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Category: Politics

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK redoubles Horizon push as Kyle forges deeper R&I links with EU

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 2

    UK Science and Tech Secretary announces renewed push to turbo-charge UK-EU science and technology links, to tackle shared global challenges.

    • UK Science and Tech Secretary announces renewed push to turbo-charge UK-EU science and technology links, to tackle shared global challenges
    • Peter Kyle met colleagues in the European Commission, yesterday, to discuss how to strengthen and deepen European science and tech ties
    • New campaign to drive UK participation in Horizon Europe, and UK joins cutting-edge European research consortia

    New plans have been unveiled to make Britain’s science and technology links with the EU stronger and deeper, following a fruitful visit to Brussels by the UK’s Science and Technology Secretary, to meet some of the new slate of European Commissioners.

    Today (Thursday 30 January) the government is announcing the launch of a new nationwide advertising campaign to further boost UK participation in Horizon Europe, the world’s largest programme of research collaboration. The UK is also joining 4 European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs) to further boost collaborative ties between researchers, across the Channel.

    The EU is an innovation powerhouse – spending over €380 billion on R&D in 2023(1) – and fostering deep and high-quality links between the continent’s brightest minds, and the UK’s, will be critical if we are to seize the promise for science and tech innovations to support the Government’s Missions to grow the economy, fix the NHS and improve health outcomes and deliver clean energy under the Plan for Change. As the plan sets out, promoting innovation and world-class research will be foundational to rebuilding the foundations of the economy, and kickstarting growth.

    The recent AI Opportunities Action Plan – this government’s plan to unleash AI to deliver a decade of national renewal – also highlighted how close cooperation with our European allies on the latest technologies will be critical to our shared prosperity and wellbeing. An example of this is the UK’s involvement in the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, which is developing a world-class supercomputing infrastructure across the European continent.

    Peter Kyle’s visit saw him hold high-level talks with Commissoners Zaharieva, Kubilius, and McGrath, to discuss how the UK and the EU can tackle some of the biggest problems facing the world, and grow our economies, by working together to seize the enormous potential of science and tech breakthroughs from AI to life sciences.

    UK Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

    There is no question about it: we stand our best chance of tackling the great challenges of our era, from climate change to public health, to growing economies that work for everyone, by bringing the brightest minds from across the UK and the European Union, together.

    The UK is determined to give our researchers, innovators and businesses the opportunities and platforms they need to bring their great ideas to life, to the benefit of us all – all of which is highlighted by our new Horizon ad campaign. I’m pleased to have had such fruitful conversations with my European friends and colleagues, on taking this vital partnership even further.

    Recent, initial signs suggest UK association to Horizon is trending in the right direction. For instance, in the latest ERC Synergy Grants, in which the UK hosted 18 projects – the second highest number. But the government is determined to go even further to help our innovators seize this opportunity.

    The advertising campaign will bring the potential benefits of Horizon participation to life by shining a light on examples of businesses and researchers, right across the UK, who have benefited from funding. That includes Nova Innovation, a company developing turbines for the tidal energy industry, and Electra Commercial vehicles, who are developing electric trucks that can go further without needing to recharge.

    It is part of comprehensive action to support the effective uptake of opportunities in Horizon Europe, including events, financial and networking support. The roadshow events across the country have offered insights into bidding and networking opportunities, while Pump Priming grants, in collaboration with the British Academy and Innovate UK, are designed to support the establishment of consortia and development of high-quality applications.

    There are further plans to help British business people and researchers network with potential European R&D partners, as Innovate UK will take UK delegations to Italy, Germany and Spain for a series of Horizon Europe Brokerage events. These events will also help those involved work on how to build the best possible bids for Horizon funding together with their overseas colleagues.

    The 4 European Research Infrastructure Consortia the UK is joining are:

    • European Holocaust Research Infrastructure
    • European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science
    • Low Frequency Array
    • International Centre for Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems

    These partnerships will enable UK researchers to collaborate on projects ranging from historical research, to astronomy, to advanced river systems studies.

    Sources

    1. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/

    DSIT media enquiries

    Email press@dsit.gov.uk

    Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm 020 7215 300

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    Updates to this page

    Published 30 January 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI China: Angolan president sends Chinese New Year greetings

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    LUANDA, Jan. 29 — Angolan President Joao Lourenco conveyed greetings to the Chinese people and government on Tuesday during the Chinese New Year, expressing his hope to strengthen cooperation with China.

    In a congratulatory message, Lourenco emphasized China’s significant role in Angola’s development efforts, praising the Chinese community residing in Angola for its essential contributions to the country’s economic growth.

    He reiterated his “firm intention to continue reinforcing the strategic partnership with the People’s Republic of China across various sectors of common interest.”

    The Angolan president also highlighted the rich cultural heritage of Chinese civilization, noting that the beginning of the new cycle symbolizes “the renewal of hopes and aspirations, with achievements for a better future.”

    He extended his wishes to every Chinese citizen for success in their personal, family, and professional endeavors. 

    MIL OSI China News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI China: South African president sends good wishes on commencement of Chinese New Year

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 29 — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday extended his good wishes to China on the commencement of the Lunar New Year, expressing confidence that the Year of the Snake will sustain China’s standing as a formidable force for good and a source of wisdom and shared prosperity in the global family of nations.

    “On behalf of the government and people of the Republic of South Africa, it is a unique pleasure for me to convey our warmest compliments to the government and people of the People’s Republic of China on the commencement of the Lunar New Year,” said Ramaphosa in a statement issued by the Presidency Wednesday.

    According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the New Year began on Jan. 29 this year, ushering in the Year of the Snake. The snake is the sixth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac and represents wisdom, intuition, and strategic growth.

    In the statement, Ramaphosa also extended good wishes to the Chinese community in South Africa including Chinese citizens who live in or are currently visiting his country.

    “Similarly, we wish that the New Year will bring continued success to our Chinese trade and investment partners who are making an important contribution to our economy,” he said. “May the celebration of spring and the rebirth of nature be a symbol of the blossoming of even closer relations between our two nations under our all-round strategic cooperative partnership in the new era.”

    The Chinese community in South Africa has lined up celebrations of the Lunar New Year in various parts of the country.

    MIL OSI China News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Improving flood resilience in Kempsey Shire

    Source: New South Wales Government 2

    Headline: Improving flood resilience in Kempsey Shire

    Published: 30 January 2025

    Released by: Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads

    A Kempsey Shire causeway that’s highly susceptible to flooding is to be replaced with a new 75-metre-high bridge following approval of more than $3 million in natural disaster betterment funding from the Albanese and Minns Governments.

    The Dungay Creek causeway at Yessabah has been repeatedly damaged across multiple natural disasters in recent years, leading to frequent closures which have impacted and isolated local communities. 

    A more resilient and higher concrete structure is being funded through the Regional Roads and Transport Recovery Package jointly funded under the Commonwealth-State Disaster Funding Arrangements. The funding will allow council to build more resilience into the road network to help communities to stay connected during extreme weather.

    Work will start this month with the construction of precast elements off-site, and is due to be complete in February 2026, weather permitting.

    Quotes attributable to Senator Tony Sheldon:

    “Infrastructure that keeps communities connected during natural disasters isn’t just about roads or bridges – it’s about ensuring families can stay safe, access medical help when they need it, and recover together after the worst has passed.”

    “There’s often an increased demand for medical services during natural disasters, so having infrastructure that provides access to those services is essential.”

    “I’m really pleased to see Kempsey Shire Council leading the way on this project. With the backing of the Albanese and Minns Governments, this new bridge will be a game-changer for locals, keeping them safe and connected when they need it most.”

    Quotes attributable to NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully:

    “The NSW Government is committed to making sure we do all we can to improve the safety of local infrastructure and mitigate against future disasters.

    “This bridge is critical to the livelihoods of locals, and not only will this work mean it is more resilient in the event of future disasters, it will also help keep them safe and connected.”

    Quotes attributable to NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Jenny Aitchison:

    “It’s great to see all three levels of government working together to improve the reliability of the crossing over Dungay Creek which will provide social and economic benefits for Council and the community.

    “The new bridge will reduce the number of closures and will mean communities can stay connected during and after flood events, ensuring Council can focus on other assets or functions during post-flood events.”

    Quotes attributable to Kempsey Shire Council Infrastructure Delivery Group Manager, Dylan Reeves:

    “The Dungay Creek causeway project is a significant undertaking for our community and will greatly enhance the reliability and safety of access for the community of Wittitrin.

    “With preliminary off-site works commencing in January 2025, we’ve already completed essential groundwork, including site surveys, geotechnical investigations, and environmental assessments.

    “The construction will be managed by Kempsey Shire Council, with specialised contractors engaged to ensure we deliver a high-quality project. We’ll minimise disruptions by keeping the existing causeway open during construction, with only limited closures during key phases.

    “This bridge represents an incredible enhancement to our transport network, ensuring safety and better connectivity for all who rely on it.”

    Quotes attributable to Kempsey Shire Council Mayor, Kinne Ring: 

    “The Dungay Creek causeway project is a powerful step forward in connecting the Macleay Valley, improving road safety for all, and enhancing the daily lives of our residents.

    “With work beginning in January 2025, this bridge is an essential piece of infrastructure, made possible through the Regional Roads and Transport Recovery Package.

    Kempsey Shire Council is proud to manage this significant upgrade to our transport network, providing safer, more reliable access for our entire community.”

    MIL OSI News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-Evening Report: If the government wants science to have an economic impact it has to put its money where its mouth is

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Gaston, Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    jittawit21/Shutterstock

    Billed as the most significant change to the science system in 30 years, last week’s announcement of major structural changes to scientific research institutions was objectively a big deal.

    But the devil will be in the details. The proposed reforms are focused on the economic impact of the science sector and are based on the first of two reports from the Science System Advisory Group (SSAG).

    Success will depend on how they are implemented and, most of all, on the sector receiving sufficient funding.

    The government’s reforms include:

    • the merger of seven public Crown Research Institutes to create three larger Public Research Organisations (PROs)

    • the creation of a fourth new PRO focused on “advanced technology” such as artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and potentially cleantech

    • the disestablishment of Callaghan Innovation and the creation of a new agency called “Invest New Zealand” to target international investment

    • the creation of a new national intellectual property policy, meaning scientists working in PROs and in the university system are on a level playing field when it comes to commercialisation

    • the establishment of a Prime Minister’s Science, Innovation and Technology Advisory Council to provide strategic direction and oversight.

    As the reforms move forward, the government will have to answer several questions. For example, how will the expertise relating to advanced technologies, much of which currently sits within our university sector, be moved into the new PRO?

    And how will the funding model be changed as these new PROs are established?

    Long running issues

    Overall, the higher level changes are positive. Reforms have been a long time coming and are based on years of discussion within the crown research sector.

    But we need to look at the reforms in the context of the science advisory group’s first report.

    The report is strongly and deliberately focused on the potential economic impact of science and research. The authors outline how this must be supported by a properly functioning system.

    According to the authors, a lack of strategy from the highest level of government is a barrier for the sector.

    It is clear the advisory group recommends structural change (such as the PRO model). But it is also explicit that sufficient research funding is a necessary condition for these reforms to work:

    The SSAG stands firmly of the view that our parsimonious attitude to research funding is a core reason that New Zealand has become an outlier in performance on productivity growth.

    Barriers to progress

    The advisory group identified certain cultural attitudes, such as New Zealand’s “number-eight wire” thinking, as a reason the country doesn’t value research as it should. The group also strongly advocated for bipartisan agreement on funding systems and investment levels.

    The group had strongly positive things to say about research in the social sciences and mātauranga Māori through the lens of economic growth.

    There is no debate that research into Māori culture and knowledge is an obligation of the New Zealand research system and that this should be largely determined by experts in mātauranga Māori. We will be recommending a distinct funding stream in the proposed National Research Foundation.

    Unfortunately, this government’s defunding of the social sciences and humanities, announced in December, suggests it has already made its mind up on the value of these disciplines.

    Missing the bigger picture

    Reading the full report, there is the sense that while the government announcement has taken the most visible recommendations for change, it has missed the bigger picture: the need for sufficient funding to strengthen the sector as a whole and help New Zealand become internationally competitive.

    This means we need to benchmark ourselves against other countries and their economic and scientific performance. According to the report:

    The international analysis is clear: we are spending significantly less than comparable countries spend from the public purse on [research and development].

    The authors emphasise that for countries with low expenditure, improved research and development activity is especially important for GDP growth. New Zealand should take note – it is an outlier both as a low investor and a poor economic performer.

    These messages are not new.

    Steven Joyce, science minister in the National-led government between 2011 and 2016, advocated for the National Science Challenges as a way to justify increased government investment to the sector. But issues with the implementation costs effectively killed off his promise of increased funding.

    Labour’s science minister between 2022 and 2023, Ayesha Verrall, had a similar argument about needing to establish research “priorities” in order to justify increased spending. Again, it never happened.

    It is possible the current reforms will be more effective in providing justification for increased investment.

    But this time we need to put the horse before the cart by investing money in the system – one that has been underfunded for years and which has only recently seen further funding cuts and job losses.

    And this has to happen before the system absorbs the implementation costs of these reforms.

