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PROVO, Utah — A small herd of domestic llamas was spotted taking an evening stroll on the train tracks in Provo, Utah, on Thursday after the woolen creatures escaped from their owner, according to the Utah Transit Authority. Several emergency responders were dispatched to round up the five llamas after transit officials received reports of the animals wandering the Union Pacific line. The llama search did not delay train service, transit authority spokesperson Gavin Gustafson said. Whether the llamas had been caught was unknown as of 10 p.m. local time, about three and a half hours after crews were called to the area 43 miles south of Salt Lake City, Gustafson said. Details about how the llamas escaped and where they came from were not immediately available.

Persons: Gavin Gustafson, Gustafson Organizations: Utah Transit Authority, Union Pacific Locations: PROVO , Utah, Provo , Utah, Salt Lake City

☆ In South Carolina, 3 G.O.P. Senators Fought an Abortion Ban. They Lost Their Races.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Kate Zernike | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last year, the five self-proclaimed “Sister Senators” from South Carolina were awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award after they joined together across party lines to block the legislature from passing a near-total abortion ban. But a prize from the nation’s most storied Democratic family may not be the best calling card in Republican primaries in the red-state South. All three of the Republican women in the group of five — the others were a Democrat and an independent — faced primary challenges, and all three have now lost. State Senator Katrina Shealy, who was the only female member of the chamber after she won in 2012, failed to win a runoff on Tuesday against the son of a former legislator. The two others lost earlier this month: Penry Gustafson lost by a 64 point margin; Sandy Senn lost by 33 votes, small enough to trigger a recount, but conceded the race before that.

Persons: “, John F, Katrina Shealy, Penry Gustafson, Sandy Senn Organizations: Kennedy, Republican, Democrat Locations: South Carolina

☆ Caitlin Clark: Iowa Hawkeyes to retire No. 22 jersey
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Jacob Lev | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The University of Iowa will retire Caitlin Clark’s No. “We always knew your jersey would be hanging in the rafters,” Goetz said. Clark will become the third Hawkeyes women's basketball player to have her jersey retired. “I look up in the rafters and I see that Final Four banner from last year,” Hawkeyes head coach Lisa Bluder said. The 22-year-old will become the third Hawkeyes women’s basketball player to have her jersey retired, after Michelle Edwards (No.

Persons: Caitlin Clark’s, Beth Goetz, ” Goetz, ” Clark, Clark, Steph Chambers, it’ll, Lisa Bluder, Cleveland, Michelle Edwards, Megan Gustafson Organizations: CNN, The University of Iowa, Carver, NCAA, women’s, WNBA, Hawkeyes, South, ” Hawkeyes, Cleveland ’ Locations: Iowa, South Carolina

Andrea Russell is a fixture on Earp Street, the quiet strip of rowhouses in South Philadelphia where she has lived for 45 years. Ms. Russell, a 77-year-old retired legal secretary, thinks President Biden would fit right in. “He’d come on by Earp Street,” she said. “I could picture going up to him and saying, ‘Hi, Joe.’ I can see him here.” She identifies with him, she said, and admires his integrity and his record. Her friend, Kathy Staller, also 77, said she was as eager to vote for Mr. Biden as she was for Barack Obama in 2008.

Persons: Andrea Russell, George, Russell, Biden, “ He’d, ”, “, Joe, ’, Kathy Staller, Mr, Barack Obama, Ms, Staller, Donald J, Trump Organizations: Democratic Locations: South Philadelphia

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Liberty are bringing their core group back and trying to add another piece with prized free agent Nneka Ogwumike while Seattle signed Skylar Diggins-Smith as WNBA free agency tipped off Thursday. The Liberty, who made it to the WNBA Finals last season before losing to the Las Vegas Aces, met with Ogwumike, according to a person familiar with the situation. Sabally, who was a restricted free agent, averaged career highs in points (18.6), rebounds (8.1) and assists (4.4) last season. They also signed free agent Megan Gustafson. Williams had a stellar season with Chicago last year, averaging 10.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and a career-best 6.3 assists.

