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Columbia's president managed to avoid the missteps of other elite colleges in heated congressional grilling 2024-04-17 20:56:58+00:00 - Columbia University's president took a much stronger stance against antisemitism than her peers did. She told Congress Wednesday that calling for a Jewish genocide would violate Columbia policies. The presidents of MIT, Harvard, and UPenn wavered when asked the same question. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time. Advertisement In her testimony to Congress on Wednesday, Columbia University's president avoided making the same viral mistakes her fellow college presidents did during their hearings last year. Nemat "Minouche" Shafik, Columbia's president, appeared before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Wednesday. Republican members of the Committee, including New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, have harshly criticized elite US colleges, accusing their leaders of failing to protect students against antisemitic hate speech. Shafik was called to Congress to discuss her school's response to antisemitism on campus following Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza. The presidents of UPenn, Harvard, and MIT had testified before Congress back in December for the same reason. But there was a big difference between what those presidents said at their hearing and what Shafik said at hers. During her four-hour testimony, which was largely devoid of headline-grabbing moments, Shafik took a much stronger stance against antisemitism than her peers did. Advertisement When asked if students calling for the genocide of Jewish people would violate Columbia's rules, Shafik and three other Columbia leaders testifying with her all said yes, it would. Shafik added that any student who called for a Jewish genocide would be punished. The presidents of MIT, Harvard, and UPenn, in contrast, waffled when asked the same question during a five-hour-long session in December — and two of them suffered the consequences. Related stories Harvard President Claudine Gay answered with, "It can be, depending on the context," while MIT President Sally Kornbluth said, "I have not heard calling for the genocide for Jews on our campus." In a similarly soft response, UPenn's president Elizabeth Magill responded, "If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment." All three presidents faced harsh criticism for their answers, which many argued did not adequately condemn hate speech. The backlash led to the resignations of both Gay and Magill, while Kornbluth has so far managed to hold onto her position. Advertisement Shafik was invited to the December hearing, but was unable to attend because she was speaking in Dubai at the time, The Wall Street Journal reported. And that granted her more than just extra time to prepare — she also had the advantage of witnessing the fallout her peers faced, and making sure she avoided their mistakes. She made herself especially clear. On Tuesday, the eve of her hearing, Shafik wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which she explained the complexity of protecting free speech and political expression while also ensuring students' safety and condemning discrimination. "Calling for the genocide of a people — whether they are Israelis or Palestinians, Jews, Muslims or anyone else — has no place in a university community," Shafik wrote in the Journal. "Such words are outside the bounds of legitimate debate and unimaginably harmful." Advertisement In Wednesday's hearing, Shafik also commented on a few controversial professors. She said that Mohamed Abdou, a visiting professor at Columbia's Middle East Institute, would "never work at Columbia again" after he voiced support for Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad. Shafik was also questioned about a tenured professor in Columbia's Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department, Joseph Massad, who had previously called Hamas' attack on Israel "awesome." Shafik said Massah had been "spoken to" about his comments. But when Stefanik pressed her on the issue, Shafik said she would get back to the committee on whether Massad would be removed from his position as chair of the academic review committee.
Cloud seeding probably didn't cause Dubai's floods. The UAE has been trying to control its weather for years, and the US does it too. 2024-04-17 20:52:38+00:00 - By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on the culture & business of sustainability — delivered weekly to your inbox. As the desert city of Dubai flooded on Monday, onlookers pointed the finger at the government's "cloud seeding" efforts. The program sends planes into oncoming storm clouds to inject them with substances that can help make more rain. Could it be the culprit for two years' worth of rain falling on the United Arab Emirates city in just a day? It's a tantalizing explanation. Trying to control the weather can sound tantamount to playing god. And if thousands of years of media and oral tradition tell us anything — from Prometheus to Frankenstein — playing god has bad consequences. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Motorisits drive along a flooded street following heavy rains in Dubai. GIUSEPPE CACACE/Getty But the United Arab Emirates has been seeding clouds to encourage rainfall and battle drought for 20 years. Some US states have been doing it for even longer. These programs have found that the practice has a small effect on precipitation, increasing it by about 5 to 15%, though a UAE official told Reuters that it can be as high as 30% for them. Advertisement Flames ignite on a cloud-seeding device in an attempt to get more snowfall in the Rocky Mountains near Lyons, Colorado. Thomas Peipert/AP Photo Many other countries, including China and Australia, have experimented with the technique. Related stories According to several scientists, cloud seeding isn't the driving force behind Dubai's historic floods. How cloud seeding works Flares release water-attracting substances during a cloud seeding flight operated by the National Center of Meteorology, between Al Ain and Al Hayer, in United Arab Emirates. Amr Alfiky/Reuters To "seed" a cloud, you have to spray it with microscopic particles of a salt such as silver iodide, calcium chloride, or potassium chloride. A ground engineer restocks one of the UAE's National Center of Meteorology cloud-seeding planes with new salt flares. Andrea DiCenzo/Getty Images In the UAE and many US states, planes do the job. In some places, like Utah, machines on the ground shoot the substance into air currents that can carry it into the clouds. Advertisement Militia members load equipment for cloud-seeding operations for drought relief amid a heatwave warning in Dongkou county of Shaoyang, Hunan province, China. China Daily via Reuters All these particles have a crystalline structure, similar to ice, which gives water droplets something to stick to. As the water converges, it forms an ice crystal and eventually falls as snow or rain. This mimics the natural rain-making process that happens inside the cloud. Packets of salt are pictured during a cloud seeding operation at a military airbase in Subang, Malaysia. Lim Huey Teng/Reuters "Cloud seeding can't create clouds from nothing. It encourages water that is already in the sky to condense faster and drop water in certain places. So first, you need moisture. Without it, there'd be no clouds," Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer in climate science at the Imperial College London, and co-founder of the groundbreaking science collaboration World Weather Attribution, said in a statement to the Science Media Centre (SMC). The real threat behind Dubai's floods Many atmospheric scientists have dismissed the idea that cloud seeding was behind Dubai's floods. Experts told the SMC that the rains came from a rare thundercloud system, which was already forecast to bring heavy rainfall, and the effect of any cloud seeding would have been tiny. Advertisement "This is a distraction from the real story here — that due to our collective failure to phase out fossil fuels, we must prepare for unprecedented extremes, which will worsen until we reach 'net zero,'" John Marsham, an atmospheric scientist and Met Office Joint Chair at the University of Leeds, told the SMC. Jeff Big Jeff, 58, uses a raft to move his belongings from his tent at a homeless encampment on Bannon Island, along the flooded Sacramento River. Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Rising global temperatures are leading to heavier bouts of rainfall across the planet, even in places that are typically dry or even in the middle of a drought. This type of weather whiplash happens because of a fundamental fact of physics: Warmer air holds more water. "Any possible effect of any cloud seeding in these circumstances would be tiny," Marsham added. Indeed, the UAE isn't the only desert or drought-stricken region that's been devastated by heavy rainfall in recent years. Death Valley catastrophically and historically flooded in 2022, 2023, and this February. Advertisement Cars were stuck in mud and debris after flash flooding in Death Valley National Park, California. National Park Service via AP A series of moisture-laden atmospheric rivers interrupted California's years-long drought last winter, killing at least 22 people, by the Los Angeles Times' count. Cars piled up after they were swept off the road during historic flooding in California's Sacramento County in 2023. Fred Greaves/Reuters "If humans continue to burn oil, gas, and coal, the climate will continue to warm, rainfall will continue to get heavier, and people will continue to lose their lives in floods," Otto said.
