Charles Dvorak pole vaults at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. (Missouri Historical Society)
1904: Chicago Athletic Association’s Charles Dvorak traveled to France for the 1900 Summer Olympics — but failed to win a gold medal. The pole vault competition, as he understood it, was supposed to take place on a Sunday.
Since this would have violated the Sabbath, he was told the event would be rescheduled. According to the University of Michigan, however, the event took place after Dvorak and other American athletes left the competition area. Dvorak was awarded a silver medal in a consolation competition that was held to accommodate the U.S. team.
He returned to Olympic competition in St. Louis four years later, posting an Olympic record 11 feet, 6 inches to take home the gold. Dvorak, according to the Olympic Games, was the first vaulter to use a lighter bamboo pole instead of the heavier ash or hickory pole.
After he took off with more than $1 million, Milwaukee Avenue Bank president Paul Stensland was discovered by the Tribune in Tangier, Morocco, in September 1906. Stensland was brought back to Chicago where he pleaded guilty to taking the money and served time in the penitentiary at Joliet. (Chicago Tribune)
1906: Fugitive Chicago bank president Paul Stensland — who fled the city with more than $1 million — was tracked down in Tangier, Morocco, by the Tribune, which persuaded him to surrender and tell his story. The Tribune’s managing editor, James Keeley, was later presented with the $5,000 reward for the arrest and delivery of Stensland to police. Keeley gave the reward to the Milwaukee Avenue State Bank, from which Stensland took the funds.
Stensland pleaded guilty and was sent to Joliet penitentiary.
Chicago Cubs player Billy Williams doffs his cap to the Wrigley Field fans after receiving a trophy marking his 896th consecutive game, a National League record, on June 29, 1969. (John Austad/Chicago Tribune)
1970: Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams ended a streak of playing in 1,117 consecutive games. The left fielder sat out while the Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2.
Members of the Chicago Teachers Union vote on whether to strike at Dunbar Vocational High School on Sept. 2, 1975. (Roy Hal/Chicago Tribune)
1975: Chicago Teachers Union members voted by a nearly 9-to-1 margin to strike on Sept. 3, 1975, which was supposed to be the first day of the school year. Union President Robert M. Healey said the issues were a complete contract for the 1975-76 school year, smaller class sizes, a cost-of-living pay raise and an improved fringe benefits package.
How it was resolved: The Board of Education agreed on Sept. 17, 1975, to a new contract giving CTU a 7.1% salary increase, smaller class sizes, improved insurance benefits and restoration of 1,525 teaching positions that had been cut.
The agreement for the 1975-76 school year, in which Mayor Richard J. Daley played a behind-the-scenes role as a mediator, cost $79.6 million. Of that, $68.8 million went to employees represented by the CTU and $10.8 million to others.
A flag-waving Mayor Harold Washington joins Chicago Transit Authority Chairman Michael Cardilli and Gov. James Thompson, right, at ceremonies inaugurating the final leg of the CTA’s rapid transit line extension to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Sept. 3, 1984. (John Dziekan/Chicago Tribune)
1984: Chicago Transit Authority trains were extended to O’Hare International Airport. At 90 cents for a one-way trip, the “L” was “a much better deal than a taxi or special shuttle bus,” the Tribune reported.
MUNICH (AP) — The head brewmaster for Weihenstephan, the world’s oldest brewery, has a secret: He really likes alcohol-free beer.
Even though he’s quick to say he obviously enjoys real beer more, Tobias Zollo says he savors alcohol-free beer when he’s working or eating lunch. It has the same taste but fewer calories than a soft drink, he said, thanks to the brewery’s process of evaporating the alcohol.
“You can’t drink beer every day — unfortunately,” he joked last week at the Bavarian state brewery in the German town of Freising, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Munich.
Zollo isn’t alone in his appreciation for the sober beverage. Alcohol-free beer has been gaining popularity in recent years as beer consumption shrinks.
AP correspondent Shelley Adler reports alcohol-free beer is gaining in popularity, even at Oktoberfest.
At Weihenstephan, which was founded as a brewery in 1040 by Benedictine monks, non-alcoholic wheat beer and lager now make up 10% of the volume. The increase over the last few years, since they started making alcohol-free drinks in the 1990s, mirrors the statistics for the rest of Germany’s beer industry.
“The people are unfortunately — I have to say that as a brewer — unfortunately drinking less beer,” Zollo said Friday, the day before Oktoberfest officially started. “If there’s an alternative to have the crisp and fresh taste from a typical Weihenstephan beer, but just as a non-alcoholic version, we want to do that.”
Even at Oktoberfest — arguably the world’s most famous ode to alcohol — alcohol-free beer is on the menu.
All but two of the 18 large tents at the festival offer the drink through the celebration’s 16 days. The sober beverage will cost drinkers the same as an alcoholic beer — between 13.60 and 15.30 euros ($15.12 and $17.01) for a 1-liter mug (33 fluid ounces) — but save them from a hangover.
“For people who don’t like to drink alcohol and want to enjoy the Oktoberfest as well, I think it’s a good option,” Mikael Caselitz, 24, of Munich said Saturday inside one of the tents. “Sometimes people feel like they have more fun with alcohol, which is not a good thing because you can also have fun without alcohol.”
He added: “If you want to come and drink alcohol-free beer, nobody will judge you.”
This year marked the first time an alcohol-free beer garden opened in Munich. “Die Null,” which means “the zero” in German, served non-alcoholic beer, mocktails and other alcohol-free drinks near the city’s main train station this summer but was scheduled to close a few day before Oktoberfest opened.
Walter König, managing director of the Society of Hop Research north of Munich, said researchers have had to breed special hops varieties for alcohol-free beer. If brewers use the typical hops for alcohol-free beer, the distinct aroma gets lost when the alcohol is reduced during the brewing process.
But customers don’t care about that, König said Friday as he prepared for Oktoberfest.
“They only want to know that what they are tasting is as good as traditional beers with alcohol,” he said.
Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline co-starring in “Disclaimer,” a psychological thriller from writer-director Alfonso Cuarón, and Jelly Roll releasing “Beautifully Broken,” a follow-up to his breakout album “Whitsitt Chapel,” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Sean Wang’s semi-autobiographical feature debut “Dìdi,” Hulu’s first Spanish-language series “La Máquina” and Charli XCX’s deluxe, remixed, double-album version of her culture-shifting album “Brat.”
NEW MOVIES TO STREAM OCT. 7-13
— “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was No. 1 at the box office as recently as two weeks ago, but beginning Tuesday, Tim Burton’s popular sequel will be available, for a price. You can buy it digitally for $25 on Prime Video, Apple TV and other video-on-demand platforms. In it, the Deetz family returns to Winter River after a family tragedy. There, Lydia (Winona Ryder), still haunted by Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), is forced into another afterlife odyssey when her teenage daughter (Jenna Ortega) discovers a portal. In her review, AP’s Jocelyn Noveck called it “a joyously rendered sequel that sometimes makes sense, and sometimes doesn’t, but just keeps rollicking.”
— Sue Kim’s documentary “The Last of the Sea Women,” streaming Friday, Oct. 11 on Apple TV+, captures the lives and livelihood of the Haenyeo, the community of South Korean fisherwoman who for generations have free dived for seafood off the coast of Korea’s Jeju Island. Threats abound for the Haenyeo, who are mostly in their 60s and 70s. Thy ply their trade in a warming ocean contaminated by sea garbage and the Fukushima nuclear accident.
— One of the indie highlights of the summer, Sean Wang’s “Dìdi,” is now streaming on Peacock. Wang’s semi-autobiographical feature debut, a coming of age story set in the Bay Area in 2008, is about a 13-year-old Taiwanese-American boy (Izaac Wang) struggling with where he fits in. That includes with his family (Joan Chen plays his mother) and fellow skater kids whom he begins making videos with. The film, funny and tender, is a breakthrough for the emerging filmmaker Wang, whose short “Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó, ” was Oscar nominated earlier this year.
— Brat summer came and went, but the hedonistic ideologies behind Charli XCX’s feel-good album endure. On Friday, Oct. 11, she will release “Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat,” a deluxe, remixed, double-album version of her culture-shifting album “Brat,” this time featuring A-listers like Billie Eilish, Lorde, her tour mate Troye Sivan, her forever-hero Robyn, and more. Just don’t confuse this one with her other Brat re-release, “Brat and It’s the Same but There’s Three More Songs So It’s Not.”
— He’s the not-so-new name on everyone’s lips: Jelly Roll will release a follow-up to his breakout album, 2023’s “Whitsitt Chapel” on Friday, Oct. 11. Little is known about the 22-track “Beautifully Broken” beyond its previously released tracks “I Am Not Okay,” “Get By,” “Liar” and “Winning Streak” — the latter of which he debuted during the premiere of Saturday Night Live’s 50th season, joined by a choir. That one was inspired by an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, and the album will no doubt center on the kind of stories he’s become known for: Soulful country-rock on adversity, addiction, pain, suffering, and ultimately, chasing safety.