    Nicola Gaston receives funding from TEC as Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, and from the Marsden fund administered by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

    – ref. If the government wants science to have an economic impact it has to put its money where its mouth is – https://theconversation.com/if-the-government-wants-science-to-have-an-economic-impact-it-has-to-put-its-money-where-its-mouth-is-248299

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: WATCH: Baldwin Questions Commerce Secretary Nominee if He Will Cut Funding for Wisconsin Tech Hubs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) questioned Howard Lutnick, nominee for Secretary of the Department of Commerce (DOC), in the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on if he will cut funding for the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub. The questioning comes as the Trump Administration holds up federal funding approved by Congress and already awarded to states, local governments, and nonprofits. The Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub was awarded a $49 million investment to grow the state’s personalized medicine and biohealth sector – advancing research and innovation, growing our economy and creating jobs, and boosting American competitiveness in a cutting-edge industry. 
    “Wisconsin has a rich history of innovation and making things, and our Tech Hub is going to carry that into the future, creating good paying jobs, growing our Made in Wisconsin economy, and revolutionizing health care as we know it. But, cutting funding for it puts it all at risk,” said Senator Baldwin. “Cutting this investment would put Wisconsin jobs on the line, hurt our economy, and put breakthroughs that could keep families healthy out of reach. I will keep fighting to get what Wisconsin is owed so we can continue to grow our economy and keep families healthy.”
    On Monday night, the Trump Administration ordered a freeze on federal grants and loans. While the Administration continues to send mixed signals about the future of this order, which now faces challenges in court, Senator Baldwin asked Mr. Lutnick to confirm whether funding for Wisconsin’s Tech Hub would be impacted. Mr. Lutnick was not able to provide an answer.
    If the Committee approves his nomination to be DOC Secretary, Howard Lutnick will advance to a confirmation vote by the whole Senate.
    A full video of Senator Baldwin’s questions is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch Questions RFK Jr.’s Lack of Experience, Character During Confirmation Hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services 

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    Welch highlights RFK Jr.’s lack of plans to fix broken health care system 
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today raised concerns about the character and fitness of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), to lead HHS’ ten public health service agencies and three human services agencies. Senator Welch also expressed concern about the lack of concrete plans by the Trump Administration and Mr. Kennedy to lower health care costs for Vermont families. 
    Watch the exchange between Senator Welch and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s pick for Secretary of Health: 
    Read excerpts of Senator Welch’s questioning below: 
    “This is not just about a debate about vaccines. It’s a debate about the qualifications, experience, and priorities as to the person that will head Health and Human Services. And it’s not just about what your answers are today or what the questions are.” 
    “The question I fundamentally have is whether your willingness to disrupt and maybe break rules is going to be dangerous and destructive.”  
    “There’s incidents that do, I think, concern the question of whether the stability is there to be in charge of this major organization. That’s compounded by my concern that you don’t have any experience managing a large organization. That you don’t have any experience in government. So, those are things that have to be taken into account…” 
    ••• 
    “I’ve seen nothing coming out of the Trump Administration–and I’ve seen nothing coming out of your advocacy–that is going after what is a rampant abuse by the insurance companies and overcharging people and not doing the job. 
    “It’s a broken health care system. We spend the most and get the least. And I think there should be collective anger about on this by both sides. Because all of our people are dependent on that health care system.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Colleagues Call on Secretary Rubio to Immediately Restore Refugee Resettlement Services

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    Padilla, Colleagues Call on Secretary Rubio to Immediately Restore Refugee Resettlement Services

    Letter Calls on State Department to Restart Program Providing Basic Services to Refugees, Including Afghan Allies Who Supported U.S. Troops
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-08), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.-07), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, urged U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately restore vital services for refugees already resettled in the United States. The letter comes after the State Department abruptly halted services for refugees last week, despite the fact that resettlement agencies are vital in helping refugees settle into their new homes and contribute to the U.S. economy and to their communities.
    “This unprecedented order threatens to deprive refugees already in the United States of the vital assistance known as Reception and Placement (R&P) services, which help them during their first three months in the United States as they rebuild their lives here,” wrote the lawmakers.
    “We also call on you to do everything in your power to swiftly resume refugee processing and admissions—and restore this life-saving humanitarian program that advances U.S. security, foreign policy work, and diplomatic interests,” continued the lawmakers.
    Since the start of Fiscal Year 2025, more than 32,000 refugees have arrived through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), thousands of whom remain eligible for R&P services. These refugees were forced to flee their home countries to escape war or persecution and were deemed eligible to resettle in the United States after undergoing thorough vetting. These services also provide temporary assistance to the approximately 10,000 Afghan nationals who are in the United States on Special Immigrant Visas (SIV), which they received after risking their lives to assist U.S. troops and U.S. government efforts in Afghanistan. These SIVs also remain eligible for such benefits.
    The stop work orders undermine legal obligations that the State Department has entered into through its contracts with U.S.-based and intergovernmental organizations, increasing newly arrived refugees’ vulnerability to homelessness and food insecurity at a time when they still have no lifeline for support. The R&P program covers basic needs like rent, food, and clothes in the first few months after arrival, providing core services for refugees who often resettle with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Suspending R&P services causes undue, unnecessary suffering and hardship, while breaking a promise the United States made to refugees and Afghan allies after approving them for resettlement in America.
    Full text of the letter is available here and below:
    Dear Secretary Rubio:
    Congratulations on your confirmation and extraordinary new position.
    We write as the Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and Immigration Subcommittees.  We urge you to immediately revoke the stop work orders that the Department issued on January 24, 2025, to the 10 national resettlement agencies that provide services to refugees who were forced to flee their home countries in order to escape war or persecution and were deemed eligible to resettle in the United States after undergoing thorough vetting.  This unprecedented order threatens to deprive refugees already in the United States of the vital assistance known as Reception and Placement (R&P) services, which help them during their first three months in the United States as they rebuild their lives here.
    More than 32,000 refugees have arrived through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) to the United States since the start of FY 2025, thousands of whom remain eligible for R&P services.  This is on top of the approximately 10,000 Afghan nationals who are in the U.S. on Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), which they received after risking their lives to assist U.S. troops and U.S. government efforts in Afghanistan; these SIVs also remain eligible for such benefits.
    The stop work orders undermine legal obligations that the Department has entered into through its contracts with U.S.-based and intergovernmental organizations, increasing new arrivals’ vulnerability to homelessness and food insecurity at a time when they still have no lifeline for support.  The R&P program covers basic needs like rent, food, clothes, and furnishing in the first few months after arrival, providing core services for refugees who often resettle with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.  Barring R&P services, including Virtual R&P available to self-traveling SIVs, will cause undue and unnecessary suffering and hardship, breaking a promise we made to the refugees and SIVs when we approved them for resettlement in America.
    Furthermore, the stop work orders are purportedly being issued as part of the Administration’s 90-day moratorium on “foreign development assistance.”  But the R&P program is not “foreign development assistance” by any stretch of the imagination.  R&P dollars are spent on refugees in the United States, to facilitate their entry and assimilation into our country.  By accessing the minimal but critical support services offered through the R&P program, refugees build a foundation for a successful new life in America.
    These actions are particularly troubling given your previous support for the refugee program.  In August 2019, you joined a letter addressed to the Trump Administration in strong support of the refugee resettlement program. You also led the World Refugee Day Resolution in 2015. In support of the World Refugee Day Resolution, you stated: “Recent conflicts and persecution, especially religious persecution, have resulted in the largest number of displaced persons since World War II. The U.S. must continue to lead on this issue and work to ensure that refugees who flee war, torture and persecution are provided safe environments to live and thrive in.”
    These harmful stop work orders follow the President’s Executive Order on “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program,” suspending the USRAP and grinding refugee processing and admissions to a halt, effective January 27, 2025.  Beyond its powerful humanitarian logic, the U.S. resettlement program is a vital tool for advancing U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic interests.  The sudden suspension of activities related to the program 24 hours later, even before the Executive Order’s effective date, threatens global security and countless lives.
    During your confirmation hearing, you said: “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?” Unequivocally, the U.S. resettlement program does all three.  Welcoming refugees and newcomers makes America safer and stronger.  The United States has welcomed refugees, including Albert Einstein, Madeleine Albright, Gloria Estefan, Sergey Brin, and Wyclef Jean, among many others, who enrich who we are as a nation.  A record number of community supporters have worked alongside resettlement agencies to welcome, sponsor, and support refugees and Afghan SIVs upon their arrival to the United States.  The federal government found that over a 15-year period, refugees and asylees contributed over $123 billion to the U.S. economy, including a $31.5 billion net benefit to the federal government. Our assistance to refugees strengthens America.
    Therefore, we urge you to reverse course by excluding or granting a waiver to the R&P program from the definition of “foreign development assistance,” as used in the President’s Executive Order on “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” revoking the stop work orders, and permitting a resumption in R&P services for all eligible populations, including refugees and certain SIVs.
    We also call on you to do everything in your power to swiftly resume refugee processing and admissions—and restore this life-saving humanitarian program that advances U.S. security, foreign policy work, and diplomatic interests.
    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: WATCH: Padilla Votes Against Advancing Attorney General Nominee Pam Bondi

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    WATCH: Padilla criticizes Bondi’s ability to serve as an independent Attorney GeneralWASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted against advancing the nomination of Pamela Jo Bondi to be U.S. Attorney General during a Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) executive business meeting. In his remarks, Padilla voiced serious concerns over Bondi’s ability to run the Department of Justice independently from President Trump’s improper influence, especially given her support for Trump’s false claims of 2020 presidential election fraud. He criticized Bondi for her refusal to commit to defending birthright citizenship as clearly defined by the 14th Amendment after President Trump issued an unlawful Executive Order attempting to overturn the constitutional right.
    The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Bondi’s nomination on a party-line vote of 12-10.
    Key Quotes:
    Colleagues, after carefully evaluating Ms. Bondi’s record and after her testimony before this committee, I continue to have significant reservations about her ability to serve as an independent Attorney General who will put her duty to the Constitution and to the American people above her loyalty to President Trump. So for that reason, I’m unable to support Ms. Bondi’s nomination to serve as our nation’s chief law enforcement officer.
    I was particularly struck by the fact that despite practicing law for decades, two terms as Attorney General of the State of Florida, private practice experience, despite all that, Ms. Bondi claimed to be unfamiliar with the 14th Amendment and the citizenship clause within it? She and I discussed the very issue when we met one-on-one, it’s clearly been in the news, and when given the opportunity to discuss it during the hearing, here in public, she refused to answer. Even worse, offensively, either claimed that she needed to study or telling me that she was not going to be doing my homework. Colleagues, in that moment, I wasn’t asking her to do my homework. I was asking her if she did hers.
    The law is clear. The Constitution is clear. But what’s increasingly clear is that when push comes to shove, Pam Bondi is not the kind of person who will defend the Constitution, defend the 14th Amendment, or defend Americans when the President instructs otherwise.
    There were some glimmers of potential agreement in areas that I’d be hopeful to maybe agree and work together on. Things like tackling the threat and the dangers of human trafficking. Things like her positions on gun safety, building on some of the work in the state of Florida, where she served as Attorney General, that seemed to be commonsense ideas that can and should be spread across the country. But instead of focusing on those, Ms. Bondi kept coming back to her unwillingness to answer some key questions.
    I remain deeply concerned about Ms. Bondi’s willingness to go on national television and propagate lies about the results of a free and fair election despite a total lack of evidence. I raised this during the hearing, colleagues, as you recall, not because they were political talking points that she was pushing that I might have happened to disagree with, but they were outright lies that pose a real threat to our democracy, a threat to voters, and a threat to the election workers who dedicate themselves to administering our elections.
    Ms. Bondi will face far more daunting challenges as Attorney General to shield the department’s work and professional civil servants from politicization and weaponization, and we’ve seen what’s happened just in the last couple of days as evidence of what will continue to happen. It is not hypothetical. Look at the President’s activities this last week alone. Despite some of my colleagues’ assurances that he would refrain, President Trump has issued roughly 1,500 blanket pardons for January 6th insurrectionists and commuted the sentences of 14 of his supporters, including those convicted of violence against police officers.
    The American people need and deserve to have faith that the Department of Justice enforces the law fairly, neutrally, and free from political interference. We need and deserve an Attorney General who will push back against illegal, immoral, and unethical requests. And unfortunately, I don’t believe Ms. Bondi is up to the task.
    Bondi was one of the leading defense lawyers for President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial. She traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the day after the general presidential election in 2020 to appear alongside Rudy Giuliani where she falsely asserted that Trump had won Pennsylvania despite there being at least 1 million outstanding ballots still left to count. She has continued to double down in her support of President Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
    Padilla pressed Bondi for refusing to uphold the constitutionally guaranteed principle of birthright citizenship and declining to disavow the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen during an SJC hearing earlier this month.
    Video of Senator Padilla’s remarks is available here.
    Footage of his remarks can be downloaded here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Tuberville Supports President Trump’s Action to End Woke Curriculum in Classrooms, Expand School Choice

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)
    WASHINGTON – During National School Choice Week, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) issued a statement in support of President Donald Trump’s latest executive orders prohibiting federal funds from going to any K-12 school that teaches critical race theory (CRT) or radical gender ideology and expanding school choice for students:
    “I fully support President Trump’s decision to prohibit federal funds from going to any K-12 school that teaches woke, anti-American ideologies. For four years, I have sounded the alarm about the Biden administration’s attempts to make our schools ground zero for Marxist, hateful indoctrination. Despite the fact that we spend the most money per student in the world, our education system has failed our kids. We need to be focused on helping kids learn to read, write, and do math—not on brainwashing them.
    I am also grateful for President Trump’s action to increase access to school choice. As a former coach and educator, I know how important it is to make sure every child gets the best possible education, regardless of their zip code. Every child’s educational journey looks different—and we have had tremendous success with magnet, charter, and technical schools in Alabama. This decision from President Trump comes during National School Choice Week and reaffirms the President’s commitment to empowering parents, not the government, to determine a child’s educational future. I’m grateful for President Trump’s leadership and unwavering commitment to helping every child succeed.”
    Sen. Tuberville also joined his colleagues Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) today to introduce the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), bicameral legislation to expand education freedom and opportunity for students. Specifically, it provides a charitable donation incentive for individuals and businesses to fund scholarship awards for students to cover expenses related to K-12 public and private education. U.S. Representative Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced the companion legislation in the U.S House of Representatives. 
    BACKGROUND:
    As a former coach, mentor, and educator for more than 40 years, Senator Tuberville is committed to ensuring each child is given the tools to lead a successful life. During his time in the Senate, he has been proud to represent Alabama on the Senator Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee where he has been a tireless advocate for ending woke ideology in schools and boosting school choice programs.
    ENDING WOKENESS IN SCHOOLS
    Sen. Tuberville joined his colleagues in asking the U.S. Department of Education under President Biden to withdraw its plans to skew U.S. History and Civics towards an anti-American agenda.
    Sen. Tuberville reintroduced the Saving American History Act, legislation to prohibit the use of federal funds to teach the 1619 Project by K-12 schools or school districts. Under the bill, schools that teach the 1619 Project would also be ineligible for federal professional-development grants.
    Sen. Tuberville has repeatedly raised concerns about the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on American education. The CCP has made it clear their plan of action is to infiltrate the American education system and indoctrinate students. 
    Sen. Tuberville cosponsored the Safeguarding American Education from Foreign Control Act. This bill would tighten the enforcement of rules surrounding foreign donations to higher education institutions and their contracts with foreign entities. 
    He specifically urged Troy University in Alabama to close its CCP-backed Confucius Institute, and hopes other universities will follow their lead. 
    INCREASING ACCESS TO SCHOOL CHOICE
    Sen. Tuberville joined his colleagues in urging the U.S. Department of Education to reconsider proposed rules to redefine the Charter School Program (CSP) and strip parents of their ability to choose the best school for their child. 
    Sen. Tuberville advocated for school choice on the floor of the U.S. Senate and helped introduce a resolution for National School Choice Week. 
    Last year, Sen. Tuberville hosted a roundtable discussion during National School Choice Week with parents, students, teachers, and administrators about making sure that parents, not the federal government, are in charge of their kids’ education.
    Sen. Tuberville visited the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (ASCTE) in Huntsville. ASCTE is America’s only high school primarily focused on the integration of cyber and engineering into all academic areas. This unique public school is equipping kids with the skills needed to enter the workforce and achieve the American dream. 
    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. Q4 2024 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SEATTLE, Jan. 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) (Nasdaq: SFBC), the holding company for Sound Community Bank (the “Bank”), today reported net income of $1.9 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, or $0.74 diluted earnings per share, as compared to net income of $1.2 million, or $0.45 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and $1.2 million, or $0.47 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The Company also announced today that its Board of Directors declared a cash dividend on the Company’s common stock of $0.19 per share, payable on February 26, 2025 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 12, 2025.

