Science is about exploring answers to questions. A scientist uses research and evidence to form hypotheses, test variables, and then share their findings. NASA scientists conduct groundbreaking research to answer some of humanity’s most profound questions. Most scientists start as project scientists in their early careers. They spend a lot of time publishing their peer-reviewed literature and presenting scientific research. Senior-level scientists provide leadership in the NASA community, actively publish research group work, and take on management roles.
Many types of scientists work at NASA to support its wide variety of missions. The agency’s scientists research the foods we send to space, the habitability of other planets, the weather in space, and so much more. Here are a few examples of types of scientists at NASA. Planetary scientist: Discovers and studies the planetary objects in our solar system. These efforts shed light on the history of the solar system and the distribution of life within it. Astrobiologist: Studies the origins of life, how life evolves, and where it might be found in the universe. Astrophysicist: Studies the physical and chemical structures of stars, planets, and other natural objects found in space. Biological/physical scientist: Studies how biological and physical processes work in challenging environments like space. This information helps NASA design longer human space missions and also benefits life on Earth. Earth scientist: Uses observations and data from satellites and other sources to study Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land cover, and land use. Heliophysicist: Studies the Sun and its behaviors, such as magnetic fields, solar wind, and space weather. This knowledge helps us better understand and predict the Sun’s effects on Earth and in space.
Focus on building your scientific knowledge and skills. You can do this by taking challenging academic courses, participating in science fairs, and joining extracurricular activities that have a scientific focus. This is also a good time to research what types of sciences you’re most interested in, possible careers in those fields, and academic degrees required for those jobs. Scientists typically need at least a four-year degree. Most pursue a master’s degree or even a doctorate (Ph.D.) to become experts in their field.
Interested in applying some science skills right away? NASA provides a variety of hands-on activities for a range of skill levels. The space agency also offers student challenges, competitions, and activities that provide authentic experience in a variety of science fields. For up-to-date opportunities, visit:
NASA also offers paid internships for U.S. citizens aged 16 and up. Interns work on real projects with the guidance of a NASA mentor. Internship sessions are held each year in spring, summer, and fall; visit NASA’s Internships website to learn about important deadlines and current opportunities.
“Take advantage of opportunities in different fields like attending summer classes, volunteering on the weekends, visiting museums, attending community lectures, and reading introductory books at the library. These are a few ways to expand your scope of possibility within the sciences, while simultaneously narrowing your focus in a field.” – Angela Garcia, exploration geologist
Nicola Fox NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate
“One general skill that is often overlooked is the ability to write well and clearly. There’s a misconception that being a scientist means using big words and writing in ways that no one understands, when it’s actually the opposite. The ability to communicate your thoughts and ideas so that a child can understand is not easy, but it’s essential for good scientific writing.” – Matt Mickens, NASA horticulturist
Careers in Science and Research NASA Science Career Path Navigator NASA Science Mission Directorate People of NASA Science Explore NASA+ Scientist Resources
On February 20, 2025, Vantive (formerly Baxter Kidney Care) notified its customers that no PCBs were detected in MiniCap Extended Life PD transfer sets, and PCBAs were found at levels not posing a risk for patients over six months old for essential dialysis treatments. For patients under six months, health care providers should prioritize the use of platinum-cured silicone tubing or other alternatives that may be available. If no alternatives are available, health care providers should prioritize the use of shorter transfer sets.
This recall involves correcting certain devices, and does not involve removing them from where they are used or sold. The FDA has identified this recall as the most serious type. This device may cause serious injury or death if you continue to use it without correction. Affected Product
Product Name:
MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp – Extra Short
MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp
MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp – Extra Short
What to Do
Do not stop dialysis treatment or routine transfer set replacements for people who need them.
On February 20, 2025, Vantive (formerly Baxter Kidney Care) notified its customers of the following recommendations:
For patients younger than 6 months of age, health care providers should prioritize the use of platinum-cured silicone tubing sets or other alternatives that may be available.
If no alternatives are available, health care providers should continue to connect the peroxide-cured silicone tubing sets and prioritize the use of shorter transfer sets. If the health care provider currently uses peroxide-cured silicone tubing for their patients, they do not need to have it replaced early, as data demonstrates that PCBA levels decrease over treatment time.
For patients older than 6 months of age, health care providers are advised to continue using both the peroxide-cured silicone tubing version and/or the platinum-cured silicone tubing version of the MiniCap Extended Life PD transfer sets, as neither is anticipated to present safety risks related to PCB or PCBAs.
On October 21, 2024, Baxter sent all affected customers an Important Medical Device Correction letter recommending the following actions:
Continue providing dialysis treatments to patients as peritoneal dialysis systems are critical to patient care. Do not replace current MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Sets (those with peroxide cured silicone tubing) early as data demonstrates that PCB and PCBA levels decrease over treatment time. Use platinum-cured silicone tubing versions of the MiniCap Extended Life PD transfer sets once they are available. Acknowledge receipt of the notice on the customer portal at https://BaxterFieldActionCustomerPortal.onprocess.com if communication came directly from Baxter, even if you do not have any inventory. If product was purchased from a distributor, respond to the supplier according to their instructions. Forward a copy of this notice to any facilities that may have received this product. Dealers, wholesalers, distributor/resellers, and original equipment manufacturers that distributed product to facilities should notify customers of this notice and check the associated box in the customer portal.
Reason for Correction Baxter is correcting MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Sets based on recent recalls by other manufacturers related to the potential risk of exposure to non-dioxin-like (NDL) polychlorinated biphenyl acids (PCBAs) and NDL polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) when using certain peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis devices. Baxter is in the process of evaluating whether the source of PCBAs and/or NDL PCBs in those recalls (the silicone tubing manufacturing process using a chlorinated peroxide initiator) is present in MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Sets. The company is also transitioning certain components in the sets from peroxide-cured silicone tubing to platinum-cured silicone tubing. NDL PCBAs and NDL PCBs are not detected in medical devices with this modified version of silicone tubing. The use of affected product may cause serious adverse health consequences months to years after exposure, including endocrine dysfunction, liver issues, neurobehavioral changes, skin problems (acne, rashes), male infertility, and death. There have been no reported injuries and no reports of death. Device Use The Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Sets are used during peritoneal dialysis therapy to transfer peritoneal dialysis solution to the patient catheter from the source solution bag. Contact Information Customers in the U.S. with questions about this recall should contact Baxter Renal Customer Care at 800-284-4060, press option 3. Additional FDA Resources
FDA Letter to Health Care Providers Related FDA recall classification summaries
FDA’s Enforcement Report Entries:
Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp EX Short, Part Number T5C4484; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number 5C4482; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number 5C4482EJ; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number 5C4482S; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number 5C4483; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number R5C4482; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number R5C4482E; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number R5C4483; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number R5C4484; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number T5C4482; use in Peritoneal Dialysis
Medical Device Recall Database Entries:
Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp EX Short, Part Number T5C4484; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number 5C4482; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number 5C4482EJ; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number 5C4482S; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number 5C4483; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number R5C4482; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number R5C4482E; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number R5C4483; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number R5C4484; use in Peritoneal Dialysis Baxter MiniCap Extended Life PD Transfer Set with Twist Clamp, Part Number T5C4482; use in Peritoneal Dialysis
Unique Device Identifier (UDI) The unique device identifier (UDI) helps identify individual medical devices sold in the United States from manufacturing through distribution to patient use. The UDI allows for more accurate reporting, reviewing, and analyzing of adverse event reports so that devices can be identified, and problems potentially corrected more quickly.
How do I report a problem? Health care professionals and consumers may report adverse reactions or quality problems they experienced using these devices to MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program.
Based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, or ARES, curates the most extensive collection of extraterrestrial materials on Earth, ranging from microscopic cosmic dust particles to Apollo-era Moon rocks. Soon, ARES’ team of world-leading sample scientists hopes to add something new to its collection – lunar samples from the Moon’s South Pole region. As the Artemis campaign sample curation lead, Dr. Juliane Gross is helping ARES and NASA prepare to collect and return those samples safely. “I’m responsible for representing the voice of the Moon rocks and advocating for their protection, preservation, and maintaining their integrity during the planning and execution of all stages of the different Artemis sample return missions,” she said.
Her multifaceted role includes preparing the Johnson facility that will receive new lunar samples, developing curation strategies, and collaborating with mission teams to plan sampling operations, which encompass collection, handling, transport, and storage processes for all stages of Artemis missions. She trains program managers and engineers on the importance of sample return and teaches crew members how to identify lunar samples and collect them without contamination. She also works with the different programs and teams that oversee the vehicles used at different stages of lunar missions – collaborating with the human landing system team around tool storage and delivery to the lunar surface, the Orion Program to coordinate sample stowage for the return to Earth, and Exploration Ground Systems to plan sample recovery after splashdown. Once samples are returned to Earth, Gross and the ARES curation team will conduct a preliminary examination of the materials and release a sample catalog from which members of the global scientific community may request loans to carry out their respective research. Working across Artemis teams raised an unexpected but fun challenge for Gross – learning to communicate effectively with colleagues who have different academic and professional backgrounds. “Scientists like me speak a different language than engineers, and we all speak a different language than managers or the general public,” she said. “I have worked hard to find common vocabulary and to ‘translate’ science needs into the different types of languages that exist within the Artemis campaign. I’m trying to use our differences as strengths to enable mission success and to connect and build relationships with all these different teams through my love and passion for the Moon and rocks from the Moon.” That passion emerged shortly after Gross completed her Ph.D. in geology, while working on lunar samples with the Lunar and Planetary Institute. She went on to become a research scientist with the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and then a tenured professor of planetary sciences at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. In 2019, NASA asked Gross to join the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis Program. Under the program, NASA preserved some of the 382 kilograms of lunar samples returned by Apollo missions, keeping them sealed for future generations to open and analyze. “NASA had the foresight to understand that technology would evolve and our level of sophistication for handling and examining samples would greatly increase,” Gross said. She and two other scientists had the incredible opportunity to open and examine two samples returned by Apollo 17. Their work served as a practice run for Artemis sample returns while building upon the fundamental insights into the shared origin and history of Earth and the Moon that scientists previously derived from other Apollo samples. For example, the team extracted gas from one sample that will provide information about the volatiles that future lunar missions may encounter around the Moon’s South Pole. “The Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis Program linked the first generation of lunar explorers from Apollo with future explorers of the Moon with Artemis,” Gross said. “I’m very proud to have played such an important role in this initiative that now feeds forward to Artemis.”
Gross’ connection with NASA began even earlier in her career. She was selected to join the agency-sponsored Antarctic Search for Meteorites team and lived in the deep ice fields of Antarctica for two months with seven other people. “We lived in tiny two-person tents without any support and recovered a total of 263 space rocks under challenging conditions,” she said. “I experienced the powerful forces of Antarctica and traveled 332 miles on skidoos. My body changed in the cold – I stuffed my face with enough butter, chocolate, and peanut M&Ms to last a lifetime and yet I lost weight.” This formative experience taught Gross to find and celebrate beauty, even in her toughest moments. “I drank tea made with Antarctic glacier ice that is thousands to millions of years old. I will never forget the beautiful bell-like sounds that snow crystals make when being blown across the ice, the rainbow-sparkling ice crystals on a really cold day, the vast expanses of ice sheets looking like oceans frozen in eternity, and the icy bite of the wind on any unprotected skin that made me feel so alive and reminded me how vulnerable and precious life is,” she said. “And I will never ever forget the thrill and utter joy of finding a meteorite that you know no one on this planet has ever seen before you.” Gross ultimately received the Antarctica Service Medal of the United States Armed Forces from the U.S. Department of Defense for her work.
Transitioning from full-time academia to her current position at NASA has been a big adjustment for Gross, but she has learned to love the change and the growth opportunities that come with it. “Being part of this incredible moment in history when we are about to return to the Moon with Artemis, our Apollo of today, feels so special and humbling that it made the transition easier,” she said. The job has also increased Gross’ love and excitement for space exploration and reminds her every day why sample return missions are important. “The Moon is a museum of planetary history,” she said. “It has recorded and preserved the changes that affected the Earth-Moon system and is the best and most accessible place in the solar system to study planet-altering processes that have affected our corner of the universe.” Still, “The Moon is only our next frontier,” she said. “Keep looking up and never give up. Ad astra!” Watch below to learn about NASA’s rich history of geology training and hear how scientists and engineers are getting ready to bring back samples that will help us learn about the origins of our solar system.
The highly competitive NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP) recently named 24 new fellows to its 2025 class. The NHFP fosters excellence and leadership in astrophysics by supporting exceptionally promising and innovative early-career astrophysicists. Over 650 applicants vied for the 2025 fellowships. Each fellowship provides the awardee up to three years of support at a U.S. institution. Once selected, fellows are named to one of three sub-categories corresponding to three broad scientific questions that NASA seeks to answer about the universe: How does the universe work? – Einstein Fellows How did we get here? – Hubble Fellows Are we alone? – Sagan Fellows “The 2025 class of the NASA Hubble Fellowship Program is comprised of outstanding NASA Astrophysics researchers,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This class of competitively-selected fellows will inspire future generations through the products of their research, and by sharing the results of that work with the public. Their efforts will help NASA continue its worldwide leadership in space-based astrophysics research.”
