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  • Aaron Hernandez ‘American Sports Story’ series wants to show a different view of the disgraced NFLer

    Aaron Hernandez ‘American Sports Story’ series wants to show a different view of the disgraced NFLer

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    From a podcast to multiple documentaries, the rise and fall of the once revered NFL star Aaron Hernandez is certainly well documented. An FX limited series is latest to rehash the saga, attempting to go beyond the headlines and dig deeper into his story.

    “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” stars Josh Andrés Rivera as the New England Patriots tight end. It details Hernandez’s troubled childhood with an abusive father who demanded his son play football and project masculinity and toughness to the world. Secretly, Hernandez also struggled with his sexuality.

    He played college ball at the University of Florida and was drafted by the Patriots. Over time, the series shows how Hernandez’s behavior grew increasingly erratic. He was convicted of murder and died by suicide in 2017 while serving a life sentence. After his death, research showed Hernandez’s brain showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

    “What we tried to do with this show — is take a tabloid headline, take some story that you think you know about Aaron Hernandez … and go behind it and see what it’s like to walk in the shoes of all the people who are part of this,” said Brad Simpson, one of the series’ executive producers, in an interview.

    Hernandez’s life, crimes and death have been detailed before in long-form writing, documentaries including Netflix’s “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez,” and the podcast “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.,” which is the basis for “American Sports Story.”

    Rivera, known for his supporting roles in the recent “Hunger Games” prequel and 2021’s “West Side Story,” said playing the former tight end was a “responsibility that you have to approach with a certain level of sensitivity.”

    Once he started learning more about Hernandez’s life, diving into recordings of phone calls he made from prison and watching clips from his interviews, Rivera said he began to see the layered intricacy of Hernandez’s life. And he only became more eager to play him.

    “To a lot of people, he was very charming and very charismatic and easy to get along with. There were not a small amount of people who felt that way, so that was interesting because you have to dissect the ‘why,’” Rivera said. “There’s clearly a magnetism there, disguising an inner life that’s very complex.”

    Rivera said he enjoyed the challenge of that character work, calling Hernandez “a chameleon.”

    “There was variations on the amount of tenderness and even the frankness, or the amount of swagger he would use from person to person, so I tried to incorporate that to a core essence,” he said.

    Transforming into Hernandez was also a physical commitment for Rivera, who described getting into NFL shape as “meathead summer,” where he increased his food intake and worked with trainers to build muscle. The hardest part, though, of the transformation for Rivera, was getting inked up.

    His mobility was often limited when filming to preserve the tattoos, which he said he initially found frustrating, but ultimately, the “oppressive feeling” of not being able to move freely was something he channeled into his character’s frustration.

    Rivera stars alongside Jaylen Barron as Hernandez’s high school sweetheart and later fiancé, Shayanna Jenkins, Lindsay Mendez as his cousin, Ean Castellanos as his brother and Tammy Blanchard as his mother. Patrick Schwarzenegger plays Hernandez’s college teammate Tim Tebow, Tony Yazbeck plays former Florida coach Urban Meyer and Norbert Leo Butz plays former Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

    With the first sports-focused season of the “American Story” franchise, producers said they are interested in dissecting the “American religion of football.” They also hope viewers question the preconceptions they had about people involved in stories that captured the nation, like that of Hernandez.

    “We can use this story to challenge certain perspectives or to just add a little bit of nuance for people who maybe don’t know much about it or have a fixed mindset about it,” Rivera said. “It’s an interesting opportunity.”

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  • Rapper Fatman Scoop died of heart disease, medical examiner says

    Rapper Fatman Scoop died of heart disease, medical examiner says

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    HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) — Hip-hop artist Fatman Scoop, who collapsed onstage while performing in Connecticut last month, died of heart disease, the state medical examiner’s office has determined.

    The official cause of death for the performer, born Isaac Freeman III, was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a spokesperson for the Connecticut medical examiner’s office said Wednesday.

    Fatman Scoop, 56, collapsed while performing in Hamden on Aug. 30 and was taken to a hospital.

    His family said later on Instagram that “the world lost a radiant soul, a beacon on stage and in life.”

    A New York City-born rapper and hype man, Fatman Scoop was known for his single “Be Faithful,” which topped charts in Europe in the early 2000s, and for his contributions to hits by Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey and others.

    His family cherished him as “the laughter in our lives, a constant source of support, unwavering strength and courage,” his relatives said.

    “His music made us dance and embrace life with positivity,” his family members said. “His joy was infectious and the generosity he extended to all will be deeply missed but never forgotten.”

    __________

    This story has been corrected to note that Fatman Scoop was 56, not 53.

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  • UNLV QB to sit out season after agent says $100,000 promised for transfer has not been paid

    UNLV QB to sit out season after agent says $100,000 promised for transfer has not been paid

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    The convoluted way college athletes are paid for the use of their name, image and likeness and a dispute between player and coaches over money appears to have cost an undefeated team its quarterback three games into the season.

    UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka has decided to sit out the rest of the season over a $100,000 NIL payment that was promised but never paid after he agreed to transfer to the Rebels from Holy Cross last winter, Sluka’s agent told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

    “I think there was some kind of breakdown in communication,” Bob Sluka, Matthew’s father, told AP.

    Sluka’s decision sent shockwaves throughout major college football, where the old rules of amateurism have fallen, leaving schools and the NCAA grappling with how to regulate the way players can be paid. Just how much regulation is part of a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement agreement involving the NCAA and the nation’s top conferences that is before a federal judge in California.

    Sluka’s agent, Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, said Sluka was promised $100,000 by a UNLV assistant coach who recruited the quarterback last winter when he agreed to transfer in January.

    Both Cromartie and the company that runs UNLV’s NIL collective, which would be responsible for paying school athletes, acknowledge there was no signed agreement between the player and the organization for $100,000.

    UNLV issued a statement accusing Sluka’s representative of making “financial demands upon the university and its NIL collective in order to continue playing.”

    “UNLV athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of the NCAA pay-for-play rules, as well as Nevada state law,” the school said. “UNLV does not engage in such activity, nor does it respond to implied threats. UNLV has honored all previously agreed-upon scholarships for Matthew Sluka.”

    Bob Sluka and Cromartie insisted Matthew Sluka was not looking for anything more than was promised.

    UNLV (3-0) is scheduled to host Fresno State (3-1) in a big Mountain West game on Saturday, with both schools hoping a strong season could put them in consideration for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Rebels have already beaten two power conference schools but now will proceed without their starting QB.

    Sluka’s transfer

    Equity Sports represents numerous NFL and college players, including Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes. Bob Sluka told AP his son signed with Equity Sports when Matthew Sluka declared his intent to switch schools and entered the NCAA transfer portal in December.

    During a recruiting trip to UNLV with his son, Bob Sluka said a discussion about NIL payments came up with offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and the Slukas informed him those could be had with Equity.

    Cromartie said he spoke with the assistant coach by phone and a promise of $100,000 was made but because Sluka was still completing his degree at Holy Cross, the quarterback could not sign a contract with a collective until after he enrolled at UNLV. Sluka did not join the team until preseason practice in August.

    Friends of Unilv, the collective that works with UNLV athletes, does not sign deals with athletes until they are enrolled, said Bob Sine, whose company Blueprint Sports oversees and operates that collective and dozens others around the country.

    But, Sine said, it is not uncommon for representatives of athletes to open discussions with the collective about NIL opportunities before the athlete is enrolled. Sine said a payment of $3,000 was made to Sluka over the summer, but nothing else.

    Things fall apart

    “In July, there was no NIL payments. There was no $100,000, I guess you could say zero dollars. He was given a $3,000 relocation fee and that was it,” said Cromartie, who added head coach Barry Odom was not involved in the initial discussions.

    Sine said the first time they heard from Cromartie was on Aug. 29 via email, and on Sept. 19 there was another email communication during which the collective offered a potential deal that would pay Sluka $3,000 per month.

    Sine said Cromartie was not registered as an agent in Nevada or with the school. They informed him he needed to do that to move forward. Sluka’s father said Cromartie was directed to speak with Odom and director of player development Hunkie Cooper.

    Cromartie said he suggested payments of $10,000 a month over the next five months and even $5,000 per month and was declined.

    Cromartie said Sluka was offered $3,000 per month by Odom and Cooper in a phone call last week.

    “At that point I think Matt felt lied to. At that point he just wanted to stand up for himself,” Cromartie said.

    Bob Sluka said his son went to see Odom on Monday before practice and the coach refused to talk to Matthew about the NIL arrangement. Bob Sluka said Matthew returned to the coach’s office after practice, but Odom was gone. Odom declined to speak with reporters following practice Wednesday.

    “It’s just the tone that they took. It didn’t have to happen. All you had to do was give Matt a hug and say, ‘Hey, Matt, we’re going to work this out with you,’” said Bob Sluka, who lives in Locust Valley on New York’s Long Island. “You’re letting your starting quarterback walk out the door. And they didn’t care. Did Barry not call the collective and say, ‘Holy crap, I’m losing my kid.’ No, he said, ‘Take it or leave it.’”

