to miss the Christmas Village in Hafnarfjordur, the Christmas market in Ingolfstorg Square, and the Christmas exhibit at the Reykjavik City Museum.
Taos, New Mexico Although New Mexico might not be on the bucket lists of many holiday travelers, the city of Taos offers an impressive array of holiday events. The town celebrates Christmas in a unique yet traditional way that honors both Native American and Hispanic culture. Visitors can wander the shops and galleries of Ledoux Street, which is lit with farolitos (small lanterns made from paper bags) every December. On Christmas Eve, there's a massive bonfire and procession, and on Christmas day, there's the Matachinas Dance, a Native American ceremonial dance featuring people of the Taos Pueblo.
Nuremberg, Germany While Nuremberg's Christkindelsmarkt (Christmas market) isn't as large as Strasbourg's, it dates back just as far and is widely considered to be the most famous in the country. The beautiful Church of Our Lady towers over the 200-vendor market, which takes place in the central square in the city's historic old town. Be sure to snag a mug of Glühwein, a spiced mulled wine that's served piping hot.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Brazil has two unique claims to fame when it comes to Christmas celebrations: The city hosts the largest display of full-sized nativity scenes in the world at the annual Crib Festival (known locally as Festival de Presépios), and it has the world's largest floating Christmas tree. Standing at 278 feet tall with a total of 3 million lights, the metal tree floats in Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. Rio experiences some of its warmest weather — averages hover in the mid 80s — in December, making the holidays a perfect time to plan a visit.
Sydney, Australia Despite the fact that it's summer down under during the month of December, it still feels like Christmas thanks to a month-long holiday celebration that starts in late November. Sydney Christmas features the lighting of the Martin Place Christmas tree, as well as choir concerts, holiday markets, and Christmas-themed department store windows. For a romantic stroll, head to the walkway along Pitt Street Mall, which is transformed into the Boulevard of Light, a twinkling canopy made from close to 80,000 LED lights.
Disney World, Orlando, Florida Ideal for its warm weather and family appeal, Disney World fully embraces the holidays. Most notably, there's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, during which the park stays open past regular hours (till midnight to be exact) for events like a parade, fireworks, and Christmas-themed shows. There are also tons of delicious treats that are only available during the holidays. Even the characters get decked out in holiday garb.
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico Named the best city in the world this year by travelers, San Miguel de Allende is rich in history, culture, and art. During Christmas, several celebrations play out against the backdrop of the city's vibrant colors and baroque architecture. Locals reenact Mary and Joseph's pilgrimage to Bethlehem, and El Jardín, the town's main square, comes alive with music and dancing. Make sure to get your fill of the sweetbread known as rosca de reyes and ponche, a holiday drink made with fruit and brandy. |
Ready to respond to ‘any mode of war’ by US military ‘in kind’: North Korea | United Nations (US): North Korea is preparing for "any mode of war" triggered by US military action, Pyongyang's envoy to the United Nations warned Monday, saying his country would respond to a missile or nuclear strike "in kind."
The statement from North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, followed warnings from US Vice President Mike Pence to Pyongyang not to test US resolve.
"If the United States dares opt for a military action (...) the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the Americans," Kim told a news conference at UN headquarters in New York.
"We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs," he said. North Korea has taken "self-defensive" measures in response to US threats of military action and these reflect Pyongyang's determination to "counter nukes and ICBM in kind," Kim said, referring to intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Pence earlier told a news conference in South Korea that "the era of strategic patience is over" after North Korea on Sunday test-fired another missile and fears mounted that it may be preparing a sixth nuclear test.
Pyongyang is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five nuclear tests, two of them last year.
Kim also confirmed that a new nuclear test was under preparation, saying that the plans had been announced and that "it will take place."
"As far as nuclear test is concerned, it was already announced to the public. It is something that our headquarters decided. At a time and at the place where our headquarters deem necessary, it will take place," he said.
US President Donald Trump's decision at the weekend to send the Carl Vinson carrier-led navy strike group to the Korean peninsula shows that the "US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase," said Kim.
The North Korean deputy envoy asserted that Pyongyang would hold the United States "wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions."
The envoy criticized the US missile strikes that hit an air base in Syria last week, saying Washington was resorting to a "gangster-like logic" that its military action was proportionate and could apply to the Korean peninsula as well.
Trump on Monday said his message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was: "Got to behave."
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric separately expressed concern over rising tensions on the Korean peninsula and said the latest missile test was "troubling".
He urged North Korea to "take all the steps necessary to de-escalate the situation and return to dialogue on denuclearization."
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will next week chair a special meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea. |
BRIEF-Smart Information Technology Global to raise 1 bln won via private placement | March 19 (Reuters) - Smart Information Technology Global :
* Says it will issue 952,380 shares at 1,050 won/share via private placement to raise 1 billion won
* Listing date is April 6
Source text in Korean: goo.gl/8m3xQA
Further company coverage: (Beijing Headline News) |
California man sues over water used in Olympia beer | × Getting late sports results
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To find the Sports Extra: Open either The Island Packet or The Beaufort Gazette e-Edition (free to print and digital subscribers) and look for the Sports Extra icon ( ) in the top menu.
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AI and automation won't catch these 3 countries off guard | Stephen Shankland/CNET
No country is fully prepared for the impact of robots powered by artificial intelligence. But South Korea, Singapore and Germany are the most prepared countries in the world in 2018, according to a new study.
To get ready for automation, countries need to focus on retraining their workforce and shifting education strategies to center on the economy to come, the study's authors wrote. They can also build in an advantage by fostering the creation of AI-backed technology on their home turf. The report was released Monday by multinational company ABB and The Economist Intelligence Unit.
