Category: housing

MIL-OSI Security: Norman Gray, Founder and CEO Of Biomedical Company, Sentenced For Defrauding Investors Of More Than $13 Million

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that NORMAN GRAY, the founder and CEO of a biomedical company (the “Biomedical Company”), who defrauded investors of over $13 million, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer to 10 years in prison. GRAY was convicted of wire fraud at trial on May 29, 2024.

Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said: “Norman Gray preyed upon people who wanted to invest in developing life-saving medicine for children with a rare and generally fatal disease. Gray gained his victims’ trust by lying about everything from his educational background and to his supposed access to off-shore trusts he could use to fund his company alongside the investors. He even submitted false patent applications, invented a fake mortgage company, and forged FBI background check records. Thanks to the work of the career prosecutors of this Office and our law enforcement partners, Gray has now received just punishment.”

According to the Superseding Indictment, public filings, public court proceedings, the evidence presented at trial and in connection with sentencing:

At all relevant times, GRAY was the founder and CEO of the Biomedical Company, which is headquartered in Hamden, Connecticut. GRAY presented himself to investors (including “Victim-1” and “Victim-2”) and others as a billionaire scientist and successful entrepreneur with a Ph.D. from MIT at the helm of a company he was personally funding that was potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars. GRAY claimed to have previously created a successful medical equipment company (“Prior Company”) with over 1,000 employees, which was earning approximately $900 million in revenues before GRAY sold it to a foreign pharmaceutical company. GRAY claimed that he put the profits from the sale of the Prior Company into his offshore trust (“Offshore Trust”), which he claimed held more than $300 million, and which he was using to self-fund the Biomedical Company. In reality, GRAY did not have a Ph.D., had not created or sold a nearly billion-dollar company, did not have access to hundreds of millions of dollars to fund Biomedical Company, and, as of 2020, both he and the Biomedical Company were in significant debt.

Beginning in 2016, GRAY also claimed to employees and investors in Biomedical Company, including Victim-1 and Victim-2, and in written investment materials, that a flagship medication being developed by Biomedical Company was approved for compassionate treatment in Saudi Arabia, where it was saving the lives of two specific children who were suffering from a rare and generally fatal disease known as MVID. Victim-2 sent $200,000 to GRAY to continue funding this supposed program. GRAY submitted treatment data from the supposed program in patent applications for the flagship drug. But the program did not exist.

Based on GRAY’s misrepresentations, between 2018 and 2020, Victim-2 invested approximately $7.6 million in the Biomedical Company through wire transfers into accounts controlled by GRAY. In May 2020, at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, GRAY fraudulently induced Victim-2 to invest into a joint venture with GRAY to purchase personal protective equipment (“PPE”) and resell it to hospitals and universities in the United States and Spain. GRAY provided Victim-2 with fabricated purchase orders from two New York-area hospitals purporting to show that he had close to $8 million of committed sales. Victim-2 sent three wire transfers totaling $1,751,342 to GRAY’s account. Ultimately, the PPE that GRAY purchased could not be sold, because it was defective or otherwise not fit for market, and Victim-2 lost the $1.75 million supposedly invested by GRAY into the PPE project.

In or about August 2020, GRAY induced Victim-1 to send him $250,000 as a purported investment in the Biomedical Company. Rather than purchase equity for Victim-1, GRAY used nearly all of Victim-1’s $250,000 payment to repay a loan that GRAY had taken out from a tenant in the same building where the Biomedical Company is headquartered in order to make payroll. In the ensuing weeks, GRAY extracted an additional $1,217,000 from Victim-1, representing that Victim-1’s funds would be invested in deals involving the procurement of PPE for two major universities in the tristate area who committed to close to $8 million in sales in essentially the same amounts as GRAY’s prior fabricated purchase orders sent to Victim-2. Notwithstanding the losses Victim-2 had already experienced through GRAY’s venture, GRAY falsely represented to Victim-1 that his prior PPE deals had turned a 40% profit within 90 days, that he already had purchase orders in hand for PPE worth nearly $8 million, and that, therefore, the risk was “virtually zero.” In reality, over the preceding months, GRAY had accumulated a vast inventory of unsellable PPE, the purported purchase orders were recycled fakes, and GRAY did not invest Victim-1’s funds in PPE. Instead, GRAY misappropriated Victim-1’s funds, in part, to purchase himself a nearly $1 million home, a $50,000 luxury SUV, and to pay down $200,000 of his and his family’s credit card debt.

As part of his scheme to defraud Victim-1, and as a means of dispelling Victim-1’s concern that an investment with GRAY might require Victim-1 to forego the purchase of a home, GRAY offered Victim-1 a mortgage from a purported boutique mortgage company of which he was the sole investor. GRAY directed Victim-1 to a purported mortgage broker that worked for this boutique mortgage company. In reality, both the mortgage company and the mortgage broker were completely fabricated by GRAY and did not exist. To further this aspect of the fraud on Victim-1, GRAY registered an internet domain in the name of the purported mortgage company and created an email address in the name of the invented mortgage broker contemporaneously with making his false representations to Victim-1. As GRAY’s fraud began to unravel in or about early November 2020, GRAY promised to return all of Victim-1’s money. Ultimately, GRAY never returned any money to Victim-1 and, after Victim-1 asked GRAY to provide her with the purported PPE purchase orders from the two universities, she never heard from GRAY again.

Victim-2 was a board member of the Biomedical Company at the time that GRAY defrauded Victim-1. Following Victim-1’s report of GRAY’s fraud to the board in November 2020, accompanied by publicly available evidence of GRAY’s prior criminal history, GRAY reassured Victim-2 that he had no criminal history beyond driving infractions. GRAY also produced to the board a fraudulent record purportedly from the FBI disclaiming any criminal history and falsely asserting that GRAY had a “top secret” clearance status renewed on November 14, 2016. After being reassured by GRAY that Victim-1’s allegations were meritless, Victim-2 provided approximately over $2.3 million in loans separate from his over $7.5 million of Vanessa investments and $1.75 million of PPE investments.

At trial, GRAY obstructed justice by attempting to introduce into evidence a false document supposedly drafted after GRAY’s fraud on Victim-1 was complete and purporting to memorialize an agreement by Victim-1 to “convert” her PPE investment into shares of Biomedical Company.

* * *

In addition to the prison term, GRAY, 69, of Hamden, Connecticut, was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release. GRAY also was ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $1,467,000 and to forfeit his interest in the home and luxury vehicle discussed above. The Court also ordered restitution of $1,533,675 to Victim-1.

Mr. Podolsky praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents of Homeland Security Investigations. Mr. Podolsky also thanked the New Haven Police Department, as well as law enforcement authorities in the United Kingdom and Spain and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, for their assistance.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin A. Gianforti, Vladislav Vainberg, and Jessica Greenwood are in charge of the prosecution.

MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Baltimore Man Sentenced for Assaulting Federal Correctional Officers

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Defendant was awaiting resentencing for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery and kidnapping in the District of Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Igor Yasinov, 35, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 110 months in prison and three years of supervised release for four counts of Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers or Employees, Inflicting Bodily Injury.

Phil Selden, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Clinton J. Fuchs, U.S. Marshal for the District of Maryland, and Carolyn J. Scruggs, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

According to the evidence presented at his four-day trial, on November 16, 2021, Yasinov assaulted multiple correctional-staff members at the Chesapeake Detention Facility (CDF), causing several injuries. CDF is a pretrial detention facility located in Baltimore, Maryland. In November 2021, CDF exclusively housed federal inmates awaiting the disposition of criminal cases in the District of Maryland, pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement between the U.S. Marshal Service (USMS) and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS). DPSCS employs correctional officers to effectuate the goals and directives of USMS.

The assaults began with Yasinov breaking a control-center window within the facility with a broom stick that caused him to sustain minor injuries. As correctional staff transported Yasinov to the medical unit for treatment, he began threatening the escorting correctional officers. After receiving medical treatment, Yasinov was transported to a segregation unit. Although he was initially cooperative, Yasinov became irate and refused to follow the correctional officers’ orders after he learned that he was not returning to his original housing unit.

Yasinov refused to lock, or return, into his cell. As correctional officers attempted to escort him into the cell, he began to fight them. Yasinov swept the leg of one correctional officer, causing her and other officers to fall to the ground. Eventually, correctional officers were able to apply leg irons to Yasinov’s legs to prevent further attacks, enabling them to carry him to his cell. While in the cell, Yasinov continued fighting officers. Ultimately, Yasinov relented, and allowed officers to remove the leg irons. Staff ordered Yasinov to face the wall to allow the group to exit the cell individually. Yasinov was told to continue facing the wall until all officers exited and the door to the cell was closed.

As the last officer attempted to exit the cell, Yasinov charged the group, slamming his body into them. Yasinov continued to flail on the floor, kicking officers and attempting to strike them with his hands. As a result of Yasinov’s actions, several officers who sustained bodily injuries, including one officer, who suffered a fractured tibia, and three other officers who sustained injuries to their heads, necks, backs, and limbs.

Acting United States Attorney Selden commended the U.S. Marshal Service for their work in the investigation. Mr. Selden also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Aubin and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Gordin who prosecuted the case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md.

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MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Warner Files Amendments to Republican Budget Plan

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner
WASHINGTON – As the Senate prepares for an all-night vote-a-rama on the Republican reconciliation budget bill agenda that will cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy at the expense of Virginia families, Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, filed 21 amendments to the GOP budget proposal to address the needs of working Americans and taking aim at the Trump administration’s lawlessness.
“As President Trump and Senate Republicans try to move a budget resolution clearing the way to cut taxes for the richest Americans at the expense of the programs working families depend on, it’s important to understand what we’re talking about here: the GOP plans to provide tax breaks for billionaires while slashing health care, education and public safety and doing nothing about the really big problems most Americans are facing, like the rising costs of housing and child care,” said Sen. Warner. “I hope some of my Republican friends will think twice about supporting a budget plan that cuts taxes for the richest and doubles down on the chaos of the Trump-Musk administration.”
Specifically, Warner’s amendments would:
Put senators on the record for raising costs, gutting programs American families rely on
Create a point of order against any reconciliation bill that would not decrease the cost of housing for American families. Text
Establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to providing benefits to survivors of miners who died due to pneumoconiosis. Text
Create a point of order against reconciliation legislation that would increase monthly student loan costs for borrowers of Federal student loans. Text
Establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to preserving funding and current staffing levels at the Department of Education. Text
Establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to providing affordable health care for American families, which may include making permanent the extended and expanded advance premium tax credits. Text
Create a point of order against reconciliation legislation that would increase the cost of child care for United State families. Text
Create a point of order against any reconciliation legislation that would increase health care costs for children receiving Medicaid. Text
Establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to prohibiting cuts to critical health programs, which may include preventing the institution of a Medicaid per capita cap policy. Text
Put senators on the record on combating Trump-Musk lawlessness and corruption
Establish a deficit-neutral fund relating to protecting the American people from the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, transnational organized crime, and terrorism by prohibiting the mass termination of critical employees in the intelligence community. Text
Create a point of order against reconciliation legislation if certain Federal civil service laws are being violated. Text
Establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to ensuring that employees of the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and elements of the intelligence community are not subject to retaliation and firing due to political preferences of any Presidential administration. Text
Create a point of order against consideration of reconciliation legislation until the Congressional Budget Office certifies that health, education, research, law enforcement, and foreign aid funding authorized by Congress is not subject to programmatic funding delays, deferrals, or rescissions. Text
Create a point of order against considering funding legislation for the Office of the President while there is pending litigation alleging a violation of the Take Care Clause. Text
Create a point of order against reconciliation legislation that would rescind obligated or awarded amount made available under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Text
Create a point of order against considering reconciliation legislation during a period during which there is an ongoing violation of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act of 1974, as determined by the Comptroller General of the United States. Text
Create a point of order against consideration of spending or revenue legislation during any period during which there is an ongoing violation of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, as determined by the Comptroller General of the United States. Text
Establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to protecting duly-enacted appropriations from unconstitutional cancellation by the President. Text
Create a point of order against reconciliation legislation during any year in which an employee has been placed in administrative leave for more than a total of 10 work days. Text
Create a point of order against reconciliation legislation during any period in which there is litigation pending against the President or another Federal officer alleging a violation of certain provisions of title 5, United States Code. Text
Establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to protecting classified and sensitive information on programs and individuals of the United States from being accessed by DOGE employees. Text
Establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to prohibiting the closure or relocation of Federal agencies without congressional authorization. Text

MIL OSI USA News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Reed: Federal Government Must Assist Flood Victims, Invest in Flood Resilience & Reauthorize National Flood Insurance Program

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

WASHINGTON, DC – After severe winter storms over the weekend caused major flooding and wind damage across several states, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, and West Virginia, causing multiple deaths and leaving communities in disrepair, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a member of the Appropriations Committee, said it is important for the federal government to help states recover and assist flood victims and those directly impacted.

“When Rhode Island has been hit by major flooding in the past, the federal government has stepped in with real relief and it needs to do the same for people in Kentucky and other states impacted by climate change and severe weather. These devastating floods are further proof that Congress must act swiftly to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, invest in flood resilience, and double down on clean energy,” said Senator Reed. “Ordinary Americans can see and feel the impacts of climate change and sea-level rise for themselves. Climate change is real and is having a widespread, devastating impact. The federal government can’t bury its head in the sand or drill its way out of this problem, it needs to invest wisely and help communities adapt.”

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was originally established in 1968 and is the principal provider of flood insurance across the United States. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) manages the flood-insurance program and pays NFIP claims.

NFIP’s authorization is set to expire on March 14, 2025 unless Congress and President Trump take action. Project 2025 calls for abolishing the NFIP, which could cause major economic upheaval, disrupting home sales and property insurance nationwide.

All fifty states have been or are currently going through a federal-state assessment process with FEMA for how states conduct floodplain management programs for all state-owned properties and state-development projects that are in Special Flood Hazard Areas to determine compliance with the minimum requirements of the NFIP.

“Higher seas and stronger storms are already in the forecast and homeowners, renters, businesses, and communities nationwide are at risk of substantial losses due to flooding. Insurance companies are abandoning entire states due to the risk of climate change driven weather. The National Flood Insurance Program provides a way to protect against such risk and the program should be reauthorized and improved to better protect the public,” said Senator Reed. “We also need coordinated national action and global leadership on climate change. President Trump is irresponsibly undoing long-term environmental investments in order to generate bigger tax windfalls for the wealthy. Instead, we should be focusing on improving the resilience of American communities and our economy by strengthening our infrastructure and protecting natural resources.”

Reed noted that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) plays a key role monitoring extreme weather, tracking water levels, and informing communities and residents when life-threatening flooding may occur and prompting evacuations.

But despite the critical roles that both FEMA and NOAA play, the Trump Administration continues to target these federal agencies for mass-firings and funding cuts that could undercut their ability to protect Americans in future emergencies.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Storm recovery planning underway in Āwhitu

Source: Auckland Council

The Pollok Community Hall and Emergency Hub is working with the Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Office, helping drive recovery planning in the Āwhitu community. This is part of a series of partnerships in heavily-impacted communities across Auckland. Communities are being supported to develop practical plans, which will include activities and priorities that can be delivered to improve well-being and flourishing as they recover.

Since major 2023 storms affected the Āwhitu region, its resourceful local communities have come together to help each other move forward with resilience.

At the heart of this collective effort is the Pollok Community Hall and Emergency Hub, led and delivered by the community. As recovery continues, the group is working alongside residents, businesses and organisations to rebuild with hope, and the aim of leaving no one behind.

Mayor Wayne Brown assesses slip damage in Awhitu

A community tested by adversity

Storms in early 2023 caused widespread disruption, leaving many local families, homes and businesses in distress. Being on a peninsula, power outages, flooding and damage to infrastructure made life difficult for the community. But despite the challenges, the spirit of solidarity emerged as neighbours helped each other and local organisations quickly mobilised.

“We’ve had big storms before but Cyclone Gabrielle was different,” says Peter Sharps, Chairman of Pollok Community Hall and Emergency Hub.

“We just help each other. Whether it’s providing shelter for people that can’t access their homes, or locals using bulldozers to move trees off the road.”

Local farmer Richard Craig adds, “My family has been here since the 1860s. So, we were well-prepared, but the storm trashed everything.”

“Seven out of eight bridges on my property were submerged, and an arterial road collapsed onto our property. I had no income for six months while repairing the farm. But I survived with support from my bank, the Ministry of Primary Industries, and businesses were kind, offering discounted supplies which made a huge difference.”

Peter Sharps (credit Hon Andrew Bayly MP)

Pollok Community Hall and Emergency Hub: Aligning with our mission

The group is dedicated to serving the community through a hall and emergency centre.

“Our mission is to strengthen the local community by fostering connections, offering vital services, and preserving historically significant sites,” says Peter. “This requires bringing people together. So, since the storm, we’ve organised several community meetings and formed a steering group to help shape a recovery plan that reflects the diverse needs of the community.”

“It’s hard to get people to come together for anything,” says committee member Francie Craig. “So, it was amazing to see so many people show up for our recovery planning meeting.”

As recovery progresses, the focus has shifted from immediate relief to long-term planning. Auckland Council is supporting through initiatives including disaster preparedness workshops and local recovery support.