    NCAA redshirt rules allow players to retain a year of eligibility if they play four or fewer games in a season. Sluka, who played four seasons (2020-23) at Holy Cross, still has one more year of eligibility that he could use at another school next season. NCAA rules do not allow players to play for two schools within the same season.

    “I committed to UNLV based on certain representations that were made to me, which were not upheld after I enrolled,” Matthew Sluka posted on X late Tuesday. “Despite discussions, it became clear that these commitments would not be fulfilled in the future. I wish my teammates the best of luck this season and hope for the continued success of the program.”

    NIL headaches

    The NCAA lifted its ban on athletes being compensated for things like endorsement and sponsorship deals in 2021, but had very few detailed rules on how schools can regulate payments beyond saying the compensation cannot come directly from the school.

    State laws have created different standards around the country, and college sports leaders, including NCAA President Charlie Baker, have been lobbying Congress for a federal law to help get a handle of an unruly system that lacks transparency. The NCAA settlement of multiple antitrust lawsuits includes a plan for a new revenue-sharing system, which would allow schools to begin making direct NIL payments to athletes as soon as next year.

    “The NCAA fully supports college athletes profiting from their NIL, but unfortunately there is little oversight or accountability in the NIL space and far too often promises made to student-athletes are broken,” NCAA senior vice president for external affairs Tim Buckley said in a statement. “Positive changes are underway at the NCAA to deliver more benefits to student-athletes but without clear legal authority granted by the courts or by Congress, the NCAA, conferences and schools have limited authority to regulate third parties involved in NIL transactions.”

    The current way this all works has caused headaches for everyone involved.

    Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada, who committed to play for Florida out of high school, is suing Gators coach Billy Napier and one of the school’s top boosters after a $14 million NIL deal fell through. Rashada never played for Florida. He was released from his scholarship agreement in 2023, transferred to Arizona State where he played last year and then transferred to Georgia this offseason.

    “They’re going to have to figure out a system, just like anything else — make sure contracts are signed, or the language is done the right way,” Mahomes, who has become involved in the NIL collective at Texas Tech, his alma mater, said Wednesday when asked about Sluka’s situation.

    What now?

    UNLV went 9-5 last season and played for the Mountain West Conference championship, but the quarterback who led that team to the program’s best season in nearly 40 years, Jayden Maiava, transferred to Southern California of the Big Ten.

    Sluka was one of the top quarterbacks playing in Division I’s second tier, known as the Football Championship Subdivision. Holy Cross reached the FCS playoffs in 2021 and ’22 with Sluka as the starter.

    After a coaching change at Holy Cross — head coach Bob Chesney left to take over at James Madison — Sluka also moved on. after setting a host of school records and rushing for an NCAA Division I quarterback record 330 yards in a loss to Lafayette in 2023. Sluka has completed 21 of 48 passes for 318 yards, six touchdowns and one interception for the Rebels this season. He has also rushed 39 times for 286 yards and a touchdown, helping the Rebels beat Kansas and Houston to go 2-0 against Big 12 teams.

    Neither Sluka’s father nor his agent completely ruled out the possibility of a resolution that could have Matthew Sluka back with UNLV, but neither voiced any optimism.

    “At the end of the day, $100,000 for a quarterback that’s in a Top 25 program is actually probably on the lower tier,” Cromartie said. “The fact that he hasn’t gotten that or anything in between just speaks to the point he’s getting done unjustly and unfairly.”

    ___

    AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri, and Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

    ___

    Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and College football ‘ Latest News & Updates

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  • Reality TV star Julie Chrisley resentenced to 7 years in bank fraud and tax evasion case

    Reality TV star Julie Chrisley resentenced to 7 years in bank fraud and tax evasion case

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    ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday resentenced Julie Chrisley to seven years in prison for her conviction on bank fraud and tax evasion charges, declining the reality TV star’s request for less time in prison than was originally imposed.

    Chrisley and her husband, Todd Chrisley, gained fame on their show, “Chrisley Knows Best,” which followed their tight-knit family and extravagant lifestyle. A jury in 2022 found them guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. The Chrisleys were also found guilty of tax evasion by hiding their earnings.

    A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June upheld the Chrisleys’ convictions but found a legal error in how the trial judge had calculated Julie Chrisley’s sentence by holding her accountable for the entire bank fraud scheme. The appellate panel sent her case back to the lower court for resentencing.

    Julie Chrisley’s attorney, Alex Little, asked the judge to reduce his client’s sentence to no more than five years. He argued that she was a minor player in the crimes, that her “scattered offenses” were “dramatic mistakes.” He also noted that she has behaved well and taken advantage of enrichment opportunities during her 20 months in prison so far, receiving more than 70 certificates.

    In a court filing, Little had argued that Chrisley’s two youngest children are struggling with “day-to-day functioning” because of their mother’s absence.

    Federal prosecutor Annalise Peters urged the judge to reimpose the seven-year sentence. She argued that prosecutors had been conservative in charging the Chrisleys, that Julie Chrisley was a “core part” of a fraudulent scheme and that she had not apologized, shown remorse or admitted wrongdoing.

    Chrisley’s good behavior in prison does not cancel out an “11-year journey of fraud after fraud after fraud,” Peters said.

    Peters said she felt sympathy for Chrisley’s family but that their suffering was “a natural consequence of this defendant’s criminal choices.”

    Chrisley, dressed in a navy blue prison uniform and with her formerly blond hair now dark brown, addressed the judge.

    “I apologize for my actions and what led me to where I am today,” she said, later adding that her time in prison has been “the most difficult time in my life” and has been hard on her family.

    “I cannot ever repay my children for what they have had to go through, and for that I am sorry,” she said.

    Before the Chrisleys became reality television stars, they and a former business partner submitted false documents to banks in the Atlanta area to obtain fraudulent loans, prosecutors said during their trial. They accused the couple of spending lavishly on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel, and using new fraudulent loans to pay off old ones. Todd Chrisley then filed for bankruptcy, according to prosecutors, walking away from more than $20 million in unpaid loans.

    U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross said that when she originally sentenced Chrisley she took into account her age, health and the fact that she was a caretaker for young children and elderly parents. Ross said she imposed a sentence that fell below the guidelines for Chrisley’s crimes and situation and below what prosecutors had requested. That departure from the guidelines was not based on the loss amount or the number of years that Chrisley was involved, so her sentence will not change, Ross said.

    The judge noted that many people she has sent to prison have children and most don’t have the resources or the support system the Chrisleys have.

    “It saddens me every time I see children going through that,” Ross said, later adding that she reminds herself, “I am not the one who made the choices to put the children in that situation.”

    Two of Chrisley’s adult children, Savannah and Chase, attended the hearing. Savannah Chrisley, who spoke in support of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy at the Republican National Convention in July, told reporters outside the courthouse that the prosecution and sentencing of her parents was politically motivated.

    “That’s what you get with an Obama-appointed judge,” she said as her mother was led out of the courtroom by U.S. marshals. Ross was appointed to the bench by then-President Barack Obama and took the bench in November 2014.

    She said her mother will appeal the new sentence.

    Todd Chrisley is serving a sentence of 12 years behind bars. The couple was originally ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution, but Ross said Wednesday that the amount now stands at $4.7 million.

    Todd Chrisley, 56, is at a minimum security federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida, with a release date in September 2032, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons website. Julie Chrisley, 51, had been held at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky, and is expected to return there.

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  • Top Muslim-voter organization endorses Harris as Middle East conflict escalates

    Top Muslim-voter organization endorses Harris as Middle East conflict escalates

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    LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the endorsement of one of the nation’s largest Muslim American voter mobilization groups, marking a significant boost to her campaign since many Muslim and Arab American organizations have opted to support third-party candidates or not endorse.

    Emgage Action, the political arm of an 18-year-old Muslim American advocacy group, endorsed Harris’ presidential campaign on Wednesday, saying in a statement provided first to The Associated Press that the group “recognizes the responsibility to defeat” Donald Trump in November.

    The group, based in Washington, D.C., operates in eight states, with a significant presence in the key battlegrounds of Michigan and Pennsylvania. The organization will now focus its ongoing voter-outreach efforts on supporting Harris, in addition to down-ballot candidates.

    “This endorsement is not agreement with Vice President Harris on all issues, but rather, an honest guidance to our voters regarding the difficult choice they confront at the ballot box,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action, in a statement. “While we do not agree with all of Harris’ policies, particularly on the war on Gaza, we are approaching this election with both pragmatism and conviction.”

    The endorsement follows months of tension between Arab American and Muslim groups and Democratic leaders over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Many of these groups, including leaders of the “Uncommitted” movement focused on protesting the war, have chosen not to endorse any candidate in the presidential race.

    The conflict in the Middle East has escalated since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people. Israel’s offensive in response has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

    Israel in recent days also has expanded its air campaign against Hezbollah, with strikes on Lebanon killing at least 560 people, including many women and children, making it the deadliest bombardment since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

    In an interview ahead of Emgage Action’s formal announcement, Alzayat described the decision to back Harris as “excruciatingly difficult,” noting months of internal discussions and extensive meetings and outreach with Harris’ policy team and campaign.

