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☆ Fjords, Pharaohs or Koalas? Time to Plan for Your Next Eclipse.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Danielle Dowling | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Are you still a little giddy from the magical moments of totality during Monday’s solar eclipse? So, if like Mr. Rao, you’ve developed a raging case of umbraphilia — the love of eclipses — you’ll have three chances over the next four years to see the moon blot out the sun. The first, on Aug. 12, 2026, will start above Greenland, then strafe the west coast of Iceland and move along the Atlantic Ocean and over Spain. Almost a year later, on Aug. 2, 2027, another will skirt the Mediterranean coast of North Africa then cross Egypt and part of the Arabian Peninsula. The third, on July 22, 2028, will cut across Australia and the southern tip of New Zealand.

Persons: ‘ I’ve, ”, Joseph Rao, Rao, you’ve Locations: Greenland, Iceland, Spain, North Africa, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand

☆ Former Ohio House Speaker Hit With 10 Additional Felony Charges
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Michael Wines | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A former speaker of the Ohio State House of Representatives, now serving a 20-year federal prison sentence, was indicted on 10 more state felony charges on Monday in connection with a sprawling bribery scheme that handed a $1.3 billion bailout to a major regional energy utility. The charges against the former speaker, Larry Householder, followed an inquiry by the Ohio Organized Crime Commission that also produced indictments last month of two former executives of the Akron-based utility, FirstEnergy Corporation. The two men — Chuck Jones, a former FirstEnergy chief executive officer, and Michael Dowling, a senior vice president — were charged with funneling $4.3 million in bribes to the former chairman of the Ohio Public Utility Commission, Sam Randazzo. They and Mr. Randazzo, who was also indicted, have pleaded not guilty to a total of 27 charges. The FirstEnergy case has been called the largest political scandal in Ohio history.

Persons: Larry, Chuck Jones, Michael Dowling, —, Sam Randazzo, Randazzo Organizations: Ohio State House of Representatives, Ohio, Commission, FirstEnergy Corporation Locations: Akron, Ohio

☆ ‘Dune: Part Two’: Here’s Everything You Need to Know
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Danielle Dowling | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Dune” is set about 20,000 years in the future, and much of the series takes place on the desert planet of Arrakis. Part of the galactic empire of the Imperium, which is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam, Arrakis is vital because it offers a necessary resource — spice — that exists nowhere else. In “Part One,” the emperor transferred control of Arrakis from the brutes of House Harkonnen to their longtime foes, House Atreides. “Part Two” opens with the words “Power over spice is power over all.” After a religious revolt against robots millenniums before the start of the series, the use of intelligent machines was banned. The resource is particularly crucial to the navigators, who enable interstellar travel.

Persons: Shaddam, Harkonnen, Atreides, Duke Leto Atreides, Arrakis, Leto’s, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Stellan, Leto, millenniums

The long-awaited indictments marked the latest development in what has been labeled the largest corruption case in Ohio history. In July 2021, Yost asked a judge in Columbus to add Jones, Dowling and Randazzo to his office's lawsuit against FirstEnergy. It identified 84 phone contacts between Jones and Householder and 14 phone contacts between Dowling and Householder. FirstEnergy admitted to its role in the bribery scheme as part of a July 2021 deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. A statement of facts signed by then-FirstEnergy CEO and President Steven Strah, who retired in 2022, detailed the involvement of Jones, Dowling, Randazzo and others in the bribery scheme.

Persons: Chuck Jones, Michael Dowling, Dave Yost, Sam Randazzo, Larry, Matt Borges, Jones, Dowling, Susan Baker Ross, Randazzo, Baker, Columbus, FirstEnergy, Mike DeWine, Carole Rendon, ”, Matthew Meyer, Richard Blake, Borges, Juan Cespedes, Jeffrey Longstreth, Neil Clark, Householder’s, Bill, Yost, Steven Strah Organizations: FirstEnergy Corp, Republican, Public Utilities Commission, Summit, FBI, Republican Gov, GPS, Industrial Energy, Randazzo, Sustainability, of Ohio, FirstEnergy, U.S . Department of Justice Locations: COLUMBUS , Ohio, Ohio, Akron, Naples , Florida, FirstEnergy, U.S, Cincinnati, Columbus

☆ FirstEnergy Ex-C.E.O. and 2 Others Are Indicted in Bribery Scandal
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( J. Edward Moreno | More About J. Edward Moreno | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two former executives of FirstEnergy and a former public utility commissioner have been indicted in a multimillion-dollar public corruption scandal, Ohio’s attorney general, Dave Yost, said on Monday. Collectively, the three men are charged with 27 counts, including theft, bribery and fraud. The charges were filed on Friday but weren’t made public until Mr. Yost announced them on Monday. The indictments are the first against FirstEnergy executives in perhaps the biggest public corruption scandal in Ohio’s history, one that has already landed a former lawmaker in prison. State and federal officials have accused the company, an Ohio-based electric utility that serves six million customers, of paying state lawmakers and regulators millions of dollars in exchange for subsidies and other favorable treatment.

Persons: Dave Yost, Charles Jones, Michael Dowling, Samuel Randazzo, weren’t, Yost Organizations: Public Utilities Commission, FirstEnergy Locations: State, Ohio

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff was struck in the face by a puck Thursday night and wasn’t behind the bench for the third period of his team's 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. “Just wasn’t feeling right, but seems a little better right now than he was after the second, so that was great to see,” Devils associate coach Travis Green said after the game. Ruff, who turns 64 next month, was hit with about 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the second period, but was tended to and remained behind the bench after a brief break. The latter goal came with 2.3 seconds remaining, with the Devils using an extra attacker. Devils goalie Nico Daws was pulled after Carolina’s third goal early in the second period.

