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☆ How Runway's idea for AI-driven video and photo editing and generation went from a "crazy" concept to a Silicon Valley darling worth half a billion dollars
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

When Runway's founders first came up with the idea for an AI art startup, they were called crazy. Now, the generative AI startup has become a fan favorite of VCs and the public alike. When Cristóbal Valenzuela began building his generative AI company Runway in 2018, investors, filmmakers, and advertisers told the cofounder that he was crazy. "They were saying, 'why would you want to build AI tools for video and filmmaking?'" Many of these features were developed hand-in-hand with customers, who often described to Runway the problems and obstacles they ran into while creating videos, Valenzuela said.

☆ Oklahoma County Commissioner Accused of Making Threatening Comments Resigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Protesters in Idabel, Okla., demanding the resignations of several McCurtain County officials earlier this week. Photo: Christopher Bryan/Southwest Ledger/Associated PressA county commissioner in southeast Oklahoma has resigned after being named by the local newspaper as one of several officials on a recording allegedly discussing killing two reporters and lynching Black people, Gov. Kevin Stitt ’s office said Wednesday. Carly Atchison, a spokeswoman for Mr. Stitt, said the governor’s office had received a handwritten resignation letter from McCurtain County Commissioner Mark Jennings .

A team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture led the effort in Maryland, covering nearly half a million acres of land and marsh hunting for the invasive rodent. They worked in a grid to systematically trap and remove nutria before moving on to the next area. Yann Schreiber/AFP/Getty

These kind of megadeals are at the vanguard of billions of dollars of annual spending on classic cars globally in a wave of investment in this alternative asset. "The track record of the past 30 years tells us classic cars have become a financial asset class we want our clients to have in their portfolios." [1/5] A general view of the classic car collection of Florian Zimmermann, owner of over 300 classic cars, in a warehouse in Lindau, Germany, April 5, 2023. "Electrification will favour classic cars," said Cristiano Bolzoni, head of Maserati's vintage car unit Maserati Classiche. "The classic car community has changed tremendously over the past five to 10 years," Zimmermann said.

☆ Be on the Lookout for Rodents of Unusual Size With Orange Teeth
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Adolfo Flores | Erin Ailworth | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/nutria-rat-pet-neuty-giant-invasive-rodent-orange-teeth-387eac7f

When we've been awake for a long time, our sleep drive kicks in and tells us we need to sleep. During REM sleep, the cortex – responsible for cognition and emotion-processing – is activated in some regions and deactivated in others. After cycling through non-REM and REM sleep around 4 to 5 times, the basal forebrain and other structures receive signals to start exiting sleep. WHEN SLEEP GOES WRONGIn the U.S. alone, 50 to 70 million people experience some type of chronic sleep disorder, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). In the United States, a list of board-certified sleep medicine physicians and accredited sleep disorders centers is available from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

☆ Arkansas City Surveys Tornado’s Wreckage After Direct Hit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Adolfo Flores | Ginger Adams Otis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WYNNE, Ark.—Mike Ellis saw one tornado in Little Rock from his father’s ninth-floor hospital room and worried about his mom, who uses a walker and was home alone in Wynne, so he rushed to her house Friday in time for a second tornado. He and his 18-year-old son had barely pulled into the driveway when the sirens started to go off. Mr. Ellis helped his mother into a bathroom closet before grabbing a mattress to shield his son and himself as they took cover in a hallway. In a few minutes the tornado was over them.

☆ Arkansas Town Surveys Tornado’s Wreckage After Direct Hit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Adolfo Flores | Ginger Adams Otis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WYNNE, Ark.—As Danielle Russell drove back into her neighborhood Friday night after a tornado tore through this small city, she said she saw a white shape in the dark and hoped it wasn’t the roof of her house. Moments later she pulled up and saw that powerful winds had peeled off much of a metal layer of her roof, which now hung down, covering the house’s front. The damage forced Ms. Russell, 38 years old, to spend Friday night with her two children in their car, worried that the house wasn’t safe.