    Ultimately, the group found alignment with many of Harris’ domestic policies and is “hopeful” about her approach to the Middle East conflict if elected, Alzayat said.

    “We owe it to our community, despite this pain, despite the emotions, that we are one organization that is looking at things in a sober, clear-eyed manner and just giving our voting guidance,” Alzayat said.

    In Wednesday’s statement, Emgage Action endorsed Harris to prevent “a return to Islamophobic and other harmful policies under a Trump administration.”

    Many in the Muslim community cite Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban,” which is how many Trump opponents refer to his ban on immigrants from several majority-Muslim countries, as a key reason for opposing his return to the White House.

    Trump’s campaign dismissed the significance of the endorsement.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    “Once again, national organizations’ endorsements aren’t matching up to what the people suffering from four years of Kamala Harris believe,” Victoria LaCivita, Trump’s communications director for Michigan, said Wednesday. She added that Trump had won the endorsement of Democrat Amer Ghalib, the Muslim mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan.

    “Voters across the country know that President Trump is the right candidate for ALL Americans, and he will ensure peace and safety in our country and around the world,” LaCivita said.

    Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris’ campaign manager, noted in a statement that the endorsement comes “at a time when there is great pain and loss in the Muslim and Arab American communities.”

    Harris will continue working “to bring the war in Gaza to an end such that Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity, security, and self-determination,” she said.

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  • Asian Development Bank raises growth forecast for region, but warns of risks from trade sanctions

    Asian Development Bank raises growth forecast for region, but warns of risks from trade sanctions

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    Developing economies in Asia are forecast to grow at a 5.0% annual pace this year, helped by a strong U.S. economy and surging demand for computer chips that power artificial intelligence, the Asian Development Bank said in a report Wednesday.

    The forecast was revised upward slightly from the ADB’s April estimate of 4.9% growth.

    However, the regional lender warned of the potential threat of more protectionist measures, such as higher tariffs on exports from China, depending on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

    The report highlighted several positive trends, including a rebound in exports from Asia of computer chips and other advanced electronics this year due to rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. It also noted that energy and food prices are moderating, though inflation remains painfully high in countries such as Pakistan, Laos and Myanmar.

    The upturn in global demand for semiconductors and related electronics materials and components has helped drive stronger growth in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea, and to a lesser extent, the Philippines and Thailand, and that trend is expected to continue.

    The report cited data from World Semiconductor Trade Statistics projecting that spending on memory chips, vital for AI applications, will expand 77% this year.

    Other types of exports, especially autos from China and South Korea, also are growing quickly, it said.

    The U.S. presidential election is a major source of uncertainty.

    “The election could result in higher blanket tariffs by the U.S. on all global imports, and a broad-based and steep increase in tariffs on all U.S. imports from the PRC (China),” the report said. “This would significantly escalate U.S.-PRC trade tensions, with potential negative spillovers to developing Asia through real and financial channels.”

    Former President Donald Trump has pledged to stop U.S. businesses from shipping jobs overseas and to take other countries’ jobs and factories away by relying heavily on sweeping tariffs. Vice President Kamala Harris has criticized Trump’s plan to impose large tariffs on most imported goods, which she says would severely raise the cost of goods.

    Asia’s developing economies are also vulnerable to other U.S. moves that might affect their currencies or the cost of borrowing on foreign loans, the report said.

    China’s ailing property market remains a key risk and the report kept its forecasts for growth for the world’s second-largest economy at 4.8% in 2024 and 4.5% next year. The ADB’s chief economist, Albert Park, welcomed a flurry of fresh measures announced Tuesday by Beijing to cut borrowing costs and encourage more home purchases.

    “It’s good to see. Certainly there’s room for monetary policy expansion,” he told reporters in a briefing before the report’s release. “Whether that will work remains to be seen.”

    Among other positive developments, the report noted that energy inflation has returned to levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. That alleviates pressures on some economies that depend heavily on imports of oil and other fuels, such as Sri Lanka, China and Japan.

    Food inflation is still slightly higher, but falling. Rice prices fell by 12% to $589 per metric ton in late August after hitting a 16-year peak of $669 per metric ton in late January, the report said.

    They are expected to fall further, as rice harvests are projected to hit record levels in the 2024-2025 growing year, and prices for wheat and maize also have declined. Crops are likely to benefit from the La Nina climate phenomenon, which could bring beneficial higher rainfall to some regions though it also could cause destructive flooding in others.

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  • Tavern on Rush 2.0 Gets a Late-September Opening Date and New Chef

    Tavern on Rush 2.0 Gets a Late-September Opening Date and New Chef

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    Tavern on Rush is keeping its sign. When Phil Stefani and his children reopen the steakhouse across the street from its original space in Gold Coast, passersby will see the familiar oval-shaped black and gold logo with the tagline “an exciting restaurant.”

    A revived Tavern on Rush should open on Monday, September 30 at 1015 N. Rush Street, according to a news release. That’s at the Thompson Hotel inside the former Nico Osteria, the lauded Italian seafood restaurant that opened in 2013 by the team behind the Publican and Big Star. Before Nico, the space housed Chicago’s outpost of the Whiskey, the chain of bars owned by Rande Gerber, the entrepreneur who also launched Casamigos Tequila with George Clooney. Gerber is married to model Cindy Crawford. The two are parents of model Kaia Gerber.

    In both the Whiskey and Tavern’s heydays in the ’90s and ’00s, big-name touring musicians would stop by as would sports stars playing Chicago teams. Stefani would reminisce about seeing Michael Jordan smoke cigars. Tavern was known for its people-watching and bars, though it also served steakhouse fare. The original closed in October 2023, capping off 24 years on Rush Street. Stefani, a revered culinary figure in Chicago, was pushed out by his landlords, Fred Barbara and James Banks. In March, those two opened a new restaurant, the Bellevue, in the Tavern space.

    The revamped bar.
    Tavern on Rush/Alexa Vaicaitis

    A private dining room with an oval table and chandelier.

    Tavern on Rush’s private dining room.
    Tavern on Rush/Alexa Vaicaitis

    The two sides have apparently made peace as they’ve moved on to their new projects near Rush and Division, an area known for iconic restaurants like Gibsons and Maple & Ash. However, the biggest opening of the year may have been the return of Foxtrot, as its founder relaunches the corner store chain after its former founders left the brand in bankruptcy. Rosebud Restaurants hope for their own revival after crews demolished the building that housed Carmine’s at 1043 N. Rush Street. A new location should open inside the newly constructed building in the spring.

    Tavern 2.0 takes up two floors and 16,000 square feet. It’s larger than the original and will have food from Chicago native chef Michael Wallach. “Wally” has worked at Weber Grill, Carlucci’s, Nick’s Fishmarket, McCormick & Schmick’s, and Park Grill. The experience fits with what Tavern customers expect near the infamous Viagra Triangle. Sample menu items include wagyu ravioli and perhaps a nod to Nico with seafood Cataplana.

    In earlier interviews, Stefani’s children spoke about leaving their marks. For example, Gina Stefani said she was excited about focusing more on brunch as the Gold Coast needs more options. Gina Stefani enjoyed success at her West Loop restaurant, Mad Social, which built a strong brunch following. While the ’90s and ’00s may have seen long late-night lines flowing outside bars, the demand isn’t as strong and perhaps has shifted toward morning meals. Brunch will launch after the restaurant debuts. The bar program won’t just be about whisky, beer, and martinis. They’ll incorporate ingredients and spirits not associated with the original tavern using agave and pineapple. That’s one way to appeal to a younger crowd who might not be enthralled with the restaurant’s history.

    Does Tavern still qualify as an “exciting restaurant?” Find out when it debuts in 10 days.

    Tavern on Rush, 1015 N. Rush Street, planned for a Monday, September 30 opening.

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    Ashok Selvam

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  • Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Daisies Partner on a Pickle Pastry Called ‘Dill-Co’

    Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Daisies Partner on a Pickle Pastry Called ‘Dill-Co’

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    Concertgoers love an encore. Daisies set a standard in January with its croissant collaboration with Wieners Circle, as the Logan Square pasta power created a croissant filled with the familiar toppings of a Chicago hot dog. Partner and pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky has since teamed with the Chicago Blackhawks on a limited-time offering.

    Daisies found an unlikely collaborator with Wilco, the Chicago-based alt-country band passionate about supporting small businesses. Starting on Friday, September 20 Daisies will sell a limited edition croissant that celebrates the band’s 30th anniversary and all things pickles. Tweedy and Omilinsky take Wilco fans on a nostalgic journey on social media using song references while Tweedy provides his rationale.

    “Every song I’ve ever written is about pickles,” Tweedy deadpans in an Instagram video posted on Wednesday, September 18 announcing the croissant.

    While the Daisies/Wieners Circle croissant included a pickle, nothing matches the pickled prowess of Daisies’ newest creation, called Dill-Co. The croissant will be available for a limited time and launch in conjunction with Tweedy’s upcoming appearance on Saturday, September 21 at Navy Pier, part of Chicago Live!, a free festival featuring more than 100 performances. Sales from the croissant will benefit the former Lakeview Pantry, now known as Nourishing Hope.

