LEWES, Del., Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — John Snow Labs, the AI for healthcare company, today announced the details of its participation at the 2025 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition, taking place from March 3-6 in Las Vegas. The company’s CEO David Talby will speak about new, state-of-the-art capabilities in healthcare AI with partners Databricks, Carahsoft, and AWS, respectively.
The largest gathering of healthcare technology professionals worldwide, HIMSS brings together more than 30,000 attendees to discuss global health topics shaping the next generation of healthcare. John Snow Labs will join partners on the show floor to demonstrate its part in this ecosystem in the following sessions:
3pm PT, Tuesday, March 4: Unifying Multimodal Patient Data with Medical LLMs (Databricks booth #4360) This talk will explore a new capability that transforms diverse clinical data (EHR, FHIR, notes, and PDFs) into a unified patient timeline, enabling natural language question answering. Combining healthcare-specific LLMs along with a terminology service and scalable data ingestion pipelines, it excels in complex queries and is ideal for organizations seeking OMOP data enrichment.
10am-12pm PT, Wednesday, March 5: The Medical Research Agent (CarahSoft booth #2216) David will demonstrate state-of-the-art accuracy of the Medical Research Agent medical LLM, automated systematic reviews, and question answering on private and public knowledge bases.
9am PT Thursday, March 6: Automated DICOM Deidentification with AWS HealthImaging (AWS booth #4624) This talk will explore John Snow Labs’ turnkey, regulatory-grade DICOM image deidentification on AWS HealthImaging, including both metadata and pixel-level PHI, integrated with AWS HealthImaging to support compliance and scale.
“With no shortage of AI solutions on the market, few can say they are delivering state-of-the-art results, updated daily with the latest research and advances in the field,” said Talby. “John Snow Labs is excited to showcase how we’re helping leading healthcare organizations leverage accurate, safe, and responsible AI, already making an impact on research, patient care, and operations.”
Additional Resources:
Click here to book a meeting with John Snow Labs at the show
For media inquiries, contact gina@johnsnowlabs.com
About John Snow Labs John Snow Labs, the AI for healthcare company, provides state-of-the-art software, models, and data to help healthcare and life science organizations put AI to good use. Developer of Spark NLP, Healthcare NLP, the Healthcare GPT LLM, the Generative AI Lab No-Code Platform, and the Medical Chatbot, John Snow Labs’ award-winning medical AI software powers the world’s leading pharmaceuticals, academic medical centers, and health technology companies. Creator and host of The NLP Summit, the company is committed to further educating and advancing the global AI community.
RICHARDSON, Texas, Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mavenir, the cloud-native network infrastructure provider building the future of networks, and EdgeQ, a leader in 5G wireless infrastructure, unveil the next generation of indoor and outdoor small cells at the Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2025. The cloud-native, software programmable small cells deliver both 4G and 5G on a single chip, allowing customers to dynamically reconfigure and elastically scale from 4G to 5G without any hardware change, redesign, or reinstallation.
The collaboration introduces new capabilities aimed at enterprise and neutral host providers for indoor environments and meet the demands of communication service providers (CSPs) needing cutting-edge outdoor equipment to support urban densification.
The next generation small cell offering will focus on enabling flexibility, low power consumption, and ease of deployment. The solution empowers CSPs to address rapidly increasing data traffic demands while ensuring a long-term return on investment. The small cell solution, set for general availability in 2Q 2025, will support a range of 4G and 5G spectrum bands, and flexible configurations from single-band 4G or 5G setups to complex multi-band combinations, on a single board. Additionally, the solution offers a future-proof approach with remote software upgrades, allowing CSPs to migrate smoothly from 4G to 5G without hardware changes and maximizing their investments.
Sachin Karkala, SVP & GM RAN at Mavenir, said: “This strategic relationship will be disruptive for the small cell market, introducing new capabilities that meet a wide range of needs. EdgeQ is a partner that’s working at the cutting edge of silicon technology, and this partnership enables increased levels of flexibility for CSPs, enterprises and neutral host providers. We’re changing the economics of 5G deployments with small cells by reducing energy consumption, simplifying deployment and ensuring long-term ROI.”
Mavenir’s indoor small cell solution leverages EdgeQ’s highly programmable “Base station-on-a-chip” to deliver a singular solution that is dynamically configurable to help service providers navigate 4G to 5G migration, NSA to SA migration, TDD and FDD migration, and multi-carrier support. The lean design is ideal for both indoor and outdoor deployments where ubiquity of coverage at low TCO is expected by operators.
Vinay Ravuri, Founder and CEO of EdgeQ, said: “We are delighted to partner with Mavenir to enable a new category of small cells that converges multiple radios, bands, and carriers at new unit economics long sought after by service providers. The flexibility that we are enabling with Mavenir will drive frictionless small cell deployments by meeting the short and long-term needs of all connectivity providers. Our state-of-the-art 4G and 5G platform makes the widest range of spectrum configurations possible and ensures a clear upgrade path as traffic grows.”
Mavenir’s small cell solutions enable enhanced network capacity and coverage in indoor and outdoor environments meeting the full range of public and private network use cases.
Mavenir’s full radio portfolio will be displayed at the upcoming MWC Barcelona, March 3-6, in Hall 2, Stand 2H60. For more on Mavenir’s presence at the show visit https://www.mavenir.com/mwc-2025/
About Mavenir:
Mavenir is building the future of networks today with cloud-native, AI-enabled solutions which are green by design, empowering operators to realize the benefits of 5G and achieve intelligent, automated, programmable networks. As the pioneer of Open RAN and a proven industry disruptor, Mavenir’s award-winning solutions are delivering automation and monetization across mobile networks globally, accelerating software network transformation for 300+ Communications Service Providers in over 120 countries, which serve more than 50% of the world’s subscribers. For more information, please visit www.mavenir.com
About EdgeQ
EdgeQ is a Silicon Valley based semiconductor company that has developed the world’s first software-defined 4G+5G “Base Station-on-a-Chip,” giving customers the revolutionary ability to build and deploy cellular networks on a single chip the size of a coin. Led by executives from Qualcomm, Intel, and Broadcom, EdgeQ is pioneering converged connectivity and AI that is fully software-customizable and programmable. The company is backed by world-renowned investors and industry titans. To learn more about EdgeQ, visit www.edgeq.io
PR Contacts:
Mavenir: Emmanuela Spiteri | PR@mavenir.com EdgeQ: Edward Wu (Head of Marketing) | ewu@edgeq.io
NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sweed, the leading enterprise retail technology platform for the cannabis industry, is now also the largest technology development team in the industry. The company announced today that through recent hires and expansions of the in-house development team, Sweed now boasts the largest and most innovative team of developers of any cannabis-specific technology platform. Sweed, which recently announced the successful completion of its SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type II audits, has emerged as the unmatched leader in product innovation and agility, providing cannabis retail clients with best-in-class digital solutions. The Sweed development team has grown by 41% since Q1 2024. The increased scale of the development team is being deployed to provide innovation and enhanced services across the native eCommerce, point-of-sale, inventory management, logistics, payment processing, and other integral programs built into the Sweed platform.
Establishing the largest development team in the cannabis industry is critical to the advancements that Sweed is bringing to market. As industry experts in both retail technology and the specific needs and challenges that face the cannabis industry, Sweed is looking ahead at the impact of automation and functional A.I. tools on the future of the cannabis retail market. Creating smarter, more actionable, and responsive tools will help retailers provide better service to their customers, thereby increasing customer retention and loyalty, while also expanding cart sizes. Customizing offers and menus, maximizing the value of each communication, streamlining workflow between inventory and sales, and ultimately providing revenue-driving support to retailers are all areas of focus Sweed is enhancing. With the largest development team, an expansive AI-powered platform, and a deep commitment to innovation, Sweed is setting the new standard for dispensary technology–one that is efficient, scalable, and built for 2025 and beyond.
“Reaching this level of bandwidth for our development team highlights our view that Sweed is an innovation and technology company leading the cannabis industry forward to a more profitable and scalable future,” said Rocco Del Priore, Co-Founder of Sweed. “The cannabis industry is littered with technology solutions that do part of the job for retailers, but our goal is to constantly raise the bar – which we often set ourselves – to offer the best solution across every digital need our customers might have. We’re immensely proud to have the industry’s largest development team, and we’re excited by the possibilities that lay ahead as we help advance this industry with tools and services that exceed anything currently on the market.”
Sweed pioneered the concept of cohesive cannabis retail solutions, creating the first platform to connect operations, marketing, and compliance seamlessly. Since its inception, the company has focused on refining technology to meet the evolving needs of cannabis businesses. Providing enterprise-grade capabilities that are intuitive, scalable, and deeply rooted in the industry’s unique requirements has enabled Sweed to become the preferred technology partner of the industry’s most forward-looking companies. Throughout 2025 Sweed will be unveiling industry-first advancements to its already leading technology offerings, giving cannabis retailers insights and impactful upgrades to help them scale their dispensary operations.
About Sweed Sweed is redefining cannabis retail management with its cohesive platform, seamlessly combining Point of Sale, eCommerce, and Marketing & Loyalty solutions. As the original enterprise-grade platform purpose-built for multi-location scalability, Sweed empowers retailers to efficiently manage sales, customer engagement, marketing, and inventory — all from one system. By delivering a tailored, data-driven experience without relying on external integrations, Sweed enables cannabis retailers to drive growth and deliver exceptional customer experiences. For more information, visit https://sweedpos.com/.
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Franklin Wireless Corp. (NASDAQ: FKWL) announces the appointment of Ira Greenstein to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective February 17, 2025.
“We are pleased to welcome Ira Greenstein to the Company’s Board of Directors,” said OC Kim, President and CEO of Franklin Wireless. “Ira’s extensive legal, corporate, and government experience brings a new depth of knowledge, critical skills in strategic decision-making and governance to the board.”
Mr. Greenstein is a Founding Partner of the Pierson Ferdinand LLP law firm. He previously served as Deputy Assistant and Strategist to the President during the first Trump Administration. Before his government service, he was President of IDT Corporation and Genie Energy Ltd.
Mr. Greenstein holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and a Juris Doctor (JD) from Columbia University School of Law. He is currently a member of the board of Forafric Global plc. (NASDAQ: AFRI), where he serves on the Audit and Remuneration Committees.
Mr. Greenstein will be replacing Gary Nelson on the Board as Mr. Nelson has decided to resign from the Board to enjoy more time with his family.
About Franklin Access Franklin Access (NASDAQ: FKWL) specializes in integrated connectivity solutions powered by 4G LTE and 5G technologies. The company offers mobile device management (MDM), network management solutions (NMS), and innovative wireless products for the digital age. For more information, visit FranklinAccess.com.
Safe Harbor Statement Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied due to various factors.
WILMINGTON, Del., Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Onfolio Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ONFO, ONFOW) (OTC: ONFOP) (the “Company” or “Onfolio”), a company that acquires and manages a diversified portfolio of online businesses, today announced that its chairman and chief executive officer released the following letter to Onfolio shareholders.
A longer version as part of a “2024 In Review” piece has been posted on the Company’s corporate website at https://onfolio.com/2024-in-review.
Dear Shareholders,
What a difference a year makes.
Looking back on 2024, I’d like to reflect on our journey and progress in light of our original thesis. We started with four key beliefs:
There are hundreds or thousands of profitable online businesses undervalued due to idiosyncratic risks or suboptimal operations.
Aggregating these businesses reduces individual risk, strengthening the portfolio.
Our operational expertise enables us to run and grow these businesses more effectively than their previous management.
Our public company status allows us to access capital at costs lower than the returns generated by our acquisitions.
In 2024, we made significant strides in all these areas.
We acquired three new businesses, adding eight revenue streams and $6M in revenue:
RevenueZen (RZ) (January 2024): A content marketing agency with $1.4M revenue and $227K net profit. RZ retained its entire team post-acquisition, enhancing operational expertise across our portfolio. This acquisition demonstrated our ability to structure deals with minimal upfront cash, utilizing promissory notes, preferred shares, and seller financing.
DDSRank (July 2024): A niche SEO agency for dentists ($500K revenue, $200K net profit). Funded via one of our our SPV funds, preferred shares, and seller notes, requiring minimal Onfolio cash.
Eastern Standard (ES) (October 2024): A digital marketing agency well known in the health and education industries, with $4MM revenue and $630K net profit. This was structured similarly to DDSRank, with SPV fund participation enabling us to secure a majority stake while preserving capital.
Each acquisition reinforced our ability to execute capital-efficient deals while improving operational efficiency.
2. Evolving Our Operating Model
Effective post-acquisition management is key to our success. While we initially operated as a centralized entity and later decentralized entirely, in 2024, we adopted a hybrid model;“centralized strategy, decentralized execution.” This allows portfolio company leaders to focus on their strengths while benefiting from Onfolio’s shared expertise, strategic oversight, and best practices.
This approach enhances operational efficiency, accelerates growth, and enables acquired businesses to maintain and expand profitability. It also allows us to actively participate in strategic hiring, key decision-making, and resource allocation, maximizing value creation across our holdings.
3. Expanding Our Capital Strategy with SPVs
In March 2024, we launched SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles), allowing accredited investors to co-invest in acquisitions. This proved instrumental in funding DDSRank and ES, enabling us to secure valuable businesses while preserving Onfolio’s cash. While SPVs involve higher capital costs due to equity sharing, they provide an effective solution for funding accretive deals without reliance on traditional debt markets.
For SPV investors, this offers exposure to specific online businesses with a clear return profile, albeit with higher risk and less diversification than Onfolio itself. While not a long-term strategy, SPVs will remain part of our acquisition playbook in 2025, alongside preferred shares.