    Comments from the President and Chief Executive Officer  
     
    “The Bank ended the year with many positives, including a 15-basis-point increase in net interest margin compared to the third quarter of 2024. This was largely due to our significant progress in reducing deposit costs, which fell by 16 basis points,” remarked Laurie Stewart, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Additionally, nonperforming loans decreased by 11.8% from the third quarter, and for the first time in more than a decade, we have no OREO,” concluded Ms. Stewart.

    “Notable progress was made in reducing funding costs during the quarter and in controlling expenses throughout the entire year. We hope to continue this momentum in 2025. Our staff across the company played an important role in these accomplishments by focusing on client relationships and increasing efficiencies through technological improvements,” explained Wes Ochs, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

    Mr. Ochs continued, “We ended the year with the same balance sheet strategy that we used to close out 2023, which helped reduce the Bank’s asset size below $1 billion. This strategy is intended to provide the Bank with additional operational flexibility and continued cost savings in 2025.”
    Q4 2024 Financial Performance
    Total assets decreased $107.3 million or 9.7% to $993.6 million at December 31, 2024, from $1.10 billion at September 30, 2024, and decreased $1.6 million or 0.2% from $995.2 million at December 31, 2023.     Net interest income increased $347 thousand or 4.4% to $8.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, from $7.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and increased $653 thousand or 8.6% from $7.6 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.
       
        Net interest margin (“NIM”), annualized, was 3.13% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to 2.98% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and 3.04% for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.
    Loans held-for-portfolio decreased $1.6 million or 0.2% to $900.2 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $901.7 million at September 30, 2024, and increased $5.7 million or 0.6% from $894.5 million at December 31, 2023.    
        A $14 thousand provision for credit losses was recorded for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to an $8 thousand provision and a $27 thousand release of provision for credit losses for the quarters ended September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. At December 31, 2024, the allowance for credit losses on loans to total loans outstanding was 0.94%, compared to 0.95% at September 30, 2024 and 0.98% December 31, 2023.
    Total deposits decreased $92.4 million or 9.9% to $837.8 million at December 31, 2024, from $930.2 million at September 30, 2024, and increased $11.3 million or 1.4% from $826.5 million at December 31, 2023. Noninterest-bearing deposits increased $2.8 million or 2.2% to $132.5 million at December 31, 2024 compared to $129.7 million at September 30, 2024, and increased $5.8 million or 4.6% compared to $126.7 million at December 31, 2023.    
        Total noninterest income decreased $75 thousand or 6.1% to $1.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and increased $94 thousand or 8.8% compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2023.
    The loans-to-deposits ratio was 108% at December 31, 2024, compared to 97% at September 30, 2024 and 108% at December 31, 2023.    
        Total noninterest expense decreased $621 thousand or 8.1% to $7.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and decreased $248 thousand or 3.4% compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2023.
    Total nonperforming loans decreased $998 thousand or 11.8% to $7.5 million at December 31, 2024, from $8.5 million at September 30, 2024, and increased $3.9 million or 110.7% from $3.6 million at December 31, 2023. Nonperforming loans to total loans was 0.83% and the allowance for credit losses on loans to total nonperforming loans was 113.46% at December 31, 2024.    
        The Bank continued to maintain capital levels in excess of regulatory requirements and was categorized as “well-capitalized” at December 31, 2024.
           

    Operating Results

    Net interest income increased $347 thousand, or 4.4%, to $8.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to $7.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and increased $653 thousand, or 8.6%, from $7.6 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.The increase from the prior quarter was primarily the result of lower funding costs and an increase in average yield on loans receivable and investments, partially offset by a decrease in the average balance and yield on interest-bearing cash. The increase in net interest income compared to the same quarter one year ago was primarily due to a higher average yield on interest-earning assets, particularly loans receivable and investments, and an increase in the average balances of both loans receivable and interest-bearing cash, partially offset by a lower average yield on interest-bearing cash and higher funding costs.

    Interest income decreased $102 thousand, or 0.7%, to $14.7 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to $14.8 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and increased $1.4 million, or 10.5%, from $13.3 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The decrease from the prior quarter was primarily due to a lower average balance of interest-bearing cash, and a 59 basis point decline in the average yield on interest-bearing cash, offset by a seven basis point increase in the average loan yield and a 16 basis point increase in the average yield on investments. The increase in interest income compared to the same quarter last year was due primarily to higher average balances of loans and interest-bearing cash, a 37 basis point increase in the average yield on loans, and a 43 basis point increase in the average yield on investments, partially offset by a decline in the average balance of investments and a 59 basis point decline in the average yield on interest-bearing cash.

    Interest income on loans increased $194 thousand, or 1.5%, to $13.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to $12.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and increased $1.0 million, or 8.6%, from $12.0 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The average balance of total loans was $900.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, up from $898.6 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and $884.7 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The average yield on total loans was 5.77% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, up from 5.70% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and 5.40% for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The increase in the average loan yield during the current quarter, compared to both the prior quarter and the fourth quarter of 2023, was primarily due to the origination of new loans at higher interest rates. Additionally, variable-rate loans resetting to higher rates contributed to the increase in average yield compared to the prior quarters. The increase in the average balance during the current quarter compared to the prior quarter was primarily due to growth in commercial and multifamily loans, manufactured housing loans and floating home loans. This was partially offset by a decline in construction and land loans and commercial business loans. The average balances for one-to-four family loans, home equity loans, and other consumer loans remained relatively flat from the third quarter of 2024. The increase in the average balance of loans during the current quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 was primarily due to loan growth across all categories, except for one-to-four family loans, construction and land loans, commercial business loans, and other consumer loans, with the largest decrease being in construction and land loans.

    Interest income on investments was $132 thousand for both the quarters ended December 31, 2024 and September 30, 2024, and $129 thousand for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. Interest income on interest-bearing cash decreased $296 thousand to $1.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to $1.8 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and increased $359 thousand from $1.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The decrease from the prior quarter was due to decreases in the average yield and average balance of interest-bearing cash. The increase from the same quarter in the prior year was a result of a higher average balance, partially offset by a lower average yield.

    Interest expense decreased $449 thousand, or 6.4%, to $6.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, from $7.0 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and increased $746 thousand, or 12.9%, from $5.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in interest expense during the current quarter from the prior quarter was primarily the result of average balance decreases of $3.8 million in demand and NOW accounts, $2.3 million in certificate accounts and $9.5 million in FHLB advances, as well as lower average rates paid on all categories of interest-bearing deposits, partially offset by a $10.2 million increase in the average balance of savings and money market accounts. The increase in interest expense during the current quarter from the same quarter a year ago was primarily the result of a $91.9 million increase in the average balance of savings and money market accounts and a $1.3 million increase in the average balance of certificate accounts, as well as higher average rates paid on savings and money market accounts. This was partially offset by a $25.3 million decrease in the average balance of demand and NOW accounts and a $9.6 million decrease in the average balance of FHLB advances. The average cost of deposits was 2.58% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, down from 2.74% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and up from 2.38% for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The average cost of FHLB advances was 4.31% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, down from 4.32% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and up from 4.26% for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.

    NIM (annualized) was 3.13% for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, up from 2.98% for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and 3.04% for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The increase in NIM from the prior quarter was the result of lower cost of funding, partially offset by a decrease in interest income on interest-earning assets. The increase in NIM from the quarter one year ago was primarily due to an increase in interest income on interest-earning assets, driven by the higher average balance in loans and interest-bearing cash and a higher yield earned on loans and investments, partially offset by a higher average balance of and cost of savings and money market accounts.

    A provision for credit losses of $14 thousand was recorded for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, consisting of a release of provision for credit losses on loans of $73 thousand and a provision for credit losses on unfunded loan commitments of $87 thousand. This compared to a provision for credit losses of $8 thousand for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, consisting of a provision for credit losses on loans of $106 thousand and a release of provision for credit losses on unfunded loan commitments of $98 thousand, and a release of provision for credit losses of $27 thousand for the quarter ended December 31, 2023, consisting of a provision for credit losses on loans of $337 thousand and a release of the provision for credit losses on unfunded loan commitments of $364 thousand. The increase in the provision for credit losses for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2024 resulted primarily from an additional qualitative adjustment related to our loan review, additional enhancements to the loss model related to how we adjust for the qualitative component, including the utilization of a scorecard to drive managements analysis, and growth in our unfunded construction loan portfolio, which has a higher loss rate than our other loan portfolios. These increases were offset by lower reserves in both our floating home sub-segment of other consumer loans within our quantitative analysis and in our qualitative analysis related to market conditions and value of underlying collateral, as economic conditions have improved. Expected loss estimates consider various factors, such as market conditions, borrower-specific information, projected delinquencies, and the impact of economic conditions on borrowers’ ability to repay.

    Noninterest income decreased $75 thousand, or 6.1%, to $1.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and increased $94 thousand, or 8.8%, compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The decrease from the prior quarter was primarily related to a $24 thousand downward adjustment in fair value of mortgage servicing rights and a $59 thousand decrease in earnings from bank-owned life insurance (“BOLI”), both influenced by fluctuating market interest rates. These decreases were partially offset by an increase of $13 thousand in net gain on sale of loans due to higher sales volume in the fourth quarter of 2024, and a $7 thousand increase in gain on disposal of assets due to insurance claims exceeding the book value on the replacement of stolen laptops in the second quarter of 2024. The increase in noninterest income from the same quarter of 2023 was primarily due an $43 thousand increase in service charges and fee income primarily due to increases in late fees on loans, higher interchange income and income related to a new, multi-year agreement with our credit card provider that was effective in 2024, a late fee on one commercial loan and higher specialty deposit fees due to fewer reversals of fees in 2024, a $173 thousand increase in the fair value adjustment on mortgage servicing rights due to changes in prepayment speeds, servicing costs, and discount rate, and a $7 thousand increase in gain on disposal of assets as noted above. These increases were partially offset by a $95 thousand decrease in earnings on BOLI due to market rate fluctuations, and a $23 thousand decrease in net gain on sale of loans due to fewer loans sold, and an $11 thousand decrease in mortgage servicing income as a result of the portfolio paying down at a faster rate than we are replacing the loans. Loans sold during the quarter ended December 31, 2024, totaled $3.5 million, compared to $2.4 million and $4.5 million of loans sold during the quarters ended September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.

    Noninterest expense decreased $621 thousand, or 8.1%, to $7.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and decreased $248 thousand, or 3.4%, from the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The decrease from the quarter ended September 30, 2024 was primarily a result of lower salaries and benefits and operations expenses, partially offset by higher data processing expense. Salaries and benefits decreased $549 thousand primarily due to lower incentive compensation, lower retirement plan expense due to fluctuating market rates, lower medical expense due to higher medical costs during the third quarter of 2024, and lower salaries expense, as well as higher deferred salaries due to higher loan production. Operations expense decreased $211 thousand primarily due to a reversal of state and local tax expense related to higher estimated tax payments made than actual tax due, and lower operational losses in the current quarter as the prior quarter included the charge-off of a fraudulently obtained loan. This was partially offset by an $165 thousand increase in data processing expenses, reflecting new technology implementation costs. Compared to same quarter in 2023, the decrease in noninterest expense was primarily due to lower operations expenses, occupancy expenses and data processing expenses, which were partially offset by a $118 thousand increase in salaries and benefits costs. Operations expenses decreased due to reduction in loan originations costs, office expenses, operational losses, charitable contributions and state and local taxes, partially offset by higher professional fees primarily related to costs for future FDIC Improvement Act implementation. Data processing expenses decreased due to lower costs related to our core processor, while occupancy expenses decreased primarily due to fully amortized leasehold improvements. The increase in salaries and benefits compared to the same quarter last year reflected higher incentive compensation, lower deferred salaries, higher medical expenses due primarily to a change in insurance providers, and a higher contribution to our employee stock ownership plan due to the increase in value of our stock in 2024. This was partially offset by lower retirement plan expenses due to fluctuating market rates and lower salaries from a restructuring of positions at the end of 2023.