    Daisies has long celebrated pickling and fermenting techniques in its food and drink, so pickles weren’t an odd request for Omilinsky. While the world of pickles is vast, Tweedy and his camp wanted pickled cucumbers. Knowing that Omilinsky needed something to hold the pastry together, and turned to Jewish delis for inspiration, opting for a dill cream cheese. She adds chopped pickles, giardiniera, dill, and dehydrated pickle powder.

    This isn’t Wilco’s first food collaboration. They also partnered with Foxtrot in 2022 as the chain produced a snack mix with the band’s branding.

    Omilinsky has spent the last few weeks at Green City Market in Lincoln Park, selling pastries on Wednesdays and Fridays. While they won’t sell the Dill-Co pastry at the farmers market, she says it wasn’t hard convincing Tweedy to collaborate: “People are pretty cool, and I think that’s a good thing to remember in this day and age,” she says. “All you have to do is ask.”

    She adds she was taken aback filming the video at the Loft, the legendary practice space turned studio. Omilinsky says Tweedy had stories for every trinket inside.

    Daisies co-owner Scott Goldstein and his brother-in-law, Dave Yakir, were again in charge of putting the video together, as their company Streeterville Productions specializes in such content. Goldstein says coming up with the pickle jokes was a challenge, but once he fixated on Wilco’s song, She’s a Jar, the floodgates opened. Goldstein was also very complimentary of Tweedy’s acting talents.

    “It’s a crime we can’t play guitar and sing as well as he can tell jokes,” Goldstein says.

    Dill-Co at Daisies, starting on Friday, September 20.

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    Ashok Selvam

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  • A Contemporary Spin on French Cusine Heads to Old Town

    A Contemporary Spin on French Cusine Heads to Old Town

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    Jason Chan wants to fill a void in Old Town, one that’s existed for nine years after Bistrot Margot closed along Wells Street. Chan, one of the most beloved figures in Chicago’s restaurant scene, is known for his love of martial arts almost as much as his affability. He’s now opening a 32-seat French restaurant in October at a space a few blocks from Bistrot Margot.

    Old Town may have a French bakery in La Fournette, but Margot’s closure left the neighborhood without a French restaurant — the closest a mile north in Lincoln Park at Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ Mon Ami Gabi. Chan will rectify that when he opens Gavroche late in September at 1529 N. Wells Street. Chan’s travels over the last two years have sent him to Japan, Italy, and Spain, but he says his time in Paris left the biggest impression. While in France, Chan says he witnessed a culinary revolution that spun away from the bistros Chicagoans associate with French food.

    “Of all the places, what I really loved the most were just tiny mom-and-pop, the 20- or 30-seat restaurants that had maybe five employees,” Chan says.

    Gavroche — also a character from Les Misérables — will offer a “contemporary, modern version of French food” without “the heavy creams and butters and seven mother sauces,” says Chan. The menu will have about 18 items with seven daily specials. About four of the specials will be classic dishes, what most envision when they crave French food, Chan says. Chan says he made a spreadsheet of Chicago’s 17 French restaurants and found most of them had the same menus. One way of distinguishing a menu is embracing how African influences have impacted French cuisine. All in all, Chan wants his new restaurant to disrupt with innovation: “Bistro is not rocket science,” he says.

    The menu at Gavroche will include dishes like charred French radishes with salted butter, fennel pollen, and a warm demi-baguette; a “niçoise” hamachi sashimi with egg yolk confit, seasonal vegetables, petit lettuce, pickled pearl onion, and white anchovy vinaigrette; and turbot au four beurre blanc with Polanco caviar and smoked crème fraîche beurre blanc.

    There will be a four-seat counter. There are no plans for a tasting menu, but if Chan sees one of his chef friends or someone he knows who would appreciate something a little extra, he’ll seat them at the counter and curate a menu omakase style: “It would kind of be like a secret deal that’s not a secret,” Chan says.

    Chan took a corporate job during the pandemic, and found love — he’s engaged. His fiance, Heather Blaise, is also a designer and is working on the restaurant, the former Old Town spinoff of Fish Bar. Chan’s resume includes serving as the general manager of Kitana, giving the chain someone with deep Chicago roots. He also opened Juno, the sushi restaurant in Lincoln Park. He’s worked for several restaurant groups, including DMK, and opened Butter in 2005 in West Loop. He comes from a legacy of restaurants as his parents ran several restaurants around Chicago, including a Jewish deli in Lakeview, an Irish pub in Andersonville, and a coffee shop in the Loop. Chan independently developed a love for French cuisine, working in the mid-’80s at L’Escargot in the Allerton Hotel off the Mag Mile. His parents pushed him away from working in the kitchen, wanting him to enter the professional ranks as a doctor or attorney. They gave Chan the least desirable jobs hoping he would be repulsed when he was a youngster. It backfired.

    “Buddy, when you’re when you’re in a 3,500-square-foot Irish pub by yourself, and it’s Saturday morning and you’re pissed because all your friends are in pajamas, eating cereal, and watching cartoons, and you’re cleaning a fucking restaurant bar,” Chan recalls. “After three months of crying and hating it every time I did it, I would pretend I was a chef when I was in the kitchen, I would pretend I was the manager when I was sweeping the floor.”

    While Chan serves as the inspiration for the restaurant, he’ll delegate cooking responsibilities to Mitchell Acuña. Chan was impressed by Acuña’s willingness to learn, and the chef worked at Boka, North Pond, and Sixteen. Chan spoke with Sixteen chef Nick Dostal who gave Acuña his endorsement as the two worked together at the Trump Tower restaurant when it was worthy of a Michelin star. Also joining the team is pastry chef Christine McCabe. McCabe worked at Charlie Trotter’s and worked with Chan prior, most recently at their Time Out Market Chicago stall, Sugar Cube. Chan says the pandemic led to the sweet shop’s demise just when the sweets shop began to find traction in 2020. McCabe will bake the breads and eventually be in charge of upcoming brunch and lunch menus.

    Reservations will only be accepted for groups of six or more — Chan wants to encourage walk-ins. He also wants to offer late-night dining. They have a 2 a.m. liquor license and intend to make use of it. He’s also sowing the seeds for more projects. He loves the history of Prohibition and says he has an idea for a speakeasy bar, one that eschews gimmicks for a genuine slice of history. He also has an idea for a fast-casual restaurant.

    Gavroche, 1529 N. Wells Street, planned for late-September opening.

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  • How small businesses can recover from break-ins and theft

    How small businesses can recover from break-ins and theft

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    Break-ins and thefts can happen at any small business, no matter how tight the security.

    In the retail sector alone, more than half of small businesses said they had been victims of shoplifting in the prior year, according to a 2022 survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And break-ins and thefts occur across all sectors.

    So, it is important for small business owners to prepare in advance and have a plan for dealing with a break-in or theft, to minimize damage.

    Roxie Lubanovic, co-founder of Frostbeard Studio in Minneapolis, which makes candles, had her studio broken into in 2016 over a holiday weekend. Thieves stole equipment and supplies, then damaged locks and doors getting in and out. Insurance covered the losses, but it was still difficult recovering.

    “The hardest part was feeling violated in a space we had put so much work into,” she said.

    There are several steps small business owners should take after a theft or break-in occurs.

    First, don’t wait to notify the police and file a police report. You can take inventory of stolen or damaged items after the police have finished their investigation.

    Once you’ve inventoried and documented the damage, file an insurance claim. You’ll need photos or receipts for items stolen. Call your bank and notify them of what has occurred.

    Have a transparent conversation with your employees about what happened. Analyze what went wrong and enhance security where needed. Once you have an updated business security plan, inform your employees about how the break-in has been addressed.

    Lubanovic reviewed her security plan and upgraded her security system and installed cameras, new locks and an alarm.

    “I also asked neighbors to keep an eye out, and had employees stagger their schedules for a while so someone was always present during business hours,” she said. “Thankfully, we haven’t had another incident since.”

    She advised small businesses to include building a strong relationship with their local community and neighboring businesses as part of their security plan, saying it “can be invaluable for support and vigilance.”

    Rich Main, owner of Vista Glass in Tucson, Arizona, had his warehouse broken into six months ago, losing nearly $10,000 in equipment and supplies. He had to stop operations for two days waiting for replacements to arrive. Insurance only partly covered the damage.

    “For other small businesses facing a similar situation, my advice would be to act quickly to secure your premises and reassure your customers,” he said. “It’s also crucial to review and update your insurance policy regularly to ensure adequate coverage.”

    One tip: Check state regulations to see if aid is available. In New York, for example, the 2025 state budget will include a $5 million tax credit to help small businesses enhance their security measures, such as installing cameras. It also will include a $3,000 tax credit for small businesses that meet a spending threshold on retail theft prevention measures.

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  • Not-so-great expectations: Students are reading fewer books in English class

    Not-so-great expectations: Students are reading fewer books in English class

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    Chris Stanislawski didn’t read much in his middle school English classes, but it never felt necessary. Students were given detailed chapter summaries for every novel they discussed, and teachers played audio of the books during class.