— A decade removed from “Shower,” the viral, bubblegum pop song that launched her career, and Mexican American singer Becky G has found her in lane in Spanish-language, hybrid-genre releases, crossing language barriers and cultural borders. “Encuentros,” out Friday, Oct. 10, is her latest — a follow-up to 2023’s “Esquinas” — and continuation of her work in regional Mexicana styles made all her own, from the single “Mercedes,” which features corrido star Oscar Maydon’s deep tenor, and beyond.
— On Friday, Oct. 11, Duran Duran will release “Danse Macabre – De Luxe,” a deluxe reissue of their celebrated 2023 LP of the same name – a mix of covers and gothic originals. Surprises abound, even for the most dedicated Duran Duran fan: Like in their cover of ELO’s “Evil Woman,” or on the song “New Moon (Dark Phase),” a reimagination of “New Moon On a Monday,” featuring former member Andy Taylor.
— Friends and frequent collaborators Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal team up on Hulu’s first Spanish-language series called “La Máquina.” Bernal plays an aging boxer named Esteban Osuna. His longtime manager (Luna) secures him one last fight to go out a champ but there are major obstacles. The boxer has taken a lot of hits to the head over the years and his mind seems to be slipping and a criminal organization wants him to throw the fight or else. Eiza González also stars as Osuna’s ex-wife, a reporter investigating fixed boxing matches in Mexico. “La Máquina” debuts Wednesday.
— The first spinoff of the 2023 Prime Video spy series “Citadel,” which starred Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden, debuts Thursday on the streamer. “Citadel: Diana” stars Matilda De Angelis takes place in Italy. An India-based version called “Citadel: Honey Bunny” stars Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and premieres in November.
— Netflix’s favorite sun-drenched, treasure-hunting teens of North Carolina, known as the Pogues, are back for more adventures in “Outer Banks.” Season four, premiering Thursday, is divided into two parts. The show stars Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline.
— Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline co-star in “Disclaimer,” a psychological thriller, on Apple TV+ from writer, director Alfonso Cuarón that premiered at last month’s Venice Film Festival. Blanchett plays a respected documentarian who recognizes she’s the inspiration for a character in a new novel that threatens to expose her secrets. The limited-series also features Kodi Smit McPhee, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jung Ho-yeon and Lesley Manville and premieres Friday, Oct. 11.
— Atlus/Sega’s absorbing Persona series has grown over the years from a cult hit to a genuine blockbuster, but it’s been seven years since the last chapter. Meanwhile, several of its creators have branched off to form their own Studio Zero, and they’re about to launch their debut title, Metaphor: ReFantazio. Instead of Persona’s Tokyo-set teen drama, Metaphor presents a power struggle in a pseudo-medieval kingdom. The combat, however, evokes Persona’s zippy blend of turn-based and real-time action, and when you aren’t fighting you’ll need to spend time building relationships with the locals. If you’ve been craving a chance to explore a new world for dozens of hours, this one opens up Friday, Oct. 11, on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S and PC.
Wearing an oversized bucket hat, silver chains and a black Miu Miu shirt, 82-year-old Park Jeom-sun gesticulates, her voice rising and falling with staccato lines about growing chili peppers, cucumbers and eggplants.
Park, nicknamed Suni, was flanked by seven longtime friends who repeated her moves and her lines. Together, they’re Suni and the Seven Princesses, South Korea ‘s latest octogenarian sensation. With an average age of 85, they’re probably the oldest rap group in the country.
Born at a time when women were often marginalized in education, Park and her friends were among a group of older adults learning how to read and write the Korean alphabet, hangeul, at a community center in their farming village in South Korea’s rural southeast.
Kang Hye-eun makes corrections to some Korean words written by her grandmother Park Jeom-sun, 82, leader of Sunni and the Seven Princesses, at a senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
They were having so much fun that they started dabbling with poetry. They began writing and performing rap in summer last year.
Suni and the Seven Princesses enjoy nationwide fame, appearing in commercials and going viral on social media. South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo sent them a congratulatory message last month on their first anniversary, praising their passion for learning.
At a road near their community center in Chilgok on Thursday, Park and her friends were rehearsing for a performance Friday evening in the capital, Seoul, where they were invited to open an event celebrating hangeul heritage.
“Picking chili peppers at the pepper field, picking cucumbers at the cucumber field, picking eggplants at the eggplant field, picking zucchini at the zucchini field!” the group rapped along with Park. “We’re back home now and it feels so good!”
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses pose for a photo in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Leader Park Jeom-sun, 82-year-old, center, and other members of Suni and the Seven Princesses eat lunch before their training at senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses rest after their lunch at senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses exercise at senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Park said the group usually practices two or three times a week, more if they’re preparing for a show.
On Friday, hundreds of people applauded and cheered, and then the group lined up for a photo with South Korean Culture Minister Yu In Chon.
Park talked about the joy of learning to read, saying she can now “go to the bank, ride the bus and go anywhere” she wants without someone helping her.
“During and after the Korean War, I couldn’t study because of the social atmosphere, but I started learning hangeul in 2016,” Park said, referring to the devastating war between North and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. “Being introduced to rap while learning hangeul has made me feel better, and I thought it would help me stay healthy and avoid dementia.”
Kang Hye-eun, Park’s 29-year-old granddaughter and a local healthcare worker who helps older adults, said she was proud to see her grandmother on television and in viral videos.
“It’s amazing that she got to know hangeul like this and has started to rap,” she said.
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses rap inside a senior community center in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
82-year-old Park Jeom-sun walks with her granddaughter Kang Hye-eun outside their old house in Chilgok, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Park Jeom-sun, 82, leader of Suni and the Seven Princesses, prepares for the opening of an event celebrating the heritage of the Korean alphabet, called “Hangeul,” at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses rehearse for the opening event celebrating the heritage of the Korean alphabet, called “Hangeul,” at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A member of the audience uses a smartphone to film members of Suni and the Seven Princesses performing during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, “Hangeul Week” at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses perform during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, “Hangeul Week” at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses stand for a photograph with South Korea’s Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon, after performing at the “Hangeul Week” at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Young rappers bow in respect to members of Suni and the Seven Princesses after their performance during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, “Hangeul Week” at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses acknowledge applause by the crowd during the opening event celebrating the heritage of the Korean alphabet, called “Hangeul,” in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses, stand after their performance during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, “Hangeul Week” at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Park Jeom-sun, 82, leader of Suni and the Seven Princesses, adjusts her hat in a mirror during the opening ceremony of the Korean alphabet, “Hangeul Week” at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Members of Suni and the Seven Princesses pose for a photo at Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
It was on Interstate 74, driving past the endless cornfields of rural Illinois, when Lesley Dzik realized she’d been raising her voice at her husband, Matt. She stopped, and suggested they drop the topic. He agreed, and quiet settled into the cabin of the pickup truck.
“I love you,” they told each other, and the hands that had been gesturing to articulate their opposing views collapsed into each other on the center console.
The Dziks have navigated issues common to so many marriages, from parenting to money.
But politics? That’s complicated.
Husband and wife, Lesley, left, and Matt Dzik, argue about abortion as they drive through Champaign County, Ill., Sept. 21, 2024. Sometimes for the Dziks knowing when to end the conversation is more important than winning it. “He’s not good at stopping but I’m getting better at walking away,” said Lesley. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Lesley, 56, is a Republican. Matt, 68, is a Democrat. She is anti-abortion. Matt believes women should have the choice. She refused to be vaccinated during the pandemic. He got the shots.
When they started dating, all it took was the sight of Democratic lawn signs outside his house ahead of the 2020 election to make her question if their relationship could work.
But they both wanted it to work. Lesley read books by other politically divided couples for inspiration and eventually came across Braver Angels, a nonprofit started by a therapist after former President Donald Trump’s 2016 election to help people bridge the political divide. They found a community there that is both red and blue.
“It gave me enough hope,” said Lesley. “I felt safe, I’m not alone.”
Matt Dzik, right, embraces his wife, Lesley, as he greets her after waking up in Champaign, Ill., Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Lesley Dzik looks out her kitchen window, in Champaign, Ill., Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Lesley Dzik, left, helps her husband, Matt, place a sheet of plywood at a renovation job he’s doing for a fellow church member in Urbana, Ill., Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
They seem, in so many ways, the ideal couple. Matt, who is retired, routinely brings flowers home for her. She helps him with handy-man jobs he does for people who can’t afford professionals. He drives her to the library at the University of Illinois where she works. They volunteer together at a local theater so they can see shows for free.
Lesley is deeply Christian. Matt, an Army veteran, was raised Catholic, but now sees himself as more spiritual than religious.
A sign encouraging voting sits behind Lesley Dzik, left, and her husband, Matt, in the lobby of The Station Theatre as they volunteer as ushers during a performance of “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” in Urbana, Ill., Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Lesley, left, and Matt Dzik, stand in their backyard in Champaign, Ill., Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Lesley, left, and Matt Dzik, pose for a portrait in Urbana, Ill., Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
I get worried with Matt because I believe the Bible is truth and Matt is iffy about that, I wonder what I got myself into.”
But they attend church regularly and when they pray, they hold each other.
Acts of kindness bring them together, whether helping a man who uses a wheelchair get to church or caring for a nonverbal boy so his parents can go out and his mother can work. But their political differences seem to worsen before presidential elections.
At times, things get so heated, they don’t speak for days.