Caitlin Clark WNBA v.s NBA salary outrage is missing the point 2024-04-17 20:52:06+00:00 - Caitlin Clark is officially the WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick, and she’s set to make $76,535 (in base salary, which is not her total compensation) in her rookie year. Fans, it’s fair to say, are upset. And to be fair, that’s significantly less than the nearly $12.2 million the NBA’s most recent No. 1 pick, San Antonio Spurs breakout star Victor Wembanyama, made in his first year in the NBA. Clark is an athlete who’s already broken scoring and viewership records, signed big sponsorship deals and pushed ticket sales through the roof. So the wage gap between her and her male peers has sparked understandable outrage. But those who support the legitimacy and financial viability of women’s basketball — and those who denigrate it — are overlooking important nuances in this conversation. The wage gap between her and her male peers has sparked understandable outrage. WNBA salaries are set under the current union collective bargaining agreement, which marked major progress for players in 2020: Max salaries doubled, total cash compensation went up to a half a million dollars, and the agreement also included provisions for basic hotel accommodations, women’s health care and maternity benefits. It was a step forward, at least in ink and in kind. As Kate Fagan put it in a 2021 piece reflecting on the W’s 25 years: “They know that only a few players can achieve [those salaries], but that wasn’t the point at all. The headline was the point. The point was to break free of the flawed narrative that WNBA players don’t make money. You know what doesn’t sell tickets? The belief that female players make less money than schoolteachers.” To be sure, WNBA players are not looking to make the same kind of money as their NBA counterparts (at least not right now), and they’ve said so repeatedly. WNBA players are aware that their revenue (around $200 million in 2023) does not compare to the NBA’s (around $10 billion in 2022). But the players also understand that their revenue is in part based on an undervaluing of their game by media rights partners, and that their collective bargaining agreement treats revenue sharing differently than the NBA’s. This is where it gets wonky, but the details matter. The WNBA currently has media rights deals across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms worth a total about $60 million per year. Those deals with ESPN, Prime Video and ION are all set to expire in 2025. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters on Monday that she expects the value of the league’s rights deals to “at least double” in renegotiation. For reference, women’s March Madness was recently estimated at $65 million annually — 10 times its previous valuation. Given the enormous growth in national interest, with 2023 viewership up 21% and the highest attendance since 2018, it’s not unrealistic to expect WNBA media rights to garner upward of $100 million in 2025. (Note: The NBA and WNBA negotiate their media rights deals together.) Both the WNBA and NBA’s labor agreements feature revenue sharing, though the major difference is in their implementation. NBA players receive 51% of all revenue (as defined as “basketball-related income”). Under their current CBA, which is set to expire in 2027 with an opt-out clause in 2025, WNBA players receive 50% of incremental revenue — that is, revenue that exceeds certain league-defined targets. Those targets grow by 20% each year. What does that mean for the players? According to Bloomberg, salaries as a total share of revenue were just 9.3% in 2022. Both Engelbert and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would tell you that the WNBA needs to prioritize growth targets for the league’s long-term sustainability. Remember that Engelbert was previously the CEO of Deloitte, and her strengths — publicly embraced by the players' union at the time of her hiring — are not in contract negotiations, but in partnerships and brand-building. Given those priorities, the players and their union seem poised to exercise their opt-out in 2025 to renegotiate, among other things, salary floors and ceilings, as well as revenue sharing, with a new influx of interest and cash and exposure in the league. The previous CBA was negotiated after the players opted out following a new TV rights deal, and the same could happen next year. WNBA players are in the strongest negotiating position they’ve ever been in. Not to mention the additional income of endorsement deals, which are not tied to the collective bargaining agreement. Clark’s deals have been estimated at around $3 million to start. It’s a good sign that people are talking about pay disparity, but remember that the NBA has had a nearly 50-year head start. It’s a good sign that people are talking about pay disparity, but remember that the NBA has had a nearly 50-year head start, and saw similar growing pains in the ‘80s when playoff games were being broadcast on tape delay. And then Magic and Bird and Michael and, yes, Stern came along and changed the course of history. But it wasn’t pretty and it certainly wasn’t a straight line to Wemby. And it hasn’t been a straight line to Caitlin Clark. So while we recognize that the incredible growth of women’s basketball is still accompanied by the relative undervaluing of the sport, let’s call for progress without undervaluing the strides made by the players, coaches and executives in years past. Let’s recognize that investment in women’s sports doesn’t just mean suddenly noticing disparities when they happen to a generational star. Let’s please stop saying that Caitlin Clark is “taking a pay cut” to join the WNBA. She’s looking at the long game, and you should be, too. To paraphrase a former president: Don’t boo. Watch. Attend. Cheer. Stay.