    Much of the reading material at Garden City Middle School in Long Island was either abridged books, or online texts and printouts, he said.

    “When you’re given a summary of the book telling you what you’re about to read in baby form, it kind of just ruins the whole story for you,” said Chris, 14. “Like, what’s the point of actually reading?”

    In many English classrooms across America, assignments to read full-length novels are becoming less common. Some teachers focus instead on selected passages — a concession to perceptions of shorter attention spans, pressure to prepare for standardized tests and a sense that short-form content will prepare students for the modern, digital world.

    The National Council of Teachers of English acknowledged the shift in a 2022 statement on media education, saying: “The time has come to decenter book reading and essay-writing as the pinnacles of English language arts education.”

    The idea is not to remove books but to teach media literacy and add other texts that feel relevant to students, said Seth French, one of the statement’s co-authors. In the English class he taught before becoming a dean last year at Bentonville High School in Arkansas, students engaged with plays, poetry and articles but read just one book together as a class.

    “At the end of the day, a lot of our students are not interested in some of these texts that they didn’t have a choice in,” he said.

    The emphasis on shorter, digital texts does not sit well with everyone.

    Deep reading is essential to strengthen circuits in the brain tied to critical thinking skills, background knowledge — and, most of all, empathy, said Maryanne Wolf, a cognitive neuroscientist at UCLA specializing in dyslexia research.

    “We must give our young an opportunity to understand who others are, not through little snapshots, but through immersion into the lives and thoughts and feelings of others,” Wolf said.

    At Garden City Middle School, students are required to read several books in their entirety each year, including “Of Mice and Men” and “Romeo and Juliet,” Principal Matthew Samuelson said. Audio versions and summaries are provided as extra resources, he said.

    For Chris, who has dyslexia, the audio didn’t make the reading feel more accessible. He just felt bored. He switched this fall to a Catholic school, which his mother feels will prepare him better for college.

    Even outside school, students are reading less

    There’s little data on how many books are assigned by schools. But in general, students are reading less. Federal data from last year shows only 14% of young teens say they read for fun daily, compared with 27% in 2012.

    Teachers say the slide has its roots in the COVID-19 crisis.

    “There was a trend, it happened when COVID hit, to stop reading full-length novels because students were in trauma; we were in a pandemic. The problem is we haven’t quite come back from that,” said Kristy Acevedo, who teaches English at a vocational high school in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

    This year, she said she won’t accept that students are too distracted to read. She plans to teach time-management strategies and to use only paper and pencils for most of class time.

    Other teachers say the trend stems from standardized testing and the influence of education technology. Digital platforms can deliver a complete English curriculum, with thousands of short passages aligned to state standards — all without having to assign an actual book.

    “If admins and school districts are judged by their test scores, how are they going to improve their test scores? They’re going to mirror the test as much as possible,” said Karl Ubelhoer, a middle school special education teacher in Tabernacle, New Jersey.

    For some students, it’s a struggle to read at all. Only around a third of fourth and eighth graders reached reading proficiency in the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, down significantly from 2019.

    Leah van Belle, executive director of the Detroit literacy coalition 313Reads, said when her son read “Peter Pan” in late elementary school, it was too hard for most kids in the class. She laments that Detroit feels like “a book desert.” Her son’s school doesn’t even have a library.

    Still, she said it makes sense for English classes to focus on shorter texts.

    “As an adult, if I want to learn about a topic and research it, be it personal or professional, I’m using interactive digital text to do that,” she said.

    Teachers fit books in with other ‘spinning plates’

    Even in well-resourced schools, one thing is always in short supply: time.

    Terri White, a teacher at South Windsor High School in Connecticut, no longer makes her honors ninth-grade English class read all of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” She assigns about a third of the book and a synopsis of the rest. They have to move on quickly because of pressure for teachers to cram more into the curriculum, she said.

    “It’s like spinning plates, you know what I mean? Like it’s a circus,” she said.

    She also assigns less homework because kids’ schedules are so packed with sports, clubs and other activities.

    “I maintain rigor. But I’m more about helping students become stronger and more critical readers, writers and thinkers, while taking their social-emotional well-being into account,” she said.

    In the long run, the synopsis approach harms students’ critical thinking skills, said Alden Jones, a literature professor at Emerson College in Boston. She assigns fewer books than she once did and gives more quizzes to make sure students do the reading.

    “We don’t value the thinking time that we used to have. It’s all time we could be on our phone accomplishing tasks,” she said.

    Will Higgins, an English teacher at Dartmouth High School in Massachusetts, said he still believes in teaching the classics, but demands on students’ time have made it necessary to cut back.

    “We haven’t given up on ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ We haven’t given up on ‘Hamlet’ or ‘The Great Gatsby,’″ Higgins said. But he said they have given up assigning others like “A Tale of Two Cities.”

    His school has had success encouraging reading through student-directed book clubs, where small groups pick a book and discuss it together. Contemporary authors like John Green and Jason Reynolds have been a big hit.

    “It’s funny,” he said. “Many students are saying that it’s the first time in a long time they’ve read a full book.”

    ___

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Tupperware lifts the lid on its financial problems with bankruptcy filing

    Tupperware lifts the lid on its financial problems with bankruptcy filing

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The company behind Tupperware, the plastic kitchenware that revolutionized food storage after World War II and became inextricably linked to the parties where women seeking a measure of financial independence and fun in midcentury America sold the colorful products, has filed for bankruptcy.

    Tupperware Brands, the Orlando, Florida-based consumer goods company that produces the iconic line of containers, said it was seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after struggling to revitalize its core business and failing to secure a tenable takeover offer.

    Despite enjoying the same cultural ubiquity as Kleenex, Teflon and other brands whose trademarked names are eponymous with entire product categories, Tupperware has suffered from waning sales, rising competition and the limitations of the direct-to-consumer marketing model that once defined its success.

    The company said Tuesday in its bankruptcy filing that consumers shifting away from direct sales, which make up the vast majority of its sales more than a quarter-century after the first Tupperware parties, has hit the storied business hard.

    The company also cited growing public health and environmental concerns about plastic, internal inefficiencies that made it challenging to operate globally, and the “challenging microeconomic environment” of the last several years for its financial straits.

    Tupperware said it planned to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would seek court approval for a sale “in order to protect” the brand.

    Tupperware’s roots date to 1946. As the company tells it, chemist Earl Tupper found inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory. He set out on a mission to create an airtight lid seal — similar to the one on a paint can — for a plastic container to help families save money on food waste.

    The brand experienced explosive growth in the mid-20th century, particularly with the rise of direct sales through Tupperware parties. First held in 1948, the parties were promoted as a way for women to earn supplemental income by selling their friends and neighbors the lidded bowls for holding leftovers.

    The system worked so well that Tupperware eventually removed its products from stores. It also led Tupper to appoint Brownie Wise, who came up with the house party idea, as a company executive, a position that was rare for a woman at the time.

    In the decades that followed, the brand expanded to include canisters, beakers, cake dishes and all manner of implements, and became a staple in kitchens across America and eventually, abroad as well. A newspaper reporter who went undercover to work as a footman in Buckingham Palace captured pictures of the royal Tupperware on the breakfast table of Queen Elizabeth II.

    The story behind the company also showed up on TV screens and on stage, with depictions in PBS’ 2004 film “Tupperware!” and the play “Sealed for Freshness.”

    “For more than 70 years, Tupperware Brands has centered on a core purpose – to inspire women to cultivate the confidence they need to enrich their lives, nourish their families, and fuel communities around the world,” Tricia Stitzel, the company’s first female CEO, wrote as recently as 2018. “And we continue to make decisions, from our innovative products to our strategic growth strategy, which reflect this purpose.”

    In the 2000s, Tupperware also diversified beyond its containers by acquiring beauty and personal care companies, most of them direct-selling brands like Avroy Shlain, Fuller Cosmetics, NaturCare, Nutrimetics and Nuvo.

    Financial analysts, however, criticized Tupperware in recent years for sticking with the direct sales model and failing to evolve with the times, most notably the large number of women who work outside the home.

    “The reality is that the decline at Tupperware is not new,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in Wednesday commentary. “It is very difficult to see how the brand can get back to its glory days.”

    The company’s sales improved some during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Americans were cooking and eating more at home. But overall sales have been in steady decline over the years due to rising competition from Rubbermaid, OXO and even takeout food containers that consumers recycle. Vintage Tupperware also remains in demand as a collectible.

    Overall, sales for food storage supplies are up 18% compared to before the pandemic, according to figures from market research firm Circana. But despite that growth – and the ongoing popularity of food storage videos on social media – the troubles for Tupperware remained.

    Saunders explained that many consumers have migrated to less expensive home storage brands they can find at Target and Walmart. Amazon, the king of online retailers, also has its own line.

    Historically, Tupperware marketed its products as higher-quality durable items. But consumers who are looking for durability are interested in more sustainable materials, such as glass and stainless steel, said Jennifer Christ, manager of consumer and commercial research for the Freedonia Group, a market research company.