A suggestion from their therapist that has helped them navigate their insecurities hangs on the refrigerator door. “Can I give you a hug?” it reads. “If no, then say, ‘I love you. You don’t suck. I’ll come back in ten minutes.’”
At Braver Angel workshops they’ve learned some techniques to keep political talk civil. Speak to understand, one rule says, don’t speak to win.
Their need for one another is too great to avoid the discomforts of their many disagreements.
“We share the same heart,” said Lesley.
Attendees from across the political spectrum listen to a Braver Angels lecture on depolarization at the Rogers Free Library in Bristol, R.I., Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)vid Goldman)
A chart and clothespins with their names hangs on the refrigerator of Lesley and Matt Dzik as a communication tool to help express their feelings, in Champaign, Ill., Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Lesley Dzik pulls up an online workshop by Braver Angels, a non-profit that helps people bridge the political divide, to show her husband, Matt, at their home in Champaign, Ill., Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Lesley, right, and Matt Dzik, hold hands as they pray after reading the Bible, Sept. 22, 2024, at their home in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Matt, left, and Lesley Dzik transport Richard Wellbank to services at The Vineyard Church in Urbana, Ill., Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
A message decorates the wall behind Lesley, left, and Matt Dzik, as they read the Bible at their home in Champaign, Ill., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Lesley, left, and Matt Dzik, watch a seminary studies presentation by Lesley’s son on a laptop in their home in Champaign, Ill., Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
I love looking in her eyes and seeing her smile, why would I want to lose that?
– Matt Dzik
They’ve found things they can agree on, like putting up a flagpole in their front yard and flying the American flag.
“It’s much more inspiring than any yard sign will ever be for me,” she said. “It’s more enduring.”
Matt Dzik, right, drops his wife, Lesley, off at work at the engineering library at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Ill., Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Dotted Line with Center Square
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This story has been amended to clarify that the mother of a non-verbal boy is not a single mother.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A flotilla of hot air balloons ascended into a clear desert sky on Saturday to kick off a colorful mass ascension at the 52nd annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
The nine-day gathering draws hundreds of thousands of spectators and pilots to New Mexico each fall for the rare opportunity to be within arm’s reach as the giant balloons are unpacked and inflated.
Balloons took flight to screams of delight after a brief weather delay and were spirited away by a gentle breeze. Propane burners roared and hundreds of balloons — from traditional globes to cartoonish figures — rose to speckle the sky with color.
“The mass ascension is just magical, unlike anything in the world really that I’ve seen,” said Paul Kluzak, of Phoenix. He has come twice before and arrived this year wearing a foot-tall hat resembling a hot-air balloon, with a camera slung around his neck. “Seeing them all at once is just really, really cool.”
Companion Heather Kluzak said that words can hardly express the thrill of the event.
“We just like to be a part of it,” she said. “It’s fun to be out on the field” where the balloons inflate and depart.
This year’s fiesta includes 106 balloons in special shapes, 16 of which will be making their fiesta debut. That includes Mazu, modeled after the sea goddess of the same name who is deeply rooted in Taiwanese culture and traditions.
Ordinarily, cool morning temperatures at dawn can help pilots stay in the air longer, or carry more weight. But the morning air was unusually warm on opening day, with many spectators stripping down to T-shirts.
Morning lows and afternoon highs are expected to be above average for days in a city that on Monday recorded its hottest temperature this late in the year, at 93 degrees Fahrenheit (33.8 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.
Globally, things have been trending hotter too. It’s likely this year will end up as the warmest humanity has measured, the European climate service Copernicus reported in early September.
Typically, when the mornings are cool, less fuel is needed to get the balloons to rise. Fiesta veterans explain it is all about generating lift by heating the air inside the envelope to temperatures greater than what is on the outside.
Still, ballooning happens year-round in many places, including in the simmering Phoenix area, which has seen its share of record-breaking temperatures over recent months.
Troy Bradley, an accomplished balloon pilot who has been flying for decades, shrugged off the warmer weather in Albuquerque.
“These are really non-issues from a spectator’s standpoint,” he said. “I don’t see any difference other than they won’t be freezing in the pre-dawn hours.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — If you have stained or chipped teeth, you might be considering veneers, customized teeth coverings that can restore a photogenic smile without more extensive dental work.
But dentists warn that these pricey cosmetic enhancements are at the center of a worrisome online trend: unlicensed practitioners without proper training or supervision offering low-cost veneers.
These self-described “veneer techs” often promote themselves on Instagram and TikTok, promising a full set of veneers for less than half of what dentists typically charge. Some also market their own training courses and certifications for people looking to get into the business.
It’s misleading, health professionals warn — and illegal. All states require dental work, including veneers, to be performed under the supervision of a licensed dentist.
On Thursday, Georgia law enforcement officials arrested Brandon Diller, who promoted himself to 158,000 Instagram followers as “Atlanta’s top veneer specialist and trainer.” Diller practiced dentistry without a license and sold “training and certificates, which were worthless” and “provided no legitimate or legal credentials,” according to an arrest warrant from Fulton County’s District Attorney’s office.
Here’s what to know about veneers and how to avoid bogus providers and services:
What are dental veneers?
Veneers are thin, custom-made dental coverings used to hide minor imperfections or to fill in gaps between teeth. Unlike crowns or more invasive dental implants, veneers are almost always considered cosmetic dentistry and generally aren’t covered by insurance.
This article is part of AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well.
Dentists usually charge between $1,000 and $2,000 per tooth for veneers, with higher prices for those made from porcelain compared with lower-grade materials.
Placing veneers involves stripping some of the natural enamel from the tooth and bonding the new covering into place. Because of that process, getting veneers is considered an irreversible procedure, according to the American Dental Association. They are not permanent, and can be expected to last between 5 to 15 years before they degrade and need to be replaced.
In recent months the ADA has been stepping up warnings about the risks of veneer procedures done by unlicensed individuals.
“Quality control is lost without the involvement of a licensed dentist,” said Dr. Ada Cooper, a New York-based dentist and ADA spokesperson. “We undergo years of education and training and need to be licensed by various regulatory bodies before we can practice.”
What are the risks of getting veneers from someone who isn’t licensed?
Improper veneer procedures can cause a range of health problems, including severe pain, nerve damage and tooth loss.
Patients need to be anesthetized before the enamel is removed from their teeth.
“It could be incredibly painful if they’re not anesthetized correctly,” said Dr. Zach Truman, who runs an orthodontics practice in Las Vegas. “You can also go too deep into the tooth and penetrate what’s called the pulp chamber, which contains blood vessels and nerves.”
One of the biggest problems Truman sees with unregulated veneer work is that customers aren’t getting screened for existing dental problems, such as gum disease and cavities.
“If you put a veneer on a tooth that has an active cavity, you’re just going to seal it in there and eventually it’s going to progress to tooth loss,” Truman said.
Dental veneers aren’t the only option for improving the appearance of teeth. Over-the-counter whitening kits can help with minor stains and discoloration. And dentists can sometimes use composite materials to reshape chipped or uneven teeth. But Truman says those fillings are prone to crack and won’t last as long as veneers.
How can I spot bogus veneer providers online?
One clue: Many individuals performing unlicensed dental work promote themselves on social media as “veneer technicians.”
Instead of working out of a dental office they often perform treatments at beauty salons, hotel rooms or private homes. Some advertise multi-city tours and encourage clients to message them to book an appointment in advance.
Much of the appeal of the services is in their pricing, with some offering a full set of veneers for a flat fee of $4,000 or $5,000. That’s less than half of what patients can generally expect to pay at a dental office.
Performing dental work without an appropriate license is illegal, the ADA notes.
Dentists and hygienists are licensed by state governments, who also define the work dental assistants can perform. But in all cases, veneers and other dental procedures must be supervised by a licensed dentist.
Earlier this year, Illinois law enforcement officials arrested a woman running a business called the Veneer Experts after she posted videos of herself fitting braces, veneers and other dental products without a license. She was previously arrested in Nevada on similar allegations of practicing dentistry without a license.
What are the best ways to find legitimate dental providers?
The ADA maintains a website detailing the training and licensing requirements for dentists across the U.S. Most states also maintain websites where you can lookup and verify licensure information and find any past disciplinary actions for dentists and other health professionals.
“It’s really critical to understand that dentistry is a regulated health care profession that requires formal educations and licensure,” Cooper said.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — American and British climbers have been rescued after being stranded for three days on a mountain in India’s Himalayan north.
Fay Jane Manners from the United Kingdom and Michelle Theresa Dvorak from the United States were ascending a rocky section of the Chaukhamba-3 peak in India’s Uttarakhand state when they got stranded there, said Sandeep Tiwari, a senior administrative officer of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. The climbers were rescued on Sunday, he said.
The climbers were first reported stranded on Thursday when a rockfall severed their rope, sending their bags — along with crucial supplies like food, tent and climbing gear — into a gorge. The climbers also lost most of their communication equipment, but managed to send out an emergency message the same day.
“We were pulling up my bag and she (Dvorak) had her bag on her. And the rockfall came, cut the rope with the other bag, and it just went down the entire mountain,” Manners told local reporters on Sunday.
The rescue operation took 80 hours to complete and involved the Indian air force and the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority.
