DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Biden is taking a page from Ronald Reagan's 1984 playbook in a push to quell voter concerns over his age
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Biden faces concerns about his age as he begins a tough general election campaign. A newly released general election ad attempts a "Morning in America" kind of message. "Under the leadership of President Reagan, our country is prouder, and stronger, and better," the narrator says. Biden's own set of challengesIn November 1984, Biden won a third term representing Delaware in the Senate. But with a general election campaign that'll stretch for months, this could change.)

Persons: Biden, —, Joe Biden's, Donald Trump —, hasn't, Ronald Reagan, Here's, Reagan, Walter Mondale, Trump, Mondale, Megan Varner Organizations: Service, GOP, Democratic, New York Times, Siena, Biden, Times, Gallup, Trump, Independents Locations: America, Georgia, Michigan, Washington, United States, Delaware, Atlanta ,, States, Siena

☆ A New Surge in Power Use Is Threatening U.S. Climate Goals
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Brad Plumer | Nadja Popovich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

Nathan Howard for The New York TimesIn California, electric vehicles could soon account for 10 percent of peak power demand. AP Photo/Mike StewartIn interviews, utility executives say gas is needed to back up wind and solar power, which don’t run all the time. Gas plants can sometimes be easier to build than renewables, since they may not require new long-distance transmission lines. “It’s going to take a diversified fleet.”Mr. Mitchell noted that Georgia Power was planning a large build-out of solar power and batteries over the next decade and would offer incentives to companies to use less power during times of grid stress. The tech companies and manufacturers that are driving up electricity demand could also play a major role, experts say.

Persons: ”, Daniel Brooks, Nathan Howard, Lauren Justice, Biden’s, “, Tyler H, Norris, Mr, John Wilson, Ken Seiler, Seiler, Devin Hartman, Duke, Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy’s, it’s, we’ve, Georgia Power, It’s, Greg Buppert, Megan Varner, Mike Stewart, Aaron Mitchell, “ It’s, Mitchell, Heather O’Neill, Brian Janous Organizations: Electric Power Research Institute, The New York Times, Duke University, Biden, Utilities, North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Boston Consulting, Dominion Energy, Nationwide, R Street Institute, The New York Times Soaring, Duke Energy, Georgia, Southern Environmental Law Center, AP, Dominion, Georgia Power, Advanced Energy, Microsoft Locations: America, California, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina , Tennessee, Kansas, Northern Virginia, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, York City, PJM, “ Texas, Ashburn, Va, Dalton , Ga, Dalton, Duke

☆ Wages boost US labor costs in third quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Employment Cost Index (ECI), the broadest measure of labor costs, rose 1.1% last quarter after increasing 1.0% in the April-June period, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Labor costs increased 4.3% on a year-on-year basis after advancing by 4.5% in the second quarter. Wages increased 1.2% in the third quarter after climbing 1.0% in the prior three months. They were up 4.6% on a year-on-year basis after advancing by the same margin in the second quarter. Inflation-adjusted wages for all workers rose 0.9% on a year-on-year basis after jumping 1.7% in the second quarter.

Persons: Megan Varner, Rubeela Farooqi, Lucia Mutikani, Paul Simao Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Federal Reserve, Labor Department, Treasury, Fed, Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, Reuters, Labor, State, Thomson Locations: Dalton , Georgia, U.S

☆ World food price index back at two-year low despite rice surge -FAO
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Megan Varner/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The United Nations food agency's world price index fell in August to a new two-year low, reversing a rebound seen the previous month, as a decline in most food commodities offset increases for rice and sugar. The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 121.4 points in August against a revised 124.0 for the previous month, the agency said on Friday. The July reading was initially given as 123.9 in a rebound from a two-year low in June. The drop in the overall index reflected declines for dairy products, vegetable oils, meat and cereals, despite a jump in FAO's rice benchmark to a 15-year high following Indian export restrictions, the agency said. In contrast, the agency's rice index surged by almost 10% month-on-month as India's decision in July to ban Indica white rice exports disrupted trade at a time of tight availabilities ahead of new-crop harvests, FAO said.