    “There’s less brand loyalty than there used to be,” Christ said.

    In the past few years, Tupperware tried a few things to expand its reach and attract new customers. It started selling its products on Amazon as well as in stores at Target and Macy’s. In 2019, the brand also launched a line made with sustainable materials and expanded it two years later.

    But financial troubles continued to pile up.

    Last year, the company sought additional financing as it warned investors about its ability to stay in business and its risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

    The company received an additional non-compliance notice from the NYSE for failing to file its annual results with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. Tupperware continued to warn about its ability to stay afloat in more recent months, with an August securities filing pointing to “significant liquidity challenges.”

    Shares for the company have fallen 75% this year.

    In Tuesday’s bankruptcy petition, Tupperware reported more than $1.2 billion in total debts and $679.5 million in total assets. It said Tupperware currently employs more than 5,450 employees across 41 countries and partners with over 465,000 consultants who sell products on a freelance basis in nearly 70 countries. Particularly in India, Tupperware was introduced as a way for women to own their own businesses.

    Many Tupperware sellers market the products online, but many also make their sales during Tupperware parties at their homes or neighborhood gatherings. In the announcement of the filing, the company maintained that there were no current changes to Tupperware’s independent sales consultant agreements.

    Tupperware also pointed to aims to “further advance Tupperware’s transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company,” possibly signaling a move toward increased reliance of sales on the brand’s website or perhaps more online-focused marketing, although the company did not provide exact specifics.

    In a statement, Tupperware President and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman acknowledged Tupperware’s recent financial struggles and said that the bankruptcy process is meant to provide “essential flexibility” as the company pursues this transformation. The brand, she maintains, isn’t going anywhere.

    “Whether you are a dedicated member of our Tupperware team, sell, cook with, or simply love our Tupperware products, you are a part of our Tupperware family,” Goldman said in a statement. “We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process.”

    The company’s bankruptcy filing, though, faces opposition from Tupperware’s new lenders, who want the petition dismissed or converted it to a Chapter 7 case, which would liquidate the company. Alternatively, they’re asking the court for permission to take action against the company, which could allow them to collect debt they’re owed.

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  • Instagram makes teen accounts private as pressure mounts on the app to protect children

    Instagram makes teen accounts private as pressure mounts on the app to protect children

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    Instagram is making teen accounts private by default as it tries to make the platform safer for children amid a growing backlash against how social media affects young people’s lives.

    Beginning Tuesday in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, anyone under 18 who signs up for Instagram will be placed into restrictive teen accounts and those with existing accounts will be migrated over the next 60 days. Teens in the European Union will see their accounts adjusted later this year.

    Parent company Meta acknowledges that teenagers may lie about their age and says it will require them to verify their ages in more instances, like if they try to create a new account with an adult birthday. The Menlo Park, California company also said it is building technology that proactively finds teen accounts that pretend to be grownups and automatically places them into the restricted teen accounts.

    The teen accounts will be private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. “Sensitive content,” such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a “sleep mode” will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m.

    While these settings will be turned on for all teens, 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to turn them off. Kids under 16 will need their parents’ permission to do so.

    “The three concerns we’re hearing from parents are that their teens are seeing content that they don’t want to see or that they’re getting contacted by people they don’t want to be contacted by or that they’re spending too much time on the app,” said Naomi Gleit, head of product at Meta. “So teen accounts is really focused on addressing those three concerns.”

    The announcement comes as the company faces lawsuits from dozens of U.S. states that accuse it of harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.

    While Meta didn’t give specifics on how the changes might affect its business, the company said the changes may mean that teens will use Instagram less in the short term. Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg said the revenue impact of the changes “will likely be minimal.”

    “Even as Meta continues to prioritize teen safety, it’s unlikely that it’s going to make sweeping changes that would cause a major financial hit,” she said, adding that the teen accounts are unlikely to significantly affect how engaged teens are with Instagram “not in the least because there are still plenty of ways to circumvent the rules, and could even make them more motivated to work around the age limits.”

    New York Attorney General Letitia James said Meta’s announcement was “an important first step, but much more needs to be done to ensure our kids are protected from the harms of social media.” James’ office is working with other New York officials on how to implement a new state law intended to curb children’s access to what critics call addictive social media feeds.

    Others were more critical. Nicole Gill, the co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit Accountable Tech, called Instagram’s announcement the “latest attempt to avoid actual independent oversight and regulation and instead continue to self-regulate, jeopardizing the health, safety, and privacy of young people.”

    “Today’s PR exercise falls short of the safety by design and accountability that young people and their parents deserve and only meaningful policy action can guarantee,” she said. “Meta’s business model is built on addicting its users and mining their data for profit; no amount of parental and teen controls Meta is proposing will change that.”

    Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the co-author of the Kids Online Safety Act that recently passed the Senate, questioned the timing of the announcement “on the eve of a House markup” of the bill.

    “Just like clockwork, the Kids Online Safety Act moves forward and industry comes out with a new set of self-enforcing guidelines,” she said.

    In the past, Meta’s efforts at addressing teen safety and mental health on its platforms have also been met with criticism that the changes don’t go far enough. For instance, while kids will get a notification when they’ve spent 60 minutes on the app, they will be able to bypass it and continue scrolling.

    That’s unless the child’s parents turn on “parental supervision” mode, where parents can limit teens’ time on Instagram to a specific amount of time, such as 15 minutes.

    With the latest changes, Meta is giving parents more options to oversee their kids’ accounts. Those under 16 will need a parent or guardian’s permission to change their settings to less restrictive ones. They can do this by setting up “parental supervision” on their accounts and connecting them to a parent or guardian.

    Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said last week that parents don’t use the parental controls the company has introduced in recent years.

    Meta’s Gleit said she thinks the teen accounts will incentivize parents to start using them.

    “Parents will be able to see, via the family center, who is messaging their teen and hopefully have a conversation with their teen,” she said. “If there is bullying or harassment happening, parents will have visibility into who their teen’s following, who’s following their teen, who their teen has messaged in the past seven days and hopefully have some of these conversations and help them navigate these really difficult situations online.”

    U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said last year that tech companies put too much responsibility on parents when it comes to keeping children safe on social media.

    “We’re asking parents to manage a technology that’s rapidly evolving that fundamentally changes how their kids think about themselves, how they build friendships, how they experience the world — and technology, by the way, that prior generations never had to manage,” Murthy said in May 2023.

    ——

    Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.

    ——

    This story has been updated to correct the name of Nicole Gill.

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  • Summer vacation is over for houseplants, too. Time to repot them?

    Summer vacation is over for houseplants, too. Time to repot them?

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    The best time to repot a houseplant is in spring, when its root system is actively growing and can quickly establish itself in its new home. But a fall repotting could be warranted if a plant has spent the summer outgrowing its container outdoors.

    Most species we consider houseplants are tropical plants that grow in the wild in their native habitat. Although they can also thrive in the home under the right conditions, a summer vacation outdoors provides exposure to increased sunlight and fresh air, which usually spurs abundant new growth.

    One of my spider plants, for instance, nearly doubled in size and produced about a dozen “pups,” or baby plants, on the deck last year. By September, the African native’s roots were growing out of its pot’s drainage holes, indicating the need for more space.

    Finding a mysterious mess of spilled soil is another telltale sign that the plant needs a larger home. As roots grow to fill the pot, soil simply gets pushed out onto the table or floor.

    Sometimes, the only indication of displaced soil is that the container feels lighter than expected when you pick it up, even after watering.

    Any plant that has grown above the soil line surely has also grown beneath it, as well. But if you’re in doubt about whether repotting is necessary, slip the plant out of its container to see if its roots are crowded, which can restrict access to water and nutrients. Worse, if roots are “girdled,” or growing around themselves in a circle rather than outward into the soil, they may strangle themselves to death.

    Free crowded or girdled roots by scraping them with a kitchen fork, snipping them in a few spots with garden pruners or gently teasing them apart with your fingers to create broken tips that can begin growing outward into the soil. . Then remove as much of the soil as possible.

    A bigger pot. But not too much bigger

    The first rule of repotting plants lies in pot selection. Don’t be tempted to repot a small plant into a large container in the hopes you won’t have to repeat the task for a few years; you might end up killing the plant because the excess soil needed to fill the larger pot will hold more water than the roots can take in, and that can lead to root rot. Instead, opt for a pot just 1 or 2 inches larger in diameter than the current one.

    Use the right potting mix. Purchase a lightweight, soil-less potting mix specially formulated for indoor plants, or make your own by combining equal parts of compost, vermiculite (or perlite, if planting succulents or cacti) and coco coir (a sustainable alternative to peat moss that does not alter the medium’s pH ).

    Add enough of the mixture to the bottom of the new container to ensure the plant will sit at the same depth as it was when growing in its old pot. Then, place the plant atop the mound and add as much potting mix as necessary to fill in spaces around the plant, firming the soil with your fingers to eliminate air pockets.

    Water slowly to allow full absorption, stopping when water begins to emerge from the pot’s drainage hole, and empty water that collects in the pot’s saucer.