The study speaks to the wave of change experts expect automation to bring to the world's labor markets and economies, as well as the difficulty of anticipating these changes and getting ready for them.
"I don't think anybody confidently predicts what the implications are for the labor market in terms of the jobs that will be available, still less in terms of the types of knowledge, skills and attitudes that will be important in it," said Elizabeth Fordham in the report. Fordham is a senior adviser for global relations at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Directorate for Education and Skills.
As noted in Tech Republic, the study points to several countries that are doing well in one category of preparation but not others. It also varies by region. For example, Canada came in fifth for reforms to educational curriculums, though its efforts in the province of Ontario are further along than those of its federal government, the report's authors wrote.
Even though the future of "automated intelligence" is hard to predict, countries everywhere need to try to anticipate it, the report's authors wrote.
"Policy should not wait for too long, however," they said, "because the business world is moving ahead with automation at speed."
CNET Magazine: Check out a sample of the stories in CNET's newsstand edition.
Blockchain Decoded: CNET looks at the tech powering bitcoin -- and soon, too, a myriad of services that will change your life. |
John Sinclair Radio Show: Swinging The D | Episode 718 is coming from Radio Free Amsterdam headquarters in the Cass Corridor of Detroit for my last show from Detroit this summer ( I had it wrong when I said that last week) and while it’s playing in the Radio Free Amsterdam rotation I should be in the air over the Atlantic Ocean headed for Sweden and the Netherlands. When I get back to the D next month I’ll be preparing for a special Thelonious Monk 100th birthday concert with the Planet D Nonet at the Scarab Club feauring my verses from always know: a book of monk set to Monk’s music as arranged and performed by the Planet D. I wanted to salute RJ Spangler and the nine-piece orchestra wth this episode, so we’ll be hearing an hour of their music from the Planet D Nonet albums Swinging The D, Dave’s Garage, Ballads, Blues & Beyond, Blowin’ Away the Blues, A Salute To Strayhorn, and Rays of the Sun. And, since today is the birthday of my companion, Ms. Imani, I’d like to dedicate this episode to her. Happy birthday, baby!
The John Sinclair Foundation Presents
SWINGING THE D
JOHN SINCLAIR RADIO SHOW 718
Cass Corridor, Detroit, August 4, 2017 [20-1733]
[01] Opening Theme: Yusef Lateef: Happyology
[02] John Sinclair ID, Intro & Opening Comments
[03] Planet D Nonet: Shorty George
[04] Planet D Nonet: Big John Special
[05] Planet D Nonet: Hoppin’ John
[06] Planet D Nonet: Weird Beard
[07] Planet D Nonet: Good Queen Bess
[08] John Sinclair Comments
[09] Planet D Nonet with Alberta Adams: Say Baby Say
[10] Planet D Nonet: Paradise Valley Walk
[11] Planet D Nonet: King Porter Stomp
[12] Planet D Nonet: My Little Brown Book
[13] Planet D Nonet: Such Sweet Thunder
[14] John Sinclair Comments
[15] Planet D Nonet: Saturn
[16] Planet D Nonet: Where Pathways Meet
[17] Planet D Nonet: They’ll Come Back
[18] John Sinclair Closing Comments & Outro
[20] Closing Theme: Charlie Parker: They Can’t Take That Away From Me
A JOINT PRODUCTION
Hosted by John Sinclair for Radio Free Amsterdam
Produced, recorded & assembled by John Sinclair
Executive Producer: Steve Pratt
Sponsored by Hempshopper & Ceres Seeds, Amsterdam
Special thanks to RJ Spangler
© 2017 The John Sinclair Foundation |
DGAP-News: Fyber N.V.: achieves improved net revenue margin despite challenging first quarter 2018 | Fyber N.V.: achieves improved net revenue margin despite challenging first quarter 2018
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Fyber N.V.
(The "Company")Fyber achieves improved net revenue margin despite challenging first quarter 2018
Highlights
- Gross revenue of EUR29.3 million with a growth of net revenue margin to 34.8% up from 29.4% in Q1 2018
- EBITDA improved to EUR-4.0 million compared to EUR-5.1 million in Q1 2017
- Successful launch of new in-app header bidding technology Fyber FairBid with first beta partners AdColony and Tapjoy; working on several more strategic partnerships to further grow the partner network for Fyber FairBid
- New Fyber brand launched and presented at the leading industry conference Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
Berlin, 30 May 2018 - Fyber (FSE: FBEN), a leading advertising technology company, today announced the results for the first quarter of 2018, reporting a challenging start in the fiscal year with a decline in revenues but an improved EBITDA. Gross revenue showed a shortfall by 41% to EUR29.3 million (Q1 2017: EUR49.7 million). Net revenue margin increased to 34.8% (Q1 2017: 29.4%), resulting in a slower decline of net revenue by 30% to EUR10 million (Q1 2017: EUR14.6 million). The EBITDA improved to EUR-4.0 million (Q1 2017: EUR-5.1 million).