The list below provides the names of the 2025 awardees, their fellowship host institutions, and their proposed research topics. The 2025 NHFP Einstein Fellows are:
Shi-Fan Chen, Columbia University, Galaxies, Shapes and Weak Lensing in the Effective Field Theory of Large-Scale Structure Nicolas Garavito Camargo, University of Maryland, College Park, Local Group Galaxies in Disequilibrium; Building New Frameworks to Constrain the Nature of Dark Matter Jason Hinkle, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Nuclear Transients in the Golden Era of Time-Domain Astronomy Itai Linial, New York University, Repeating Nuclear Transients – Probes of Supermassive Black Holes and Their Environments Kenzie Nimmo, Northwestern University, From Glimmering Jewels to Cosmic Ubiquity: Unraveling the Origins of FRBs Massimo Pascale, University of California, Los Angeles, The Universe Seen Through Strong Gravitational Lensing Elia Pizzati, Harvard University, The Missing Link: Connecting Black Hole Growth and Quasar Light Curves in the Young Universe Jillian Rastinejad, University of Maryland, College Park, Illuminating the Explosive Origins of the Heavy Elements Aaron Tohuvavohu, California Institute of Technology, Ultraviolet Space Telescopes for the new era of Time Domain and Multi-Messenger Astronomy
The 2025 NHFP Hubble Fellows are:
Aliza Beverage, Carnegie Observatories, Revealing Massive Galaxies Formation Using Chemical Abundances Anna de Graaff, Harvard University, Early giants in context: How could galaxies in the first billion years grow so rapidly? Karia Dibert, California Institute of Technology, Superconducting on-chip spectrometers for high-redshift astrophysics and cosmology Emily Griffith, University of Colorado, Boulder, Beyond Mg and Fe: Exploring Detailed Nucleosynthetic Patterns Viraj Karambelkar, Columbia University, The Anthropology of Merging Stars Lindsey Kwok, Northwestern University, Determining the Astrophysical Origins of White-Dwarf Supernovae with JWST Infrared Spectroscopy Abigail Lee, University of California, Berkeley, AGB Stars in the Era of NIR Astronomy: New Probes of Cosmology and Galaxy Evolution Aaron Pearlman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pinpointing the Origins of Fast Radio Bursts and Tracing Baryons in the Cosmic Web Dominick Rowan, University of California, Berkeley, Fundamental Stellar Parameters Across the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram Nicholas Rui, Princeton University, A seismic atlas of the stellar merger sky Nadine Soliman, Institute for Advanced Study, Micro Foundations, Macro Realities: Modeling the Multi-scale Physics Shaping Planets, Stars and Galaxies Bingjie Wang, Princeton University, Inference at the Edge of the Universe
The 2025 NHFP Sagan Fellows are:
Kyle Franson, University of California, Santa Cruz, Mapping the Formation, Migration, and Thermal Evolution of Giant Planets with Direct Imaging and Astrometry Caprice Phillips, University of California, Santa Cruz, Aging in the Cosmos: JWST Insights into the Evolution of Brown Dwarf Atmospheres and Clouds Keming Zhang, Institute for Advanced Study, Understanding the Origin and Abundance of Free-Floating Planets via Microlensing and Machine Learning
The class of 2025 NHFP Fellows are shown in this photo montage (left to right, top to bottom): The Einstein Fellows (seen in the blue hexagons) are: Shi-Fan Chen, Nicolas Garavito Camargo, Jason Hinkle, Itai Linial, Kenzie Nimmo, Massimo Pascale, Elia Pizzati, Jillian Rastinejad and Aaron Tohuvavohu. The Hubble Fellows (seen in the red hexagons) are: Aliza Beverage, Anna de Graaff, Karia Dilbert, Emily Griffith, Viraj Karambelkar, Lindsey Kwok, Abigail Lee, Aaron Pearlman, Dominick Rowan, Nicholas Rui, Nadine Soliman, Bingjie Wang. The Sagan Fellows (seen in green hexagons) are: Kyle Franson, Caprice Phillips, and Keming Zhang. For short bios and photos, please visit the link at the end of the article. An important part of the NHFP is the annual Symposium, which allows Fellows the opportunity to present results of their research, and to meet each other and the scientific and administrative staff who manage the program. The 2024 symposium was held at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) in Pasadena, California. Science topics ranged through exoplanets, gravitational waves, fast radio bursts, cosmology and more. Non-science sessions included discussions about career paths and developing mentorship skills, as well as an open mic highlighting an array of talents other than astrophysics. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, administers the NHFP on behalf of NASA, in collaboration with the Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California. Short bios and photos of the 2025 NHFP Fellows can be found at:https://www.stsci.edu/stsci-research/fellowships/nasa-hubble-fellowship-program/2025-nhfp-fellows
SPANAWAY – A project to improve pedestrian crossings on State Route 7 in Parkland and Spanaway begins in April.
Starting Tuesday, April 15, contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will begin installing new overhead pedestrian signals along the highway. The new signals will replace the existing signs with flashing lights at 11 crosswalks.
What to expect
Installation work will occur at night. People will see single-lane closures in both directions at each location. Crews will work south to north from 188th Street South in Spanaway to Violet Meadows Street South in Parkland.
Southbound SR 7 work hours:
7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Thursday
6:30 p.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday
6 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday
Northbound SR 7 work hours:
8 p.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday
7 p.m. to 10 a.m. Sunday
Once the new signals are installed, travelers will see lane closures during the day at each crossing. The daytime lane closures allow crews to activate the new signals. WSDOT will announce dates for daytime work once schedules are finalized.
After all work is complete, travelers will see new traffic lights mounted on a mast arm and pole. When not in use, the lights will display green arrows. When activated by people wanting to cross, the lights will turn red to allow people walking or rolling to cross the highway.
Additional improvements
Other crossing improvements include sidewalk upgrades that will meet current Americans with Disabilities Act standards and changes to median islands at some intersections. The contractor expects to complete the project this fall.
Whenever near work zones please:
Slow down – drive the posted speeds for worker and traveler safety.
Be kind – workers are out there helping to keep people safe and improve the roadways.
Pay attention – both to workers directing travelers and surrounding traffic.
Stay calm – expect delays, leave early or take alternate routes if possible; no meeting or appointment is worth risking someone’s life.
Sign up for email updates to get the latest information on highway projects in Pierce County. Real-time information is available from the WSDOT app and statewide travel map.
Governor Polis also signed a law to increase healthcare access for children with disabilities and complex medical conditions
DENVER – Today, Governor Polis signed the following bipartisan bills into law during a ceremony in the Governor’s Office.
HB25-1093 – Limitations on Local Anti-Growth Land Use Policies, sponsored by Representatives Rebekah Stewart and Carlos Barron, and Senators Matt Ball and Nick Hinrichsen.
“We are building on our historic progress to break down government barriers that block new housing so that we can build more housing that Coloradans can afford. This bill will help unlock the housing supply, lower costs, and expand access to homes for Coloradans and families. We know that cost of housing is a top concern for Coloradans, and I am proud to sign this legislation to continue lowering costs for hardworking families,” said Governor Polis.
HB25-1091 – Designation of State Mushroom, sponsored by Representative Jacque Phillips and Senator Kyle Mullica.
“Today, Agaricus Julius, or the Emperor Mushroom Formerly Known as Prince, joins the iconic Rocky Mountain Columbine, Lark Bunting, Bighorn Sheep, Colorado Blue Spruce, and others as a symbol of our beautiful state. Designating a state mushroom helps us celebrate the important and diverse plants and animals that make up and strengthen the lands and ecosystems that make the landscapes of our state so vibrant and inspiring. Our state mushroom has coloring similar to a portobello, a cherry-almond aroma, and it’s delicious,” said Governor Polis.
(Photos Courtesy of the Denver Botanic Gardens)
Finally, Governor Polis signed HB25-1003 – Children Complex Health Needs Waiver, sponsored by Representatives Rebekah Stewart and Max Brooks, and Senator Lisa Cutter.
“In Colorado, we are committed to ensuring every child has access to the high-quality care needed to live a healthy life. This new law will increase access to important services for kids with disabilities and complex medical conditions, help administer services more efficiently, and lower the cost. In our Colorado for all, everyone should have access to the care needed to thrive, and this bill does exactly that,” said Governor Polis.
Governor Polis also signed the following bills administratively:
HB25-1131 – Eliminate Student Cap at Colorado State University’s Veterinary Program, sponsored by Representatives Andrew Boesenecker and Dusty Johnson, and Senators Cathy Kipp and Byron Pelton. This bill is bipartisan.
HB25-1063 – FDA-Approved Crystalline Polymorph Psilocybin Use, sponsored by Representatives Anthony Hartsook and Kyle Brown, and Senator Dafna Michaelson Jenet. This bill is bipartisan.
HB25-1070 – Electroconvulsive Treatment for Minors, sponsored by Representatives Mary Bradfield and Gretchen Rydin, and Senator Dafna Michaelson Jenet. This bill is bipartisan.
HB25-1040 – Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource, sponsored by Representatives Alex Valdez and Ty Winter, and Senators Dylan Roberts and Larry Liston. This bill is bipartisan.
HB25-1009 – Vegetative Fuel Mitigation, sponsored by Representatives Tisha Mauro and Junie Joseph, and Senators Lisa Cutter and Nick Hinrichsen. This bill is bipartisan.
HB25-1015 – Ability to Pay Bond Online Clarifications, sponsored by Representatives Javier Mabrey and Yara Zokaie, and Senators Robert Rodriguez and Julie Gonzales. This bill is bipartisan.
HB25-1016 – Occupational Therapist Prescribe Medical Equipment, sponsored by Representative Katie Stewart, and Senators Dafna Michaelson Jenet and Janice Rich. This bill is bipartisan.
SB25-180 – Population Growth Calculation, sponsored by Senators Barbara Kirkmeyer and Judy Amabile, and Representatives Rick Taggart and Emily Sirota. This bill is bipartisan.
Note:View Turner permanent injunction here.View Qualls permanent injunction here.View Stewart permanent injunction here.View Bishop and Green permanent injunction here.
A federal court in Michigan issued a permanent injunction on Friday against Detroit-area tax return preparers Alicia Bishop and Tenisha Green, permanently barring them from preparing federal tax returns for others.
The court previously barred Alicia Qualls, Michael Turner, and Constance Stewart from preparing federal tax returns for others by judgments entered on March 3. By judgment dated Dec. 16, 2024, the court also barred the business for which all of the preparers worked, United Tax Team Inc., and United Tax Team’s incorporator, Glen Hurst, from preparing federal tax returns for others. Hurst, United Tax Team, Qualls, Turner, and Stewart consented to entry of the judgments against them.
According to the civil complaint, Hurst incorporated United Tax Team in 2016, was its sole shareholder and corporate officer, and hired the return preparers who work at United Tax Team —including Qualls, Bishop, Green, Turner, and Stewart — who each worked as tax return preparers at United Tax Team locations in the Detroit area and prepared returns for customers that included false information not provided by the customer.
The civil complaint alleges that that the defendants used a variety of schemes to improperly reduce their customers’ tax liabilities or to obtain tax refunds to which the customers were not entitled. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Qualls, Bishop, Green, Turner, and Stewart each repeatedly placed false or incorrect items, deductions, exemptions or statuses on customers’ tax returns without their customers’ knowledge. For example, the complaint alleges that Qualls, Green, Turner, and Stewart fabricated Schedule C businesses to report fictitious business expenses and income to improperly reduce overall taxable income for some customers. The complaint also alleges that Bishop and Green fabricated education expenses on customer returns to falsely add tax credits; that Bishop and Stewart improperly claimed COVID-19 Relief tax credits for some customers; that Qualls and Turner improperly claimed head-of-household status for customers who did not qualify for such status to falsely reduce some customers’ tax liabilities; and that Stewart claimed fictious child and dependent care expenses for some customers.
Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and ways to safeguard their personal information.
In the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
Sacramento, California – Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a proclamation declaring March 31, 2025, as César Chávez Day.
The text of the proclamation and a copy can be found below:
PROCLAMATION
Throughout his life of work and service, César Chávez empowered thousands to stand together for their rights and led our nation toward a more equitable and just society. His visionary leadership inspired a powerful movement that burns brightly to this day, rallying people from all walks of life to champion the dignity of work.
Born near Yuma, Arizona in 1927, Chávez and his family moved to California after losing their home during the Great Depression. Toiling in the fields from a young age, Chávez faced dismal working conditions, racism, abuse, and exploitation. Moved to confront these injustices, he began working as an organizer in the farmworker community, advocating for improvements in their working and living conditions.
Founding the United Farm Workers together with Dolores Huerta, Chávez challenged Americans to recognize that the produce on their dinner tables was picked by people who were being denied the most basic human rights. Chávez led a historic march of farmworkers from Delano to Sacramento in 1966 and helped launch a successful boycott of grapes that galvanized support across the country. His tireless efforts were instrumental in the passage of the 1975 California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which made our state the first in U.S. history to give farmworkers the right to join a union.
On the anniversary of his birth, we celebrate César Chávez’s hard-won strides for social justice and reflect on the work that lies ahead to build a brighter future for all our communities. Let us carry on his timeless legacy by lifting up our neighbors, speaking out against injustice, and working together to extend the dream of prosperity, equity, and progress to all.
NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2025, as “César Chávez Day.”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 27th day of March 2025.
GAVIN NEWSOM Governor of California
ATTEST: SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D. Secretary of State
Recent news
Mar 31, 2025
News SACRAMENTO — Today, Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom announced the official launch of efforts to celebrate California’s 175th year of statehood. Today’s announcement initiates an effort to commemorate the rich and full history of the…
Mar 30, 2025
News Sacramento, California – Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a proclamation declaring March 30, 2025, as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. The text of the proclamation and a copy can be found below: PROCLAMATIONIt has been over a half century since the last…
Mar 28, 2025
News What you need to know: The Master Plan for Developmental Services: A Community-Driven Vision was released today with recommendations for strengthening support for Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families to live in the…
SACRAMENTO — Today, Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom announced the official launch of efforts to celebrate California’s 175th year of statehood. Today’s announcement initiates an effort to commemorate the rich and full history of the Golden State — its people, its progress, and its promise — and invites Californians across all regions and backgrounds to take part in honoring the milestone. This will include celebrations across the state, including on September 9, 2025 to mark 175 years since California joined the Union on September 9, 1850.