Rajkumar Negi, a spokesperson for India’s disaster management agency, said that two Indian Air Force helicopters dispatched on Friday to help with the search were unable to locate the climbers. But on Saturday, a French mountaineering team, which was also attempting to climb the Chaukhamba-3 peak, located the stranded climbers and relayed their coordinates to the rescue authorities.
The Indian air force said in a statement on social platform X that it airlifted the climbers on Sunday “from 17,400 feet, showcasing remarkable coordination in extreme conditions.”
Chaukhamba-3 is a mountain peak in the Garhwal Himalaya in northern India.
Rich and creamy pasta ai quattro formaggi — or pasta with four cheeses — is the Italian equivalent of American mac and cheese. The cheeses can vary, though funky Gorgonzola and nutty Parmesan are typical.
In this recipe from “ Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year,” we use that classic combination, along with creamy mascarpone and fontina, an Italian semi-soft cow’s milk cheese that melts well. A short pasta with contours or crevices for catching the creamy sauce works well — we especially like campanelle, with its frilly edges and hollow centers.
We use only 3 quarts of water to boil the pasta so the liquid is extra starchy, then combine some of the cooking water with whole milk, along with the fontina, mascarpone and Gorgonzola. Once mostly melted, half of the Parmesan goes into the pot, along with a little freshly grated nutmeg for a hint of nuttiness.
Al dente pasta is simmered in the sauce until it clings to the noodles, then transferred to a baking dish and topped with more Parmesan. To finish, a few minutes under the broiler lightly crisps and browns the surface. Cool and firm for 10 minutes before serving to prevent the hot cheese from spilling out when you serve the pasta.
¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, basil or chives
Directions:
Heat the broiler with a rack positioned about 6 inches from the element. Coat a broiler-safe 9-by-13-inch baking dish with the butter. In a large pot, bring 3 quarts water to a boil. Add the pasta and 2 teaspoons salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain; set the pasta aside.
In the same pot over medium, bring the reserved cooking water and the milk to a simmer. Add the fontina, mascarpone and Gorgonzola; whisk until mostly melted, about 1 minute. Stir in half of the Parmesan, the nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper; it’s fine if the mixture is not perfectly smooth. Add the pasta and parsley; cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to cling to the pasta, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow the mixture to thicken slightly. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer the pasta to the prepared baking dish in an even layer. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Broil until the top is browned in spots, 5 to 6 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For more recipes, go to Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street at 177milk
Growing up in Southern Thailand, Nok Suntaranon spent most days after school helping her mother sell homemade curry pastes in the local market.
Dealing with customers. Pushing the heavy cart with her two brothers. Staining her fingers yellow as she peeled turmeric root by the kilo, enough for the 110 pounds of curry paste her mother sold every day.
Her mother needed the help. Suntaranon’s grandfather, who was helping to support the family, and her aunt were killed in a motorbike accident when she was just 4. Her mother was forced to become breadwinner overnight.
“We grew up poor, but when it comes to food, we never skimped,” Suntaranon said. “We always had the best food on our table.”
That her hardworking mother informed her cooking is apparent in the Philadelphia restaurant she named after her, Kalaya, and in her new book, “ Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen.”
But Suntaranon’s mother didn’t teach her how to cook. Rather, the children would experiment with ingredients they bought at the market, earning money by selling banana leaves cut from the plantation in front of the family house.
“We learned how to light the fire on our own in the clay stove,” said Suntaranon, winner of a James Beard Award for best chef, Mid-Atlantic, in 2023. “We just liked to play cooking.”
Not until decades later did Suntaranon go to culinary school, after she had worked for 20 years as a flight attendant and met the husband who brought her to Philadelphia.
The more she learned about cooking, the more curious she became about her own cuisine, a study in contrasts suffused with the history of the spice trade. In her home region of Trang, fiery curries, springy noodles and soothing soups all can come laced with the warming flavors of cinnamon and star anise. Even jasmine rice is spiced with white pepper.
She recreated lost recipes from her grandmother and great-grandmother from memory, experimenting until the flavors reached the right balance between spicy and sweet, fragrant and bold. And of course, she documented all the dishes her mother used to make for her.
Such as her chicken soup. When Suntaranon was sick as a young girl, her mother made her an herbaceous soup that’s heavy on aromatics, vibrant yellow from earthy turmeric and freshened with a handful of cilantro. The homemade broth, which takes only as long as the chicken to cook, comes brightly spiced with lime and a full tablespoon of black and white peppers.
The turmeric, she said, boosts your immune system, and smashing the aromatics is great for releasing tension —“another way to heal your heart and restore your soul.”
Gai Tom Kamin, “My Mother’s Turmeric Chicken Soup for a Cold”
2 scallions, ends trimmed, smashed with a pestle or the smooth end of a meat mallet
1⁄2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1⁄2 tablespoon ground white pepper
11⁄2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
2 chicken legs
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
FOR SERVING
Glass noodles (cooked according to the package directions) or Jasmine rice
Fresh cilantro leaves
Fried shallots, homemade or store-bought
Thinly sliced Thai chilies or red long hot chilies
Thinly sliced scallions
Lime wedges, for squeezing
Directions
In a large pot, combine 12 cups water, the cilantro, shallot, garlic, lemongrass, scallions, black pepper, white pepper, turmeric, salt and chicken. Bring to a boil over high, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the fish sauce and sugar. You can remove the chicken and pull it off the bone into shreds, stirring it back into the broth, or serve it bone in.
Serve hot on its own or with glass noodles or rice, topped with cilantro, fried shallots, chiles, scallions and lime wedges.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Albert Stumm writes about food, travel and wellness. Find his work at https://www.albertstumm.com
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A hot-air balloon bumped into a power line in northeast Albuquerque on Monday, leaving nearly 13,000 customers of a major electric utility without power for nearly an hour, authorities said.
Monday marked the third day of the 52nd annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
The state’s largest electricity provider, Public Service Company of New Mexico, said the incident occurred at 8:35 a.m. and affected 12,730 customers.
Fiesta spokesman Tom Garrity said the pilot was the only person aboard and landed the balloon safely and wasn’t hurt. The man’s name wasn’t released and there was no immediate word on what caused the incident.
The balloon fiesta is one of the most photographed events in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators each fall to New Mexico to see more than 100 balloons in bright colors and special shapes soaring aloft.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The cost of buying a Mega Millions jackpot dream will soon more than double, but lottery officials said they’re confident players won’t mind paying more after changes that will lead to larger prizes and more frequent winners.
Lottery officials announced Monday that it will cost $5 to play Mega Millions, beginning in April, up from the current $2 per ticket. The price increase will be one of many changes to Mega Millions that officials said will result in improved jackpot odds, more frequent giant prizes and even larger payouts.
“Spending 5 bucks to become a millionaire or billionaire, that’s pretty good,” said Joshua Johnston, director of the Washington Lottery and lead director of the group that oversees Mega Millions.
Mega Millions and its lottery compatriot Powerball are sold in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is sold in Puerto Rico.
Powerball officials said they have no plans to change that game’s odds or the $2 price for most tickets.
Mega Millions’ hope is that by increasing ticket revenue and rejiggering the odds — now set at 1 in 302.6 million — to something less stratospheric, more people will win jackpots even as prizes grow extraordinarily high, which attracts more players. The goal is to increase revenue and provide more money to state lotteries, which in turn spend it on a variety of government services.
Mega Millions will introduce changes at a time when fewer people are buying tickets and jackpots need to reach ever-higher figures before sporadic players notice and opt to buy a ticket or two. Whereas a $500 million jackpot once prompted lines out convenience store doors, top prizes of $1 billion now often draw more of a ho-hum response.
Those much-hyped jackpot numbers also could take a hit as interest rates fall. That’s because on billboards or other advertisements, state lotteries emphasize the annuity payout for jackpots, distributed over decades from an investment fund. As interest rates have been high, the annuity jackpots have more than doubled the cash prizes that winners nearly always choose.
With an expectation that interest rates will drop, those annuity jackpot figures will decline, so the advertised jackpot won’t seem quite so massive.
Johnston said expected declines in interest rates were not a factor in the upcoming changes.
The biggest motivation was to differentiate Mega Millions from Powerball and attract customers who might now pass on both games, Johnston said.
More than doubling the ticket price is a big move, but Johnston said research shows people feel comfortable spending at least $5 when they buy scratch tickets or chances at the draw games, like Mega Millions. It is the second price increase since the game was created in 2002.
“You pay 5 bucks for your Starbucks,” Johnston noted.
Lottery officials will announce more specifics about the changes in the coming months, he said.
MERTARVIK, Alaska (AP) — Growing up along the banks of the Ninglick River in western Alaska, Ashley Tom would look out of her window after strong storms from the Bering Sea hit her village and notice something unsettling: the riverbank was creeping ever closer.
It was in that home, in the village of Newtok, where Tom’s great-grandmother had taught her to sew and crochet on the sofa, skills she used at school when students crafted headdresses, mittens and baby booties using seal or otter fur. It’s also where her grandmother taught her the intricate art of grass basket weaving and how to speak the Yupik language.