“Wind and rain caused major damage,” says local Ian McNaughton. “I lost two acres of fencing and water supply. The rain wiped out the well, and damaged trees. With only one road in and out after Pollok, I’m keen for us to think about access to the peninsula.”

The community’s focus is on building a united approach to recovery that is sustainable and accessible for all. This includes developing a united vision as well as planning the practicalities like generators and making sure accommodation/refuge are available for everyone.

Āwhitu Road slip repaired

Get involved in recovery planning

The group invites everyone in the community to participate in recovery efforts.

“Whether attending a planning session, volunteering or contributing ideas for future projects, your involvement is essential to rebuilding stronger than before,” says Peter. “Our recovery won’t succeed without everyone’s contribution. This is a collective effort, and everyone’s voice is critical in shaping our path forward.”

All residents are encouraged to join in recovery meetings and events, share their thoughts, and help create a recovery plan that works for everyone.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: 21 February 2025 30 new homes for Wairoa in construction The first new state homes in Wairoa in many years are now being built. Thirty single-storey homes will be built on a two-hectare site, Tihitihi Pā. The development will see a mix of two, three, four and six-bedroom homes built.

Source: New Zealand Government Kainga Ora

Whakamanamana Ltd is the development company behind the project. After two devastating floods in 2023 and 2024, Director of Operations Benji King wanted to come home and build on his involvement in the Wairoa community.

“It’s clear that Wairoa has a dire need for more homes. I was happy to get stuck in to make sure the 30 homes that were proposed some time ago, get built.” Once completed, Kāinga Ora will purchase the homes for use as social housing.

“It is rewarding to see siteworks progressing well. They should be completed in the next three months. Framing for the first homes has been erected and it is full steam ahead to get more homes started.”

“We have contracted PCS Projects to build and manage the project. Fred van der Sande has been involved in this development for the last couple of years and he is the project manager.

“A big focus for Fred and the PCS team has been to ensure local labour is used on the project. They have worked with the Wairoa Young Achievers Trust (WYAT) to recruit local rangatahi and ensure they have the opportunity to work towards a qualification. This has resulted in more Wairoa people taking on apprenticeships. It also means that 85% of the people working on the development are locals.

Naomi Whitewood, Kāinga Ora Regional Director East North Island says Kāinga Ora is focused on delivering social housing in areas where it is most needed. “Wairoa is definitely one of those areas and we are happy to be a partner to this development. Seeing progress made on the site means that mokopuna and whānau will be moving into warm, dry, safe homes by the end of the year.”

Wairoa District Council Deputy Mayor Denise Eaglesome. “The good that comes from this project is endless. A housing development of this size bounces our economy by giving local people work. We know that Wairoa needs more housing, there are too many people in this region that don’t have a home. Having a nice place to live is so important for whanau wellbeing.”

The first homes on Tihitihi Pa are expected to be completed late this year with more following in 2026. They will be low maintenance and fully insulated with carpets, curtains, double glazing and heat pumps.

Some of the new state homes being built in Wairoa

Page updated: 21 February 2025

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Fischer Questions Steven Bradbury at Confirmation Hearing

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Nebraska Deb Fischer
Today, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, questioned Steven Bradbury at the confirmation hearing on his nomination to be Deputy Secretary of Transportation.
During the hearing, Senator Fischer asked Bradbury about his commitment to supporting rural America, specifically citing small, rural Nebraska communities, by maintaining the Essential Air Service (EAS) program for smaller to medium-sized airports. She also questioned him on his plans to ensure that all state Departments of Transportation receive clear, consistent guidance from the Federal Highway Administration over funding requests. Finally, Senator Fischer asked Bradbury how he plans to hold companies like Amtrak accountable for using their grants efficiently and effectively.
Click the image above to watch a video of Senator Fischer’s questioning
Click here to download audio
Click here to download video
Senator Fischer questions Steven Bradbury:
Senator Fischer: Mr. Bradbury, as you know, rural communities rely heavily on the Essential Air Service program. It provides them with connectivity and access to critical services. In my home state of Nebraska, we have seven communities that are served by Essential Air Service. It provides these communities not just with an increased opportunity to connect with the outside world, but it serves to help them attract business, attract visitors, and it drives local economies.
Yesterday, in our meeting to get to know each other and have a good conversation—thank you for coming—you mentioned looking at potential reforms to Essential Air Service, and you said, including examining the subsidies that airports receive. Are you willing to commit to me and the committee today that you stand with rural America, and ensure that our airports are able to maintain the Essential Air Service that meets those needs?
Steven Bradbury: Yes, Senator, I appreciated our chance to meet together. Thank you very much for being available to meet with me. I appreciated that. The Secretary, I think, in his hearing, made it very clear he’s a strong supporter of Essential Air Service, and I certainly know how important it is to small and medium communities across the country, and clearly it has very strong support in Congress. And whatever proposals may have been made to reconsider that or phase it out, I don’t think that’s realistic, and I don’t expect to be pushing for anything approaching sunsetting or eliminating Essential Air Service. There are still decisions that the department makes in implementing the program and examining whether communities are meeting the metrics stated for the program. And that’s a process that happens periodically, and it’s a very important process. And sometimes new communities come into the program, and that’s something the Secretary will look at. And I expect to assist him in that with an eye to preserving the effectiveness of the program. Senator Fischer: Thank you. I also appreciated the opportunity yesterday to show you my frustration with FHWA. They seem to be struggling to provide any kind of clear, consistent guidance across their division offices. And as I stated yesterday, I’ve heard from state Departments of Transportation that there is a lack of that consistent guidance from U.S. DOT regarding the requirements needed for states, such as to justify building back better after a disaster. If confirmed, how would you work across the Federal Highway Administration to ensure that division offices are consistent, that they are clear in their guidance to our state DOTs?
Steven Bradbury: Well, thank you, Senator, it really requires strong leadership from the head of FHWA and the Secretary out to those field offices. Consistency is critical, but also making clear that the states have a strong role in deciding the use of the funds that come into them from the Highway Trust Fund, but we need a focus on safety, efficiency, capacity, and resilience of our infrastructure—and not to be distracted by other goals, policy goals that may not be necessary and that may divert from those central, important goals of safety and efficiency. So, I think that consistency is critical and working closely with the state and the state DOTs is absolutely essential.
Senator Fischer: I hope we can work together on that. It is extremely important, and we can certainly see cost savings when things are more streamlined and made available to the states, so they can get those projects out there and get them going. On rail service, Americans, they want safe and reliable rail service. With Amtrak, that’s not always been fiscally responsible, I believe, nor have they been cooperative with their state rail partners, who are operating profitable rail service across the network. I have some legislation on that, the Amtrak Transparency Act. It would require them to have open board meetings to state partners and requires disclosure of executive bonuses. I’m sure you recall the articles that came out about those bonuses several months ago, totally indefensible that they were given. As the DOT Deputy Secretary, how will you address concerns over Amtrak’s fiscal responsibility and ensure that they work well with their state rail partners?
Steven Bradbury: Well, thank you. I appreciate those goals and definitely would look forward to working with you and this committee on any legislation that would address that. But with regard to the current situation with Amtrak, there’s so much additional funding that has been provided to Amtrak. There’s so much money in the system. We really need to take a careful look and ensure that it’s being used efficiently and effectively. And there shouldn’t be any wasteful spending, unnecessary bonuses that don’t make sense, and certainly they need to cooperate closely with states and local interests on their passenger service. You know, just before COVID hit, Amtrak was on the brink of finally being in the black for the first time across their network. Of course, that still assumes a lot of grant money coming from Congress. Real tragedy for Amtrak what COVID did in terms of hitting it. And it’s still coming back, but we really need to take a hard look at the economics.
Senator Fischer: Thank you.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: McConnell on Confirmation of FBI Director Patel

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement today regarding the confirmation of Kash Patel as FBI Director:
“Threats to the United States homeland are growing. From terrorism to cybercrime to violent crime to cartel and drug violence to counterespionage, the work of the FBI has never been more important. The Bureau’s reputation in recent years has been plagued by high-profile scandals that risk politicizing its critical work. Director Patel has committed to restoring Americans’ trust in the FBI, and I hope and expect he will move quickly to reset the Bureau with greater transparency, accountability, and cooperation with the Congress. Finally, as foreign adversaries like the PRC become more emboldened to steal our secrets, the FBI must not lose sight of its counterintelligence mission.”

MIL OSI USA News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Kaine Files Amendments to Republican Budget Resolution

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, filed amendments to the Senate Republicans’ budget resolution in an attempt to improve the bill, which currently tees up tax cuts for billionaires by cutting critical funding for programs that Virginians rely on. Republicans are using a legislative process known as “reconciliation,” which allows certain legislation to be expedited and passed in the Senate by a simple majority, avoiding the 60-vote threshold needed for most other legislation. The Senate will begin consideration of the budget resolution later today.
“I’d like to focus on cutting taxes for the middle-class. Unfortunately, Republicans disagree. Instead, they are coming after your Medicaid and Medicare benefits, your health care, education programs, and other critical funding that Virginians rely on so that they can tee up their tax cuts for billionaires. I’m filing several amendments to safeguard Virginians from President Trump’s proposed tariffs, which would raise costs; protect federal employees who provide essential services to millions of Americans; prevent cuts in funding for community health centers and national security programs; and more. I will be pushing to get votes on my amendments and will do everything I can to stop Republicans from passing policies that hurt Virginians and our economy and make us less safe,” Kaine said.
Kaine filed a series of amendments, including:
To cut taxes for middle-class Americans.
To protect Americans from new, senseless taxes by preventing abuse of emergency authorities to launch trade wars with Canada and Mexico.
To prevent cuts to federal funding for air traffic safety.
To prevent the Department of Veterans’ Affairs from reducing its workforce below levels needed to staff and provide services at new or remodeled facilities.
To prohibit funding for agency efforts to reclassify federal employees in the civil service outside of any schedule not currently in the competitive service.
To prevent federal agencies and departments from terminating, rescheduling, or furloughing federal workers who are also veterans.
To prevent federal employees in harm’s way overseas from losing critical protections.
To protect Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and federal prosecutors from political retribution.
To deny access to classified materials to anyone without a proper security clearance.
To protect Virginians who receive health insurance coverage through Medicaid expansion.
To protect rural hospitals from cuts that would threaten rural communities’ access to health care.
To protect access to health care services provided by Federally Qualified Health Centers.
To ensure working families are able to access affordable and high-quality child care.
To prevent a reduction of programs that support high-quality teacher and school leader preparation.
To protect seniors and people with disabilities who use long-term services and supports.
To prevent reductions in staff at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, who ensure miners do not get hurt or die on the job.
To undo the harm that the January federal funding freeze did to Head Start programs.
To protect the Pell Grant program from facing cuts or changes to the program that will hurt low- and middle-income students most.
To prohibit termination of national security programming implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
To prohibit termination of foreign assistance contracts with U.S. farmers or with faith-based organizations.
To prohibit funding for a new Middle East war in Gaza or appeasement of Russia in Ukraine.
To prevent cuts to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
To prevent cuts to voluntary conservation agriculture programs.
To ensure that much-needed funding comes to Virginia to repair federally maintained trails—such as the Virginia Creeper Trail—impacted by natural disasters in 2024.
To prohibit any efforts to privatize or defund the United States Postal Service.
Kaine has spoken out against Republicans’ proposal on the Senate floor and during a Senate Budget Committee markup.
President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are currently negotiating an extension to Trump’s 2017 tax law, which cut taxes for large corporations and the highest-income earners and substantially increased the federal deficit. They are now proposing broad-based tariffs and massive, across-the-board cuts to federal programs like Medicaid to fund these tax cuts for billionaires. Tax estimates have shown that if fully enacted, Trump’s tariffs could raise costs by $2,500 to nearly $4,000 per household, and American consumers could lose between $46 billion to $78 billion in spending power each year.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Property Market – All eyes on lower mortgage rates as investors return – CoreLogic
Source: CoreLogic

Easing mortgage rates and further cuts on the horizon could drive further growth in borrower activity, potentially starting to lift NZ’s property market out of its recent soft patch.

CoreLogic NZ’s February Housing Chart Pack shows increased market activity among ‘movers’ and mortgaged multiple property owners (MPOs) in January, rising to 28% and 24% of property purchases respectively.

By contrast, first home buyers’ (FHBs) market share dropped back slightly to 25% last month, from 26% in Q4 last year. However, it remains at above-average levels.

CoreLogic NZ Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson said although a modest upturn for property values may emerge in the coming months, current conditions remain favourable for all buyer types.

“Investors, in particular, have certainly started to return at levels not seen since 2021. Falling mortgage rates have been a key factor, significantly reducing the income top-ups typically required to sustain cashflow on recent rental property purchases,” he said

“They’ve also benefited from the easing in the LVR rules from 1st July last year, and the looming full reinstatement of interest deductibility from April this year.”

Mr Davidson noted that while the market share for FHBs had edged down, the group remains a strong force, particularly in areas such as Hamilton and Wellington, where they continue to hold high market shares.

“We expect this group to maintain a strong market presence in 2025, as overall deal volumes rise, even though their share of activity may dip a bit,” he added.

Mr Davidson said with the OCR and credit conditions set to ease further, all eyes will be on loosening mortgage terms in coming months.

“A key theme to watch this year is the terms that borrowers choose when taking out a new loan or repricing an existing mortgage. Recently, the focus has been on floating rates or short-term fixes, but at some stage in 2025, that could switch back to an emphasis on longer-term rates, especially if global uncertainty stays elevated.

“All in all, 2025 could see a subdued upturn for the property market, with values nationally rising by around 5%,” he concluded.

Highlights from the February 2025 Housing Chart Pack include:

New Zealand’s residential real estate market is worth a combined $1.61 trillion.

The CoreLogic Home Value Index shows property values across New Zealand edged down by another 0.1% in January. Over the year to January, values dipped by 4.3%, with the level now back down at an 18-month low.

Total listings on the market were 29,301 in January to be 25% up on the five-year average. Total listing counts in Northland and Waikato are lower than last year, but Canterbury, Wellington, Otago, and Gisborne have seen sizeable increases of 15% and more.

Rental market conditions remained flat amid slowing net migration. The pace of rental growth has now dropped to lows not seen since 2022.

Gross rental yields now stand at 3.9%, which Is the highest level since early 2016.

Around 71% of NZ’s existing mortgages by value are currently fixed but due to reprice onto a new mortgage rate over the next 12 months.

Inflation is firmly back in the 1–3% target range, and with February’s 0.5% cut, further OCR reductions seem likely in the coming months.

Download and subscribe to the monthly CoreLogic Housing Chart Pack at: https://corelogic.co.nz/news-research/reports/housing-chart-pack
MIL OSI New Zealand News –
February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Gang Member Sentenced to More Than Six Years in Prison for Narcotics Distribution Conspiracy

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

BOSTON – A member of the East Side Money Gang with multiple prior convictions was sentenced today for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and cocaine. Gang operated in Chelsea, Mass. and surrounding communities.

Henry Del Rio, a/k/a “Junior,” 28, of Chelsea, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 78 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. In May 2024, Del Rio pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Del Rio was arrested and charged in January 2023 along with co-defendant Jose Perez.

In December 2022, police officers attempted to stop a vehicle speeding through Lexington, Mass. that Perez was driving. Perez accelerated and engaged in a high-speed escape attempt, traveling more than 85 miles per hour on residential streets, crashing head-first into another vehicle, and ultimately losing control and colliding into a post. As Perez exited the vehicle, a loaded Glock 34X 9mm semi-automatic handgun dropped to the ground. Perez and Del Rio, the sole passenger, fled and led officers on a foot chase through a parking lot. Once the two men were apprehended, approximately 63 grams of cocaine and a bag containing 44 smaller, individually wrapped bags of fentanyl, totaling approximately 53 grams, were found where Del Rio had fled. A third bag containing approximately 49 grams of cocaine was recovered in the vehicle.

At the time of the offense, Del Rio was on federal supervised release after serving a five-year prison sentence for multiple felony convictions, including drug and firearms offenses, arising from a prior East Side Money Gang-related case.

In December 2024, Perez was sentenced to 142 months in prison after being convicted by a federal jury in August 2024.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Lexington, Chelsea and MBTA Police Departments and Customs and Border Protection. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mike Crowley and Sarah Hoefle of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Pelahatchie Man Sentenced to nearly Five Years in Prison for Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon

Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

Jackson, Miss. – A Pelahatchie man was sentenced to 57 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to court documents, Brad O’Neal Lee, 41, sold firearms to a pawn shop in Jackson, Mississippi. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was alerted to the sale. Lee is a convicted felon, and therefore is prohibited by federal law from possessing any firearms or ammunition. Lee’s previous felony convictions on the date of the illegal possession were for residential burglary, false pretense, and uttering a forgery, for which he served several years in state prison.

Lee was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 6, 2023. He pled guilty on October 3, 2024.

Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon and Special Agent in Charge Joshua Jackson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made the announcement.