As part of the statewide commemoration, Governor Newsom and First Partner Siebel Newsom are launching a working group — supported by an Ambassador Circle of state and external leaders — to coordinate and amplify efforts that invite communities across the state to celebrate 175 years of growth, innovation, and diversity.
English version
“Throughout American history, California has been a beacon of innovation, shaping the very essence of the American Dream. The state has played a monumental role in igniting movements that have redefined industries, expanded rights, and shaped society. From the farmworker revolution that championed labor rights to the free speech movement that set new democratic standards, California has consistently been at the forefront of progress.”
Governor Gavin Newsom
“California has always been a place of possibility— a state where dreams are realized. Like our nation, our history is far from perfect, but it has been the people of California who have demanded the progress we celebrate today. Californians themselves are what make the Golden State so special, driving our culture, innovation, and resilience. As we celebrate this milestone, we honor the generations who have shaped California into what it is today so we may continue to work together to build a future where every Californian has the opportunity to thrive.”
First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom
En español
California 175
As part of the State’s effort to commemorate California’s 175th Anniversary beginning September 9, 2025, Governor Newsom and First Partner Siebel Newsom are launching a working group – across state agencies and departments – to identify different ways people across the Golden State can mark the occasion and celebrate nearly two centuries of growth, innovation, and diversity. An ‘ambassador circle,’ composed of cabinet secretaries, legislative designees, constitutional officers and external partners, will help amplify and support activities throughout the state.
America 250
California’s celebration comes as the country gears up to celebrate 250 years next July. The working group will lead commemorations of both California 175 and America 250, with state agencies and departments celebrating efforts that reflect upon and honor the state’s and country’s history, building on that work to better our communities for the future.
Learn more
Californians can sign up on the newly launched website to learn more about how the state will be marking this occasion – including different events and activities – as well as America’s 250th birthday during Summer 2026.
News Sacramento, California – Governor Gavin Newsom today issued a proclamation declaring March 30, 2025, as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. The text of the proclamation and a copy can be found below: PROCLAMATIONIt has been over a half century since the last…
Mar 28, 2025
News What you need to know: The Master Plan for Developmental Services: A Community-Driven Vision was released today with recommendations for strengthening support for Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families to live in the…
Mar 28, 2025
News What you need to know: Owner-occupied condos, multi-family units, and certain commercial properties may now eligible for the LA fire debris removal program. The deadline to submit Right of Entry Forms has been extended to April 15. LOS ANGELES – Building on…
Jefferson City — Today, Governor Mike Kehoe announced six appointments to various boards and commissions and the appointment of the Andrew County Circuit Clerk.
Tannah Buhman, of St. Joseph, was appointed as the Andrew County Circuit Clerk.
Ms. Buhman is currently serving as the interim circuit clerk for the Andrew County Circuit Court having been appointed by the Presiding Judge after a year as deputy court clerk. She previously worked as a patient care representative for Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph, Missouri, and holds certifications as a Certified Nurse Assistant and Certified Medication Technician.
Paul Fitzwater, of Potosi, was appointed to the MissouriSentencing Advisory Commission.
Mr. Fitzwater currently serves as a member of the Board of Probation and Parole and is a former state representative for Iron, Washington, Wayne, and Reynolds counties. Before entering public service, he owned and operated Fitzwater and Son Concrete Contracting. Fitzwater is also a retired teacher and coach with nearly 30 years of experience in education. He is an active member of several organizations including the National Rifle Association and the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Fitzwater earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Tarkio College.
Matthew Haase, of Kansas City, was appointed to the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority.
Mr. Haase is currently the director of strategic relations for Kansas City University, having previously served as the senior director of external relations at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Haas dedicated 18 years to public service under the leadership of former U.S. Senator Roy Blunt as a senior legislative assistant in his congressional office and later as a state director in his Senate office. He was appointed to the 16th Circuit Judicial Commission by Governor Parson and currently serves on the Local Investment Commission. Mr. Haase earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Missouri State University in Springfield.
Steven Oslica, of St. Louis, was appointed to the Missouri Community Service Commission.
Mr. Oslica is a business consultant based in St. Louis. He previously served as executive director of the Hawthorn Foundation for Missouri, which helps to fund the sitting governor’s economic development priorities and assists in improving state operation efficiencies. His career includes over 30 years in oil and gas construction materials as a global marketing director for Pittsburgh Corning Corporation and the director of international business for H.B. Fuller. Osclica currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Culver-Stockton College and Board of Advisors for Love the Lou. Mr. Oslica earned his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Culver-Stockton College.
Victor Pasley, of Columbia, was reappointed to the Lincoln University Board of Curators.
Mr. Pasley retired from Xerox Corporation in 2010 after a 32-year career as a member of its executive team. Prior to his corporate career, he worked as an instructor and assistant principal in Elgin Public Schools and served as a Captain in the United States Army, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. He has served on the Lincoln University Board of Curators since 2019. Mr. Pasley earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Lincoln University, a Master of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University, and completed the Professional Management Development Program at Harvard Business School.
Richard Popp, of Tebbetts, was reappointed to the Lincoln University Board of Curators.
Mr. Popp is a retired Executive Vice President of Central Bank, where he was employed for 37 years. He is a member of the Missouri Bar Association and Jefferson City Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Popp has served as a member of the Lincoln University Board of Curators for six years. He holds two degrees from the University of Missouri: accounting and plant science. He also earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1977.
John M. Raines, of Senath, was appointed to the University of Missouri Board of Curators.
Mr. Raines’ leadership in agriculture and food spans nearly four decades, most recently retiring as president of TELUS Ag & Consumer Goods. Prior to TELUS, Raines served as the chief commercial officer at The Climate Corporation, now part of Bayer, a leading global provider of agricultural products. Raines serves on the board of directors for several companies including FMC Corporation, Sydenstricker Nobbe Partners, and TPNB Bank, as well as the advisory board for the University of Missouri Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Missouri in Columbia.
A federal court in Michigan issued a permanent injunction on Friday against Detroit-area tax return preparers Alicia Bishop and Tenisha Green, permanently barring them from preparing federal tax returns for others.
The court previously barred Alicia Qualls, Michael Turner, and Constance Stewart from preparing federal tax returns for others by judgments entered on March 3. By judgment dated Dec. 16, 2024, the court also barred the business for which all of the preparers worked, United Tax Team Inc., and United Tax Team’s incorporator, Glen Hurst, from preparing federal tax returns for others. Hurst, United Tax Team, Qualls, Turner, and Stewart consented to entry of the judgments against them.
According to the civil complaint, Hurst incorporated United Tax Team in 2016, was its sole shareholder and corporate officer, and hired the return preparers who work at United Tax Team —including Qualls, Bishop, Green, Turner, and Stewart — who each worked as tax return preparers at United Tax Team locations in the Detroit area and prepared returns for customers that included false information not provided by the customer.
The civil complaint alleges that that the defendants used a variety of schemes to improperly reduce their customers’ tax liabilities or to obtain tax refunds to which the customers were not entitled. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Qualls, Bishop, Green, Turner, and Stewart each repeatedly placed false or incorrect items, deductions, exemptions or statuses on customers’ tax returns without their customers’ knowledge. For example, the complaint alleges that Qualls, Green, Turner, and Stewart fabricated Schedule C businesses to report fictitious business expenses and income to improperly reduce overall taxable income for some customers. The complaint also alleges that Bishop and Green fabricated education expenses on customer returns to falsely add tax credits; that Bishop and Stewart improperly claimed COVID-19 Relief tax credits for some customers; that Qualls and Turner improperly claimed head-of-household status for customers who did not qualify for such status to falsely reduce some customers’ tax liabilities; and that Stewart claimed fictious child and dependent care expenses for some customers.
Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and ways to safeguard their personal information.
In the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office brought federal firearms charges against 18 defendants in the month of March—twice the monthly average since January 2021—announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is continuing its work to Make D.C. Safe Again by aggressively prosecuting violent offenders, adopting eligible Superior Court cases into District Court, and coordinating federal and local resources,” said U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. “Our efforts directly support the President’s Executive Order to restore law and order in the District and help make our nation’s capital not only safer, but also worthy of its place as the pride of every American.”
“We are committed to reducing violence by addressing the flow and supply of illegal firearms within the District, we at ATF will continue to work diligently with our law enforcement partners as well as the United States Attorney’s Office to ensure those who violate federal firearm laws and terrorize our communities with violence are held accountable and brought to justice for their crimes,” said ATF Washington Field Division Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood. “We remain steadfast in our mission of fighting violent crime in D.C.”
During the month of March, the U.S. Attorney’s Office accepted 23 cases for federal prosecution, 18 of which have already been charged in the U.S. District Court. This is the highest number of case adoptions since before January 2021. As a result of this surge, more dangerous offenders are off the streets. Examples of these cases include:
Make D.C. Safe Again is a law enforcement initiative in support of President Trump’s Executive Order to Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful. Make D.C. Safe Again aims to crack down on gun violence, prioritize federal firearms violations, pursue tougher penalties for offenses, and seek detention for federal firearms violators.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Metropolitan Police Department are investigating these cases.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
BOSTON – The former Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Lawrence, Mass., was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for transporting and possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Jhovanny Martes-Rosario, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 43 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. In December 2024, Martes-Rosario pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. In April 2023, Martes-Rosario was indicted by a federal grand jury.
Martes-Rosario was identified by law enforcement as the likely user of Yahoo and Apple accounts, containing child pornography. In February 2023, a search was executed at Martes-Rosario’s residence and an iPad device was seized which contained child pornography files. Martes-Rosario admitted that he was the owner of the email addresses and that he searched for and downloaded child pornography to his personal iPad and later sent it to his email address for storage. He also admitted he had been searching for and storing child pornography for years.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of the Major Crimes Unit and Meghan C. Cleary of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced Raymond Andrew Lamadrid (55, Missouri) to 12 years in federal prison for transportation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Lamadrid pleaded guilty on January 7, 2025.
According to court documents, agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) discovered that Lamadrid was sending and receiving CSAM via Snapchat. On September 16, 2024, Lamadrid arrived in Orlando by plane from the Dominican Republic. During an inspection of Lamadrid’s cellphone by U.S. Customs Border Protection at the Orlando International Airport, officers discovered CSAM.
“This sentencing demonstrates the unwavering dedication and vigilance of HSI Orlando, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in safeguarding our community,” said Homeland Security Investigation Orlando Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Pezzutti. “Catching this predator with child sexual abuse material serves as a crucial reminder that we remain steadfast in our fight against these heinous crimes. We will continue to work tirelessly to protect our children and bring offenders to justice.”
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie A. McNeff.
This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
BECKLEY, W.Va. – Demetrius Terrell Burns, 32, of Beckley, was sentenced today to 10 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine base. Burns admitted to his role in a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine base, also known as “crack,” in Beckley and elsewhere within the Southern District of West Virginia.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in April 2024 Burns received fentanyl from a supplier in Beckley that he used to supply Tilford Joe Bradley Jr., a co-defendant. Burns admitted that on April 12, 2024, he told Bradley by phone that he had received a shipment of “raw” fentanyl. Burns further admitted that he offered to sell Bradley $1,800 worth of raw fentanyl, and they discussed adding cutting agent to the fentanyl to make a larger profit when it was sold. Burns also admitted that he knew Bradley intended to redistribute these drugs in and around the Southern District of West Virginia.
Burns and Bradley are among 12 individuals indicted on charges alleging the defendants conspired to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and crack within the Southern District of West Virginia from in or about June 2023 to in or about May 2024. All 12 have pleaded guilty, including two defendants who pleaded guilty to separate charges in lieu of the offenses alleged in the indictment.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug and Violent Crime Unit, which consists of officers from the West Virginia State Police, the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department, and the Beckley Police Department.
Chief United States District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew D. Isabell prosecuted the case.
The investigation was part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The program was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy. OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:24-cr-90.
BOSTON – A California man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to trafficking and conspiring to traffic large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Marcos Haro, 39, of Sacramento, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 40 grams or more of fentanyl; two counts of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; aiding and abetting; and one count of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl; aiding and abetting. U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for June 25, 2025. In April 2023, Marcos Haro was indicted along with his brother Noel Haro.
Noel Haro is a member and influential leader of the “Border Brothers” gang – a large-scale international gang known to be involved in drug, weapon and human trafficking in Southern Arizona with a presence in Nogales, Mexico and the Arizona prison system. Noel Haro is currently serving a life sentence following convictions in Arizona for drug distribution, conspiracy and money laundering. Noel Haro was previously serving his sentence at a facility in Arizona but was transferred to serve his sentence in Massachusetts upon being deemed a security concern due to his alleged influence over other inmates and repeated introduction of cell phones and narcotics into Arizona facilities.
Beginning in or about April 2019, and investigation began into Noel Haro’s attempts to facilitate the trafficking of narcotics to Massachusetts. Investigators monitoring Noel Haro’s inmate calls learned that he was attempting to solicit friends and family members to transport narcotics from Arizona to Massachusetts on his behalf. In April 2022, recorded inmate calls indicated that Noel Haro worked with his brother, Marcos Haro, to arrange drug deals outside of prison.
In June 2022, Marcos Haro agreed to supply a cooperating witness- with samples of multiple narcotics – including fentanyl and methamphetamine. Marcos Haro later mailed the narcotics concealed in a purple teddy bear inside a postal package. On July 13, 2022, the package was retrieved and found to contain powdered fentanyl, five counterfeit fentanyl pills, methamphetamine and approximately 3 grams of heroin. On July 25, 2022, during a recorded inmate call, Noel Haro and Marcos Haro discussed selling one pound of methamphetamine to the same individual. On July 27, 2022, investigators retrieve the package sent from Marcos Haro which contained approximately 446.6 grams of 99% pure methamphetamine. On Aug. 10, 2022, Noel Haro directed Marcos Haro to arrange the sale of five pounds of methamphetamine to the same individual. Later, on Sept. 12, 2022, investigators retrieved two packages sent from Marcos Haro, which contained approximately 892.3 grams of 86% pure methamphetamine and approximately 1,320.2 grams of 95% pure methamphetamine.