    Balance Sheet Review, Capital Management and Credit Quality

    Assets at December 31, 2024 totaled $993.6 million, down from $1.10 billion at September 30, 2024 and $995.22 million at December 31, 2023. The decrease in total assets from September 30, 2024 was primarily due to decreases in cash and cash equivalents and loans held-for-portfolio. The decrease from one year ago was primarily a result of lower balances of cash and cash equivalents and investment securities, offset by an increase in loans held-for-portfolio.

    Cash and cash equivalents decreased $105.3 million, or 70.7%, to $43.6 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $148.9 million at September 30, 2024, and decreased $6.0 million, or 12.2%, from $49.7 million at December 31, 2023. The decrease from the prior quarter was primarily due to higher deposit withdrawals, as well as the strategic decision to sell reciprocal deposits at the end of the year. Cash and cash equivalents decreased from one year ago primarily due to the increase in loans held-for-portfolio and the payoff of one FHLB borrowing, partially offset by an increase in deposits.

    Investment securities decreased $251 thousand, or 2.5%, to $9.9 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $10.2 million at September 30, 2024, and decreased $533 thousand, or 5.1%, from $10.5 million at December 31, 2023. Held-to-maturity securities totaled $2.1 million at both December 31, 2024 and September 30, 2024, and totaled $2.2 million at December 31, 2023. Available-for-sale securities totaled $7.8 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $8.0 million at September 30, 2024 and $8.3 million at December 31, 2023.

    Loans held-for-portfolio were $900.2 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $901.7 million at September 30, 2024 and $894.5 million at December 31, 2023.

    Nonperforming assets (“NPAs”), which are comprised of nonaccrual loans (including nonperforming modified loans), other real estate owned (“OREO”) and other repossessed assets, decreased $1.1 million, or 12.9%, to $7.5 million at December 31, 2024, from $8.6 million at September 30, 2024 and increased $3.4 million, or 81.3%, from $4.1 million at December 31, 2023. The decrease in NPAs from September 30, 2024 was primarily due to the payoff of seven loans totaling $1.2 million, one loan totaling $76 thousand returning to accrual status, and sale of one other real estate owned property for $115 thousand for a small net gain on sale, partially offset by the addition of seven loans totaling $326 thousand to nonaccrual. The increase in NPAs from one year ago was primarily due to the placement of an additional $9.3 million of loans on nonaccrual status, which included a $3.7 million matured commercial real estate loan where the borrower is in the process of securing financing from another lender, and a $2.4 million floating home loan, all of which are well secured. These additions were partially offset by payoffs totaling $4.2 million, the return of $784 thousand of loans to accrual status, charge-offs of $142 thousand, the sale of two other real estate owned properties for $685 thousand, and normal loan payments.

    NPAs to total assets were 0.75%, 0.78% and 0.42% at December 31, 2024, September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. The allowance for credit losses on loans to total loans outstanding was 0.94% at December 31, 2024, compared to 0.95% at September 30, 2024 and 0.98% at December 31, 2023. Net loan charge-offs for the fourth quarter of 2024 totaled $13 thousand, compared to $14 thousand for the third quarter of 2024, and $15 thousand for the fourth quarter of 2023.

    The following table summarizes our NPAs at the dates indicated (dollars in thousands):

      December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024    		   March 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023
    Nonperforming Loans:                  
    One-to-four family $ 537     $ 745     $ 822     $ 835     $ 1,108  
    Home equity loans   298       338       342       83       84  
    Commercial and multifamily   3,734       4,719       5,161       4,747       —  
    Construction and land   24       25       28       29       —  
    Manufactured homes   521       230       136       166       228  
    Floating homes   2,363       2,377       2,417       3,192       —  
    Commercial business   11       23       —       —       2,135  
    Other consumer   3       32       3       1       1  
    Total nonperforming loans   7,491       8,489       8,909       9,053       3,556  
    OREO and Other Repossessed Assets:                  
    Commercial and multifamily   —       —       —       575       575  
    Manufactured homes   —       115       115       115       —  
    Total OREO and repossessed assets   —       115       115       690       575  
    Total NPAs $ 7,491     $ 8,604     $ 9,024     $ 9,743     $ 4,131  
                       
    Percentage of Nonperforming Loans:                  
    One-to-four family   7.3 %     8.7 %     9.1 %     8.5 %     26.9 %
    Home equity loans   4.0       3.9       3.8       0.9       2.0  
    Commercial and multifamily   49.8       54.8       57.2       48.7       —  
    Construction and land   0.3       0.3       0.3       0.3       —  
    Manufactured homes   7.0       2.7       1.5       1.7       5.5  
    Floating homes   31.5       27.6       26.8       32.8       —  
    Commercial business   0.1       0.3       —       —       51.7  
    Other consumer   —       0.4       —       —       —  
    Total nonperforming loans   100.0       98.7       98.7       92.9       86.1  
    Percentage of OREO and Other Repossessed Assets:                  
    Commercial and multifamily   —       —       —       5.9       13.9  
    Manufactured homes   —       1.3       1.3       1.2       —  
    Total OREO and repossessed assets   —       1.3       1.3       7.1       13.9  
    Total NPAs   100.0 %     100.0 %     100.0 %     100.0 %     100.0 %

    The following table summarizes the allowance for credit losses at the dates and for the periods indicated (dollars in thousands, unaudited):

      At or For the Quarter Ended:
      December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024    		   March 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023
    Allowance for Credit Losses on Loans                  
    Balance at beginning of period $ 8,585     $ 8,493     $ 8,598     $ 8,760     $ 8,438  
    (Release of) provision for credit losses during the period   (73 )     106       (88 )     (106 )     337  
    Net charge-offs during the period   (13 )     (14 )     (17 )     (56 )     (15 )
    Balance at end of period $ 8,499     $ 8,585     $ 8,493     $ 8,598     $ 8,760  
    Allowance for Credit Losses on Unfunded Loan Commitments                  
    Balance at beginning of period $ 147     $ 245     $ 266     $ 193     $ 557  
    Provision for (release of) provision for credit losses during the period   87       (98 )     (21 )     73       (364 )
    Balance at end of period   234       147       245       266       193  
    Allowance for Credit Losses $ 8,733     $ 8,732     $ 8,738     $ 8,864     $ 8,953  
    Allowance for credit losses on loans to total loans   0.94 %     0.95 %     0.96 %     0.96 %     0.98 %
    Allowance for credit losses to total loans   0.97 %     0.97 %     0.98 %     0.99 %     1.00 %
    Allowance for credit losses on loans to total nonperforming loans   113.46 %     101.13 %     95.33 %     94.97 %     246.34 %
    Allowance for credit losses to total nonperforming loans   116.58 %     102.86 %     98.08 %     97.91 %     251.77 %

    Total deposits decreased $92.4 million, or 9.9%, to $837.8 million at December 31, 2024, from $930.2 million at September 30, 2024 and increased $11.3 million, or 1.4%, from $826.5 million at December 31, 2023. The decrease in total deposits compared to the prior quarter-end was primarily a result of the movement of reciprocal deposits off balance sheet for strategic objectives at year-end, followed by the return of those deposits to our balance sheet in the first quarter of 2025, and a decrease in one high cost money market depositor relationship as part of our strategic decision to decrease our overall cost of funds. Noninterest-bearing deposits increased $2.8 million, or 2.2%, to $132.5 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $129.7 million at September 30, 2024 and increased $5.8 million, or 4.6%, from $126.7 million at December 31, 2023. Noninterest-bearing deposits represented 15.8%, 14.0% and 15.3% of total deposits at December 31, 2024, September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.

    FHLB advances totaled $25.0 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $40.0 million at both September 30, 2024, and December 31, 2023. The decrease from both prior dated was due to the repayment of a $15.0 million FHLB advance that matured in November 2024. FHLB advances are primarily used to support organic loan growth and to maintain liquidity ratios in line with our asset/liability objectives. FHLB advances outstanding at December 31, 2024 had maturities ranging from early 2026 through early 2028. Subordinated notes, net totaled $11.8 million at each of December 31, 2024, September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023.

    Stockholders’ equity totaled $103.7 million at December 31, 2024, an increase of $1.4 million, or 1.4%, from $102.2 million at September 30, 2024, and an increase of $3.0 million, or 3.0%, from $100.7 million at December 31, 2023. The increase in stockholders’ equity from September 30, 2024 was primarily the result of $1.9 million of net income earned during the current quarter, $98 thousand in share-based compensation, and $19 thousand in common stock options exercised, partially offset by a $122 thousand increase in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax and the payment of $486 thousand in cash dividends to the Company’s stockholders.

    Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company, is the parent company of Sound Community Bank, which is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and has full-service branches in Seattle, Tacoma, Mountlake Terrace, Sequim, Port Angeles, Port Ludlow and University Place. Sound Community Bank is a Fannie Mae Approved Lender and Seller/Servicer with one loan production office located in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle. For more information, please visit www.soundcb.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer

    When used in this press release and in documents filed or furnished by Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), in the Company’s other press releases or other public or stockholder communications, and in oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer, the words or phrases “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “estimate,” “project,” “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, which are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events and may turn out to be wrong because of inaccurate assumptions we might make, because of the factors listed below or because of other factors that we cannot foresee that could cause our actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.

    Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, include, but are not limited to:adverse impacts to economic conditions in the Company’s local market areas, other markets where the Company has lending relationships, or other aspects of the Company’s business operations or financial markets, including, without limitation, as a result of employment levels, labor shortages and the effects of inflation or deflation, a recession or slowed economic growth, as well as supply chain disruptions; changes in the interest rate environment, including increases and decreases in the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Federal Reserve) benchmark rate and the duration at which such interest rate levels are maintained, which could adversely affect our revenues and expenses, the values of our assets and obligations, and the availability and cost of capital and liquidity; the impact of inflation and the current and future monetary policies of the Federal Reserve in response thereto; the effects of any federal government shutdown; the impact of bank failures or adverse developments at other banks and related negative press about the banking industry in general on investor and depositor sentiment; changes in consumer spending, borrowing and savings habits; fluctuations in interest rates; the risks of lending and investing activities, including changes in the level and direction of loan delinquencies and write-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for credit losses; the Company’s ability to access cost-effective funding; fluctuations in real estate values and both residential and commercial real estate market conditions; demand for loans and deposits in the Company’s market area; secondary market conditions for loans;expectations regarding key growth initiatives and strategic priorities; environmental, social and governance goals and targets; results of examinations of the Company or the Bank by their regulators; increased competition; changes in management’s business strategies; legislative changes; changes in the regulatory and tax environments in which the Company operates; disruptions, security breaches, or other adverse events, failures or interruptions in, or attacks on, our information technology systems or on our third-party vendors; the potential imposition of new tariffs or changes to existing trade policies that could affect economic activity or specific industry sector; the effects of climate change, severe weather events, natural disasters, pandemics, epidemics and other public health crises, acts of war or terrorism, civil unrest and other external events on our business; and other factors described in the Company’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed with or furnished to the SEC, which are available at www.soundcb.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The risks inherent in these factors could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company and could negatively affect the Company’s operating and stock performance.

    The Company does not undertake—and specifically disclaims any obligation—to revise any forward-looking statement to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement.

    CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENTS
    (Dollars in thousands, unaudited)
        For the Quarter Ended
        December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024    		   March 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023
    Interest income   $ 14,736     $ 14,838   $ 14,039     $ 13,760     $ 13,337  
    Interest expense     6,516       6,965     6,591       6,300       5,770  
    Net interest income     8,220       7,873     7,448       7,460       7,567  
    Provision for (release of) credit losses     14       8     (109 )     (33 )     (27 )
    Net interest income after provision for (release of) credit losses     8,206       7,865     7,557       7,493       7,594  
    Noninterest income:                    
    Service charges and fee income     619       628     761       612       576  
    Earnings on bank-owned life insurance     127       186     134       177       222  
    Mortgage servicing income     277       280     279       282       288  
    Fair value adjustment on mortgage servicing rights     77       101     (116 )     (65 )     (96 )
    Net gain on sale of loans     53       40     74       90       76  
    Other income     7       —     30       —       —  
    Total noninterest income     1,160       1,235     1,162       1,096       1,066  
    Noninterest expense:                    
    Salaries and benefits     3,920       4,469     4,658       4,543       3,802  
    Operations     1,329       1,540     1,569       1,457       1,537  
    Regulatory assessments     189       189     220       189       198  
    Occupancy     409       414     397       444       458  
    Data processing     1,232       1,067     910       1,017       1,311  
    Net (gain) loss on OREO and repossessed assets     (21 )     —     (17 )     6       —  
    Total noninterest expense     7,058       7,679     7,737       7,656       7,306  
    Income before provision for income taxes     2,308       1,421     982       933       1,354  
    Provision for income taxes     389       267     187       163       143  
    Net income   $ 1,919     $ 1,154   $ 795     $ 770     $ 1,211  
    CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENTS
    (Dollars in thousands, unaudited)
         