The revenue decrease can be attributed to three main developments. First, Fyber's strategic decision to close down several traffic sources, as part of the 'Keeping it Clean' initiative launched last year has had a short-term adverse effect on revenue. Furthermore, Google's ban of the charging screen ads format, previously a highly popular ad format especially in China, impacted the high growth anticipated in this region. Finally, the reorganization and merging of Fyber's sales structure focusing heavily on training, account transitions and alignment reduced the output of the sales teams.Fyber CEO Ziv Elul, commented: "2018 will be a year of investment and setting ourselves up for future wins. Our merger efforts thus far have been a success. We are confident in our strategy to lead with technology, and continue to push towards a clean, fair and transparent ad marketplace. While this strategy has an impact on the short-term revenue growth, we strongly believe the investment will pay off. We knew that the first quarter would be challenging, especially with the continued merger efforts both on the business and technology side. But with our achievements in innovation such as the new Fyber FairBid technology, our Video Ad Monetization Platform (VAMP) and the unified product, we trust in our ability to deliver concrete business wins and stronger financial performance."Positive outlook
Fyber's clear focus for the remainder of the year will be on further enhancing the Company's product offering, completing the integration of the four group companies, and expanding the network of partners using Fyber's proprietary header bidding solution 'Fyber FairBid'. FairBid's beta was launched in February, offering app developers the world's first and only technology to create a true state of header bidding for the mobile app environment. The Company has already signed strategic partnerships with AdColony and Tapjoy and expects to add more top players to this list in the near future. Later in 2018 Fyber plans to launch its unified platform, offering even more innovative monetization tools to our clients, and strengthen Fyber's position and as true technological leader.
Despite a challenging first quarter, management is confident in Fyber's growth strategy, innovative power and competitive position, especially considering the digital advertising business is a seasonal one, with the majority of sales generated in the second half of the year.
The complete interim report is available on the Fyber website at: https://investors.fyber.com/reports-presentationsKey Figures
Q1
Change
Full year
In EUR million
2018
2017
2017 YoY
2017
Gross revenue
29.3
49.7
-41%
229.8
Net revenue
10.2
14.6
-30%
69.9
Net revenue margin
34.8%
29.4%
5.4pp
30.4%
EBITDA*
-4.0
-5.1
22%
-1.2
*Note: Adjusted to eliminate one-off impacts such as acquisition-related costs and option plans
###About Fyber
Fyber is a leading advertising technology company, developing a next generation platform for the programmatic trading of ads, in a data-driven environment. Our mission is to fuel the creation of quality content by empowering digital publishers and app developers to unlock the true value of their advertising properties through advanced technologies, innovative ad formats and data-driven decision-making. Fyber's technology platform provides an open-access platform for both digital advertisers and publishers, enabling cross-device advertising with a global reach of more than 1.2 billion unique monthly users. Fyber has offices in Berlin, Tel Aviv, New York, San Francisco, London and Beijing. The Company employs more than 300 people globally and is listed on the Prime Standard of Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 'FBEN' and the ISIN NL0012377394.
Investor Contact
Sabrina Kassmannhuber
ir@fyber.com
+49 30 609 855 555
Media Contact
Anja Ben Lekhal
anja.benlekhal@kirchhoff.de
+49 40 609 186 55
30.05.2018 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de
Language:
English
Company:
Fyber N.V.
Johannisstr. 20
10117 Berlin
Germany
Phone:
+49 30 609 855 528
E-mail:
governance@fyber.com
Internet:
https://investors.fyber.com/
ISIN:
NL0012377394
WKN:
A2DUJD
Listed:
Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Tradegate Exchange
End of News
DGAP News Service
690713 30.05.2018
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Alliance of SWMO Installs Mini Libraries At Multiple Locations T - KOAM TV 7 | Throughout the month of April and May The Alliance of SWMO has been placing mini libraries at several locations in Southwest Missouri. These mini libraries are called "Wonderland Library Bookshelves". The bookshelves will have books available to read while kids are in the waiting areas of the locations, and if they wish to take the book with them they are able to do so for no cost.
Below is a list of the locations a Wonderland Library is available:
Newton County Children's Division 201 N. Washington Neosho, MO.
Newton County Health Department 812 W. Harmony Neosho, MO.
Newton County Health Dept. (WIC) 812 W. Harmony Neosho, MO.
McDonald Cnty. Health Dept. 500 Olin St. Pineville, MO.
McDonald Cnty. Children's Div. 929 N. Business HWY 17 Anderson, MO.
Barton Cnty. Health Dept. 1301 E. 12th St. Lamar, MO.
These efforts were made possible through a grant provided by Family and Community Trust. This grant will allow for us to provide books to children in the age range of 0-10 years of age. We hope to provide 600+ books to help promote a healthy relationship of reading with children and their families.
We know parents want the best for their child, and we invite them to begin a parenting practice which will benefit their child(ren) the rest of their life. Studies show reading with children at home 20 minutes a day from birth through elementary school learn to read well and are typically proficient readers by third grade.
The Alliance is dedicated to making the four-states area a safer, healthier community. The Wonderland Library Bookshelves would not be possible without our partnership with FACT (Family and Community Trust) and our Bookshelf locations and their dedication to providing educational opportunities to youth. |
Disgraced dentist turned foot doctor deemed 'incompetent' for 2nd time | A banned dentist-turned-foot-doctor has now been deemed "incompetent" for the second time and will — again — face a disciplinary committee.
The College of Chiropodists of Ontario took five times longer than usual to investigate patient complaints and make the decision.
Pierre Dupont became the focus of a Go Public/Radio-Canada investigation for inserting experimental medical implants during surgery, leaving patients like Erika Brathwaite with severe repercussions.
"I was relieved. I felt very vindicated," Brathwaite told Go Public after learning about the discipline hearing.
Erika Brathwaite went to chiropodist Pierre Dupont for orthotics and ended up getting surgery. (CBC)
Her former chiropodist could face sanctions ranging from being ordered to take classes on professional conduct, being placed under supervision, to losing his licence for life.