4. Quoting Our Preferred Shares on OTCQB
A major milestone was quoting our preferred shares on OTCQB, providing liquidity for early investors and expanding access for new ones. Each share pays a $3 annual dividend, appealing to income-focused investors. Since 2022, we’ve raised $1.5M in preferred share financing and issued $3M of preferred shares as part of acquisition financing.
This liquidity should drive demand, potentially allowing us to raise capital more efficiently in 2025 at a lower cost (12%) than SPVs. We anticipate growing this funding channel, unlocking further acquisition opportunities with minimal dilution.
On the Verge of Profitability
Throughout 2024, we have significantly reduced our losses and we now appear to be essentially at profitability. We’ve reached a position where we can continue operations without requiring additional fundraising or acquisitions to achieve profitability, yet we will continue to pursue both because they accelerate our growth and long-term value creation. With this foundation, we expect to move firmly into sustained profitability in the near term.
Looking Ahead to 2025
With our acquisition model validated, capital access expanded, and operational efficiencies improving, 2025 promises even greater momentum. Our roadmap is clear:
Continue acquiring high-quality businesses, where synergies create exponential value.
Expand capital raising efforts, leveraging preferred shares and SPVs.
Further optimize operations, scaling our playbook for sustained growth.
If we execute well, we anticipate achieving significant profitability in the near term, reinforcing our ability to deliver compounded returns for our shareholders.
Onward to an even stronger 2025.
About Onfolio Holdings
Onfolio acquires and manages a diversified portfolio of online businesses. Onfolio acquires business that meet its investment criteria, being that such businesses operate in sectors with long-term growth opportunities, have positive and stable cash flows, face minimal threats of technological or competitive obsolescence and can be managed by our existing team or have strong management teams largely in place. The Company excels at finding acquisition opportunities where the seller has not fully optimized their business, and Onfolio’s experience and skillset allows it to add increased value to these existing businesses. Visit www.onfolio.com for more information.
Safe Harbor Statement
The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by use of the words “may,” “will,” “should,” “plans,” “explores,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “continues,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing new customer offerings, changes in customer order patterns, changes in customer offering mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, delays due to issues with outsourced service providers, those events and factors described by us in Item 1.A “Risk Factors” in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q; other risks to which our Company is subject; other factors beyond the Company’s control. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
BOISE, Idaho, Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), today announced the Micron 4600 PCIe® Gen5 NVMe™ SSD, an innovative client storage drive for OEMs that is designed to deliver exceptional performance and user experience for gamers, creators and professionals. Leveraging Micron® G9 TLC NAND, the 4600 SSD is Micron’s first Gen5 client SSD and doubles the performance of its predecessor.1
The Micron 4600 SSD showcases sequential read speeds of 14.5 GB/s and write speeds of 12.0 GB/s. These capabilities allow users to load a large language model (LLM) from the SSD to DRAM in less than one second,2 enhancing the user experience with AI PCs. For AI model loading times, the 4600 SSD reduces load times by up to 62% compared to Gen4 performance SSDs3 ensuring rapid deployment of LLMs and other AI workloads. Additionally, the 4600 SSD provides up to 107% improved energy efficiency (MB/s per watt) compared to Gen4 performance SSDs,1 enhancing battery life and overall system efficiency.
The 4600 SSD is the second Micron client SSD to incorporate the most advanced Micron G9 NAND technology, following the Micron 2650 NVMe SSD already in production.
Why it matters Accomplishing more and cutting down wait time is more important than ever to gamers, creators and professionals alike. The 4600 leverages PCIe Gen5 technology and the Micron G9 TLC NAND to provide remarkable speed and energy efficiency.
“With the 4600 NVMe SSD, users can load large language models in less than one second, enabling PC experiences in data-intensive applications, especially for AI,” said Prasad Alluri, vice president and general manager for Client Storage at Micron. “As AI inference runs locally on the PC, the transition to Gen5 SSDs addresses the increased need for higher performance and energy efficiency.”
Gen5 SSD technology will grow rapidly in 2025 and 2026. The 4600 NVMe SSD is compatible with the leading-edge platforms such as AMD’s Ryzen™ 9000 Series processors, and the Intel® Core™ Ultra Desktop and Mobile (Series 2) processors, ensuring seamless integration for PC OEMs.
“AMD is excited to collaborate on the validation of the Micron 4600 NVMe™ SSD with our latest Ryzen family of processors,” said Joe Macri, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Compute and Graphics at AMD. “The Micron 4600 NVMe™ SSD is anticipated to deliver exceptional performance and a best-in-class user experience for the most demanding professional applications and high-speed gaming.”
“The co-validation efforts with Micron in our Intel Folsom Open Labs have been instrumental to achieving today’s compatibility milestone. The Micron 4600 SSD, which has been designed for PCIe Gen5 platforms and offers fantastic performance and power efficiency, is now listed on the Intel PCL (Platform Component List),” said Todd Lewellen, vice president of Client Ecosystem Group at Intel. “The 4600 SSD is an ideal fit for AI PCs based on Intel Core Ultra processors, as well as future platforms.”
“Lenovo will qualify the Micron 4600 SSD because of its industry-leading performance and its use of low temperature soldering (LTS) technology during SSD module assembly,” said Takashi Sugawara, director and principal engineer at Lenovo. “As a pioneer in LTS technology, Lenovo has been collaborating with Micron in the pursuit of reducing the amount of energy consumed in the SSD manufacturing process.”
Level up to high-performing Gen5 storage The Micron 4600 NVMe SSD delivers up-to performance improvements over Gen4 SSDs:4
14.5 GB/s sequential read speeds, 107%
12.0 GB/s sequential write speeds, 71%
2.1 million random read IOPS, 83%
2.1 million random write IOPS, 83%
Enhanced user experience Designed to elevate AI, scientific, gaming and content creation experiences, the Micron 4600 NVMe SSD unlocks best-in-class PCMark 10 benchmark scores:
Up to 38% better than Gen4 performance SSDs4
Up to 11% better scores compared to Gen5 competitors5
The 4600 SSD provides exceptional user experiences over previous Gen4 drives for scientific, media and entertainment, along with a variety of other use cases, as demonstrated with the SPECwpc5 benchmark results on speed improvements:4
Media and entertainment applications: up to 61% faster
Energy industry applications: up to 59% faster
Product development applications: up to 45% faster
Life sciences applications: up to 38% faster
Building upon prior ultra-secure features like TCG Opal, signed firmware and secure boot, the 4600 SSD includes the latest in advanced security features such as Security Protocol and Data Model (SPDM), Data Object Exchange (DOE) and Device Identifier Composition Engine (DICE), helping provide improved protection of user data.
The Micron 4600 NVMe SSD is now available for OEM sampling globally. For more information, visit Micron 4600 NVMe SSD.
Additional Resources:
About Micron Technology, Inc. Micron Technology, Inc. is an industry leader in innovative memory and storage solutions, transforming how the world uses information to enrich life for all. With a relentless focus on our customers, technology leadership, and manufacturing and operational excellence, Micron delivers a rich portfolio of high-performance DRAM, NAND, and NOR memory and storage products through our Micron® and Crucial® brands. Every day, the innovations that our people create fuel the data economy, enabling advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and compute-intensive applications that unleash opportunities — from the data center to the intelligent edge and across the client and mobile user experience. To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), visit micron.com.
1 Performance and power efficiency statements are based on comparisons to PCIe Gen4 Micron 3500 SSD vs. Micron 4600 SSD.
2 The large language model (LLM) used in testing was the Llama2 with 13 billion parameters and 10.4GB file size.
3 Statement based on a Llama2 with 13 billion parameter model load times using a 1TB Micron 3500 PCIe Gen4 SSD compared to the same model’s load times using a 1TB Micron 4600 PCIe Gen5 SSD.
4 All performance statements in this section are relative to the claim made and are based on PCIe Gen4 Micron 3500 SSD vs. PCIe Gen5 Micron 4600 SSD comparisons.
5 Comparisons are made to publicly announced client SSD suppliers with at least 10% client OEM SSD revenue share, excluding Apple® and gaming consoles, as noted in Forward Insights analyst report: SSD Supplier Status Q3/24 November 2024. Scores are based on benchmark testing in Micron labs with competitive drives available at the time of Micron 4600 SSD announcement.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
RENO, Nev., Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ITS Logistics today released the February forecast for the ITS Logistics US Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index. This month the index reveals that operations have returned to normal in all regions following the Lunar New Year peak and light inventory front loading to avoid anticipated bottlenecks. In addition, the most significant current unknowns for the industry are the potential effects of tariffs and their impact on trade lanes.
“Though changing booking patterns and front loading inventory can help with savings in the short-term, these strategies usually lead to additional cost and material flow problems,” said Paul Brashier, Vice President of Global Supply Chain for ITS Logistics. “The consensus from most experienced shippers is to not be reactionary, as this issue will continue to be very fluid, and the timing and duration of disruptions is unknown.”
In an effort to promote fairer trade and enhance the appeal of U.S. goods, President Trump has called for agencies to explore reciprocal tariffs aimed at increasing America’s revenue. This move, however, risks sparking a global trade war, potentially worsening inflation.
While the tariffs have not yet been imposed, the signing of the memo allows the current presidential administration to begin a review process to initiate them. As the industry awaits further action from the administration, ocean carrier RFP season is approaching, and professionals should begin seeing volumes shift back to the East and Gulf Coast ports as Red Sea diversions and labor disruptions are not expected to be a concern in 2025.
“We suggest companies consider moving bookings to the East and Gulf Coast ports now that the labor issues have been resolved,” continued Brashier. “Earlier in the month, the wage scale committee for the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) approved a tentative six-year agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance from early January. Members are now expected to vote on their new master contract regarding the East and Gulf Coast ports on February 25.”
ITS Logistics offers a full suite of network transportation solutions across North America and distribution and fulfillment services to 95% of the U.S. population within two days. These services include drayage and intermodal in 22 coastal ports and 30 rail ramps, a full suite of asset and asset-lite transportation solutions, omnichannel distribution and fulfillment, LTL, and outbound small parcel.
The ITS Logistics US Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index forecasts port container and dray operations for the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf regions. Ocean and domestic container rail ramp operations are also highlighted in the index for both the West Inland and East Inland regions. Visit here for a full comprehensive copy of the index with expected forecasts for the US port and rail ramps.
About ITS Logistics ITS Logistics is one of North America’s fastest-growing, asset-based modern 3PLs, providing solutions for the industry’s most complicated supply chain challenges. With a people-first culture committed to excellence, the company relentlessly strives to deliver unmatched value through best-in-class service, expertise, and innovation. The ITS Logistics portfolio features North America’s #19 asset-lite freight brokerage, the #12 drayage and intermodal solution, a top 50 dedicated fleet, an innovative cloud-based technology ecosystem, and a nationwide distribution and fulfillment network.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MEF, a global industry association of enterprise and network, cloud, security, and technology providers accelerating enterprise digital transformation, today announced its most powerful Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) API release to date. MEF’s ninth LSO API release solves for the first time complex addressing and operational challenges, including observability. Additionally, this release introduces a suite of advancements designed to enhance service provider and enterprise adoption of standardized, open ecosystem automation for Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) offerings.
“As enterprise networks increasingly become mission-critical, especially with the advent of generative AI, service providers must have the automation capabilities necessary to deliver seamless, standardized services at scale,” said Pascal Menezes, CTO, MEF. “This latest LSO API release represents MEF’s most advanced set of automation tools yet, solving fundamental challenges in service qualification, operational observability, and product definition.”
Key enhancements in the latest MEF LSO API release include:
Advanced Addressing Capabilities – One of the most significant challenges in network automation is determining service availability at specific locations due to varying global address representations. MEF’s new LSO API release solves this challenge by introducing the concept of Installation Place within the MEF Addressing and Site API, allowing service providers to validate addresses more accurately. This innovation enables multiple representations of an address, improving the success rate of service qualification queries and enhancing global service delivery.
Comprehensive Operational Observability – Enterprises increasingly demand full observability of the services they subscribe to, even when delivered across multiple supply chain partners. Now global service providers can interconnect and offer real-time insights into Service Function Testing, performance monitoring, fault detection, and trouble ticketing. This delivers comprehensive end-to-end operational observability for Day N automation workflows.
Expanded Suite of Product and Service Payloads – MEF LSO APIs are designed to support the full lifecycle of NaaS, enabling automated service delivery among enterprises, service providers, and cloud providers. This release augments Carrier Ethernet, DIA, and IP Broadband payloads while incorporating pre-standard payloads for SD-WAN, Wavelengths, Data Center Cross-Connect, MEC IaaS, CAMARA Quality on Demand, and Google Cloud Connect.
Enhanced Product Catalog API – The new API release introduces bundling and pricing capabilities to better define and automate NaaS service offerings. By providing a machine-readable product schema, service providers can create flexible, standardized service definitions that streamline interactions with ecosystem partners.
MEF’s NaaS Customer experience white paper defines key service features, helping enterprises understand what to expect—scalability, dynamic connectivity, real-time insights, and security—while guiding providers on standardized, automated delivery.
MEF’s 2025 NaaS Industry Blueprint provides a comprehensive guide to help service providers and ecosystem participants develop, deliver, and manage NaaS offerings across a standards-based automated ecosystem.
For more information, visit www.mef.net.