The ATF investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Allen prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Four Sentenced for Roles in Penobscot and Aroostook County Drug Trafficking Ring
Source: Office of United States Attorneys

BANGOR, Maine: Four individuals from Maine were sentenced today in separate hearings at the U.S. District Court in Bangor for their roles in a northern Maine drug trafficking ring. U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neumann sentenced the four defendants:
- John Miller, 24, was sentenced to 54 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. On April 19, 2023, Miller pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
- Jason Cunrod, 42, was sentenced to 48 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. On August 29, 2023, Cunrod pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
- Joshua Young, 48, was sentenced to time served (approximately 62 days), followed by three years of supervised release to include 24 months of home detention. On April 26, 2023, Young pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
- Carol Gordon, 53, was sentenced to time served (approximately 30 months and 25 days), followed by three years of supervised release to include six months of community confinement. On March 14, 2023, Gordon pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
According to court records, between January 2018 and December 2021, Cunrod, Miller, Gordon, Young and others trafficked methamphetamine and fentanyl in Penobscot and Aroostook counties and elsewhere. Miller, Cunrod,and Young each regularly arranged to obtain quantities from a coconspirator through phone calls, texts and social media using coded language and then distribute those drugs to customers in Aroostook County, using the proceeds to purchase more drugs from the source. In addition, during the conspiracy, Miller provided his source with dozens of firearms that he acquired from various individuals in Aroostook County. Gordon allowed others to sell drugs from her Bangor home and facilitated distribution events by serving as an intermediate between the seller and customer in exchange for narcotics for her personal use.

Twenty-one defendants have been charged in this and related cases for their part in a widespread northern Maine drug trafficking conspiracy. To date, 17 of the defendants have been sentenced while four await sentencing:

Sentenced:
- Andrew Adams (32, Aroostook County) – 10 years
- Matthew Catalano (38, Penobscot County) – 165 months
- Christopher Coty (44, Bangor) – 4 years
- Jason Cunrod (42, Caribou) – 48 months
- Blaine Footman (38, Bangor) – 5 years
- Nicole Footman (41, Holden) – 3 years
- Dwight Gary, Jr. (54, Medway) – Time served (approx. 5 months)
- Carol Gordon (53, Bangor) – Time served (approx. 31 months) plus 6 months of community confinement
- Thomas Hammond (26, Charleston) – 84 months
- Joshua Jerrell (30, Orrington) – Time served (approx. 36 months)
- James King (55, Caribou) – 165 months
- Shelby Loring (29, Bangor) – Time served (approx. 32 months)
- Danielle McBreairty (34, Glenburn) – 20 years
- John Miller (24, Caribou) – 54 months
- Aaron Rodgers (43, Bangor) – Time served (approx. 33 months)
- Wayne Smith (33, Bangor) – 85 months
- Joshua Young (48, Presque Isle) – Time served (approx. 2 months) plus 24 months home detention
Awaiting sentencing:
- Daquan Corbett (30, Brockton, Mass.)
- Daviston Jackson (28, Boston, Mass.)
- Sarah McBreairty (36, Dixmont) – sentencing scheduled 05/05/25
- James Valiante (42, Linneus) – sentencing scheduled 05/05/25
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigated the case. Assistance was provided by the police departments in Orono, Bangor, Brewer, Caribou, Presque Isle and Houlton. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also recognized the cooperation and coordination provided by the Maine State Attorney General’s Office and the Aroostook County District Attorney’s Office.

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces: This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

###

MIL Security OSI –
February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Moves to undermine public education in the U.S. should concern Canadians

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Melanie D. Janzen, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba

United States President Donald Trump has made a series of high-profile threats against Canada and other countries since his second term began a month ago — but his proposed educational reforms also require serious attention.

Trump has promised to close the Department of Education, which enforces civil rights in education, sends funding to schools and oversees student loans.

The Associated Press reported the president’s pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, has acknowledged that only the U.S. Congress could fully shut down the education department, but she wants to “reorient” it.

McMahon is expected to be confirmed after her nomination is considered by the full Senate.

The Legal Defense Fund, an organization that supports racial justice, has expressed concern that McMahon will support reduced federal oversight that will result in undermining civil rights protections and key federal programs.

Read more:
Why does Trump want to abolish the Education Department? An anthropologist who studies MAGA explains 4 reasons

Moves to weaken public education in the United States may seem distant. However, as Canadians have seen with polarization affecting democratically elected school boards, shifts in the U.S. can act like canaries in the coal mine for our own public education systems.

We address this as researchers and educators whose combined expertise has examined how defunding and policy interventions can erode public education.

Project 2025 and education

In recent years, there has been escalating hype that public schools have become sites of political proselytizing as alleged “woke” teachers aim to instil “Marxist attitudes” among youth.

Trump has, unfortunately, concertedly stoked flames of distrust, particularly among MAGA movement supporters, toward teachers, administrators, curricula and public educational systems.

The now infamous Project 2025 policy framework has a dedicated chapter outlining drastic educational reformation in the U.S.

While the president publicly disavowed any formal affiliation with Project 2025, his positions formally outlined in his Agenda 47 Ten Principles for Great Schools Leading to Great Jobs and other public statements are generally indistinguishable from those espoused by Project 2025.

Read more:
Trump’s administration seems chaotic, but he’s drawing directly from Project 2025 playbook

Trump’s 10 Principles

The 10 principles for educational revision include “restoring parental rights” by allowing parents to vote to appoint local school principals; abolishing teacher tenure, which will undermine teachers’ unions; and introducing merit pay. In addition, there are plans to “create a credentialing body to certify teachers who embrace patriotic values and support the American Way of Life.”

Trump also aims to bar critical race theory and “gender indoctrination” from public schools. During campaign events, Trump often reiterated his goals to “cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory … and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content ….”

These ideas have been steadily infiltrating some states’ legislative and school policies. An example is Florida’s re-framing of academic standards to teach that some enslaved people benefited from enslavement. The non-profit Human Rights Campaign Foundation notes that that “of the 489 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in 2024, over 60 per cent — more than 300 bills — focused on youth and education.”

Smilar attacks seen in Canada

Trump declared during his inauguration speech that “we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves — in many cases, to hate our country … All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly.”

Evidently, significant educational reform is a high priority.

Reforms to the American education system should be cause for concern for Canadians. The overt attacks on public education that we are seeing in the U.S. are already occurring in Canada, albeit often in more insidious and fragmented ways.

Parental rights rhetoric

“Parental rights” rhetoric is fuelling movements across Canada that are aimed at delimiting the rights of students to learn about sexual health and understand gender diversity.

Parents have a multitude of diverse concerns for their children and their interests, and parental engagement is of importance for schools.

Read more:
If I could change one thing in education: Community-school partnerships would be top priority

But these “rights”-based movements fuel public moral panic and fan the flames of neo-conservative agendas.
The “parental rights” movement capitalizes on rights rhetoric to mobilize only the concerns of the conservative right and their traditional family narratives. This denies other parents’ concerns, and as child advocates have argued, it also violates children’s rights.

The parental rights movement also aims to undermine school-based sexual health education, which most parents support.

Across provinces

In 2023, Saskatchewan passed a Parents’ Bill of Rights requiring parental consent for children under the age of 16 to use a different pronoun or name in school.

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and numerous professors of law denounced the move for pre-emptively using the notwithstanding clause to override rights upheld in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

We saw similar efforts in New Brunswick and in Manitoba in governing parties’ platforms and recent unsuccessful re-election campaigns.

Read more:
New Brunswick’s LGBTQ+ safe schools debate makes false opponents of parents and teachers

This year, Alberta introduced a more expansive bill banning gender-affirming care for children under the age of 16 and banning trans women and girls from competing in female sports.

The parental rights rhetoric, a dog-whistle for anti-2SLGBTQ+ views, is not new in Canada. However, it seems to be finding renewed energy, especially in conservative-led provinces.

Anti-2SLGBTQ+ rhetoric can also found in recent attempts to advocate for book bans (like in Chilliwack B.C. and in Manitoba in 2022) or in protests against Drag Queen story hours (in Ontario in 2023).

Read more:
Shifts in how sex and gender identity are defined may alter human rights protections: Canadians deserve to know how and why

There have also been efforts by national neoconservative organizations to interfere with school board elections, endeavouring to recruit and support anti-trans candidates to run for office.

Undermining teachers and unions

Similarly, attempts to undermine teachers and their unions are occurring.

For example, the Manitoba government recently passed Bill 35. The legislation was introduced under the premise of addressing teacher sexual misconduct, but the bill’s language was broadened to include teacher “competence” and “professionalism.”

A similar bill was recently passed in Alberta.

In both examples, governments say they are creating an “arms-length” disciplinary process for teachers. But these reforms have been criticized for weakening teachers’ unions, deprofessionalizing teaching and conflating competence and misconduct — all of which work to expand government regulation and oversight of teachers while undermining unions.

In Ontario, in 2022 following concerning pandemic interruptions to in-person schooling, the government implemented a mandatory online learning graduation requirement. Procedures exist for students to be opted out, but it’s up to parents or students to specifically request this.

The requirement has been criticized for reducing teaching staff and increasing the privatization of public schools.

Strong public schools

Strong public schools rely on qualified teachers whose professional judgment and autonomy is protected and supported, in part, by teacher unions.

The events unfolding in the U.S. should act as a warning to Canadians, calling us to pay close attention to what is happening in our local school districts and school boards.

Being able to understand and identify regressive reform efforts and how they are subverting public education and democracy — as we endeavour to foster and build real relationships in our local school communities — is of urgent and national concern.

Melanie D. Janzen receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and is a volunteer for People for Public Education Manitoba.

Jordan Laidlaw is a volunteer for People for Public Education Manitoba.

– ref. Moves to undermine public education in the U.S. should concern Canadians – https://theconversation.com/moves-to-undermine-public-education-in-the-u-s-should-concern-canadians-245230

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Kugler, Navigating Inflation Waves: A Phillips Curve Perspective