Persons: Lindy Ruff, “, Travis Green, Ruff, didn’t, ” Green, Justin Dowling, Jesper Bratt, Nico Daws, Vitek Vanecek, ___ Organizations: —, — New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, Devils, NHL, ., Carolina Locations: RALEIGH, N.C, — New, . New Jersey

☆ A Texas-Size Taste of Next Year’s Blockbuster Solar Eclipse
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Danielle Dowling | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

An amateur astronomer and a NASA eclipse ambassador, Ms. Davies is leading the alliance’s efforts to organize and support eclipse events in the area. At the nearby Best Western, rooms for that eclipse are going for about $1,100 a night, Ms. Moore said. In Bandera, the self-proclaimed Cowboy Capital of the World, this eclipse came with wagon rides, Old West shootout re-enactments and one outrageously long-horned bull named Redneck. A little over an hour away in the small town of Junction, Macy Brooks, the organizer of the Texclipse Music Festival, is also planning to go bigger in April. Josh White, an owner of Arrowhead Creek, a vineyard in Stonewall, is planning for a relatively quiet event at his winery in April.

Persons: ”, Dawn Davies, Davies, “, ” Patricia Moore, annularity, Moore, Macy Brooks, margarita, Brooks, Josh White Organizations: Hill Country Alliance, NASA, Bandera County Convention, Visitors Bureau, Cowboy Capital, Old West Locations: Oregon, South Carolina, Bandera County, Bandera, Old, Spain, Junction, Arrowhead, Stonewall

Crypto companies have been expanding in Washington to combat growing regulatory scrutiny, especially from the SEC which says the industry has been flouting its rules. "Everybody wants to make sure that what they're doing isn't going to be erased by the government," said Kara Calvert, head of U.S. policy at Coinbase, referring to the crypto industry. A House vote before year-end is possible, but the outlook is dimmer in the Senate, where industry-friendly crypto bills have failed to gain traction. And Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown of Ohio has shown little interest in making it a priority to advance the House bills. "The last thing we need is for the crypto industry to write their own rulebook — too many Ohioans have been burned by fraud and scams," said Brown in a statement to Reuters.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Katherine Dowling, Coinbase, OpenSecrets, Brian Armstrong, Kara Calvert, Mark Hays, Sherrod Brown of, Brown, Ian Katz, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Richard Chang Organizations: REUTERS, Coinbase, Financial, National Defense, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Binance, Reuters, OpenSea, Financial Reform, Senate, Capital Alpha Partners, Thomson Locations: Washington, NFTs, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Ohio

☆ Exclusive: Blackstone's Horizon head Scott Bommer to leave company
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Bommer, a former hedge fund manager, joined Blackstone in 2021 as a senior managing director when the company was overhauling its $81 billion Blackstone Alternative Asset Management hedge fund unit known as BAAM. The Blackstone Horizon platform will now be run by an investment committee led by BAAM Global Head Joe Dowling, the sources said. Before coming to Blackstone, Bommer ran hedge fund SAB Capital for 17 years investing in stocks, debt and mortgages. Bommer was the first big hire brought in by Dowling, after he joined Blackstone in early 2021 to help overhaul the hedge fund unit. Last year Tiger Global Management lost 56% while Whale Rock Capital Management ended with a 43% loss, Reuters reported previously.

Persons: Blackstone, Scott Bommer, Joe Dowling, Bommer, Dowling, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Diane Craft, David Gregorio Our Organizations: YORK, Blackstone, Management, BAAM Global, SAB Capital, Tiger Global Management, Whale Rock Capital Management, Reuters, Svea, Thomson

☆ Moms and worried and stressed. Here are 4 strategies they can use to juggle family, work, and everything else.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Surveys show that American moms are stressed, burned out, and anxious about their children. Experts have said there are concrete steps working and non-working moms can take to ease the burden. Some surveys have shown that American moms are stressed, burned out, and anxious about their children. The effects have particularly destructive consequences for working moms, she told Insider. In household-management terms, this means assessing family needs, identifying solutions to meet those needs, and implementing strategies.

A majority of the 10 global asset and hedge fund managers surveyed by Reuters said commodities are undervalued and should thrive as global inflation stays elevated in 2023. Preqin said just 915 hedge funds were launched in 2022, the lowest in 10 years. "It's the perfect environment for macro hedge funds: central bank policy divergence, interest rate differentials, geopolitical tension, bottlenecks and each country on its own. Macro hedge funds led the industry performance through November, according to financial data firm HFR, up roughly 8%. Lyons is keen to allot more to macro hedge funds and also thinks there are good opportunities in corporate credit.

☆ A woman hired a private investigator after waiting months for a tiny home she'd paid $46,000 for but never received
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A woman hired a private investigator after waiting months for her tiny home to be delivered. Matt Sowash promised buyers tiny homes, but has filed for bankruptcy, court records show. "That was when I hired a private investigator who did some digging and discovered that he didn't have any assets in his name," she told the outlet. He also told NBC he was not sure if he could construct the 250 homes that had already been paid for. Sowash told NBC he borrowed $400,000 loan from Kinetic to build the homes, but wasn't able to make the payments.

DENVER — The businessman accused of swindling people out of their life savings by promising to build them tiny homes and not delivering is now the target of a police investigation. Matt Sowash, founder of the Colorado-based nonprofit Holy Ground Tiny Houses, has also filed for bankruptcy, court records revealed Wednesday. A 14' tiny home featured on the Holy Ground Tiny Homes YouTube channel. Tiny homes have been touted as a solution to homelessness and an affordable way for many to put a roof over their heads as home prices across the country have skyrocketed. Holy Ground Tiny Homes.

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