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☆ Opinion | ‘Mike Johnson Did the Right Thing’ on Ukraine Aid
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “$95 Billion Bill for Three Allies Passes in House” (front page, April 21):Speaker Mike Johnson did the right thing! He acted as a statesman, putting country over party, and acknowledging that this act of bipartisan leadership could cost him his job. Perhaps we can make bipartisanship something to be applauded and not punished. To the Editor:As an independent, I vowed never again to vote for a Republican after the chaos of the past few years in Congress and the spinelessness of the Republican Party in following the lead of a misguided former president. Then came a surprise from Mike Johnson that has restored my faith in my fellow citizens.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Johnson, Susan Shelton Falmouth Organizations: Republican, Republican Party Locations: Ukraine, Mass

☆ Man who made bomb threat against Arizona election official gets 3.5 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Afia Barrie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —A man who sent a bomb threat in 2021 to Katie Hobbs, then-Arizona’s secretary of state and now Democratic governor, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison. James Clark of Falmouth, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in August 2023 to one count of making a threatening interstate communication after being indicted the previous summer on three counts, including making a bomb threat, the Justice Department announced. “Those using illegal threats of violence to intimidate election workers should know that the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable under the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. Following Clark’s threats, law enforcement said they conducted partial evacuations and bomb sweeps of the Arizona secretary of state’s office as well as Hobbs’s home and car. The case was brought by the Justice Department’s election threats task force, which was established in June 2021 to address threats of violence against election workers.

Persons: Katie Hobbs, James Clark of, General Merrick Garland, Clark, ”, Hobbs Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Justice Department, DOJ, Boston Marathon Locations: James Clark of Falmouth , Massachusetts, Arizona

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — With the death last spring of Portland's beloved Valentine's Day bandit, some wondered if the mysterious appearance of red hearts around Maine's largest city would continue. Hundreds of red hearts appeared on storefronts, mailboxes and even trash bins on Wednesday, with giant banners defying gusty winds at DiMillo’s floating restaurant and on construction scaffolding in the Old Port. “Long live the Valentine’s Day Bandit,” said Cary Tyson, executive director of Portland Downtown. On the website, people can download and print the simple, red hearts and become a bandit. It wasn’t until she started school, she said, that she learned that other people didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day with the same fervor.

Persons: “ Long, ”, Cary Tyson, Kevin Fahrman, pranksters, wasn't, Sierra Fahrman, Fahrman, Van, “, Patti Urban, Sierra, Santa Organizations: Portland Public Library, Portland Locations: PORTLAND, Maine, Maine's, Old, Portland, Portland Downtown, Falmouth, Santa Claus

She is one of this year's winners of an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, presented by the American Library Association. The fiction medal was awarded to Amanda Peters for her novel “The Berry Pickers,” a multi-generational story centered around the disappearance of a young Mi’kmaq girl from a blueberry field in Maine. “Amanda Peters’ stunning prose and evocative narrative enraptured us with the grief and longing of her characters. “I was 16 and sitting in the library and it changed the trajectory of my reading career," said Peters, who read the book at home. The Carnegie Medals were established in 2012 with the help of a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Persons: Roxanna Asgarian, ”, Andrew Carnegie, Roald Dahl's, Asgarian, Hart, Amanda Peters, “ Amanda Peters, Christina Wong’s, Daniel Innes ’, Jake Bittle’s “, Darrin Bell’s “, Peters, John Steinbeck's, “, ” Peters, ” Asgarian, Jennifer Egan, James McBride, Bryan Stevenson Organizations: —, Las Vegas, American Library Association, Carnegie, Dalhousie University, Acadia University, New York Public Library, History Research, Town, Carnegie Corporation of New Locations: Las, Dallas, America, Maine, San Diego, United States, Falmouth , Nova Scotia, Wolfville , Nova Scotia, New York City, New York, Carnegie Corporation of New York

☆ Please don't bother Jeff Bezos on vacation
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-31 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewJeff Bezos' yacht is such a spectacle to behold that local authorities have had to ask the public to give the billionaire some privacy while he's on vacation. Before that, Bezos broke a California record by purchasing a $165-million estate built by Warner Bros. cofounder Jack Warner in 1937. The Beverly Hills estate provides privacy with tall hedges that hide the home from the street. Even in the way he conducts his businesses, from Amazon to Blue Origin, Bezos has cherished privacy, keeping some of the company projects secret for years, The Washington Post reported.