About MEF MEF is a global consortium of service, cloud, cybersecurity, and technology providers collaborating to accelerate enterprise digital transformation. It delivers standards-based frameworks, services, technologies, APIs, and certification programs to enable Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) across an automated ecosystem. MEF is the defining authority for certified Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) business and operational APIs and Carrier Ethernet, SASE, SD-WAN, Zero Trust, and Security Service Edge (SSE) technologies and services. MEF’s Global NaaS Event (GNE) convenes industry leaders building and delivering the next generation of NaaS solutions. For more information about MEF, visit MEF.net and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Chinatown’s rich tradition of activism was on full display for the past two and half years, as residents and allies fiercely opposed the Philadelphia 76ers’ plans to build a basketball arena in the Market East neighborhood at the southern edge of Chinatown.
A city-sponsored community impact study found that the arena could have resulted in the “loss of Chinatown’s core identity and regional significance.” It estimated that half of the neighborhood’s small businesses would have suffered due to increased congestion, potential rent increases and a new demographic less likely to patronize the area’s ethnic businesses.
While the reason for the Sixers’ sudden decision to scrap the Market East arena plan remains unclear, the announcement in January 2025 came as a relief to Chinatown community members who felt they had averted yet another threat to their neighborhood’s existence.
I’m a historian whose research focuses on Asian Americans, cities and social movements, and I’ve seen how urban residents take the existence of Chinatowns in major cities across the country – and even globally, from London to Havana, Cuba, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – for granted. Chinatowns continue to exist and thrive thanks to the residents and allies who fight for them.
The fight over the Sixers arena was only the latest struggle in over 50 years of community organizing in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
Like other American Chinatowns, Philadelphia’s formed during an era of virulent anti-Chinese racism. The neighborhood was established in the 1870s as a refuge for immigrants fleeing the American West, where white railroad workers and miners declared “The Chinese must go!”.
Among the earliest businesses were a handful of laundries and a restaurant on the 900 block of Race Street, just north of Philadelphia’s main commercial district.
In 1923, the Bell Telephone Company purchased additional real estate along the corridor for its new high-rise building and parking lot, displacing Chinese residents. In the same decade, the city used eminent domain to demolish blocks of housing to make way for the Broad-Ridge Spur connecting the Eighth Street and Vine Street subway stations. A Philadelphia Evening Bulletin article in 1934 declared Chinatown to be “a thing of the past.”
As the city began to accommodate more car owners, Race Street was remade as a major thoroughfare to the Delaware Valley Bridge, now called the Ben Franklin Bridge. In 1926, the year the bridge was completed, the Bulletin declared that “The Delaware River Bridge has come and Chinatown must go,” echoing the xenophobic slogans that drove Chinese workers out of western states half a century earlier.
In 1966, the city proposed the expansion of Vine Street into an expressway that would have demolished large swaths of Chinatown, including the beloved Holy Redeemer church and school. Established for Chinese American Catholics in 1941, Holy Redeemer hosted neighborhood meetings and recreational events as well as religious services. The Vine Street Expressway project was one instance of the national phenomenon of urban renewal, which aimed to clear and redevelop areas designated as blighted.
These groups comprised the 1970s Save Chinatown movement. They held numerous protests, made frequent media appearances and used the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act to craft their strategy. They demanded an environmental impact statement, which, when issued in 1983, recommended a much smaller expressway than originally designed. Holy Redeemer was saved. The final plans also scrapped two off-ramps that would have cut through the neighborhood. Construction on the expressway was completed in 1991.
Resisting a prison, baseball stadium and casino
The Save Chinatown movement continued through the decades as community members successfully fought the construction of a federal prison in 1993, a baseball stadium in 2000 and a casino in 2008 – all proposed for sites in or bordering Chinatown.
“The future of Chinatown is going to be a huge battle,” activist Debbie Wei stated in a 2002 documentary released after the conclusion of the baseball stadium fight a few years earlier. “We’re going to fight it, and my children are probably going to have to fight it as well.”
‘Look Forward and Carry on the Past: Stories from Philadelphia’s Chinatown’ (2002). Debbie Wei’s reflections on the future of Chinatown begin at 25:28.
Her words were prescient. Her daughter Kaia Chau emerged as a key leader of the campaign against the Sixers arena 20 years later.
Chau co-founded Students for the Preservation of Chinatown with fellow student leader Taryn Flaherty. The group organized teach-ins, galvanized Philadelphia-area students to join protests, and highlighted arena developers’ ties to local universities, including the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. By focusing on the developers, students made connections between the arena proposal and the gentrification of West Philadelphia, including the demolition of the University City Townhomes, an affordable housing complex whose residents were mostly Black.
The movement against the Sixers arena became part of a multiracial, citywide fight against displacement. As Rev. Gregory Holston of Black Philly 4 Chinatown, part of the Save Chinatown coalition, put it: “In North Philadelphia, in West Philadelphia, in South Philadelphia, the same process is happening over and over and over again, where people are pushing and displacing people of color out of this city.”
Activists have also created new housing, educational and arts institutions to keep Chinatown a family-friendly neighborhood.
The location where the prison was planned in 1993 is now Hing Wah Yuen, a 51-unit mixed-income affordable housing complex developed by the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation – the same organization that led the fight against the Vine Street Expressway in the 1970s.
The K-8 school, located in the footprint of the proposed stadium, teaches Mandarin and emphasizes art and music classes that reflect students’ cultural background.
More recently, recognizing the need for more “third places” for youth beyond home and school, student leaders Chau and Flaherty launched the Ginger Arts Center in 2024. The organization provides a recreational space and arts programs for young people in Chinatown.
The community institutions that have sprung up in the wake of defeated development projects illustrate how Chinatown is not a thing of the past, nor is it solely a food and culture destination to be consumed.
Rather, Chinatown is a thriving community that has long fought to survive, reinvent itself and determine its own future – one that carries the legacy of previous generations of resistance.
Vivian Truong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
With the recent confirmations of Tulsi Gabbardand Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – two of the most controversial of President Donald Trump’s high-level administration nominees – the president’s attempt to remake government as a home for political loyalists continues.
This unprecedented sequence of events in the U.S. has left many observers in a daze, struggling to make sense of the dramatic reshaping of the bureaucracy under way.
Yet, as researcherson authoritarianpolitics, it is no surprise to us that a leader bent on expanding his own power, such as Trump, would see the bureaucracy as a key target. Here’s why.
Elon Musk, standing next to President Donald Trump, explains his theory concerning government bureaucracy.
Dismantle democracy from within
A well-functioning bureaucracy is an organization of highly qualified civil servants who follow established rules to prevent abuses of power. Bureaucracies, in this way, are an important part of democracy that constrain executive behavior.
For this reason, aspiring strongmen are especially likely to go after them. Whether by shuffling the personnel of agencies, creating new ones, or limiting their capacity for oversight, a common tactic among power-hungry leaders is establishing control over the government’s bureaucracy. Following a failed coup attempt in 2016, for example, Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdoğan fired or detained as many as 100,000 government workers.
In the long term, this hollowing out and reshaping of the bureaucracy is part of a broader plan in which aspiring autocrats usurp control over all institutions that can constrain them, such as the legislature and the courts. As we document in our book, “The Origins of Elected Strongmen,” attacks on the bureaucracy constitute a significant step in a larger process in which elected leaders dismantle democracy from within.
Take control of bureaucracy
The seemingly bizarre series of events that have transpired in Washington since Trump came to power are highly consistent with other countries where democracy has been dismantled.
Soon after taking control, Talon created new agencies housed in the executive office and defunded existing ones, as a means of skirting bureaucratic constraints to his rule. The central affairs of the state were in the hands of an informal cabinet, initially led by Olivier Boko, a wealthy businessman considered to be Talon’s right-hand man despite not having any official position in government.
Consolidating control over the bureaucracy was just one step in a larger process of turning Benin into an autocratic state. Talon eventually amassed greater power and influence over key state institutions, such as the judiciary, and intervened in the electoral process to ensure his continued rule. By 2021, Benin could no longer be considered a democracy.
Purge civil service
A similar dynamic occurred in Hungary. After governing relatively conventionally for one term, Prime Minister Viktor Orban was defeated in elections in 2002. He blamed that outcome on unfriendly media and never accepted the results as legitimate.
As a Hungarian former politician wrote in 2016, “While the mafia state derails the bureaucratic administration, it organizes, monopolizes the channels of corruption and keeps them in order.”
Likewise in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez had his cronies draw up a blacklist of civil servants to be purged for signing a petition in support of a referendum to determine whether Chávez should be recalled from office in 2004; government employees who signed were subsequently fired from their jobs.
More than a decade later, Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s current leader, would conduct his own purge of civil servants after they signed a petition to hold another recall referendum. After multiple rounds of government and military purges, Maduro was able to overturn an election he lost and jail his opponents, knowing full well the judges and generals would follow his orders.
Benin’s leader, Patrice Talon, consolidated control over the bureaucracy as part of a larger process of turning the country into an autocratic state. Yanick Folly/AFP via Getty Images
Foster culture of secrecy and suspicion
Orban and Chavez, like Talon, were democratically elected but went on to undermine democracy.
In environments where loyalty to the leader is prioritized over all else, and purges can happen at a moment’s notice, few people are willing to speak up about abuses of power or stand in the way of a power grab.
Fostering a culture of secrecy and mutual suspicion among government officials is intentional and serves the leader’s interests.
As a World Bank report highlighted in 1983, in President Mobutu Sese Seko’s Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo, the bureaucracy had been “privatized by the ruling clique,” creating a climate in which “fear and repression … prevented any serious threat from dissenting groups.”
When leaders gain full power over the bureaucracy, they use it to reward and punish ordinary citizens as well. This was a tried-and-true tactic under the PRI’s rule in Mexico for much of the 20th century, where citizens who supported the PRI were more likely to receive government benefits.
In short, when aspiring autocrats come to power, career bureaucrats are a common target, often replaced by unqualified loyalists who would never be hired for the position based on merit. Recent events in the U.S., as unprecedented as they may seem, are precisely what we would expect with the return of Trump, a would-be autocrat, to power.
Andrea Kendall-Taylor is affiliated with the Center for New American Security.
Joe Wright has received funding from the Charles Koch Foundation.
Erica Frantz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Tatyana Golikova presented the new national project “Personnel” to the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs
February 18, 2025
Tatyana Golikova presented the new national project “Personnel” to the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs
February 18, 2025
Tatyana Golikova presented the new national project “Personnel” to the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs
February 18, 2025
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Tatyana Golikova presented the new national project “Personnel” to the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and representatives of the federal executive authorities presented the new national project “Personnel” to the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs. Tatyana Golikova and Minister of Labor and Social Protection Anton Kotyakov spoke about the prerequisites for the formation, main goals and directions of the national project. Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and the Social Fund of Russia also took part in the presentation.
As Tatyana Golikova noted, in his Address to the Federal Assembly in February last year, the President named Russia’s entry into the world’s four largest economies by 2030 as one of the country’s development priorities. And one of the most important tasks associated with this is providing the economy with personnel.
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that currently there are 1.5 million vacancies available on the Rabota Rossii portal in the country, a third of which (471 thousand) are blue-collar jobs. At the same time, the unemployment rate at the end of 2024 did not exceed 2.3%. According to preliminary estimates, up to 3.1 million workers need to be additionally attracted to the economy by 2030 compared to 2022 as a basis. “This means that we need to additionally involve about 800 thousand people in the economy by 2030. But that’s not all, because during the same period, based on demographic trends that traditionally occur in the labor market every year, which we did not notice during the period of calm economic development, we will have to replace another 10.1 million people due to retirement. That is, the total estimate of both replacement and involvement in the economy today is 10.9 million people,” the Deputy Prime Minister explained.
In the next five years, about 6.7 million graduates from universities and colleges will enter the labor market, and our task is to provide them with qualified advanced professional training in accordance with the labor market forecast. “On the one hand, this is our golden resource, and on the other hand, we must very clearly understand that the young people entering the labor market meet the needs of the labor market. This is the most difficult task, because in a number of industries and professions there is a discrepancy with the needs of the labor market. We see that the need for qualified labor today makes up 70% of the total need, the rest are specialists in higher education,” noted Tatyana Golikova.
The established trends served as prerequisites for the development of a new interdepartmental national project “Personnel”.
“Over 116 billion rubles will be allocated for the implementation of the national project in the next six years, of which over 113 billion rubles will come from the federal budget. We plan that as a result, a new model for managing the country’s personnel supply will be created, which will allow us to increase the rate of reduction of the personnel deficit by 2030 by increasing employment by 3.4%,” said Tatyana Golikova.
The national project includes four federal projects: “Labour Market Management”, “Education for the Labour Market”, “Active Measures to Promote Employment”, and “The Working Person”.
The first is aimed at managing the labor market. It is planned to create mechanisms and tools for effective involvement in employment. The average time of employment for citizens who applied to employment centers in search of suitable work will be reduced by 25%. This will be facilitated by the modernization of more than 1.5 thousand employment centers, the creation of new models of their work based on the annual updating of the forecast of the need of economic sectors for specialists for a five-year period, the development of services of the unified digital platform “Work in Russia”.
The second federal project is aimed at creating a system for training personnel for priority sectors of the economy based on the forecast of demand. Other national projects are also aimed at training personnel, for example, “Youth and Children”, within the framework of which the “Professionality” project is being implemented.
Within the framework of the national project “Personnel”, it is planned to create 298 career centers based at universities, and a routing of employment for graduates of both secondary and higher education will be introduced.
The third federal project is aimed at creating an effective system of training, retraining and advanced training of personnel for priority sectors of the economy based on the forecast of demand for them. In parallel, issues related to providing opportunities for citizens experiencing difficulties in finding work will be resolved. Thus, the share of equipped workplaces for which people with disabilities are employed will be increased.
The fourth federal project is a continuation of the policy of increasing the prestige of blue-collar jobs.