Persons: Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, Smith, Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Betnijah Laney, Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Jones, Diggins, Jewell Loyd, “, ” Diggins, Jewell, Noelle Quinn, Satou Sabally, Kalani Brown, Sabally, Brown, Kiah Stokes, Sydney Colson, Megan Gustafson, Courtney Williams, Alanna Smith, Williams, ___ Organizations: New York Liberty, Seattle, Liberty, WNBA, Las Vegas Aces, Associated Press, Nets, Los Angeles Sparks, ESPN, Phoenix Mercury, Notre Dame, Seattle Storm, Dallas, Wings, Aces, Minnesota Lynx, Chicago Locations: York

☆ Premarket stocks: How the ‘Black Ceiling’ is holding some professionals and the economy back
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

In his new book “The Black Ceiling” Woodson, a former attorney, sheds light on systemic issues within elite professional settings and the broader economic repercussions that come from underutilizing and marginalizing talented Black professionals. Woodson spoke with more than 100 Black professionals about what he calls the Black ceiling — a significant barrier that impedes career progression and creates stigma and anxiety in the workplace. Racial discomfort encapsulates the sense of unease that a lot of Black professionals experience working in elite white work settings. Selective punitiveness is the widespread perception that Black professionals get treated especially harshly when they make mistakes. Firms need to train their personnel, especially their senior white professionals so that they don’t judge junior Black professionals adversely for these challenges.

Persons: Kevin Woodson, ” Woodson, Woodson, Bell, it’s, who’ve, Kim Schmidt, they’re, that’s, doesn’t, It’s, Eva Rothenberg, ” Grant Gustafson, Corie Barry, “, ” Barry, Nathaniel Meyersohn Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN — Corporate America, University of Richmond School of Law, Elite, Sensormatic, Black, Adobe, Retailers Locations: New York, underutilizing, DC

☆ Energized shoppers break one-day holiday sales record
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Eva Rothenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Whether they jostled through brick-and-mortar stores or toggled between tabs and virtual carts, holiday shoppers were eager to participate in Black Friday this year. Both in-store and online retail sales increased year-over-year unadjusted for inflation, according to Mastercard’s SpendingPulse insights, which noted that apparel, jewelry and restaurant categories saw considerable spikes. Most shoppers did their browsing and buying on their phones, with mobile purchases accounting for $5.3 billion in sales. E-commerce platform Shopify also reported record sales totaling more than $4 billion worldwide, 22% higher than last year. As holiday shopping ramps up ahead of Christmas, analysts predict a busy time for retailers over the next few weeks.

Persons: ” Grant Gustafson, Sensormatic Organizations: CNN, Sensormatic, Black, Adobe

☆ The Exercises (and Ping-Pong Robot) That Keep This 89-Year-Old Sharp
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Jen Murphy | Photographs Michelle Gustafson For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rachel Williams has a master plan for staying healthy and spry at 89 that revolves around a ping-pong-playing robot. She bought the Zxmoto ping-pong machine for $200 in 2020 to help maintain her mental and physical fitness after the pandemic shut down the gym at her senior living community in Lancaster, Pa. She carries it from her apartment to what is called the Pong Zone in her complex to train for regional and national competitions.

Persons: Rachel Williams, spry Locations: Lancaster, Pa

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House Situation Room — a space of great mystique and even greater secrecy — just got a $50 million facelift. Behind that is the main conference room, known as the “JFK room." A room once taken up by computer servers has become a smaller conference room. That took place around the corner from the JFK room in a smaller conference room that no longer exists. While the area was closed for renovation, White House officials used other secure spots on the campus.