CSX profit drops 10% despite railroad delivering 3% more freight in first quarter 2024-04-17 20:46:21+00:00 - CSX’s first-quarter profit slipped 10% even though the railroad delivered 3% more goods, as shipments it handed shifted to a less-profitable mix. The Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad said Wednesday that it earned $893 million, or 46 cents per share, in the first three months of the year. That’s down from $987 million, or 48 cents per share, a year ago. The results were slightly better than Wall Street predicted. The analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected CSX to report earnings per share of 45 cents. CEO Joe Hinrichs said he was pleased the railroad was able to deliver consistent customer service that helped it attract more business. He said many of the markets CSX serves are seeing “favorable trends,” so he’s optimistic about the rest of the year. CSX said its revenue slipped 1% to $3.68 billion. Wall Street expected CSX to report revenue of $3.66 billion in the quarter. The railroad reiterated that it expects revenue and shipping volume to grow at low- to mid-single-digit rates this year. After the bridge collapse in Baltimore last month forced that port to close, CSX scrambled to reroute traffic to other East Coast destinations. But given that Baltimore is the second largest coal export port, coal shipments could be hurt. The port disaster will be felt in the railroad’s second-quarter earnings, as workers are still trying to clear the wreckage of the bridge so the port can reopen. CSX is one of the nation’s largest railroads, operating trains on more than 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) of track in 23 Eastern states and two Canadian provinces. Shares of CSX Corp. were up about 1.8% in after-hours trading following the release of the earnings report. Also Wednesday, CSX announced that Hinrichs’ predecessor as CEO, Jim Foote, had died. Foote led the railroad through its transition to the precision scheduled railroading operating model after industry titan Hunter Harrison died in 2017 — less than a year after taking over CSX and beginning the reforms to streamline the railroad. The model relies on using fewer, longer trains with a mix of freight on them, so railroads can operate with fewer locomotives and employees. Since CSX put it in place, the model has been adopted by other U.S. railroads. Collectively, the major U.S. railroads have used the model to cut nearly one-third of their workforce, prompting unions to complain they believe railroads have become riskier because employees are spread so thin and preventative maintenance and inspections are being neglected.
Abu Ghraib military contractor warned bosses of abuses 2 weeks after arriving, testimony reveals 2024-04-17 20:46:03+00:00 - ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A civilian contractor sent to work as an interrogator at Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison resigned within two weeks of his arrival and told his corporate bosses that mistreatment of detainees was likely to continue. Jurors saw the October 2003 email from Rich Arant, who worked for military contractor CACI, during testimony Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by three Abu Ghraib survivors. The former prisoners are suing CACI, alleging that the Reston-Virginia based company shares responsibility for the mistreatment they endured. CACI had a contract to supply interrogators to the Army after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and scrambled to supply the needed personnel. The first CACI interrogators arrived at Abu Ghraib on Sept. 28 of that year. Arant sent his resignation letter to CACI on Oct. 14. He informed his bosses about his concerns over the handling of prisoners, including what he described as an unauthorized interview of a female inmate by male interrogators. He wrote that “violations of the well-written rules of engagement will likely continue to occur.” CACI senior officials took no action in response to Arant’s resignation letter, according to CACI’s lawyers. Subsequent investigations showed that horrific abuses of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, including physical and sexual assaults of inmates, continued for months until the Army launched an investigation in January 2004. Shocking photos of the abuse became public in April 2004, resulting in a worldwide scandal. The trial now going forward in U.S. District Court in Alexandria has been delayed by 15 years of legal wrangling and multiple attempts by CACI to have the case dismissed. It is the first lawsuit brought by Abu Ghraib detainees to be heard by a U.S. jury. In a 2021 pretrial hearing, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema warned CACI that Arant’s email “would be a smoking gun in almost any piece of litigation.” “I’m amazed that nobody at CACI would have wanted to follow up on that type of a memo,” Brinkema said, according to a transcript of that hearing. “Did anybody probe the Arant e-mail? Did anybody speak with him and find out exactly what it was about Abu Ghraib that was troubling him?” CACI’s lawyers have acknowledged that Arant’s resignation did not prompt any type of follow-up. But they have said his email doesn’t actually detail any abuses by CACI interrogators, only the misconduct of Army soldiers over which the company had no control. “That is somebody saying, ‘I don’t like the way that soldiers are doing interrogations, but CACI people are clean as a whistle here,’” CACI lawyer John O’Connor said at the 2021 hearing. Subsequent investigations conducted by the Army found that three CACI interrogators — among dozens who were sent to Abu Ghraib — had engaged in detainee abuse. The interrogators used unauthorized dogs, humiliated inmates by forcing them to wear women’s underwear, forced detainees into stress positions, and directed a military police sergeant to push and twist a nightstick into a detainee’s arm, the investigations found. On Wednesday, jurors heard videotaped testimony from retired Maj. Gen. George Fay, who led one of the investigations. On cross-examination, CACI lawyers asked Fay whether he could link any of the abuses involving CACI contractors to any of the three plaintiffs in the case. Fay said he could not. Many of the specific instances of abuse outlined in Fay’s report were inflicted on Iraqi police officers who were thought to have been involved in smuggling a gun into the prison. None of the plaintiffs were police officers. CACI has argued that even if the plaintiffs suffered abuse, the company should not be held liable unless there’s proof that CACI interrogators were directly involved. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say that issue is irrelevant, because they argue that CACI’s interrogators played a key role in creating the overall abusive environment at Abu Ghraib by encouraging military police to “soften up” detainees for questioning.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' $19,000 lectern purchase may have violated state laws 2024-04-17 20:45:38+00:00 - Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office may have violated state laws with the purchase of a $19,000 lectern, according to a review conducted by a state auditing agency. The report, released Monday by the Arkansas Legislative Audit, determined that there was "potential noncompliance with Arkansas Code regarding transactions and events related to the purchase of the podium and road case." The custom lectern was paid for in June 2023 using a state credit card. Sanders' office has said that the card was used in an accounting error, and the Republican Party of Arkansas reimbursed the state for the purchase in September. The wood-paneled lectern in the governor's conference room at the Arkansas state Capitol, on Tuesday. Andrew DeMillo / AP The transaction was brought to light last year after blogger Matt Campbell, who now reports for the Arkansas Times, filed Freedom of Information Act requests about the expenditure. He said the Arkansas GOP only reimbursed the state after his FOIA request was filed. Among the potential violations the audit identified in relation to the lectern include payment for the items before delivery, claiming them as an operating expense even though that did not apply, shredding of the lading bill by a staffer in Sanders' office, and altering the public record by including handwritten "to be reimbursed" notes on two of three invoices. An invoice that included a breakdown of the bill listed the cost of the lectern at an exorbitant $11,575, as well as an otherwise unexplained $2,500 "consulting fee," according to the audit. The case for the lectern and shipping costs for both items made up the rest of the $19,000. The Arkansas Legislative Audit said it was “unable to determine the reasonableness” of the lectern's cost or the consulting fee. Sanders refused to speak to the agency during its review, and several vendors did not respond to its attempts to confirm details about the transaction. It’s unclear whether the audit will result in any consequences. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said last week that the governor’s office is not subject to certain state laws on government purchases. The governor's office did, however, criticize the audit, calling it a "waste of taxpayer resources and time" and "deeply flawed." Sanders herself appeared to make light of the scandal, posting a video on X featuring glamour shots of the lectern. The video ends with the phrase "Come and take it," an apparent reference to a slightly arcane Second Amendment rallying cry.