In October 2022, Marcos and Noel Haro made arrangements to sell an individual 2,000 fentanyl pills. On Nov. 17, 2022, Marcos sent the individual a photograph of a United States Postal Service shipping box, label and receipt. On Nov. 20, 2022, investigators retrieved the package sent by Marcos Haro to the individual, which contained approximately 2,000 blue pills, which tested positive for approximately 215.3 grams of fentanyl.
According to court documents, on April 2, 2023, Marcos Haro was arrested in Sacramento, Calif. following a motor vehicle stop. A 9mm handgun with eight live rounds in the magazine and approximately 2.9 grams of suspected fentanyl that field tested positive for the presence of opiates, were found during a subsequent search of Marcos Haro’s vehicle. Marcos Haro has a criminal history including a 2016 conviction for possession of a controlled substance while armed and illegal possession of an assault weapon with a large capacity magazine, for which he was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Noel Haro pleaded guilty in March 2025 and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5, 2025.
The charge conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 40 grams or more of fentanyl provides for a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. The charges of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; aiding and abetting each provide for a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. The charge of distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl; aiding and abetting provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to 40 years in prison, at least four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $5 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Department of Correction’s Commissioner Shawn Jenkins made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Sacramento Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alathea E. Porter and Charles Dell’Anno of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit are prosecuting the case.
Burlington, Vermont – The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that on March 27, 2025 a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Willard Perry, 66, of Milton, Vermont, with possession of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), also known as child pornography.
Perry entered a plea of not guilty to the charge during an arraignment on March 28, 2025 before United States District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford. Judge Crawford ordered that Perry be released on conditions, including that Perry provide the probation officer with a complete and current inventory of the number of media storage devices and electronic devices capable of internet access that he uses or possesses, and that he not use an internet-capable device until an Internet Use Plan is developed and approved by the Probation Officer.
According to court records, law enforcement uncovered on Perry’s computer thousands of photos and videos, most of which law enforcement believes contain child sexual abusive material, including content involving the sexual assault of prepubescent girls.
The United States Attorney’s Office emphasizes that an indictment contains allegations only and that Perry is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. Perry faces up to 20 years’ incarceration if convicted. The actual sentence, however, would be determined by the District Court with guidance from the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors.
Acting United States Attorney Michael P. Drescher commended the investigatory efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The prosecutor is Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Arra. Perry is represented by Brooks G. McArthur, Esq.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, 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 Justice.gov/PSC.
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Monday sentenced a man who participated in a nationwide scheme that stole $1.17 million worth of luxury rental cars to 75 months in prison.
James E. McGhaney, 36, of New York City, was also ordered to repay $938,963.
McGhaney recruited and supervised others who picked up the rental cars by using false driver’s licenses and counterfeit credit cards. The vehicles had been reserved using stolen identities. In all, the conspirators used the identities of at least 23 victims to steal 19 rental vehicles. McGhaney was one of eight defendants who have pleaded guilty in the case.
Tyrell A. Oliver, 40, of Atlanta, Georgia, was the scheme’s organizer. He was sentenced in February to 90 months in prison after pleading guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. McGhaney pleaded guilty to one conspiracy count and three counts of wire fraud.
Rashad Holder, 35, of New York, was sentenced to 65 months in prison and ordered to repay $581,711. Steven B. Matthews, 40, of Atlanta, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to repay $107,072. Reginald M. Glenn, 36, was sentenced to 13 months in prison. Marlique J. McGhaney, 35, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and ordered to repay $237,447. Daquasia M. Robinson, 33, was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to repay $119,805. Shawnta B. Fonseca, 34, is scheduled to be sentenced in April. Glenn, Marlique McGhaney, Fonseca and Robinson are all New York residents.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. OTHER RESTRICTIONS ARE APPLICABLE. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Oslo, Norway – 31 March 2025 – Reference is made to the stock exchange announcements from IDEX Biometrics ASA (the “Company”) dated 17 September and 12 December 2024 regarding the exercise period for Warrants B (ticker: IDEXS), ISIN NO0013380055, issued in connection with the private placement in September 2024 and subsequent offering in December 2024.
The exercise period for Warrants B commenced today, on 31 March 2025, and ends on 11 April 2025 at 16:30 CET. Each Warrant gives the holder a right to subscribe for one new share (“New Share”) in the Company at a subscription price of NOK 0.15. All Warrants B not exercised within this period will lapse without compensation to the holder. Arctic Securities AS is acting as manager in connection with the exercise of Warrants B (the “Manager”).
Exercise procedure
Warrants are exercised through the submission of a duly completed exercise form for the Warrants (the “Exercise Form”) to the Manager at the address or email address set out in the Prospectus and the Exercise Form and payment of the aggregate subscription price for the New Shares. The Exercise Form can be found at the websites of the Company (https://www.idexbiometrics.com/investors/), and Arctic Securities AS (www.arctic.com/secno/en/offerings). By completing and submitting an Exercise Form, the holder of the relevant Warrants irrevocably undertakes to acquire a number New Shares equal to the number of Warrants exercised at the relevant exercise price.
For more information relating to the Warrants, please refer to the Prospectus approved and published by the Company on 13 November 2024.
For further information contact:
Marianne Bøe, Head of Investor Relations, +47 91800186 Kristian Flaten, CFO, +47 95092322
E-mail:ir@idexbiometrics.com
For information about the Warrants please contact the Manager: Arctic Securities AS, tel.: + 47 21 01 30 40
About IDEX Biometrics IDEX Biometrics ASA (OSE: IDEX) is a global technology leader in fingerprint biometrics, offering authentication solutions across payments, access control, and digital identity. The company’s solutions provide convenience, security, peace of mind, and seamless user experiences worldwide. Built on patented and proprietary sensor technologies, integrated circuit designs, and software, IDEX Biometrics’ biometric solutions target card-based applications for payments and digital authentication. As an industry enabler, the company partners with leading card manufacturers and technology companies to bring its solutions to market.
For more information, please visit www.idexbiometrics.com (https://www.idexbiometrics.com).
– IMPORTANT INFORMATION –
This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale or a solicitation of an offer to purchase securities of the Company in the United States or any other jurisdiction. The securities of the Company may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”). The securities of the Company have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act. Any sale in the United States of the securities mentioned in this communication will be made solely to “qualified institutional buyers” as defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act. No public offering of the securities will be made in the United States.
This announcement has been prepared on the basis that any offer of securities in any Member State of the European Economic Area, other than Norway, which has implemented the Prospectus Regulation (EU) (2017/1129, as amended, the “Prospectus Regulation”) (each, a “Relevant Member State”) will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Regulation, as implemented in that Relevant Member State, from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of securities. Accordingly any person making or intending to make any offer in that Relevant Member State of securities which are the subject of the offering contemplated in this announcement, may only do so in circumstances in which no obligation arises for the Company or any of the Managers to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 16 of the Prospectus Regulation, in each case, in relation to such offer.
In the United Kingdom, this announcement is only addressed to and is only directed at Qualified Investors who (i) are investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended) (the “Order”) or (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) (all such persons together being referred to as “Relevant Persons”). This announcement are directed only at Relevant Persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons. Persons distributing this communication must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.
Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intends”, “may”, “should”, “will” and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date, and are subject to change without notice.
This announcement is made by and, and is the responsibility of, the Company. The Manager is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its respective clients, or for advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any of the matters referred to herein.
Neither the Manager nor any of its affiliates makes any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of this announcement and none of them accepts any responsibility for the contents of this announcement or any matters referred to herein.
This announcement is for information purposes only and is not to be relied upon in substitution for the exercise of independent judgment. It is not intended as investment advice and under no circumstances is it to be used or considered as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities of the Company. Neither the Manager nor any of its affiliates accepts any liability arising from the use of this announcement. Any offering of the securities referred to in this announcement will be made by means of a prospectus.
This announcement is an advertisement and is not a prospectus for the purposes of the Prospectus Regulation. Investors should not subscribe for any securities referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information contained in the Prospectus dated 13 November 2024 and stock exchange announcements published in connection with the private placement, subsequent offering and the Warrants. Copies of the Prospectus is available from the Company’s registered office and, subject to certain exceptions, on the websites of the Company (www.idexbiometrics.com), Arctic Securities AS (www.arctic.com/secno/en/offerings).
Each of the Company, the Manager and their respective affiliates expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any statement contained in this announcement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
The distribution of this announcement and other information may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this announcement or such other information should come are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.
About this notice This notice was published by Kristian Flaten, CFO, 31 March 2025 at 22:10 CET on behalf of IDEX Biometrics ASA. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12.
Issues guidance following a transformative year with the Company adding two new business lines, significantly strengthening the Balance Sheet and demonstrating enhanced operational capabilities for additional services and consulting related to the fast power business.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (“Duos” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: DUOT) a provider of machine vision and artificial intelligence that analyzes fast moving vehicles, Edge Data Centers and power solutions, reported financial results for the fourth quarter (“Q4 2024”) and full year ended December 31, 2024.
Fourth Quarter 2024 and Recent Operational Highlights
Signed Asset Management Agreement (“AMA”) with New APR Energy and Fortress Investment Group value at up to $42 million to manage 850MW of Gas-Powered Turbines. This agreement includes a 5% equity stake in the parent of New APR Energy and is the largest contract in the Company’s history.
Secured a $5 million advance payment for future services related to the AMA providing low-cost interim working capital as the Company grows.
Initiated marketing campaign targeted at the Tier 3 and Tier 4 data center markets for the provision of Duos Edge AIEdge Data Centers (“EDC”s).
Acquired six EDCs for initial deployments to Texas Regional Schools as “anchor” locations for service provisions.
Installed an initial EDC site in Amarillo, Texas with contract to include primary power for the support of installation site in addition to backup power.
Developing a high-density Data Center Park in Pampa, Texas in cooperation with New APR Energy and the Pampa Energy Center. The project includes the deployment of two Edge Data Centers and up to 500MW of bridging and permanent power, to support growing AI hyperscalers and HPC demands.
Added further intellectual property with patents covering the Railcar Inspection Portal (“RIP®”) and issued potential “IP Infraction” letters to a Class 1 railroad and its technology partner.
Scanned almost 10 million railcar images on over 700,000 unique railcars for the full year. This metric encompasses all railcars scanned at locations across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, representing approximately 44% of the total freight car population in North America.
Entering 2025, the Company estimates $50.5 million of revenue in backlog including near-term extensions.
Completed an At-The-Market (“ATM”) capital raise for approximately $7.5 million with an average price of greater than $5.00 per share and low issuance costs.
Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Results It should be noted that the following Financial Results represent the consolidation of the Company with its subsidiaries Duos Technologies, Duos Edge AI, Inc., and Duos Energy Corporation.
Total revenue for Q4 2024 decreased 4% to $1.46 million compared to $1.53 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 (“Q4 2023”). Total revenue for Q4 2024 includes approximately $1.43 million in recurring services and consulting revenue, an increase of 9% over the same period. The increase in recurring services and consulting revenues was driven by new revenue from power consulting work, which was not present in the comparative period.
Cost of revenues for Q4 2024 increased 47% to $1.79 million compared to $1.22 million for Q4 2023. The increase in costs year-over-year stems from $548,121 in amortization expenses recorded in Q4 2024 to offset site revenue related to a nonmonetary transaction for the new services and data agreement signed during the second quarter of 2024. The Company also generated $415,580 in services and consulting revenue from power consulting work, which was provided at cost, further increasing the cost of revenue for services and consulting, which was also not present in the corresponding period of Q4, 2023.
Gross margin for Q4 2024 decreased 209% to negative $330,000 compared to $303,000 for Q4 2023. The decline in margin during the quarter was a direct result of lower business activity timing in the technology systems area of the business as well as $415,580 in services and consulting revenue from power consulting work, which was largely provided at cost, and had a onetime dilutive effect on gross margin. These same project revenues and subsequent margin impacts were absent during Q4, 2023.
Operating expenses for Q4 2024 decreased 21% to $2.76 million compared to $3.48 million for Q4 2023. The decrease in expenses is attributed to reductions in development and administrative costs due to the completion of certain activities and the impact of previously implemented cost reductions. The decrease in operating expenses was slightly offset by additional investments in sales resources for expansion of the commercial team in preparation of the business expansions planned for Power and Data Centers. Beginning in late Q3 2024 and throughout all of Q4 2024 the Company allocated personnel costs, typically recorded under operating expenses, to costs of revenue associated with power consulting efforts, allowing the Company to recover costs that it would not have otherwise allowing the Company to maintain certain key resources required for anticipated business growth.
Net operating loss for Q4 2024 totaled $3.09 million compared to net operating loss of $3.18 million for Q4 2023. The decrease in net operating loss was as a result of planned reductions in operating expenses offset by anticipated lower revenues which resulted in an overall decrease in operating loss compared to the same quarter in 2023.
Net loss for Q4 2024 totaled $3.41 million compared to a net loss of $3.16 million for Q4 2023 as a result of higher interest costs related to the acquisition of 3 Edge Data Centers.
Cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2024 totaled $6.27 million compared to $2.44 million at December 31, 2023. As of year-end, the Company had an additional $0.40 million in receivables, bolstering its liquidity position to approximately $6.67 million. Duos also had an additional $0.80 million of inventory as of December 31, 2024, consisting primarily of long-lead items for future RIP installations.