        For theYear Ended December 31
          2024       2023  
    Interest income   $ 57,374     $ 50,609  
    Interest expense     26,372       16,759  
    Net interest income     31,002       33,850  
    (Release of) provision for credit losses     (120 )     (273 )
    Net interest income after (release of) provision for credit losses     31,122       34,123  
    Noninterest income:        
    Service charges and fee income     2,620       2,527  
    Earnings on bank-owned life insurance     625       1,179  
    Mortgage servicing income     1,118       1,179  
    Fair value adjustment on mortgage servicing rights     (4 )     (219 )
    Net gain on sale of loans     258       340  
    Other income     38       —  
    Total noninterest income     4,655       5,006  
    Noninterest expense:        
    Salaries and benefits     17,590       17,135  
    Operations     5,894       6,095  
    Regulatory assessments     787       688  
    Occupancy     1,665       1,810  
    Data processing     4,226       4,388  
    Net (gain) loss on OREO and repossessed assets     (31 )     13  
    Total noninterest expense     30,131       30,129  
    Income before provision for income taxes     5,646       9,000  
    Provision for income taxes     1,006       1,561  
    Net income   $ 4,640     $ 7,439  
    CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (Dollars in thousands, unaudited)
        December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024    		   March 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023
    ASSETS                    
    Cash and cash equivalents   $ 43,641     $ 148,930     $ 135,111     $ 137,977     $ 49,690  
    Available-for-sale securities, at fair value     7,790       8,032       7,996       8,115       8,287  
    Held-to-maturity securities, at amortized cost     2,130       2,139       2,147       2,157       2,166  
    Loans held-for-sale     487       65       257       351       603  
    Loans held-for-portfolio     900,171       901,733       889,274       897,877       894,478  
    Allowance for credit losses – loans     (8,499 )     (8,585 )     (8,493 )     (8,598 )     (8,760 )
    Total loans held-for-portfolio, net     891,672       893,148       880,781       889,279       885,718  
    Accrued interest receivable     3,471       3,705       3,413       3,617       3,452  
    Bank-owned life insurance, net     22,490       22,363       22,172       22,037       21,860  
    Other real estate owned (“OREO”) and other repossessed assets, net     —       115       115       690       575  
    Mortgage servicing rights, at fair value     4,769       4,665       4,540       4,612       4,632  
    Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) stock, at cost     1,730       2,405       2,406       2,406       2,396  
    Premises and equipment, net     4,697       4,807       4,906       6,685       5,240  
    Right-of-use assets     3,725       3,779       4,020       4,259       4,496  
    Other assets     7,031       6,777       6,995       4,500       6,106  
    TOTAL ASSETS   $ 993,633     $ 1,100,930     $ 1,074,859     $ 1,086,685     $ 995,221  
    LIABILITIES                    
    Interest-bearing deposits   $ 705,267     $ 800,480     $ 781,854     $ 788,217     $ 699,813  
    Noninterest-bearing deposits     132,532       129,717       124,915       128,666       126,726  
    Total deposits     837,799       930,197       906,769       916,883       826,539  
    Borrowings     25,000       40,000       40,000       40,000       40,000  
    Accrued interest payable     765       908       760       719       817  
    Lease liabilities     4,013       4,079       4,328       4,576       4,821  
    Other liabilities     9,371       9,711       9,105       9,578       9,563  
    Advance payments from borrowers for taxes and insurance     1,260       2,047       812       2,209       1,110  
    Subordinated notes, net     11,759       11,749       11,738       11,728       11,717  
    TOTAL LIABILITIES     889,967       998,691       973,512       985,693       894,567  
    STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY:                    
    Common stock     25       25       25       25       25  
    Additional paid-in capital     28,413       28,296       28,198       28,110       27,990  
    Retained earnings     76,272       74,840       74,173       73,907       73,627  
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax     (1,044 )     (922 )     (1,049 )     (1,050 )     (988 )
    TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY     103,666       102,239       101,347       100,992       100,654  
    TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY   $ 993,633     $ 1,100,930     $ 1,074,859     $ 1,086,685     $ 995,221  
    KEY FINANCIAL RATIOS
    (unaudited)
        For the Quarter Ended
        December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024    		   March 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023
    Annualized return on average assets   0.70 %   0.42 %   0.30 %   0.29 %   0.46 %
    Annualized return on average equity   7.40 %   4.50 %   3.17 %   3.06 %   4.78 %
    Annualized net interest margin(1)   3.13 %   2.98 %   2.92 %   2.95 %   3.04 %
    Annualized efficiency ratio(2)   75.25 %   84.31 %   89.86 %   89.48 %   84.63 %

    (1)   Net interest income divided by average interest earning assets.
    (2)   Noninterest expense divided by total revenue (net interest income and noninterest income).

    PER COMMON SHARE DATA
    (unaudited)
        At or For the Quarter Ended
        December 31, 2024   September 30, 2024   June 30, 2024   March 31, 2024   December 31, 2023
    Basic earnings per share   $ 0.75   $ 0.45   $ 0.31   $ 0.30   $ 0.47
    Diluted earnings per share   $ 0.74   $ 0.45   $ 0.31   $ 0.30   $ 0.47
    Weighted-average basic shares outstanding     2,547,210     2,544,233     2,540,538     2,539,213     2,542,175
    Weighted-average diluted shares outstanding     2,578,771     2,569,368     2,559,015     2,556,958     2,560,656
    Common shares outstanding at period-end     2,564,907     2,564,095     2,557,284     2,558,546     2,549,427
    Book value per share   $ 40.42   $ 39.87   $ 39.63   $ 39.47   $ 39.48

    AVERAGE BALANCE, AVERAGE YIELD EARNED, AND AVERAGE RATE PAID
    (Dollars in thousands, unaudited)

    The following tables present, for the periods indicated, the total dollar amount of interest income from average interest-earning assets and the resultant yields, as well as the interest expense on average interest-bearing liabilities, expressed both in dollars and rates. Income and yields on tax-exempt obligations have not been computed on a tax equivalent basis. All average balances are daily average balances. Nonaccrual loans have been included in the table as loans carrying a zero yield for the period they have been on nonaccrual (dollars in thousands).

      Three Months Ended
      December 31, 2024   September 30, 2024   December 31, 2023
      Average Outstanding Balance   Interest Earned/
    Paid    		   Yield/
    Rate    		   Average Outstanding Balance   Interest Earned/
    Paid    		   Yield/
    Rate    		   Average Outstanding Balance   Interest Earned/
    Paid    		   Yield/
    Rate
    Interest-Earning Assets:                                  
    Loans receivable $ 900,832     $ 13,070   5.77 %   $ 898,570     $ 12,876   5.70 %   $ 884,677     $ 12,033   5.40 %
    Interest-earning cash   130,412       1,534   4.68 %     138,240       1,830   5.27 %     88,401       1,175   5.27 %
    Investments   13,263       132   3.96 %     13,806       132   3.80 %     14,479       129   3.53 %
    Total interest-earning assets $ 1,044,507       14,736   5.61 %     1,050,616     $ 14,838   5.62 %   $ 987,557       13,337   5.36 %
    Interest-Bearing Liabilities:                                  
    Savings and money market accounts $ 350,495       2,476   2.81 %   $ 340,281       2,688   3.14 %   $ 258,583       1,586   2.43 %
    Demand and NOW accounts   144,470       128   0.35 %     148,252       151   0.41 %     169,816       149   0.35 %
    Certificate accounts   301,293       3,413   4.51 %     303,632       3,524   4.62 %     300,042       3,436   4.54 %
    Subordinated notes   11,756       168   5.69 %     11,745       168   5.69 %     11,714       168   5.69 %
    Borrowings   30,546       331   4.31 %     40,000       434   4.32 %     40,109       431   4.26 %
    Total interest-bearing liabilities $ 838,560       6,516   3.09 %   $ 843,910       6,965   3.28 %   $ 780,264       5,770   2.93 %
    Net interest income/spread     $ 8,220   2.52 %       $ 7,873   2.34 %       $ 7,567   2.42 %
    Net interest margin         3.13 %           2.98 %           3.04 %
                                       
    Ratio of interest-earning assets to interest-bearing liabilities   125 %             124 %             127 %        
    Noninterest-bearing deposits $ 130,476             $ 132,762             $ 134,857          
    Total deposits   926,734     $ 6,017   2.58 %     924,927     $ 6,363   2.74 %     863,298     $ 5,171   2.38 %
    Total funding(1)   969,036       6,516   2.68 %     976,672       6,965   2.84 %     915,121       5,770   2.50 %

    (1)   Total funding is the sum of average interest-bearing liabilities and average noninterest-bearing deposits. The cost of total funding is calculated as annualized total interest expense divided by average total funding.

      Year Ended
      December 31, 2024   December 31, 2023
      Average
    Outstanding Balance    		   Interest Earned/Paid   Yield/Rate   Average
    Outstanding Balance    		   Interest Earned/Paid   Yield/Rate
    Interest-Earning Assets:                      
    Loans receivable $ 896,690     $ 50,499   5.63 %   $ 870,227     $ 46,470   5.34 %
    Interest-earning cash   124,259       6,367   5.12 %     74,708       3,621   4.85 %
    Investments   12,468       508   4.07 %     13,661       518   3.79 %
    Total interest-earning assets $ 1,033,417       57,374   5.55 %   $ 958,596       50,609   5.28 %
    Interest-Bearing Liabilities:                      
    Savings and money market accounts $ 319,314       9,145   2.86 %   $ 194,810       2,783   1.43 %
    Demand and NOW accounts   151,528       568   0.37 %     204,922       736   0.36 %
    Certificate accounts   309,441       14,363   4.64 %     280,238       10,617   3.79 %
    Subordinated notes   11,740       672   5.72 %     11,698       672   5.74 %
    Borrowings   37,623       1,624   4.32 %     43,977       1,951   4.44 %
    Total interest-bearing liabilities $ 829,646       26,372   3.18 %   $ 735,645       16,759   2.28 %
    Net interest income/spread     $ 31,002   2.37 %       $ 33,850   3.00 %
    Net interest margin         3.00 %           3.53 %
                           
    Ratio of interest-earning assets to interest-bearing liabilities   125 %             130 %        
    Noninterest-bearing deposits $ 131,141             $ 154,448          
    Total deposits   911,424     $ 24,076   2.64 %     834,418     $ 14,136   1.69 %
    Total funding(1)   960,787       26,372   2.74 %     890,093       16,759   1.88 %

    (1)   Total funding is the sum of average interest-bearing liabilities and average noninterest-bearing deposits. The cost of total funding is calculated as annualized total interest expense divided by average total funding.

    LOANS
    (Dollars in thousands, unaudited)
        December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024    		   March 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023
    Real estate loans:                    
    One-to-four family   $ 269,684     $ 271,702     $ 268,488     $ 279,213     $ 279,448  
    Home equity     26,686       25,199       26,185       24,380       23,073  
    Commercial and multifamily     371,516       358,587       342,632       324,483       315,280  
    Construction and land     73,077       85,724       96,962       111,726       126,758  
    Total real estate loans     740,963       741,212       734,267       739,802       744,559  
    Consumer Loans:                    
    Manufactured homes     41,128       40,371       38,953       37,583       36,193  
    Floating homes     86,411       86,155       81,622       84,237       75,108  
    Other consumer     17,720       18,266       18,422       18,847       19,612  
    Total consumer loans     145,259       144,792       138,997       140,667       130,913  
    Commercial business loans     15,605       17,481       17,860       19,075       20,688  
    Total loans     901,827       903,485       891,124       899,544       896,160  
    Less:                    
    Premiums     718       736       754       808       829  
    Deferred fees, net     (2,374 )     (2,488 )     (2,604 )     (2,475 )     (2,511 )
    Allowance for credit losses – loans     (8,499 )     (8,585 )     (8,493 )     (8,598 )     (8,760 )
    Total loans held-for-portfolio, net   $ 891,672     $ 893,148     $ 880,781     $ 889,279     $ 885,718  
    DEPOSITS
    (Dollars in thousands, unaudited)
        December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024    		   March 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023
    Noninterest-bearing demand   $ 132,532   $ 129,717   $ 124,915   $ 128,666   $ 126,726
    Interest-bearing demand     142,126     148,740     152,829     159,178     168,346
    Savings     61,252     61,455     63,368     65,723     69,461
    Money market(1)     206,067     285,655     253,873     241,976     154,044
    Certificates     295,822     304,630     311,784     321,340     307,962
    Total deposits   $ 837,799   $ 930,197   $ 906,769   $ 916,883   $ 826,539

    (1)   Includes $5.0 million of brokered deposits at December 31, 2023. 

    CREDIT QUALITY DATA
    (Dollars in thousands, unaudited)
        At or For the Quarter Ended
        December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024    		   March 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023
    Total nonperforming loans   $ 7,491     $ 8,489     $ 8,909     $ 9,053     $ 3,556  
    OREO and other repossessed assets     —       115       115       690       575  
    Total nonperforming assets   $ 7,491     $ 8,604     $ 9,024     $ 9,743     $ 4,131  
    Net charge-offs during the quarter   $ (13 )   $ (14 )   $ (17 )   $ (56 )   $ (15 )
    Provision for (release of) credit losses during the quarter     14       8       (109 )     (33 )     (27 )
    Allowance for credit losses – loans     8,499       8,585       8,493       8,598       8,760  
    Allowance for credit losses – loans to total loans     0.94 %     0.95 %     0.96 %     0.96 %     0.98 %
    Allowance for credit losses – loans to total nonperforming loans     113.46 %     101.13 %     95.33 %     94.97 %     246.34 %
    Nonperforming loans to total loans     0.83 %     0.94 %     1.00 %     1.01 %     0.40 %
    Nonperforming assets to total assets     0.75 %     0.78 %     0.84 %     0.90 %     0.42 %
    OTHER STATISTICS
    (Dollars in thousands, unaudited)
        At or For the Quarter Ended
        December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024    		   March 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023
                         
    Total loans to total deposits     107.64 %     97.13 %     98.27 %     98.11 %     108.42 %
    Noninterest-bearing deposits to total deposits     15.82 %     13.95 %     13.78 %     14.03 %     15.33 %
                         
    Average total assets for the quarter   $ 1,089,067     $ 1,095,404     $ 1,070,579     $ 1,062,036     $ 1,033,985  
    Average total equity for the quarter   $ 103,181     $ 102,059     $ 100,961     $ 101,292     $ 100,612  

    Contact

    Financial:    
    Wes Ochs      
    Executive Vice President/CFO    
    (206) 436-8587      
           
    Media:    
    Laurie Stewart      
    President/CEO    
    (206) 436-1495      
           

    The MIL Network –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Union County Man Sentenced To 57 Months In Prison For Stolen Vehicles Conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEWARK, N.J. – A Union County, New Jersey man was sentenced to 57 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to receive, retitle, and “re-VIN” stolen vehicles, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced.

    Nathaniel Bell, 27, of Linden, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to a seven-count information charging him with one count of conspiracy to receive stolen vehicles, five counts of altering or removing motor vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and one count of transportation of stolen vehicles.