☆ Storm System Kills at Least 22 People Across Central U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Ginger Adams Otis | Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—A powerful storm system barreled across the central U.S. Friday, killing at least 22 people and unleashing reports of at least 69 tornadoes recorded across at least eight states. Fueled by a series of so-called supercells, the rotating thunderstorms that can spawn tornadoes, the system battered homes, downed trees and power lines and flipped cars and RV campers, with some landing in the Mississippi River.

☆ Thousands Attend Trump Rally in Waco, Texas, as Potential Indictment Looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Adolfo Flores | Alex Leary | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Former President Donald Trump arrived at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida on Saturday to board a flight to the rally in Waco, Texas. WACO, Texas—Thousands of people showed up to rally for Donald Trump as he faces a potential indictment in New York, many criticizing the case against him as politically motivated and illustrating the former president’s hold on the GOP electorate as he accelerates his 2024 White House comeback bid. “If he’s arrested I think people will stand behind him even tighter,” said B.J. Apgar, 47 years old, who showed up hours ahead of the Saturday evening event in this central Texas city—Mr. Trump’s first traditional rally since launching his campaign in November.

AMARILLO, Texas—A federal judge is set to hear arguments Wednesday on whether to block sales of a medication used in more than half of the abortions in the U.S., the first public hearing in a case that has drawn national attention. Antiabortion medical groups and individual physicians filed a lawsuit in November, arguing that the Food and Drug Administration exceeded its authority when it approved the sale of the abortion-inducing pill known as mifepristone under a process meant for treatments of serious or life-threatening illnesses. The judge is now weighing whether to issue a preliminary injunction blocking sales of the pill while litigation continues.

☆ The 20 best airports in the world according to passengers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Aviation ranking website Skytrax has revealed the world's best airports for 2023. "Changi Airport is honoured to be named World's Best Airport for the 12th time," Changi CEO Lee Seow Hiang said in a press release. Of the top 20 airports, nine are in Europe, eight are in Asia, two are in North America, and one is in Australia. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Vancouver International Airport came in at numbers 18 and 20, barely making the list. In fact, Seattle once again won the award for being North America's best airport, and LaGuardia's Terminal B won "world's best new airport terminal."

☆ States Look to Ease Some Child-Labor Laws Amid Tight Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Adolfo Flores | Jennifer Calfas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed off on a law loosening child-labor restrictions in the state. A new Arkansas law that makes it easier for minors as young as 14 to work without a permit is part of a nationwide effort by states to loosen child-labor restrictions. For a child to receive the permit, a parent or guardian also had to sign off. Employers had to tell the state how many days and hours the minor was going to be working.

☆ Recreational Marijuana Use to Be Decided by Oklahoma Voters
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Voters in Oklahoma are set to decide on Tuesday whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, nearly five years after a decision to allow large-scale cultivation of the drug turned the state into a leading source of black-market weed. If State Question 820 passes, adults over 21 would be legally allowed to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow up to six mature cannabis plants. The measure would also allow those convicted of low-level marijuana offenses to have their records expunged.

☆ Oklahoma Voters Strike Down Recreational Marijuana
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Voters in Oklahoma Tuesday rejected a bid to legalize marijuana for recreational use, according to the Associated Press, nearly five years after a decision to allow large-scale cultivation of the drug in the state turned it into a leading source of black-market weed. Roughly 62% of voters said “no” to State Question 820, with more than 99% of precincts reporting, according to the Oklahoma State Election Board’s unofficial results.

☆ Southern Baptists Expel Saddleback Church Over Female Pastor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Saddleback Church lead Pastor Andy Wood and his wife, Stacie Wood, meet with a congregant in Lake Forest, Calif. The Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday expelled Saddleback Church, the California megachurch founded by influential evangelical pastor Rick Warren, and four other churches from the denomination because they had female pastors. The decision to remove or “disfellowship” the churches came after the convention’s executive committee determined that the five churches were “not in friendly cooperation” with the denomination, said Jared Wellman, executive committee chairman, in a statement.

Benchmark EU carbon permit prices hit 100 euros per tonne of CO2 on Tuesday, the highest since the scheme launched in 2005. The largest project being developed in the Netherlands secured national funding to bridge the gap between costs and the CO2 price. The United States does not have a nationwide carbon price, although states including California do. An EU carbon price of 100 euros adds 30-40 euros to the cost of a tonne of primary steel production, according to Eurofer. For example, blast furnace-based steelmakers were given around 80% of their CO2 permits, commodity industry analysis firm CRU said.