Across January and February of 2025, the Company issued an aggregate of 633,683 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $6.24 per share through its ATM offering program, generating total net proceeds of approximately $3,836,032.
Full Year 2024 Financial Results
Total revenue for the full year 2024, decreased 3% to $7.28 million, down from $7.47 million for 2023. Much of the decrease in overall revenues was due to ongoing customer-driven delays beyond the Company’s control related to the deployment of two high-speed transit-focused Railcar Inspection Portals (RIPs). Although the systems were largely ready in 2023, installation was delayed due to customer site preparation issues, which has prevented the Company from recognizing the next phase of revenue. However, in 2024, the Company secured an equitable adjustment as partial compensation for those delays and increased the total contract value by $1.4 million, a substantial portion of which was recognized during the year. The customer is now nearing completion of site preparation, and field installation is expected to progress in 2025 with anticipated completion in 2026. Meanwhile, the Company continued its transition toward a greater focus on AI software and support services. Services and consulting revenues increased by 31% compared to 2023, driven by the addition of new AI and subscription customers, higher service contract pricing, and $921,562 in new revenue from power consulting work, all which was not present in for the full year in 2023. Underlying recurring revenues also continued to grow as new maintenance contracts are being established on installations coming online during 2025. The Company anticipates continued growth in service revenue from both new and existing customers, supported by upcoming renewals, a growing backlog, and the next generation of technology systems currently in production and expected to be completed in 2025.
Cost of revenues for the full year 2024, increased 11% to $6.81 million, up from $6.16 million in the same period of 2023. The increase in cost of revenues was driven by $1,569,311 in amortization expenses recorded in 2024 to offset site revenue related to a non-monetary transaction for the new services and data agreement signed during the second quarter of 2024. The Company also generated $921,562 in services and consulting revenue from power consulting work, which although was provided at cost, was partially performed by existing Duos staff. Part of the work was the retention of outside consultants further increasing the cost of revenue for services and consulting, which was also not present in the corresponding period of 2023, but prepared the Company for the signing of the Asset Management Agreement and expected significant revenue increases in 2025 and beyond. The Company continues to put into service additional artificial intelligence algorithms and maintenance and support services which are high margin and represent only marginal increases in the requisite costs to deliver these services. Cost of revenues on technology systems decreased during the period compared to the equivalent period in 2023 in line with the decline in project revenues. The decline in costs generally follows the same year-over-year trend as project revenues due to timing differences in major project work. This is primarily related to the procurement and manufacturing of transit-focused RIPs. As we are near the end of the manufacturing cycle and begin preparations for field installation in 2025, the cost of revenues for technology systems decreases accordingly. In contrast, during the same period in 2023, the Company was still progressing through the advanced stages of procurement and manufacturing for these RIPs.
Gross margin for the full year 2024, decreased 64% to $469,000, down from $1.31 million in the same period of 2023. As noted above, the decline in margin was primarily driven by the timing of business activity related to the two high-speed, transit-focused Railcar Inspection Portals. In 2024, activity centered on the advanced stages of procurement and manufacturing for these systems, but customer driven delays in installation deferred the recognition of higher-margin revenue. Additionally, the Company generated $921,562 in services and consulting revenue from power consulting work that was provided at cost, which further diluted overall gross margin. These power consulting revenues, and their margin impacts were not present in 2023. The gross margin for 2024 was approximately 6%, compared to 18% in 2023. This decline also reflects the fixed nature of certain departmental costs and the evolving stage of project completion. When comparing year-over-year results, the timing of manufacturing and installation milestones should be taken into consideration, as they can significantly impact the gross margin profile in any given period.
Operating expenses for the full year 2024, decreased 10% to $11.45 million, down from $12.76 million in the same period of 2023. There was a 43% increase in sales and marketing driven by continued investment in the commercial team, including the addition of professionals with extensive experience and leadership across the rail, Edge data center, and power industries. Research and development expenses declined by 16%, primarily due to lower personnel costs allocated to R&D and reduced testing as a result of completion of certain activities for prospective technologies. General and administration costs decreased by 18%, influenced by reductions in headcount and related personnel expenses, as well as a decline in non-cash amortization charges associated with the forfeiture of approximately 781,323 share options during 2024. Further contributing to the decrease were reductions in consulting and legal expenses compared to 2023.
Net operating loss for the years ended, December 31, 2024 and 2023 were $10,983,526 and $11,446,566, respectively. The decrease in losses from operations during the year was the result of planned decreases in operating expenses, which offset the impact of lower revenues recorded in the period as a consequence of delays in going to field for the two high-speed RIPs for a passenger transit client, and the short term lower gross margins from the impact of the initial power industry consulting.
Net loss for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 was $10,764,457 and $11,241,718, respectively. The decrease in overall net loss was primarily attributable to a decrease in operating costs. Net loss per common share was $1.39 and $1.56 for the years ended December 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively, an improvement of $0.17 per share (basic).
Financial Outlook At the end of 2024, the Company’s contracts in backlog represented approximately $50.5 million in revenue, of which approximately $22.6 million is expected to be recognized in calendar 2025 not including an estimated $8.0 – $9.0 million in expected near-term awards and renewals. The remaining contract backlog consists of multi-year service and software agreements, along with project revenues extending through fiscal 2025, related to Duos Technologies, Duos Edge AI, and Duos Energy.
Based on these committed contracts and near-term pending orders that are already performing or scheduled to be executed throughout the course of 2025, the Company is in a position to reinstate revenue expectations for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. The Company expects total revenue for 2025 to range between $28 million and $30 million, representing an increase of 285% to 312% from 2024. Duos expects this improvement in operating results to be reflected over the course of the full year in 2025.
Management Commentary
“Over the past several months, we have made significant progress across all three of our business lines—rail, edge computing, and power—while also expanding our investor base and analyst coverage,” said Duos Chief Executive Officer Chuck Ferry. “Our Railcar Inspection Portal continues to gain traction, with growing interest from both rail operators and government agencies, despite the industry’s slow adoption cycle. Meanwhile, Duos Edge AI is scaling quickly, with strong demand for our Edge Data Centers, particularly in underserved rural areas. We remain on track to deploy 15 pods by the end of 2025 and are actively exploring opportunities to accelerate that growth. At the same time, Duos Energy is capitalizing on unprecedented demand for behind-the-meter power solutions, securing contracts for 390MW in just the first three months of operation, with additional deals in negotiation. The synergies between our power and edge computing businesses have exceeded expectations, opening doors to new opportunities across both sectors. With strong execution and a diversified portfolio, we are well-positioned for continued growth and profitability in 2025 and beyond.”
Conference Call The Company’s management will host a conference call today, March 31, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time (1:30 p.m. Pacific time) to discuss these results, followed by a question-and-answer period.
Date:
Monday, March 31, 2025
Time:
4:30 p.m. Eastern time (1:30 p.m. Pacific time)
U.S. dial-in:
877-407-3088
International dial-in:
201-389-0927
Confirmation:
13751912
Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time of the conference call. An operator will register your name and organization.
If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact DUOT@duostech.com.
The conference call will be broadcast live via telephone and available for online replay via the investor section of the Company’s website here.
About Duos Technologies Group, Inc. Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), based in Jacksonville, Florida, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Duos Technologies, Inc., Duos Edge AI, Inc., and Duos Energy Corporation, designs, develops, deploys and operates intelligent technology solutions for Machine Vision and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) applications including real-time analysis of fast-moving vehicles, Edge Data Centers and power consulting. For more information, visit www.duostech.com, www.duosedge.ai and www.duosenergycorp.com.
Forward- Looking Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements regarding the Company’s financial results and estimates and business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Forward-looking statements relate to future events and typically address the Company’s expected future business and financial performance. The forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things, information regarding anticipated timing for the installation, development and delivery dates of our systems; anticipated entry into additional contracts; anticipated effects of macro-economic factors (including effects relating to supply chain disruptions and inflation); timing with respect to revenue recognition; trends in the rate at which our costs increase relative to increases in our revenue; anticipated reductions in costs due to changes in the Company’s organizational structure; potential increases in revenue, including increases in recurring revenue; potential changes in gross margin (including the timing thereof); statements regarding our backlog and potential revenues deriving therefrom; and statements about future profitability and potential growth of the Company. Words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “plan,” “aim,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “intend,” “estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” “target,” “potential” and other words and terms of similar meaning, typically identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, the Company’s ability to generate sufficient cash to continue and expand operations, the competitive environment generally and in the Company’s specific market areas, changes in technology, the availability of and the terms of financing, changes in costs and availability of goods and services, economic conditions in general and in the Company’s specific market areas, changes in federal, state and/or local government laws and regulations potentially affecting the use of the Company’s technology, changes in operating strategy or development plans and the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of risks, uncertainties and factors is not exclusive. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors is contained in the Company’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other filings filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which are available at the SEC’s website, http://www.sec.gov. The Company believes its plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions. No assurance, however, can be given that the Company will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations. Indeed, it is likely that some of the Company’s assumptions may prove to be incorrect. The Company’s actual results and financial position may vary from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements and the variances may be material. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement. We do not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any forward-looking statement is based, except as required by law. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning the Company or other matters attributable to the Company or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above.
DUOS TECHNOLOGIES GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Years Ended
December 31,
2024
2023
REVENUES:
Technology systems
$
2,252,357
$
3,618,022
Services and consulting
5,028,528
3,853,176
Total Revenues
7,280,885
7,471,198
COST OF REVENUES:
Technology systems
2,818,078
4,352,247
Services and consulting
3,993,592
1,810,070
Total Cost of Revenues
6,811,670
6,162,317
GROSS MARGIN
469,215
1,308,881
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Sales and marketing
2,138,431
1,493,309
Research and development
1,531,390
1,812,951
General and administration
7,782,920
9,449,187
Total Operating Expenses
11,452,741
12,755,447
LOSS FROM OPERATIONS
(10,983,526
)
(11,446,566
)
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSES):
Interest expense
(286,114
)
(7,159
)
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities
245,980
0
Gain on extinguishment of warrant liabilities
379,626
0
Other income, net
(120,423
)
212,007
Total Other Income (Expenses), net
219,069
204,848
NET LOSS
$
(10,764,457
)
$
(11,241,718
)
Basic and Diluted Net Loss Per Share
$
(1.39
)
$
(1.56
)
Weighted Average Shares-Basic and Diluted
7,736,281
7,204,177
DUOS TECHNOLOGIES GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
December 31,
December 31,
2024
2023
ASSETS
CURRENT ASSETS:
Cash
$
6,266,296
$
2,441,842
Accounts receivable, net
403,441
1,462,463
Contract assets
635,774
641,947
Inventory
605,356
1,526,165
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
176,338
184,478
Note Receivable, net
–
–
Total Current Assets
8,087,205
6,256,895
Inventory – non current
196,315
–
Property and equipment, net
2,771,779
726,507
Operating lease right of use asset – Office Lease
4,028,397
4,373,155
Financing lease right of use asset – Edge Data Centers
A Series of Milestones, Including Public Listing, Were Achieved in 2024; Longanesi First Gas Production Has Been Achieved
Fiscal Year 2024 and Recent Company Highlights:
Gas production at Longanesi has commenced as of March 13, 2025
Between March 2024 and July 2024, AleAnna successfully completed three separate strategic acquisitions of renewable natural gas (“RNG”) plant projects in Italy for aggregate consideration of approximately $9.7 million, which generated $1.4 million in electricity production revenue in 2024
On December 13, 2024, AleAnna completed its de-SPAC transaction and became publicly traded on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “ANNA”
AleAnna ended fiscal year 2024 with approximately $28.3 million in cash and cash equivalents
DALLAS, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AleAnna, Inc. (“AleAnna” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: ANNA) today reported results for fiscal year 2024. Fiscal year 2024 was a transformative year for the Company, highlighted by the successful completion of our de-SPAC public listing transaction. AleAnna also launched its RNG asset acquisition program to expand the Company’s renewable energy portfolio. At year-end, AleAnna had $28.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, providing a solid foundation to advance its strategic initiatives.
More recently, in March 2025, AleAnna and its operating partner Padana reached a major milestone with the commencement of production at the Longanesi field, marking a significant step forward for the Company.
Management Commentary
Marco Brun, Chief Executive Officer, reflected on AleAnna’s milestone year and recent achievements: “2024 was a pivotal year for AleAnna as we successfully completed our de-SPAC transaction and became a publicly traded company. We also strengthened our position in Italy’s renewable natural gas sector with strategic acquisitions and secured a long-term gas sales agreement with Shell Energy Europe.
“As we enter 2025, we are proud to have achieved first production and sales from Longanesi, marking a major milestone in our growth strategy. We remain committed to driving sustainable energy development while delivering value to our shareholders.”
About AleAnna
AleAnna is a technology-driven energy company focused on bringing sustainability and new supplies of low-carbon natural gas and RNG to Italy, aligning traditional energy operations with renewable solutions, with developments like the Longanesi field leading the way in supporting a responsible energy transition. With three conventional gas discoveries in Italy already made and fourteen new natural gas exploration projects planned this decade, AleAnna plays a pivotal role in Italy’s energy transition. Italy’s extensive infrastructure, featuring 33,000 kilometers of gas pipelines, three major gas storage facilities, and a strong base of existing RNG facilities, aligns with AleAnna’s commitment to sustainability. AleAnna’s RNG projects’ portfolio includes three plants under development and almost 100 projects representing approximately €1.1 billion potential investment in the next few years. AleAnna operates regional headquarters in Dallas, Texas, and Rome, Italy.