An abandoned home is locked up in Newtok, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Permafrost melts on the coast in Newtok, Alaska on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Today, erosion and melting permafrost have just about destroyed Newtok, eating about 70 feet (21.34 meters) of land every year. All that’s left are some dilapidated and largely abandoned gray homes scraped bare of paint by salt darting in on the winds of storms.
“Living with my great-grandmother was all I could remember from Newtok, and it was one of the first houses to be demolished,” said Tom.
Ashley Tom tends to her plants at her home in Mertarvik, Alaska, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
In the next few weeks, the last 71 residents will load their possessions onto boats to move to Mertarvik, rejoining 230 residents who began moving away in 2019. They will become one of the first Alaska Native villages to complete a large-scale relocation because of climate change.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series on how tribes and Indigenous communities are coping with and combating climate change.
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Newtok village leaders began searching for a new townsite more than two decades ago, ultimately swapping land with the federal government for a place 9 miles (14.48 kilometers) away on the stable volcanic underpinnings of Nelson Island in the Bering Strait.
But the move has been slow, leaving Newtok a split village. Even after most residents shifted to Mertarvik, the grocery store and school remained in Newtok, leaving some teachers and students separated from their families for the school year.
Power poles lean in the village of Newtok, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A resident drives along a flooded boardwalk on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Newtok, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A young man drives an ATV on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Homes of people who relocated from Newtok, Alaska are visible in Mertarvik, Alaska on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Calvin Tom, the tribal administrator and Ashley’s uncle, called Newtok “not a place to live anymore.” Erosion has tilted power poles precariously, and a single good storm this fall will knock out power for good, he said.
For now, the rush is on to get 18 temporary homes that arrived in Mertarvik on a barge set up before winter sets in.
Calvin Tom, the tribal administrator, stands along the eroded coastline in Newtok, Alaska on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
It’s the same story across the Arctic, with permafrost degradation damaging roads, railroad tracks, pipes and buildings for 4 million people across the top of the world, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Arctic Institute. In the Russian Arctic, Indigenous people are being moved to cities instead of having their eroding villages relocated and across Scandinavia, reindeer herders are finding the land constantly shifting and new bodies of water appearing, the institute said.
About 85% of Alaska’s land area lies atop permafrost, so named because it’s supposed to be permanently frozen ground. It holds a lot of water, and when it thaws or when warmer coastal water hits it, its melting causes further erosion. Another issue with warming: less sea ice to act as natural barriers that protect coastal communities from the dangerous waves of ocean storms.
Calvin Tom, left, the tribal administrator, lifts his son Brady Tom into his boat in Mertarvik, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
The Yupik have a word for the catastrophic threats of erosion, flooding and thawing permafrost: “usteq,” which means “surface caves in.” The changes are usually slow — until all of a sudden they aren’t, as when a riverbank sloughs off or a huge hole opens up, said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
There are 144 Alaska Native communities that face some degree of infrastructure damage from erosion, flooding or permafrost melt, according to a report in January from the the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Six of them — Kivalina, Koyukuk, Newtok, Shaktoolik, Shishmaref and Unalakleet — were deemed imminently threatened in a Government Accountability Office report more than two decades ago.
Communities have three options based on the severity of their situations: Securing protection to stay where they are; staging a managed retreat, moving back from erosion threats; or a complete relocation.
Water and patches of green are visible near Mertarvik, Alaska Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Moving is hard, starting with finding a place to go. Communities typically need to swap with the federal government, which owns about 60% of Alaska’s land. But Congress has to approve swaps, and that’s only after negotiations that can drag on: Newtok, for example, began pursuing the Nelson Island land in 1996 and didn’t wrap up until late 2003.
“That’s way too long,” said Jackie Qatalina Schaeffer, the director of climate initiatives at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
“If we look back a decade at what’s happened as far as climate change in Alaska, we’re out of time,” she said. “We need to find a better way to help communities secure land for relocation.”
Kivalina last year completed a master plan for relocation and is negotiating with an Alaska Native regional corporation for the land, a process that could take 3 to 5 years, Schaeffer said.
A girl plays with a dog on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Children play along the tundra on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Another big hurdle is cost. Newtok has spent decades and about $160 million in today’s dollars on its move. Estimates to relocate Kivalina vary from $100 million to $400 million and rising, and there’s currently no federal funding for relocation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has disaster funding and programs, Schaeffer said, but that comes only after a disaster declaration.
In 2018, a resource for Alaska communities identified 60 federal funding sources for relocation, but according to the Unmet Needs report, only a few have been successfully used to address environmental threats. But an infusion of funding into these existing programs by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act could provide benefits to threatened Alaska communities, the report said.
About $4.3 billion in 2020 dollars will be needed to mitigate infrastructure damage over the next 50 years, the health consortium report says. It called for Congress to close an $80 million annual gap by providing a single committed source to assist communities.
Bosco and Jennifer Carl say grace with their children before a meal at their home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Marie Carl, 75, sits at the kitchen table at her home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
“Alaska Native economic, social, and cultural ways of being, which have served so well for millennia, are now under extreme threat due to accelerated environmental change,” the report said. “In jeopardy are not just buildings, but the sustainability of entire communities and cultures.”
After five years of separation and split lives, the residents of Newtok and Mertarvik will be one again. The school in Newtok closed and classes started in August for the first time in a temporary location in Mertarvik. A new school building should be ready in 2026. The Newtok grocery recently moved to Mertarvik, and there’s plans for a second grocery and a church, Calvin Tom said.
The new village site has huge benefits, including better health, Tom said. For now, most of the people of Mertarvik are still using a “honey bucket” system rather than toilets. But that method of manually dumping plastic buckets of waste should be replaced by piped water and sewer within the next few years. The new homes in Mertarvik are also free of black mold that crept into some Newtok homes on moisture brought by the remnants of Typhoon Merbok two years ago.
Girlie Carl, 4, plays with her grandmother Marie Carl, 75, on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A young girl prepares to participate in an Indigenous drum and dance on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Marie Carl, 75, performs during an Indigenous drum and dance in Mertarvik, Alaska on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Tom said there’s talk of someday renaming the relocated town Newtok. Whatever the name, the relocation offers assurance that culture and traditions from the old place will continue. An Indigenous drum and dance group is practicing at the temporary school, and subsistence hunting opportunities — moose, musk ox, black bear, brown bear — abound.
A pod of belugas that comes by every fall should arrive soon, and that hunt will help residents fill their freezers for the harsh winter ahead.
Jennifer sits with her daughter Girlie, 4, at their home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Ashley Tom is excited by the arrival of the last Newtok residents in Mertarvik. Although their home will be different than what they’ve known for most of their lives, she’s confident they will come to appreciate it as she has.
“I really love this this new area, and I just feel whole here,” she said.
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Thiessen reported from Anchorage.
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This story was first published on Sep. 26, 2024. It was updated on Sep. 28, 2024 to correct the number of villages facing infrastructure damage from erosion, 144 not 114. It also corrects the name of the organization that authored the Unmet Needs report, and where Jackie Qatalina Schaeffer works as the director of climate initiatives. It is the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, not the Alaska Native Travel Health Consortium.
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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental 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.
Home Depot was about to launch something big — really big — when the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020: a 12-foot skeleton.
“There were a lot of internal discussions. It was like, is there going to be Halloween this year?” said Lance Allen, senior merchant of decorative holiday at Home Depot. “Are customers going to think this is in poor taste? Should we go forward with it?’”
Home Depot did. And the towering skeleton arrived at the perfect time.
“Nobody could possibly need a 12-foot skeleton, but everybody wanted a 12-foot skeleton,” Allen said.
The retailer’s gamble upped the game for decorations. A population stuck at home and wanting some semblance of community entertainment created a Halloween phenomenon that’s now bigger than any one store. (Others carry various versions of the larger-than-life skeleton.)
And as stores race to get the latest and greatest Halloween score out as soon as possible, superfans say it’s about time.
Halloween is celebrated earlier
Home Depot’s 12-foot skeleton is affectionately known by fans across the internet and globe as “Skelly.” When Skelly was launched, the thinking was that he’d be out for a week or two leading up to Halloween night, Allen said, the usual consumer behavior observed at the time.
But the pandemic changed that timeline.
“Everybody started decorating in early October for something to do,” Allen said. “And we’ve really seen a shift in the market where now people are decorating for Halloween how we’ve seen with Christmas historically, planning out decorations five to six weeks, two months ahead of time.”
Mak Ralston, a Halloween fanatic known as Haunt Former on YouTube, who posts Halloween videos year-round, has noticed the shift.
“There used to be a kind of a calendar as to when I would expect things to come out in stores,” Ralston said, noting that orange and black and witches and skeletons used to roll in at the start of September, maybe mid-August.
“This year, I saw some stuff in stores for Halloween in June, early July,” he said. “It’s never been earlier.”
For some, it’s always Halloween
“Some average people who aren’t as invested don’t realize that for people who are really committed to both Halloween and the horror culture, they’re in it to win it like all year,” Ralston said.
“I can post a video about a horror movie or about a Halloween mask that’s coming out in October in February, and people eat it up,” he said.
Nate Rambaud, known as That Guy Nate on Youtube, started his channel by posting videos of abandoned stores such as Toys R Us, a niche interest on the video-sharing platform. Now with more than 440,000 subscribers, his bread and butter is a more spooky niche. He posts videos touring Spirit Halloween locations, which often occupy abandoned stores.