Persons: —, Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez, Tourism Charles Fernandez, Fernandez, Jeff, Lauren love Maui, Bezos, Jack Warner Organizations: Service, Business, Barbuda's, Tourism, Antigua Observer, Pacific Business, Warner Bros, Washington Post Locations: Falmouth, Antigua, Barbuda, Koru, Maui's, California, Beverly, Amazon

Paris CNN —Storm Ciarán has brought hurricane-strength winds to France, the Channel Islands and southern England, leaving more than a million people without access to electricity and forcing hundreds of schools to close. Waves crashing on the Phare du Four in Porspoder, western France, on November 2, 2023, as Storm Ciarán reached the region. Fallen trees and electricity pylons uprooted by the storm were to blame for the cuts. A tree brought down by Storm Ciarán overnight blocking the road at Castle Hill on November 2, 2023 in Falmouth, Cornwall, England. Storm Ciarán follows less than two weeks after Storm Babet, which brought strong winds, heavy rainfall and flash flooding to parts of Scotland and northern and central England, killing several people.

Persons: Paris CNN —, Ciarán, Storm Ciarán, Damien Meyer, Enedis, Hugh Hastings, Ben Birchall, Storm Babet, ”, Friederike Otto, Angela Dewan Organizations: Paris CNN, Channel, Getty, French Transport, Clément, Franceinfo, Isles, Islands, Storm, Met, Met Office, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London Locations: France, England, Finistère, Porspoder, Brittany, Clément Beaune, Jersey, Cornwall, English, Castle Hill, Falmouth , Cornwall, Somerset, Scotland

☆ A $120 million megayacht linked to a Russian billionaire was seized by authorities, and now residents of a small Caribbean nation are paying $28,000-a-week to maintain it, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A $120 million megayacht linked to a Russian billionaire has been docked in Antigua and Barbuda for 19 months. Now taxpayers in the small country are paying $28,000-a-week to maintain the idle vessel, per the WSJ. The Alfa Nero is a $120 million vessel that was raided by armed police and the FBI in August 2022, having been left in Antigua's Falmouth Harbor since Russia invaded Ukraine six months earlier. The US Treasury Department has linked the Alfa Nero to Andrey Guryev , a Russian oligarch who the department says is a "close associate" of Vladimir Putin. The Journal reports that the country's residents are paying $28,000-a-week in taxes to maintain the Alfa Nero, including the salary of an Italian captain and $2,000-a-day in diesel to keep its air conditioning running.

Persons: Nero, Alfa Nero, Andrey Guryev, Vladimir Putin, Eric Schmidt, Guryev's, it's, Joan Miró, Tom Paterson Organizations: Service, Street Journal, FBI, US Treasury Department, Bloomberg, Alfa, Guardian, Google Locations: Russian, Antigua, Barbuda, Caribbean, Wall, Silicon, Antigua's Falmouth Harbor, Russia, Ukraine, Falmouth Harbor, Italian

☆ Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt paid $67 million for a superyacht abandoned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Max Adams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt paid $67.6 million at auction for a 267-foot superyacht. The boat was left moored in Antigua Bay by Andrey Guryev, a sanctioned Russian oligarch. Billionaire and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt won an auction Friday for the 267-foot Alfa Nero, paying $67.6 million for the superyacht that had been "abandoned" in Antigua Bay by a sanctioned Russian oligarch. Schmidt was the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, and stepped down as chairman of Google parent Alphabet in 2018. Representatives for Schmidt didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

Persons: Eric Schmidt, Andrey Guryev, Nero, Sir Ronald Sanders, Schmidt, Guryev, Vladimir Putin, Guryev's, Mr Guryev, Alfa Nero, Beck Diefenbach, Schmidt didn't Organizations: Google, Russian oligarch, Bloomberg, Morning, Barbuda Port Authority, Boat, US Treasury Department, Guryev, Alfa, Reuters Officials, International . Locations: Antigua Bay, Russian, Antigua, Barbuda, Ukraine, Falmouth Harbor

☆ This Massachusetts lawmaker wants to create a 4-day workweek: 'A life built around working all the time is not a very happy one'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A pair of Massachusetts lawmakers are the latest to try and make the four-day workweek a reality. Rep. Dylan Fernandes of Falmouth and Rep. Josh Cutler of Duxbury filed legislation this week to create a voluntary program, the "Massachusetts Smart Work Week Pilot," that would create a tax credit for businesses who move their workers to a shorter week for the same pay. Participating businesses would be required to transition at least 15 workers to a 32-hour, four-day weekly schedule without reducing their salaries. Employers would receive a tax credit in exchange for regularly reporting the shortened week's economic and social impact in their organization, such as on employee wellbeing and work-life balance. The legislation will now be directed to a committee and considered in a committee hearing.