Forward-Looking Statements
The information included herein contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Certain statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included herein regarding AleAnna’s future operations, financial position, plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. When used herein, including any statements made in connection herewith, the words “could,” “should,” “will,” “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. However, not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on AleAnna’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its business, future plans and strategies, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of AleAnna’s control. AleAnna’s actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those under “Risk Factors” in AleAnna’s definitive proxy statement/prospectus filed by AleAnna with the SEC on November 21, 2024, as well as general economic conditions; AleAnna’s need for additional capital; risks associated with the growth of AleAnna’s business; and changes in the regulatory environment in which AleAnna operates. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact AleAnna’s expectations and projections can be found in filings it makes with the SEC, and other documents filed or to be filed with the SEC by AleAnna. SEC filings are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, AleAnna disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements, all expressly qualified by the statements in this section, to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.
MIAMI, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wrap Technologies, Inc, (NASDAQ: WRAP) (“Wrap” or, the “Company”), a global leader in innovative public safety technologies and non-lethal tools, today announced financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.
Q4 2024 Financial Results:
Revenue increased 47%, from $0.6 million in 2023 to $0.9 million in 2024.
Gross Profit improved by $0.7 million, rising from $(0.3) million in 2023 to $0.4million in 2024
Total Operating Expenses decreased 21%, from $6.3million in 2023 to $5.0million in 2024
Sales, General & Administrative (SG&A) Expenses declined 19%, from $5.8million in 2023 to $4.7million in 2024
Net Loss from Operations improved by $10.8million, decreasing from $(18.4) million in 2023 to $(7.6) million in 2024
2024 Financial Results:
Revenue was $4.5 million in 2024, down 27% from $6.1million in 2023.
Cost of Revenue decreased 37%, from $3.2million in 2023 to $2.0million in 2024.
Gross Margin increased by over 7 percentage points, rising from 47% to over 54%.
Operating Loss improved 17%, decreasing from $(18.7) million in 2023 to $(15.6) million in 2024,
Net Loss improved 81%, from $(30.2) million in 2023 to $(5.9) million in 2024,
Recent Operational Highlights:
October 2024: Wrap regained compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements.
November 2024: announced Wrap’s Go-Forward Strategy, including a new advanced manufacturing facility in Wise, Virginia, focused on innovation, job creation, and expanding Wrap’s presence in defense, education and public safety markets.
February 2025: introduced Wrap’s Managed Safety and Response (MSR) connected ecosystem, bringing together tools, technology and training to deliver real-time, integrated public safety support.
February 2025: acquired W1 Global, LLC, integrating former FBI, DEA, and DoD leadership into Wrap’s organization and enhancing its ability to deliver Made-in-America, end-to-end public safety and defense solutions.
February 2025: closed a $5.8 million private placement of the Company’s securities to support the execution of its go-forward strategy.
March 2025: expanded Wrap’s leadership in managed services with the addition of Joseph Bonavolonta, a 27-year FBI veteran, and Rob Heuchling, a 15-year FBI career, to scale the Company’s support offerings.
March 2025: appointed Stephen M. Renna, former Executive at the Export-Import Bank of the United States, to lead Wrap’s international growth and financing strategy, strengthening its global expansion efforts.
2024 Management Commentary Summary:
2024 was a transformational year for Wrap. The Company made a deliberate choice to restructure. This reset led to a significant reduction in monthly cash burn to approximately $600,000 on an annualized cash basis, which we believe allows for the rebuild of a sustainable and high-performing business.
Despite a 27% decline in revenue to $4.5 million, we believe Wrap dramatically improved financial discipline, reducing cost of revenue by 37%, operating losses by 17%, and net losses by 81%. We believe these improvements show the success of the restructuring strategy.
The Company’s BolaWrap remains as an entry-point into a broader public safety platform. Usage data collected by the Company shows officers deploy the device more frequently than any other on their belt when Wrap provides full support. Demand is expanding, both domestically and internationally, as restrictive use-of-force policies create a market need for early-stage de-escalation tools paired with robust training.
Wrap’s product roadmap is evolving into an integrated, end-to-end solution, with agencies requesting complementary tools such as VR training, body cameras and additional services. The Company has begun to engage with U.S. government resources like EXIM Bank and the DoD’s Office of Strategic Capital to scale international expansion and support “Made in USA” public safety initiatives.
Wrap revitalized every leadership role, assembling what we believe to be a high-caliber team with backgrounds across elite public and private sector institutions. The acquisition of W1 Global, LLC has already yielded new opportunities and expanded the Company’s reach into critical law enforcement networks, both domestic and global.
Outlook: As we enter 2025, we believe Wrap is well positioned to capitalize on the groundwork laid during its transformation year. We anticipate measurable progress each quarter as we execute our strategy and scale operations.
Key priorities for 2025 include:
Scaling Integrated Solutions: we expect to continue expanding beyond the BolaWrap into a full ecosystem of de-escalation tools, including training, VR simulation, and more.
Global Growth: we are leveraging U.S. government partnerships and resources (e.g., EXIM Bank, DoD) to support our international strategy. Several late-stage international deals are in motion, and we anticipate converting those into significant revenue opportunities.
Federal and Strategic Engagements: our recent additions to the team opens the door to U.S. federal funding programs and public safety initiatives, which we believe enables Wrap to serve as a trusted vendor for government-backed public safety efforts globally.
Innovation: the expanded talent bench is expected to provide new capabilities in high-trust, high-security sectors. We plan to productize and monetize these capabilities through partnerships, contracts and services.
Performance and Accountability: we are building a culture that rewards execution with compensation structures dependent upon results. We expect KPIs around product deployment, training efficacy, customer satisfaction and recurring revenue will guide our actions and investments.
We believe the public safety market is at an inflection point, and believe that Wrap is positioned to lead a new era of non-lethal policing solutions. We believe our value proposition is more relevant than ever—officers and agencies need tools that de-escalate situations without force and communities are demanding safer outcomes.
Our confidence is not theoretical—it’s reflected in the capital, commitment, and conviction of our leadership team.
About Wrap Technologies, Inc. Wrap Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: WRAP) is a global leader in public safety solutions, bringing together cutting-edge technology with exceptional people to address the complex, modern day challenges facing public safety organizations.
Wrap’sBolaWrap® solution is a safer way to gain compliance—without pain. This innovative, patented device deploys light, sound, and a Kevlar® tether to safely restrain individuals from a distance, giving officers critical time and space to manage non-compliant situations before resorting to higher-force options. The BolaWrap 150 does not shoot, strike, shock, or incapacitate—instead, it helps officers operate lower on the force continuum, reducing the risk of injury to both officers and subjects. Used by over 1,000 agencies across the U.S. and in 60 countries, BolaWrap® is backed by training certified by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), reinforcing Wrap’s commitment to public safety through cutting-edge technology and expert training.
Wrap Reality™ VRis an advanced, fully immersive training simulator designed to enhance decision-making under pressure. As a comprehensive public safety training platform, it provides first responders with realistic, interactive scenarios that reflect the evolving challenges of modern law enforcement. By offering a growing library of real-world situations, Wrap Reality™ equips officers with the skills and confidence to navigate high stakes encounters effectively, leading to safer outcomes for both responders and the communities they serve.
Wrap’s Intrensicsolution is an advanced body-worn camera and evidence management system built for efficiency, security, and transparency. Designed to meet the rigorous demands of modern law enforcement, Intrensic seamlessly captures, stores, and manages digital evidence, ensuring integrity and full chain-of-custody compliance. With automated workflows, secure cloud storage, and intuitive case management tools, it streamlines operations, reduces administrative burden, and enhances courtroom credibility.
Trademark Information Wrap, the Wrap logo, BolaWrap®, Wrap Reality™ and Wrap Training Academy are trademarks of Wrap Technologies, Inc., some of which are registered in the U.S. and abroad. All other trade names used herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective holders.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements – Safe Harbor Statement This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should”, “believe”, “target”, “project”, “goals”, “estimate”, “potential”, “predict”, “may”, “will”, “could”, “intend”, and variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Moreover, forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond the Company’s control. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: the expected benefits of the acquisition of W1 Global, LLC, the Company’s ability to maintain compliance with the Nasdaq Capital Market’s listing standards; the Company’s ability to successfully implement training programs for the use of its products; the Company’s ability to manufacture and produce products for its customers; the Company’s ability to develop sales for its products; the market acceptance of existing and future products; the availability of funding to continue to finance operations; the complexity, expense and time associated with sales to law enforcement and government entities; the lengthy evaluation and sales cycle for the Company’s product solutions; product defects; litigation risks from alleged product-related injuries; risks of government regulations; the business impact of health crises or outbreaks of disease, such as epidemics or pandemics; the impact resulting from geopolitical conflicts and any resulting sanctions; the ability to obtain export licenses for counties outside of the United States; the ability to obtain patents and defend intellectual property against competitors; the impact of competitive products and solutions; and the Company’s ability to maintain and enhance its brand, as well as other risk factors mentioned in the Company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and were based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or changes in its expectations.
AUSTIN, Texas, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ESO, a leading data services and software provider for EMS, fire departments, hospitals, and state and federal agencies, today announced it is one of the first software providers to earn the compatibility badge for the National Emergency Response Information System V1 (NERIS) through the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI).
As one of the first software providers to earn the NERIS V1 Compatible Badge, ESO’s Fire Incident application meets all new compliance requirements under NERIS while maintaining its focus on ease of use, data accuracy and intuitive reporting. Rolling out in 2026, NERIS is set to replace the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and marks the most significant update to national standardized reporting for fire departments in decades.
“NERIS represents a tremendous opportunity to unite fire incident reporting under a newer, more modern data standard,” said Tom Jenkins, senior advisory and research manager at FSRI. “Fire departments’ ability to easily collect, report and gather insights from incident data is as important to their own decision-making as it is to overall community safety. Compliant third-party technology providers play a critical role in making that possible.”
As part of its ongoing commitment to empower fire departments with industry-leading data and software tools, ESO has been working closely with FSRI for more than a year to provide the documentation and technical specifications required to earn NERIS compliance and demonstrate compatibility.
“The impending NERIS rollout has left fire departments unsure of how to best prepare. That’s why we’ve made it a core focus to support them with the resources and technology to ensure a seamless transition,” said Sam Brown, chief operating officer at ESO. “With this NERIS-compliant update, fire departments using ESO’s Fire Incident application will gain all the benefits of a truly interoperable data platform—without the implementation headaches that come from such a comprehensive migration.”
The NERIS update comes at no additional cost to ESO Fire Incident application customers, who will have access to onboarding and training resources as limited and general availability open throughout 2025. The application will also feature new compliant workflows and full permission sets for system administrators, while maintaining CAD file integrity and archived incident search pages.
About ESO ESO (ESO Solutions, Inc.) is dedicated to improving community health and safety through the power of data. Since its founding in 2004, the company continues to pioneer innovative, user-friendly software to meet the changing needs of today’s EMS agencies, fire departments, hospitals, and state and federal offices. ESO currently serves thousands of customers across the globe with a broad software portfolio, including the industry-leading ESO Electronic Health Record (EHR), the next-generation ePCR; ESO Health Data Exchange (HDE), the first-of-its-kind health care interoperability platform; ESO Fire RMS, the modern fire Record Management System; ESO Patient Registry (trauma, burn and stroke registry software); and ESO State Repository. ESO is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.eso.com.
About Fire Safety Research Institute Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), part of UL Research Institutes, strives to advance fire safety knowledge and strategies in order to create safer environments. Using advanced fire science, rigorous research, extensive outreach and education in collaboration with an international network of partners, the organization imparts stakeholders with knowledge, tools, and resources that enable them to make better, more fire safe decisions that ultimately save lives and property. To learn more, visit fsri.org. Follow FSRI on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Headline: Thales to provide hybrid networking kits for French Army vehicles
Share this article
The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has awarded Thales a contract to provide hybrid networking kits for French Army vehicles, an innovative solution that can be installed without the need to make design changes to the platforms.
Installed on military vehicles such as the Griffon, VBCI and Serval, the kits provide access to commercial communication services (OneWeb1 and 5G), integrate them with theatre-wide networking capabilities and tie together communication systems at every level from combined/joint forces command to infantry fighting vehicles.
With developments in collaborative combat driving a growing need for connectivity, hybridisation solutions will complement existing hardened communications systems (SYRACUSE IV military satellite communications, CONTACT radios, HF radios) to provide higher data rates, longer range capabilities and improved resilience.
“Thales will be supporting the French Army in its strategic transition to hybrid communication networks. This latest stage in the ASTRIDE 3 programme will combine technological innovation with a deep understanding of operational requirements to provide the hyperconnectivity needed for collaborative combat in high-intensity conflict scenarios,” said Alexandre Bottero, Vice President, Networks and Infrastructure Systems, Thales.
This hybrid networking technology has been developed in an agile, incremental approach with the DGA and operational users to augment the communication capabilities of French Army vehicles. With current developments in collaborative combat, the ability of the armed forces to deploy operational networks of sensors and effectors calls for enhanced capabilities in terms of massification, usability and resilience of military communication systems. With this innovative hybridisation solution, commercial networks will complement existing hardened communication systems including the LOS radios developed for the ASTRIDE programme, the secure, high-data-rate, jam-resistant military satcom services provided by the SYRACUSE satellites, the latest-generation software-defined radios developed under the CONTACT programme and the MELCHIOR series of HF radios.
The hybrid networking solution for OneWeb satcom and 5G services is packaged as a non-intrusive kit, overcoming the need for design changes to the vehicle. It offers significant improvements in connectivity to enhance operational capabilities in the theatre of operations by supporting more extensive data sharing and closer multi-domain collaboration. The hybrid networking kit offers a combination of high performance and usability, and its modular design is part of an end-to-end approach encompassing communication systems at every level, from combined/joint forces command to infantry fighting vehicles.
Thales will provide an initial batch of 25 kits for field trials during the EXTO SJO 2025 exercise at the end of this year, with an additional 25 kits scheduled for delivery in 2026. Ultimately these hybrid networking kits are expected to equip all French Army vehicles that require them.