    According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

    Bell was the leader of a criminal conspiracy that obtained stolen vehicles from New Jersey, New York, Florida, and other states, obtained fraudulent titles for the stolen vehicles, and altered vehicle identification numbers to conceal the fact that the vehicles were stolen. Bell and his co-conspirators then sold the stolen cars to dealerships or individual purchasers so they could make a profit. In at least two instances, the co-conspirators sold a stolen car to an individual purchaser and then stole it back so they could sell it again. Bell also knowingly altered or removed the VIN numbers on five vehicles and knowingly transported a stolen vehicle between New York and New Jersey.

    In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced Bell to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution.

    Bell’s co-conspirators, Johnathan Tanksley, 31, of Orange; L’Hubermane Felix, 25, of Miami, Florida; and Dayanna Sarango-Hidalgo, 29, of Newark, have all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen vehicles. Felix was previously sentenced to 24 months in prison. Tanksley and Sarango-Hidalgo await sentencing.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Khanna credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly in Newark, with the investigation that led to the sentencing. He also thanked the New Jersey State Police Auto Theft Task Force; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; the Union County Prosecutor’s Office; the National Insurance Crime Bureau; the Jersey City Police Department; the Belleville Police Department; the Rahway Police Department; the Linden Police Department; the Roselle Police Department; the Eatontown Police Department; the Freehold Police Department; the Elizabeth Police Department; the Miami Police Department (Florida); the Florida Highway Patrol; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; the Howard County Police Department (Maryland); the New York Police Department; the Nassau County Police Department (New York); the Georgia Department of Revenue; the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice; the Deputy Attorney General’s Office; the FBI Miami Office; the FBI Cleveland Office; and the FBI Milwaukee Office

    The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Kober of the Organized Crimes/Gangs Unit in Newark.

                                                                 ###

    Defense counsel: Jason F. Orlando 

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Helena man admits conspiracy to distribute large quantities of meth, fentanyl

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    GREAT FALLS — A Helena man accused of trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl he received from suppliers in California and Oregon admitted to a conspiracy charge today, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

    The defendant, Charles Clifford Hamlin, 61, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Hamlin faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release.

    Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for June 5. Hamlin was detained pending further proceedings.

    In a plea agreement filed in the case, the parties agreed that Hamlin would serve a sentence within a stipulated range of 15 years to 20 years in prison.

    In court documents, the government alleged that the Missouri River Drug Task Force and United States Postal Service began investigating Hamlin after they intercepted a package intended for Hamlin in August 2021. The package contained approximately three pounds of meth. Over the next several years, investigators spoke with numerous sources who identified Hamlin as a large-scale narcotics distributor. Two sources worked with Hamlin to bring meth from California to Montana, and one source went to Oregon to obtain meth for Hamlin to distribute. The sources stated the deliveries to Hamlin ranged from between one pound to three pounds.

    Another source told investigators about receiving ounces of meth and “rolls” of fentanyl pills regularly from Hamlin. Hamlin received deliveries every two and one-half weeks from a source in Oregon. Each delivery was approximately seven pounds of meth, 4,000 to 7,000 fentanyl pills, two ounces of cocaine and two ounces of heroin.

    In December 2023, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on Hamlin and his truck was searched based on a suspected probation violation. Officers located approximately 18 grams of meth in his gas tank flap. Investigators also made controlled buys of meth and fentanyl pills from Hamlin. In February 2024, law enforcement stopped an individual in Powell County, and the person had nine pounds of meth and 6,200 fentanyl pills. Approximately six pounds of the meth was destined for Hamlin.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The Missouri River Drug Task Force, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Helena Police Department, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and Montana Highway Patrol conducted the investigation.

    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. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

    XXX

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: DRC: MSF appeals for humanitarian access in Goma as casualties seek medical care.

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

    30 January, 2025: Goma/Kinshasa- An influx of wounded people is arriving at Kyeshero hospital in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams in the hospital are treating people through the armed clashes and insecurity that have hit the city in recent days. We have been affected by several incidents since the beginning of the week, some of which have limited our ability to provide people with the medical care they need. We are now preparing to send new teams to Goma and need guaranteed humanitarian access from the involved parties.

    Fighting between M23, the Congolese army, and their respective allies reached Goma’s city centre earlier this week, causing panic and impacting residents. Goma, the capital city of North Kivu province, has been cut off from the rest of the world for several days, and victims of the fighting are arriving at medical facilities whenever they can.

    Humanitarian and medical facilities have not been spared during the violence.

    “At Kyeshero hospital, a bullet pierced the roof of the operating theatre during an operation,” says Virginie Napolitano, MSF’s emergency coordinator in North Kivu, speaking from Goma. “Some of our stock of equipment and medicines has been looted, jeopardising our medical assistance inside and outside Goma. Armed looting has also affected our colleagues in Goma. One of them was wounded by gunshot in his home during an attack. Other organisations and medical facilities have also come under fire. This is totally unacceptable.”

    Despite the situation, an MSF team continues to provide care for wounded patients at Kyeshero hospital, in support of Ndosho hospital, where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is receiving an even greater influx of wounded.

    Since Thursday, 142 wounded patients have been treated at Kyeshero. On Tuesday alone, MSF received 37 injured people, half of them civilians and the majority of whom are women. Most of the injuries were caused by shrapnel, while other patients suffered gunshot wounds.

    Since Friday, people have had to cope with continuous water and electricity cuts. The supply of meals that MSF provides to patients and their families is in jeopardy, as insecurity, the risk of looting, and the closure of roads are preventing us from replenishing food stocks, which only last two to three days.

    The worsening insecurity and intense fighting have forced MSF to temporarily reduce the number of active teams in Goma and in the camps for internally displaced people on the outskirts of the city. Meanwhile, medical and humanitarian needs in and around Goma will only grow. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of people have joined the 650,000 people who had already been living in camps around Goma for more than two years. Fighting has also reached areas around camps, sending people fleeing once again.

    “The impact of this fighting on the civilian population is enormous. In addition to the wounded and dead, we are receiving devastating reports from internally displaced people camps where our teams can no longer go,” says Stephan Goetghebuer, MSF’s head of programmes in North Kivu. “In the Kanyaruchinya displaced people’s site, the health centre we support continues to operate, but the team has seen two children die this week because they could not be transferred to any hospital.”

    MSF is preparing to send teams back into Goma to assess what response can be provided, and how best we could scale up, following the looting of the past few days. We would like to replenish our stocks and scale up emergency care as soon as possible. One possible way to move new teams and equipment into Goma would be through the Great Barrier, which separates DRC from Rwanda. This requires facilitation and guarantees from the involved parties.

    As the situation continues to deteriorate, MSF urges the warring parties to do more to protect civilians. They must also respect the most basic rules of international humanitarian law and guarantee humanitarian access, so that essential medical assistance can be provided to people.

    MSF teams are still present in other conflict-affected areas of both North and South Kivu provinces.

    MSF is an international, medical, humanitarian organisation that delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, or political affiliation. MSF has been working in Haiti for over 30 years, offering general healthcare, trauma care, burn wound care, maternity care, and care for survivors of sexual violence. MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. In 2022, more than 120 project staff from Australia and New Zealand worked with MSF on assignment overseas. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au  
     

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Call to End Prescribing Puberty Blockers In NZ

    Source: Family First

    MEDIA RELEASE

    30 January 2025

    Family First is calling for an immediate end to new prescribing of puberty blockers due to the clear lack of quality probative evidence of efficacy and safety.

    It comes at the same time as more than 100 doctors, academics, lawyers, politicians and “detransitioners” are calling for the Albanese government in Australia to launch an immediate inquiry into youth gender medicine and to pause the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for children in Australia.

    Family First and its legal representatives met with the Puberty Blocker Consultation Team from the Ministry of Health in January.

    Family First has subsequently written to both the PBC Team and Health NZ to reiterate the following points regarding the safety and efficacy requirements under the Medicines Act 1981 (the Medicines Act) and Family First’s concerns about inconsistent standards, stating the following:

    “We are aware that these provisions do not apply directly to off-label use of puberty blockers under section 25 of the Medicines Act, but we have been advised that the Medicines Act generally requires proof of safety and efficacy before allowing the sale and supply of new medications for specific indications in New Zealand.

    “Throughout the Medicines Act, there are strict conditions relating to safety and efficacy both for a medicine to first obtain consent to be used in New Zealand and secondly for it to be removed from the market if concerns arise about its safety and efficacy, including the following:

    1. Applications for the Minister’s consent under section 20 of the Medicines Act require evidence to be provided, under section 21(2), of both the safety and efficacy of the medicine.
    2. Section 35 enables the Minister to revoke or suspend a consent under sections 20 or 23 if he is of the opinion that either the medicine can no longer be administered or used safely or that the efficacy of the medicine can no longer be regarded as satisfactory.
    3. Section 36 enables the Director-General to give notice and require an importer or manufacturer to satisfy him of the “safety or efficacy of that medicine” if he “has reason to believe that any medicine, not being a new medicine, may be unsafe or ineffective for the therapeutic purpose for which is it sold”. This process can also then lead to a notice from the Minister prohibiting the sale or supply of the medicine under section 36(3)(a).
    4. Even a change in an existing approved medicine can be referred to the Minister for consideration, under section 24(5), if the Director-General considers that despite the evidence supplied he is insufficiently informed of the safety or efficacy of the medicine after that change.

    “As discussed, we are concerned about the ability of patients to give their informed consent for puberty blockers for Gender Dysmorphia prescribed under section 25 when they have not been proven to be safe, efficacious or reversible for the purposes they are currently being prescribed and used for in New Zealand.

    “This is based on the Ministry of Health’s own Position Statement on the Use of Puberty Blockers in Gender-Affirming Care dated 21 November, 2024, following the release of an evidence brief which examined the safety and long-term impacts of puberty blockers when used in the context of gender-affirming care. [View the Impact of Puberty Blockers in Gender-Dysphoric Adolescents: An evidence brief.]

    Family First’s position remains that there should be an immediate end to new prescribing of puberty blockers due to the clear lack of quality probative evidence of efficacy and safety. Existing users need to be transitioned from Puberty Blockers in a medically appropriate way or at the very least, have the lack of quality evidence on safety, efficacy and reversibility explained to them with a view to confirming they and their parents or guardians do provide informed consent.  This in turn also means the Ministry’s Position Statement must be updated immediately to remove the factually incorrect statements regarding efficacy, safety, and future risks, including any references to the PATHA Guidelines.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Health Protest – Protest calls for answers on company chosen to supply vape kits

    Source: Health Coalition Aotearoa

    Public Health experts are questioning a decision by the Government to purchase $575,000 worth of vaping products from a company accused of allegedly bribing the New Zealand Government.
    They will be meeting today at 12.30pm today on Parliament’s forecourt to raise their concerns and call for a public inquiry into the influence of the tobacco and vape industry on the Government’s Smokefree policy.
    The company chosen to supply vaping kits to Government funded stop smoking services is Chinese based vaping giant RELX.
    Reporting by The Straits Times in Singapore obtained leaked call recordings where employees of RELX can be heard discussing bribing the New Zealand Government.
    RELX employees can be heard saying: “we don’t do that visibly in Australia and New Zealand. But government payments are not a problem for us because, because these are extremely… how do I put it… subtle.”
    “It’s just like how the Big Tobacco does it, right, they go through multiple shell companies and associations and consultants and agencies and whatnot. And it’s almost… you need to have a very persistent investigative journalist to find out…”
    Additional reporting by 60 Minutes in Australia confirmed the company at the centre of these allegations is RELX.
    Thousands of RELX vaping products distributed to stop smoking services in early January were purchased by Te Whatu Ora. There doesn’t appear to be a formal tender process that took place to choose a vaping supplier and funding came out of the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Innovation fund.
    With serious accusations of bribery surfacing the Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello needs to front up and explain why no tender process was followed and why the Government chose vaping company RELX to supply $575k worth of vaping products.
    We are now over a year into our Government appearing to have been influenced by the tobacco and vape industry in their decision making and now there are accusations of bribery taking place.
    RELX has a questionable history of following relevant New Zealand legislation and regulations here and overseas. RELX continued to publish prohibited advertising including using Instagram influencers following new laws to crack down on vape advertising in late 2020.
    The Straits Times stories:
    60 Minutes story:
    The Age/Sydney Morning Herald version (also attached) of the 60 Minutes piece:
    RELX ownership
    Mission Holdings Limited is an umbrella company for Mission Retail Limited, Mission Distribution Limited and Mission Brands.
    The shareholders/directors are Jing Zhang and Jingrui Liu (the companies office address listed for both is: 4 Magee Place, East Tamaki Heights, Auckland, 2016) and Haodong (Sky) Deng and Dan Shan (Both share the same address: 9 Gilford Place, East Tamaki Heights, Auckland, 2016).
    Jing Zhang worked for British American Tobacco for 3 years 6 months from July 2007, then for Philip Morris International for 8 years and 3 months from Jan 2011 until March 2019, and founded Mission Brands in April of 2019.
    Haodong (Sky) Deng worked for Philip Morris from November 2014 until March 2019 before also co-founding Mission Brands in April 2019.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Greenpeace – NZ climate target under international scrutiny as trading partners raise concerns

    Source: Greenpeace

    Ahead of the Government’s NDC climate target announcement today, Greenpeace Aotearoa has revealed that New Zealand’s trading partners are asking yet more questions about our climate credibility.
    In a written question to the European Commission lodged in December 2024, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Saskia Bricmont asked: “What actions is the Commission taking to ensure that NZ does not backtrack on its climate ambitions when it comes to methane reduction?”
    It follows similar questions raised in the UK Parliament and during the EU Trade Commissioner hearings last year about whether breaches of environmental clauses in trade agreements with New Zealand would face consequences.
    Greenpeace spokesperson Amanda Larsson says, “Since taking office, Luxon has worked to roll back virtually every policy that cuts pollution. That includes giving our highest-emitting industry – dairying – a free pass to keep polluting.”
    In her question about methane, MEP Bricmont was referring to the Government’s review of methane targets in line with no additional warming – a controversial way to measure methane that effectively writes off current high levels of pollution.
    Larsson says no additional warming lacks scientific credibility.
    “It is a metric being pushed heavily by the livestock industry as a way to get out of jail free for their huge contribution to climate change. By effectively using an accounting trick, the industry wants us to greenlight pollution as usual,” says Larsson.
    “The livestock industry’s push to change how methane is measured threatens all New Zealand industries that benefit from our trade agreements with the EU and UK, including kiwifruit and wine.”
    New Zealand’s free trade agreements with both the EU and the UK include clauses that require no weakening of environmental and climate protections by either party. Bricmont went on to ask whether the Commission was “prepared to use all means at its disposal to enforce the FTA if NZ indeed decides to weaken its national methane reduction targets.”
    Larsson says that many people will be watching closely to see if today’s climate target announcement will further weaken climate ambition, including by weakening the methane target in line with no additional warming.
    “The Government must seize the opportunity to pull the climate emergency brake and set a stronger target to reduce methane emissions. Our children and grandchildren’s futures are on the line.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Lifestyle – Kickstart 2025 with Exercise New Zealand: We Are Here For You!