Brathwaite went to see Pierre Dupont in August 2015 for a problem with flat feet. She contacted Go Public about problems healing after he inserted implants. She says she's now worse off than she was before seeing Dupont.
"Finally, this guy is on the road to getting some kind of suspension or consequence for what he has done," Brathwaite said.
'The College was kind of taking their time. They didn't really take these allegations seriously.' - Erika Brathwaite
Brathwaite filed her complaint against Dupont on Nov. 30, 2015, but said it wasn't taken seriously until Go Public and Radio-Canada started investigating the controversial foot specialist in April.
"I think that that is absolutely ridiculous, especially since we're dealing with somebody that actually did have a history of professional misconduct," she said.
"I wasn't the only one that submitted a complaint ... I really felt that the College was kind of taking their time … I was really disappointed by that."
'Abysmal failure'
In the end, it took the College of Chiropodists of Ontario — which has a mandate to protect the public — five times longer than usual to investigate patient complaints and come to the decision. According to its website, the College aims to resolve complaints in 150 days.
"With respect to protecting the public, it was an abysmal failure," Brathwaite said.
"Frankly, my opinion is that my complaint would have gone absolutely nowhere. It would have basically just got lost in the shuffle. I really don't think I would have had any result at all had the media not been involved."
'Incompetent' to practice
According to the statement of allegations filed by the College, Dupont is accused of using unapproved implants without patients' knowledge or consent, failing to keep adequate records, doing work that is out of his scope of practice and more.
The College also deemed Dupont "incompetent" based on health-care codes of conduct and regulations.
Erika Brathwaite came to Go Public with her concerns about Pierre Dupont. (Paul Skene/CBC)
Dupont was on the College of Chiropodists' radar when he moved to Ontario. The College knew he had been stripped of his dental licence in Quebec in 2005 after a patient stopped breathing in his dental chair and later died.
After retraining as a foot specialist, the College allowed him back into the medical field without warning the public.
It won't say why Dupont was allowed to return to health care, but in the past registrar Felecia Smith told Go Public the College "takes its duty to protect the public interest seriously."
Unapproved implants made in machine shop
Until we told them, neither the College of Chiropodists of Ontario nor Health Canada knew about the unapproved implants.
The Go Public/Radio-Canada investigation found Dupont was charging some patients thousands of dollars for medically approved implants for flat feet, but using devices he designed himself during surgery without their knowledge.
Erika Brathwaite's left foot after the stent was put in by Pierre Dupont is swollen compared to her right. Though it has been months, Brathwaite still experiences pain she never had before the procedure. (Erika Brathwaite)
Go Public also found Dupont got those implants made at a machine shop not approved to make medical devices.
Some of the patients who got the unapproved implants are as young as eight years old and many were left in pain and unable to walk properly.
Some of those patients are now paying thousands more to get the unapproved implants removed.
'Effort to assist'
When we contacted Dupont to ask him about his pending disciplinary hearing, he didn't respond.
"I have advised Dr. Dupont that the appropriate forum for answering inquiries is the court," Nigel Trevethan, a partner at Vancouver law firm Harper Grey LLP, wrote in an email to CBC News in September.
"That being said I can advise that Dr. Dupont's motivation at all times was the well-being of his patients and everything that has been done was in an effort to assist their medical situation," he wrote.
The date for Pierre Dupont's disciplinary hearing will be set in the new year.
Submit your story ideas
Go Public is an investigative news segment on CBC-TV, radio and the web.
We tell your stories and hold the powers that be accountable.
We want to hear from people across the country with stories they want to make public.
Submit your story ideas at Go Public.
Follow @CBCGoPublic on Twitter. |
A Teacher’s Balancing Act Between Literacy and Technology | As the District Reading Specialist at the Bangor School District in Wisconsin, Deborah Cromer is focused every day on literacy in all its forms. Her concentration includes visual literacy as well as words on a page, including, graphic novels, illustrations on the web, photography, and art. The way Deborah sees it, we have to prepare students today for a future that has yet to be determined and stay on top of technology that affects the way we consume information.
She understands the difficulty that educators face regarding literacy is the same problem that we are facing in society as a whole: How do we balance reading and literacy for students? She points out that there is still a place in the student literacy diet for traditional kinds of reading, like books, magazines, and newspapers, but we also have to evolve and accept the role of new digital methods of content delivery like e-books and other on-screen technologies.
Deborah knows that the balancing act is going to propel us into an unpredictable future when it comes to literacy, and she is working hard to make sure her students are not left behind.
About Deborah Cromer:
Deborah Cromer is the District Reading Specialist and K-2 Title I Reading teacher at the Bangor School District in Wisconsin. She works with students, parents and teachers on literacy teaching and learning.
Growing up on South Carolina, Deborah has fond memories of reading from her early childhood, and is still a voracious reader. Writing is also important to her, and she wrote every day in a journal she keeps by her reading chair. She enjoys teaching in Bangor and helping children become readers and writers who can and choose to read and write for fun, to satisfy their curiosity, to think deeply, and to enrich their daily lives.
Follow Deborah Cromer on Twitter.
Further Reading:
The Daily Gazette - Training goal: Boost literacy, reading skills in Schenectady schools
Marketplace - Pushing kids to succeed in Detroit Public Schools amid a literacy crisis
Additional Reading:
Project based learning improving kindergarten learning
Improving communication and integrating global education
A passion for collaborative learning and student growth
About Rod Berger, PsyD.