The ASTRIDE 3 programme’s central role in collaborative combat
Thales has been involved in the ASTRIDE 3 programme since 2022 and has designed a range of modular mobile communication stations offering the NATO-interoperable networking capabilities needed to provide a secure, resilient command infrastructure for deployed forces. The addition of this hybridisation solution further underscores the programme’s decisive role in making collaborative combat a reality while guaranteeing technological sovereignty.
1OneWeb is a constellation of approximately 650 Low Earth Orbit(LEO) telecommunications satellites providing broadband Internet access to private and professional users in regions that are poorly served by terrestrial networks.
About Thales
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. Its portfolio of innovative products and services addresses several major challenges: sovereignty, security, sustainability and inclusion.
The Group invests more than €4 billion per year in Research & Development in key areas, particularly for critical environments, such as Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum and cloud technologies.
Thales has more than 83,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2024, the Group generated sales of €20.6 billion.
Protecting human rights and safeguarding civil society in Central Asian countries must be at the heart of the first ever EU-Central Asia Summit, scheduled to take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 3-4 April, Amnesty International said today.
“Central Asia stands at a pivotal moment as the European Union seeks to deepen its political and economic engagement with the region. Long-term progress depends not only on diplomacy, investment and trade – it also requires respect for human rights and space for civil society to develop and operate freely and without fear,” Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said.
Long-term progress depends not only on diplomacy, investment and trade – it also requires respect for human rights and space for civil society to develop and operate freely and without fear
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director
“The overall situation in the region remains concerning. Authorities maintain tight control over the media and civil society, suppress dissent, peaceful assembly, and freedom of association, and consistently fail to carry out human rights due diligence – that is, they do not take adequate steps to identify, prevent, and respond to potential human rights violations linked to their actions, laws or policies.”
Earlier this month, Kazakhstan signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in which it agreed to use the ECtHR’s rulings as guidance in Kazakhstan’s domestic legal system. Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan is seeking to strengthen the role of the Ombudsperson’s office, critical for ensuring that state bodies do not use their powers to curtail human rights, and Uzbekistan has achieved visible progress in addressing the issue of forced labour in the cotton industry.
However, even in countries demonstrating positive steps, recent trends are disturbing. In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, authorities routinely suppress the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and crack down on independent media.
Several Central Asian governments have adopted legislation and policies under the guise of protecting “traditional values” that restrict human rights and target marginalized groups. In Kyrgyzstan, a law modelled on Russia’s “foreign agent” legislation has since 2024 imposed onerous requirements on foreign-funded NGOs, leading to closures and self-censorship. Authorities across the region have also used similar rhetoric to justify violations of the rights of LGBTI people, who face discrimination, lack of protection from violence and restrictions on their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Across Central Asia, Eastern Europe and in the European Union (EU), government responses to concerns about national security or public morality have led to increased repression
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director
“Across Central Asia, Eastern Europe and in the European Union (EU), government responses to concerns about national security or public morality have led to increased repression. Wherever “foreign agent” legislation has been enacted, it has led to the stigmatization of NGOs, the intimidation of activists and the slow suffocation of a vibrant civil society,” Marie Struthers said.
“If Central Asian governments and the EU, its institutions and national governments are truly committed to human rights, the path forward lies not in stifling civil society but in empowering it – by committing to human rights due diligence, fostering open dialogue, building trust between the state and the public and ensuring a safe environment for civil society to thrive. The European Union and Central Asian governments must ensure that human rights remain a core pillar of their enhanced cooperation.”
By Montse Ferrer, Deputy Asia-Pacific Director at Amnesty International
In 2020, North Korean authorities reportedly executed a fishing boat captain by firing squad in front of 100 of his colleagues. His crime: secretly listening to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the US government-funded news outlet that has an estimated 50 million-plus listeners across Asia-Pacific.
We only know about the fisherman’s fate because RFA broke the story, based on interviews with sources inside North Korea, including the law enforcement official who confirmed it. RFA was one of the only global media outlets, if not the only one, to have the resources and access to uncover the facts.
But today, someone tuning in to RFA from the seas around the Korean peninsula – or anywhere else – is more likely to find dead air. President Trump’s executive order to close the station down, along with sister broadcasters Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Marti covering Cuba, and stations broadcasting into the Middle East, is extinguishing cherished connections with the outside world for millions of people in “closed” countries. In many cases, their only connection.
VOA was established in 1942 with a mandate to combat Nazi propaganda. RFA followed in 1994, initially triggered by the Chinese government’s censorship of the bloody Tiananmen crackdown five years earlier.
In the Asia-Pacific of 2025, RFA’s core purpose remains just as relevant.
Chinese authorities, like those in North Korea, continue to firewall their people from the global internet, while feeding them a dedicated diet of state media propaganda. They are both, along with Myanmar and Viet Nam, in the bottom 10 the global press freedom index. Cambodia and Laos place only slightly higher.
Until now, the most accessible alternative to state media for many people in these countries was RFA and VOA. The irony of President Trump now denouncing these outlets as “radical propaganda” will not be lost on the listeners and readers who have relied upon it for independent reporting for decades.
Not that Trump’s decision is without support in Asia.
The Beijing state newspaper Global Times reveled in the news that VOA had been “discarded by its own government like a dirty rag”. Meanwhile, Cambodia’s former ruler Hun Sen hailed the order as a “big contribution to eliminating fake news”.
Fake news. The catch-all truth denier popularized by President Trump himself, now being gleefully parroted back to him by unlikely US allies around the globe.
VOA has been bundled in with Trump’s many perceived enemies in the “radical” or “liberal” media, but this executive order appears at odds with his administration’s supposedly hawkish approach on China and foreign policy in general.
Consider, for example, that it was federal funding which enabled RFA to report on human rights violations by the Chinese government in China’s Uyghur region, information which has in turn played a key role in the way civil society and Uyghur communities have successfully pushed for stronger US policies on China. Only this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on Thai officials who facilitated the deportation of 40 Uyghur men to China, where they are at risk of torture and enforced disappearance. Five other Uyghur refugees are still facing the same risk; despite threats to their existence, RFA and VOA continue to cover their stories.
The US President’s decision to pull the plug on one of the key outlets uncovering human rights violations across Asia, and not least crimes against humanity in China, hints at a certain incoherence in White House thinking. That Trump has surrendered a tried-and-tested tool of soft US power decades in the making, a brand trusted by overseas audiences amid the ongoing battle for ideas, can only be good news for those who RFA’s reporting sought to combat. It also creates an information vacuum that other ambitious, well-resourced governments could seek to fill to their own ends. Is it any wonder the celebrations are ringing out in Beijing?
As for the Trump administration’s proclaimed advocacy for free speech, there are similar contradictions.
RFA has often been one of the few journalistic voices reporting on stifled stories: from air strikes in Myanmar, to state-linked corruption in Viet Nam, to the killing of activists in Laos. Its shutdown will have an immediate impact in places where governments employ authoritarian policies to maintain control over the news and the narrative. Places where freedom of expression – and that of the press – is suppressed to quash any dissent. Places where there is no independent media, and where VOA and RFA are the lifeline that can tether listeners to reality and the outside world; one that exists beyond state propaganda.
Listeners like the North Korean fisherman, who reportedly confessed to enjoying RFA’s broadcasts for more than 15 years, the open sea acting as his buffer against detection.
Not only will those listeners be deprived of independent journalism; we will all be deprived of hearing their stories. Like the tree that falls in the forest with no one to hear it, the fisherman shot dead by the firing squad will now go down without a sound.
This article was originally published by The Diplomat
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jonathan P. Stewart, Professor of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
The 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake near San Francisco in 1989 caused about $6.8 billion in damage and 63 deaths.J.K. Nakata/U.S. Geological Survey
Earthquakes and the damage they cause are apolitical. Collectively, we either prepare for future earthquakes or the population eventually pays the price. The earthquakes that struck Myanmar on March 28, 2025, collapsing buildings and causing over 2,000 deaths, were a sobering reminder of the risks and the need for preparation.
In the U.S., this preparation hinges in large part on the expertise of scientists and engineers in federal agencies who develop earthquake hazard models and contribute to the creation of building codes designed to ensure homes, high-rises and other structures won’t collapse when the ground shakes.
Local communities and states decide whether to adopt building code documents. But those documents and other essential resources are developed through programs supported by federal agencies working in partnership with practicing engineers and earthquake experts at universities.
First, seismologists and earthquake engineers at the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS, produce the National Seismic Hazard Model. These maps, based on research into earthquake sources such as faults and how seismic waves move through the earth’s crust, are used to determine the forces that structures in each community should be designed to resist.
A steering committee of earthquake experts from the private sector and universities works with USGS to ensure that the National Seismic Hazard Model implements the best available science.
In this 2023 update of the national seismic risk map, red areas have the greatest chance of a damaging earthquake occurring within 100 years. USGS
Second, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, supports the process for periodically updating building codes. That includes supporting the work of the National Institute of Building Sciences’ Provisions Update Committee, which recommends building code revisions based on investigations of earthquake damage.
More broadly, FEMA, the USGS, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation work together through the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program to advance earthquake science and turn knowledge of earthquake risks into safer standards, better building design and education. Some of those agencies have been threatened by potential job and funding cuts under the Trump administration, and others face uncertainty regarding continuation of federal support for their work.
It is in large part because of the National Seismic Hazard Model and regularly updated building codes that U.S. buildings designed to meet modern code requirements are considered among the safest in the world, despite substantial seismic hazards in several states.
This paradigm has been made possible by the technical expertise and lack of political agendas among the federal staff. Without that professionalism, we believe experts from outside the federal government would be less likely to donate their time.
These programs and the federal agencies supporting them have benefited from a high level of staff expertise because hiring and advancement processes have been divorced from politics and focused on qualifications and merit.
This has not always been the case.
For much of early U.S. history, federal jobs were awarded through a patronage system, where political loyalty determined employment. As described in “The Federal Civil Service System and The Problem of Bureaucracy,” this system led to widespread corruption and dysfunction, with officials focused more on managing quid pro quo patronage than governing effectively. That peaked in 1881 with President James Garfield’s assassination by Charles Guiteau, a disgruntled supporter who had been denied a government appointment.
The passage of the Pendleton Act by Congress in 1883 shifted federal employment to a merit-based system. This preference for a merit-based system was reinforced in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. It states as national policy that “to provide the people of the United States with a competent, honest, and productive workforce … and to improve the quality of public service, Federal personnel management should be implemented consistent with merit system principles.”
The shift away from a patronage system produced a more stable and efficient federal workforce, which has enabled improvements in many critical areas, including seismic safety and disaster response.
Merit-based civil service matters for safety
While the work of these federal employees often goes unnoticed, the benefits are demonstrable and widespread. That becomes most apparent when disasters strike and buildings that meet modern code requirements remain standing.
A merit-based civil service is not just a democratic ideal but a proven necessity for the safety and security of the American people, one we hope will continue well into the future. This can be achieved by retaining federal scientists and engineers and supporting the essential work of federal agencies.
Jonathan P. Stewart has received funding from NSF and USGS. He is the chair of the Steering Committee for the National Seismic Hazard Model, a member of the National Institute of Building Sciences’ Provisions Update Committee, and a member of the federal Advisory Committee for Earthquake Hazard Reduction (ACEHR). His contributions to this article draw upon his experience and do not reflect the views of the Steering Committee, Provisions Update Committee, or ACEHR.
Lucy Arendt has received funding from NSF and the Applied Technology Council. She is a member and current chair of the federal Advisory Committee for Earthquake Hazard Reduction (ACEHR). Her contributions to this article reflect her professional expertise and do not reflect the views of ACEHR.
Following the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that recently struck Myanmar, UNICEF is mobilizing 80 metric tons of life-saving supplies, including health kits, medical supplies, tents and hygiene kits for children and families in need.
Sumas First Nation (Semá:th) and the Province are strengthening their relationship through the return of the sacred Lightning Rock site.
After purchasing it last year, the Province has now successfully returned the 36-hectare Lightning Rock site to the Nation. This land holds deep cultural and spiritual significance to Semá:th and serves as a repository of traditions and narratives passed down through generations.
“The return of this sacred place is of great significance to the Semá:th, the Stó:lō, the Salish, and to First Nations people in general,” said Semá:th Chief Dalton Silver. “The respect and recognition evident here with this agreement is something our peoples have sought for too long. I’m thankful for the support from so many who’ve all played a part in making this a reality.”
The site contains a transformer stone that came to be known as Lightning Rock and is one of more than 100 sites where Stó:lō history says ancestors were transformed to stone. The site also holds the ancestral burial place of smallpox victims dating back to the 18th century.
Semá:th and the Province have worked in close collaboration to chart a path forward for the site’s protection since signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2017. In March 2024, the Province announced the purchase of the Lightning Rock site as part of ongoing negotiations with the intention to transfer the lands to Semá:th First Nation.
Now, the Province is returning the land to Semá:th First Nation. To make this historic moment possible, the Province and Semá:th signed a reconciliation agreement and a road agreement last fall. Since then, the Province and Semá:th First Nation have been working together to finalize the terms of the land transfer and engage with local interest holders so the agreement and the Lightning Rock return could be announced at the same time.
“Semá:th First Nation has spent decades advocating for this sacred land to be protected, and I am grateful to Chief Silver for his leadership in getting us to this point on our shared reconciliation journey,” said Christine Boyle, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. “This agreement is helping to protect this site, making a real difference for Semá:th members and providing certainty for everyone in the region.”
Through the reconciliation agreement, the Province and Semá:th First Nation have reaffirmed their commitment to building a strengthened government-to-government relationship and protecting the Lightning Rock site.