Source: US State of New York Federal Reserve

Thank you, Tom, and thank you for the invitation to give the Whittington Lecture.1 It is humbling to be here giving this lecture to honor the memory and legacy of Leslie Whittington. While I did not cross paths with Leslie here at Georgetown University, when I arrived, I heard so many stories about her contributions to the school, the university, and the students. She worked on research about the effects of economic policies on children and families, so I know that if I had had the good fortune to overlap with her as a colleague, I would have benefited greatly from her work and presence. It is also an honor to be giving this lecture, because so many dynamic leaders have previously stood before you, including some who have been inspirations to me in my career, such as Alice Rivlin and Cecilia Rouse.
Today I will be discussing a topic that has certainly captured the attention of central bankers, and the public at large, in recent years: inflation and the relationship between inflation and unemployment. But before I talk about a lens through which to think about the inflation experienced in the pandemic period, I want to update you with my views on the current outlook for the U.S. economy and the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) efforts to sustainably return inflation to our 2 percent objective while maintaining a strong labor market.
Economic OutlookThe overall picture is that the U.S. economy remains on a firm footing, with output growing at a solid pace. Real gross domestic product grew 2.5 percent in 2024. Consumer spending continued to drive this solid pace last year. While retail sales posted a decline last month, January data are often difficult to interpret. Bad weather and seasonal adjustment difficulties may have affected the release, and it should be noted the slowdown came after a strong pace of sales in the second half of last year. That said, as usual, I pay attention to many indicators to gauge the state of the economy. Employment readings show that the labor market is healthy and stable. Payroll job gains have been solid recently, averaging 189,000 per month over the past four months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). After touching 4.2 percent as recently as November, the unemployment rate has flattened to 4 percent since then, consistent with a labor market that is neither weakening nor showing signs of overheating.
Inflation has fallen significantly since its peak in the middle of 2022, though the path continues to be bumpy and inflation remains somewhat elevated. Readings last week from the BLS showed price pressures persisted in the economy in January. Our preferred inflation gauge at the Fed, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, will be released next week. Based on the consumer price index and producer price index data for January, it is estimated that the PCE index advanced about 2.4 percent on a 12-month basis in January. Excluding food and energy costs, core prices are estimated to have risen 2.6 percent. Those readings show there is still some way to go before achieving the FOMC’s 2 percent objective.
Regarding monetary policy, the FOMC judged in September that it was time to begin reducing our policy interest rate from levels that were strongly restrictive on aggregate demand and putting downward pressure on inflation. We reduced that rate 100 basis points through December, leaving our policy rate at moderately restrictive levels. At our latest meeting in January, I supported the decision to hold the policy rate steady. I see this as appropriate, given that the downward risks to employment have diminished but upside risks to inflation remain. The potential net effect of new economic policies also remains highly uncertain and will depend on the breadth, duration, reactions to, and, importantly, specifics of the measures adopted.
Going forward, in considering the appropriate federal funds rate, we will watch these developments closely and continue to carefully assess the incoming data and evolving outlook.
Now, turning back to the main topic of my speech, I will start with the core mission of the Federal Reserve: to pursue the dual mandate, given to us by Congress, of promoting maximum employment and stable prices. We saw firsthand during the pandemic period why the price-stability portion of the mandate is so important. High inflation imposes significant hardship and erodes Americans’ purchasing power, especially for those least able to meet the higher costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation. As a policymaker and economist, I think it is vitally important to have a good understanding of inflation dynamics and how those dynamics may have evolved over time. This knowledge allows me to pursue the best policies to deliver stable prices while maintaining a solid labor market.
Waves of InflationFive years after the pandemic took hold suddenly and with little warning, there is a tendency to remember the inflation buildup as a fast and uniform phenomenon. But that was not the case. Inflation stemming from the pandemic shock came in waves. Today I will first describe the different waves of inflation experienced in the pandemic period. Then I invite you aboard the sailboat that we will use to navigate those waves: You could call it the SS Phillips Curve. The Phillips curve is a model that has been used for a long time to try to explain inflation dynamics and the tradeoffs between inflation and unemployment. Finally, I will discuss with you how this voyage may have changed the charts for policymakers.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S., and much of the world’s developed economies, experienced a prolonged period of low inflation. Then, when the economy broadly shut down in March and April 2020, the U.S. experienced a brief period of deflation. But by the middle of that year, we saw that the first of several waves of inflation began hitting the economy’s shores.
The first notable wave of inflation came from food prices. With many restaurants closed and people fearful of gathering, consumers pivoted their spending to grocery stores and online grocery delivery to meet their families’ needs, with some stockpiling essential items because they feared future shortages. This jump in demand was met with snarled supply chains for food processing and groceries. Annual food inflation reached a first peak of 5 percent in June 2020. There was a second food inflation wave with the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the middle of 2022. Beyond the cost alone, grocery prices are an important determinant of inflation expectations for consumers since food is purchased so frequently.2 Another wave of inflation came from goods other than food and energy—what economists call “core goods.” In the years immediately before the pandemic, goods prices were not a significant source of inflation. During the expansion from 2009 until 2020, core goods inflation declined 0.5 percent annually on average. However, once the pandemic took hold, consumer demand rotated from services to goods. At the same time, additional supply chain issues arose, including closed factories and disrupted ports. As consumption rapidly shifted toward goods, their prices rose sharply.3 Core goods inflation picked up markedly in the spring of 2021 and reached a peak of 7.6 percent on a 12-month basis in February 2022. This was a notable development because, during most of this century, goods price deflation offset price increases in other categories and thus kept a lid on overall inflation.
A third wave of inflation came from services costs, excluding housing. Near the start of the pandemic, millions of Americans lost their jobs, and many left the labor market, with some retiring and others fearful of being exposed to the virus. When the economy began to reopen from shutdowns, demand for workers rose faster than the supply. As a result, the labor market quickly became very tight. To attract workers, employers raised wages. And to offset that expense, many raised prices. Given that labor is the most important input into the production of services, core services inflation ensued, reaching a peak of 5.2 percent on a 12-month basis in December 2021. Core services inflation stayed persistently high until it began to turn down in February 2023.
The final wave of inflation I will discuss came from PCE housing services inflation. During the pandemic, many Americans reassessed housing choices, including those who preferred to move to detached homes in the suburbs from multifamily dwellings in cities. The supply of housing has long been constrained, so when a further increase in demand met limited supply, prices rose. Housing inflation rose to a peak of 8.27 percent on a 12-month basis in April 2023 and has moved lower since then. The run-up in housing inflation came more slowly, but it is also the component most slowly to abate. This is an area that experienced catch-up inflation, as housing inflation rises and falls slowly because rents are reset infrequently, usually only once a year for most renters.
For the remainder of this discussion, I will focus on core inflation, and specifically core goods and core services inflation. My objective is to discuss several additions to an augmented Phillips curve model that allow us to capture the dynamics of those waves we encountered on our journey.
The Traditional Phillips CurveSince price stability and maximum employment are the two components of the Fed’s dual-mandate goal, it is important for policymakers to be able to interpret the inflation process and relate it to macroeconomic conditions, including unemployment. One traditional way of understanding the usual tradeoff between inflation and unemployment is the use of the Phillips curve. It was first employed by New Zealand economist A.W. Phillips in 1958 to describe a simple relationship between wage growth and unemployment. Basically, it demonstrates that wage inflation is lower when unemployment is high, and higher when unemployment is low. Since then, several variants and updates have been offered to the Phillips curve model, and I will offer updates, too.
One of the most notable updates came from Milton Friedman in 1967 in his presidential address to the American Economic Association.4 In that speech, he argued that there is only a temporary tradeoff between inflation and unemployment, because inflation depends on both the unemployment rate relative to a natural rate (the unemployment gap) and expectations of future inflation.
The unemployment gap measures how much unemployment is above or below some reference level such as the natural rate of unemployment, or NAIRU (non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment), which is thought to be the normal level of unemployment absent cyclical forces. An unemployment rate that is above the reference level indicates that there is slack in the economy. Conversely, if the unemployment rate is below the reference level, the economy is tight. The unemployment gap has an inverse relation to wage and price inflation, because slack in the economy means that there are excess resources to meet demand while tightness in the labor market means there is little room to expand demand without putting upward pressure on prices. Let’s turn now to the other ingredient in Friedman’s Phillips curve: inflation expectations. Inflation expectations represent the rate at which people expect prices to rise in the future. A Phillips curve model that includes inflation expectations is called an “expectations-augmented Phillips curve.”
The idea behind adding inflation expectations to a Phillips curve is that workers care about their inflation-adjusted wage, rather than nominal wages, over the course of a period of employment when bargaining their pay. Meanwhile, price-setting firms care about their relative price in pricing their products. Both sets of agents must forecast as best as possible the future path of inflation to efficiently bargain their wages or set their prices. In other words, both parties form expectations about the general price level, and these expectations will feed back into the inflation process.5 Friedman assumed that inflation expectations respond to lagged observed inflation—or what are called “adaptive expectations”—and when that is so, it provides a mechanism for inflation to be persistent.
This view captured inflation dynamics in the 1970s and early 1980s fairly well; however, it was not broadly applicable to the period from the late 1980s through 2019, often called the “Great Moderation.” Rather, regarding inflation dynamics over an extended period, inflation appears to be more strongly related to long-run inflation expectations than to lagged inflation or short-run inflation expectations measures. Monetary policy can play an important role in setting long-run inflation expectations. Both wage seekers and price setters form their inflation expectations, in part, from their beliefs about the central bank’s inflation goal. When long-run inflation expectations stay close to the central bank’s goal, we say that inflation expectations are anchored at that goal. That goal is currently set at 2 percent, and long-run inflation expectations have indeed been in a tight range around that target.6
The empirical literature on the Phillips curve has considered additional variables that may affect inflation and used those variables to create new versions of a Phillips curve. For example, Phillips curves have long included measures of “cost-push” pressures such as core import prices. These cost pressures more fully capture shocks to firms’ costs coming from global price pressures and not captured by other measures of slack. Other Phillips curves also include lags of inflation to capture persistence in the inflation process.7
To summarize, the empirical literature has come to the conclusion that inflation dynamics can best be captured by a Phillips curve that includes lags of inflation, long-run inflation expectations, and a measure of slack, as well as import and energy prices as cost-push shocks. An instance of that formulation of a Phillips curve is included in former Chair Janet Yellen’s speech from 2015.8 Next, I would like to assess the accuracy of this baseline model during the recent run-up of inflation and consider how to augment the Phillips curve model with some new variables that may be able to capture some of the shocks experienced during the pandemic and post-pandemic period. A large literature has emerged on how to interpret the recent run-up in inflation, and more research is needed to fully understand this complicated episode. The Phillips curve model that I will use is another approach to consider. This is a simple approach, but it is possible to consider more complex models, such as models that consider the joint dynamics of inflation and other variables or models that explicitly consider nonlinearities.9 However, I still see value in starting from this simple framework, seeing what it can and cannot explain about pandemic inflation, and then seeing whether the addition of certain variables can help the model more fully account for inflation during the pandemic.
Estimation of the Phillips Curve TodayAs I just explained, the Phillips curve model allows flexibility in the choice of variables, but economists employing the model must decide how to weight these variables. And those weights must be chosen in some way. Economists choose weights by examining available data and deciding which capture the inflation process in the best possible way. This decision is called “estimation.” The modern way to undertake such an estimation is called “training.” Economists train a model on a specific set of data and consider different cuts of the data set to determine different ways to compute those weights.
I will consider quarterly data that have been consistently produced since 1964, allowing us to include the periods of the Great Inflation, the Great Moderation, and the most recent inflation run-up. We could use this entire data set to train the model. However, subsample analysis also serves to prove some valuable points.
First Result: Examining the Great ModerationLet’s start by updating former Fed Chair Yellen’s results. She estimated the model using the data during the so-called Great Moderation; I will update her results by training the model through 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the U.S. As the term “moderation” implies, this was a period in which both inflation and output became much less volatile. We do not know exactly what brought about the Great Moderation. Hypotheses include the effects of better inventory management or better monetary policy. We do know, however, that inflation settled into a trend near to or slightly below 2 percent during that period. We estimate the model with data from this period, and we decompose how much of inflation is explained by the variables and how much is left unexplained, which economists call the “residual.” As it turns out, this model does a good job of capturing the inflation process over that period before the pandemic, and my results are similar to Yellen’s. The model explains 70 percent of the variation in inflation, meaning that only 30 percent of the variation in inflation is attributed to unexplained residuals. An alternative way to understand the unexplained part is as the standard deviation of the residual or the unexplained portion of the model, which was 0.50 percentage point for the period from 2010 to 2019, compared with the standard deviation of inflation of about 0.8 percentage point.
This model, however, struggles to explain the run-up in inflation in the years immediately after the pandemic took hold. The unexplained portion of inflation, the residual, rises dramatically in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, the unexplained portion is almost 2 percentage points, and the following year, it is about 1.5 percentage points. Perhaps we should not be surprised by the outcome. These years saw inflation reach a four-decade peak, but the model has been trained on a Great Moderation sample that saw relatively quiet inflation.10
Second Result: Using a Longer SampleThe results are more encouraging if, instead, we also include data from the previous period of significant inflation and train the model on data starting in 1964. Intuitively, it makes sense that including a period with persistent inflation, like the 1970s, might help us better understand another inflationary episode. I stop at 2019 because I want to see if training on data from the previous 55-year period can explain the post-2020 inflation.
The model captures more of the most recent run-up in inflation when using the longer period of analysis. The unexplained residual drops to about 1.5 percentage points in 2021 and to a bit above 0.5 percentage point in 2022. Allowing for greater persistence in inflation allows an inflation equation to fit the pandemic period better, though it does not settle the question of whether the pandemic inflation was caused by large and persistent shocks or by large shocks and a persistent inflation process—for example, because of greater feedback between wages and prices.
To improve the model further, it would be useful to include additional explanatory variables that could better capture the overheating of the economy. In what follows, I include variables that might account for factors experienced in the most recent bout of inflation, such as a very tight labor market and supply chain snarls.
Third Result: Alternative Measure of SlackAs I mentioned before, the very tight labor market was an important contributor to inflation in recent years, especially to services inflation, yet the weight on the unemployment gap in the Phillips curve for the more recent period is very small. This measure of slack has become less and less important over time in explaining inflation, except during selected episodes such as in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, which was characterized by a very sluggish recovery. Outside of that episode, and very few others, the Phillips curve places little weight on that measure of slack in explaining inflation over the Great Moderation, including during the recent run-up. This is also a reflection of training the model over the Great Moderation, in which inflation moved fairly tightly around a very flat trend. Notice that this would suggest a “flat Phillips curve” or a big penalty in terms of unemployment needed to reduce inflation. Instead, I focus on another very promising alternative measure that I have paid a lot of attention to since I was chief economist at the Department of Labor—and again since I joined the Board of Governors—and that I am very familiar with as a scholar of labor markets. The measure is the ratio of vacancies to the level of unemployment.11 In effect, this ratio measures how much competition there is for a given job, or the “tightness” of the labor market. Labor is an important input into most production processes, and, thus, tightness in the labor market is closely related to price pressures. I use the standard version of this ratio that measures job openings from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey as the numerator and the unemployment level from the Current Population Survey as the denominator. This allows me to use data back to the 1960s.12 The vacancy-to-unemployment ratio as a measure of slack is more effective at explaining inflation than the unemployment gap. This represents an interesting result because it offers a larger role to heated labor markets in explaining the run-up in inflation. My results echo research that finds the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio is a helpful measure of slack to consider in out-of-sample forecasting exercises.13
Fourth Result: Supply Chain SnarlsAlthough the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio offers a promising measure of slack and supply chain pressures due to labor shortages, that measure does not necessarily capture supply chain snarls whose roots lie outside of the labor market. As I mentioned earlier, there were substantial supply chain disruptions during the past few years that came at the same time as strong demand. That resulted in material and labor shortages. Attempts at quantifying supply-side disruptions have been around for some decades now.14 I rely on a new monthly shortages index created by a team of Fed Board economists, which relies on textual analysis to scan news articles for sentences that include the word pairs “labor shortages,” “material shortages,” or “food shortages.”15 The Shortage Index allows us to better measure cost-push pressures from different sources and is constructed all the way back to the beginning of the previous century. Thus, it makes a difference to have access to advances in natural language processing.16 When I add the Shortage Index to the baseline Phillips curve or to the vacancy-to-unemployment–based Phillips curve, I obtain that the Shortage Index explains an even larger portion of the inflation run-up during and after the pandemic. The residual for 2020 is cut in half, the residual for 2021 is about 1 percentage point, and the residual is effectively eliminated in 2022. I judge this a noteworthy result and a proof of concept that with additional augmentation, the Phillips curve model can better capture inflation dynamics during the recent period. Through the lens of this model, supply shortages played an important role in 2022 in constraining output to grow at an anemic rate and in pushing up inflation. Moreover, the model is also able to capture the decline in inflation in 2023 and 2024 despite the strong expansion in real activity. I view the Shortage Index as a powerful indicator of the nonlinear effects stemming from a compounding of the contemporaneous interaction of demand and supply bottlenecks.
I have offered additional variables to account for a measure of slack as it relates to labor supply and material supply. This exercise could be extended further to better account for some of the subcategories of inflation that caused the waves I discussed earlier. For example, food inflation, which is characterized by two distinct waves, can mostly be explained by the Food Shortage Index, which captures a large portion of the residual in the baseline model.
Lessons for the PolicymakerToday I have discussed the waves of inflation the country faced starting five years ago. I also talked about how the vessel we use to navigate those choppy waters can be improved upon. As I conclude, I want to discuss with you how central bankers might recalibrate their compasses, based on what we learned from considering these augmentations to Phillips curve models. I think a clear lesson is that no single model alone can give a policymaker an understanding of every possible state of the economy. Policymakers must be open to various options, models, and frameworks—and not be afraid to experiment in search of more accurate answers. Policymakers must be very attentive to the most recent contributions from academia and empirical practitioners. Broadly, that is the approach I take, and why I apply the same rigor I did as an academic researcher to the monetary policy decisions that I confront.
The recent run-up in inflation in many ways was a rather unique period, spurred, at least initially, by the first onset of a global pandemic in more than a century. Fully understanding the dynamics at play has provided a tough test for economists. The models I described today have had some success in capturing salient features of the inflation process during the pandemic period. I hope this illustrative analysis helps you see the difficulties of forecasting inflation in real time.
Another lesson to be learned from this experience is that the feared harsh tradeoff between unemployment and inflation, one that requires large costs in terms of job loss and reduction in incomes in order to reduce inflation, did not materialize in the years immediately after the 2022 inflation peak. Inflation has been significantly reduced while the labor market has remained solid. This is a historically unusual, but most welcome, outcome. While this outcome is in part due to the actions of Fed policymakers, it is also possible to explain that remarkable result through the lens of the models that I have presented today. A large fraction of the rise in inflation, most specifically core goods inflation, can be explained by supply chain snarls. The untangling of supply chains contributed to a decline in inflation with little cost in terms of unemployment. Likewise, labor markets were very tight in this period. As workers returned to the labor force, labor markets became less tight, and the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio declined. That corresponded with a subsequent decline in inflation. That is a consistent result because services inflation is closely connected to the cost of labor.
Thank you for your time today. Once again, it is humbling to be asked to give the Whittington Lecture to honor the memory of fellow educator Leslie Whittington. I look forward to your questions.

1. The views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues on the Federal Reserve Board or the Federal Open Market Committee. Return to text
2. D’Acunto, Malmendier, Ospina, and Weber (2021) show that consumers disproportionately rely on the price changes of goods in their grocery bundles when forming expectations about aggregate inflation; see Francesco D’Acunto, Ulrike Malmendier, Juan Ospina, and Michael Weber (2021), “Exposure to Grocery Prices and Inflation Expectations,” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 129 (May), pp. 1615–39. Return to text
3. Ferrante, Graves, and Iacoviello (2020) show that a sharp reallocation of demand from one sector to another can exacerbate supply chain disruption and cause aggregate inflation; see Francesco Ferrante, Sebastian Graves, and Matteo Iacoviello (2023), “The Inflationary Effects of Sectoral Reallocation,” Journal of Monetary Economics, supp., vol. 140 (November), pp. S64–81. Return to text
4. See Milton Friedman (1968), “The Role of Monetary Policy,” American Economic Review, vol. 58 (March), pp. 1–17; and Edmund S. Phelps (1967), “Phillips Curves, Expectations of Inflation and Optimal Unemployment over Time,” Economica, vol. 34 (135), pp. 254–81. Return to text
5. Friedman did not consider forward-looking price-setting firms, but more recent advances in macroeconomics do, such as New Keynesian models; see Jordi Galí (2015), Monetary Policy, Inflation, and the Business Cycle: An Introduction to the New Keynesian Framework and Its Applications (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press). Return to text
6. In an earlier speech, I have sketched a model in which agents infer the central bank target by observing inflation, interest rates, and unemployment data; see Adriana D. Kugler (2024), “Central Bank Independence and the Conduct of Monetary Policy,” speech delivered at the Albert Hirschman Lecture, 2024 Annual Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association and the Latin American and Caribbean Chapter of the Econometric Society, Montevideo, Uruguay, November 14. Return to text
7. For a review of Phillips curve formulations, see Robert J. Gordon (2018), “Friedman and Phelps on the Phillips Curve Viewed from a Half Century’s Perspective,” Review of Keynesian Economics, vol. 6 (4), pp. 425–36. Return to text
8. The model that I will use is similar to the one described by Janet Yellen in her famous speech at the University of Massachusetts in 2015; see Janet L. Yellen (2015), “Inflation Dynamics and Monetary Policy,” speech delivered at the Philip Gamble Memorial Lecture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, September 24. Return to text
9. See Pierpaolo Benigno and Gauti B. Eggertsson (2023), “It’s Baaack: The Surge in Inflation in the 2020s and the Return of the Non-Linear Phillips Curve,” NBER Working Paper Series 31197 (Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, April). Return to text
10. The results that I obtain for the 1990–2019 period are similar to those that Yellen reports for the 1990–2014 period. Return to text
11. The ratio of job openings to unemployment has attracted the attention of many researchers. See, for instance, Olivier J. Blanchard and Ben S. Bernanke (2023), “What Caused the US Pandemic-Era Inflation?” NBER Working Paper Series 31417 (Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, June). Return to text
12. Although job openings from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) go back only as far as the early 2000s, I use here the extended series from Barnichon that pieces together JOLTS data for the more recent period with a corrected version of the help-wanted index originally from the Conference Board for the period before 2001. See Regis Barnichon (2010), “Building a Composite Help-Wanted Index,” Economics Letters, vol. 109 (December), pp. 175–78. Return to text
13. See Regis Barnichon and Adam Shapiro (2022), “What’s the Best Measure of Economic Slack?” FRBSF Economic Letter 2022-04 (San Francisco: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, February); and Régis Barnichon and Adam Hale Shapiro (2024), “Phillips Meets Beveridge,” Journal of Monetary Economics, supp., vol. 148 (November), 103660. Return to text
14. The Institute for Supply Management’s Supplier Deliveries Index has been around since the 1950s, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Global Supply Chain Pressure Index since 1998, and the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization since 2008. Return to text
15. See Dario Caldara, Matteo Iacoviello, and David Yu (2024), “Measuring Shortages since 1900,” working paper. Their index is available at https://www.matteoiacoviello.com/shortages.html. Return to text
16. Other authors have used natural language processing in an attempt to produce a measure of shortages. For instance, see Paul E. Soto (2023), “Measurement and Effects of Supply Chain Bottlenecks Using Natural Language Processing,” FEDS Notes (Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, February 6). Blanchard and Bernanke use Google searches for the word “shortage” as an indicator of sectoral supply constraints in a Phillips curve equation; see Blanchard and Bernanke, “What Caused the US Pandemic-Era Inflation?” in note 11. For an early-attempt, hand-coded shortage index, see Owen Lamont (1997), “Do ‘Shortages’ Cause Inflation?” in Christina D. Romer and David H. Romer, eds., Reducing Inflation: Motivation and Strategy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), pp. 281–306. Return to text

MIL OSI USA News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: LanzaTech Announces Date for Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2024 Earnings Release and Conference Call

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

CHICAGO, Feb. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LanzaTech Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNZA) (“LanzaTech” or the “Company”), a carbon management company providing a differentiated syngas-to-ethanol solution, today announced that it will issue its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 financial results before financial markets in the United States open on Monday, March 17, 2025. A conference call will be held that same day at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

The conference call may be accessed via a live webcast on a listen-only basis through the Events and Presentations section of LanzaTech’s Investor Relations website. An archive of the webcast will be available for twelve months.

To attend the live conference call via telephone, domestic callers can access by dialing (800) 225-9448 and international callers can access by dialing (203) 518-9708, and using the conference identification code LANZA.