    ___

    Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

    ___

    For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

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  • Longshoremen at key US ports threatening to strike over automation and pay

    Longshoremen at key US ports threatening to strike over automation and pay

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    Determined to thwart the automating of their jobs, about 45,000 dockworkers along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts are threatening to strike on Oct. 1, a move that would shut down ports that handle about half the nation’s cargo from ships.

    The International Longshoremen’s Union is demanding significantly higher wages and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates and container movements that are used in the loading or loading of freight at 36 U.S. ports. Whenever and however the dispute is resolved, it’s likely to affect how freight moves in and out of the United States for years to come.

    If a strike were resolved within a few weeks, consumers probably wouldn’t notice any major shortages of retail goods. But a strike that persists for more than a month would likely cause a shortage of some consumer products, although most holiday retail goods have already arrived from overseas.

    A prolonged strike would almost certainly hurt the U.S. economy. Even a brief strike would cause disruptions. Heavier vehicular traffic would be likely at key points around the country as cargo was diverted to West Coast ports, where workers belong to a different union not involved in the strike. And once the longshoremen’s union eventually returned to work, a ship backlog would likely result. For every day of a port strike, experts say it takes four to six days to clear it up.

    “I think everyone’s a bit nervous about it,” said Mia Ginter, director of North America ocean shipping for C.H. Robinson, a logistics firm. “The rhetoric this time with the ILA is at a level we haven’t seen before.”

    The longshoremen’s union and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports, haven’t met to negotiate since June, when the union said it suspended national talks to first complete local port agreements. No further national contract talks have been scheduled.

    Harold Daggett, the union president, warned earlier this month that the longshoremen stood ready to strike once their contract expires on Sept. 30.

    “We are very far apart,” Daggett said. “Mark my words, we’ll shut them down Oct. 1 if we don’t get the kind of wages we deserve.”

    Top-scale port workers now earn a base pay of $39 an hour, or just over $81,000 a year. But with overtime and other benefits, some can make in excess of $200,000 annually. Neither the union nor the ports would discuss pay levels. But a 2019-2020 report by the Waterfront Commission, which oversees New York Harbor, said about a third of the longshoremen based there made $200,000 or more.

    Daggett contends, though, that higher-paid longshoremen work up to 100 hours a week, most of it overtime, and sacrifice much of their family time in doing so.

    The Maritime Alliance has said it’s committed to resuming talks and avoiding the first national longshoremen’s strike since 1977. It has accused the union of having already decided in advance to walk off the job.

    “We need to sit down and negotiate a new agreement that avoids an unnecessary and costly strike that will be detrimental to both sides,” the alliance said in a statement.

    In the case of a short-lived strike, industry experts say consumers wouldn’t likely notice shortages of store goods during the holiday shopping season. Most retailers had goods transported ahead of the usual pre-holiday shipping season, and they’re already stored in warehouses.

    “It would be an inconvenience, but it’s not going to be ‘Santa’s not showing up,’ ” said Jonathan Chappell, senior managing director of transportation at Evercore ISI, an investment research firm.

    Imports to ports are up 10% this year over 2023 on the East Coast and 20% on the West Coast, indicating that some freight was shipped in anticipation of a strike, said Ben Nolan, a transportation analyst with Stifel.

    The longshoreman’s union, Nolan suggested, commands some leverage going into a presidential election, with memories still fresh of jammed ports and clogged supply chains that followed the pandemic recession. Unions also have drawn support this year from political candidates who have been courting the labor vote.

    “If ever there was a time that labor can get what they want,” Nolan said, “it’s right now.”

    If a strike were to extend beyond a month or so, spot shortages of goods could develop. Some manufacturers could run short of parts, notably in the auto and pharmaceutical industries, which generally don’t stock large parts inventories. Exports of autos and other goods that move through the East Coast also could be affected.

    Most analysts don’t expect President Joe Biden to intervene, as he and Congress did to head off a railroad strike in 2022, at least not before the Nov. 5 presidential election. Robinson, of the logistics firm C.H. Robinson, noted that the administration cannot legally impose a contract on the dockworkers before a strike. But if a strike were deemed to endanger national health or safety, Ginter said, Biden could, under the Taft-Hartley Act, seek a court order for an 80-day cooling-off period. This would suspend the strike.

    Analysts say the union’s initial demands included a 77% pay raise over the course of a six-year contract. Daggett, the union president, said sizable pay raises would make up for the inflation spike of the past few years.

    And he said it would give workers a share of the billions the companies have earned, especially during the pandemic. Copenhagen-based Maersk, among the world’s largest container shipping companies, made more than $50 billion in profits over the past four years. Earnings, though, dropped substantially in 2023 as pandemic-era consumer demand eased and brought sky-high freight rates back down.

    Daggett said the union members expect to be waging their biggest fight — against the automation of job functions at ports — well into the future.

    “We do not believe that robotics should take over a human being’s job,” he said. “Especially a human being that’s historically performed that job.”

    As an example, he pointed to a gate that automatically processes trucks without union labor at the port in Mobile, Alabama. The gate has been in place since 2008.

    The Maritime Alliance has said it offered, as part of a new contract, to keep current provisions that bar fully automated terminals and block the use of semi-automated equipment without an agreement from both sides on protecting human jobs.

    Experts say it’s not altogether clear whether automation would lead to layoffs.

    A 2022 study by the Economic Roundtable of Los Angeles that was funded by the West Coast dockworkers union found that automation cost 572 jobs each year in 2020 and 2021 at partially automated terminals at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

    But another study that same year by a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, that was commissioned by port operators and shippers concluded that between 2015, when Los Angeles-area ports adopted some automation, and 2021, paid hours for port union members grew 11.2%.

    At the huge Port of Rotterdam, one of the world’s most automated ports, union workers pushed for early-retirement packages and work-time reductions as a means to preserve jobs. And in the end, mechanization didn’t cause significant job losses, a researcher from Erasmus University in the Netherlands found.

    U.S. ports trail their counterparts in Asia and Europe in the use of automation. Analysts note that most U.S. ports take longer to unload container ships than do those in Asia and Europe and suggest that without more automation, they could become even less competitive. Shippers might send more cargo to Mexican or Canadian ports and then on to the U.S. by rail or truck, said Eleftherios Iakovou, associate director of supply chain resilience at Texas A&M University.

    He suggested that the two sides discuss the use of automation to augment the functions of human workers rather than to displace them.

    Any final reckoning over automation, though, remains a long way off. For shippers to abandon U.S. ports, Mexican ports would have to become more efficient at the same time that U.S. ports became “prohibitively inefficient,” said Stifel’s Nolan.

    “I do think there’s some validity to it, but it’s not a this-decade kind of issue,” he said.

    In the meantime, if there is a strike, analysts say West Coast ports could pick up at least some additional freight that might be diverted from Eastern ports, especially from Asia. But they couldn’t handle it all. Neither could the U.S. rail system.

    “The East Coast has grown a lot,” Nolan said. “There’s just no way to get around it.”

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  • WNBA awards Portland an expansion franchise that will begin play in 2026

    WNBA awards Portland an expansion franchise that will begin play in 2026

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    The WNBA is headed back to Portland, with Oregon’s biggest city getting an expansion team that will begin play in 2026.

    The team will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, who also own the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League. They paid $125 million for the franchise.

    “This is huge for Portland. We are so honored and humbled to be the vessel that delivers this WNBA franchise to Portland,” Bhathal Merage said. “And that’s really how we consider ourselves. Portland is this incredibly diverse, enthusiastic community. We saw the passion first-hand when we started looking into the Portland Thorns and this is Basketball City. So we’re very excited about the future.”

    Some 300 invited guests attended a kickoff event at Portland’s Moda Center on Wednesday afternoon with the Bhathals, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and other state and local officials. Afterward, there was community-wide event outside the stadium.

    The Bhathals started having conversations with the WNBA late last year after a separate bid to bring a team to Portland fell through.

    The city is well known for its embrace of women’s sports. In addition to the Thorns, who are drawing more than 18,000 fans on average to each home game, Portland is home to the nation’s first bar exclusively for women’s sports, the Sports Bra, which opened in 2022 and recently announced plans for additional franchises.

    “It really wasn’t our intention when we came to the Portland community, but we saw the opportunity, the stars aligned and here we are. We are at the epicenter of women’s professional sports,” Bhathal Merage said.

    It’s the third expansion franchise the WNBA will add over the next two years, with Golden State and Toronto getting the other two. The Golden State Valkyries will begin play next season and Toronto in 2026.

    “We’ve been working on Portland for a while, so when we did our original data analysis, I guess two and a half years ago, Portland was one at the top of the list, after the Bay Area,” Engelbert said. “So I’ve had my eye on Portland.”

    Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek was unable to attend at the Moda Center, home of the Portland Trail Blazers, but issued a statement.

    “The decision to choose Portland for the next WNBA team is just as much a recognition of our past as it is about faith in our future,” Kotek said. “Portland has an unequivocal love of women’s sports. ”

    Engelbert has said she hopes to have more teams by 2028 but doesn’t think that the league will be adding any more that will start playing before 2027.