Audiences have enjoyed education interviews with the likes of Sir Ken Robinson, Arne Duncan, Randi Weingarten, Sal Khan along with leading edtech investors, award-winning educators, and state and federal education leaders. Berger’s latest project boasts a collaboration with AmericanEdTV and CBS’s Jack Ford. |
Driver 'accidentally pressed the accelerator' before car park death | Image copyright Joe Giddens/PA Image caption Cherise Lyons, 57, (right) denies causing death by dangerous driving
A driver knocked down and killed a 100-year-old woman in a supermarket car park after accidentally pressing the accelerator, a trial has heard.
Cherise Lyons, 57, said she "panicked a bit" before the van "flattened bollards" outside Asda in Shoeburyness, Essex, in November 2016.
Joan Roskilly suffered serious injuries and died on her way to hospital.
Ms Lyons admits causing her death by careless driving but denies causing death by dangerous driving.
Basildon Crown Court was told carer Ms Lyons, of Kingsmill Road, Dagenham, was driving her disabled client Reece Clarke to buy flowers, and "did not feel uncomfortable" in the automatic Renault Trafic.
Wheelchair user Mr Clarke was sitting in the back of the adapted vehicle he owned at the time.
The jury heard Ms Lyons had got out to check the fuel cap before getting back into the driver's side.
"As I turned back the car was rolling," she told the court. "Then I said 'the car's rolling' - and panicked a bit.
"I thought I was on the brake all the time but I obviously wasn't," she said. "I just wanted to stop the car."
Image copyright Google Image caption The incident happened in the car park of Asda in Shoeburyness, in November 2016
Ms Lyons said the van had gone through bollards but she steered it to avoid hitting the store.
Prosecutor Patrick Dennis said a police crash investigator concluded that when Ms Lyons got out of the vehicle "she must have left the engine running with the vehicle in gear".
"She's accidentally pressed the accelerator and that's overridden the handbrake and caused the vehicle to move forward and the bollards to be flattened," he said.
Mrs Roskilly, who was shopping with a friend, died while on her way to hospital after suffering leg and pelvis injuries.
The trial continues. |
Flames in a must win clash | Ronny Van Geneugden’s men have to do whatever it takes to beat Botswana if they are to keep their Cosafa Cup quarterfinal hopes alive.
Having lost their opening Group B match to Mauritius on Monday, the Malawi national football team must beat the Zebras.
According to media reports, in today’s match against the group B leaders the Belgian tactician will use the same starting eleven that lost to Mauritius.
Anything other than a win will see the Flames exiting the tournament in the early stages for the third consecutive time.
On Monday, RVG’s troops enjoyed a fair share of possession but their style of passing made things difficult for the Flames as they failed to unlock the Mauritius defense.
Malawi created lots of goalscoring opportunities but scored none as Chiukepo Msowoya, Robin Ngalande and Richard Mbulu all failed to score in unbelievable circumstances.
However, Malawi’s chances of making it into the top eight of the competition will depend on their victory over Botswana before their final group B match against Angola on Friday.
Some football pundits have advised RVG to start with Msowoya who, despite missing the closest chance, had more impact than Gastin Simkonda who was just running aimlessly in the entire 70 minutes.
Former Flames forward Esau Kanyenda said Msowoya could be an ideal option over Simkonda in today’s match.
“You saw how Chiukepo changed the game when he came on as a substitute in the second half. I would prefer him over Simkonda because he kept Mauritius defenders at bay and if he can start today against Botswana, we can score goals,” he said.
Former Malawi legend Lawrence Waya faulted Flames midfield saying it was too flat to feed the strikers who were just running aimlessly in search for balls.
“Our midfield made it very difficult for the strikers to have any impact. Simkonda and Mbulu were just running aimlessly in search for balls because our center was too flat. If we can fix our midfield, then we can see our strikers scoring goals,” he said.
The game kicks off at 19:30pm.
Last year, Malawi exited the competition without scoring even an offside goal. |
Nancy’s Namaste Of The Day :) | IG @radiochick1 | TWITTER @radiochick1 | FACEBOOK Nancy Barrow Nancy Barrow started her career in radio at Hartwick College. She had a regular slot on the radio station. After graduating she went to The New School of Contemporary Radio in Albany ,NY... |
Make plans for Spring Break’s gayest getaways | As you try to figure out this winter weather, start planning to put it behind you for a much-deserved spring fling
Weather-wise, it’s been an insane winter in the ATL. Coat, jacket, sleeves, shorts? Ugh! We give up.
But no matter what the skies decide to deliver the next few weeks, there’s a silver lining in a cloud right over gaytown, and it has your name on it: Spring Break.
Whether you’re in school and get a proper week, or you are young at heart and need to get away from your day-to-day doldrums, we peeked in on Gay Travel at About for the most popular destinations for gay men that either warm you up, or give you a real winter wonderland – before Atlanta has a chance to see either.
Key West
The quirky, historic community at the southern tip of Florida (it’s actually in the Caribbean, about 80 miles from Cuba), Key West has been a mecca for gay travelers for more than a half century (and it discreetly cultivated a “family” following long before that). As a spring break option, it has a lot going for it – it’s among the warmest destinations in the country, so even when cooler temps prevail elsewhere in Florida, Key West tends to remain ideal for beach-combing and sunning by the pool. The palm-shaded community abounds with gay bars and funky restaurants.
Palm Springs, California
The top gay resort destination in the West, the dry and sunny desert community of Palm Springs offers easy access to spring breakers in this part of the country. The city’s airport has direct flights on most major airlines from numerous major hubs, and it’s also within a two- to three-hour drive of Los Angeles and San Diego. Although the city’s many clothing-optional gay resorts and pulsing nightclubs have made it a top vacation destination this time of year, until recently, it tended to attract a somewhat older crowd. Hello, daddy!