Persons: Megan Varner, Gus Trompiz, Hugh Lawson, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Community Assistance Center, REUTERS, Rights, United, Agriculture Organization's, FAO, El, European Union, Thomson Locations: Atlanta , Georgia, U.S, United Nations, Ukraine, Oceania, Canada, FAO

[1/2] Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Georgia Republican Party convention in Columbus, Georgia, U.S. June 10, 2023. Trump is scheduled to be in a Miami federal courthouse on Tuesday at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) for an initial appearance in the case. With memories fresh of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol, officials have raised security concerns. The indictment alleges Trump lied to officials who tried to get them back. Trump accuses Democratic President Joe Biden of orchestrating the federal case to undermine his campaign.

Persons: Donald Trump, Megan Varner, Trump, TRUMP, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Jack Smith, William Barr, Joe Biden, Biden, Smith, Doina Chiacu, Jacqueline Thomsen, Andy Sullivan, Noeleen Walder, Howard Goller Organizations: U.S, Republican, Georgia Republican Party, REUTERS, Bedminster, Social, U.S . Capitol, Miami Mayor, White, Democratic, Department, Thomson Locations: Columbus , Georgia, U.S, Miami, New Jersey, Newark, Georgia, Lago Florida, Florida, New York

☆ Trump magnifies attacks on Justice Department after his indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Nathan Layne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

June 10 (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump used the first public appearance since his federal indictment to ratchet up attacks on the Justice Department, accusing prosecutors, without evidence, of a politically motivated campaign to keep him from the White House. The Justice Department maintains that all its investigative decisions are made without regard to partisan politics, and Biden has said he would not get involved in the Trump probe. Most of Trump's rivals responded by accusing the Justice Department of political bias, reflecting their fears of upsetting Trump's core supporters, a group thought to be 30% of the Republican electorate. In Biden's case, his attorneys informed the National Archives and the Justice Department of the discovery of classified files, according to Garland. The Justice Department has not said whether it would indict Biden.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Joe Biden, Biden, weaponized, Megan Varner, General Merrick Garland, Garland, Jack Smith, Nathan Layne, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Justice Department, Republican, Democrat, Department, Trump, White House, Prosecutors, Politico, U.S, Georgia Republican Party, REUTERS, National Archives, Justice Department of, The, Thomson Locations: U.S, Columbus , Georgia, Miami, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Georgia, New York, Wilton , Connecticut

☆ Atlanta Shooting Highlights Risk of Violence in Medical Facilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Jon Kamp | Cameron Mcwhirter | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A shooting at a Northside Hospital medical office in Atlanta this week left one woman dead and four injured. Photo: Megan Varner/Getty ImagesATLANTA—The deadly medical-office shooting here earlier this week highlighted a growing concern in the healthcare industry and state governments: violence in medical facilities. On May 3, a man opened fire with a handgun in the waiting room on the 11th floor of Northside Medical Midtown, a medical office building, according to Atlanta police. Brian Kemp had signed a new law, which partially took effect May 2, allowing hospital systems to establish their own campus police forces. Other states have also passed bills aimed at preventing attacks and increasing penalties for assaults, and more are in the works.

[1/2] Solar panels are built at the QCells solar energy manufacturing factory in Dalton, Georgia, U.S., March 2, 2023. The Inflation Reduction Act, which passed last year without a single Republican vote, is a signature Biden accomplishment and offers $369 billion investment to address climate change. This includes $270 billion in tax incentives. Republicans have portrayed the tax credits as a distortion of the free market that gives unfair advantage to clean-energy producers over fossil fuels. Frisone, of CZAR-Power, said he plans to call Republican officeholders to make his case, adding, "This is a political stunt -- why are we doing it?"

They said two in five people seeking food assistance in the Atlanta region this year have not done so before. In central Ohio, the local food bank says the number of households seeking aid has increased by nearly half since last year. Craig Gundersen, a Baylor University economics professor who is a prominent researcher for Feeding America, said that food banks experiencing spikes above COVID levels are outliers. The Highland Food Pantry in Winchester, Virginia, said it served about 90 families a week during the pandemic. In early April, White visited a community center to donate old clothes and noticed a line for the food pantry.