    Portland had a WNBA team, the Fire, from 2000 until it folded in 2002. That franchise averaged more than 8,000 fans when games were played at the Rose Garden. The new franchise will play at the same arena, now known as the Moda Center, and the Bhathals plan to build a dedicated practice facility for the team as well.

    In addition to the Thorns, the Bhathal family has been a co-owner of the Sacramento Kings since 2013. The Bhathals added to their sports portfolio earlier this year when they bought the women’s soccer team for $63 million.

    “When you look at our numbers, not just the Thorns’ off-the-charts attendance, which is incredible, what you’ve seen, in Eugene, what you’ve seen in Oregon State, we knew that this was going to be one of the great moments in sports for Oregon,” Wyden said. “We saw, February of 2023, what was possible. So I can tell you that right now there are women playing in Portland. They’re rebounding in Roseburg, they’re hooping in Hermiston. Every nook and cranny of our state is into this.”

    The new Portland WNBA team is not yet named. The Bhathals said they wanted to tap into the community to select one.

    ___

    AP Sports Writer Anne M. Peterson in Oregon contributed to this report.

    ___

    AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

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  • Judge rejects former Trump aide Mark Meadows’ bid to move Arizona election case to federal court

    Judge rejects former Trump aide Mark Meadows’ bid to move Arizona election case to federal court

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    PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has rejected a bid by Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, to move his charges in Arizona’s fake elector case to federal court, marking the second time he has failed in trying to get his charges out of state court.

    In a decision Monday, U.S. District Judge John Tuchi said Meadows missed a deadline for asking for his charges to be moved to federal court, didn’t offer a good reason for doing so and failed to show that the allegations against him related to his official duties as chief of staff to the president.

    Meadows faces charges in Arizona and Georgia in what authorities allege was an illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Trump’s favor. He had unsuccessfully tried to move charges in the Georgia case last year. It’s unknown whether Meadows will appeal the decision. The Associated Press left phone and email messages for two of Meadows’ attorneys.

    While not a fake elector in Arizona, prosecutors said Meadows worked with other Trump campaign members to submit names of fake electors from Arizona and other states to Congress in a bid to keep Trump in office despite his November 2020 defeat. Meadows has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Arizona and Georgia.

    In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won Arizona by 10,457 votes.

    The decision sends Meadows’ case back down to Maricopa County Superior Court.

    In both Arizona and Georgia, Meadows argued his charges should be moved to federal court because his actions were taken when he was a federal official working as Trump’s chief of staff and that he has immunity under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says federal law trumps state law.

    Arizona prosecutors said Meadows’ electioneering efforts weren’t part of his official duties at the White House.

    Meadows last year tried to get his Georgia charges moved but his request was rejected by a judge whose ruling was later affirmed by an appeals court. Meadows has since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling.

    The Arizona indictment says Meadows confided to a White House staff member in early November 2020 that Trump had lost the election. Prosecutors say Meadows also had arranged meetings and calls with state officials to discuss the fake elector conspiracy.

    Meadows and other defendants are seeking a dismissal of the Arizona case.

    Meadows’ attorneys said nothing their client is alleged to have done in Arizona was criminal. They said the indictment consists of allegations that he received messages from people trying to get ideas in front of Trump — or “seeking to inform Mr. Meadows about the strategy and status of various legal efforts by the president’s campaign.”

    In denying the former chief of staff’s request, Tuchi said Meadows wasn’t indicted for facilitating communications to and from the president or staying updated on what was going on in Trump’s campaign.

    “Instead, the State has indicted Mr. Meadows for allegedly orchestrating and participating in an illegal electioneering scheme,” the judge wrote. “Few, if any, of the State’s factual allegations even resemble the secretarial duties that Mr. Meadows maintains are the subject of the indictment.”

    In all, 18 Republicans were charged in late April in Arizona’s fake electors case. The defendants include 11 Republicans who had submitted a document falsely claiming Trump had won Arizona, another Trump aide and five lawyers connected to the former president.

    In August, Trump’s campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, who worked closely with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors that led to the dismissal of her charges. Republican activist Loraine Pellegrino became the first person to be convicted in the Arizona case when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to probation.

    The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty to the forgery, fraud and conspiracy charges in Arizona.

    Trump wasn’t charged in Arizona, but the indictment refers to him as an unindicted coconspirator.

    The 11 people who were nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claimed Trump had carried the state.

    A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.

    Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin have also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme.

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  • Suspicious packages sent to election officials in at least 6 states

    Suspicious packages sent to election officials in at least 6 states

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    Suspicious packages were sent to election officials in at least six states on Monday, but there were no reports that any of the packages contained hazardous material.

    Powder-containing packages were sent to secretaries of state and state election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma, officials in those states confirmed. The FBI and U.S. Postal Service were investigating. It marked the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple state offices.

    The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states less than two months ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices around the nation, causing disruption in what is already a tense voting season.

    Several of the states reported a white powder substance found in envelopes sent to election officials. In most cases, the material was found to be harmless. Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour. Wyoming officials have not yet said if the material sent there was hazardous.

    The packages forced an evacuation in Iowa. Hazmat crews in several states quickly determined the material was harmless.

    “We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines. “We immediately reported the incident per our protocols.”

    A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was also evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement.

    Topeka Fire Department crews found several pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, though a field test found no hazardous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols said. Several employees in both offices had been exposed to it and had their health monitored, she said.

    In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said in an email to The Associated Press. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which oversees security for the Capitol, secured the envelope. Testing determined the substance was flour, Mohr said.

    State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home for the day pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of state’s office.

    Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November, including the same building in Kansas that received suspicious mail Monday. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections.

    One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting.

    The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone.

    Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase the security of their buildings and boost protections for workers amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged.

    ___

    Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri. Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan. Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

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  • Court reinstates Arkansas ban of electronic signatures on voter registration forms

    Court reinstates Arkansas ban of electronic signatures on voter registration forms

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    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court has reinstated an Arkansas rule prohibiting election officials from accepting voter registration forms signed with an electronic signature.

    The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday afternoon issued an administrative stay of a preliminary injunction that a federal judge issued against the rule adopted earlier this year by the State Board of Election Commissioners. An appeal of the preliminary injunction is still pending before the court.

    The board in April said Arkansas’ constitution only allows certain state agencies, and not elections officials, to accept electronic signatures. Under the rule, voters will have to register by signing their name with a pen.

    The rule was adopted after nonprofit group Get Loud Arkansas helped register voters using electronic signatures. Get Loud said the board’s decision conflicts with a recent attorney general’s opinion that an electronic signature is generally valid under state law. The group filed a lawsuit challenging the board’s decision.

    “This rule creates an obstacle that risks disenfranchising eligible voters and disrupting the fundamental process of our elections,” Get Loud said in a statement following the 8th Circuit order. “The preliminary injunction recognized that this irreparable harm must be avoided.”

    Chris Madison, director of the state Board of Election Commissioners, told county clerks on Monday that any voter registrations completed before the stay was issued Friday were eligible to have electronic signatures.

    Madison asked the clerks to identify any registration applications Saturday or later that used electronic signatures and to make every effort to contact the voter as soon as possible to give them a chance to correct their application.

    Madison in April said the rule was needed to create uniformity across the state. Some county clerks had previously accepted electronic signatures and others had not.

    The Arkansas rule is among a wave of new voting restrictions in Republican-led states in recent years that critics say disenfranchise voters, particularly in low-income and underserved areas.

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  • Jane’s Addiction cancels its tour after onstage concert fracas

    Jane’s Addiction cancels its tour after onstage concert fracas

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    BOSTON (AP) — The alternative rock band Jane’s Addiction has scuttled its latest tour following an onstage scuffle between lead singer Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro. Farrell later apologized for “inexcusable behavior.”

    “The band have made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group. As such, they will be cancelling the remainder of the tour,” the band said in a brief statement Monday.

    Videos captured Farrell lunging at Navarro at a Friday concert in Boston, bumping Navarro with his shoulder before taking a swing at the guitarist with his right arm. Navarro is seen holding his right arm out to keep Farrell away before Farrell is dragged away by others on stage. The show ended shortly after and the band apologized.

    The band is known for edgy, punk-inspired hits “Jane Says,” “Been Caught Stealing” and “Just Because” in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the alternative rock and grunge music movements were growing. It has three top five hits on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart.

    Farrell, in a statement given to Variety and The New York Times, said, “This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show. Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”

    Perry’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, wrote on Instagram the day after the scuffle that her husband’s “”frustration had been mounting, night after night, he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band.”

    She said her husband had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat and “by the end of the song, he wasn’t singing, he was screaming just to be heard.” She said her husband later broke down “and cried and cried.”

    The band’s “Imminent Redemption” tour — with opening act English rock band Love and Rockets — started in early August and was to end on Oct. 16 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

    The North American shows marked the first time since 2010 that the original Jane’s Addiction lineup — Farrell, Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery — played an extended run of shows together.

    Navarro, Perkins and Avery said in a statement posted Monday on Navarro’s Instagram of Farrell: “We hope that he will find the help he needs.”

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