Atlas, a Humanoid Robot From Boston Dynamics, Is Leaping Into Retirement 2024-04-17 20:44:08+00:00 - Atlas, the humanoid robot that dazzled followers for more than a decade with its outdoor running, awkward dancing and acrobatic back flips, has powered down. In other words, it is retiring. On Wednesday, Boston Dynamics, the company that created it, announced the arrival of the next generation of humanoid robots — a fully electric robot (also named Atlas) for real-world commercial and industrial applications. For anyone worried about what would happen to the hydraulic bipedal machine (a robot home? the junkyard? a window display?) that was created for research purposes, the company had an answer. A spokesman, Nikolas Noel, said that retirement would mean that the Atlas would move to its “robot retirement home,” which is to say that it would be “sitting in our office lobby museum” with other decommissioned robots. The old Atlas was used to research full-body mobility and to explore what was possible in robotics, Mr. Noel said. It was not designed for commercial use and was first developed as part of a competition to further the use of robots “in future natural and man-made disasters,” according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Pentagon.
Biden says he'll urge U.S. trade rep to consider tripling tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports 2024-04-17 20:44:00+00:00 - Speaking at the U.S. Steelworkers headquarters in Pittsburgh Wednesday, President Joe Biden said he'd ask the U.S. trade representative to consider tripling of tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports and other protections for the U.S. steel and aluminum industry. The Pennsylvania-born president, noting the importance of the swing state in the November elections, said Wednesday it was Pittsburgh and union workers who elected him before, and he'll return the favor. The president told supporters in the crowd that, "You've had my back and I promise I have your back." "The backbone of America has a steel spine," Mr. Biden said. "It really does have a steel spine. You've heard me say it before — Wall Street didn't build America; the middle class built America, and you guys built the middle class — unions built it. And that's why I'm here today: to announce a series of actions that (show) I stand by you, the American steelworker." Mr. Biden said he would urge the U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai, to triple Chinese steel and aluminum tariffs from their current rate of 7.5% if the USTR finds during an ongoing investigation that the Chinese are exercising anti-competitive trade practices in the steel and aluminum industry. The White House believes American workers face "unfair competition" from Chinese imports, and high-quality U.S. products are undercut by "artificially-low priced" Chinese alternatives that use higher emissions, according to a White House fact sheet. The president said China is also sending steel and aluminum through Mexico first in order to avoid U.S. tariffs, which the U.S. will be working with Mexico to prevent. Tai is also launching an investigation into China's practices in the maritime, shipbuilding and logistics sectors, the White House says. Mr. Biden took opportunities during his speech Wednesday to blast former President Donald Trump, whom the president referred to only as "my predecessor." Without mentioning the former president's ongoing criminal trial in New York, Mr. Biden noted that his predecessor is "busy," eliciting laughs from the audience. "Taken together, these are strategic and targeted actions that are going to protect American workers and ensure fair competition," Mr. Biden said Wednesday. "Meanwhile, my predecessor and the MAGA Republicans want across-the-board tariffs on all imports from all countries that could badly hurt American consumers." The president later told reporters he's not concerned the potential tariffs could affect his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. President Joe Biden, right, and United Steelworkers Union International President, David McCall, center, both step out from behind a curtain to begin to greet steelworkers at United Steelworkers Headquarters, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Pittsburgh, Pa. Alex Brandon / AP The steel and aluminum announcement comes amid the planned sale of U.S. Steel to the Japanese-owned Nippon Steel, which the president strongly opposes. U.S. Steel should remain an American company, Mr. Biden said Wednesday, and "that's going to happen, I promise you." As the president continues his three-day swing through Scranton, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, his campaign is launching a six-figure, five-day ad blitz highlighting Mr. Biden's pro-labor stances. Pennsylvania is a battleground state this November, with Trump and Mr. Biden neck-and-neck in national polls. "Scranton values or Mar-a-Lago values," Mr. Biden said during a speech in Scranton Tuesday, referencing Trump's luxurious Florida resort. "These are the competing visions for our economy, and they raise questions of fundamental fairness at the heart of his campaign." Bo Erickson contributed to this report
Promise of Eli Lilly's weight-loss drug for sleep apnea adds another reason to own the stock 2024-04-17 20:41:00+00:00 - Eli Lilly 's weight-loss drug Zepbound showed promise as a treatment for sleep apnea — giving investors more confidence to keep owning the world's most valuable health-care company even after it's been crushing the S & P 500's performance over the past three years. The study results released by Eli Lilly on Wednesday highlight the range of health benefits that drugs like Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro — known as GLP-1s — can have outside their increasingly popular uses in treating obesity and type-2 diabetes. Lilly is also looking at GLP-1s to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, and a type of fatty liver disease. Lilly's main rival in the category, Novo Nordisk , recently secured U.S. approval to also market its obesity drug Wegovy as a treatment for heart disease in overweight patients. Novo Nordisk was first to market with GLP-1s Wegovy and Ozempic for diabetes. While Ozempic is a diabetes drug, it's become the public face of this emerging class of drugs that also lead to substantial weight loss. Eli Lilly said it plans to ask U.S. regulators to expand Zepbound's label to include obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, later this year. OSA is one of the three common types of sleep apnea, according to the Mayo Clini c. Approval for this indication could help bolster the insurance reimbursement case for Zepbound and further illustrate that losing weight can deliver more than just cosmetic improvements to