Minister of Labor and Social Protection Anton Kotyakov emphasized that, based on the tasks set by the head of state, the main goal of the national project “Personnel” is to meet the economy’s need for personnel, primarily through our internal reserves. The main reserves of the labor market: increasing labor productivity; increasing the level of youth employment; increasing the employment of citizens with disabilities; involving citizens caring for loved ones in the economy; maintaining employment of workers with family responsibilities.
One of the most important activities of the national project is the preparation of an annual five-year forecast of personnel needs and its linking with the target figures for admission.
“The President set the task of calculating how many and what kind of specialists, in which regions we will need in order to ensure national development goals, technological leadership projects. We have formed a forecast of personnel needs for a five-year period. It took into account the forecast of socio-economic development, target economic indicators, projects included in strategic planning documents, demographic trends, and the rate of growth of labor productivity,” said Anton Kotyakov.
Not only the new demand that arises due to the growth of industries was analyzed, but also the so-called replacement demand related to the annual retirement of workers. In addition, in order to break down the structure of demand in detail by skill levels and specialties, an all-Russian survey of employers was conducted, in which 260 thousand companies with 22 million employees took part. In preparing the forecast, experts processed 3 million unique job titles.
“As a result of this large-scale and painstaking work, we have received for the first time a detailed forecast in the industry, regional and professional-qualification contexts. The forecast will be calculated annually and taken into account when forming the control figures for admission. Considering that the adaptation of educational processes to the needs of the economy does not happen at once, we understand that a longer forecasting corridor is needed. Therefore, from April 1, an all-Russian survey of employers on the prospective need of the economy for personnel will start for the next forecast. It is planned to calculate it for seven years at once – until 2032,” said Anton Kotyakov.
In conclusion, Tatyana Golikova and representatives of the federal executive authorities answered questions from deputies regarding the national project “Personnel”.
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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wedbush, a Los Angeles-based financial services firm with global reach, and a legacy of innovation and client-focused investment solutions, introduces Wedbush Fund Advisers and announces its entry into the rapidly growing exchange-traded fund (ETF) market. This milestone marks an expansion of Wedbush’s commitment to cutting-edge investment solutions and highly curated product development.
A Strategic Expansion into ETFs
ETFs continue to be one of the fastest-growing segments of the investment management industry, with actively managed and rules-based index ETFs seeing increased adoption by institutional and retail investors alike. Wedbush will sponsor its own ETFs to provide clients and investors with cost-effective, transparent investment options designed to meet modern portfolio construction needs.
“ETF creation is a logical progression for Wedbush as we continue to provide efficient solutions to our investor clients,” said Gary Wedbush, Chief Executive Officer at Wedbush. “For nearly 70 years, we’ve steadily grown Wedbush by leveraging the expertise of our colleagues and our cutting-edge technology and operational infrastructure. It’s our vision that Wedbush will become the platform of choice for entrepreneurial ETF managers.”
Wedbush Fund Advisers will rely on a team of experienced professionals bringing a wealth of knowledge in asset management, quantitative research, and market analysis, with the long-term goal of providing investors tools that align with their financial objectives, risk tolerances and market views. Wedbush anticipates further expansion in the ETF space, with additional product launches designed to address emerging trends and investor demand.
About Wedbush
Since its founding in 1955, Wedbush is widely known for providing clients, both private and institutional, with a wide range of securities brokerage, clearing, wealth management, and investment banking services. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with 100 registered offices and nearly 900 colleagues, the firm focuses on client service, financial safety, innovation, and the utilization of advanced technology. Certain securities and Investment Advisory services are offered through Wedbush Securities Inc., Member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisory services to the Wedbush Series Trust will be provided by Wedbush Fund Advisers, LLC.
Media Contact Deborah Kostroun, Zito Partners deborah@zitopartners.com +1 (201) 403-8185
STRASBURG, Va., Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First National Corporation (the “Company” or “First National”) (NASDAQ: FXNC), the bank holding company of First Bank (the “Bank”) is pleased to announce the addition of Joe Shearin as President, Greater Richmond Market. Joe will lead First Bank’s strategic efforts across Richmond, Southside Virginia, and northern North Carolina. He will be responsible for community impact and all lines of business banking and business development in the expanded footprint, following the 2024 merger with Touchstone Bank.
Joe brings over 40 years of banking experience and is retired President and CEO of Sonabank/Southern National Bancorp (formerly EVB/Eastern Virginia Bankshares). During Joe’s tenure as President and CEO of Sonabank, he successfully led the company through major economic conditions, while growing the bank from approximately $500 million in assets to over $3.4 billion when he retired.
“We are thrilled to have a banker of Joe Shearin’s experience and caliber join our team. He is a proven community leader, and with his banking expertise and knowledge of the greater Richmond and Southside Virginia communities, this is a tremendous win for First Bank,” said Scott C. Harvard, CEO of First National Corporation and First Bank. “We believe banking is a people business, and Joe is a known and trusted advisor to his clients and in the community. His experience clearly aligns with our culture and strategic commitment to growth in the Richmond region and beyond.”
Joe was appointed in 2023 by Governor Glen Youngkin as the Executive Director of the Small Business Financing Authority (VSBFA). The VSBFA is dedicated to providing essential financing programs that support businesses, not-for-profits, and economic development authorities with the financing necessary for economic growth and expansion throughout the Commonwealth. In addition, Joe is the Founder and CEO of Jamescrest Consulting Group, whose mission is to assist organizations develop strategies to help improve their efficiencies, productivity, and profitability. A graduate, and now trustee, of North Carolina Wesleyan University, Joe has served as board member for Infinex Financial Services, Virginia Bankers Association, and director and previous chairman of Virginia Association of Community Banks. Currently he is director and Chairman of the Board for Community Bankers Bank. Joe is very active in the community, serving with many non-profit organizations.
“As a long-time Prince George and Richmond area resident, I am excited about the opportunity to lead true community banking here. First Bank understands what is important to our current clients and is eager to share those values with new and existing customers,” Joe stated. “While the banking industry in the Tri-Cities market is competitive, we feel the flexibility and efficiency that First Bank provides are key aspects of how we do business and do it well. Our team is focused on delivering community banking with a personal touch and a commitment to service.”
Joe and his team stand prepared to meet the banking needs of small businesses, corporations, real estate investors, individuals, municipalities, and non-profits alike.
Harvard added, “Joe adds to already impressive roster of leadership in our growing Richmond area market. His experience fully aligns with our culture and our focus on positioning First Bank for transformational growth in greater Richmond and beyond. We are excited about the significant contributions he will bring to First Bank.”
First National Corporation (NASDAQ: FXNC) is the parent company and bank holding company of First Bank, a community bank that first opened for business in 1907 in Strasburg. The Bank offers loan and deposit products and services through its website, www.fbvirginia.com, its mobile banking platform, a network of ATMs located throughout its market area, a loan production office, a customer service center in a retirement community, and thirty-three bank branch office locations located through the Shenandoah Valley, the south-central regions of Virginia, the Roanoke Valley, the Richmond MSA, and in northern North Carolina. In addition to providing traditional banking services, the Bank operates a wealth management division under the name First Bank Wealth Management. First Bank also owns First Bank Financial Services, Inc, which owns an interest in an entity that provides title insurance services.
PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Now Corporation (OTC: NWPN), through its subsidiary Green Rain Solar Inc., a solar energy utility company specializing in urban solar energy and grid integration, is pleased to announce a new joint venture with Chronical Engineering, a California based firm with extensive experience in solar infrastructure and EV charging technology.
The joint venture will focus on the construction and leasing of multiple solar farms and EV charging stations, with an initial rollout in high-traffic locations across Orange County, California. This initiative represents a significant step in Green Rain Solar’s long-term strategy to modernize underutilized urban spaces, including former gas station sites, transforming them into hubs for clean energy production and EV charging.
The partnership will leverage Chronical Engineering’s proven expertise in renewable energy infrastructure to design, build, and implement solar carports and EV charging stations. Green Rain Solar will secure long-term land leases for these installations, with each site undergoing a rigorous financial viability assessment to ensure strong, sustained returns. The energy generated will be sold directly to local utilities through community solar programs, contributing to a cleaner, more resilient grid.
“This joint venture marks a pivotal step in our growth and reinforces our commitment to sustainable urban energy solutions,” said Alfredo Papadakis, CEO of The Now Corporation. “Chronical Engineering’s track record in solar and EV infrastructure makes them an ideal partner as we continue to execute our vision of transforming urban landscapes into renewable energy assets.”
The company plans to begin construction on three initial sites in Orange County, with potential expansion into additional markets based on performance and demand.
Sustainable Urban Energy Solutions
Green Rain Solar Inc. remains focused on delivering innovative, high-yield solar solutions that reduce carbon footprints and provide long-term value for shareholders.
About The Now Corporation: The Now Corporation (OTC: NWPN) is committed to advancing clean energy solutions through its subsidiary, Green Rain Solar Inc. Green Rain Solar focuses on urban rooftop solar installations and grid-connected power solutions, targeting markets with high energy costs. By combining state-of-the-art solar and battery technologies, The Now Corporation is dedicated to driving innovation and sustainability in the renewable energy sector.
About Green Rain Solar Inc.: Green Rain Solar Inc., a subsidiary of The Now Corporation (OTC: NWPN), is a solar energy utility company specializing in urban solar energy and grid integration. The company develops innovative rooftop solar projects to transform sunlight into grid-connected power, promoting sustainable energy solutions for high-cost urban areas.
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. This includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release may not be concluded due to unforeseen technical, installation, permitting, or other challenges. Such forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of The Now Corporation to differ materially from those expressed herein. Except as required under U.S. federal securities laws, The Now Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Locus Technologies, the sustainability and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) compliance software leader, today announced that its CSRD and ESG reporting software was a top performer in the “Smart Innovators: ESG & Sustainability Reporting and Data Management Software (2025)” report published by Verdantix. The companies featured in the analysis were evaluated for their maturity in 10 key functional categories. Locus CSRD and ESG software was acknowledged for its “market-leading functionality, with differentiated offering” or “strong functionality” in all categories, resulting in the third highest performance overall.
Of the 200+ software companies originally considered for the report, only 38 met the baseline criteria, including the ability to deliver across E, S and G metrics and to support large enterprises with at least $1 billion in revenue.
“As a small company doing big things under the radar every day, we are pleased to be acknowledged by Verdantix for our accomplishments in the ESG software space,” said Neno Duplan, founder and CEO of Locus Technologies. “Drawing upon nearly 30 years of smart innovation, Locus has become the only rated company that also leads in the adjacent markets for EHS compliance, water quality and mass balance, radionuclides compliance, clean construction, and refrigerant management – which enables us to deliver a single, integrated platform for all types of environmental data and compliance activities: from sampling to sustainability.”
This recognition highlights Locus’s critical role in helping organizations navigate an ever-evolving global regulatory landscape. The unified Locus Platform has been adopted by large and diverse organizations like Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Chevron to seamlessly manage, report on, and succeed in their global EHS compliance, ESG, and sustainability initiatives.
The Verdantix report informs enterprise software purchasing decisions for ESG and evaluates vendors on product maturity in key areas like data collection and verification, double materiality, reporting, and workflows.
To learn more about Locus CSRD and ESG software and recent implementations in the US and abroad, please visit www.locustec.com.
About Locus Technologies Locus Technologies, the global environmental, social, governance (ESG), sustainability, and EHS compliance software leader, empowers companies of every size and industry to be credible with ESG reporting. From 1997, Locus pioneered enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) for EHS compliance, water management, and ESG credible reporting. Locus apps and software solutions improve business performance by strengthening risk management and EHS for organizations across industries and government agencies. Organizations ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises, such as Sempra, Corteva, Chevron, DuPont, Chemours, San Jose Water Company, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Port of Seattle, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, have selected Locus. Locus is headquartered in Mountain View, California. For further information regarding Locus and its commitment to excellence in SaaS solutions, please visit https://www.locustec.com or email info@locustec.com.
Media Contact: Brenda Mahedy Locus Technologies media@locustechnologies.net
Company to showcase market-leading solutions portfolio at LMT Lab Day 2025
Will preview NextDent® 300 MultiJet 3D printer designed to rapidly produce multi-material, monolithic dentures
Plans include solutions for nightguards and direct-printed aligners in near future, bolstering portfolio to address straightening, protection, repair, replacement of teeth
Comprehensive solutions portfolio for dental laboratories and practitioners intended to cement 3D Systems’ leadership in global digital dental industry — a market estimated to exceed $14 billion by 2032
ROCK HILL, S.C., Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) revealed several new innovations it intends to showcase at LMT Lab Day 2025 including the NextDent®Jetted Denture Solution for multi-material monolithic dentures, as well as previews of its solutions for night guards and direct printed aligners. 3D Systems has established itself as a leader in digital dentistry – revolutionizing the industry with the broadest portfolio of integrated solutions that are helping dental laboratories and clinics more efficiently deliver patient-specific devices. The addition of solutions to address applications for dentures, and in the future night guards and direct-printed aligners, further strengthens the Company’s innovative position in the industry.
Foundational to 3D Systems’ multi-material, monolithic jetted denture solution the Company introduced at LMT Lab Day 2024, 3D Systems is pleased to debut the NextDent® 300 MultiJet 3D printer. This unique printer facilitates rapid production of patient-specific dentures that are fully cured and safe to handle without the need for additional post-curing steps. To complement the NextDent 300, 3D Systems’ materials scientists developed NextDent® Jet Teeth and NextDent® Jet Base — the former uniquely formulated to mimic tooth rigidity and aesthetics, and the latter to absorb impact. When these materials are used as part of 3D Systems’ FDA-cleared complete workflow solution comprising materials, jetted 3D printing technology, software, and services, high-volume dental laboratories can deliver dentures with improved performance and aesthetics, resulting in a superior patient experience. The speed of 3D Systems’ jetting technology combined with monolithic denture printing accelerates total production rates — enabling a full build of 15 arches in as little as nine hours — significantly reducing time to completion resulting in expedited delivery to the prosthodontist and patient. 3D Systems will be taking pre-orders for its NextDent Jetted Denture solution at Lab Day and anticipates general availability early in the third quarter of 2025.