☆ El Paso Shooting Came After ‘Random’ Confrontation, Police Chief Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Elizabeth Findell | Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The shooting that killed one and injured three at an El Paso, Texas, mall Wednesday evening, steps from the Walmart where an attacker killed 23 people in 2019, was the result of a random confrontation between two groups who didn’t know each other, the city’s police chief said. “During the confrontation, a physical altercation took place,” Interim Police Chief Peter Pacillas said during a press conference Thursday afternoon. “During that fight…one person produced a handgun and shots were fired.”

☆ Italy to sign gas turbines contract with Azerbaijan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Italy is set to sign a new contract to sell four gas turbines to Azerbaijan, its industry minister said on Saturday ahead of his visit to the Asian country that is one of Rome's most important energy partners. The deal will involve Italy's Ansaldo Energia, a service provider for the power generation industry, and Azerenerji, the country's largest electrical power producer, minister Adolfo Urso said in a statement. The news comes after Italy last month signed a $8 billion gas production deal with Libya aimed at boosting energy supplies to Europe. Italy is working to double to 20 billion cubic meters the capacity of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which brings Azeri gas to Apulia in the southeast of the country. Rome sees a role for itself as a hub for gas supplies to northern Europe in the coming years to help offset the loss of imports from Russia.

☆ Sarah Huckabee Sanders Takes Early Turn on National Stage
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sarah-huckabee-sanders-takes-early-turn-on-national-stage-11675860850

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday belatedly issued the first ruling of its nine-month term that started in October, more than a month behind its normal schedule. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the court's first opinion, with the justices ruling unanimously against Navy veteran Adolfo Arellano in a technical dispute over disability benefits. The court dismissed a second case concerning the scope of attorney-client privilege without issuing a written ruling. With the court term running from October to June, the first opinions are usually released in November or December. Adam Feldman, who tracks Supreme Court statistics, found that this term is the first since 1917 that the court had not released a ruling by the beginning of December.

☆ U.S. Won’t Seek Death Penalty in El Paso Walmart Shooting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Justice Department won’t seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing 23 people in 2019 at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, federal prosecutors said in a Tuesday court filing. Patrick Crusius faces 90 federal charges for his alleged role in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history; 45 of the charges have been deemed hate crimes, or crimes motivated by racial, religious, national origin, sexual, gender or disability bias. Mr. Crusius, 21 years old at the time, is accused of traveling to the Texas border city to target Latinos in the attack. Nearly two dozen people were injured in the shooting.

☆ California Storms Ease, but Flood Fears Persist
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

California was hit again by rain and snow Monday as the state moved toward what forecasters said would be the end of a series of storms that have battered it since Christmas. The nine storms known as atmospheric rivers—flowing columns of condensed water vapor in the atmosphere that produce significant precipitation—have killed at least 19 people, flooded communities, shut down highways and cut power to tens of thousands of homes. The storms and accompanying damage have been more intense in the north and middle regions of the state than in the south.

☆ As California Storms Approach End, Flood Fears Remain
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Central California remained under a flood watch Monday as the last in a series of major storms that have battered the state since Christmas moved through, according to forecasters. Monday’s storm could bring heavy rain, strong winds and possible flooding in some areas before moving into the U.S. Southwest, said the National Weather Service.

☆ Deer Hunting Violation Leads to Legal Skirmish Between Oklahoma, Native Tribes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Adolfo Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jimmy Ward, a member of the Osage Nation, was ticketed for shooting at a decoy white-tailed deer out of season. What started as a simple hunting violation turned into an ordeal that thrust Jimmy Ward into the middle of a legal battle between the state of Oklahoma and Native Americans. Mr. Ward, a member of the Osage Nation, was caught shooting at a decoy white-tailed deer set out by game officials to nab out-of-season hunters in November 2021. He managed to get four misdemeanor hunting violation charges against him in Carter County District Court dismissed by citing a landmark 2020 Supreme Court ruling that gave criminal jurisdiction for crimes committed by Native Americans on reservations to the federal or tribal governments.

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