Persons: Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Donald Trump, Abu Bakr al, Lyndon Johnson, Joe Biden, Marc Gustafson, “, ” Gustafson, Kennedy, John F, Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Gustafson, Leather, Obama, Hillary Clinton, Biden, It's, Gustafson didn't Organizations: WASHINGTON, Islamic, House, Air Force, JFK, Workers, White, Trump, Seals Locations: Vietnam, Maryland, Virginia, stow, U.S, Washington, Russia, Ukraine, JFK

☆ What $50 Million Can Buy: Inside the Sleek New White House Situation Room
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Michael D. Shear | More About Michael D. Shear | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The walls, built from sustainably harvested wood, hide what officials say are the most sophisticated technologies in the American arsenal for keeping the room secure. Computer monitors and servers that seemed modern in 2006 — the year before the iPhone was announced — had become old and creaky. Movies and spy novels describe the Situation Room as a single place where presidents meet with their aides to make top-secret decisions in a crisis. In fact, it is a warren of rooms that represents what White House officials describe as the most technologically secure spaces in the country. The reception room feels like entering the lobby of a luxury hotel, with the White House seal etched into a marble slab sourced from a Virginia quarry.

Persons: —, Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Gustafson Organizations: Computer, Defense Department, White Locations: China, Russia, Virginia

☆ As Abortion Laws Drive Obstetricians From Red States, Maternity Care Suffers
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Sheryl Gay Stolberg | More About Sheryl Gay Stolberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Across the country, in red states like Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee, obstetricians — including highly skilled doctors who specialize in handling complex and risky pregnancies — are leaving their practices. The departures may result in new maternity care deserts, or areas that lack any maternity care, and they are placing strains on physicians like Dr. Gustafson who are left behind. Restrictive abortion laws, experts say, are making that problem much worse. “This isn’t an issue about abortion,” said Dr. Stella Dantas, the president-elect of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. A temporary order issued by a federal judge also permits abortion in some circumstances when a woman’s health is at risk.

Persons: obstetricians, Gustafson, ”, Stella Dantas, Roe, Wade Organizations: American College of Obstetricians, Doctors Locations: Texas , Oklahoma, Tennessee, Idaho

☆ Maker of Iconic Martin Guitars Competes With Fulfillment Centers for Workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Ben Kesling | Photographs Michelle Gustafson For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

NAZARETH, Pa.— For nearly two centuries, workers have hand-built guitars and other acoustic instruments here in the Lehigh Valley, with applicants sometimes waiting years for apprenticeships. But over the past decade, economic changes have put C.F. Martin & Co. in the odd position of having to compete for workers.

Persons: Martin Organizations: Co Locations: NAZARETH, Pa, Lehigh

☆ U.S. Postal Service’s Search For Savings Brings Riskier Drivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Christopher Weaver | Photographs Michelle Gustafson For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones

☆ South Carolina tried to ban abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy — but every woman in the state Senate voted against it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A South Carolina judge temporarily halted a law banning most abortions after six weeks. Five female lawmakers, named the "Sister Senators," previously filibustered a similar abortion ban. Earlier this year, South Carolina proposed the death penalty for women who get abortions, Insider previously reported. Vicki Ringer, the director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic in South Carolina, called the signing of the bill "unconscionable" on Twitter. Earlier in the week, she wrote, "Twenty-seven Republican men (all of them) voted today to ban abortion in SC.

The prospective class action complaint, filed in 2021 by two members of the annual paid subscription service Amazon Prime, alleged Amazon was unlawfully "tying" the online sale of third-party products to the use of the company's "Fulfillment by Amazon" program. The lawsuit said Amazon's alleged anticompetitive fulfillment practices had harmed "hundreds of millions of its loyal customers." Amazon's attorneys argued that fulfillment services are sold not to consumers who buy products but to third-party businesses that are selling goods on the company's platform. The antitrust case against Amazon was among private and state actions alleging violations of competition law. The case is Angela Hogan et al v. Amazon.com Inc, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No.