But many medical associations have said the law is transphobic and that gender-affirming care can be life-saving. The new lawsuit says depriving transgender youth of medically necessary care will have devastating consequences for them and their families. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three families with transgender children and a Memphis-based doctor who performs gender-affirming procedures. Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the ban into law last month along with a separate measure restricting drag performances in public. Several other U.S. states have banned gender-affirming care for minors, and over the last several weeks groups have sued over laws adopted in Utah, Florida, Indiana and Arkansas.

☆ Three Charged With Murder in Alabama Birthday Shooting
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jennifer Calfas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Megan Varner/Getty ImagesThree people have been arrested and charged with murder in the Alabama birthday party shooting that left four people dead and more than two dozen injured. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said special agents with the State Bureau of Investigation arrested a 17-year-old male and a 16-year-old male, both from Tuskegee, Ala., on Tuesday night. The teens were charged with four counts of reckless murder, the agency said.

☆ Atlanta DA Fani Willis loves using a law designed for going after the mob. She may use it to charge Trump.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The law — designed for going after the mob — makes sense for her investigation into Donald Trump, experts say. In her time in the district attorney's office, Willis has aggressively used Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization statute. One sprawling 56-count RICO case, against the rapper Young Thug's alleged gang, is in its second month of jury selection ahead of what's expected to be a nine-month trial. But if she were to bring a case, experts believe RICO charges are likely. Rahmani cautioned that a RICO case may make Willis look too aggressive.

☆ Biden's clean energy factory jobs may elude U.S. union workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Right to work laws allow employees to work in union-represented workplaces and be covered by collective bargaining agreements without joining a union or paying dues. American products, he vowed, would be made with union labor. Union labor. Many of the jobs created will be union jobs, the official added. "It's not a favorable environment, but we can still organize," Samantha Smith, senior adviser for clean energy jobs at the AFL-CIO, said in an interview.

☆ Atlanta DA doesn't want the public to see the special grand jury report into Trump's efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A special grand jury spent months investigating whether Trump and other officials criminally interfered in Georgia's 2020 election. In an Atlanta courthouse, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said the report, from a special grand jury, should not be released "at this time." McBurney dissolved the special grand jury earlier this month. They typically sit for a maximum of two months, and would review the deposition transcripts and other evidence already gathered by the special grand jury. "That was the approach when she initiated the special grand jury last year."

☆ Heavy turnout in Georgia runoff election as early voting wraps up
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Andy Sullivan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Voters attend to cast their ballots in the runoff election for the Senate position, between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican candidate Herschel Walker, at the Metropolitan Library, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., November 29, 2022. REUTERS/Megan Varner/File PhotoDec 2 (Reuters) - Election officials on Friday reported heavy turnout in Georgia on the last day of early voting ahead of the Dec. 6 runoff election that will determine whether Democrats can add to their razor-thin majority in the U.S. Senate. As of Friday morning, at least 1,473,00 voters had cast early ballots in person or via mail, according to Raffensperger's office. Voters will be able to cast ballots in person on Tuesday and return mail ballots through that day as well. Warnock narrowly edged Walker in the Nov. 8 election by 49.44% to 48.49%, even as Republican candidates won other statewide races.

☆ Republicans want Brian Kemp's mojo to rub off on Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff, but hurdles remain as the governor uses his political operation to boost the GOP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Brian Kemp has emerged as Herschel Walker's most powerful surrogate in the Georgia Senate runoff. Kemp, who won reelection as governor, didn't campaign with Walker during the general election race. This normally wouldn't be a notable act in GOP politics, but the Georgia Senate runoff election is not a normal contest. For that reason, Walker has found himself openly embracing Kemp, who came out of the general election as the biggest winner in Georgia politics. On November 7, Kemp flew around Georgia with most of the statewide GOP candidates — including Raffensperger — but Walker wasn't part of the mix.