health. Insurance coverage of Zepbound has been spotty since hitting the U.S. market late last year due, in large part, to its cost, with a monthly list price of $1,060. "Some of these numbers, I think, the insurance companies are going to have to take notice," Jim Cramer said Wednesday on CNBC. The active ingredient behind Zepbound and Mounjaro — known as tirzepatide — is at the core of our investment thesis in Eli Lilly. Jim has long said tirzepatide could become the best-selling drug of all time for its ability to treat obesity and other conditions. It was first approved to treat type-2 diabetes under the Mounjaro brand in May 2022 . Shares of Eli Lilly have ridden the GLP-1 craze to new heights over the past few years. The stock hit an all-time of $800.78 per share on March 4, with a market cap of over $750 billion. LLY YTD mountain Eli Lilly YTD The data on obstructive sleep apnea could open the door for Medicare to cover Zepbound for that condition, analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients Wednesday. Medicare's prescription drug plans, known as Part D, are currently barred from covering strictly obesity drugs. Last month, the U.S. government agency that administers the health program for seniors enabled coverage for Novo's Wegovy when the drug is prescribed to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by airway blockages that cause people to repeatedly stop breathing during sleep and experience low blood oxygen, which triggers them to wake up to start breathing again, according to the Cleveland Clinic . This disrupts their ability to get high-quality sleep — and over time, it can lead to other health complications, such as drowsiness during the day, heart damage, and even sudden death. Obesity can contribute to the development of OSA, which is estimated to affect roughly 39 million U.S. adults, according to the National Council on Aging . The current standard of care for obstructive sleep apnea is positive airway pressure, or PAP, machines, which help keep patients' airways open while they sleep. Eli Lilly released preliminary data from a pair of late-stage trials Wednesday, both of which showed that obese patients with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea saw improvements in their OSA over the course of a 52-week trial. In one trial, patients who took only Zepbound experienced on average 27.4 fewer incidents of restricted or completely blocked airflow per hour of sleep. Those on the placebo saw on average a reduction of only 4.8 incidents per hour. In a second trial, OSA patients who took Zepbound and used a PAP machine experienced on average 30.4 fewer incidents per hour, compared with six fewer in the placebo group. The results, which have yet to be peer reviewed, met Wall Street's threshold to be considered a success, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note Wednesday. Eli Lilly will present full data at an American Diabetes Association conference in late June. The popularity of GLP-1s has skyrocketed in recent years. They mimic a hormone in the gut to improve blood sugar control and effectively suppress appetite, leading to weight loss. The active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, semaglutide, works in a similar fashion as Lilly's tirzepatide. The key difference: Lilly's compound targets a second hormone, called GIP, believed to boost its effectiveness. LLY NVO mountain 2021-05-09 Eli Lilly vs. Novo Nordisk Shares of both companies have been on fire. Eli Lilly has gained nearly 300% over the past three years, including a 28% year-to-date gain. Novo Nordisk shares have surged about 243% over the past three years and 19.5% so far in 2024. Along the way, those gains have blown away the performances of the S & P 500 and the health-care sector index. The companies currently have a duopoly in the GLP-1 market, which some Wall Street analysts project could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade. Despite the promise of treating other conditions, the lion's share of GLP-1 sales are still likely to come from diabetes and obesity. In a note to clients last month, Bank of America raised its 2030 revenue forecast for tirzepatide to roughly $62 billion, with $54 billion for diabetes and obesity. Analysts projected obstructive sleep apnea revenue of $3 billion. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long LLY. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. An injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, is displayed in New York City on Dec. 11, 2023. Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
US probe of Hondas that can activate emergency braking for no reason moves closer to a recall 2024-04-17 20:32:48+00:00 - DETROIT (AP) — A U.S. government investigation into unexpected automatic braking involving nearly 3 million Hondas is a step closer to a recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it has upgraded a probe opened in February of 2022 to an engineering analysis after it received 1,294 complaints about the problem, mainly from consumers and through the company. An engineering analysis is the last step before the agency can seek a recall, although the vehicles are not being recalled at this time. The complaints allege that the automatic emergency braking system can brake the vehicles with nothing in their forward path, increasing the risk of a crash. The agency said it has 47 reports of crashes and 112 reports of injuries from the problem. The investigation covers two of Honda’s top-selling models, the CR-V small SUV and the Accord midsize car. The model years were expanded to include the 2017 through 2022 CR-V and the 2018 through 2022 Accord. Agency documents show that Honda says that some customers may have had an inadequate understanding of the system and its limitations. But consumers say in complaints that Honda dealers weren’t able to reproduce the problem condition, and they were told that such stops were considered normal for the system. In some cases consumers say that the problem has persisted, the agency said. In a statement, Honda said it will continue to cooperate with NHTSA on the probe into the Collision Mitigation Braking System, “and we will continue our own internal review of the available information.” NHTSA will assess how often the problem happens and the potential safety related consequences, documents said. The probe is another in a string of investigations by the agency into performance of automatic braking systems, technology that has been touted as having the ability to prevent many rear-end crashes and save lives. NHTSA is working on a regulation to require the systems on new vehicles and set standards for them to detect obstacles and brake. Most new vehicles already are equipped with the systems in a voluntary industry program.