A replay of the conference call will be available shortly after the call ends and can be accessed by domestic callers by dialing (844)-512-2921 and by international callers by dialing (412)-317-6671, and entering the access identification code 11157950. The replay will be available until 11:59 pm Eastern Time March 31, 2025.

About LanzaTech
LanzaTech Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNZA) is the carbon recycling company transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials, and protein for everyday products. Using its bio-recycling technology, LanzaTech captures carbon generated by energy-intensive industries at the source, preventing it from being emitted into the air. LanzaTech then gives that captured carbon a new life as a clean replacement for virgin fossil carbon in everything from household cleaners and clothing fibers to packaging and fuels. By partnering with companies across the global supply chain like ArcelorMittal, Coty, Craghoppers, and LanzaJet, LanzaTech is paving the way for a circular carbon economy. For more information about LanzaTech, visit https://lanzatech.com.

Contacts

Investor Relations
Kate Walsh
VP, Investor Relations & Tax
Investor.Relations@lanzatech.com

The MIL Network –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: UNDP calls for long-term investment to support recovery in Syria

Source: United Nations 2

20 February 2025 Economic Development

Accelerating economic recovery is critical to reverse Syria’s decline and restore stability, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a report published on Thursday.

Fourteen years of conflict have unravelled nearly four decades of economic, social and development progress. Today, nine out of 10 Syrians are living in poverty, and one in four is jobless.

The report warns that at current growth rates, the economy will not regain its pre-conflict GDP level before 2080, or 55 years from now.

Invest in development

“Beyond immediate humanitarian aid, Syria’s recovery requires long-term investment in development to build economic and social stability for its people,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said in a press release.

“Restoring productivity for jobs and poverty relief, revitalizing agriculture for food security, and rebuilding infrastructure for essential services such as healthcare, education and energy are key to a self-sustaining future, prosperity, and peace,” he added.

Deaths and disasppearances

The Syrian civil war erupted in March 2011 following pro-democracy protests against President Bashar Al-Assad, whose regime was toppled in December 2024.

Nearly 618,000 lives were reportedly lost, UNDP said, making it among the deadliest conflicts in recent history. Some 113,000 people were forcibly disappeared whose fate remains unknown.

More than 7.2 million people are displaced within Syria and another six million are living abroad as refugees. Together, they represent more than half the population.

Economic growth declines

In 2010, Syria’s GDP was $62 billion but has shrunk by more than half, with an estimated $800 billion loss over the conflict.

Average growth over the past five years stood at 1.3 per cent annually. If this continues, it will take 55 years to restore pre-conflict GDP levels. For recovery to take 10 years, annual economic growth would have to rise six-fold.

Other impacts include rising poverty, which has nearly tripled from 33 per cent before the conflict to 90 per cent today. Extreme poverty has also jumped from 11 per cent to 66 per cent, a six-fold increase.

Furthermore, between 40 to 50 per cent of children aged six to 15 are not attending school, and 5.4 million people have lost their jobs.

Millions need homes

Meanwhile, 80 per cent of energy capacity has been lost. Syria generated around 9,000 megawatts in 2010 which has dropped to less than 1,500 megawatts today. Seventy per cent of power plants have been damaged and 75 per cent of national grid capacity has been lost.

“Out of 5.5 million homes in 2010, 328,000 homes fully destroyed, and one out of three houses destroyed or damaged, which means we have 5.7 million people who need shelter support,” said Abdallah Al Dardari, UNDP’s Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States. 

‘Stark’ development losses

Speaking to journalists in New York, he said the “most stark number” has been the decline in the Human Development Index (HDI), a summary measure of development combining health, education and income indicators.

Syria’s HDI today is less than it was in 1990, indicating 40 years of loss in human development. The report cautions that the road ahead is challenging and lays out several scenarios.

“We can work hard to achieve a recovery in 10 years’ time, with 7.6 per cent annual growth rate,” said Mr. Al Dardari. Achieving recovery in 15 years would require five percent annual growth, while returning to a no-conflict scenario calls for nearly 14 per cent annual growth.

Strategy and engagement

UNDP said the way forward demands a comprehensive strategy addressing governance reform, economic stabilisation, sector revitalisation, infrastructure rebuilding, and strengthened social services.

Mr. Al Dardari said most of the figures in the report have been presented to senior officials from Syria’s caretaker authorities in both group and bilateral meetings. It will officially be presented to them on Friday.

“In addition to this report, we will be also starting a serious engagement on the recovery and reconstruction offer,” he said.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK Government kickstarts work with Scottish Government to boost broadband in rural Scotland, powering Prime Minister’s Plan for Change
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Around 11,000 Scottish homes and businesses to gain access to lightning-fast broadband.
First Project Gigabit contract signed to bring fastest broadband networks on the market to rural Scotland 

Around 11,000 homes and businesses in the Scottish Borders and East Lothian will be the first to benefit from the Scotland-wide rollout, with further contracts planned for other parts of Scotland this year

Supports UK Government plans to raise living standards and grow the economy across the country, including in isolated rural areas, as part of the Plan for Change

Around 11,000 Scottish homes and businesses will gain access to lightning-fast broadband, as joint efforts by the UK and Scottish governments to supercharge internet access in rural areas across the nation get underway and power the UK Government’s Plan for Change. 

Rural areas in the Scottish Borders and East Lothian will benefit from gigabit-capable internet upgrades, allowing residents to fulfil day-to-day tasks, from rapid access to health advice through remote hospital consultations to interviewing for jobs and working more flexibly.   

The upgrades will benefit some of the most remote areas of Scotland and the UK, including Athelstaneford and Innerwick in East Lothian and St Abbs, Broughton and Ettrickbridge in the Scottish Borders. 

These areas will be among the first in Scotland to benefit from a £26 million contract awarded under Project Gigabit – the UK Government-funded rollout to areas unlikely to receive upgrades through commercial plans due to their challenging location. The contract was awarded to independent Scottish provider GoFibre by the Scottish Government. 

UK Government Minister for Telecoms and Data Chris Bryant said:

As technological advancements race ahead and revolutionise our day-to-day lives, we cannot afford to leave anyone behind.

It is fantastic to see this UK Government-funded gigabit investment being delivered in Scotland for the first time, not only bringing thousands of people the fastest broadband networks on the market and levelling the playing field but also helping us realise our mission to boost economic growth and improve living standards across the whole country, under the PM’s Plan for Change.

Scottish Government Business Minister Richard Lochhead said:

Reliable internet connectivity is a vital part of everyday life – allowing people to work flexibly, engage in education and stay connected with loved ones.

The Scottish Government has successfully implemented digital infrastructure programmes across Scotland to increase broadband speeds and help grow the economy.

Expanding upon the achievements of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband and Reaching 100% programmes, we will deliver Project Gigabit in Scotland to provide resilient connections that meet the needs of people and businesses now and into the future.

One of Scotland’s leading amateur rugby clubs, Melrose Rugby Club, based in the Scottish Borders, has previously been connected to full fibre network by provider GoFibre.

Having reliable and fast connection meant the club could stream across the world their annual tournament, the Melrose Sevens. The event, which is held every April in Melrose, is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world and is watched by tens of thousands of fans across the globe, with teams coming from as far afield as Japan, Hong Kong, Uruguay and South Africa.

Malcolm Changleng, Melrose Rugby Club Director, said:

Getting full fibre connection has been a game changer for our club.

As well as the 10,000 fans attending the event on the day of the tournament, we got about 60,000 people watching games on YouTube and other online platforms, which is why it’s so important to have good WiFi.

It’s not just rugby fans watching, but people that have left the Borders to go all over the world. Lots of families from the Borders connect back to the area through the Melrose Rugby Sevens, and we’re proud that we allow people to get a little taste of the Borders on an annual basis.

This weekend, rugby fans in Melrose will be able to support their national team in the Six Nations, with the club streaming Scotland taking on England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Local restaurant, The Hoebridge, is set to grow as a business thanks to the programme – contributing to plans to kickstart economic growth.

Kyle Tidd, Co-Owner of The Hoebridge said: 

This investment in faster broadband would improve our operations. It would enable us to streamline our ordering, payment and online booking systems, enhancing efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Now the £26 million contract is signed, detailed planning and surveying work will begin immediately with the first connections expected in the Autumn.  

Further contracts to be signed this year will see faster broadband delivered to tens of thousands more premises across Scotland, including Aberdeenshire and the Morayshire Coast, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Orkney and Shetland.   

For households, gigabit-capable broadband delivers faster speeds and fewer dropouts, providing a gateway to remote working and online education. Unlike traditional copper-based networks, gigabit connections won’t slow down at peak times, meaning no more battling for bandwidth with neighbours. Gigabit networks can easily handle over a hundred devices all at once with no buffering, meaning the whole family can seamlessly surf, stream and download at the same time.      

Project Gigabit will support the UK Government’s plans to kickstart economic growth, creating and supporting thousands of high-paid, high-skilled jobs, empowering industries of all kinds to innovate and increasing productivity by taking up digital technology.   

It will also ensure people can access vital services they need now and, in the future, from giving patients improved access to healthcare through virtual appointments and remote health monitoring to helping pensioners combat loneliness by catching up with loved ones over higher quality video calls.   

Scotland Office Minister, Kirsty McNeill, said: 

This landmark contract marks a crucial step forward in our mission to end digital inequality across Scotland. By bringing the fastest possible broadband to our rural communities, we’re not just laying cables – we’re opening up new opportunities for local businesses, improving access to education and healthcare. The UK Government, through our Plan for Change, is working to ensure Scotland’s rural communities can benefit from the digital economy and economic growth is seen across the country.

Neil Conaghan, CEO of GoFibre, said:

As a Scottish company, born in the Borders, GoFibre is proud to be named as the delivery partner for the first Project Gigabit contract in Scotland, bringing transformative full fibre connectivity to thousands more homes and businesses across the region. This contract award marks a step-change in our ambition and footprint as a major Scottish telecommunications company.

We have a sterling track record of connecting communities across Scotland to our ultra-fast broadband network. Delivering this project will build on our successful delivery of Project Gigabit contracts in North Northumberland and Teesdale where we are delivering much-needed broadband in rural areas, ahead of schedule. We will bring all that expertise and GoFibre experience to this essential project for people in the Borders and East Lothian.

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Published 20 February 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Missouri Couple Arrested for Abducting and Sexually Abusing a 13-Year-Old That They Groomed Online

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

Defendants Sexually Assaulted Teen Victim in Their Van and Apartment Over Several Days

ROANOKE, Va. – A married couple from Springfield, Missouri, was arrested recently and charged with transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Justin Johiah Curtright, 40, and Christin Marie Curtright, 32, groomed the 13-year-old victim over the internet, traveled from Missouri to pick her up from her home in Virginia, then repeatedly sexually assaulted her in their van and at their Springfield, Missouri apartment until she was rescued by police.

According to the federal criminal complaint filed last week, in May 2024 the victim met Justin Curtright on Discord, an online group chat platform, where the two talked for hours. The victim initially used an alias and claimed she was 18 years old. Justin Curtright soon began talking in sexual overtones and eventually sent the victim a sexually explicit video of himself.

The next morning, Justin added the victim to a private Discord channel that included him and his wife, Christin Curtright. From that point, the three talked extensively, both online and by phone. The victim eventually admitted she was only 13 years old.

The Curtrights also engaged in sexually explicit acts on-camera while video chatting with the victim. Justin would frequently pretend to be the victim’s father.

At some point near the end of June, the Curtrights devised a plan to drive to southern Virginia to abduct the victim and take her to their Springfield apartment. On the morning of July 24, 2024, as planned, the Curtrights met the victim near her home in Virginia. The victim got in the Curtrights’ vehicle, and they transported her back to Missouri.

During the trip back to Missouri, the Curtrights each took turns sexually assaulting the victim while the other drove. Once they reached their apartment, they continued their sexual abuse and exploitation of the victim for several more days.

On July 27, 2024, officers with the Springfield Police Department went to the Curtrights’ apartment, where they found the victim hiding in the back of a closet in the Curtrights’ bedroom. The victim had a debit card and false ID that Justin Curtright gave her, which represented her as Justin’s 15-year-old daughter.

Springfield officers seized the Curtrights’ phones, which held recordings of the Curtrights’ video chats grooming and sexually exploiting the victim, as well as images of the victim being abused during the drive to Missouri.

If convicted, the Curtrights face a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum punishment of life in prison.

Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division, made the announcement today.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Springfield Police Department, and various local law enforcement agencies investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorney Drew O. Inman is prosecuting the case for the United States.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Welch, Durbin Raise First Amendment Concerns on Trump Visa Vetting Orders: “President Trump won the 2024 election. He did not, however, win a mandate to circumvent the Constitution through executive decree.”

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) recently wrote to the Department of State, Department of Education, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) raising the alarm about President Trump’s recent Executive Orders that institute speech-restrictive vetting requirements for visa holders and applicants. The Senators warned these orders could run afoul of the First Amendment and violate the Departments’ constitutional obligations.
“President Trump’s Orders purportedly advance these speech restrictions in pursuit of ‘combat[ting] anti-Semitism’ and ‘protecting the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats.’ Though commendable aims, these vaguely written Orders appear to direct you to exceed your statutory authority and, on their face, could restrict constitutionally protected speech. Through their implementation, they could sweep even further,” the Senators wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
“Congress has authorized the Executive Branch to protect the homeland from noncitizens who support terrorist organizations or advocate for the overthrow of the United States government,” the Senators wrote to Acting Secretary of Education Denise Carter. “However, Congress has not authorized the Executive Branch to surveil students engaged in the free expression of ideas on college campuses. Nor could Congress have adopted such a measure without running afoul of the First Amendment.”
The Senators concluded: “We urge you to ensure Executive Orders 14161 and 14188 are implemented in a manner consistent with federal law and the First Amendment. We will closely monitor your implementation of these Orders, and, if necessary, vigorously exercise the oversight tools at our disposal to ensure compliance with the law and the Constitution.”
On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14161, which directed the Department of State and DHS to promptly “recommend any actions necessary to protect the American people from the actions of foreign nationals” who “preach or call for … the overthrow or replacement of the culture on which our constitutional Republic stands.” That Order also instructed the Departments to “ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.”
Executive Order 14188, issued by President Trump on January 29, 2025, directed the Departments of State, Education, and DHS to provide guidance to institutions of higher education to help them “monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff relevant to [grounds for inadmissibility.” It also ordered the Departments to ensure that such reports yield “investigations and, if warranted, actions to remove such aliens.” The Administration released an accompanying fact sheet, which explained that any noncitizen “who joined in the pro-jihadist protests” will be “deport[ed]” and pledged to clear out college campuses that “have been infested with radicalism like never before.
Read the full letter to Denise Carter, Acting Secretary of the Department of Education here.
Read the full letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem here.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Governor Josh Stein Advocates For $19 Billion In Federal Helene Recovery Funds

Source: US State of North Carolina

Headline: Governor Josh Stein Advocates For $19 Billion In Federal Helene Recovery Funds

Governor Josh Stein Advocates For $19 Billion In Federal Helene Recovery Funds
lsaito
Thu, 02/20/2025 – 16:13

Raleigh, NC

Today, Governor Josh Stein announced he is requesting $19 billion in federal funds for Helene recovery and rebuilding. The Governor met with Senators Tillis and Budd Thursday to advocate for critical investments in western North Carolina’s recovery. Read Governor Stein’s full statement below:

“Hurricane Helene destroyed so much across western North Carolina – lives, homes, businesses, farms, and infrastructure — and our state is facing nearly $60 billion in damages. Despite a focused response from federal, state, local, and private sector and nonprofit partners in the immediate aftermath, five months later, it is clear that much more help is needed to restore and rebuild western North Carolina. That’s why I am requesting $19 billion in federal funds for Helene recovery. We must support home rebuilding, restore critical infrastructure, keep businesses open, shore up local governments, and reduce impacts from future natural disasters. The state has already committed more than $1 billion in funding, and I am working with the legislature to deliver more needed resources. With continued commitment of the federal and state governments, we will enable the people of western North Carolina to come back stronger than ever before.”

Feb 20, 2025

MIL OSI USA News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Owner of Unlicensed D.C. Row House Found Guilty in the Deaths of Two People in Fatal Kennedy Street Fire

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

WASHINGTON – James G. Walker, 67, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty today in Superior Court of the District of Columbia on two counts of second-degree murder, and 27 criminal building code violations, for the deaths of Fitsum Kebede and Yafet Solomen, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Brian L. Schwalb, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division Anthony Spotswood, Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Chief John A. Donnelly, Sr.

Walker was indicted and arraigned on January 16, 2020, on two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of the lesser included charges of involuntary manslaughter and numerous criminal building code violations by Superior Court Judge Ronna L. Beck.

According to the government’s evidence, the defendant, James Walker, owned commercial property located at 708 Kennedy Street, N.W. Walker did not have a certificate of occupancy for the building and the structure was in violation of several fire safety codes. Walker operated the building as an illegal “rooming house.” Some of the building’s rooms were too small to be considered habitable space; some had no windows, and the defendant failed to install or maintain functional smoke alarms throughout the building, including the basement. The most egregious violation, however, was the failure to provide an unobstructed means to escape the property, which included erecting multiple security gates that required keys from both sides, the worst offense being a double-keyed security gate installed within the property that blocked access from the kitchen to the front door. Importantly, the defendant had received specific warnings on March 21, 2019, from the Metropolitan Police Department that the building was in violation of several building codes specifically related to fire safety and hazardous conditions. He was instructed to correct the conditions and have the building inspected for residential use. He did not.