With the introduction of the NextDent 300 for multi-material printing, 3D Systems is looking to the future with the next application of this technology for night guards. Night guards are a rapidly growing market segment driven by the need to prevent damage to teeth from night grinding, an affliction affecting millions of people around the world. Night guards are also increasingly used by physicians for the treatment of sleep apnea and related disorders. The Company expects night guards to become an important element of its dental technology portfolio in late 2025.
Finally, with the exceptional legacy 3D Systems has established for itself as a key supplier of 3D printing technology to the clear aligner industry, its technology today enables the manufacture of roughly one million patient-specific clear aligners daily across this rapidly growing market. The Company believes this work provides a strong foundation upon which to launch the next phase of significant expansion in the dental market, which will include novel technology for the direct printing of clear aligner products. 3D Systems anticipates availability of this solution in 2026.
“3D Systems has been a pioneer in digital dentistry for years, establishing itself as an industry leader,” said Dr. Jeffrey Graves, president & CEO, 3D Systems. “Additive manufacturing is poised for widespread adoption across all dental applications — to straighten, protect, repair and replace teeth — and we’re perfectly positioned to capitalize on this growth. Our decades of experience developing specialized dental materials and 3D printing technology along with our deep applications expertise will allow us to bring a full spectrum of high-volume production solutions to market in the coming years. We’re committed to this expansion and are working closely with key players in every dental product category to accelerate the availability of these advancements.”
According to Vantage Market Research, the global dental 3D printing market is estimated to be valued at $14.6 billion by 2032. With decades of experience in the dental industry, 3D Systems has been instrumental in catalyzing the adoption of 3D printing to produce patient-specific dental devices. The Company currently boasts the largest portfolio of dental 3D printing materials to address more than 30 applications and empowers dental facilities to manufacture dental appliances with heightened efficiency while minimizing material waste. This translates to accelerated production timelines, resulting in streamlined experiences for more than one million patients served each day.
3D Systems will showcase its digital dentistry portfolio designed to address a breadth of dental applications for orthodontics, prosthodontics, and implantology such as the production of trays, models, surgical guides, dentures, orthodontic splints, retainers, crowns, and bridges at LMT Lab Day (booth A-43/B-42, East Exhibit Hall), to be held February 20-22, 2025 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago (Illinois). Additionally, the Company will highlight how it has validated the NextDent materials portfolio to perform across a wide selection of the industry’s most trusted 3D printers. Attendees are also invited to participate in 3D Systems’ seminars to be held in the Comiskey Room, West Tower, Bronze Level. For more information, please visit the 3D Systems website.
Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements made in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In many cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as “believes,” “belief,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “estimates,” “intends,” “anticipates” or “plans” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based upon management’s beliefs, assumptions, and current expectations and may include comments as to the company’s beliefs and expectations as to future events and trends affecting its business and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside the control of the company. The factors described under the headings “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in the company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other factors, could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected or predicted in forward-looking statements. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not, and should not be relied upon as a guarantee of future performance or results, nor will they necessarily prove to be accurate indications of the times at which such performance or results will be achieved. The forward-looking statements included are made only as of the date of the statement. 3D Systems undertakes no obligation to update or review any forward-looking statements made by management or on its behalf, whether as a result of future developments, subsequent events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law.
About 3D Systems More than 35 years ago, 3D Systems brought the innovation of 3D printing to the manufacturing industry. Today, as the leading additive manufacturing solutions partner, we bring innovation, performance, and reliability to every interaction – empowering our customers to create products and business models never before possible. Thanks to our unique offering of hardware, software, materials, and services, each application-specific solution is powered by the expertise of our application engineers who collaborate with customers to transform how they deliver their products and services. 3D Systems’ solutions address a variety of advanced applications in healthcare and industrial markets such as medical and dental, aerospace & defense, automotive, and durable goods. More information on the company is available at www.3dsystems.com.
BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom, Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DDB Miner a leading cloud mining platform, has launched a series of upgraded mining contracts designed to maximize profitability for cryptocurrency investors. With the increasing demand for passive income opportunities in the crypto space, these new contracts offer enhanced returns, stability, and accessibility for both novice and experienced miners.
Revolutionizing Cloud Mining with New Contracts
The latest contracts from DDB Miner provide an easy and efficient way for investors to earn stable returns without the need for expensive hardware or technical expertise. By leveraging renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, DDB Miner continues to drive down operational costs while ensuring environmentally friendly mining solutions.
Key Features of the New Cloud Mining Contracts
Flexible Investment Options: From entry-level to high-value contracts, users can choose a plan that aligns with their financial goals.
Daily Payouts: Investors receive earnings every 24 hours, ensuring a steady cash flow.
Automatic Principal Return: At the end of the contract term, the initial investment is automatically returned.
Multi-Currency Support: Settle earnings in popular cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, USDT, DOGE, BCH, and SOL.
Affiliate Program: Users can earn referral bonuses of up to $22,000 by inviting friends to the platform.
New Contract Offerings
Experience Contract: $100 investment – Total net profit: $106
Classic Contract: $1,000 investment – Total net profit: $1,131
Premium Contract: $10,000 investment – Total net profit: $18,750
Super Contract: $50,000 investment – Total net profit: $97,500
Why Choose DDB Miner?
Since its founding in 2017, DDB Miner has built a global user base of over 9 million members. The company operates multiple large-scale mining farms and contributes approximately 3.8% of the world’s computing power. By partnering with top mining equipment manufacturers like Bitmain and Antminer, DDB Miner ensures optimal efficiency and stability for its users.
Additionally, DDB Miner is legally registered and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority, offering a secure and compliant environment for cloud mining enthusiasts.
Choose a Contract: Select an investment plan that suits your goals.
Start Earning: Activate the contract and let the system mine for you.
Track and Withdraw: Monitor your profits through the platform’s intuitive dashboard and withdraw earnings at your convenience.
To learn more about the new cloud mining contracts, visit DDB Miner’s official website or download the mobile app from Google Play or the Apple Store.
About DDB MinerDDB Miner is a trusted cloud mining platform, providing network encryption technology services and innovative mining solutions since 2017. With a commitment to clean energy, regulatory compliance, and advanced technology, DDB Miner continues to offer profitable and sustainable mining opportunities for global investors.
Start using DDB Miner’s worry-free cloud mining solution to increase your income.
For more details, please visit the DDB Miner official website: https://ddbminer.com.
Media Contact: Katerina Audrey DDB Miner Media Relations Email: info@ddbminer.com
Disclaimer: This press release is provided by “DDB Miner”. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the sponsor and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in cloud mining and related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
Restrictions on medical care for transgender youth assume that without the ability to medically transition, trans people will vanish.
As of 2024, 26 U.S. states have banned gender-affirming care for young people. Less than a month into office, President Donald Trump issued numerous executive orders targeting transgender people, including a mandate to use “sex” instead of “gender” on passports, visas and global entry cards, as well as a ban on gender-affirming care for young people. These actions foreground the upcoming Supreme Court case of U.S. vs. Skrmetti which promises to shape the future of gender-affirming health care in the U.S., including restrictions or bans.
History, however, shows that withholding health care does not make transgender people go away. Scholarship of medieval literature and historical records reveals how transgender people transitioned even without a robust medical system – instead, they changed their clothes, name and social position.
Surgery in medieval times
Surgery was not a widespread practice in the medieval period. While it gained some traction in the 1300s, surgery was limited to southern France and northern Italy. Even there, surgery was dangerous and the risk of infection high.
Cutting off fleshy bits is an old practice and, potential dangers aside, removing a penis or breasts wasn’t impossible. But amputating functioning limbs was nearly always a form of punishment. Medieval people, including surgeons and patients, likely would not have had positive views of surgery that involved removing working body parts.
Illustration from a Latin translation of Albucasis’ Chirurgia, depicting surgical instruments. Wellcome Collection
Surgeons in the 14th century were increasingly thinking about how to perform surgery on those with both male and female genitalia – people now called intersex. But they thought about this in terms of “correcting” genitalia to make it more apparently male or female – an attitude still present today. Historically, the procedure was probably performed on adults, but today it is usually performed on children. Both then and now, the surgery often disregards the patient’s wishes and is not medically necessary, at times leading to complications later. For patients deemed female, excess flesh could be cut away, and for patients deemed male, the vulva could be cauterized to close it.
There is, however, at least one historical example of a transgender individual receiving surgery. In 1300, near Bern, Switzerland, an unnamed woman was legally separated from her husband because she was unable to have sex with him. Soon after, the woman headed to Bologna, which was the surgery capital of Europe at the time. There, a surgeon cut open the woman’s vulva, revealing a penis and testicles. The account ends, “Back home, he took a wife, did rural work, and had legitimate and sufficient intercourse with his wife.”
The story presents the possibility of medical transition, possibly even a desire for it. But given the limits of surgical techniques and ideologies at the time, these forms of medical transition were unlikely to be common.
Transitioning without medicine
To transition without medicine, medieval transgender people relied on changes they could make themselves. They cut their hair, put on different clothes, changed their names, and found new places in society.
In 1388, a young woman named Catherine in Rottweil, Germany, “put on men’s clothes, declared herself to be a man, and called herself John.” John went on to marry a woman and later developed breasts. This caused some initial consternation – the city council of Rottweil sent John and his wife to court. However, the court did not see breasts as inhibiting John’s masculinity and the couple went home without facing any charges.
In 1395, a transgender woman named Eleanor Rykener appeared before a court in London, England, after she was caught working as a prostitute. The court clerk wrote “that a certain Anna … first taught [her] to practice this detestable vice in the manner of a woman. [She] further said that a certain Elizabeth Bronderer first dressed [her] in women’s clothing” and later she took on work as an embroideress and tapster, a sort of bartender. The account is Rykener’s own, but the court clerk editorialized it, notably adding the phrase “detestable vice” in reference to prostitution.
Rykener’s account reveals that there were a number of people interested in helping her transition – people who helped her dress, taught her how to behave, provided her employment and supported her choice of a new name. Community was a more important part of her transition than transforming her body. Based on the record, she apparently did not make an effort to create breasts.
Another account appeared in 1355 in Venice, Italy, concerning Rolandina Ronchaia. While John declared himself male, and Rykener was very active in her transition, Ronchaia’s transition was spurred on by the perceptions of others. She argued that she had always had a “feminine face, voice and gestures,” and was often mistaken for a woman. She also had breasts, “in women’s fashion.” One night, a man came to have sex with her, and Ronchaia, “wishing to connect like a woman, hid [her] own penis and took the man’s penis.” After that, she moved to Venice, where, although she continued to wear men’s clothes, she was still perceived as a woman.
Ronchaia’s account is unique because it emphasizes her body and her desire to change it by hiding her penis. But this was still a matter of what she herself could do to express her gender, rather than a medical transition.
A long transgender history
The accounts of medieval transgender individuals are limited – not only in number but in length. A lot of things did not get written down, and people were not talking about transgender people the way we are now.
Historical accounts of transgender individuals are almost always in court records, which reflect the concerns of the court more clearly than the concerns of its subjects. The court was especially worried about sexual activity between men, which both overemphasizes the importance of sex in medieval transgender people’s lives and often obscures that these accounts are even about transgender people. Eleanor Ryekener’s account frequently misgenders her and refers to her as “John.”
But it’s clear that transgender people existed in the medieval period, even when medical care was unavailable to them.
It is also the case that many of these individuals – Rykener is a likely exception – were probably intersex, and their experience would be different from those who were not. Intersex people were legally recognized and allowed some leeway if they chose to transition as an adult. This is starkly apparent in an account from Lille, France, in 1458, where a transgender woman was accused of sodomy and burned at the stake. She claimed “to have both sexes,” but the account says this was not the case. While being demonstrably intersex may not have saved her, that she claimed she was is telling.
Gender transition has a long history, going even further back than the medieval period. Then as now, the local community played a vital role in aiding an individual’s transition. Unlike the medieval period, most modern societies have far greater access to medical care. Despite current restrictions, transgender people have far more options for transition than they once did.
Medieval modes of transitioning are not a solution to current denials of medical care. But medieval transgender lives do illuminate that transgender people will not vanish even when the legal and medical systems strive to erase them.
Sarah Barringer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
As part of a new RCMP-led data sharing initiative, Alberta RCMP, Calgary Police Service, and Alberta Sheriffs worked together in a Joint Forces Operation (JFO), targeting the top priority offenders in the province, through a warrant roundup.
The decisions to implement the initiative came following the recognition by Alberta RCMP that all law enforcement agencies in Alberta were ranking priority offenders in different ways. Understanding that criminals operate in various jurisdictions, it was determined that a province wide-model to identify and prioritize offenders was required.
Through the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police, all police forces in Alberta have entered into an information sharing agreement that will allow for intelligence and statistical data to be routinely shared. This sharing enables police agencies in Alberta to have a true understanding of the priority offenders that are causing the most harm, not only within individual policing jurisdictions, but across the province. This shared data allows police agencies to properly prioritize and take enforcement action on the most harmful offenders, ensuring the safety of all Albertans.