☆ Antigua wants to quickly auction off an 'abandoned' superyacht linked to a Russian oligarch after it ran up a $500,000 bill for fuel and food
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Antigua and Barbuda government has declared the Alfa Nero super yacht abandoned. Authorities intend to use the money to pay down a $500,000 fuel bill owed to the Antigua Yacht Club Marina. The authorities intend to use the yacht's sale proceeds to pay down a $500,000 debt it owes to the Antigua Yacht Club Marina for fuel, per Daily Observer. He added the Alfa Nero could also be uninsured and this could cause issues for the harbor. The US Department of the Treasury has linked the Alfa Nero super to Guryev, who the department said is a "close associate" of President Vladimir Putin.

☆ Pickleball is America’s fastest-growing sport. These people hate it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The sound and disruption from pickleball, America’s fastest-growing sport, is driving some neighbors, tennis players, parents of young children, and others crazy. Pickleball is America's fastest-growing sport. Some tennis players are also frustrated because pickleball is taking over tennis courts. There were 11,000 places to play Pickleball at the end of 2022, an increase of around 130 new locations a month, according to USA Pickleball, the sport’s national governing body. People play pickleball on what were once tennis courts at Allendale Park in Pasadena, CA, in 2022.

☆ Antigua and Barbuda is preparing to auction off an 'abandoned' $81 million superyacht linked to a Russian oligarch, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An $81 million superyacht linked to a Russian oligarch is reportedly set to be auctioned off. The 81.2-meter Alfa Nero has been linked to Russian chemicals magnate Andrey Guryev. An Antigua and Barbuda government minister reportedly said the "abandoned" yacht risks becoming a "hazard." The 81.2-meter Alfa Nero was built by Oceanco and can accommodate 12 guests in six staterooms and 28 crew, according to Boat International. The Treasury department said in August that the Alfa Nero was a "blocked property" of Guryev's, and that he reportedly bought the yacht for $120 million in 2014.

☆ Spaceport locals say rocket launch by billionaire Richard Branson boosted their farming community and put the area on the map
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Virgin Orbit's rocket broke down, but residents said the launch will put Cornwall on the map. Kate Duffy/InsiderSue and Paul Nuttall, who were looking to retire soon, told Insider that Virgin Orbit's launch was needed to put Cornwall, a farming county, on the map. Hosting Virgin Orbit's launch will hopefully keep children like Seth who are interested in space in Cornwall, Emma said. Virgin Orbit's mission was set to be the UK's first orbital space launch from UK soil. In a press conference on Sunday, Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, said she hopes residents feel proud of Cornwall "going to the stars."

☆ How small-town Maine embraced a family that fled the Taliban
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Elyse Lightman Samuels | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +36 min

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — Last November, at about midnight, Omid was lying in bed in his new home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine — exhausted, but unable to sleep. On this night, and on many nights during Omid's first few months in Maine, Nasir was soon at his door. Omid's family arrived in Maine just before Halloween in 2021 and recently celebrated one year in Maine. Catholic Charities, the local refugee-resettlement organization in Maine, was working with Omid's family to help them resettle. After Omid's family escaped Kabul, members of his extended family came by to collect some of their more precious items, and gave other things away.

☆ 'Twitter as we know it is dead': Why Elon Musk's plans risk more scams and misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

He has announced plans to make verified users pay $8 a month for blue checks. Social media experts warned the plans could risk allowing more scams and misinformation on Twitter. But his push to improve Twitter's finances has prompted social media experts to warn he risks allowing more scams and disinformation on the platform. There is no other example of a mainstream social media company that's owned and controlled by one person." "Social media is rife with coded language, false accounts set up to spread disinformation, and cunning use of free-speech to misdirect and derail honest debate."

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