Western Ski Towns
As America’s top ski regions go, Colorado is tops for gay spring breakers. It’s home to several ski resort communities with popular GLBT followings, including swanky Aspen, stunning Telluride (which hosts Telluride Gay Ski Week from late February through early March), and diverse and accessible Vail. Although somewhat less noted among gay travelers, ski hubs like Crested Butte, Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs, Durango, Winter Park, and Pagosa Springs also make terrific spring-break skiing getaways.
Unless you’re attending one of the aforementioned gay ski weeks, none of these towns is going to wow you with gay nightlife or GLBT parties, so planning a spring break adventure to a Colorado ski town works best for small groups of buddies vacationing together.
Puerto Vallarta
The Mexican Riviera city of Puerto Vallarta – long a major winter retreat among gay travelers – is one of the safest for tourists in the country. With weak local currency versus the U.S. dollar, makes Puerto Vallarta remarkably affordable – even for students with limited funds. Puerto Vallarta isn’t quite the spring-break mecca that Cancun is, but keep in mind that Cancun draws a predominantly hetero crowd. For gay partying, Puerto Vallarta has lots to offer.
Florida’s Other HotSpots
Florida has plenty of superb gay spring break possibilities beyond the charming resort town of Key West (see above). Fabulous Fort Lauderdale was the state’s original Spring Break party hub before the city classed things up in the 1990s, but it remains popular with students in March, thanks to the wealth of clothing-optional resorts and gay bars. Miami holds its famed gay Winter Party Festival in early March, Orlando has Walt Disney World (where Disney Gay Days takes place in early June) and myriad other theme parks, and the twin cities of St. Petersburg and Tampa (photo) both enjoy a lively gay scene and offer solid value both in terms of places to stay, cheap flights, and inexpensive dining.
Cali Road Trip
The coast of Southern California – from San Diego (photo) up through Laguna Beach, Long Beach, Santa Monica (and, by extension, Los Angeles and West Hollywood), Malibu, and Santa Barbara – provides some of the most dazzling scenery in the country. It’s perfect for road-tripping, and that’s one style of spring breaking that can be incredibly fun for the right group of friends. The great thing about hopping in the car and spending a night or two in these gay-friendly cities dotting the California coastline is that you can combine partying and relaxation with rugged adventure and memorable sightseeing. The big-city stops along the way offer tons of gay bars and shopping as well.
New England Skiing
Spending spring break on the snowy slopes of some of America’s top ski resorts can be tremendously rewarding. New England has several fine areas for this pursuit – from Stowe and Killington in Vermont to the several resorts of the White Mountains in New Hampshire to Sugarloaf and Sunday River in Maine. New England ski areas not only have great slopes – they’re in a very gay-friendly part of the country.
Money No Object?
The common assumption about spring break travel is that the focus should be on economical destinations, where college students of limited means can potentially afford to spend a few days, or perhaps even a week. But not all spring breakers are strictly constrained by tight budgets, and if you’re in a position to spend some dough, consider such intriguing tropical resort destinations as Hawaii (Honolulu for an urban partying experience, the other islands – Maui, Kauai, the Big Island – for nature), Costa Rica, or the Caribbean.
Las Vegas
Among landlocked U.S. cities, the glitzy metropolis of Las Vegas gets plenty of attention from gay spring breakers. It’s easy to get here, as it’s served by virtually every airline with direct flights from all over the country, and it’s within a half-day’s drive of Southern California, Phoenix, Albuquerque, and Salt Lake City. It’s fairly easy to find cheap hotel rooms, and there’s no shortage of opportunities to party, whether at Sin City’s many gay and gay-friendly nightclubs, or gambling in casinos.
Vegas has a wealth of noteworthy restaurants, from high-end celeb-chef palaces of haute cuisine to bargain-priced dives and 24-hour buffets. Some find Vegas brash and irritatingly noisy and commercial, but the glamour, neon, and energy are much of the fun for many visitors.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Almost a gay sister city to the ATL, the many gay bars and clubs around the French Quarter and just downriver in the Faubourg Marigny area of New Orleans has an incredible food scene, all-night gay bars, quirky and distinctive shopping, and a fine mix of gay-friendly hotels in all price ranges. For social butterflies and groups of friends traveling together, New Orleans is a reliably fun and exciting urban getaway.
Sources: GayTravel, about.com |
United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market Size 2017, Market Benefits, Forthcoming Developments, Business Opportunities & Future Investments | United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market Report provides an analytical assessment of the prime challenges faced by this Market currently and in the coming years, which helps United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market participants in understanding the problems they may face while operating in this Market over a longer period of time.
Various policies and news are also included in the United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market report. Various costs involved in the production of United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer are discussed further. This includes labour cost, depreciation cost, raw material cost and other costs.
The production process is analysed with respect to various aspects like, manufacturing plant distribution, capacity, commercial production, R&D status, raw material source and technology source. This provides the basic information about the United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer industry.
Further in the United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market research report, following points are included along with in-depth study of each point:
Production Analysis – Production of the United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market is analysed with respect to different regions, types and applications. Here, price analysis of various United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market key players is also covered.
Sales and Revenue Analysis – Both, sales and revenue are studied for the different regions of the global United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market. Another major aspect, price, which plays important part in the revenue generation is also assessed in this section for the various regions.