Investing in Trump Media is an 'act of faith,' expert says. Here are some risks involved 2024-04-17 20:24:00+00:00 - A screen displays trading information about shares of Truth Social and Trump Media & Technology Group outside the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City on March 26, 2024. The company's mission statement is to end "Big Tech's assault on free speech by opening up the internet and giving the American people their voices back," according to its website . The former president is the majority shareholder in Trump Media, which trades under the initials of his name, DJT, on the Nasdaq. The stock got off to a rocky start this week, with two straight days of losses, though it was up more than 20% on Wednesday afternoon. "It's an act of faith," he said. "The reason that people own this stock is because, in one way or another, they support Donald Trump," Rekenthaler said. But rather than a meme stock — an investment that becomes popular for individual investors through social media — the company is more of a personality stock, according to John Rekenthaler, vice president of research at Morningstar . The closest company comparison to Trump Media is Tesla, according to Rekenthaler. He said investors backed Tesla because they believed in Elon Musk, which helped send the company to its peak value in 2021. A key difference is that Tesla was a "much larger company," according to Rekenthaler, who on April 10 wrote an op-ed criticizing Trump Media's valuation. Trump Media is currently a $4 million business through social media, he said. Meanwhile, the company is currently valued at more than $3 billion, down from around $9 billion when it came out. "The problem is there is still more room to fall," Rekenthaler said. Like investors in any publicly traded company, Trump Media's shareholders are hoping to eventually redeem their shares for more than they paid. However, there is no guarantee of that happening, Rekenthaler said. Other investors have chosen to bet against the stock through short selling. That, too, can be "dangerous," Rekenthaler said. "This stock is just so unpredictable," Rekenthaler said. "It certainly could go up in the short term and hurt the shorts." The company responded to a request for comment by referring to its frequently asked questions webpage. Trump Media outlined the risk factors to its business in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission tied to its public stock listing. Among them are risks related to the former president, including his reputation and popularity; the possibility of his death, incarceration or incapacity; or the possibility that his relationship with the company could be discontinued or limited. More from Personal Finance: FAFSA 'fiasco' could cause decline in college enrollment People are spending hundreds a month on dating apps The strong U.S. job market is in a 'sweet spot,' economists say Investing in a company that is tied to a prominent celebrity carries certain risks, noted Preston D. Cherry, PhD, founder and president of Concurrent Financial Planning in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The alignment with a well-known figure can lead you to trust a company more as a result, said Cherry, who's also a certified financial planner. But if the celebrity and company part ways — as with Adidas and Ye, also known as Kanye West, or Weight Watchers and Oprah — that can affect the investment prospects. Moreover, investors may get caught up in the enthusiasm around a newly public stock, Cherry said. "Retail investors have a sense of FOMO or fear of missing out specifically with popular IPOs [initial public offerings]," Cherry said. That can lead to those companies becoming overvalued when they come out as a result of that hype, he said. Because the early-stage company's stock may be highly volatile, average investors may face a lot of danger if they're tempted to day trade or short it, said CFP Ted Jenkin, CEO and founder of oXYGen Financial, a financial advisory and wealth management firm based in Atlanta. "These kinds of stocks are speculative at best," Jenkin said. Both Cherry and Jenkin are members of the CNBC FA Council.
White collar workers are losing the work-from-home battle as available high-paying hybrid jobs plunge 40% 2024-04-17 20:21:00+00:00 - Good morning! There’s no doubt that today’s employees want remote and hybrid options when it comes to where they work. And although some CEOs have reversed course on their RTO mandates, and the C-suite in general is realistic about how long it will take to get staffers back into the office, new data shows just how rare those positions are becoming—even for workers making good money. The proportion of available hybrid jobs with a salary of $100,000 or higher decreased by 40% between Q4 of 2023 and Q1 of this year, according to a new report from Ladders, a job search platform. Remote positions over six figures weren’t safe from RTO either, decreasing 33% over the same time period, while in-office opportunities rose by about 7%. John Mullinix, head of growth marketing for Ladders, tells Fortune that the findings were a shock as researchers expected the numbers to stay relatively flat. He attributes the drop to bosses who made concessions to workers early on in the work-from-home wars, but have run out of patience. Currently, about 89% of all six-figure opportunities are fully in-person, while only 9% are remote and 2% are hybrid. “I feel like hybrid was hit harder, because the companies that were hybrid never really wanted to be remote companies in the first place,” Mullinix says. It’s not just the $100,000-and-up salary jobs that are being phased out of flexible work arrangements. In 2020, about 62% of all U.S. office jobs were remote, which crashed down to 12% by 2023, according to a report earlier this year from Ringover, a British telecom firm. “The competition is fierce for remote and hybrid jobs, because everybody wants it. And really who's changing the narrative are the businesses from the top down. It's not the job seekers,” says Mullinix. Looking forward, he predicts that hybrid jobs will become virtually obsolete as employers divide themselves into two camps—a small fraction who offer completely remote jobs, with everyone else requiring workers to come back into the office. “I'm pretty confident that remote jobs are not going to disappear,” he says. “Hybrid jobs might decrease into nothingness, where we won't see them that much.” Emma Burleigh emma.burleigh@fortune.com This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday, 4/17/2024 2024-04-17 20:19:41+00:00 - Sinking technology stocks sent Wall Street lower again, and the S&P 500 fell to its fourth straight loss. The index dipped 0.6% Wednesday for its longest losing streak since early January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 1.1%. Tech stocks slumped after ASML, a Dutch company that’s a major supplier to the semiconductor industry, reported weaker orders than analysts expected. That helped overshadow stronger quarterly profit reports than expected from United Airlines and other big companies. Treasury yields fell following a sharp tumble in oil prices. On Wednesday: The S&P 500 fell 29.20 points, or 0.6%, to 5,022.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45.66 points, or 0.1%, to 37,753.31. The Nasdaq composite fell 181.88 points, or 1.1%, to 15,683.37. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 19.53 points, or 1%, to 1,947.95. For the week: The S&P 500 is down 101.20 points, or 2%. The Dow is down 229.93 points, or 0.6%. The Nasdaq is down 491.72 points, or 3%. The Russell 2000 is down 55.23 points, or 2.8%. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 252.38 points, or 5.3%. The Dow is up 63.77 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq is up 672.02 points, or 4.5%. The Russell 2000 is down 79.13 points, or 3.9%.