    Source: Exercise NZ

    As January unfolds and the new year gains momentum, it’s the perfect opportunity to set intentions, embrace change, and prioritise what truly matters. ExerciseNZ is encouraging all Kiwis to kickstart 2025 by making movement an essential part of their daily lives. 

    With summer in full swing, Aotearoa provides the perfect backdrop to establish new habits. Whether it’s an early-morning beach walk, backyard games with family, joining a local exercise class, or tackling that daunting pre-season training, committing to regular physical activity now can set the tone for a healthier and more fulfilling year ahead.

    At ExerciseNZ, we are committed to supporting Kiwis in creating a lifestyle fuelled by physical activity and exercise. As the National Association for the Exercise Industry, we work to empower individuals and communities by providing the tools, resources, and guidance needed to make physical activity a sustainable part of everyday life. Partnering with gyms, exercise facilities, and professionals across the country, 

    ExerciseNZ ensures access to high-quality, safe, and inclusive movement experiences for everyone in Aotearoa. To begin our year together, we’d like to highlight some of the work we do to help Kiwis flourish through movement and exercise.

    Connecting Kiwis with Local Facilities and Experts: ExerciseNZ supports over 500 gyms and exercise facilities nationwide, ensuring Kiwis can easily find the right space to begin or continue their exercise journey. Whether you’re looking for group exercise classes, personal trainers, or specialised programs, ExerciseNZ can help connect you with the right professionals.

    Education and Professional Development: ExerciseNZ provides registration for exercise professionals (REPs), ensuring the industry remains at the forefront of innovation, safety, and inclusivity. This guarantees that all members of the community receive safe and effective guidance tailored to their individual needs when training with a REPS registered individual or facility. .

    Advocating for Exercise and Well-being: ExerciseNZ actively works to promote the importance of physical activity at a national level, advocating for policies and initiatives that make exercise accessible to all. This includes working with workplaces, government, and various community groups to encourage physical activity as a part of everyday life.

    Cultural Capability and Inclusivity: Recognising the diverse needs of Aotearoa, ExerciseNZ is committed to building cultural capability within the exercise industry. This includes fostering environments that are welcoming and inclusive for the diverse cultural population here in Aotearoa.

    Supporting Mental Well-being Through Movement: ExerciseNZ highlights the mental health benefits of physical activity, working to normalise conversations about how exercise can reduce stress, improve mood, and support overall mental well-being.

    No matter your activity level or where you are on your journey, Exercise New Zealand is here to support you. Visit ExerciseNZ’s website to explore exercise facilities near you, find expert advice, or discover programs that can help you stay motivated and inspired throughout the year.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: The Cowsert Column: Week Two Under the Gold Dome

    Source: US State of Georgia

    By: Sen. Bill Cowsert (R–Athens)

    The second week of the legislative session is commonly referred to as “Budget Week” at the State Capitol. The budget process begins with Gov. Brian Kemp presenting a proposed budget for consideration by the General Assembly. This year’s budget proposal is presented in a printed report of 390 pages, which is just the increases to the 2025 budget. Various agencies present budget requests during joint Senate and House Appropriations Committee meetings. The House then passes an appropriations bill setting forth governmental spending for the upcoming year. Finally, the Senate makes its changes and the differences are worked out by a joint conference committee and the final version is sent to the Governor for his signature. The General Assembly’s most important endeavor is passing a balanced, commonsense budget, addressing the needs of Georgia citizens each year. In fact, the only bill which the General Assembly is required to pass each year is the annual appropriations bill.

    Over the past 15 years, Georgia’s state budget has experienced steady growth, reflecting the state’s expanding economy and increasing demands for public services. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, Georgia’s budget was approximately $17.4 billion during the heart of the Great Recession. Fast forward to FY 2026, and that figure has more than doubled to $37.71 billion. In addition, approximately $22.46 billion in federal funds are included in Georgia’s 2026 budget.

    Without going into extensive detail, the Governor proposes spending 20.33 billion (53.9%) on education, 8.76 billion (23.2%) on healthcare, 3.05 billion (8.1%) on public safety and 2.78 billion (7.4%) on transportation. This leaves only $2.79 billion (7.4%) for all other areas of government spending.

    A key factor in Georgia’s economic stability is our unwavering commitment to maintaining a balanced budget. Unlike the federal government, which has spent both recklessly and unapologetically, Georgia is constitutionally required to balance its budget every year. This requirement ensures that the state lives within its means, preventing excessive debt accumulation and promoting long-term financial health for all citizens. Maintaining a balanced budget encourages responsible spending, requiring lawmakers to prioritize essential services and eliminate wasteful expenditures. It also enhances Georgia’s credit rating, allowing us to finance large-scale projects at lower interest rates, saving taxpayers money in the long run. Perhaps most importantly, a balanced budget fosters public confidence in our state’s financial management, reinforcing Georgia’s reputation as a great place to live, work and raise a family. By adhering to a balanced budget and prioritizing critical investments, we continue to build a prosperous future for all Georgians.

    Thanks to our responsible fiscal management, Georgia has built a robust Revenue Shortfall Reserve (RSR), commonly known as the “rainy day fund.” The reserve was depleted to less than $50 million during the great recession, however, By FY 2023, the reserve had reached its statutory cap of 15% of the prior year’s revenue, totaling $5.4 billion. This financial cushion allows the state to weather economic downturns without resorting to drastic spending cuts or tax increases, ensuring continuity in essential public services. In addition, Georgia has over $11 billion in additional undesignated reserves over and above the funds held in the rainy day fund. There is really no authority for the State to accumulate taxpayer funds above the amounts needed to fund basic state needs. Fortunately, Gov. Kemp and the legislature have refunded at least $1 billion per year to taxpayers and significantly reduced taxes in response to our financial good fortune.

    It’s important to highlight the stark contrast in spending at the federal level due to the Biden administration’s recent mismanagement of funds. Unfortunately, both political parties are guilty of irresponsible budgeting at the federal level. In fact, the last time that the federal budget was balanced was in the early 1990s when Bill Clinton was President and John Kasich was Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the United States House. As of 2024, our national debt exceeded $35 trillion, with annual budget deficits contributing over $1 trillion annually to this growing burden. Persistent federal deficits pose risks such as higher interest rates, reduced national savings and potential economic uncertainty for future generations. These misguided spending practices have led our country down a dangerous path. Calls are growing for a constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to pass a balanced budget just like Georgia and almost all other states must do.

    It is a privilege and an honor to serve the people of the 46th Senate District. As always, don’t hesitate to contact my office with any legislative concerns. I hope to see you under the Gold Dome soon.

    # # # #

    Sen. Bill Cowsert serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries and Utilities. He represents the 46th Senate District which includes portions of Barrow, Clarke, Gwinnett, Oconee and Walton Counties. He may be reached at (404) 463-1366 or via email at bill.cowsert@senate.ga.gov

    For all media inquiries, please reach out to SenatePressInquiries@senate.ga.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Insurance Sector – ICNZ welcomes Govt’s Climate Adaptation response

    Source: Insurance Council of NZ

    The Insurance Council of New Zealand Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa (ICNZ) has welcomed the Government’s commitment to introduce legislation to Parliament this year on a Climate Adaptation framework and prepare New Zealanders for the impact of climate change on lives, property and communities.
    “New Zealanders need certainty about the way natural hazard risks from climate change are going to be managed and Government leadership in this critical area is welcome,” ICNZ Chief Executive Kris Faafoi said
    The Government was responding to the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee’s Inquiry into Climate Adaptation released in October last year.
    “The Government has acknowledged that a significant proportion of New Zealanders live in areas susceptible to increasing natural hazard risk and that the prospect of more frequent and severe weather events may impact the stability of our housing, finance and insurance markets.
    “The insurance industry is keen to continue to contribute to the policy formation to keep protecting communities and customers. As the Government has noted, an implementation plan will be required that all sectors can buy into and is achievable.
    “New Zealand is a risky country, and we are committed to finding solutions that reduce our exposure to natural hazard risks by avoiding building in dumb places and by investing in infrastructure that protects communities as well as better preparing for recovery from future natural disasters.
    “We also support the government’s goal of a cross-party solution to ensure New Zealand’s approach is enduring. Adapting to climate change requires a long-term political commitment as reinsurers and insurers need long-term policy and investment certainty for some of the likely actions and investments required to safeguard Kiwis and minimise the insurance protection gap.
    “We commend the Government for taking this approach. When Climate Change Minister Simon Watts and insurers met with reinsurers in London last year, they told us that they have confidence in New Zealand’s plan and that being proactive and having consistent policy settings would help keep reinsurance available for New Zealand.
    “While there is work already underway to prepare for a changing climate, we need to work with haste on this issue to keep all of New Zealand protected from the worst effects of future events.
    “Research shows every dollar invested in adaptation brings substantial economic benefits..By addressing these risks now, New Zealand can avoid the higher costs associated with future climate-related disasters,” Kris Faafoi said.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Helena man sentenced to more than seven years in prison for conviction of firearm crime

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

    GREAT FALLS — A Helena man who admitted to a firearm crime after a welfare check led to him being arrested on a warrant while attempting to flee officers was sentenced today to seven years and three months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

    The defendant, Scott Hamilton, 44, pleaded in October 2024 to receipt of a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony.

    Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

    In court documents, the government alleged that at 4 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2023, law enforcement officers stopped a man wearing dark clothing and carrying a duffel bag on Montana Highway 12 for a welfare check. The man, identified as Hamilton, told officers he had car trouble and was walking to East Helena. Officers learned there was an active warrant for Hamilton out of Broadwater County. When officers attempted to arrest Hamilton, he fled across the highway and dropped his bag as he ran. Officers pursued and arrested Hamilton and recovered the duffle bag. Inside the duffle bag were two firearms, a .22 caliber revolver and a 9mm pistol, and numerous rounds of ammunition. Hamilton had prior felony convictions and was prohibited from possessing firearms.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation.

    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. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

    XXX

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Australia – Production begins at CH4 Global’s first full-scale EcoPark

    Source: CH4 Global

    ADELAIDE, Australia – January 30, 2024 – CH4 Global, Inc., will today officially open phase one of its first full-scale EcoPark, where it has begun to grow and process Asparagopsis in 10 large-scale cultivation ponds with a combined capacity of 2 million litres – capable of producing 80 metric tonnes of the seaweed each year.

    Over the next year, the facility will expand to 100 ponds capable of producing enough Asparagopsis to serve 45,000 cattle per day – a significant step toward meeting demand from CH4 Global’s existing commercial partners in Australia and beyond. With additional investment, the facility could eventually expand to 500 ponds capable of serving hundreds of thousands of cattle per day.

    South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas attended the launch of the EcoPark in Louth Bay, 23km north of Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula.

    “I congratulate CH4 global on this significant achievement,” Mr Malinauslkas said.

    “South Australia is already a world leader in decarbonisation.

    “Helping the rest of the world achieve this challenge presents an incredible opportunity to deliver a more complex economy and more jobs for South Australians.

    “CH4 Global’s EcoPark is a shining example of what we can achieve – using Research and Development to develop new industries.

    “Propagating a local seaweed to feed cattle has the potential to drastically reduce methane emissions from agriculture, both here and around the globe.”

    The EcoPark consists of research and development facilities, a seedling hatchery, patented in-land growth ponds, and harvesting and drying technologies to convert Asparagopsis into CH4 Global’s Methane Tamer products – allowing end-to-end production.

    The EcoPark will sustainably grow methane-reducing Asparagopsis at scale. Asparagopsis, which is a red seaweed native to South Australia, drastically reduces methane emissions from cows by up to 90 per cent.

    CH4 Global founder and Chief Executive Dr Steve Meller said the EcoPark was the first commercial facility of its kind, enabling the scalable propagation of Asparagopsis to meet the needs of feedlots under contract. CH4 Global’s system delivers consistent, high-quality production at a fraction of the cost, enabling profitability throughout the value chain without government subsidies.

    With its proprietary pond-based system, CH4 Global aims to reduce production costs by up to 90 per cent compared to conventional tank-based methods, enabling rapid scaling while positioning CH4 Global to deliver its feed supplement at a price point that ensures profitability throughout the agricultural value chain.

    “The EcoPark allows us to now grow Asparagopsis at-scale, providing more Methane Tamer to the feedlots and farmers we are already working with, and to meet the needs of the increasing number of organisations contacting us to help them change the feeding habits of their cows as we start bending the climate curve,” Dr Meller said.

    “We are well and truly working towards eliminating one billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and reaching 150 million cattle by 2030 through our local and international partnerships with feedlots and farmers, and it’s fantastic to see beef from these cows hitting shelves in Australia and heading overseas.”

    Dr Meller said the Louth Bay EcoPark was an essential step on the climate journey and would be positive for the Eyre Peninsula community and economy.

    CH4 Global has committed to preventing the creation of one gigatonne of CO2 emissions by 2032.

    To do so, CH4 Global needs to reach 150 million cattle —10 per cent of the world’s total.

    “Along with supporting farmers in South Australia, Queensland and overseas to reduce emissions, we’re working closely with the Eyre Peninsula community by having worked with local contractors to build the EcoPark, sourcing local materials and providing regional jobs.”