On the morning of August 18, 2019, a fire erupted in the basement of 708 Kennedy Street. Three tenants were present at the time of the fire. 40-year-old Fitsum Kebede and 10-year-old Yafet Solomen were in the basement and were unable to exit the premises. They subsequently died from thermal burns and smoke inhalation. The government’s evidence was that the defendant’s knowledge of the danger posed by the conditions of the property and his conscious disregard of the extreme risk that death or serious bodily injury could occur were the but-for cause of the deaths of the decedents.

This case was jointly tried by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the District of Columbus Office of the Attorney General.

In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Martin, D.C. Attorney General Schwalb, ATF Special Agent in Charge Spotswood, MPD Chief Smith, and Fire and EMS Chief Donnelly, commended the work of the ATF Arson and Explosives Task Force that investigated the case, including MPD, ATF, and Fire and EMS. Finally, they acknowledged the work of Assistant United States Attorney Vinet Bryant, Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Cargill and Assistant Attorney General Keith Ingram who prosecuted the case.

MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Illinois Woman Pleads Guilty to Marriage Fraud and Perjury

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Kalee Ann Huff, 27, of Fairbury, Illinois, pleaded guilty today to marriage fraud and perjury.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on September 3, 2021, Huff married a foreign national in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Huff admitted that she agreed to marry the foreign national in exchange for $10,000, as part of a plan to keep him in the United States as his immigration visa was about to expire. Huff further admitted that she and the foreign national planned to divorce once he obtained lawful permanent resident status, commonly known as a Green Card.

Huff also admitted that she was pressured to enter the fake marriage scheme by two members of her family with whom she was living in Greenbrier County, because the family needed money to pay for household expenses. One of the two family members, brother-in-law Joseph Sanchez, pleaded guilty on January 29, 2025, to participating in an immigration marriage fraud conspiracy. Sanchez admitted to helping to arrange the fake marriage, with the understanding that half of the $10,000 would be paid upon the marriage being final and the other $5,000 would be paid once the foreign national received his Green Card. Huff admitted that only $5,000 of the promised amount was ever paid and that she never directly received or spent the money.

On October 17, 2021, Huff signed a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Huff listed her address as an apartment in White Sulphur Springs. Huff admitted that address was the foreign national’s and that she never lived there, and that he caused to be filed a falsified lease agreement with immigration officials listing her as a co-tenant of the apartment.

On March 8, 2023, Sanchez drove Huff and the foreign national to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the trip was for Huff and the foreign national to attend an interview with U.S. immigration officials and trick those officials into believing the marriage was entered into in good faith and that the relationship between Huff and the foreign national was genuine. The scheme was unsuccessful, and the foreign national’s application was denied. Huff admitted that the foreign national coached her on how to lie about their relationship and marriage in advance of the interview.

On August 8, 2023, immigration officers confronted Huff about the fake marriage scheme, and she signed a statement admitting that she knowingly entered into the marriage for the purpose of evading U.S. immigration laws. Huff also told the officers that the foreign national had threatened her by stating she would go to prison if she did not continue helping him obtain a Green Card.

On December 10, 2024, Huff appeared before a federal grand jury in Charleston, pursuant to a subpoena and a cooperation provision in the marriage fraud case against her. Huff admitted that she committed perjury during her grand jury testimony when she answered questions falsely about material facts relating to the government’s investigation.

Huff is scheduled to be sentenced on June 12, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Sanchez, 33, of Fairbury, Illinois,is scheduled to be sentenced on May 30, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

United States Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan T. Storage is prosecuting the cases.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 5:25-cr-20 and 2:25-cr-23.

###

MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Long Island Investment Advisor Charged in Superseding Indictment With Attempted Obstruction of Justice, Bank Fraud Conspiracy, Wire Fraud Conspiracy and Money Laundering Conspiracy Charges

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Adam Kaplan Allegedly Attempted to Injure and Bribe Witnesses, Manufacture Evidence, Bribe Law Enforcement Officials, and Defraud Additional Victims

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, a superseding indictment was filed that added two counts against Adam Kaplan for attempted obstruction of justice in connection with a grand jury investigation in the Eastern District of New York and during his pretrial release on fraud charges. The superseding indictment also added additional charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud against Adam Kaplan for conduct, including while on pretrial release, as well as an additional charge of money laundering conspiracy against Adam Kaplan and Daniel Kaplan. In July 2023, Adam Kaplan and Daniel Kaplan, investment advisors with a financial services firm (Financial Services Firm), were charged in a 16-count indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, investment advisor fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud at least 50 victims of more than $5 million. The defendants, who are twin brothers, will be arraigned on the superseding indictment at a later date.

John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the charges.

“As alleged in the superseding indictment, before his arrest, and while he was aware of a grand jury investigation into his crimes, Adam Kaplan attempted to threaten and injure victims and witnesses and bribe law enforcement,” stated United States Attorney Durham. “But his disregard for the law and court-ordered rules didn’t stop there, he also repeatedly and flagrantly violated his conditions of pretrial release. This Office will not tolerate attempts by defendants to undermine the criminal justice process and will prosecute them to the full extent of the law.”

Mr. Durham thanked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Chicago office, for its work on the case.

“Adam Kaplan allegedly ordered threats be made to his victims and attempted to bribe authorities to disrupt a federal investigation into the brothers’ misconduct,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy. “Kaplan’s alleged actions reflect remorselessness as he continued to make concerted efforts to protect his multimillion-dollar fraud scheme even following his initial arrest. The FBI will never tolerate individuals who prey upon populations for personal wealth, and then resort to extreme measures to conceal their egregious wrongdoings.”

As set forth in court filings and the underlying indictment, between May 2018 and November 2022, Adam Kaplan and Daniel Kaplan defrauded at least 50 clients of the Financial Services Firm, including some elderly and disabled victims, of at least $5 million. Between January 2023 and September 2024, Adam Kaplan and a co-conspirator defrauded additional individuals of approximately $1 million and also conspired to defraud a financial institution.

The superseding indictment charges that, between April 2023 and September 2024, while aware of a federal grand jury investigation into the brothers’ conduct, Adam Kaplan attempted to influence, obstruct and impede the underlying investigation, including through attempts to threaten, injure and pay off witnesses, and destroy evidence. Specifically, Adam Kaplan (i) ordered an associate to create a fake email from a victim so that Adam Kaplan could use the fake email as evidence at trial and to impeach that victim’s credibility; (ii) engaged in a months’ long fraudulent scheme to steal money from victims; and (iii) attempted to tamper with, threaten and pay off witnesses, including telling his associate that a victim needed “to fear,” that a victim should be “peeing blood / missing teeth and another visited / scared,” that a victim should be sent skull and crossbones imagery, and that his associate should “put [a victim’s] phone on fire . . . Seriously, please blow it up.” After his arrest, while on release on a multimillion-dollar bond, Adam Kaplan (i) attempted to bribe a Department of Justice official; (ii) continued his fraudulent schemes and continued to pay off witnesses; and (iii) committed credit card fraud. To perpetuate these crimes, Adam Kaplan used multiple burner phones to avoid detection and monitoring by law enforcement, used aliases, attempted to break into others’ email accounts and attempted to destroy evidence.

If you were a client of Adam Kaplan or Daniel Kaplan and would like to file a complaint, please visit www.iC3.gov. Please reference “Adam Kaplan” or “Daniel Kaplan” in your complaint.

The charges in the superseding indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Adam Toporovsky and Paul Scotti are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Janelle Robinson.

The Defendants:

ADAM S. KAPLAN
Age: 35
Great Neck, New York

DANIEL E. KAPLAN
Age: 35
Great Neck, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-293(S-1) (JMA)

MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Kershaw County Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Gun and Drug Offenses

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Cameron Jones, 26, of Camden, has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that on April 1, 2022, an officer with the Camden Police Department was patrolling a local park due to recent violence in the area. When the officer approached the park, Cameron Jones began to run from the officer while holding his waistband. The officer chased Jones and saw Jones throw items into some bushes. The officer eventually caught Jones. While Jones was detained, officers with the Camden Police Department and Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office went back to the area where Jones threw items into the bushes and found a tan pistol with a drum magazine and 24.11 grams of cocaine. Additionally, Jones had over $3,700 in cash in his pockets. Further investigation revealed that Jones’ DNA was on the firearm and that he had previously posted pictures with the firearm on social media.

The court also heard information that on Dec. 19, 2023, FBI agents and officers with the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office and Camden Police Department arrested Jones after he was indicted by a grand jury for his conduct on April 1, 2022. After his arrest, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant on his home and found, multiple handgun magazines, marijuana, methamphetamine, and 18 machine gun conversion devices (also known as Glock switches), and a magazine matching the firearm from April 1, 2022.

Jones has a prior conviction for distribution of cocaine which prohibits him from possessing a firearm or ammunition and was a known member of a gang at the time of his arrest.

United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson sentenced Cameron Jones to 93 months imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office, and the Camden Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lamar J. Fyall and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Sanford are prosecuting the case.

###

MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: PDS Gang Leader Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking and Firearms Possession

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

WASHINGTON – Andre Alonte Willis, 33, of Washington, D.C., and a leader of the Push Dat Shit (PDS) street crew, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 240 months in prison on five felony convictions related to drug trafficking and firearms offenses in the District of Columbia.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean T. Ryan of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Washington Field Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

On September 12, 2024, a jury convicted Willis, also known as “Boogie,” of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana; conspiracy to use, carry, and possess firearms and machine guns in furtherance of drug trafficking; illegal possession and transfer of a machine gun; possession with intent to distribute marijuana; and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

Evidence at trial proved that Willis was a “big homie” in the D.C. street crew known as “Push Dat Shit” or “PDS,” and was the gang’s primary source of exotic strains of marijuana that he acquired from a variety of sources in California. FBI agents seized $150,000 in cash, along with a loaded handgun and marijuana packaged for distribution from Willis’ apartment when he was arrested.

PDS maintained gang territory on the 3300 – 3500 blocks of Wheeler Road, Southeast, and adjacent areas, and operated an open air drug market outside the Holiday Market. In approximately August 2018, PDS became allied with a neighboring street gang known as Jugg Gang, or “JG.” Between August 2018 and April 2023, members of the allied PDS/JG street crew sold drugs from Holiday Market and from “trap houses” that they maintained in apartment buildings surrounding that location.

As their drug business grew, PDS/JG became the target of drive-by shootings conducted by rival gangs – shootings they referred to as “spinning the block.” Beginning in approximately August 2019, a PDS/JG member began assembling and distributing fully automatic AR-Pistol assault rifles that he purchased as “kits” from online retailers. Such firearms are defined as “privately made firearms” by the ATF but are frequently referred to as “ghost guns” on the street. PDS/JG members used, carried, and possessed these “ghost gun” AR-Pistol machine guns in order to both defend their territory from rival gangs, but also to “spin the block” on rival gangs in order to deter and dissuade the rivals from entering PDS/JG territory. PDS/JG members “kept score” with rival gangs, and the points earned by “spinning the block” varied depending on the “importance” of the people that were injured or killed

In calculating Willis’ sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson included sentencing enhancements based on her finding that the conspiracy involved between 400 and 700 kilograms of marijuana, as well as her findings that Willis was a leader of more than five people in jointly-undertaken criminal conduct, and that he recklessly created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to others in the course of fleeing from the FBI to avoid arrest. Wills was also ordered to serve a five-year term of supervised release after completing his prison sentence.

This case was investigated by the FBI, ATF, and MPD. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Nelson and Justin Song and Paralegal Specialist Melissa Macechko.

MIL Security OSI –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: Wintrust Financial Corporation to Present at Raymond James 46th Annual Institutional Investors Conference

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

ROSEMONT, Ill., Feb. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wintrust Financial Corporation (“Wintrust”) (Nasdaq: WTFC) will present at the Raymond James 46th Annual Institutional Investors Conference to be held on March 2 – 5, 2025. Wintrust management will participate in a question and answer session that is scheduled to begin at 10:25 AM, Eastern Time, on March 3, 2025.

This event will be webcast and may be accessed at https://wsw.com/webcast/rj131/wtfc/1602900 or at Wintrust’s website at www.wintrust.com, Investor Relations, Investor News and Events, Presentations and Conference Calls. Listeners should go to the website at least fifteen minutes before the presentation to download and install any necessary audio software. There is no charge to access the event. For those unable to attend the live broadcast, a replay will be available for 90 days after the conference.

About Wintrust

Wintrust is a financial holding company with approximately $65 billion in assets whose common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Guided by its “Different Approach, Better Results” philosophy, Wintrust offers the sophisticated resources of a large bank while providing a community banking experience to each customer. Wintrust operates more than 200 retail banking locations through 16 community bank subsidiaries in the greater Chicago, southern Wisconsin, west Michigan, northwest Indiana, and southwest Florida market areas. In addition, Wintrust operates various non-bank business units, providing residential mortgage origination, wealth management, commercial and life insurance premium financing, short-term accounts receivable financing/outsourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, and qualified intermediary services for tax-deferred exchanges.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Timothy S. Crane, President & Chief Executive Officer
David A. Dykstra, Vice Chairman & Chief Operating Officer
(847) 939-9000
Website address: www.wintrust.com

The MIL Network –

February 21, 2025

MIL-OSI: Employers Holdings, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter 2024 and Full-Year Financial Results; Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.30 per Share

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

RENO, Nev., Feb. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Employers Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE:EIG), a holding company with subsidiaries that are specialty providers of workers’ compensation insurance and services focused on small and mid-sized businesses engaged in low-to-medium hazard industries, today reported financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024.

Full-Year 2024 Financial Highlights

(All comparisons versus full-year 2023)

Net income of $118.6 million ($4.71 per diluted share), versus $118.1 million ($4.45 per diluted share);
Adjusted net income of $94.0 million ($3.73 per diluted share), versus $101.7 million ($3.83 per diluted share);
Net investment income of $107.0 million, versus $106.5 million;
Gross premiums written of $776.3 million, versus $767.7 million;
Net premiums earned of $749.5 million, versus $721.9 million;
Net favorable prior year loss reserve development of $18.4 million, versus $44.9 million;
GAAP combined ratio of 97.9% (98.6% excluding the LPT), versus 95.0% (96.0% excluding the LPT);
Returned $71.7 million to stockholders through a combination of share repurchases and regular quarterly dividends;
Record number of ending policies in-force of 130,767, versus 126,409; and
Adjusted Book value per share of $50.71, up 9.8% including dividends declared.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights

(All comparisons versus fourth quarter 2023)

Net income of $28.3 million ($1.14 per diluted share), versus $45.6 million ($1.77 per diluted share);
Adjusted net income of $28.7 million ($1.15 per diluted share), versus $36.1 million ($1.40 per diluted share);
Net investment income of $26.7 million, versus $26.2 million;
Gross premiums written of $176.3 million, versus $178.2 million;
Net premiums earned of $190.2 million, versus $187.5 million;
Net favorable prior year loss reserve development of $9.1 million, versus $24.9 million;
GAAP combined ratio of 95.5% (including and excluding the LPT), versus 88.1% (88.8% excluding the LPT); and
Returned $17.5 million to stockholders through a combination of share repurchases and a regular quarterly dividend.

CEO Commentary

Chief Executive Officer Katherine Antonello commented: “We are pleased with our fourth quarter and full-year 2024 results. In fact, we closed the year with the highest levels of written and earned premium, ending in-force premium and policies and net investment income in the Company’s history.

We achieved solid growth in new and renewal premium in 2024, but that growth was offset by lower final audit premiums and endorsements. Our investment performance contributed nicely to our overall results and financial strength. In addition to the record level of net investment income we generated, we also recognized $24.1 million of after-tax unrealized gains from our common stocks and other investments.”

Ms. Antonello continued, “Our current accident year loss and LAE ratio on voluntary business was 64.0%, slightly above the loss and LAE ratio we maintained throughout 2023 and consistent with that of 2022. Our fourth quarter full reserve study led to the recognition of $8.6 million of net favorable prior year loss reserve development from our voluntary business. Those actions, coupled with our continual focus on our underwriting expenses, yielded an ex-LPT combined ratio of 95.5% for the fourth quarter, and 98.6% for the full year.

Our active capital management efforts throughout 2024, which consisted of $41.7 million of share repurchases and $30.0 million of regular quarterly dividends, contributed to year-over-year increases of 10.6% and 9.8% in our book value per share including the deferred gain and adjusted book value per share, respectively. Our focus on disciplined underwriting, prudent risk management, and strategic investments has positioned us strongly in the workers’ compensation insurance market, which is evidenced by the recent upgrade to our insurance companies’ AM Best Financial Strength Rating to “A” (Excellent).

Beyond our financial results, we continue to offer direct-to-consumer policies through the Cerity brand but, with the Cerity integration that was undertaken a year ago, we now do so without any meaningful fixed underwriting expenses. Further, our continued focus for 2025 will be on further appetite expansion, increased self-service options for policyholders, agents and injured workers and greater operational efficiencies.