Rambaud has been to well over 300 Spirit Halloween locations in all 50 states.
“Halloween is so easy to attach to. It doesn’t require anybody else whatsoever,” said Rambaud.
Christmas “kind of requires other people, your family. You’re out buying stuff for people. And then kids sit around and wait for Christmas — that’s really all they can do for Christmas,” he said. “But Halloween — anyone can associate with Halloween and you can do it any time all the time.”
As a result of the year-round party, Skelly’s had some work done for his fifth birthday. Allen said the new Skellys for sale this season will have more UV additive to hold up against the sun longer, along with a more durable resin mixture to withstand colder temperatures. And he now has a dog.
“People are taking the skeletons on dates. They’re going out to the beach, he’s playing in the sand,” Allen said. “We’ve seen him at weddings.”
“A lot of times people will say, ‘I know this is not as good as everyone else’s, but I wanted to share this,’” Humphrey said. Group members join to find like-minded fans, he said, “but let’s be honest, people want to show off.”
Why are so many people so wild about Halloween?
Perhaps it all has to do with a fundamental part of the holiday: children.
Humphrey was out painting his fence recently when a girl walked by. She told him his house always has the best decorations.
“I didn’t realize kids memorize that. And that’s really kind of a badge of honor,” Humphrey said. ”Also, like, great, now I have no choice, I’m going to make sure I do a great job.”
Ralston recalled that growing up, he was the kid who carried around a skeleton instead of a teddy bear.
And Rambaud, whose videos showcase Halloween animatronics worth hundreds of dollars, remembers a simpler time from his childhood that helped spark his love for Halloween.
“My dad used to make what he would call a spook tunnel. He would take cardboard boxes, like refrigerator boxes, and he put them all together and made a maze that we had to crawl through,” he said. ”That was our little haunted house.”
To Humphrey, the holiday’s appeal can be summarized this way:
“Halloween is an extrovert day for introverts,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you want to celebrate that?”
NEW YORK (AP) — Five high school students, residing far from each other while sharing visions of community and self-expression, have been named National Student Poets.
Each of the poets will represent different parts of the country. Robert Gao of University Laboratory High School in Champaign, Illinois, will cover the Midwest. Marcus Burns of Vermont’s St. Johnsbury Academy will be based in the Northeast. Nadia Wright of Murrah High School in Jackson, Mississippi, will be the poet for the Southeast. Sofia Kamal of Rancho Solano Preparatory School in Phoenix, Arizona, is the student poet for the Southwest and the West’s regional poet is Anya Melchinger of Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu.
The National Student Poets Program (NSPP) is a partnership of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, which presents the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, whose winners helped form the pool of student poet finalists. The poets, each of whom will receive $5,000, will spend the next year engaging with young people through readings, workshops and other projects.
“We proudly recognize the Class of 2024 NSPP poets, whose remarkable talent and artistry will shine throughout their year of service, inspiring communities across the nation,” IMLS Acting Director Cyndee Landrum said in a statement Thursday. “We celebrate the collective energy of libraries, museums, schools and communities, working together to create safe harbors where young artists can thrive and flourish.”
In their own work, the students draw upon family background, the natural world and the struggles to endure.
In Burns’ “Yiping’s Asian Market,” he remembers the hardship of his grandmother and how “Her sacrifice brought us to America, something to be grateful for,” while Gao’s “Risky Hand” evokes “our father, adorned with the waxen spit from colleagues, candied in teething denim and Marlboros in orbit.”
Kamal, in the poem “Gas Station,” looks to the moon and finds it “lobed with/desire left unanswered, its edge rusted over/by centuries of eyes.” In Melchinger’s “sometimes i wonder how we sleep,” she shows is a house “where the ground breathes beneath us black soil expanding/and contracting with the rain sending cracks into the foundation rattling/our paper thin walls.”
Wright’s “Where I’m going” is an ode to the country and her own “sweet and sour” upbringing in the American South. She dreams of “long hugs from strong women/whose never rest/whose souls never quit” and savors “rich German chocolate cake/sweet, sweet homemade lemonade/Oh, just the thought of it/makes my mouth water.”
PARIS (AP) — Chemena Kamali’s sophomore collection for Chloé was a luminous exploration of femininity, blending the house’s heritage with a fresh, sensual energy for spring. Set against a backdrop of sun-faded apricots, blushes and soft whites, the Paris collection captured Kamali’s vision of a summer that she surmised as: “when you pause, escape, explore and recharge.” It celebrated Chloé’s free-spirited DNA, infused with a lightness that felt both nostalgic and forward-looking.
Here are some highlights of Thursday’s shows at Paris Fashion Week, including a French honor for Naomi Campbell:
Kamali’s joyful freedom
“There’s a liberating expression of total freedom,” Kamali said of her spring display.
This freedom flowed through silk charmeuse gowns, lingerie-inspired crop tops and peek-a-boo designs.
Echoes of Karl Lagerfeld’s ‘70s Chloé lingered in exaggerated shoulders and standout pieces, like a loose-fitting, vivid blue coat. “Chloé is not a passing moment; it’s an eternal state of mind,” Kamali noted, grounding her collection in the house’s long-standing ethos of optimism and instinct.
Layering played a central role, but Kamali kept it light and intuitive, reflecting what she called a “very personal way of dressing.” Sheer fabrics and sun-worn lace mixed effortlessly with ribbed jerseys, creating looks that felt weightless and spontaneous, a signature of Kamali’s debut collection. “What matters to me is the feeling and intuition,” she said.
A standout moment came in the form of a dramatic trapeze-shaped silk gown, its dynamic silhouette swirling with movement. It epitomized Kamali’s ability to honor Chloé’s romantic roots while infusing a modern sensibility. “The mood is light, weightless, sensual and joyful,” she explained. That joyful freedom was a defining thread from start to finish.
With her second outing, Kamali proved she is the right designer to lead Chloé. She crafted a spring collection that balanced nostalgia and sensuality while pushing the house toward a bright, optimistic future.
Mugler’s Cadwallader takes a bite at fashion
Casey Cadwallader delivered a striking show for Mugler, equal parts theatrical and innovative. The hair, sculpted into harsh fringes like a viper’s fang, set the tone for a collection defined by sharp architectural lines. Curving lapels adorned tight jackets, while tendrils of latticed silk flowed into skirts that bled vibrant yellows, creating a visual spectacle.
The collection boldly embraced femininity, featuring a bust that echoed the form of seashells and a densely packed bustier resembling a diving whale. This daring aesthetic aligns with Cadwallader’s aim to infuse the brand with a fresh energy, moving away from the extravagance that some original Mugler fans long for.
Oversized tubular arms complemented a webbed skirt-coat, while a transparent loose trench evoked the look of a sea medusa, reinforcing Cadwallader’s commitment to pushing boundaries.
Naomi Campbell honored in France amid charity controversy
Iconic British model Naomi Campbell was awarded a prestigious honor in France, being named a knight in the Order of Arts and Letters at the culture ministry for her significant contributions to French culture.
However, this recognition comes as Campbell faces scrutiny back home, having been barred from serving as a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years. This decision follows a three-year investigation into the financial activities of her charity, “Fashion for Relief,” which was found to have been “poorly governed” and lacking in “adequate financial management.”
The Charity Commission, which oversees charities in England and Wales, reported multiple instances of misconduct, revealing that only 8.5% of the charity’s expenditures went to charitable grants over a six-year period from 2016. Notably, the inquiry uncovered that charity funds were misused for Campbell’s luxury hotel stays during events in Cannes, alongside personal expenses such as spa treatments and room service.
In response to a question from the AP, Campbell said, “I’ve just found out today about the findings and I am extremely concerned. We are investigating on our side. I was not in control of my charity; I put the control in the hands of a legal employer. We are investigating to find out what and how, and everything I do and every penny I ever raised goes to charity.”
Alongside Campbell, fellow trustee Bianka Hellmich has been disqualified for nine years after receiving unauthorized payments for consultancy services, while trustee Veronica Chou has been barred for four years. The charity, founded in 2005 to unite the fashion industry in addressing global poverty, was dissolved earlier this year, having raised over $15 million for various causes worldwide.
Despite the controversy, Campbell’s honor in France highlights her lasting impact on the cultural landscape.
Rick Owens enchants with gothic splendor
At Thursday’s show at the Palais de Tokyo, Rick Owens unleashed a captivating spectacle that felt like a dramatic descent into a realm inhabited by gothic aliens. The atmosphere was thick with smoke and suspense as an army of biblical figures marched out in impressive diagonal formations, their asymmetrical knee-high leather boots featuring translucent heels, making each step a statement.
Owens’ trademark angular, alien-like geometric shoulders dominated the runway, capturing the essence of his singular vision—one that merges dark romanticism with avant-garde aesthetics. The collection was a testament to his ability to blend his gothic instincts with a sense of reverent irreverence, reminiscent of the “delicate time” he referenced in previous collections, where beauty and horror coexist.