Alberta RCMP ranks the tens of thousands of unique offenders in Alberta based on the harm they cause in individual communities. To determine the harm caused by these individuals, the Alberta RCMP Strategic Analysis and Research Unit developed a matrix to determine which offenders were causing the most harm in Alberta. This determination is done using the uniform Crime Severity Index scoring that is typically applied to communities by Statistics Canada and applying it to individual’s offenders.
Alberta RCMP, with the assistance of Calgary Police Service Business Analytics, Intelligence & Reporting Section, and policing partners across the province, are now able to collect, translate, and disseminate the offender data of all police agencies in the province to form a clear province-wide priority offender list.
From Nov. 17 to Nov. 30, 2024, the Joint Forces warrant apprehension team hit the streets of Calgary and Southern Alberta, which resulted in the following:
88 arrests
177 warrants executed; 44 for Provincial offences and 133 For Criminal Code offences, representing a total of 306 charges.
RCMP Province wide executed 1005 warrants associated to 948 different offenders. The individuals arrested during the JFO had warrants from all types of crime, ranging from repeat petty thefts, to arsons, drug trafficking, robbery, and sexual offenses.
To highlight some of the offenders who were arrested:
A 55-year-old male resident of Calgary, who had four warrants for his arrest with over 42 charges associated mostly related to property crime, was arrested. In the previous 18 months he has been linked to a number of offences such as robbery, drug possession and theft of motor vehicle.
A 42-year-old male resident of Airdrie, who had seven warrants for his arrest with a total of 27 charges for property crime and fail to comply with court ordered conditions, was arrested. In the previous 18 months he has been associated to files related to sexual interference, sexual assault, and a variety of property crime and drug trafficking offences.
A 34-year-old male resident of Calgary, who had five warrants for his arrest with a total of 32 charges for failing to comply with court orders, was arrested. He has a history of being involved in trafficking drugs, assault with a weapon, as well as a variety of property crime offences.
A 28-year-old female resident of Cold Lake had one warrant for her arrest for driving offences. She has had 50 interactions with police in the past 18 months, including for robbery, assault with a weapon, drug trafficking and firearms possession investigations.
“Law Enforcement needs to work together to ensure that jurisdictional borders do not impede our ability to catch the criminals causing the most harm across Alberta,” said Supt. Mike McCauley of the Alberta RCMP. “A small percentage of criminals cause a significant amount of harm across the province, and by using data to drive our work like we do in operations like these, the impact is incredible. “
“Thanks to strong interagency collaboration and information sharing, there are now fewer dangerous offenders on Alberta’s streets and in our communities,” said Supt. Mike Letourneau of the Alberta Sheriffs. “The Alberta Sheriffs are proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners as we pursue our shared objective of keeping Albertans safe.”
“We are committed to working collaboratively with our law enforcement partners across the province to keep Calgarians safe,” says Superintendent Jeff Bell of the CPS Criminal Operations & Intelligence Division. “Apprehending offenders that have committed crimes across our province is a critical step in maintaining public safety and preventing further victimization. We are proud to have been a partner in this important initiative.”
CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AppTech Payments Corp. (“AppTech or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: APCX) a pioneering Fintech company powering frictionless commerce, today announced that it received notice from the Nasdaq Hearings Advisor (the “Hearings Panel”) of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) that the Hearings Panel has granted the Company’s request to continue its listing on The Nasdaq Stock Market, subject to the Company meeting certain conditions, including filing on or before March 31, 2025, a public disclosure describing that the shareholders’ equity deficiency has been cured and the Company plans on including the detailed requested information in its 2023 10-K filing anticipated to be filed on or before March 15, 2025. The Company was also given until May 5, 2025, to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s $1 minimum bid price per share requirement. The Panel granted our request to attempt to increase the bid price of our stock organically, based in part on our declaration that we were already in compliance with the Equity Rule.
AppTech’s CEO, Thomas DeRosa, extended gratitude to the Nasdaq Staff and the Nasdaq Hearings Panel for their continued support in maintaining the Company’s listing. Our team remains fully committed to meeting all Nasdaq Continued Listing Requirements, including the $1 minimum bid requirement, by May 5, 2025. The recent restructuring and efforts to streamline the company’s finances have positioned AppTech stronger than ever before. We are now on the verge of generating significant revenue across multiple verticals and are dedicated to driving growth and enhancing shareholder value.
Additional information was provided in the Company’s Form 8-K, which was filed earlier today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Click the following link to view today’s 8-K:February 14, 2025 – Form 8-K
About AppTech Payments Corp.
AppTech Payments Corp. (NASDAQ: APCX) provides digital financial services for financial institutions, corporations, small and midsized enterprises (“SMEs”), and consumers through the Company’s scalable cloud-based platform architecture and infrastructure, coupled with our Specialty Payments development and delivery model. AppTech maintains exclusive licensing and partnership agreements in addition to a full suite of patented technology capabilities. For more information, please visit apptechcorp.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, forecast, intend, may, plan, project, predict, should, will” and similar expressions as they relate to AppTech are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in methods of marketing, delays in manufacturing or distribution, changes in customer order patterns, changes in customer offering mix, and various other factors beyond the Company’s control. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to any of these factors. AppTech is under no obligation to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, February 18 2025. Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) today announces that its portfolio company Promimic has published positive results showing a reduction of bacterial growth on the company’s implant surface HAnano Surface. The results are published in the Journal of Functional Biomaterials.
Promimic has previously seen an effect on reduced adhesion of bacteria on HAnano Surface, but the recent results also show a reduction of bacterial growth. The results indicate that the effect is bacteriostatic (hinders growth) and not bactericide (germicidal), which can decrease the risk of bacterial resistance.
The results are based on in vitro tests on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria on HAnano Surface, showing a reduction between 33-46 percent on the bacterial strains S. epidermidis and P. aeruginosa, which are common in implant infections.
”Bacterial infections associated with dental and orthopedic implants are a serious problem and there is a great need for implants that promote healing and reduce the risk of bacterial growth. Our portfolio company Promimic clearly demonstrates the benefits that surface modification can bring to implant treatment in healthcare and for the individual patient,” says Viktor Drvota, CEO of Karolinska Development.
Promimic develops and markets HAnano Surface, a unique, nanometer-thin surface treatment that aims to improve the anchorage and healing of orthopedic and dental implants into bone tissue. The technology is well established and has so far been applied to over 1,8 million implants in clinical use around the world.
Karolinska Development’s shareholding in Promimic, including indirect ownership by KDev Investments, amounts to 14% (2% and 12%, respectively).
Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) is a Nordic life sciences investment company. The company focuses on identifying breakthrough medical innovations in the Nordic region that are developed by entrepreneurs and leadership teams. The Company invests in the creation and growth of companies that advance these assets into commercial products that are designed to make a difference to patients’ lives while providing an attractive return on investment to shareholders.
Karolinska Development has access to world-class medical innovations at the Karolinska Institutet and other leading universities and research institutes in the Nordic region. The Company aims to build companies around scientists who are leaders in their fields, supported by experienced management teams and advisers, and co-funded by specialist international investors, to provide the greatest chance of success.
Karolinska Development has a portfolio of eleven companies targeting opportunities in innovative treatment for life-threatening or serious debilitating diseases.
The Company is led by an entrepreneurial team of investment professionals with a proven track record as company builders and with access to a strong global network.
The Monetary Policy Rate (MoPR) was unchanged at 1.9 percent of the previous week, for a paper maturing on 26 February 2025. The summarised results of the auction held on 18 February 2025, are attached below:
Understanding the relationship between humans and the ocean is crucial for making informed and effective decisions that will shape the future of our ocean. With this in mind, achieving lasting global progress in ocean protection requires prioritising ocean literacy.
Right now, there is a disconnect between young peoples’ recognition of the ocean’s vital role in climate change, and the measures required to protect and restore it.
My work as a marine social scientist focuses on ocean literacy. For me, knowledge is one of the most powerful tools to incite the action needed to save ocean health. The development of ocean literacy, through a range of education and engagement initiatives worldwide that embrace different types of knowledge, must be better prioritised.
Only then can we equip young people with what they need to protect our ocean and to know who to hold accountable for its health.
The ocean — stretching past the horizon, beneath the surface, and into the depths — remains largely out of sight, out of mind. But what happens within it affects us. Fostering stronger ocean literacy across society can help us mend this disconnect.
Ocean literacy is defined as “having an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you and your influence on the ocean”. While not a new concept, ocean literacy has gained increasing popularity in recent years, partly due to its inclusion as a potential mechanism for change within the UN Ocean Decade, launched in January 2021.
Young people must be central in efforts to restore ocean literacy across society. It is essential for them to understand the challenges facing the ocean, recognise who is responsible for addressing them, and advocate for more action. Enhancing ocean literacy among this generation encourages a greater appreciation of the ocean’s critical role in our daily lives, now and in the future.
According to a recent global study engaging 3,500 young people from across 35 countries, a large percentage of young people express concern about the ocean’s health.
It highlights that 53% of young people believe that the ocean can protect us from climate change, yet 61% place a higher priority on protecting forests, tackling air pollution and freshwater scarcity. This shows that young people around the world have low ocean literacy.
This echoes a growing number of national ocean literacy assessments. In 2022, a study of ocean literacy in Wales found that although 84% of people indicated that protecting the marine environment was important to them, 40% felt that their lifestyle had no impact on the sea at all. This highlights a concerning level of disconnect and lack of ocean literacy that could undermine our ability to tackle urgent challenges, including biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.
Swimming, sailing, even just building a sandcastle – the ocean benefits our physical and mental wellbeing. Curious about how a strong coastal connection helps drive marine conservation, scientists are diving in to investigate the power of blue health. This article is part of a series, Vitamin Sea, exploring how the ocean can be enhanced by our interaction with it.
It’s all about accountability
This is not a blame game. However, accountability ensures that governments, industries and people take responsibility for their role in ocean health, driving the transparency and action needed for meaningful education and engagement.
The Back to Blue study found that while half (50%) of young people surveyed were concerned about ocean pollution, very few (17%) wanted increased responsibility from corporations and businesses.
That study, which I advised on, also reveals that young people have high expectations of governments, conservation charities and local communities. Almost half (46%) said that governments should take stronger action to protect ocean health. Yet, expectations of the private sector – some of the biggest ocean polluters – were very low. Young people are misunderstanding where accountability for ocean pollution and the decline in ocean health lies.
The lack of accountability slows progress and perpetuates a cycle of ocean neglect. But, engaging young people in ocean issues will empower them to demand more action and help develop effective solutions.
In some places, ocean literacy is more embedded into students’ learning. More than 500 certified European blue schools are part of the Network of European Blue Schools. And the All-Atlantic Blue Schools Network has established ocean literacy projects and blue school ambassadors in schools in 16 countries, from Angola to the US.
Education can help to engage young people. But only if education systems worldwide integrate ocean literacy from a young age and across all subject areas.
By prioritising ocean literacy, we can empower young people to become informed stewards of the ocean, ensuring that they are not only aware of its vital role in our daily lives but also actively involved in changing the tide.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Emma McKinley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Absolute pitch has long been viewed as a kind of musical superpower. It refers to the ability to identify or produce a tone, like an A or a C-sharp, without any provided reference point.
With only 12 possible answers, naming the pitch of a tone may seem easy. However, it is somehow incredibly difficult for most musicians, including the professionally trained ones.
Adding to this mystery, for gifted musicians and composers such as Mozart, Chopin, and Beethoven, absolute pitch can feel as intuitive as recognising the colour red, reinforcing the widespread belief that absolute pitch – also referred to by many people as perfect pitch – is a rare, exceptional talent.
For decades, many scientists and musicians believed that you either had absolute pitch – or you didn’t. If you are not the lucky ones who carry special genes and have started musical training during early childhood, you were thought to have missed the opportunity entirely. Our new research, however, suggests this isn’t actually true.
Our research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that absolute pitch remains a learnable skill in adulthood – many adults can train their way to levels of performance comparable to individuals who naturally possess this skill in everyday life.
Intense training
To help adults progressively learn to identify tones, our research team designed an eight-week online training programme. On average, 12 musicians dedicated 21 hours and completed over 15,000 pitch naming exercises. These involved hearing a piano or guitar note (within three octaves) for 800 milliseconds and having to name it within a certain amount of time. The participants had to complete 25 hours of training online over eight weeks. The training included a total of 288 training levels, with 24 levels for each additional pitch.
The training required really hard work – participants did not only learn to name the tones accurately, but also very quickly. Over time, the difficulty ramped up as more tones were introduced, and the time allowed for response was further tightened.
We carefully avoided common pitfalls in previous studies. By including a wide range of tones, we ensured that they learned to identify the pitch class – the fundamental quality that makes a note sound like a C, D or E, regardless of whether the tone sounds high or low.
This approach truly captures the essence of absolute pitch. We eliminated feedback during testing, so participants could not rely on their working memory as a crutch. To rule out “lucky guessing,” we required participants to repeatedly demonstrate their abilities with strict criteria for success.
Effort vs talent
By the end of the training, participants had made remarkable progress. On average, they could correctly identify more than seven musical notes almost every time, taking as little as one or two seconds to respond. Their ability to identify the correct notes more than doubled.
Even when they made mistakes, their responses got 43% closer to the correct answer. These impressive gains were also found for notes they hadn’t been specifically trained to recognise, suggesting they were learning something deeper about pitch perception.
Notably, two participants mastered all 12 pitches with performance comparable to that of possessors of absolute pitch in the real world.
What made learning absolute pitch in adulthood possible now, given a century of unconvincing findings? The human brain and perceptual systems are highly adaptable, and this holds well into adulthood. Through practice and feedback, adults can improve their ability to recognise and distinguish sensory inputs, such as visual patterns and speech sounds.