Series I bonds are ‘still a good deal’ despite an expected falling rate in May, experts say 2024-04-17 20:17:00+00:00 - Jetcityimage | Istock | Getty Images How the I bond rate works The U.S. Department of the Treasury adjusts I bond rates every May and November. That yield changes based on a variable and fixed portion. The Treasury adjusts the variable part every six months based on the consumer price index, which is a key measure of inflation. The agency can change the fixed portion or keep it the same. The fixed portion of the I bond rate stays the same for investors after purchase. The variable rate portion resets every six months starting on the investor's I bond purchase date, not when the Treasury Department announces rate adjustments. You can find each rate by purchase date here. Currently, the variable rate is 3.94% and the fixed rate is 1.3%, for a combined rounded yield of 5.27% for I bonds purchased between Nov. 1 and April 30. The 1.3% fixed rate "makes it very attractive" for investors who want to preserve purchasing power long term, according to Tumin. How the fixed rate could change Since the variable rate for I bonds is based on six months of inflation data, experts agree it will fall from 3.94% to 2.96% in May. The fixed portion is harder to predict because the Treasury does not disclose its formula for changes. David Enna, founder of Tipswatch.com, a website that tracks Treasury inflation-protected securities, or TIPS, and I bond rates, expects the fixed rate will be 1.2% or 1.3% in May. But "1.4% is not out of the question," he said. Enna looks at a half-year average of real yields for 5- and 10-year TIPS to predict fixed rate changes. The real yield reflects how much TIPS investors earn yearly above inflation until maturity. A possible fixed rate change from 1.3% to 1.4% "isn't enough to make a huge difference," but investors always prefer the higher rate, he added. watch now
Mail carriers face growing threats of violence amid wave of robberies 2024-04-17 20:15:00+00:00 - Post offices fail to secure master keys to mailboxes, even as mail theft rises The U.S. Postal Service's mail carriers, known for trudging through snow and ice to deliver mail, are increasingly dealing with another hazard on their delivery routes: armed robberies. Mail carriers, who are unarmed, are a growing target because they sometimes carry personal checks or prescription drugs, which criminals can convert into cash. Some criminals also rob carriers to get their hands on the USPS' antiquated "arrow keys," a type of universal key that can open many types of mailboxes, allowing thieves to steal their contents. Last May, the USPS created a crime prevention effort called Project Safe Delivery to "reduce criminal acts against postal employees." Even so, postal carrier robberies climbed 30% to 643 incidents last year, while the number of robberies resulting in injuries doubled to 61 in 2023, according to figures provided by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press. All told, robberies grew sixfold over the past decade, while the number of postal carriers held at gunpoint increased at an even higher rate, according to an analysis of the postal data. Most recently, a gunman on Tuesday robbed a mail carrier in a New Hampshire town, with neighbors telling CBS Boston that the carrier said the robber was after his arrow keys. Police later arrested an 18-year-old man from Lowell, Massachusetts and charged him with robbery. That case followed multiple robberies targeting mail carriers in recent months, including: In many cases, the carriers were not harmed, but the postal carrier in Union City suffered minor injuries that were treated at a local hospital. In some cases, postal officials are offering rewards of up to $150,000 for information to find the criminals. The USPS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday, nor did the National Association of Letter Carriers, the union that represents USPS mail carriers. Project Safe Delivery was designed to curb mail theft and attacks on carriers, partly by replacing old locks that could be opened with arrows keys with electronic locks. But a recent CBS News review found that the postal service isn't consistently taking steps to secure millions of arrow keys, which could be fueling the problem of rising theft. Still, law enforcement authorities have made more than 1,200 arrests for mail thefts and letter carrier robberies since Project Safe Delivery kicked off last May. And efforts to crack down on crime targeting carriers may be paying off. As of March, postal robberies had fallen 19% over the previous five months, according to postal service data. —The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Your Brain Waves Are Up for Sale. A New Law Wants to Change That. 2024-04-17 19:37:29+00:00 - Consumers have grown accustomed to the prospect that their personal data, such as email addresses, social contacts, browsing history and genetic ancestry, are being collected and often resold by the apps and the digital services they use. With the advent of consumer neurotechnologies, the data being collected is becoming ever more intimate. One headband serves as a personal meditation coach by monitoring the user’s brain activity. Another purports to help treat anxiety and symptoms of depression. Another reads and interprets brain signals while the user scrolls through dating apps, presumably to provide better matches. (“‘Listen to your heart’ is not enough,” the manufacturer says on its website.) The companies behind such technologies have access to the records of the users’ brain activity — the electrical signals underlying our thoughts, feelings and intentions. On Wednesday, Governor Jared Polis of Colorado signed a bill that, for the first time in the United States, tries to ensure that such data remains truly private. The new law, which passed by a 61-to-1 vote in the Colorado House and a 34-to-0 vote in the Senate, expands the definition of “sensitive data” in the state’s current personal privacy law to include biological and “neural data” generated by the brain, the spinal cord and the network of nerves that relays messages throughout the body.