As the show unfolded, a billowing coven emerged, clad in oversized black priest-like hoods and flowing tulle cloaks that draped elegantly over their forms. Some models donned discreet headscarves, striking a balance between reverence and defiance, perfectly embodying Owens’ commentary on societal norms. This juxtaposition echoes his commitment to inclusivity, presenting a vision of fashion that celebrates diversity while challenging conventional beauty standards.
The intricate craftsmanship used in the collection exemplified Owens’ mastery. Each piece, from the cloaks to the striking silhouettes, invited viewers to appreciate humble fabrics. This aligns with his insistence that he presents “the most excellent aesthetics” possible, recognizing the nuanced interplay between the dark and the light in our world.
While some may find Owens’ aesthetic too avant-garde or even gloomy, this show reaffirmed his position as a provocative force in fashion. The theatricality and elaborate design remind us of his role as one of the last independent designers in Paris, navigating the complexities of the fashion landscape with fierce authenticity.
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Associated Press journalist Marine Lesprit contributed to this report.
LONDON (AP) — It’s been a year since a sycamore tree that stood high and proud near the Roman landmark of Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England was inexplicably chopped down, triggering a wave of shock and disbelief across the U.K., even among those who had never seen it up close.
Known and loved by millions, the 150-year-old tree was made famous around the world when it featured in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.” The Sycamore Gap tree, as it was known because of its regal canopy framed between two hills, was a popular subject for landscape photographers and a great resting spot for walkers.
Now it is going to get a new lease of life — dozens of them.
The National Trust, a conservation charity that seeks to protect and open up historic places and green spaces to the general public, launched an initiative on Friday in which 49 saplings from the tree will be given to communities around the U.K. Other saplings will be sent to the U.K.’s 15 national parks and the local primary school.
The initiative, which also involves the local Northumberland National Park Authority and Historic England, the public organization that looks after England’s historic environment, is called “Trees of Hope” and aims to “create a new chapter in the life of this legendary tree.”
Each of the 49 saplings — one to represent each foot of the tree’s height when it was felled — is expected to be 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall on delivery.
People from around the U.K. are invited to apply for a tree to plant in publicly accessible spaces which have emotional connections with people and communities. Entries must be made by Oct. 25, with winners announced on Nov. 18.
“The last 12 months have been a real rollercoaster of emotions, from the hopelessness and grief we felt when we discovered that the tree had been illegally felled, to experiencing the stories shared with us about just what the tree meant to so many,” said Andrew Poad, general manager for the National Trust’s Hadrian’s Wall properties.
Also on Friday, the Northumberland National Park Authority is marking the anniversary of the felling with the opening of the first phase of an exhibition, “Sycamore Gap: One Year On,” including the largest remaining section of the tree.
Two men — Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers — have been charged with two counts over the felling of the tree. One count is for allegedly cutting down the tree and the second is for damage to the adjacent wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire. Prosecutors have calculated that the cost of the felling was around 620,000 pounds ($825,000).
Both have been released on bail ahead of their trial scheduled for early December.
PARIS (AP) — Loewe’s latest VIP-filled collection dazzled at the Paris Fashion Week runway Friday, presenting an explosion of flowers and form that captured designer Jonathan Anderson’s innovative spirit.
The Northern Irish designer again showed his talent for infusing theatricality into his designs, showcasing whimsical creations like a surreal giant hoop skirt that lent the display an eccentric, circus-like feel. A stunning white gown adorned with vibrant floral prints radiated energy.
Here are some highlights of spring-summer ready-to-wear shows:
Loewe’s twists
Unexpected lines and twists on classic silhouettes dominated the runway, with the giant hoop transforming floral patterns into eccentric spectacles. Anderson expertly wove together historical inspirations from the Renaissance with the carefree looseness of the 1920s, mixed with surreal structured skirts and peplums that evoked a rich sense of heritage. All designs had something off-kilter about them.
A standout piece, a beautiful feathered poncho featuring a Van Gogh print, dazzled with its artistic flair. It illustrated Anderson’s ability to transform art into fashion and resonated deeply with camera-ready audiences. Each piece seemed to challenge the viewer’s expectations, daring them to reconsider the boundaries of traditional fashion.
In its exploration of bold concepts and mind-bending forms, the display occasionally veered into the overly conceptual. But Anderson still delivered a wealth of wearable pieces. The collection included striking items like a black trench coat with a fashion-forward midriff cut-out, which exuded rock-star magnetism and exemplified the brand’s leather heritage.
The piece, along with others, showcased Anderson’s mastery in balancing creativity with practicality.
Schiaparelli shines with bold whimsy
Daniel Roseberry’s latest collection for Schiaparelli focuses on blending high fashion with refreshing accessibility. Though it featured less of the Surrealism associated with the late, great house founder Elsa Schiaparelli, the collection still celebrated whimsy, albeit a dialed down version.
Gone are the days of celebrity-driven runways. Instead, Roseberry crafted an eclectic mix of bold silhouettes and playful designs. Standout pieces included denim with a unique U-shaped dip at the waist, paired with curve-hugging ivory bodysuits that highlighted an hourglass shape. This motif, evident in a zip-front dress and sleek halter top, appeared throughout the collection, showcasing Roseberry’s knack for redefining femininity.
With fewer embroideries this season, the designer emphasized texture and details. Models strutted in gathered mesh jersey dresses, with fabric coiled like a braid, and dresses accented with suede for added luster.
Footwear also stole the spotlight, featuring Roseberry’s signature trompe l’oeil sneakers alongside leather babouche slides adorned with golden toe rings — transforming everyday items into artistic statements.
Roseberry drew inspiration from the women in his life who crave statement pieces that are effortlessly chic, with daring patterns, exaggerated shoulder pads, and bold floral motifs.
In a fashion landscape often driven by commercial pressures, Schiaparelli’s latest show carved out a dynamic space for creativity. Roseberry proved he can balance artistic whimsy with wearable elegance.
Issey Miyake’s papery beauty
Issey Miyake’s latest collection unfolded like a poetic exploration into the art of simplicity and craft. Much like the house’s previous offerings, this collection combined innovative techniques with tradition — a hallmark that has continued under the vision of Satoshi Kondo and the design atelier.
This time, the team explored paper as a medium and inspiration, delving into its textures, lightness, and nostalgic feel. If previous shows dabbled in geometry and fluidity, Friday’s collection was about the fragility and strength of paper through airy, pleated garments and origami-inspired folds.
The collection began with kamiko pieces — garments made of traditional washi paper — that paid homage to Japan’s centuries-old crafts. This nod to the past didn’t come at the expense of wearability.
The Fold-to-Form pieces were nothing short of architectural brilliance, with angular, origami-inspired folds. It felt like a natural extension of the Miyake legacy: one part innovation, one part reflection on the past.
The house’s fixation on textiles sometimes tipped into over-conceptualization. The EAU series, with its water-like transparency and fluidity, had all the ethereal beauty one could expect, but the weight of its metaphor — garments flowing like water — felt familiar.
Marketing madness
As Paris Fashion Week unfolds, so too do the latest gimmicks. The newest trend and subject of front-row chatter was the introduction of Uber Fashion cars, designed in collaboration with fashion house Coperni. The vehicles feature a metallic sheen inspired by the brand’s Swipe Bag.
Fashion-conscious riders could book a free ride in these cars by selecting the Uber Fashion option in the app, and each ride even comes with a custom playlist to enhance the Fashion Week experience, according to Uber. However, availability is on a first-come, first-served basis, meaning that many may be unable to secure a ride amidst the event’s chaos. It’s yet another example of how the fashion industry seeks to capitalize on Fashion Week’s excitement.
Victoria Beckham blows in a new breeze
Victoria Beckham’s latest collection swept through Paris with the force of a Greek myth, evoking the Victory of Samothrace as a twisted cropped vest opened the show. It billowed like a gleaming shard of fabric, as if it were poised to take flight off the runway — setting the tone for a collection that danced between poetry and practicality.
The windswept aesthetic was unmistakable throughout, from a sheer pastel top that exposed nipples in a diagonal cascade down the torso, to loose-waisted signature trousers with a billowing slit. Beckham’s recurring play with proportions was here, albeit with a softer, more sculptural touch, subtly nodding to her signature focus on elongating the body. This time, her references to Ancient Greece gave her collection a new kind of dynamism that felt almost ethereal. Gigi Hadid, draped in a gleaming green gown with a gathered skirt, moved like a sculpture come to life — a striking moment that embodied this unexpected, but highly welcome, more poetical direction for the former Spice Girl.
But amid the billowing silhouettes and minimalism, Beckham deftly anchored designs with the staples that have made her brand so popular. Florals made an appearance — subtle, yet essential — as did her commitment to relaxed, modern tailoring. While the poetical gestures floated through, the bread-and-butter of the house remained: practical, wearable luxury.
Yet the collection walked a fine line between creativity and wearability — a line Beckham has navigated with mixed success in the past. While the draped, windswept garments invoked a sense of playful experimentation, critics of her previous work may wonder if her eccentricity is in danger of overpowering the brand’s practical core. Beckham’s last few seasons have seen her balancing the theatrical with the everyday, but the sheer pastels and sculptural gowns here flirted with pushing that envelope a little too far.