Our training takes advantage of this amazing potential of the human perceptual system to learn. What we have done differently from previous efforts was ultimately that we designed an effective learning experience, including the right learning materials, effective feedback and changes in difficulty for each learner – all while making it fun.
Together with motivated learners, learning absolute pitch in adulthood was made possible.
Music training and beyond
The fact that absolute pitch was previously thought to be locked behind a genetic lottery or early musical exposure has sadly discouraged countless musicians and music educators from learning or teaching it.
Our findings offer an encouraging counter-narrative – absolute pitch is not just for the lucky few. With a well-designed learning tool, it is a skill that many adults can cultivate.
More broadly, our findings demonstrate how science can challenge deep-rooted assumptions about human abilities. Instead of being fixed by biology or early experiences, many skills can still be developed and improved well into adulthood.
This shift in understanding could inspire us to adopt a growth mindset, showing that it is never too late to learn and improve, no matter what you think might hold you back.
So, if you have ever dreamed of identifying musical notes like a virtuoso, it is not too late to work on it now.
Yetta Kwailing Wong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Editors deployed AI to make the Hungarian dialogue in ‘The Brutalist’ sound more authentic.A24/TNS
The 2025 slate of Oscar nominees recognizes many writers, directors and actors whose scripts and performances don’t necessarily reflect their own cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley, both white, co-wrote “Sing Sing,” a story about rehabilitation through art in a maximum security prison where the characters are almost entirely people of color.
Meg LeFauve has now earned her second nomination for penning a script that gives voice the gamut of emotions surging through a young girl in “Inside Out 2.” She’s in her 50s.
The director of “Conclave,” Edward Berger, its writer, Peter Straughan, and its lead actor, Ralph Fiennes, are all self-proclaimedlapsed Catholics. Yet they brought to life a political thriller set in the Vatican.
“The Brutalist” was written entirely in English, but much of the film’s dialogue is in Hungarian, with two leads who are not native Hungarian speakers.
Most screenwriters endeavor to craft characters outside their own backgrounds and experiences. But concerns about authentic language representation and cultural accuracy persist, and accusations of cultural appropriation and lazy research are commonplace.
“Emilia Pérez,” for example, has been heavily criticized not only for unrealistic portrayals of gender transition but also for inauthentic depictions of Mexican culture and accents.
The film’s director, Jacques Audiard, has even claimed his lack of knowledge of Spanish has been an artistic benefit. He says it gives him “a quality of detachment” to emphasize “emotion” rather than “focus too strongly on the accent, the punctuation.”
His lack of interest in precise depictions of language and culture contrasts sharply with our recent research, which shows ample interest from practicing screenwriters in accurately representing dialects and accents in scripts.
Wanting to get it right
We surveyed over 50 current members of the Writers Guild of America, and they broadly told us that sensitivity to linguistic representation has increased since the 2010s.
Several commented that there’s been more commitment to hiring writers who represent the characters’ voices and backgrounds. There’s also more “freedom to include diverse characters and worlds… but a commensurate emphasis on authenticity and a higher bar for what that means,” as one writer explained.
“Authenticity” was consistently cited in our survey as a principal consideration when writing dialogue. Other concerns included scripts’ intelligibility, historical accuracy and believability.
In most cases, screenwriters aspire to write dialogue that sounds authentic. But it’s not easy – and often requires collaboration to get it right. Writers noted how they’ll adjust their dialogue based on production needs, such as budgetary concerns, input from actors and directors, and feedback from dialect coaches and historical consultants.
For example, spec scripts – or noncommissioned film scripts – are written before any casting or production decisions are made. The dialogue in these scripts will likely change once actors and other creatives are attached to the project.
Recipes for capturing linguistic nuance
In our study, we also reviewed screenwriting manuals published as far back as 1946.
Manuals didn’t begin to raise explicit ethical concerns, such as the use of inaccurate linguistic stereotypes in dialogue, until the 1980s. For example, many older films, such as “Gone with the Wind,” often used phonetic spelling in their scripts, with features such as g-dropping – “quittin’” for “quitting” – to mark only the speech of lower-class or racially marginalized characters, despite the fact that all people, regardless of background, have accents.
Writing in heavy phonetics is generally discouraged in modern screenwriting.
There are practical reasons for this. Scripts are read before they’re seen and therefore must first appeal to the not so general audience of executives who buy them. As one writer explained, “My script is targeted towards them.”
Take “Trainspotting.” Irvine Welsh’s 1993 novel about a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh was written with heavy phonetics to capture the characters’ Scottish dialect: “ah wouldnae git tae watch it.” But the screenplay uses lines without phonetics, such as, “I wouldn’t have bothered.”
In this respect, there’s a notable difference in novels and their respective adaptations. One surveyed writer avoids dialectal markers and will “default to standard American English unless there is a reason not to.”
That doesn’t mean the actors in “Trainspotting” should speak in an American English accent. Instead, screenwriters might simply indicate the use of language and dialect when describing the scene in a script or, as one surveyed screenwriter explained, “make a note in the parenthetical that ‘Brynn speaks with a heavy West Virginia accent’” to flag the work that “the actor, dialogue coach, and writer will need to do together.”
This method is employed in “The Brutalist.” The film is partly in Hungarian, but writer and director Brady Corbet and his Norwegian co-writer, Mona Fastvold, wrote the Hungarian dialogue in standard English. They then used parentheticals to indicate any non-English delivery of dialogue. The film’s stars, Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, worked with a dialect coach to hone their accents.
“Anora,” which tells the story of an exotic dancer in a whirlwind romance, features characters who speak Russian, Armenian and English with varying degrees of fluency. Even though the characters frequently switch between these languages, the entire script is in unbroken English. Code-switching is simply marked with “Russian,” “Armenian” or “English” in the script before a piece of dialogue.
‘Anora’ featured characters who switched between Russian, Armenian and English.
But limiting oneself to standard U.S. English restricts diversity in the written dialogue itself. Some writers may want to use dialect or language to convey character authenticity on the page.
Our survey respondents described this as “flavor” – the strategic use of dialectal words or phrases to create distinct voices, with limited phonetics. Jesse Eisenberg, in his Oscar-nominated script “A Real Pain,” lightly blends American English with occasional Yiddish words to great effect: “… landed in Galveston for some fakakta reason,” or “crazy” reason.
AI chimes in
Attempts at authenticity can become muddied when AI gets involved.
But the film’s creators, including editor and native Hungarian speaker Dávid Jancsó, defended this choice. They argued the technology actually enhanced the language’s authenticity, particularly since Hungarian’s system of vowels and consonants is especially hard for nonnative speakers to capture accurately.
Whether writers use phonetics or standard language, and whether producers use AI or dialect coaches, questions of ethics and linguistic authenticity will remain. It’s important to research language choices and dialogue, and to consult the diverse speakers portrayed in scripts.
These are among the many essential checks and balances that are becoming bigger parts of the filmmaking process.
Mitchell Olson is affiliated with Carter Stanton, Creative Executive at Brookstreet Pictures, which was a co-producer of “The Brutalist.” He’s also an acquaintance of Meg LeFauve. He has no stake in the performance of their work outside of having professional relationships.
Chris C. Palmer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
One of President Donald Trump’s major promises during the 2024 presidential campaign was to launch mass deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. without legal authorization.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has said that, since January 2025, it is detaining and planning to deport 600 to 1,100 immigrantsa day. That marks an increase from the average 282 immigration arrests that happened each day in September 2024 under the Biden administration.
The current trend would place the Trump administration on track to apprehend 25,000 immigrants in Trump’s first month in office. On an annual basis, this is about 300,000 – far from the “millions and millions” of immigrants Trump promised to deport.
A lack of funding, immigration officers, immigration detention centers and other resources has reportedly impeded the administration’s deportation work.
The Trump administration is seeking US$175 billion from Congress to use for the next four years on immigration enforcement, Axios reported on Feb. 11, 2025.
One important factor is that mass deportations would weaken key industries in the U.S. that rely on immigrant workers, including those living in the U.S. illegally.
Overall, immigrants without legal authorization make up about 5% of the total U.S. workforce.
Some of these immigrant farmworkers are skilled supervisors who make decisions about planting and harvesting. Others know how to use and maintain tractors, loaders, diggers, rakers, fertilizer sprayers, irrigation systems, and other machines crucial to farm operations.
With fewer available workers to pick fruits and vegetables and prepare the food for shipment and distribution, the domestic production of food could decrease, leading to higher costs and more imports.
Past state-level immigration enforcement policies offer an idea of what could happen at the national level if Trump were to carry out widespread deportations.
For example, a 2011 Alabama law called HB-56 directed local police officers to investigate the immigration status of drivers stopped for speeding. It also prohibited landlords from renting properties to immigrants who do not have legal authorization to work or live in the country. That law and its resulting effects prompted some Alabama-based immigrant workers to leave the state following workplace raids.
Their departure wound up costing the state an estimated $2.3 billion to $10.8 billion loss in Alabama’s annual gross domestic product due to the loss of workers and economic output.
Other industries that rely on immigrants
Part of the challenge of mass deportations for industries like construction, nearly a quarter of whose workers are living without legal authorization, is that their workforce is highly skilled and not easily replaced. Immigrant workers are particularly involved in home construction and specialize in such tasks as ceiling and flooring installation as well as roofing and drywall work.
Shocks from deportations would also slow commercial and public infrastructure construction. Six construction workers, for example, died in April 2024 in the sudden collapse of the Baltimore Key Bridge in Maryland. All of them were Latino immigrants living in the U.S. without legal documentation.
Examining the arguments
Trump administration officials and other politicians have argued that deporting large numbers of immigrants would help the country save money, since fewer people will use federal and state funds by attending public schools or receiving temporary shelter.
Trump said in November 2024 that there is “no price tag” for large-scale deportations.
“It’s not a question of price tag,” Trump said. “We have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here,” Trump told NBC News.
Trump and his supporters also argue that deporting immigrants would mean more jobs for American workers.
Second, for employers, having fewer workers in the country translates into higher wages, which in turn means less capital to adapt and grow. For businesses based on consumer debt – think mortgages, car loans and credit cards – deportations would disrupt the financial sector by removing responsible borrowers who make consistent payments.
In other words, people who are living and working in the U.S. without legal authorization are helping to pay, through taxes, the costs of caring for Americans as they age and begin to draw on the nation’s retirement and health care programs.
The burden from recent inflation notwithstanding, an economy supported by immigrants living illegally in the U.S. protects Americans.
The U.S. would be unable to dodge the economic shocks and high costs that mass deportations would bring about.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Astrainedpharmacists who advocate for and take care of patients in community settings, we’ve witnessed this decline firsthand. The loss of local pharmacies threatens individual and community access to medications, pharmacist expertise and essential public health resources.
The changing role of pharmacies
Community pharmacies – which include independently owned, corporate-chain and other retail pharmacies in neighborhood settings – have changed a lot over the past decades. What once were simple medication pickup points have evolved into hubs for health and wellness. Beyond dispensing prescriptions, pharmacists today provide vaccinations, testing and treatment for infectious diseases, access to hormonal birth control and other clinical services they’re empowered to provide by federal and state laws.
Given their importance, then, why have so many community pharmacies been closing?
There are many reasons, but the most important is reduced reimbursement for prescription drugs. Most community pharmacies operate under a business model centered on dispensing medications that relies on insurer reimbursements and cash payments from patients. Minor revenue comes from front-end sales of over-the-counter products and other items.
And it’s not just mom-and-pop operations feeling the pinch. Over the past four years, the three largest pharmacy chains have announced plans to close hundreds of stores nationwide. CVS kicked off the trend in 2021 by announcing plans to close 900 pharmacy locations. In late 2023, Rite Aid said that thousands of its stores would be at risk for closure due to bankruptcy. And late in 2024, Walgreens announced its plans to close 1,200 stores over the next three years.
So if your neighborhood pharmacy closes, what should you do?
While convenience and location matter, you might want to consider other factors that can help you meet your health care needs. For example, some pharmacies have staff who speak your native language, independent pharmacy business owners may be active in your community, and many locations offer over-the-counter products like hormonal contraception, the overdose-reversal drug naloxone and hearing aids.
You may also consider locations – especially corporate-owned pharmacies – that also offer urgent care or primary care services. In addition, most pharmacies offer vaccinations, and some offer test-and-treat services for infectious diseases, diabetes education and help with quitting smoking.
What to ask if your pharmacy closes
If your preferred pharmacy closes and you need to find another one, keep the following questions in mind:
• What will happen to your old prescriptions? When a pharmacy closes, another pharmacy may buy its prescriptions. Ask your pharmacist if your prescriptions will be automatically transferred to a nearby pharmacy, and when this will occur.
• What’s the staffing situation like at other pharmacies? This is an important factor in choosing a new pharmacy. What are the wait times? Can the team accommodate special situations like emergency refills or early refills before vacations? Does the pharmacist have a relationship with your primary care physician and your other prescribers?
• Which pharmacies accept your insurance? A simple call to your insurer can help you understand where your prescriptions are covered at the lowest cost. And if you take a medication that’s not covered by insurance, or if you’re uninsured, you should ask if the pharmacy can help you by offering member pricing or manufacturer coupons and discounts.
• What are your accessibility needs? Pharmacies often offer services to make your care more accessible and convenient. These may include medication packaging services, drive-thru windows and home delivery. And if you’re considering switching to a mail-order pharmacy, you should ask if it has a pharmacist to answer questions by phone or during telehealth visits.
Remember that it’s best to have all your prescriptions filled at the same pharmacy chain or location so that your pharmacist can perform a safety check with your complete medication list. Drug interactions can be dangerous.