Part of the agreement includes a commitment for the Province and Semá:th First Nation to establish a special initiative to plan for the stewardship of Sumas Mountain. This initiative will be co-ordinated under the S’ólh Téméxw Stewardship Alliance – British Columbia (STSA-BC) Collaborative Stewardship Forum, a partnership between B.C. and 17 Stó:lō First Nations.
Other terms of the agreement include:
transferring ownership of the Lightning Rock site to Semá:th First Nation;
working together to formally protect the Lightning Rock site;
facilitating discussions between Semá:th First Nation and quarry operators about quarrying activity and potential economic opportunities; and
supporting the development of a cultural education and healing centre through a $1-million provincial contribution.
In addition to a reconciliation agreement, the Province, Semá:th First Nation and the City of Abbotsford have finalized a road agreement to explore alternative routes for the quarry access road that runs through the Lightning Rock site. The access route is used by gravel-hauling vehicles travelling to and from five quarries on Sumas Mountain and Highway 1.
“We are pleased to celebrate this significant milestone with Semá:th First Nation as these lands transfer from the Province today,” said Ross Siemens, mayor of Abbotsford. “As neighbours, the City of Abbotsford remains committed to working closely with Semá:th First Nation to address ongoing considerations in this culturally significant area in Semá:th traditional territory.”
The Province, Semá:th First Nation and the City of Abbotsford have agreed to contract a third party that will investigate the potential for mutually acceptable alternate routes for the access road. This process is expected to begin this year.
Learn More:
To learn more about Semá:th First Nation, visit: https://sumasfirstnation.com/
To learn more about the STSA-BC Collaborative Stewardship Forum, visit: https://thestsa.ca/stsa-operations/csf/
To learn more about agreements between the Province and Semá:th First Nation, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/natural-resource-stewardship/consulting-with-first-nations/first-nations-negotiations/first-nations-a-z-listing/sumas-first-nation
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a top contender for the title of Great American Novel, turns 100 on April 10.
A century later, it is invoked to help make sense of a world that still confuses “material enterprise with moral achievement” – as critic Sarah Churchwell wrote in the foreword to Gatsby’s centennial edition.
A Meta insider’s memoir takes its title, Careless People, from Fitzgerald’s novel. The same phrase circulated on social media and in The New York Times during Donald Trump’s first presidency, referring to his administration’s downplaying of COVID-19.
In 2018, The Atlantic compared Trump to Tom Buchanan, one of Fitzgerald’s “careless people”, describing “an eerie symmetry […] as if the villain of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel had been brought to life in a louder, gaudier guise for the 21st century”. More recently, others have compared Trump to Gatsby himself.
The Great Gatsby tells the tale of a lovesick man striving for social acceptance, believing personal reinvention and riches can help to rewrite the past. It is a story of longing: not just for lost love, but for an unattainable ideal.
The centenary couldn’t be more timely for this literary masterpiece, preoccupied by the same things we are: immense affluence, privilege, the limits of social mobility and the hidden underbelly of the American Dream. The Great Gatsby, while a relative literary failure in Fitzgerald’s lifetime, is enduringly popular today, with at least 25 million copies sold to date, numerous film and stage adaptations (and literary riffs), and a staple position on school and university reading lists.
“What we think about Gatsby illuminates what we think about money, race, romance and history,” wrote The New York Times’ A.O. Scott recently. “How we imagine him has a lot to do with how we see ourselves.”
The Great Gatsby is set against the backdrop of Roaring Twenties America: an era Fitzgerald famously dubbed the Jazz Age.
Fuelled by the infectious rhythms of jazz, driven by the economic forces of market prosperity and mass consumerism, and heady on the alcoholic vapours and illicit thrills associated with Prohibition-era nightlife, the 1920s were a decade where American fortunes were made and lost.
It was also, as Fitzgerald’s novel outlines, a period where individual ambition burned as fiercely as desire.
Picryl
The plot follows the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, a spotlight-eschewing, self-made millionaire whose seemingly breezy approach to life masks a singular obsession: the rekindling of a lost romance with a beautiful woman from his past.
Born James Gatz, Fitzgerald’s charismatic protagonist reinvents himself in the hope of winning back the love of his life, wealthy socialite Daisy Buchanan. Taken at face value, Gatsby’s world is one of incredible luxury and dazzling excess – lavish parties, fast cars and ostentatious attire – all designed to lure Daisy back into his arms.
But as we begin to scratch beneath the surface, the glittering facade Gatsby has constructed gives way to something far more fragile and tragic: an impossible fantasy driven by jealously, obsession and self-deception.
As the reader comes to appreciate, Gatsby’s accumulated gains may grant him partial access to the world of old money, but he will never truly be accepted by America’s elite. No matter how hard he might try, he cannot surmount the barriers of class and entitlement.
Ultimately, Gatsby’s misguided belief that he can somehow crowbar his way into the upper echelons of high society while simultaneously turning back the hands of time leads to his downfall. In Fitzgerald’s words, he ends up paying “a high price for living too long with a single dream”.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel is still invoked to help make sense of a world that often confuses ‘material enterprise with moral achievement’. Nickolas Muray/Picryl
F. Scott Fitzgerald, literary celebrity
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24 1896. The son of middle-class Catholic parents, he spent much of his youth living in upstate New York. In 1913, he enrolled at Princeton University, where he formed a lasting friendship with future literary critic Edmund Wilson.
More absorbed in literary and dramatic endeavours than his studies, Fitzgerald’s grades suffered and he dropped out in 1917 – though not before falling deeply in love with Ginevra King, an heiress who would leave an indelible imprint on his writing. She would inspire many of his fictional female characters, including Daisy Buchanan.
Fitzgerald first encountered King during a winter vacation in St. Paul in January 1915. The debutante daughter of a wealthy Chicago stockbroker, she quickly became the object of Fitzgerald’s intense devotion (much to the disapproval of her family, who thought him beneath her).
In the wake of his heartbreak after the relationship broke down, Fitzgerald enlisted in the United States Army, earning a commission as a second lieutenant. During his military service, he met Zelda Sayre, the woman he would eventually marry. Meanwhile, he began work on his first novel, This Side of Paradise.
Released in 1920, Fitzgerald’s formally adventurous debut was a critical success and cultural sensation, capturing the restless energy and shifting moral landscape of a cohort coming of age in the wake of World War I.
The novel’s transparently autobiographical narrative centres on Amory Blaine, a young Midwesterner whose intellectual and romantic adventures at Princeton – especially a doomed affair with the beautiful, elusive Isabelle Borgé – struck a chord with readers. It turned Fitzgerald into a media celebrity and unofficial spokesman for his generation.
Two years later, Fitzgerald published The Beautiful and Damned. It details the disintegration of a wealthy, aimless couple – Anthony and Gloria Patch – whose hedonistic lifestyle and misplaced belief in their own brilliance leads to ruin.
Fitzgerald’s tonally pessimistic second novel was again shaped by his own experiences, drawing heavily on his tempestuous marriage to Zelda, who was exhibiting symptoms of profound mental instability.
However, in stark contrast to This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned sold well, but received a lukewarm reception from reviewers. Some found its characters unappealing and its plot depressing.
By then, the Fitzgeralds had grown accustomed to the finer things in life. Which meant they needed money. Lots of it. To keep up with their lavish spending, Fitzgerald started to churn out short stories for popular magazines at a rapid pace. While this move provided him with a degree of financial security, some critics and contemporaries questioned whether he was squandering his literary gifts. Ernest Hemingway, for one, was “shocked” by his friend’s willingness to pander to commercial tastes and imperatives.
‘I want to write something new’
That said, while he was generating copy for mass-market publication, Fitzgerald was also hard at work on The Great Gatsby. In July 1922, he declared:
I want to write something new – something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned.
Determined to prove his worth as an artist, Fitzgerald, who wanted “to write a novel better than any ever written in America”, began to play with “form and emotion”. As his ideas for the new novel – which at one point bore the working title Trimalchio – took shape, Fitzgerald set up shop in Great Neck, Long Island. This location became the inspiration for East and West Egg, the fictionalised island communities that are the novel’s primary setting.
Fitzgerald, clearly not lacking in confidence, set his sights high for his third novel, taking inspiration from James Joyce’s Ulysses and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.
Departing from conventional realism, Fitzgerald experimented with modernist techniques, layering his narrative with symbolic depth, synesthetic imagery, fragmented storytelling and complex characterisation.
The result was a work both lyrical and impressionistic. Here’s a vivid, illustrative excerpt:
The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. […] The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath; already there are wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become for a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group, and then, excited with triumph, glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light.
Fitzgerald’s Midwestern narrator, Nick Carraway, is describing one of Gatsby’s legendary West Egg parties. He is renting the house next to Gatsby’s mansion,
“a colossal affair by any standard”, with “a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden”.
At first, Nick is fascinated by his enigmatic neighbour, drawn in by the sheer force of Gatsby’s optimism and his unrelenting faith in the transformative power of love and the trappings of wealth. But as the novel progresses, events lead Nick to reevaluate. He describes his charming friend as possessing “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life”.
He continues, outlining attributes essential to a good confidence man:
It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.
When he isn’t with Gatsby, Nick is often with his cousin Daisy and her husband, Tom, the embodiment of American aristocracy and snobbery. They are, in Nick’s damning estimation, “careless” and “rotten” people.
An unreconstructed white supremacist prone to casual displays of extreme prejudice and physical violence, the adulterous Tom – who wouldn’t be out of place in the more dismal real-world and online recesses of today – is, in particular, deeply suspicious of Gatsby, regarding him as an interloper with dubious intentions.
The Atlantic wrote that Tom, “the Yale man, the football star, the spender of old money, the scion of what he calls the Nordic race – embodies the peak of social status in his century”. And that “Trump – the former Playboy-cover subject, the billionaire celebrity, the most powerful man in America – does the same for his”.
And their shared personality traits are the product of their shared relationship to power – the casual unreflective certainty that comes from inheritance, and enables its holders to wield its blunt force as both a weapon and a shield.
Tom’s “little investigation” into Gatsby’s background and finances reveals they are not what they seem. This leads to unintended, disastrous consequences.
Nick, our disillusioned observer, doesn’t quite know what to make of it all. We take leave of him at the end of the novel, on “the beach and sprawled out on the sand”, reminiscing about “Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock”.
‘A flying leap into the future’
Fitzgerald knew he had achieved something special with The Great Gatsby. His peers did too. T.S. Eliot considered it “the first step” forward “American fiction has taken since Henry James”. Edith Wharton concurred, calling it “a flying leap into the future.”
Yet, for all this critical acclaim, The Great Gatsby failed to resonate with the reading public – much to Fitzgerald’s dismay. By October, the book had sold less than 20,000 copies. (By comparison, This Side of Paradise had sold nearly 50,000 copies, across multiple printings.) As his biographer Arthur Mizener observed, by February 1926, “a few thousand more copies had been sold and the book was dead”. It was a blow the writer never really recovered from.
Fitzgerald’s personal life was tumultuous, marred by alcoholism, Zelda’s mental health issues and financial debt. This had a negative effect on his work. While he completed one more novel in 1934 – the excellent, darkly romantic Tender is the Night, arguably his best book – Fitzgerald struggled to be productive.
Following several failed suicide attempts, in 1940 he died of a heart attack, believing himself an abject failure and his career a total write-off. His most recent royalty cheque had been for $13.13. He was 44.
In the immediate aftermath of his death, writers and critics began to reassess Fitzgerald’s accomplishments. This effort was initially spearheaded by his friends, notably Edmund Wilson, who, in 1941, organised a series of tributes to be published in The New Republic.
In 1945, Viking Press released The Portable F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Dorothy Parker, which brought Fitzgerald to the attention of a new generation of readers. At the same time, the US military distributed 150,000 copies of The Great Gatsby to American servicemen during World War II as part of their Armed Services Editions.
Before long, The Great Gatsby made its way into the classroom, where it remains a staple of countless high school and university syllabuses. It continues to inspire readers, many of whom encounter it at a formative stage in their lives.
Amazon
It has been adapted for the screen on multiple occasions – with mixed results. Jack Clayton’s 1974 version, starring Robert Redford as the eponymous Gatsby, was faithful to Fitzgerald’s vision, but utterly lifeless, while Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation, a hollow exercise in audiovisual bluster, failed to do justice to the novel’s subtleties. For all their shortcomings, these films helped cement Gatsby’s place in the popular imagination.
An ‘uncannily prescient’ enduring classic
Novelist Jesmyn Ward suggests Fitzgerald’s novel is
a book that endures, generation after generation, because every time a reader returns to The Great Gatsby, we discover new revelations, new insights, new burning bits of language.
I agree – and I think Fitzgerald would have had rich material to work with, had he been alive today. Ours, lest we forget, is a world where ersatz robber barons hoard nearly all our shared available assets and resources, where racist discourse resounds, and where rampant consumerism remains unchecked.
Last year America magazine argued Gatsby himself “gives the greatest insight into why Mr. Trump is still popular”, comparing Trump’s “fraudulent real estate deals” to Gatsby’s nefarious way of making his money, and Gatsby’s huge parties to Trump’s rallies. Both, the writer argued, are nouveau riche outsiders, “hell-bent on being accepted by the Manhattan set”, and scorned by the elites. (Though Trump’s second presidency seems to be ushering in a new elite.)
Thinking aloud, perhaps it’s more accurate to say Trump is a weird combination of characters. On one hand, he resembles Gatsby: a self-mythologising social climber, nostalgic for a past that never really existed. On the other, he shares much with Tom Buchanan: unscrupulous, self-interested and protected by his wealth.
In a historical moment that mirrors his own in many ways, Fitzgerald’s essentially tragic masterwork, which ends suggesting we are all forever “borne back ceaselessly into the past”, strikes me as uncannily prescient and relevant today.
Alexander Howard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