US reimposes oil sanctions on Venezuela as hopes for a fair presidential election fades 2024-04-17 19:32:20+00:00 - MIAMI (AP) — The Biden administration on Wednesday reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela, admonishing President Nicolás Maduro’s attempts to consolidate his rule just six months after the U.S. eased restrictions in a bid to support now fading hopes for a democratic opening in the OPEC nation. A senior U.S. official, discussing the decision with reporters, said any U.S. company investing in Venezuela would have 45 days to wind down operations to avoid adding uncertainty to global energy markets. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. policy deliberations. In October, the U.S. granted Maduro’s government relief from sanctions on its state-run oil, gas and mining sectors after it agreed to work with members of the opposition to hold a free and competitive presidential election this year. While Maduro went on to schedule an election for July and invite international observers to monitor voting, his inner circle has used the ruling party’s total control over Venezuela’s institutions to undermine the agreement. Actions include blocking his main rival, ex lawmaker Maria Corina Machado, from registering her candidacy or that of a designated alternative. Numerous government critics have also been jailed over the past six months, including several of Machado’s aides. Wednesday’s actions essentially return U.S. policy to what it was prior to the agreement hammered out in the Caribbean island of Barbados, making it illegal for U.S. companies to do business with state-run oil producer Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., better known as PDVSA, without a specific license from the U.S. Treasury Department. “We again call on Maduro to allow all candidates and parties to participate in the electoral process and release all political prisoners without restrictions or delay,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “We will continue to support Venezuelans’ aspirations for a more democratic, stable, and prosperous Venezuela.” It’s unclear what impact the snapback would have on Venezuela’s long floundering oil and gas industry — or whether it will pressure Maduro to offer a more level electoral playing field. The initial reprieve was issued for only six months. Experts say that’s not nearly enough time to attract the major capital investments required to revive long stagnant production in Venezuela, which sits atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves. However, by allowing Venezuela to send oil directly, instead of going through shady middlemen who charge a hefty fee, Maduro’s government was able to boost oil revenues and raise badly needed cash during the six months of U.S. sanctions relief. Additionally, the stiffening of sanctions doesn’t directly impact Chevron, the last major U.S. oil driller in Venezuela, which was allowed to boost shipments thanks to a license it was issued in 2022 amid concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would disrupt global energy supplies. “The true test of the administration’s seriousness about Venezuela is Chevron,” said Elliott Abrams, who served as the Trump administration’s special envoy to the crisis in Venezuela. “Leaving that license in place suggests the administration cares more about keeping oil prices down until the election, and about Chevron’s profits, than about U.S. national security interests and freedom in Venezuela.” While signaling its growing frustration with Maduro, the Biden administration is unlikely to return to the failed “maximum pressure” campaign tried during the Trump administration, which only strengthened the leftist leader’s hand, experts said. “It became impossible for the White House to pretend that the Maduro government in any way was complying — or even intended to comply — with the implicit deal in the partial lifting of sanctions,” said Christopher Sabatini, a research fellow at the Chatham House in London. “To have ignored that would have made the U.S. look weak and undermined the its credibility in leveraging sanctions not just on Venezuela but elsewhere.” Opinion polls show most Venezuelans would eagerly boot Maduro from office if given half a chance. Numerous regional leaders, including the leftist presidents of Colombia and Brazil, have joined the U.S. in criticizing the Maduro government’s failure to abide by its commitments and allow a competitive election. — Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.
Biden, Competing With Trump to Be Tough on China, Calls for Steel Tariffs 2024-04-17 19:12:57+00:00 - President Biden on Wednesday called for major increases to some tariffs on steel and aluminum products from China, speaking to members of a national steelworkers union in Pittsburgh as he vies with former President Donald J. Trump for votes in Northern industrial states. “These are strategic and targeted actions that are going to protect American workers and ensure fair competition,” Mr. Biden told a crowd of about 100 union members at the United Steelworkers, which endorsed him last month. “Meanwhile, my predecessor and the MAGA Republicans want across-the-board tariffs on all imports, from all countries, that could badly hurt American consumers.” The Biden administration has argued that a flood of low-cost exports from China is undermining American-made products — jeopardizing Mr. Biden’s push to expand U.S. manufacturing, a central focus of his economic agenda. In his speech, Mr. Biden said he would ask the U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai, to increase tariffs to what White House officials said would be 25 percent on certain Chinese products that now face tariffs of 7.5 percent, or none at all, pending the outcome of an administration review of the China tariffs initially imposed under Mr. Trump.
A New Home for Sundance? Festival Organizers Say It’s Possible. 2024-04-17 19:01:59+00:00 - For the past 40 years, the Sundance Film Festival, the influential annual gathering focused on independent film, has been indelibly linked with the snowy mountain town of Park City, Utah. That may change. The Sundance Institute, the nonprofit organization that runs the festival, announced Wednesday that with its 13-year contract with the city set to expire in 2026, it would begin a review process to determine whether it should move. It will now start seeking information from other U.S. cities interested in hosting the festival, which traditionally takes place in January. Beginning in May, the institute will request proposals from cities selected to move forward. The institute expects to announce its decision around the end of the year or the beginning of 2025. The festival will remain in Park City for 2025 and 2026. Park City, an hour outside Salt Lake City, often becomes snarled with traffic during the 10-day festival. Rental prices explode during the event, and the snowy climate often complicates the process of attending the screenings for many patrons.
Judges orders Pennsylvania agency to produce inspection records related to chocolate plant blast 2024-04-17 18:51:46+00:00 - Pennsylvania utility regulators must turn over inspection records to the National Transportation Safety Board as part of the federal agency’s probe into a fatal explosion at a chocolate factory last year, a federal judge ruled this week. U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Conner sided Tuesday with the federal safety board in its dispute with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, which had refused to produce inspection and investigation reports for UGI Utilities Inc. UGI is a natural gas utility at the center of the probe into the March 24, 2023, blast at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading. The powerful natural gas explosion leveled one building, heavily damaged another and killed seven people. Investigators have previously said they are looking at a pair of gas leaks as a possible cause of or contributor to the blast. State utility regulators had spurned the federal agency’s request for five years’ worth of UGI inspection records, citing a state law that protects “confidential security information” about key utility infrastructure from public disclosure, even to other government agencies. The utility commission offered federal investigators a chance to inspect the reports at its Harrisburg office or to sign a nondisclosure agreement, but the safety board refused and then issued a subpoena. The safety board said the records are vital to its investigation because they include state utility regulators’ assessment of the condition of UGI’s pipelines, as well as leak or odor complaint investigation records for the gas utility. The agency argued that federal regulations entitled it to the state investigation records. “These reports are also vital to determine whether the commission conducted oversight of UGI’s pipeline system in compliance with federal regulations,” federal prosecutors, representing the safety board, wrote in their March 29 petition asking the court to enforce the subpoena. In its response, the state agency pointed out that federal investigators had already obtained some of the requested records from UGI itself, and argued in a legal filing that federal law does not automatically preempt conflicting state laws. Conner gave utility regulators seven days to produce the subpoenaed documents, but said they could do it in a way that complies with state law. “From the beginning, the PUC has underscored a commitment to assist the NTSB with this investigation — while also complying with the Commission’s legal obligation to safeguard confidential security information,” said Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, a spokesperson for the utility commission. He said the judge’s decision was made as a result of discussions between the two agencies. An NSTB spokesperson declined comment. The federal investigation into the blast is ongoing. About 70 Palmer production workers and 35 office staff were working in two adjacent buildings at the time of the blast. Employees in both buildings told federal investigators they could smell gas before the explosion. Workers at the plant have accused Palmer of ignoring warnings of a natural gas leak, saying the plant, in a small town 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, should have been evacuated. Palmer was fined more than $44,000 by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for failing to evacuate. Palmer denied it violated any workplace safety standards and contested the OSHA citations.