Community pharmacies have been staples of neighborhoods for more than a century. Unfortunately, current trends in pharmacy closures pose real threats to public health. We hope lawmakers address the underlying systemic issues so more Americans don’t lose access to their medications, health services and pharmacists.
Lucas A. Berenbrok is part owner of the consulting company, Embarx, LLC. He receives funding from the American Pharmacists Association.
Michael Murphy consults to the American Pharmacists Association.
Sophia Herbert has received funding from the Community Pharmacy Foundation.
The dramatic images of wealthy neighborhoods burning during the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires captured global attention, but the damage was much more widespread. Many working-class families lost their homes, businesses and jobs. In all, more than 16,000 structures – most of them homes – were destroyed, leaving thousands of people displaced.
The shock of this catastrophic loss has been reverberating across Southern California, driving up demand for rental homes and prices in an already unaffordable and competitive housing market. Many residents now face rebuilding costs that are expected to skyrocket.
Climate-related disasters like this often have deep roots in policies and practices that overlook growing risks. In the Los Angeles area, those risks are now impossible to ignore.
As the region starts to recover, communities have an opportunity to rebuild in better ways that can protect neighborhoods against a riskier future – but at the same time don’t price out low-income residents.
Sisters Emilee and Natalee De Santiago sit on the front porch of what remains of their home after the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., in January 2025. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
My research at the University of San Diego focuses on managing risk in the face of climate change. I see several ways to design solutions that help low- and moderate-income residents recover while building a safer community for the future.
Better building policies that recognize future risk
Before a disaster, communities trying to adapt to climate change often prioritize protecting high-risk, high-value property, such as a beachfront or hillside neighborhood with wealthy homes. My own research also shows a trend toward incremental climate adaptations that don’t disturb the status quo too much and, as a result, leave many risks unaddressed.
Climate risks are often underestimated, in part because of policy limitations and a political reluctance to consider unpopular solutions, such as restricting where people can build. Yet, disasters once considered unimaginable, such as the Los Angeles wildfires, are occurring with increasing frequency.
An aerial view shows the devastation left by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles in January 2025. Homes in the hills can be at the highest fire risk during dry weather and strong winds. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
Making communities safer from these risks requires communitywide efforts. And that can mean making difficult decisions.
California already has some of the strictest wildfire-prevention codes in the country, but the same rules for new homes don’t apply to older homes. Communities can invest in programs to help these property owners retrofit their homes by offering grants or incentives to remove highly flammable landscaping or to “harden” existing homes to make them less vulnerable to burning.
Research shows that resilience efforts can spur “climate gentrification,” or displacement due to increases in property values. So, focusing on affordability in resilience efforts is important. For long-term affordability and resilience, governments can collaborate with communities to develop strategies such as supporting Community Land Trusts through grants, low-interest loans or land transfers; implementing zoning reforms to enable higher-density, climate-resilient affordable housing; and incentivizing green infrastructure to strengthen community resilience.
In some cases, communities may have to considered managed retreat – moving people out of high-risk areas – but with adequate compensation and support for displaced residents to ensure that they can rebuild their lives elsewhere.
Making the risks clear through insurance
Insurance rates can also encourage residents and communities to lower their risks. Yet in many places, insurance policies have instead obscured the risks, leaving homeowners less aware of how vulnerable their property may be.
For years, insurers underpriced wildfire risk, driven by market competition. California policies also capped the premiums they could charge. As fire damage and rebuilding costs soared in recent years, insurers unwilling to shoulder more of the risk themselves pulled out of the state. That left countless Californians uninsured and hundreds of thousands reliant on the state-run insurance known as the FAIR Plan. The plan imposes caps on payouts and is now struggling to stay solvent, resulting in higher costs that insurers are expected to pass on to consumers.
When disasters strike, local groups and neighbors play critical roles in stabilizing neighborhoods. But residents also need more specialized help to find housing and apply for disaster aid.
Building resilience hubs in communities could help support residents before, during and after disasters.
The resilience hub in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles provides one model for what these spaces can achieve. It’s anchored in a community arts center with solar power and backup energy storage. Residents can drop in to cool down during heat waves or charge their phones during power outages. It also hosts community classes, including in disaster preparedness.
Boyle Heights, a largely Hispanic neighborhood in Los Angeles, has a resilience hub that provides disaster preparedness training, as well as support with food, housing and applying for assistance after disasters strike. Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
During and after a disaster, resilience hubs can serve as central organizing points. They can provide crucial information, resources and assistance with completing paperwork to access aid. Having access to skilled help in navigating what can be a complicated, time-consuming process is often critical, particularly for people who aren’t native English speakers.
Getting assistance is also often critical for displaced renters, who may have little certainty about when or if they will be able to return to their homes. Understanding their legal rights can be confusing, and rising costs as rental housing is rebuilt can price them out of the market.
The catastrophic LA wildfires were a powerful reminder that governments and communities need to think carefully about the risks they face and the role policies may play as they learn to live with greater fire risk.
Building a resilient future in a warming world will require bold, innovative and collective strategies that support communities while advancing equitable solutions.
Nichole Wissman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Six decades after Nat King Cole’s death in 1965, his music is still some of the most played in the world, and his celebrity transcends generational and racial divides. His smooth voice, captivating piano skills and enduring charisma earned him international acclaim.
One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Cole was not only a groundbreaking musician but also a quiet, yet resolute, advocate for social justice.
As an African American sacred music scholar, I have been immersed in the inseparable link between music, culture and social change for over 40 years. Examining Cole through the lens of his activism uncovers the nuanced ways in which he challenged the status quo and contributed to the Civil Rights Movement.
Beneath the polished veneer of his public image lay a deeply personal commitment to confronting racism and advocating for equality that is often overlooked.
Formative years
Nathaniel Adams Coles was born on March 17, 1919, in Montgomery, Alabama, to Perlina Adams Coles and Edward James Coles. Perlina served as the organist at the True Light Baptist Church and later the First Baptist Church of North Chicago, both pastored by Nathaniel’s father. She passed her love for music to her children, teaching them to play the piano and organ. Cole’s formative years were spent in church; gospel songs, hymns and spirituals formed the foundation of his musical education.
Though Cole is primarily remembered for his jazz and pop hits, the emotive power, communal emphasis and uplifting nature of Black sacred music profoundly shaped his artistry throughout his career, despite his single sacred album, “Every Time I Feel The Spirit,” released in 1959. The influence of gospel music, in particular, can be heard in his soulful phrasing and heartfelt delivery, contributing to his remarkable ability to connect with audiences.
Growing up in Chicago, he was also exposed to a rich tapestry of musical genres, including blues, classical and jazz. This eclectic upbringing laid the foundation for his versatile musical style and commercial success.
While Cole’s music was not overtly political, his very presence in the mainstream was a statement. In an era of racial segregation, he was a Black man achieving unprecedented success in a predominantly white music industry. His impeccable diction, tailored suits and sophisticated performances countered the prevailing stereotypes of African Americans as uncouth or subservient.
By embodying a poised and dignified persona, Cole communicated a powerful message: Black excellence and humanity could not be denied. As race scholar George Lipsitz writes in “The Possessive Investment in Whiteness,” “The cultural field … is a site of struggle where meanings are contested and power relations are negotiated.”
Cole’s success challenged the structural racism that sought to confine Black artists to the margins and opened doors for future generations. He acknowledged the significance of his presence on national television, recognizing it as a potential turning point for Black representation. While hesitant to explicitly label himself an activist, he contemplated the impact of his success on breaking down barriers, believing that “when you’ve got the respect of white and colored, you can ease a lot of things.”
Confronting racism
In response to critics who dismiss Cole’s legacy as apolitical, I argue that they overlook the complexity of his resistance. Several scholars have stated that in a society where overt defiance often resulted in violence or economic ruin, Cole’s ability to navigate the entertainment industry while maintaining his dignity was itself a form of activism.
Though Cole never referred to himself as an activist, he confronted racism in both overt and quiet ways. Scholars such as cultural theorist Stuart Hall and researcher Laura Pottinger define “quiet activism” as modest, everyday acts of resistance – either implicitly or explicitly political – that challenge dominant ideologies and power structures. These acts often entail processes of production or creativity.
Despite his commercial success, Cole faced relentless systemic and personal racism. In 1948, he purchased a home in the affluent Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, a move met with hostility; the local homeowners association attempted to expel him, and he endured threats and acts of vandalism.
Yet Cole refused to be intimidated. His resolve was a courageous act of resistance that highlighted the pervasive inequalities of the time.
Cole faced blatant discrimination in Las Vegas. He was often denied access to the same hotels and restaurants where he performed, forced to stay in segregated accommodations. One particularly notable incident occurred at the Sands Hotel. in Las Vegas. When the maitre d’ tried to deny service to Cole’s Black bandmates in the dining room, Cole threatened to cancel his performance and leave. This forced the hotel management to back down, setting a precedent for other Black entertainers and patrons.
Cole quietly sued hotels and negotiated contracts that guaranteed his right to stay in the hotels where he performed, a significant step toward desegregation. He also made it a point to bring his entire entourage, including Black musicians and friends, to these establishments, challenging their “whites only” policies.
Cole’s impact extended beyond the realm of music. In 1956, he became the first African American to host a national network television show, “The Nat King Cole Show.” This was a groundbreaking moment, as it brought a Black man into the living rooms of millions of white Americans every week.
Though the show faced challenges with sponsorship due to racial prejudice, it marked a significant step toward greater representation and acceptance. As historian Donald Bogle notes in his 2001 book “Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks,” “Television … became a new battleground for the image of the black performer.” Cole’s show, despite its short run, was a crucial battle in this war.
When Cole was attacked onstage by white supremacists during a concert in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1956, it underscored the physical danger Black public figures faced and galvanized Cole’s commitment to the Civil Rights Movement.
It is important to note that Cole’s support for the Civil Rights Movement was often quiet and behind the scenes. He faced criticism from some who felt he should have been more outspoken. However, his actions demonstrate his commitment to the cause of racial equality. Cole, who died in 1965 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, was a member of his local NAACP branch. He also performed at benefit concerts for the organization, raising money to support their efforts in fighting racial discrimination.
Shortly after the attack in Birmingham, Cole recorded his only song that is specifically political, “We Are Americans Too.” Recorded in 1956, the song was a powerful statement of belonging and a challenge to racial exclusion. Though it would not come close to reaching commercial success, it did serve as a powerful reminder that African Americans were, in fact, Americans. Over a half-century later, this song still resonates and speaks to the ongoing struggle for full inclusion and recognition for marginalized groups.
The juxtaposition of the refrain “We are Americans too” against the backdrop of the treatment of Black people during the Civil Rights Movement gives this song emotional weight. The very act of having to assert “We are Americans too” highlights the injustice of the situation.
It underscores the disconnect between the ideals of American democracy and the reality of racial inequality. In this context, the refrain “We are Americans too” is an act of resistance, a challenge to the prevailing social order. It highlights the hypocrisy of a nation founded on principles of liberty while denying those same liberties to a significant portion of its population. It’s a call for America to finally recognize the full humanity and citizenship of its Black citizens.
‘We Are Americans Too.’
Great art, and great artists, are powerful witnesses of the times in which they live, love, work and play. Their commentary, both artistically and humanly, leaves an important record for generations. This is clearly evident in Nat King Cole.
Donna M. Cox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
U.S. consumers often pay more for gluten-free products, yet these items typically provide less protein and more sugar and calories compared with gluten-containing alternatives. That is the key finding of my new study, published in the journal Plant Foods for Human Nutrition.
Gluten-free products – defined in the U.S. as those that contain less than or equal to 20 parts per million of gluten – largely lack wheat, rye, barley and sometimes oats, all rich sources of arabinoxylan, a crucial nonstarch polysaccharide. Arabinoxylan provides several health benefits, including promoting beneficial gut bacteria, enhancing digestion, regulating blood sugar levels and supporting a balanced gut microbiota.
Our study also pointed out that it is difficult to find a gluten-free product that excels in all nutritional areas, such as high protein and fiber content with low carbohydrates and sugar.
On the other hand, gluten-free seeded bread contains significantly more fiber – 38.24 grams per 100 grams – than its gluten-containing counterparts. This is likely due to efforts by manufacturers to address fiber deficiencies by using ingredients such as pseudo-cereals, such as amaranth and quinoa hydrocolloids – meaning water-soluble macromolecules used in gluten-free baked goods made with quinoa flour.
These improvements, however, vary by manufacturer and region. For example, gluten-free products in Spain tend to have lower fiber content than their gluten-containing counterparts.
Why it matters
The term “gluten-free diet” has become a buzzword, much like “organic,” and is now a part of everyday life for many people, often without a full understanding of its actual benefits. While a gluten-free diet is a medical necessity for people who are sensitive to gluten, a condition called celiac disease, or for those with wheat allergies, others adopt a gluten-free diet due to perceived health benefits or because it’s a trend.
This suggests that many people adopt gluten-free diets for reasons other than medical necessity, which may not offer health or financial benefits.
Symptoms of celiac disease and gluten intolerance include stomach pain and bloating.
What’s next
Investment in research and development is essential to create more nutritionally balanced gluten-free products using locally available ingredients. This will require human feeding trials with different formulations of gluten-free products to ensure that these products meet nutritional needs without adverse effects.
Collaborations between governments could help secure subsidies, which would reduce production costs and make these products more affordable. Although the initial costs of research and maintaining a gluten-free production line are high, using local ingredients and financial incentives can make these products more cost-competitive compared with their gluten-containing counterparts.
Public education is also important to keep people informed about the pros and cons associated with a gluten-free diet.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Sachin Rustgi receives funding from the US Department of Agriculture and the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research.
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