Finally, we are saddened by the California wildfires and the impact on the Los Angeles area community and small businesses. Our thoughts are with all of those who have lost their homes, businesses, and livelihoods, and we are working with our partners to provide immediate and long-term assistance. As a monoline workers’ compensation insurance provider, these catastrophic events would not typically have a significant impact on our results, nor our long-term trends. We have analyzed the loss exposure and experience in the affected fire zones and have determined that approximately 1% of our in-force policies, representing less than 1% of our payroll exposure, are within the impacted areas and we are not currently experiencing any significant impacts from these devastating fires.”

Summary of Consolidated Fourth Quarter 2024 Results

(All comparisons versus fourth quarter 2023, unless otherwise noted)

Gross premiums written were $176.3 million, a decrease of 1%. The slight decrease was due to higher new and renewal business writings being offset by lower final audit premiums and endorsements. Net earned premiums were $190.2 million, an increase of 1%.

Losses and loss adjustment expenses were $113.2 million, an increase of 22%. The increase was due to higher earned premium, lower net favorable prior year loss reserve development and a slightly higher current accident year loss and loss adjustment expense provision. The Company recognized $9.1 million of favorable prior year loss reserve development versus $24.9 million. The Company’s loss and loss adjustment expense ratio was 59.5% for the quarter (including and excluding the LPT) versus 49.5% (50.2% excluding the LPT).

Total underwriting expenses (consisting of commissions, other underwriting and general and administrative expenses) were $68.6 million, a decrease of 5%. The decrease was primarily related to lower information technology expenses resulting from the Cerity integration plan that was executed in the fourth quarter of 2023, lower compensation-related expenses and a non-recurring commission adjustment, partially offset by higher bad debt expense. The Company’s total underwriting expense ratio was 36.0% versus 38.6%.

Within the 2024 periods presented herein, the Company refined its presentation of certain expenses associated with its involuntary premium. This revision, which was immaterial, had the effect of reducing both its fourth quarter and full year 2024 commission expense ratios by approximately 0.3 percentage points, and increasing its respective underwriting and general and administrative expense ratios by the same amount. This revision had no net effect on the Company’s total underwriting expenses or net income.

Net investment income was $26.7 million, an increase of 2%. The increase was due to higher investment yields, partially offset by lower invested balances of fixed maturity securities, short-term investments and cash and cash equivalents, as measured by amortized cost.

Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) on investments reflected on the income statement were $(0.4) million versus $12.1 million.

Interest and financing expenses were $0.1 million versus $0.6 million. The decrease resulted from the unwinding of our former Federal Home Loan Bank leveraged investment strategy in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Other expenses of $1.6 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023 consisted of a non-recurring charge in connection with previously capitalized cloud computing costs.

Federal and state income tax expense was $6.4 million (18.4% effective rate) versus $12.6 million (21.6% effective rate). The effective rates in each period reflect applicable income tax benefits and exclusions associated with tax-advantaged investment income, LPT adjustments, pre-privatization loss and loss adjustment expense reserve adjustments and deferred gain amortization.

The Company’s book value per share including the deferred gain of $47.35 increased by 10.6% during 2024 and its adjusted book value per share of $50.71 increased by 9.8% during 2024, each including dividends declared. These measures were favorably impacted by $24.1 million of net after tax unrealized gains arising from equity securities and other investments.

Share Repurchases and First Quarter 2025 Dividend Declaration

During the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company repurchased 193,857 shares of its common stock at an average price of $51.20 per share. During the period from January 1, 2025 through February 19, 2025, the Company repurchased a further 222,438 shares of its common stock at an average price of $49.38 per share. The Company currently has a remaining share repurchase authorization of $18.7 million.

On February 19, 2025, the Board of Directors declared a first quarter dividend of $0.30 per share. The dividend is payable on March 19, 2025 to stockholders of record as of March 5, 2025.

Earnings Conference Call and Webcast

The Company will host a conference call on Friday, February 21, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time / 8:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.

To participate in the live conference call, you must first register here. Once registered you will receive dial-in numbers and a unique PIN number.

The webcast will be accessible on the Company’s website at www.employers.com through the “Investors” link.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to GAAP

Within this earnings release we present various financial measures, some of which are “non-GAAP financial measures” as defined in Regulation G pursuant to Section 401 of the Sarbanes – Oxley Act of 2002. A description of these non-GAAP financial measures, as well as a reconciliation of such non-GAAP measures to our most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is included in the attached Financial Supplement. Management believes that these non-GAAP measures are important to the Company’s investors, analysts and other interested parties who benefit from having an objective and consistent basis for comparison with other companies within our industry. Management further believes that these measures are more relevant than comparable GAAP measures in evaluating our financial performance.

The information in this press release should be read in conjunction with the Financial Supplement that is attached to this press release and available on our website.

Forward-Looking Statements

In this press release, the Company and its management discuss and make statements based on currently available information regarding their intentions, beliefs, current expectations, and projections of, among other things, the Company’s future performance, economic or market conditions, including current or future levels of inflation, changes in interest rates, labor market expectations, catastrophic events or geo-political conditions, legislative or regulatory actions or court decisions, business growth, retention rates, loss costs, claim trends and the impact of key business initiatives, future technologies and planned investments. Certain of these statements may constitute “forward-looking” statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and are often identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “target,” “project,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “pro forma,” “seek,” “likely,” or “continue,” or other comparable terminology and their negatives. The Company and its management caution investors that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Risks and uncertainties are inherent in the Company’s future performance. Factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include, among other things, those discussed or identified from time to time in the Company’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the risks detailed in the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and the Company’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Filings with the SEC

The Company’s filings with the SEC and its quarterly investor presentations can be accessed through the “Investors” link on the Company’s website, www.employers.com. The Company’s filings with the SEC can also be accessed through the SEC’s EDGAR Database at www.sec.gov (EDGAR CIK No. 0001379041).

About Employers Holdings, Inc.

Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EIG), is a holding company with subsidiaries that are specialty providers of workers’ compensation insurance and services (collectively “EMPLOYERS®”) focused on small and mid-sized businesses engaged in low-to-medium hazard industries. EMPLOYERS leverages over a century of experience to deliver comprehensive coverage solutions that meet the unique needs of its customers. Drawing from its long history and extensive knowledge, EMPLOYERS empowers businesses by protecting their most valuable asset – their employees – through exceptional claims management, loss control, and risk management services, creating safer work environments.

EMPLOYERS is also proud to offer Cerity®, which is focused on providing digital-first, direct-to-consumer workers’ compensation insurance solutions with fast, and affordable coverage options through a user-friendly online platform.

EMPLOYERS operates throughout the United States, apart from four states that are served exclusively by their state funds. Insurance is offered through Employers Insurance Company of Nevada, Employers Compensation Insurance Company, Employers Preferred Insurance Company, Employers Assurance Company and Cerity Insurance Company, all rated A (Excellent) by AM Best. Not all companies do business in all jurisdictions. EIG Services, Inc., and Cerity Services, Inc., are subsidiaries of Employers Holdings, Inc. EMPLOYERS® is a registered trademark of EIG Services, Inc., and Cerity® is a registered trademark of Cerity Services, Inc. For more information, please visit www.employers.com and www.cerity.com.

Contact Information

Mike Paquette (775) 327-2562 or mpaquette@employers.com

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC.
Table of Contents

Page

Consolidated Financial Highlights
Summary Consolidated Balance Sheets
Summary Consolidated Income Statements
Return on Equity
Combined Ratios
Roll-forward of Unpaid Losses and LAE
Consolidated Investment Portfolio
Book Value Per Share
Earnings Per Share
Non-GAAP Financial Measures

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC. Consolidated Financial Highlights (unaudited) $ in millions, except per share amounts

		Three Months Ended								Years Ended
		December 31,								December 31,
		2024			2023		% change			2024			2023		% change
*Selected financial highlights:*
Gross premiums written	$	176.3		$	178.2		(1	)%	$	776.3		$	767.7		1	%
Net premiums written		174.7			176.4		(1	)		769.5			760.6		1
Net premiums earned		190.2			187.5		1			749.5			721.9		4
Net investment income		26.7			26.2		2			107.0			106.5		—
Net income excluding LPT ⁽¹⁾		28.4			44.4		(36	)		113.0			110.9		2
Adjusted net income ⁽¹⁾		28.7			36.1		(20	)		94.0			101.7		(8	)
Net income before income taxes		34.7			58.2		(40	)		146.7			148.4		(1	)
Net income		28.3			45.6		(38	)		118.6			118.1		—
Comprehensive income (loss)		(8.9	)		116.2		(108	)		122.1			171.0		(29	)
Total assets										3,541.3			3,550.4		—
Stockholders’ equity										1,068.7			1,013.9		5
Stockholders’ equity including the Deferred Gain ⁽²⁾										1,162.7			1,113.1		4
Adjusted stockholders’ equity ⁽²⁾										1,245.2			1,199.1		4
Annualized adjusted return on stockholders’ equity ⁽³⁾		9.3	%		12.2	%	(24	)%		7.7	%		8.5	%	(9	)
*Amounts per share:*
Cash dividends declared per share	$	0.30		$	0.28		7	%	$	1.18		$	1.10		7	%
Earnings per diluted share ⁽⁴⁾		1.14			1.77		(36	)		4.71			4.45		6
Earnings per diluted share excluding LPT ⁽⁴⁾					1.72		(34	)		4.49			4.18		7
Adjusted earnings per diluted share⁽⁴⁾		1.14			1.40		(18	)		3.73			3.83		(3	)
Book value per share ⁽²⁾		1.15								43.52			39.96		9
Book value per share including the Deferred Gain ⁽²⁾										47.35			43.88		8
Adjusted book value per share ⁽²⁾										50.71			47.26		7
Combined ratio excluding LPT: ⁽⁵⁾
Loss and loss adjustment expense ratio:
Current year		64.2	%		63.5	%				64.1	%		63.4	%
Prior Year		(4.7	)		(13.3	)				(2.5	)		(6.2	)
Loss and loss adjustment expense ratio		59.5	%		50.2	%				61.6	%		57.2	%
Commission expense ratio		12.8			14.0					13.5			13.9
Underwriting and general and administrative expense ratio		23.2			24.6					23.5			24.9
Combined ratio excluding LPT		95.5	%		88.8	%				98.6	%		96.0	%

(1) See Page 5 for calculations and Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures. (2) See Page 10 for calculations and Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures. (3) See Page 6 for calculations and Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures. (4) See Page 11 for calculations and Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures. (5) See Page 7 for calculations and Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC.
Summary Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited)
$ in millions, except per share amounts
	December 31, 2024				December 31, 2023
ASSETS
Available for sale:
Investments, cash and cash equivalents	$	2,532.4		$	2,504.7
Accrued investment income		15.7			16.3
Premiums receivable, net		361.3			359.4
Reinsurance recoverable, net of allowance, on paid and unpaid losses and LAE		417.8			433.8
Deferred policy acquisition costs		59.6			55.6
Deferred income taxes, net		38.3			43.4
Contingent commission receivable—LPT Agreement		—			14.2
Other assets		116.2			123.0
Total assets	$	3,541.3		$	3,550.4

LIABILITIES
Unpaid losses and LAE	$	1,808.2		$	1,884.5
Unearned premiums		402.2			379.7
Commissions and premium taxes payable		65.8			66.0
Deferred Gain		94.0			99.2
Other liabilities		102.4			107.1
Total liabilities	$	2,472.6		$	2,536.5

STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Common stock and additional paid-in capital	$	424.8		$	420.4
Retained earnings		1,472.9			1,384.3
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net		(82.5	)		(86.0	)
Treasury stock, at cost		(746.5	)		(704.8	)
Total stockholders’ equity		1,068.7			1,013.9
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	3,541.3		$	3,550.4

Stockholders’ equity including the Deferred Gain ⁽¹⁾	$	1,162.7		$	1,113.1
Adjusted stockholders’ equity ⁽¹⁾		1,245.2			1,199.1
Book value per share ⁽¹⁾	$	43.52		$	39.96
Book value per share including the Deferred Gain ⁽¹⁾		47.35			43.88
Adjusted book value per share ⁽¹⁾		50.71			47.26

(1) See Page 10 for calculations and Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC. Summary Consolidated Income Statements (unaudited) $ in millions

	Three Months Ended						Years Ended
	December 31,						December 31,
		2024			2023			2024			2023
Revenues:
Net premiums earned	$	190.2		$	187.5		$	749.5		$	721.9
Net investment income		26.7			26.2			107.0			106.5
Net realized and unrealized (losses) gains on investments ⁽¹⁾		(0.4	)		12.1			24.1			22.7
Other income (loss)		0.1			(0.1	)		0.1			(0.2	)
Total revenues		216.6			225.7			880.7			850.9
Expenses:
Losses and LAE incurred		113.2			92.9			456.2			405.7
Commission expense		24.4			26.3			101.2			100.0
Underwriting and general and administrative expenses		44.2			46.1			176.5			180.0
Interest and financing expenses		0.1			0.6			0.1			5.8
Other expenses		—			1.6			—			11.0
Total expenses		(181.9	)		(167.5	)		(734.0	)		(702.5	)
Net income before income taxes		34.7			58.2			146.7			148.4
Income tax expense		(6.4	)		(12.6	)		(28.1	)		(30.3	)
Net income		28.3			45.6			118.6			118.1
Unrealized AFS investment (losses) gains arising during the period, net of tax		(39.2	)		66.6			(3.5	)		46.6
Reclassification adjustment for realized AFS investment gains in net income, net of tax		2.0			4.0			7.0			6.3
Total Comprehensive income	$	(8.9	)	$	116.2		$	122.1		$	171.0
Net income	$	28.3		$	45.6		$	118.6		$	118.1
Amortization of the Deferred Gain – losses		(1.6	)		(1.5	)		(6.1	)		(6.3	)
Amortization of the Deferred Gain – contingent commission		—			(0.3	)		(0.8	)		(1.5	)
LPT reserve adjustment		1.7			0.9			1.7			0.9
LPT contingent commission adjustments		—			(0.3	)		(0.4	)		(0.3	)
Net income excluding LPT Agreement ⁽²⁾	$	28.4		$	44.4		$	113.0		$	110.9
Net realized and unrealized losses (gains) on investments		0.4			(12.1	)		(24.1	)		(22.7	)
Lease termination and asset impairment charges		—			1.6			—			11.0
Income tax (benefit) expense related to items excluded from Net income		(0.1	)		2.2			5.1			2.5
Adjusted net income ⁽²⁾	$	28.7		$	36.1		$	94.0		$	101.7

(1) Includes unrealized gains on equity securities and other invested assets of $2.4 million and $17.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $30.5 million and $36.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively (2) See Page 12 regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC. Return on Equity (unaudited) $ in millions

		Three Months Ended						Years Ended
		December 31,						December 31,
			2024			2023			2024			2023

Net income	A	$	28.3		$	45.6		$	118.6		$	118.1
Impact of the LPT Agreement			0.1			(1.2	)		(5.6	)		(7.2	)
Net realized and unrealized losses (gains) on investments			0.4			(12.1	)		(24.1	)		(22.7	)
Lease termination and asset impairment charges			—			1.6			—			11.0
Income tax (benefit) expense related to items excluded from Net income			(0.1	)		2.2			5.1			2.5
Adjusted net income ⁽¹⁾	B	$	28.7		$	36.1		$	94.0		$	101.7

Stockholders’ equity – end of period		$	1,068.7		$	1,013.9		$	1,068.7		$	1,013.9
Stockholders’ equity – beginning of period			1,093.4			919.0			1,013.9			944.2
Average stockholders’ equity	C	$	1,081.1		$	966.5		$	1,041.3		$	979.1

Stockholders’ equity – end of period		$	1,068.7		$	1,013.9		$	1,068.7		$	1,013.9
Deferred Gain – end of period			94.0			99.2			94.0			99.2
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, before taxes – end of period			104.5			108.9			104.5			108.9
Income tax related to accumulated other comprehensive loss – end of period			(22.0	)		(22.9	)		(22.0	)		(22.9	)
Adjusted stockholders’ equity – end of period			1,245.2			1,199.1			1,245.2			1,199.1
Adjusted stockholders’ equity – beginning of period			1,232.5			1,175.8			1,199.1			1,189.2
Average adjusted stockholders’ equity ⁽¹⁾	D	$	1,238.9		$	1,187.5		$	1,222.2		$	1,194.2

Return on stockholders’ equity	A / C		2.6	%		4.7	%		11.4	%		12.1	%
Annualized return on stockholders’ equity			10.5			18.9

Adjusted return on stockholders’ equity ⁽¹⁾	B / D		2.3			3.0			7.7			8.5
Annualized adjusted return on stockholders’ equity ⁽¹⁾			9.3			12.2

(1) See Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC. Combined Ratios (unaudited) $ in millions, except per share amounts