Supply and Consumption – In continuation with sales, this section studies supply and consumption for the United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market. This part also sheds light on the gap between supple and consumption. Import and export figures are also given in this part.
Competitors – In this section, various United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer industry leading players are studied with respect to their company profile, product portfolio, capacity, price, cost and revenue.
Other analyses – Apart from the aforementioned information, trade and distribution analysis for the United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market, contact information of major manufacturers, suppliers and key consumers is also given. Also, SWOT analysis for new projects and feasibility analysis for new investment are included.
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The following firms are included in the United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market report:
Philips Healthcare
Omron Healthcare
GF Health Products
In continuation with this data sale price is for various types, applications and region is also included. The United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market for major regions is given. Additionally, type wise and application wise consumption figures are also given.
The United States Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer Market has been segmented as below:
By Product Analysis:
Piezoelectric Actuation
Others
By Regional Analysis:
The West
Southwest
The Middle Atlantic
New England
The South
The Midwest
By End Users/Applications Analysis:
Hospital
Clinic
Emergency Medical Center
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Nun involved in Katy Perry real estate battle dies during court appearance | One of the nuns involved in a legal battle with the Los Angeles Archdiocese and singer Katy Perry over the sale of a Los Feliz property died Friday in court.Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, 89, died during a court proceeding related to the case. The archdiocese released a statement regarding her sudden death."Sister Catherine Rose served the Church with dedication and love for many years and today we remember her life with gratitude. We extend our prayers today to the Immaculate Heart of Mary community and to all her friends and loved ones," the statement said, in part.Holzman was part of the order of nuns known as The Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That order of nuns owned a large hilltop property that used to be a convent. In 2015, the nuns sold the property to entrepreneur Dana Hollister, bypassing approval from Archbishop Jose H. Gomez.When the property was sold, the archdiocese intervened and called Hollister's offer a fraud. He also said the sisters did not have the authority to sell the property and that it had not been approved by the archdiocese or Pope Francis.It then led to the archdiocese and nuns fighting over whether Hollister, who offered about $10 million, was a suitable buyer against Perry, who offered $14.5 million for the property.Hollister was in the process of renovating the convent, which she planned to turn into a hotel and restaurant project, when she was sued by the archdiocese. It sparked months of litigation and highlighted the conflict between the nuns and archdiocese.But in April 2016, Perry scored a major legal victory in the fight for the property . A judge cleared the way for her to buy the estate from the archbishop.Her bid still needs approval by the Vatican. |
Tippett must earn his spot back in Swans best side: Longmire | Want more videos? Download the Roar TV app:
Misfiring Sydney ruckman Kurt Tippett is feeling fitter and playing better but the dumped star won’t be given any special treatment in his battle for an AFL recall.
Tippett excelled in the seconds last weekend, having been dropped after an underwhelming performance against Hawthorn in round 10.
Swans big men Sam Naismith and Callum Sinclair dominated in his absence against Western Bulldogs, winning the hitouts 65-16.
Sydney coach John Longmire wouldn’t reveal his hand on Thursday morning when asked about Tippett’s chances of facing Richmond at the MCG on Saturday.
Longmire expected Tippett’s stint in the seconds to be short-lived, noting the club was confident the 30-year-old would produce “his best form pretty quickly”.
But the 2012 premiership coach also made it clear Tippett, who joined the Swans on a lucrative multi-million deal in 2012, would not be gifted anything.
“Kurt will play when we think he can help us win, like our other two ruckmen and like every other player in the team,” Longmire said.
“He just has to work on a few things and make sure he has a real presence in the air and on the ground.
“It’s pretty basic. He certainly improved in those areas last week and I’m sure he will continue to improve, whether that’s this week in the seniors or not.
“There’s nothing wrong with his attitude. His attitude is always really good.”
Tippett started his career in the red and white by serving an 11-game suspension for his role in Adelaide salary cap breaches.
A series of injuries followed, meaning Tippett is in the midst of his fifth season at the SCG but has only played 70 games for the Swans.
The stop-start narrative continued this year in the form of ankle and hip setbacks.
“He’s certainly feeling a bit better,” Longmire said.
“Like all players, you need to manage them.
“He’s certainly been able to put the training program together. We’re confident he’ll be able to be in his best form pretty quickly.
“We’re confident he will be back in the senior team pretty shortly.”
The Swans will face a familiar foe in Saturday’s ruck battle.
Toby Nankervis will face Sydney for the first time since being traded by the club, having since played a key role in helping Richmond claim a top-four spot.
“He’s been in fantastic form. At the back end of last year he was in pretty good form as well,” Longmire said.
“We were keen to keep Toby last year but we understood the opportunities that Richmond could offer were a bit greater.”
Meanwhile, Longmire confirmed former co-captain Kieren Jack (dislocated fingers) will be fit to face the Tigers. |
Texas woman says warrant presented for son killed by police | ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) The mother of a black Texas man whom police fatally shot last year said Wednesday that sheriff's deputies recently turned up at her mother's home to serve a warrant for the dead man's arrest.
Dee Crane told The Associated Press that Tarrant County deputies came to the house in Arlington this month, upsetting her family "all over again."
Tavis Crane was 23 when he was killed in February 2017. Authorities say Crane ran over a white Arlington police officer while attempting to flee a traffic stop with his two-year-old daughter and two friends in the car.
Another white police officer, Craig Roper, entered through Crane's passenger door and shot him. The passengers were not hurt. A grand jury declined to take any action against Roper.
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At the time of Crane's death, police said he had a felony warrant from Dallas County for evading arrest and multiple misdemeanor warrants out of Grand Prairie, a Dallas suburb.