Brian Kemp is set to testify Tuesday morning before the special grand jury investigating possible 2020 election inference by former President Donald Trump and his allies, a source familiar with the arrangements told NBC News. The scheduled testimony of Kemp, who won re-election last week, comes after a Georgia judge in August denied his bid to avoid testifying before the grand jury. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that Kemp does not have to testify until after the November election. Weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Trump told Fox News that he was “ashamed” he had endorsed Kemp in 2018. The former president recruited former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., who sowed doubt on the 2020 election results, to challenge Kemp in Georgia’s gubernatorial primary.

The other is Herschel Walker.”A runoff election to decide control of the Senate is not new for Georgia or its Black voters. Now, Jones said, Black voters are facing the burden of having to pull Georgia — and the country — across the line. That part is confusing.”Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker. All of them have so much admiration for Stacey Abrams.”Abrams received 90% of the Black vote, but only 51% of the women’s overall vote, according to NBC News Exit Polls. I can’t be worried about the Senate,” Jones said.

☆ Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker will face off in a December 6 runoff election in Georgia with a 4-week campaign blitz unlike any other
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker are set to face off in a Dec. 6 Senate runoff, per Insider and DDHQ. The time between the general election and the runoff is shorterAfter Warnock and Ossoff flipped both of Georgia's Senate seats from then-GOP Sens. Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker. To meet eligibility requirements to cast a ballot in the runoff election, an individual must have been registered to vote by November 7. The Biden and Trump factorsIn 2020, Biden became the first Democratic presidential nominee to capture Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.

☆ 2022 midterm elections: Here are the states where recounts are likely
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Jack Stebbins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Is the recount automatic? Is the recount automatic? Is the recount automatic? Is the recount automatic? Is the recount automatic?

☆ As Election Day approaches, Democrats warn that Social Security and Medicare are at stake
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

He also pointed to impending risks to Social Security based on plans floated by certain Republican lawmakers, namely Sens. What's more, it would mean letting two of the most important laws that established Social Security and Medicare expire, he said. It is unclear what his opponent Kean's stance is on Social Security and Medicare. While that's in keeping with years past, the difference this year is Social Security has been more of a front-burner issue. "Usually, it's a lot of lip service to Social Security and how they think it's a great program."

☆ 'We're going to hang you': DOJ cracks down on threats to election workers ahead of high-stakes midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

That is just one example of the rising number of violent threats election workers in the days leading up to the Nov. 8 midterms. "These threats against election officials continue," Michael McDonald, a professor of political science at the University of Florida, told CNBC. Additional funding from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan can also be used to protect election workers, Polite said. DOJ launched an election threats task force in July 2021 to ensure voters are safe at the polls and to look into the rise in threatening behavior against election workers like Moss. Jared Polis signed an act protecting election workers from threats, coercion or intimidation into law.

☆ Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock blasts GOP opponent Herschel Walker over campaign tumult: 'We have seen some disturbing things'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Raphael Warnock called out Herschel Walker after a campaign appearance on Friday, per the AJC. Warnock said that Walker's campaign tumult centered on abortion shows "a disturbing pattern." We've seen a disturbing pattern, and it raises real questions about who is actually ready to represent the people of Georgia," Warnock said of Walker. Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker. He alluded to what he depicted as a Democratic-led smear campaign during a Thursday press coverage in Georgia.

☆ Raphael Warnock has a 5-point lead over Herschel Walker in high-stakes Georgia Senate contest, while Brian Kemp is ahead 6 points against Stacey Abrams in the governor's race: poll
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Warnock has a 47%-42% lead over Walker in the Georgia Senate race, per a new Marist Poll. In the poll, Warnock was backed by 94% of Democrats, while Walker earned 83% support among the GOP. Warnock performed strongly in the Atlanta metropolitan area; in the Atlanta suburbs, he edged out Walker by three-percentage points (47%-44%). (A recent CBS News/YouGov poll showed Warnock with a narrower 51%-49% edge over Walker.) Brian Kemp holds a six-point lead (50%-44%) over Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams among registered voters in a rematch of their 2018 contest.

Search resuls for: "Megan Varner"

24 mentions found