Still, Beckham has proven her command of deconstruction and silhouette, and here it paid off. The architectural approach she’s honed, from slashed jackets to exposed backs, found new life in this Grecian motif. Her ability to expose and conceal in the same breath, to deconstruct and rebuild, once again highlights her strength in mastering complex garment construction—a talent honed across her Parisian shows.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — They were sharing the world stage to discuss a plan to give young people more input in decisions that shape lives. And 26-year-old Daphne Frias, talking to the head of the United Nations, had thoughts.
“Truly, it’s time for the people who do so much of the talking to do less of the talking,” the disability and climate activist told Secretary-General António Guterres. “And to have the voices of my generation … lead.”
A big young cohort is coming of age in a troubled world, and it’s coming with ideas about inclusion, participation and authority. Those ideas are nudging the hierarchical, bureaucratic ways of an international order set up when their grandparents were kids or not even born.
“My generation messed up when it comes to the world today,” the 75-year-old U.N. chief told Frias and an audience of activists and others in the vast, coolly elegant assembly hall.
The world needs a new generation that understands “we are living to disaster” and can turn it around, Guterres said, adding emphatically: “We cannot do that if your generation is not part of the decision-making process that is still controlled by my generation that messed up.”
Passing the torch can be difficult
But how to make that change in a global system and governments largely run by older people, and a United Nations that has tried to engage the young but still has some procedures, protocol — and even architecture — reflecting what was “modern” more than seven decades ago? Does the U.N. matter, anyway, to a social-network-native generation with its own means of connecting and organizing across borders, and with a sense of urgency that chafes at the pace of intergovernmental accords?
Marinel Sumook Ubaldo, a 27-year-old Filipina climate activist, has been involved in U.N. conferences and believes the world body can be a valuable platform for advocacy. But so can grassroots organizing and building public pressure outside big organizations, Ubaldo says.
“If the U.N. can shift from symbolic inclusion to truly empowering youth with decision-making authority and accountability mechanisms, I would say it would remain relevant,” she said. “But if not, young people will continue to forge new paths.”
Over 1.9 billion people — nearly a quarter of the world population — are between ages 10 and 24. But young people are sparse in the corridors of power. Under 3% of members of national legislatures are under 30, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global group of such bodies.
Of course, today’s young activists aren’t the first to worry about the world they’re inheriting, to yearn to be heard or to feel they can’t wait patiently for the creaky wheels of change to turn.
But this generation has been steeped in a particular brew of risks and crises: post-9/11 wars and security culture, a financial meltdown, a pandemic, billions of people living in conflict zones, a planet that’s warming at the fastest rate ever measured. And, with the rise of social media, the generation’s ideas about solutions to such challenges move around faster than ever before.
As Frias puts it, “we don’t have time for dues to be paid” to try to influence things.
“We constantly get told that we are inspirational, that we’re doing a great job, that we are the future,” Frias, an American-born daughter of Dominican immigrants, said in an interview. “But inspiration doesn’t change the world. Action does.”
There’s growing momentum — to a point
Over the years, the U.N. has made various overtures to young people. An assistant secretary-general for youth affairs, Dr. Felipe Paullier, was tapped last year. There had previously been a lower-level youth envoy.
A 2018 initiative called “Youth 2030” is meant to make young people “full-fledged partners” in the U.N.’s work. A recent update said progress has been “steady but slower than desired.”
Now comes the “ Pact for the Future,” a wide-ranging document approved Sunday at a summit that kicked off this year’s big General Assembly gathering. The pact includes pledges to spend more on youth services, to create jobs and to promote “meaningful youth participation” in national policymaking and U.N. processes.
That might sound bland to the casual observer. But through a U.N. lens, devoting a chapter to youth and future generations in a laboriously negotiated global blueprint — and getting 193 nations to sign off — elevates and enshrines youths as a priority.
“Ten or 15 years ago, you know, young people were just seen as beneficiaries of policies,” Paullier, 33, said in an interview. “There are many things changing that are showing institutions, decision-makers, are saying, ‘OK, we need to engage with them as partners.’”
There’s still far to go, he notes.
Participation must actually be meaningful
Nudhara Yusuf, who co-chaired a civil society conference that helped prepare for the recent summit, says the U.N. has made “a real turn” toward engaging young people. Now it’s a question of making promises of “meaningful” participation … meaningful.
“How do you go beyond just putting someone on a panel? How do you ensure that they’re part of the dialogue offstage, as well?” asks Yusuf, 25. Born in Britain and raised in India, she’s a researcher at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington.
Young activists also may lack the resources to move in international circles when it entails far-flung travel. While many have started organizations and done fundraising, some say it’s hard getting past a “youth organization” rubric to tap bigger pools of grants, despite working on broader issues.
Amani Joel Mafigi, who co-founded an entrepreneurship organization in Uganda, thinks the U.N. should establish a youth empowerment fund to back climate, social justice and innovation initiatives. The 27-year-old offered that suggestion to the secretary-general at the same event with Frias.
In an interview, Mafigi added that he’d want young “changemakers” to be central to structuring such a fund and steering its work.
“I have seen how much young people with little resources can do and can achieve within a minimum period of time, with less bureaucratic processes,” said Mafigi, who fled Congo as a refugee in 2008.
Guterres told him, Frias and others in the assembly hall that the U.N. aims to add more young staffers and to give youths a voice “when things are being decided, not when things have been decided.”
“But, I mean, let’s be clear: Power is never given. Power is taken,” Guterres said. “So I encourage young people not to be afraid to fight for their rights.”
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, has many wonderful foods associated with it. Apples, honey, beef brisket, noodle kugel — and shining on this list are pomegranates, that one-of-a-kind beautiful, mythical, symbolic and even Biblical fruit.
In the Sephardic tradition, pomegranates are celebrated as part of the Rosh Hashanah meal as a symbol of abundance, knowledge and righteousness. The fruit’s numerous seeds led some to say that the seeds corresponded to the 613 commandments of the Torah. (In fact, most pomegranates have somewhere between 400 and 800 seeds, but it’s a lovely allegorical notion).
On the table, a pomegranate-shaped dish might hold honey for apples to be dipped in. Yemenite Jews in Israel might have a pile of pomegranates as a centerpiece during the holiday meal.
Pomegranates are used in savory and sweet dishes, and are popular in Israeli and other Middle Eastern cooking, as well as in Mediterranean, Indian and African food. Pomegranate juice is also popular, used in cooking and available bottled for straight-up drinking and use in cocktails and mocktails.
The seeds and juice are both sweet and tart in flavor. Like citrus fruit, they taste refreshing and can be bold in flavor. And pomegranates are packed with nutrients.
You can add them into salads, rice and grain dishes, or stir them into yogurt. Sprinkle them on baked eggplant and other roasted vegetable dishes. Or incorporate them into tarts, cakes, scones and chocolate desserts.
This Rosh Hashana, use pomegranate seeds to provide a little flair and color to the holiday dinner by adding them to a simple salad, like the one below.
How to remove pomegranate seeds from the fruit
The biggest obstacle to enjoying them on the regular during their cold-weather season is getting those bountiful seeds from the leathery skin and clingy white internal membranes. You need to do a little work cutting through the thick exterior and extracting the seeds without letting any of the juice stain your clothes, countertop or dish towels.
Some supermarkets or specialty markets sell containers of just the seeds. If you are buying the seeds already removed from the fruit, make sure the little arils are bright red and firm, not shriveled, soft, or brownish in color.
If you’re buying whole pomegranates, choose ones that are firm and bright in color. Firm and heavy indicates that the arils/seeds are filled with lots of juice. Make sure the fruit is free of brown spots and bruises.
Before beginning, grab an apron to protect your clothes (or wear an old, unloved shirt) and, if possible, a plastic (not wood) cutting board to prevent the juice from staining your cutting surface. If you want to prevent any temporary staining of your hands, wear some cooking-compatible plastic or rubber gloves.
Start by cutting off a thin slice of the fruit’s bottom so it can stand securely. Then cut around the crown (the end with the “blossom” sticking out) at a slight angle into the top of the fruit so that the top comes off and there is a slight dip into the pomegranate. Use your knife and from top to bottom cut just through the thick skin but not into the seeds. Make five more cuts at fairly equal segments so there are a total of six cuts/sections. Pry open the pomegranate with your fingers; it should fall into six open sections.
Fill a large bowl with cold water. Submerge the sections and gently separate the seeds from the white membranes. As the seeds separate from the fruit, they will sink to the bottom, while the white membranes will float to the top. Then simply toss the skin, skim the membranes from the water, drain seeds in a strainer, and you are ready to roll.
Arugula, Orange and Pomegranate Salad
Ingredients
For the lemon vinaigrette:
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon rice or white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
For the Salad:
8 cups baby arugula
1 small red onion halved and very thinly sliced
2 oranges, preferably cara cara or blood oranges
1 cup pomegranate seeds
Directions
Make the vinaigrette. In a small container, combine the shallots, lemon juice, rice vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Shake to blend.
Place the arugula in a large serving bowl with the onion. Peel the oranges, and use a paring knife to remove all of the white pith from the outside of the fruit. Separate the orange slices, and cut each slice into 4 pieces. Add these to the bowl.
Pour the dressing on the salad, and toss to combine. Scatter the pomegranate seeds over the top and serve.
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Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at https://themom100.com/. She can be reached at [email protected].