April 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday approved a $75 million settlement between Smithfield Foods Inc and a class of consumers who accused the pork producer of conspiring to restrict supply in order to keep prices artificially high. Pork consumers last year settled with Smithfield rival JBS SA for $20 million. The judge in a separate order on Tuesday awarded nearly $25 million in legal fees to the plaintiffs firms representing the consumer class. The consumer class attorneys said in a court filing in January that they'd spent more than 37,000 hours pursuing antitrust claims over four years. The case is In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, No.

☆ Pope Francis Calls for Peace in Ukraine and Syria in Easter Message
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Hottest Tech Topics Among Older AdultsA retirement community in Lancaster, Pa., is integrating tech more and more into the lives of their residents, proving what experts on aging have been saying for years: Older adults are just as keen on new technologies as anyone else. WSJ family and tech columnist Julie Jargon joins host Julie Chang to talk about what tech appeals most to older adults and why. Photo: MICHELLE GUSTAFSON/ WSJ

☆ Hundreds Mourn Russian Pro-War Blogger Killed in St. Petersburg Cafe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ China Launches Military Exercises Around Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Minnesota Republican votes against free school meals bill because 'I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Republican state senator voted against a bill to provide free school meals to Minnesota students. Steve Drazkowski said it wasn't needed as he was "yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry." "I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry," said Drazkowski. "I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that says they don't have access to enough food to eat." Though Drazkowski voted against the bill, it passed 38-26 in the Senate.

☆ A 16-year-old girl killed in a shark attack was swimming in a river, not the ocean. Bull sharks — considered by some experts the most dangerous — are the rare species that swims in fresh water.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But when a 16-year-old girl in Australia was killed in a shark attack on Saturday, she wasn't swimming in the ocean. Bull sharks are considered by many experts to be the most dangerous sharks in the world. Still, although you are more likely to encounter a bull shark in a river than another species, attacks remain uncommon. In 2022, there were 57 unprovoked shark attacks on humans worldwide, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File. Bull sharks, great white sharks, and tiger sharks are the most common species to be involved in an attack.

Mary Barket, a 66-year-old widow with a degenerative muscular disorder and no family around to help, has had seven different caregivers come through her home in the past six months. On a recent Saturday morning, she was told by the home care agency that her caregiver wasn’t coming that day and that it couldn’t send a substitute, she says. Ms. Barket had one meal to last her until Monday, when the next caregiver was due.

☆ 'Pinocchio' review: A reimagined story is beautiful but comes with too many strings attached
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The mere title “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” announces that this stop-motion animated movie reflects the keen eye and visual style of the directing auteur, with a healthy dose of revisionism and reimagining baked into that. Yet despite its beauty, several of those narrative touches don’t fully work, leaving behind a movie that’s aesthetically lovely but narratively uneven. Perhaps foremost, del Toro makes the ill-advised decision to incorporate songs into the story, although he keeps interrupting them, which might speak to a certain lack of conviction about that particular aspect. It’s around that point where del Toro (who shares directing credit with animator Mark Gustafson) appears determined to connect this “Pinocchio” to larger and more ambitious themes. “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” premieres December 9 on Netflix.

The stop-motion musical reimagines the classic tale through the unique lens of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. How to watch 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio'You can watch "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" at home exclusively on Netflix. Is 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' worth watching? "Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio" has received critical acclaim. What is 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' based on?

Closely watched state Supreme Court races in which divisive issues such as abortion rights and redistricting fueled political donations and record campaign fundraising ended with mixed results on Election Day. Republican Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine speaks to supporters at an election watch party on November 8, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio. Andrew Spear / Getty ImagesIn North Carolina, Republicans were victorious, claiming the two open seats on the state Supreme Court and flipping its makeup to a 5-2 Republican majority — clinching power for the first time in six years. The 6th Supreme Court District is comprised of 13 largely Republican-leaning counties, and eight of them rejected the amendment, she added. While the state Legislature is controlled by Republicans, voters may not have been swayed by politics when it came to deciding who sits on the state Supreme Court.

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