    CH4 Global has also been working with First Nations communities across South Australia, including with the planting of native species and on a land management plan, and providing a gathering space on-site.

    CH4 Global has implemented a sustainable design framework for Louth Bay and future EcoParks, guiding the use and management of energy and natural resources, waste and GHG emissions, and efficient use of eco-friendly materials.

    As part of its sustainable design framework, CH4 Global has remediated the 14ha site and will be responsible for 13km of beach. Remediation has included removing 5,000 tonnes of concrete tanks – crushed and recycled; 11.76 tonnes of HDPE to be recycled in Adelaide, 10 tonnes of plastic aquaculture trays and other plastic equipment for filtering water and other purposes, which have been rehomed and reused within the community; and sent five tonnes of steel to recycling.

    CH4 Global will be holding an opening event at Louth Bay this morning, at 10.30am. The media is invited to attend.

    Dr Meller is available for interviews. Video footage and photography will also be available post-event.

    About CH4 Global

    CH4 Global, founded in 2018, is on an urgent mission to bend the climate curve, through collaboration with strategic partners worldwide. We deliver market-disruptive products that enable the food industry value chain to radically reduce GHG emissions.

    The company’s first innovation, Methane Tamer feed additives for feedlot cattle, harnesses the power of Asparagopsis seaweed to reduce enteric methane emissions by up to 90 per cent. CH4 Global is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada, in the US, with current subsidiaries in Australia and New Zealand.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families

    Source: The White House

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the education, well-being, and future success of America’s most prized resource, her young citizens, it is hereby ordered:

    Section 1.  Purpose.  Parents want and deserve the best education for their children.  But too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K-12 school.  According to this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math.  Moreover, geographically based school assignments exacerbate the cost of housing in districts with preferred schools, straining the finances of millions of American families sacrificing for their children’s futures. 

    When our public education system fails such a large segment of society, it hinders our national competitiveness and devastates families and communities.  For this reason, more than a dozen States have enacted universal K-12 scholarship programs, allowing families — rather than the government — to choose the best educational setting for their children.  These States have highlighted the most promising avenue for education reform:  educational choice for families and competition for residentially assigned, government-run public schools.  The growing body of rigorous research demonstrates that well-designed education-freedom programs improve student achievement and cause nearby public schools to improve their performance. 

    Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of my Administration to support parents in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children. 

    Sec. 3.  Guidance on Supporting State-based K-12 Educational Choice.  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education shall issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives.

    Sec. 4.  Encouraging Education Freedom through Discretionary Grant Programs.  (a)  The Secretary of Education shall include education freedom as a priority in discretionary grant programs, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. 
    (b)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education shall review their respective discretionary grant programs and each submit a plan to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, that identifies, evaluates, and makes recommendations regarding using relevant discretionary grant programs to expand education freedom for America’s families and teachers. 

    Sec. 5.  Expanding Opportunities for Low-Income, Working Families.  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall issue guidance regarding whether and how States receiving block grants for families and children from the Department, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDGB), can use them to expand educational choice and support families who choose educational alternatives to governmental entities, including private and faith-based options.

    Sec. 6.  Helping Military Families.  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall review any available mechanisms under which military-connected families may use funds from the Department of Defense to attend schools of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools, and submit a plan to the President describing such mechanisms and the steps that would be necessary to implement them beginning in the 2025-26 school year.

    Sec. 7.  Helping Children Eligible for Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Schools.  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall review any available mechanisms under which families of students eligible to attend BIE schools may use their Federal funding for educational options of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools, and submit a plan to the President describing such mechanisms and the steps that would be necessary to implement them for the 2025-26 school year.  The Secretary shall report on the current performance of BIE schools and identify educational options in nearby areas.  

    Sec. 8.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
    (i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
    (ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
    (b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
    (c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Australia: New data shows more people applying to become school teachers

    Source: Australian Ministers for Education

    New data shows more people applying to become school teachers.

    Data analysis by the Department of Education shows both applications and offers are up for people wanting to study an undergraduate course in education.

    Overall, preliminary results from tertiary admission centres are showing a 7 per cent increase in applications and a 14 per cent increase in offers compared to 2024.

    These positive early results come after the Albanese Labor Government and state and territory governments have been working together to tackle the teacher workforce shortage through the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan.

    Many states and territories have delivered significant pay increases for the teaching profession over the past two years.

    They have also taken important steps to help reduce teacher workload. 

    The Albanese Government brought back teaching scholarships worth up to $40,000 each to encourage more people to study teaching. 

    And for the first time ever, the Australian Government is introducing a Prac Payment for teaching students which provides financial support while they do the practical part of their course. 

    These initiatives come on top of the biggest reforms to teacher training in a generation, which include a stronger focus on how to teach children to read and write and do maths and manage behaviour.

    Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:

    “Being a teacher is the most important job in the world, and we don’t have enough of them.

    “The Liberals ripped the guts out of public school funding and under them, the teacher shortage crisis got worse. 

    “We’re now starting to see this turn around.

    “I want more young people to leap out of high school and want to become a teacher, rather than a lawyer or a banker.

    “That’s why we are tackling the teacher workforce shortage with teaching scholarships, reforms to teacher training and paid prac for teaching students.”

    Additional background

    Tertiary Admissions Centre total (undergraduates) – preliminary data(1) as at 16 January each reporting year
     

       2022    2023  2024 2025 (preliminary) % change from 2024 to 2025
    Applications 12,082 11,966 11,816 12,659 7%
    Offers 7,816 8,774 8,672 9,905 14%

    1.    Domestic, undergraduate student applications and offers for first semester study in Commonwealth Supported Places at Table A universities
    2.    Data reflect each applicant’s highest preference application and the most recent offer made to each applicant (one application and one offer per person).
     

    MIL OSI News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Final step underway to decide council election boundaries

    Source: Auckland Council

    Auckland Council’s final proposal for representation arrangements will soon be considered by the Local Government Commission, taking Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland one step closer to confirmed electoral boundaries and the total number of elected members for the October 2025 elections.

    A public hearing on 4 February at Auckland Town Hall is where the Commission will hear the council’s proposed changes, following a complex review on representation carried out in 2024.

    ​Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa Ward Councillor Julie Fairey, chair of the council’s Joint Governance Working Party, says the process, through consultation, captured valuable public and local board feedback (2,359 submissions and 19 from local boards) that helped refine the recommendations for change.

    “Tāmaki Makaurau is always changing and it’s vital for us to review our local representation structure at least every six years. Keeping Auckland’s council electoral boundaries and elected member ratios up to date helps to ensure fair and effective local and regional representation, and keeps decision-making as local as possible,” says Cr Fairey.

    The council’s final proposal for the 2025 representation arrangements was resolved in September and publicly notified in October 2024, so that anyone with outstanding concerns could officially submit an appeal or objection.

    The Commission will consider the 18 appeals and objections it received and invite those who submitted an appeal or objection to speak in person at the hearing.

    Important changes proposed for Auckland include adjusting the North Shore /Albany ward boundary, central Auckland ward boundaries, and Rodney and Howick local board subdivisions.

    These adjustments will accommodate faster growth in some areas by ensuring that each elected member represents more or less the same number of people within their ward or local board area, to provide fair and effective representation for all Aucklanders – no matter where they live.

    The Commission must also consider the council’s decision not to comply with the fairness rule in certain areas to keep connected communities together, and to maintain fair representation for those living in less-populated areas.

    Areas where exceptions are proposed include the North Shore/Albany wards, Hibiscus and Bays Local Board subdivisions, Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board subdivisions, Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board subdivisions and Franklin Local Board subdivisions. 

    Minor local board boundary changes may also be discussed. The council has proposed making changes to the Upper Harbour/Devonport-Takapuna local board boundary, in Kaipātiki /Upper Harbour, and Puketāpapa/ Maungakiekie-Tāmaki.

    Once the hearing concludes, the Commission must decide whether to approve the council’s proposed changes by 11 April 2025, allowing time for changes to be introduced ahead of the October 2025 elections.

    Everyone is welcome to attend the hearing or watch it live-streamed online. The full recording will be made available on the Commission’s YouTube channel afterwards.

    To read more on the council’s final proposal, visit OurAuckland and akhaveyoursay/representation.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Ohio Man Sentenced for Methamphetamine Trafficking

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – David Lamont Hicks, age 48, of Steubenville, Ohio, was sentenced today to 81 months in federal prison for the distribution of methamphetamine. 

    According to court documents and statements made in court, as part of a drug investigation, officers searched an apartment on Wheeling Island. Hicks fled the apartment on foot and was arrested. Investigators seized methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Hicks has prior convictions for aggravated robbery, drug trafficking, and attempted burglary.

    Hicks will serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Nogay prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

    The Ohio Valley Drug Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, and the Wheeling Police Department investigated.   

    U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Federal Grand Jury Indicts Man for Allegedly Attempting To Extort Money From Chicago Restaurateur

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted a man for allegedly threatening and assaulting a Chicago restaurateur to collect a debt the man claimed he was owed.

    An indictment returned Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges JAWAD FAKROUNE, also known as “Angelino Escobar” or “Anjelino Escobar,” 45, of Morocco, with extortion.  Arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah.

    In 2023 and 2024, Fakroune privately loaned approximately $405,000 to the restaurateur to start a new restaurant in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, according to a criminal complaint previously filed in the case. The restaurateur repaid a portion of the loan, but in November 2024 Fakroune and the restaurateur engaged in a dispute regarding the amount of money still owed, the complaint states. On the evening of Nov. 25, 2024, Fakroune went to the restaurant, threatened the restaurateur over the manner and nature of the repayments, and claimed that $1.5 million was still owed, the complaint states.  Fakroune then choked, kicked, and punched the restaurateur, while continuing to demand money and threatening the restaurateur’s life and the lives of his family members, the complaint states.

    The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Hennessy and Richard M. Rothblatt.

    The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Browning man sentenced to more than three years in prison for burning woman with hot knife on Blackfeet Indian Reservation

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    GREAT FALLS — A Browning man who admitted to burning a woman on the hand with a hot knife in a residence on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was sentenced today to three years and five months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

    The defendant, Dale Ray Racine, 32, pleaded guilty in September 2024 to assault with a dangerous weapon.

    Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

    The government alleged in court documents that in the early morning hours of Feb. 14, 2024, Racine was drinking at a residence in Browning. The victim, Jane Doe, also was present. At some point, Racine placed a knife in a wood stove until it was red hot. Racine removed the knife from the fire and burned Doe with it. Doe reported to law enforcement and medical providers that Racine was trying to brand her neck. Doe held up her hand to stop the branding, at which point Racine intentionally burned her hand. Doe was treated for second-degree burns to her hand. Racine committed the assault one month after having been released from federal prison and while on supervision for an assault he committed in 2021 in which he repeatedly struck a man in the head with a metal pipe.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services and FBI, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, investigated the case.

    XXX

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Brooklyn Man Charged with Sexual Exploitation of a Child

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Earlier today, an indictment was unsealed charging Ramel Warner with sexual exploitation of a child.  The defendant was arrested this morning and arraigned before Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon. He was detained pending trial.

    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 arrest and charge.

    “As alleged, while babysitting a seven-year-old boy, the defendant horrifically abused him, filmed the acts and subsequently distributed it on the dark web,” stated United States Attorney Durham.  “Our Office will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to bring to justice anyone who abuses children.”

    Mr. Durham expressed his appreciation to the New York City Police Department for their assistance on the case.

    “Ramel Warner is alleged to have used his access to a young child, while babysitting him at his own home, to film himself sexually assaulting the child. Warner’s alleged actions are unconscionable, and we believe there may be more victims. We ask anyone with information regarding his actions to please come forward, so that we can further investigate and aid his victims.  The FBI is committed to ensuring the safety of children and holding their abusers accountable in the criminal justice system,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.

    As set forth in court filings, in approximately 2022, the defendant raped the young son of a family friend in the child’s own home when he was supposed to be babysitting him.  The defendant recorded six videos of his sexual abuse of the child, one of which was over four minutes long.  The videos the defendant created depict him anally penetrating the child and performing oral sex on him.  Those videos were subsequently distributed on the dark web.

    The government believes the defendant has worked at afterschool programs in Brooklyn public schools, including a dance group for minor children operating out of a Brooklyn middle school. Anyone with information about sexual exploitation by the defendant should contact the FBI at RWarnerCase@fbi.gov.

    This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

    The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, the defendant faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years.

    The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s General Crimes Section.  Assistant United States Attorney Vincent Chiappini is in charge of the prosecution.

    The Defendant:

    Ramel Warner
    Age: 23
    Brooklyn, New York

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 25-CR-32

    MIL Security OSI –

    January 30, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: New school lunch programme serves up first healthy lunches

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year.

    “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On today’s menu from the School Lunch Collective is beef pasta bolognaise in classic tomato sauce,” says Mr Seymour.

    “Last year the programme was reformed to deliver the same outcomes while costing taxpayers less. This was achieved by embracing commercial expertise, using government buying power, and generating supply chain efficiencies to realise over $130m of annual cost savings, even more than anticipated in Budget 2024.

    “Every student who previously received a school lunch will continue to do so. By leveraging private sector expertise from companies like Compass Group, Libelle, Gilmours, and over 17 food manufacturers and suppliers, we are setting a precedent for the government working with businesses to achieve better results.

    “I’m pleased to see that the new programme is underway. Since announcing the programme in October last year, the focus has been to support student learning by providing a free nutritious meal to students, every school day.

    “If the previous government had set up the programme with the new, more efficient, model, around $800 million of taxpayer’s funds could have been saved over the past five years with the same outcome for the students. It was impossible to justify keeping the old model when it is possible to deliver at half the cost.

    “The government is also providing food for up to 10,000 two-to-five-year-olds who attend low-equity, community-based early learning services. This will be funded by some of the cost savings found in the lunch programme. From 31 March around 4,000 children will receive meals in early learning centres. Additional centres will join the programme every 6 weeks until we reach 10,000 children receiving nutritious food.  

    “I expect the programme will continue to evolve over time. But first and foremost we’re proud to deliver the new programme to schools for the start term 1 2025.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    January 30, 2025
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