Tarrant County Sheriff's office spokesman David McClelland said Wednesday that Dallas County had asked for Tarrant County's assistance in serving the warrant at Crane's grandmother's Arlington home, where records showed he was living. McClelland said records showed there were "several" active warrants out for Crane's arrest, but not that he was deceased.
McClelland said there was no policy or procedure that could be changed to prevent a similar incident from happening again.
"It's not our standard practice to check the death records if there are multiple active warrants out for somebody," he said.
Dee Crane filed a harassment complaint with the sheriff's office Wednesday.
"This was not a mistake," she said. |
BRIEF-Aberdeen Leaders posts FY revenue for ordinary activities of A$4.1 mln | Aug 14 (Reuters) - Aberdeen Leaders Ltd
* FY revenue for ordinary activities A$4.1 million versus A$4.3 million
* FY net profit after tax benefit (from ordinary activities) for period attributable to members A$1.9 million versus A$2.1 million Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: |
Bermuda approves controversial gaming act revisions | CASINO
Bermuda has approved a controversial amendment to its gambling legislation that critics claim concentrates too much regulatory power in too few hands.
On Friday night, Bermuda’s parliament approved the Casino Gaming Amendment Act 2017, which was introduced by the ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLP) in November. The vote was cast along strict party lines, with members of the opposition One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) party all voting against the Act.
The primary function of the bill is to require the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission (BCGC) to follow “general directions” on gaming policy put forward by Jamahl Simmons (pictured), the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism. The Minister would also have the authority to replace BCGC members as the Minister “considers appropriate.”
Gaming industry stakeholders and OBA MPs had protested these changes, saying the amended Act would neuter the formerly independent BCGC by making it a slave to the whims and wishes of the minister.
BCGC chairman Alan Dunch, who only recently replaced the outgoing Richard Schuetz, resigned last month after the Act was introduced. Dunch’s deputy, Gerry Madeiros, followed his former boss out the door last week, as did commissioner Derek Ramm, leaving just two commissioners in place. Magistrate Cheryl Ann Mapp has been tapped to replace Dunch as chairman.
Bermuda is currently vetting applicants for the Caribbean nation’s first licensed casino operations. Critics say the Act allows Simmons a free hand in picking casino winners and losers, but Simmons told reporters that the Act “will not allow me to decide who gets casino licenses,” nor will it allow him (or future Ministers) “to interfere with corruption investigations.”
Prior to Friday’s vote, Simmons amended the Act to “provide specific conditions” on the Minister’s ability to fire BCGC commissioners, while requiring that dismissal orders be provided in writing “to ensure that there is a clear and unambiguous record of any directions provided by the Minister.”
Simmons claimed these late tweaks would preserve “the intent of an independent Commission and prevents the arbitrary, unjustified removal of members” of the BCGC.
Unimpressed by these assurances, former Bermuda premier Michael Dunkley added his name to those opposed to the changes. Dunkley insisted that the BCGC needed to be “as apolitical as possible” and warned that the transfer of power to the Minister would “backfire” on the PLP.
Dunkley said “the future for gaming looks bleak” under the new regime, while wondering why the PLP didn’t suggest imposing top-down control of the BCGC when the OBA government proposed its original gaming legislation three years ago.
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As marriage equality debate rages, ABC goes back to where it all began with Riot | As the same-sex marriage debate rages in Australia, the ABC is going back to where it all began.
The national broadcaster has announced it has started filming a telemovie that explores the gay rights movement in 1970s Australia.
Riot will explore the lives of real Australians who fought discrimination – and, at times, the law – in the name of equality.
The script is centred around civil rights activist Lance Gowland (1935-2008) and the events that lead to Sydney's first ever Mardi Gras.
Gowland will be played by Australian actor Damon Herriman, who has starred in Offspring, Wilfred and more recently the second season of Top of the Lake. His fellow cast members include Xavier Samuel, Kate Box and Jessica de Gouw.
The ABC's head of scripted production, Sally Riley, said the telemovie is bound to strike a chord with Australian audiences given the government's plan to hold a $122 million postal vote on same-sex marriage.
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Link Australian actor Damon Herriman. Photo: ABC
"It could never be more relevant than now to tell this story of identity, courage and love as a marginalised community finds its voice and rises up to fight oppression and injustice," she said. "With a cast as extraordinary as this, Riot promises to be a stirring, landmark television event in time for the 40th anniversary of the birth of Mardi Gras."
The telemovie is being filmed in Sydney over the next four weeks and will make its debut on the ABC in 2018. |
Financial Job Opportunities | This company is looking for a Web Developer who has strong web and application design skills to help our existing web development team bring our applications to the next level. This full-time developer will build real-time data visualization and parameter configuration tools to directly aid traders in assessing risk and strategy.
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This dataset is a collection of title-article pairs collected from CC News. See cc_news for additional information. This dataset can be used directly with Sentence Transformers to train embedding models.
pair subset
str, str{
'title': 'Tennessee joins states urging court to reinstate travel ban',
'article': 'NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee is joining more than a dozen other states in urging an appeals court to reinstate President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.\nState Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, a Collierville Republican considering a bid for governor next year, lauded Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s office for filing a brief with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.\nThe states argue the ban falls within the president’s authority to block foreigners from the U.S. They also reject the argument that it targets Muslims.\nNorris last year sponsored legislation to allow the General Assembly to hire its own attorneys to file a legal challenge seeking to halt the federal refugee resettlement program in Tennessee after Slatery and Gov. Bill Haslam declined to sue over the issue.',
}