		Three Months Ended						Years Ended
		December 31,						December 31,
			2024			2023			2024			2023
Net premiums earned	A	$	190.2		$	187.5		$	749.5		$	721.9
Losses and LAE incurred	B		113.2			92.9			456.2			405.7
Amortization of deferred reinsurance gain – losses			1.6			1.5			6.1			6.3
Amortization of deferred reinsurance gain – contingent commission			—			0.3			0.8			1.5
LPT reserve adjustment			(1.7	)		(0.9	)		(1.7	)		(0.9	)
LPT contingent commission adjustments			—			0.3			0.4			0.3
Losses and LAE excluding LPT ⁽¹⁾	C	$	113.1		$	94.1		$	461.8		$	412.9
Prior year loss reserve development			(9.1	)		(24.9	)		(18.4	)		(44.9	)
Losses and LAE excluding LPT – current accident year	D	$	122.2		$	119.0		$	480.2		$	457.8
Commission expense	E	$	24.4		$	26.3		$	101.2		$	100.0
Underwriting and general and administrative expense	F	$	44.2		$	46.1		$	176.5		$	180.0
GAAP combined ratio:
Loss and LAE ratio	B/A		59.5	%		49.5	%		60.9	%		56.2	%
Commission expense ratio	E/A		12.8			14.0			13.5			13.9
Underwriting and general and administrative expense ratio	F/A		23.2			24.6			23.5			24.9
GAAP combined ratio			95.5	%		88.1	%		97.9	%		95.0	%
Combined ratio excluding LPT: ⁽¹⁾
Loss and LAE ratio excluding LPT	C/A		59.5	%		50.2	%		61.6	%		57.2	%
Commission expense ratio	E/A		12.8			14.0			13.5			13.9
Underwriting and general and administrative expense ratio	F/A		23.2			24.6			23.5			24.9
Combined ratio excluding LPT			95.5	%		88.8	%		98.6	%		96.0	%
Combined ratio excluding LPT: current accident year: ⁽¹⁾
Loss and LAE ratio excluding LPT	D/A		64.2	%		63.5	%		64.1	%		63.4	%
Commission expense ratio	E/A		12.8			14.0			13.5			13.9
Underwriting and general and administrative expenses ratio	F/A		23.2			24.6			23.5			24.9
Combined ratio excluding LPT: current accident year			100.2	%		102.1	%		101.1	%		102.2	%

(1) See Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC. Roll-forward of Unpaid Losses and LAE (unaudited) $ in millions

	Three Months Ended						Years Ended
	December 31,						December 31,
		2024			2023			2024			2023

Unpaid losses and LAE at beginning of period	$	1,836.5		$	1,913.4		$	1,884.5		$	1,960.7
Less reinsurance recoverable on unpaid losses and LAE		413.1			426.6			428.4			445.4
Net unpaid losses and LAE at beginning of period		1,423.4			1,486.8			1,456.1			1,515.3
Losses and LAE incurred:
Current year		122.2			119.1			480.2			457.8
Prior years – voluntary business		(8.6	)		(24.6	)		(17.9	)		(44.6		)
Prior years – involuntary business		(0.5	)		(0.3	)		(0.5	)		(0.3		)
Total losses incurred		113.1			94.2			461.8			412.9
Losses and LAE paid:
Current year		57.9			47.6			127.1			111.7
Prior years		82.8			77.3			395.0			360.4
Total paid losses		140.7			124.9			522.1			472.1
Net unpaid losses and LAE at end of period		1,395.8			1,456.1			1,395.8			1,456.1
Reinsurance recoverable, excluding CECL allowance, on unpaid losses and LAE		412.4			428.4			412.4			428.4
Unpaid losses and LAE at end of period	$	1,808.2		$	1,884.5		$	1,808.2		$		1,884.5

Total losses and LAE shown in the above table exclude amortization of the Deferred Gain, LPT Reserve Adjustments, and LPT Contingent Commission Adjustments, which totaled $(0.1) million and $1.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $5.6 million and $7.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC. Consolidated Investment Portfolio (unaudited) $ in millions

	December 31, 2024										December 31, 2023
Investment Positions:		Cost or Amortized Cost ⁽¹⁾		Net Unrealized Gain (Loss)			Fair Value	%				Fair Value	%
Fixed maturity securities	$	2,203.1	$	(104.6)		$	2,097.4	83	%		$	1,936.3	77	%
Equity securities		150.7		109.1			259.8	10				217.2	9
Other invested assets		90.9		15.7			106.6	4				91.5	4
Short-term investments		0.1		—			0.1	—				33.1	1
Cash and cash equivalents		68.3		—			68.3	3				226.4	9
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0.2		—			0.2	—				0.2	—
Total investments and cash	$	2,513.3	$	20.2		$	2,532.4	100	%		$	2,504.7	100	%

Breakout of Fixed Maturity Securities:
U.S. Treasuries and Agencies	$	61.4	$	(2.1	)	$	59.3	3	%		$	60.5	3	%
States and Municipalities		163.0		(3.7	)		159.3	8				210.2	11
Corporate Securities		849.2		(46.0	)		803.0	38				895.8	46
Mortgage-Backed Securities		733.1		(47.9	)		684.9	33				426.0	22
Asset-Backed Securities		216.0		(2.0	)		214.0	10				128.0	7
Collateralized loan obligations		35.5		(0.2	)		35.3	2				91.5	5
Bank loans and other		144.9		(2.7	)		141.6	7				124.3	6
Total fixed maturity securities	$	2,203.1	$	(104.6	)	$	2,097.4	100	%		$	1,936.3	100	%
Weighted average ending book yield on fixed income securities, cash, and cash equivalents							4.5		%			4.3		%
Average credit quality (S&P)						A+				A
Duration							4.5					4.5

(1) Amortized cost excludes an allowance for current expected credit losses (CECL) of $1.1 million

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC. Book Value Per Share (unaudited) $ in millions, except per share amounts

			December 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
Numerators:
Stockholders’ equity	A	$	1,068.7		$	1,013.9
Deferred Gain			94.0			99.2
Stockholders’ equity including the Deferred Gain ⁽¹⁾	B		1,162.7			1,113.1
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, before taxes			104.5			108.9
Income taxes related to accumulated other comprehensive loss, before taxes			(22.0	)		(22.9	)
Adjusted stockholders’ equity ⁽¹⁾	C	$	1,245.2		$	1,199.1

Denominator (shares outstanding)	D		24,556,706			25,369,753

Book value per share ⁽¹⁾	A / D	$	43.52		$	39.96
Book value per share including the Deferred Gain ⁽¹⁾	B / D		47.35			43.88
Adjusted book value per share ⁽¹⁾	C / D		50.71			47.26

Cash dividends declared per share		$	1.18		$	1.10

YTD Change in: ⁽²⁾
Book value per share			11.9	%		18.1	%
Book value per share including the Deferred Gain			10.6			16.3
Adjusted book value per share			9.8			10.5

(1) See Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures. (2) Reflects the change per share after taking into account dividends declared in the period.

EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS, INC. Earnings Per Share (unaudited) $ in millions, except per share amounts

		Three Months Ended						Years Ended
		December 31,						December 31,
			2024			2023			2024			2023
Numerators:
Net income	A	$	28.3		$	45.6		$	118.6		$	118.1
Impact of the LPT Agreement			0.1			(1.2	)		(5.6	)		(7.2	)
Net income excluding LPT ⁽¹⁾	B	$	28.4		$	44.4		$	113.0		$	110.9
Net realized and unrealized (gains) losses on investments			0.4			(12.1	)		(24.1	)		(22.7	)
Lease termination and asset impairment charges			—			1.6			—			11.0
Income tax (benefit) expense related to items excluded from Net income			(0.1	)		2.2			5.1			2.5
Adjusted net income ⁽¹⁾	C	$	28.7		$	36.1		$	94.0		$	101.7

Denominators:
Average common shares outstanding (basic)	D		24,725,425			25,645,821			25,050,605			26,368,801
Average common shares outstanding (diluted)	E		24,902,459			25,801,380			25,194,814			26,523,651

Earnings per share:
Basic	A / D	$	1.14		$	1.78		$	4.73		$	4.48
Diluted	A / E		1.14			1.77			4.71			4.45

Earnings per share excluding LPT: ⁽¹⁾
Basic	B / D		1.15			1.73			4.51			4.21
Diluted	B / E		1.14			1.72			4.49			4.18

Adjusted earnings per share: ⁽¹⁾
Basic	C / D	$	1.16		$	1.41		$	3.75		$	3.86
Diluted	C / E		1.15			1.40			3.73			3.83

(1) See Page 12 for information regarding our use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Within this earnings release we present the following measures, each of which are “non-GAAP financial measures.” A reconciliation of these measures to the Company’s most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is included herein. Management believes that these non-GAAP measures are important to the Company’s investors, analysts and other interested parties who benefit from having an objective and consistent basis for comparison with other companies within our industry. Management further believes that these measures are more relevant than comparable GAAP measures in evaluating our financial performance.

The LPT Agreement is a non-recurring transaction that no longer provides any ongoing cash benefits to the Company. Management believes that providing non-GAAP measures that exclude the effects of the LPT Agreement (amortization of deferred reinsurance gain, adjustments to LPT Agreement ceded reserves and adjustments to the contingent commission receivable) is useful in providing investors, analysts and other interested parties a meaningful understanding of the Company’s ongoing underwriting performance.

Deferred reinsurance gain (Deferred Gain) reflects the unamortized gain from the LPT Agreement. This gain has been deferred and is being amortized using the recovery method, whereby the amortization is determined by the proportion of actual reinsurance recoveries to total estimated recoveries, except for the contingent profit commission, which was amortized through June 30, 2024, the date of its final determination. Amortization is reflected in losses and LAE incurred.

Adjusted net income (see Page 5 for calculations) is net income excluding the effects of the LPT Agreement, and net realized and unrealized gains and losses on investments (net of tax), and any miscellaneous non-recurring transactions (net of tax). Management believes that providing this non-GAAP measures is helpful to investors, analysts and other interested parties in identifying trends in the Company’s operating performance because such items have limited significance to its ongoing operations or can be impacted by both discretionary and other economic factors and may not represent operating trends.

Stockholders’ equity including the Deferred Gain (see Page 10 for calculations) is stockholders’ equity including the Deferred Gain. Management believes that providing this non-GAAP measure is useful in providing investors, analysts and other interested parties a meaningful measure of the Company’s total underwriting capital.

Adjusted stockholders’ equity (see Page 10 for calculations) is stockholders’ equity including the Deferred Gain, less accumulated other comprehensive income (net of tax). Management believes that providing this non-GAAP measure is useful to investors, analysts and other interested parties since it serves as the denominator to the Company’s adjusted return on stockholders’ equity metric.

Return on stockholders’ equity and Adjusted return on stockholders’ equity (see Page 6 for calculations). Management believes that these profitability measures are widely used by our investors, analysts and other interested parties.

Book value per share, Book value per share including the Deferred Gain, and Adjusted book value per share (see Page 10 for calculations). Management believes that these valuation measures are widely used by our investors, analysts and other interested parties.

Net income excluding LPT (see Page 5 for calculations). Management believes that these performance and underwriting measures are widely used by our investors, analysts and other interested parties.

The MIL Network –

February 21, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: What to Know About Pneumonia as Pope Francis Is Hospitalized

Source: US State of Connecticut

So far, 2025 has been the winter of respiratory ailments, with influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) making up three-fourths of what some are referring to as the “quademic.” But one we haven’t heard relatively much about is pneumonia.

Dr. Mark Metersky is chief of UConn Health’s Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)

“One in approximately five patients who develops pneumonia ends up in the hospital in this country,” says Dr. Mark Metersky, chief of UConn Health’s Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine.

We’re hearing more about it now, with Pope Francis in an Italian hospital and reported to have bilateral pneumonia, meaning pneumonia in both lungs.

“Pneumonia is often on both sides, not always, but the more lobes that are involved, the more lung tissue that’s involved, the more serious it is, on average,” says Metersky, who is a coauthor of the American Thoracic Society’s guidelines for pneumonia diagnosis and treatment, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in 2019.

“Pneumonia itself refers to an infection of the lower respiratory tract – so, the lungs themselves – whereas typical viral respiratory organisms usually cause upper respiratory symptoms — so runny nose, congestion, sometimes sinusitis, sore throat, even a cough,” says Dr. Lisa Chirch, UConn Health infectious disease physician.

Dr. Lisa Chirch is an infectious diseases physician at UConn Health. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)

Flu, RSV, COVID-19, and bronchitis can lead to pneumonia, as well as upper respiratory problems.

“There’s a ton of influenza circulating right now, and people with flu can then develop bacterial pneumonia on top of the viral infection, which puts them at higher risk,” Chirch says. “Lower respiratory tract infections more typically are caused by bacteria than are upper respiratory tract infections. There are certain bacteria that are often most problematic. Streptococcus pneumoniae, otherwise known as pneumococcus, which is vaccine preventable, is most common.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the pneumococcal vaccine for adults 50 and older, children younger than 5, and anyone considered at increased risk for pneumococcal disease. The vaccine is not seasonal and offers protection for several years. Chirch says there are nuances to the vaccine schedule because the pneumococcal vaccine is available in multiple versions.

“Depending on the timing of your last pneumococcal vaccine, you may be eligible to receive a newer one,” she says.

We also can protect ourselves from pneumonia by keeping current on other vaccinations, including influenza and RSV — ideally in the fall, though it’s still not too late for those to be helpful this winter and spring — and by following the CDC recommendations on COVID-19 vaccine.

Metersky published a paper in the journal Chest in 2012 showing that half the people who die within 30 days of being hospitalized with pneumonia die after leaving the hospital.

“Some of them are complications related to pneumonia, some of them are complications related to their underlying disease that made them at risk for pneumonia, so it’s a combination,” he says.

Other contributors to pneumonia risk include smoking, diabetes, alcohol use, opioid dependence, and benzodiazepine use (drugs similar to Valium).

For those dealing with bacterial pneumonia at home, especially an older person with other health problems, Chirch recommends monitoring closely for fever and other symptoms like worsening cough and difficulty breathing, at which point, hospitalization may be appropriate.

“Watch for high-grade fevers, chills, shortness of breath, feeling more winded just walking around the house, severe cough, chest pain, things like that,” she says. “From my perspective, probably the most concerning things would be difficulty breathing and high fever.”

Once in the hospital, “the mainstay is antibiotics and supportive care, so antibiotics, fluids, electrolytes, if they need it, oxygen, if they need it, a ventilator if they’re really severe, but the key thing is antibiotics,” Metersky says. “Unfortunately, many pneumonias are viral, and for most of these viruses, we don’t have any treatment. So, it’s really supporting them until they improve.”

Learn more about pulmonary medicine and critical care at UConn Health.

Learn more about UConn Health’s Infectious Diseases Division.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 21, 2025
MIL-OSI: Intermex Launches Wire Transfers via WhatsApp, Making Money Transfers Easier Than Ever

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

MIAMI, Feb. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — International Money Express, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMXI) (“Intermex” or the “Company”), a leading omnichannel money remittance and financial services provider, is making it easier than ever to send money by launching wire transfers through WhatsApp, the messaging app of choice for millions of Latinos. With 95% of U.S. Hispanics using WhatsApp on their smartphones, this new feature brings fast, secure, and convenient money transfers right into the app they already trust and love.

“This launch is all about meeting our customers where they are,” said Marcelo Theodoro, Chief Digital, Product & Marketing Officer at Intermex. “By integrating money transfers into WhatsApp, we’re making sending money as easy as sending a message—secure, seamless, and available anytime.”

With WhatsApp being the most widely used messaging platform among Latinos, Intermex is embracing conversational payments, a growing trend in fintech that simplifies transactions through familiar communication channels. This feature aligns with the company’s mission to provide real-time access to financial services, reinforcing its commitment to making remittances more convenient and accessible. By eliminating unnecessary steps and integrating transfers into an app customers already use daily, Intermex is breaking down barriers to financial inclusion.

Beyond transactions, the WhatsApp-powered channel will serve as a direct communication line between customers and Intermex’s support teams, allowing users to track transfers, receive updates, and access customer service quickly. Whether sending money through a retail location or a digital platform, customers can now reach Intermex directly through WhatsApp for assistance, making the overall experience smoother and more efficient.

“This service combines the trust and reliability of the Intermex brand with our powerhouse technology to bring a secure, user-friendly, and convenient experience to WhatsApp,” Theodoro added. “With 95% of U.S. Hispanics who own smartphones using WhatsApp, this integration allows us to connect with our core customers in the most natural way possible.”

The WhatsApp wire transfer feature will initially launch in key markets, with expansion plans set to follow as part of Intermex’s broader digital strategy. By integrating with widely used messaging platforms, Intermex is meeting customers where they are, providing greater flexibility, and strengthening its position as a leader in digital-first cross-border payments.

For more information, visit www.intermexonline.com.

About International Money Express, Inc. (Intermex): Founded in 1994, Intermex applies proprietary technology enabling consumers to send money from the United States, Canada, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany to more than 60 countries. The Company provides the digital movement of money through the Company’s website and mobile app, as well as through its network of agent retailers in the United States, Canada, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany, and its Company-operated stores. Transactions are fulfilled and paid through thousands of retail locations and banks around the world. Intermex is headquartered in Miami, Florida, with international offices in Puebla, Mexico, Guatemala City, Guatemala, London, England, and Madrid, Spain. For more information about Intermex, please visit www.intermexonline.com.

Investor Relations Contact:
Alex Sadowski
Investor Relations Coordinator
ir@intermexusa.com
Tel: 305-671-8000

The MIL Network –

February 21, 2025

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